(Text with kind permission from Hudec.cn)

Locating at No. 209 Yuanmingyuan Road, China Baptist Publication Society Building was formerly known as Gospel Light Building, referring to the publication Gospel Light, by the Baptist organization. Now the building remains vacant.. Designed in September 1930 and completed in March 1932, the eight-storey reinforced concrete structure was engineered by BENGTLINDSKOG and constructed by the Qiaxing Constructing Firm.
Facing to the east, the façade features acute-angled vertical lines rolling along the parapets and setback on the top levels, all covered with dark brown brick tiles. All these are typical expressions of the Gothic Art Deco style of American skyscrapers at that time. The slim brick columns with stone cappings together with large glass windows between form a strong texture and pattern of light and shadow. The interior public space paved with terrazzo or mosaic, the flowing treatments to the ceilings, corner beads and use of light are all evidence of Modernism. Some important organizations, such as the Christian Publishing House, the China Baptist Publication Society, and Hujiang University occupied the Building successively. After 1932, Hudec’s firm was also moved into this Building.
The design of this building reveals the formation of Hudec’s individual architectural style, with a preference for Gothic Revival architectural features, particularly notable in the rich brickwork façade. It also witnesses his growth step by step as an ecletic architect able to work in a variety of architectural styles. (The building has been listed as Heritage Architecture of Shanghai since 1994.)

Text Copied from Plague:

St. John’s Collge. Masonry structure. Integration of Chinese and Western style. Tao-Fen Building (S.J.J Schereschewsky Hall): Designed by Atkinson & Dallas, Civil Engineers and Architects. Built in 1894. Adminstration Building (The No. 3 Building): Built in 1898. Science Building (Ge-Zhi Building): Designed by Atkinson & Dallas, Civil Engineers and Architects. Built in 1899. Dormitory Building (Yan Yongjing Hall): Built in 1904. Dormitory Building (Arthur Mann Hall): Designed by ALgar & Co. Architects. Built i 1909. Dong-Feng Building (John Seaman Hall): Built in 1924.

Now I know why this house is a peace of treasure in Chuan Sha. Not only is it a historic courtyard; according to Professor Cai, one of the early town planners of Pudong New District, this is where Soong Ching Ling was born!

I noticed this building in early 2009 when I went to the 555 Building for a business meeting. Although the exterior, at the time I visited looked no different from a typical modern euro-style mockup, I suspected it to be a historic structure based on my "keen observation" (just joking).

I decided to get into the building and to my expectation, it is indeed an old house. Much of the inerior was kept intact and I am very lucky to get a last glimpse of this old style elevator before it’s going to be torn down next month.

While shooting the interior in the dark hallways last week, I had the opportunity to chit chat with many of the tenants who passed by me:

An old man who is excited about the new elevator that will be installed after they torn down this old one.

Another comrade who told me about the few century-old tenants who walk up and down the stairs each day. Pity I didn’t witness that.

Another Ayi who told me that this building was built by the British (don’t think she’s correct) and that this house was featured in the first version of the action movie "Bao Mi Ju De Qiang Sheng" (Gunshot of the Secret Agency)

After some research and also thanks to my trusty directory of the apartment building book published by Tongji University Press, this building was built in 1927 and known as The Tung Lai Building. Tung Lai Bank was founded in 1918 in Tsingtao by Liu ZiShan (1880-1948), a Shandong Native. Many of this wealthy banker’s buildings are still well preserved in Tianjing.

Some interesting facts about Liu ZiShan:

Born in 1880 in the rurals of Shandong, he went to start earning his living as a street hawker at the tender age of 14. He later became a page to a German. He was a very clever man and self taught himself German and later Japanese. In 1908, he even became an interpreter for a German architect while at the same time started his life as an entrepreneur engaging in the construction material business. In the next few years, he also became a sole agent for many German products and became quite wealthy before the outbreak of WWI.

However, a large part of his first bucket of gold came from opium trade. In a short span of time, he won a whopping amount of 42 million yuan from trading opium and became the infamous "Opium King of Tsingtao". He later diversified his business into the real estate, automobile (he was also agent of the American BUICK cars), logistic and transport, insurance, textile, electricity, coal mining and founded Tung Lai Bank in 1918, headquartered in Tsingtao, with the second branch opened in Tianjing in 1919.

As he accumulated his wealth, he deeply regretted about his early life as an opium trader and started his next chapter: PHILANTHROPY. He founded the Ji’Nan Orphanage, built the Shandong Univerity and also donated a lot of money in building the infrastructure in the Shandong Province.

He moved to Shanghai in the spring of 1948 to receive medical care and passed away in the same year, on 12th October after a heart attack.

Another fine example of Art Deco in Shanghai in the post-liberation period. Construction started on 30th October, 1962.

