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Wartime Shanghai

Paul French on “City of Devils”

In May, the Historic Shanghai Book Club read City of Devils: A Shanghai Noir, so ahead of our talk, we sat down with author Paul French to find out more about interwar underworld Shanghai, rumor and gossip, old Shanghai's soundscape, and lots more. Historic Shanghai: What drew you to tell the tale of Jack Riley and ...

Top 10 Historic Shanghai Gifts: Our Annual Guide

Revolutionary ornaments. 1932 maps. Old Shanghai memoirs. Mao-rabilia. There are gifts, and then there are Shanghai heritage gifts for the true aficionados. If you've got one in your life*, you know we're a little harder to buy for, so we've done the hard work for you: Historic Shanghai has curated the top 10 gifts that ...

Historic Shanghai Year in Review 2017

A look back at the last 12 months of walking through Shanghai’s storied history: the walks, the talks, the tours, the films, the cocktails, and an Art Deco weekend, too. 2017 highlights included our springtime jaunt to Xiamen, the treaty port formerly known as Amoy, for a fabulous  Amoy Art Deco Weekend. We ...

Memoirs: Russians in old Shanghai

Shanghai's extraordinary Russian community left its mark on the city's architecture, cuisine, lore, and in richly described memoirs of an unique period in history.  Historic Shanghai reviews a few of our favorite memoirs of Russians in old Shanghai. Russian at Heart: Sonechka's Story, by Olga Hawkes with John ...

Sikhs in Shanghai

Our "Indians in Old Shanghai" walk (Sat October 21, 2pm) explores a rich and fascinating history that stretches back to the establishment of the International Settlement and includes Parsi traders, Gujerati businessmen, Bengali poets, and--of course--the Sikh policemen of Shanghai. The Sikh policeman was the most visible ...

Historic Shanghai’s Year in Review 2015

A look back on the tours, the talks, and that splendiferous World Congress on Art Deco that made up our 2015. [caption id="attachment_632" align="alignleft" width="255"] Stained glass dragon at the T'ou-se-wei orphanage, seen on our Easter Walking tour.[/caption] The Year in Numbers  14 tours 25 World Congress ...

Historic Shanghai’s Best Books of 2015

Our annual roundup of the year's best books on Shanghai's history. 2015 has produced an exceptional crop of books -- several that have been in the works for many years, by authors with impeccable Shanghai creds, and an unparalleled knowledge of Shanghai history. Instant classics! When True Love Came to China, Lynn ...