Bookshelf: Rumors from Shanghai with Amy Sommers
In April, the Historic Shanghai Book Club read Rumors from Shanghai, a historical thriller set in 1940s Shanghai, so we sat down with author Amy Sommers to find out more about hidden histories and untold stories, the city as inspiration, surprise discoveries, and more. Get the book: In Shanghai, you can order from ...
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The ’20s Gala: Farewell, 2020, Hello, 1920s!
It was a 1930s photo of a grand soirée in the ballroom of the Cercle Sportif Français that inspired the “Farewell 2020, Hello, 1920s” Gala. Hu Ping, the founder of the Shanghai Culture Society, showed us the photo, and the rest … is Gala history. Left: The inspiration. Right: The '20s Gala. Same ballroom, ...
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Chin Woo Athletic Association Buildings
“Historic Beauty to be Torn Down”, blared the headline. It was August 5, 2011, and it was clear that time was of the essence, so despite the sweltering Shanghai heat, I headed down to 379 Huimin Road, at the corner of Dalian Road, in Yangpu District. There, I discovered an island of architectural beauty in a desert ...
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The Early Shanghai Photographs of Pierre Gendron
Sometime between the 1880s and early 1900s, a Frenchman named Pierre Gendron photographed Shanghai. And miraculously, his glass stereoscopic slides, some of the earliest photographs of Shanghai in existence, have survived. As a banker based in Hué (which was then French Indochina), Pierre traveled throughout the region—to ...
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Inside Hardoon’s Garden
Hardoon Garden, Aili Garden. Even today, the name conjures up mystery and legend. Mystery, because few photos survive of this exquisite Chinese-style residential garden that lay inside high vermilion gates. Legend, because it was the home of Shanghai’s richest man, Silas Hardoon: to paraphrase a contemporary source, a ...
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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 ...
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Best Shanghai History Books 2019
Our annual roundup of the year's best books on Shanghai's history. We're honored to have hosted many of these authors, and will read several of these books in the 2020 Historic Shanghai Book Club. Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao's Revolution by Helen Zia In the spring of ...
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