One of the most famous schools in Shanghai, it was founded in 1874 by Xu Shou and an English missionary called John Fryer.

Thanks to Mr. Hua Kejian, the guest speaker for the November ESH Meeting. This building has always been a hospital, even more than 100 years ago. It was founded by Erich Paulun in 1900, the German doctor who founded the medical school which is now known as Tongji University. Today, this house is part of the Changzheng Hospital.

On a beautiful early summer night in May 2009, I had this special chance to attend the regular ESH Meeting (Explore Shanghai Heritage) at the German Consulate and listen to the night’s special guest, Mr. To Foo Ying recalling about the life of Old Shanghai. Born in Shanghai to the wealthy Ying family, he left for Hong Kong after the liberation and according to Mrs. Gabi, the consul’s wife, Mr. Ying went on to become a very successful businessman in the city. An alumnus of the St. John’s the Divine, he revisited Shanghai with his very elegant wife on this special occasion for an alumni gathering.

A 3-storey building with a "false fourth floor" located on the former Burkill Road, the present day Fengyang Road, it was built by To Foo’s father and cost him 100,000 tils of silver with all stone granite delivered from Soochow. It is interesting to note the rather hidden location of the house too. I have been in Shanghai for so many years and walked down this street for a trillion times but never will I know the existence of this unique building had I not attended this meeting. To Foo said Mr Ying the Senior was once kidnapped thus he wanted his house to be hidden behind the markets so as to keep away from any unwanted attention.

The family owned a lot of properties, Linongs (Alley Houses) and lands all over Shanghai and one day, after 33 years living in the house, the People’s Government wanted to sue Mr. Ying, Sr. because a wall of one of the family’s Linongs on Tianjin Road was slanting. To Foo, who was 32 years old back then, represented his father on the 1st hearing.

"What do you have to compensate?"
"Nothing"

On the 2nd hearing: The same question and also the same reply from To Foo.

After the 3rd hearing, To Foo went home and told his father that he’d go to jail if he can do nothing to compensate and convinced him to sell the house.

Mr. To Foo continued a very interesting part about the currency reform after the liberation which I couldn’t quite understand but anyway, in the very end, they sold the house to the government for 175,000 yuan.

Currently, the house is owned by a private advertising company. On a cold rainy afternoon, I went into the courtyard of the house and told the guard the words Boris (an architect, son of Mr. To Foo) taught me; I asked him earlier whether it’s possible to visit the house. Then I was greeted by a Mr. Y-, who I suppose to be the boss of the company. A firm handshake and a friendly smile, he instructed the guard to show me around and I had this privilege to take pictures from any corners of the house, from the ground floor up to the "false fourth floor". Mr Zhao the guard, who happens to be a serious amateur photographer, helped me to get my tripod setup in the narrow staircase and hallways, and gave me a lot of invaluable suggestions on getting the best angle inside the house. The stained glass, I would say, are the most beautiful things, so as the tiled floors and the beautiful balcony… …

I used to live nearby the area and whenever I was in a bad mood, I’d treat myself a taxi ride and it’s mandatory to pass by this house before arriving home. I have always wanted to take a photo of the place but was so lazy until a rainy cold day in early 2009, when I decided to tour the OLD CITY WALL with Papa Yang. Unfortunately, by the time I had this opportunity, this house was repainted in this "toy-town" way; the original brown wall is gone… gone forever!

Not much is known about this villa that hides in a lane called North Xian Mian Ci Alley. According to some Chinese sources on the internet, there used to be a temple called Xian Mian Ci on the alley that was built to worship the mother of Chinese textile, WANG PO DAO. The temple was later destroyed. This is probably why this alley is known as XIan Mian Zi (先棉祠), where Xian means Ancester, Mian means Cotton and Ci means Temple…. quite self explanatory, isn’t it?

According to the sources that lie around the internet, the orginal owner of the house was a businessman engaged in the shipping business abroad, thus the design of the house was very much Western influenced, and makes it so different from other Chinese courtyards in the area.

Later it was sold to the Chen Brothers, and said that part of the house is still occupied by the descendants of the Chen Family

A bell tower for the fire station erected in 1909…

Text from Cintia’s personal diary

This Japanese house used to be the place where the Japanese monks lived. We were lucky to meet the current owner of the house, a middle aged Shanghainese man who bought the house recently at a very low price of just RMB 400,000!

He told us as a kid, he lived nearby and was envious of the residents inside the house. He began to question himself, "Why can this people live in this beautiful house? And if they can do so, why can’t I?"

To celebrate his 52th birthday, he decided to purchase this house as a gift for himself, something he had wanted all his life!

The place is still undergoing renovation, and he even promised to invite us there when it’s done!

