The Kidnapping of Wei Tingrong
By Dan Stein // On July 24, 1929, Wei Tingrong’s chauffeur picked him up at the prestigious Sino-French Bank, where he was the boss. The sophisticated, dapper French-speaking Wei was near the apex of Shanghai Chinese society, with wealth and influence unimaginable for most of his countrymen. Wei Tingrong But just as ...
>
No Exit: David Marshall and the Last Jews of Shanghai
David Marshall, Singapore's first Chief Minister, visited China in 1956, and became the man who got the last Jews out of China. On Sunday November 20, we heard from Marina Shlau Cunningham, a member of one of those Jewish families who was here until 1957. It's quite a story. (For the event recording, click here.) Who's ...
>
Stateless in Shanghai: Living History with Liliane Willens
What was it like to grow up, from birth into young adulthood, in Old Shanghai? Glamour, chaos, deprivation, hope? Yes, yes, yes, and yes. The delightful Liliane Willens, our guest in the ‘Living History’ series, was born in Shanghai in 1927 to stateless Russian Jewish parents and lived here – through the glamorous ...
>
Shanghai Gangsters: The Big Eight Mob
Before the rise of notorious gangster kingpins like Du Yuesheng and Huang Jinrong, there was the Big Eight Mob 八股党 and a crooked cop named Shen Xingshan. Dan Stein delves into the tale: The Louza Police Station, where Shen likely worked. In February 1909, the International Opium Commission, an initiative proposed ...
>
Shanghai’s Cathedral School for Girls: A Ballerina, A Sci-Fi Author, and Mao
Well, well. They’re refurbishing the Cathedral School for Girls on Avenue Haig/Huashan Lu, and look who’s popped up over the entrance! The posh Cathedral School for Girls (sister school to the Cathedral School for Boys) was established around 1918 on Yates Road/Shimen Yi Lu and moved to the Avenue Haig premises ...
>
Girl Reporters: The Newswomen of Old Shanghai
The ranks of the foreign journalists of Old Shanghai were mostly filled by hard-bitten men, but by the 1920s, some of the city’s best and most interesting correspondents were women, or as they were known then, “girl reporters”. Born at the turn of the 20th century into a changing world, these women were the first ...
>
Selling the Ruan Lingyu Drama: Tragedy, Irony, and Exploitation in a 1934 Ad
March 8 - On the anniversary of the death of Old Shanghai’s movie goddess, Ruan Lingyu, MOFBA* delves into the story of an ad that is inextricably linked with the actress, her final movie, and her tragic death. By The Little Museum of Foreign Brand Advertising in the R.O.C (MOFBA) // The 1930s marked the first ...
>