After months of searching, I’ve finally managed to find where the other Sikh Temple (actually the correct term for this is Gurdwara) is hidden! It’s just at the intersection of Kang Ding Rd and Shan Xi Bei Lu. There you see a Petro Station, and next to the Petro Station is an entrance to a construction materials market——That’s exactly where the Gurdwara hides!

A few old ladies who noticed me holding a camera smiled at me and said, “Hey, young lady, why are there so many photographers interested in this building? The TV station staffs also came here some time ago……This old building…ugly, what’s so interesting about it? Sigh!”

Rubbish dumps, waste water flowing around, flies and mosquitoes and the terrible smell did not stop me from entering the building to see how it’s like. But I swear I don’t want to walk into that ghostly place again.

When I came out of the building, an old man noticed my camera and told me a couple of useful facts about the building.

-It was a Gurdwara before liberation in 1949 (we all know that, don’t we?)
-It served as an office building 10 years ago
-It’s now home for migrant workers, or young restaurant workers
-It has about 10 rooms on the second floor, and each room is about 10sqm
-It is now owned by the Prison Committee in Shanghai, which their headquarters is located on Changyang Rd
-The surrounding areas of the building is already sold to a Zhejiang based land developer for 96 million yuan, they also wanted to acquire the land where the Gurdwara stands, but failed to do so until now; otherwise it’d have been knocked down a long time ago!

I took a few more pictures, and the old man even guided me to the temporary metallic building for construction site workers which I climbed to the top floor. The angle wasn’t perfect, and the place swings and indeed quite scary But the old man was very patient and tried to find a perfect angle for me…….

According to E. Denison and Y. R. Guang’s BUILDING SHANGHAI, the original site for the Gurdwara was a graveyard thus construction had been delayed again and again as they need approval to remove the graves. Built by Robert Turner, the Gurdwara (A Sikh Temple) was opened on 30th June, 1908.

Now vacant and a property owned by The Cotton Textile Co. Ltd., the old lady of the cloth shop at the other side of the street told me this building was initially built by the Japanese as an office building for a factory, and it later became a wine factory after 1949.

An Art Deco Building Standing on Kiangse Road, it was designed by the Chinese American architect Poy Gum Lee (1900~1968) and constructed completed in 1933.

Built in 1935, this place was once occupied by the Japanese and many foreign officers were imprisoned during this period.

Shanghai started using GAS in 1864, and this building, erected at around 1934, was used as residential building for Senior Staffs of the River Gas Plant.

Built in 1938, this 16-house complex was designed and constructed by Japanese. The front courtyards, windows and even fireplace are still in their original states when we entered the houses in December 2009.

Text Kindly provided by XieQiang Li

This is the factory building of Anderson Meyer and Company, the sole agent of GE in China. In 1921, the company chose the current site, a large area of 220,000 sqm, to build this factory where they manufactured electric fans, refridgerators, watches and other hardware.

The Lunghwa Airport, which is a few blocks away from the Lunghwa Pagoda, was originally built in 1917 and went into commercial operation in 1929 until 1966, when it was replaced by the Hongqiao International Airport. The airport terminal is a semi-circular Art Deco building that has been recently converted into an ugly KTV. The runway and other parts of the airport, which is now closed to public, are now used as a driving school.

A Bauhaus Building erected in 1938 and completed in 1941.

Note: No visitors allowed to this building and it cannot be seen from the gate.

Text from Cintia’s DC newsletters

Tao was working in Shanghai in the 1930s and participated in various projects, including the design of a small structure for the New Wing On Building. The 2-storey residence was built in 1930 in a layout of the Chinese character 回, which means RETURN in English. Part of the structure was demolished when we visited it, and although we were able to hear some dishwashing noises coming from the second floor, we were not able to see a shadow of a living human–Father Xie kept yelling ‘Is there anyone?’, but nobody answered! I don’t mean there’s something wrong, nor are we going to scare ourselves, it’s only a bit sad we couldn’t enter the hallways.

The 600sqm building is a mixture of East and West. The roof tiles and the wooden structure of the interior are built in the style of a Chinese residence.

The church has its foundation laid on 8th December, 1864. Designed by a French priest, it was donated by a Chinese local called Qian Jing Nan. Therefore, the style of the church bears some Chinese Jiang Nan architectural style. Notice the black roof top and the wooden doors.

Not much is known about this church and it is said that it will be gone shortly.

Built in 1897, this church was used as a factory during the 60s and 70s. It underwent a restoration in the early 1990s before it was listed as a protected monument in 2001. It can accommodate 2000 people and the 4.7-meter bell tower boasts good views of the sea and the town. However, we were not fortunate enough to even see a priest who we can ask for permission when we last visited. Nevertheless, the splendid interior (considering this is Shanghai!) of the church is enough to make our jaws drop… … You know what? The locals dubbed this area as ‘Little Europe’!

Text from Cintia’s diary.

… … It took Gao (Our Driver) and me some time before we can find Zhongshi Street where the Chuan Sha Catholic Church is hidden. Again we were blessed to enter the 137-year old church without much problems. We were greeted by Father Xie, the caretaker of the church. Originally known as The Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, it was rebuilt in 1879 and expanded again in 1926. Church activities were resumed in 1981… …

Located on Fenyang Rd at the site of the former Jewish Hospital, now the Shanghai Eye-Nose Hospital.

Built in 1925 by the North American Presbyterian in memory of the famous missionary George F Fitch (1845-1923), whose Chinese name is 费启鸿 (Pronounced as FAY-CHEE-HONG), thus resulting its Chinese name as HONG DE Church. One of the most interesting things about this church is its mixture of Chinese and Western styles which can be seen in the bell tower, which resembles the top of a Chinese pagoda. According to the plaque, this is something rare and unique.

A VW Santana taxi arrived and four of us begin our Formula I taxi ride through the labyrinth of streets and lanes in the former French Concession.

The taxi stopped at the main gate of Ruijin Guest House.

‘Aren’t you going to drive us to the building inside?’ I demanded.

‘No. You’ve got to find your own way in the garden yourselves!’ The driver shouted back.

It was wet and dark, and there were no lights in the big garden. There were muddy pools everywhere: we had to be extra cautious. It took us about twenty minutes before we could arrived to one of the 4 buildings in the compound, and fortunately, Lan Na Thai was inside!

The restaurant was located on the second floor of the building and it was extremely dark inside too. The walls were painted in blue, the dining hall was filled with wooden tables and chairs and Buddha statues were all over the place; all the windows were opened, the white curtains were not properly tied, thus they danced in the air. There were no other diners except us and so the atmosphere was quite ghostly.

All the waiters and waitresses were dressed in black Tang shirts and trousers and wore kung-fu shoes.

I asked one of them who looked sleepy probably due to the dim lighting, ‘Who originally owned this house?’

‘Chiang Kai Shek, the Generalissimo.’

‘He really knows enjoying life.’ I thought… … … … …

I was of course not satisfied with the answer and years later, I came across many other articles about this beautiful compound…. …

A lot of foreigners rushed to Shanghai after it was opened as a treaty port and many of them made a fortune trading opium. Later they invested in real estates and became even richer. Among these people are the Morriss family, which most of the older Shanghainese heard of.

Henry Morriss arrived to Shanghai from Britain with another friend in 1867. He first worked for HSBC, and later won some fortune from horse racing, a game he was so passionate about. He later purchase North China Daily News, the oldest English newspaper in China and became its president.

He also owned lots of lands at the French Concession area like those around Seymour Road (today’s Shanxi Lu) and Avenue Pere Robert (today’s Ruijin No.2 Road), where he later built the Morriss Estate. When he died, a Frenchman called Chollot bought the northern part of the garden in 1928 and built a Canidrome (dog racing track) and a hotel there. Aftger liberation, the dog racing track became the Cultural Square as it is today and the hotel was once a library and then a theatre academy.

The whole garden covers an area of 77000sqm, and the complex comprises 4 elegant villas that are distinctive in style. Constructed in 1917, Villas 1 and 2 were the private garden residence of Mr Morriss and located in the heart of the complex. It’s worth to mention that Madame Soong Mei Ling once stayed here and after liberation, it was used as the office for Shanghai’s first mayor, Mr Chen Yi. Villa 3, built in 1932 was also the residence of Morriss and was taken over by Shanghai Building of Land Bureau when the last Morriss son, a bachelor died in 1952 in the estate.

In 1924, the northeastern part of the garden was sold to Mitsui Trading Co., where they later built an Italian Renaissance style estate in 1936 which is known as Villa 4 today. They built a wall west of the estate to separate themselves, and later the place was named Mitsui Garden. After the Pacific War, the KMT took the estate and the high-ranked officials stayed there. After liberation, officials of the East China Bureau who used to stay at the St. John’s University moved in.

Not long after, the municipal government tore down the walls that separate the estates and the complex became a whole again.

The site was turned to Ruijin Guest House in 1956, accommodating Party Leaders and foreign politicians. The guesthouse was opened to public in 1979, so every one of us have the chance to enjoy ourselves at this unique landmark!

Eric Moller arrived to Shanghai from Sweden in 1919 in poverty and won in a horse race; he used the money to purchase a few horses and got engaged in the racing business which Shanghai was famous for. Later he started a trading company, bought a ship carrying passengers along the canels and rivers around the Cheong Kong areas, and even tried his hand at real estates! He soon rose to become a ‘Taipan’, the Chinese word for a boss or successful businessman.

As his business expanded, he decided to build a house worthy of his own status.

According to most present sources, while he was finding an architect, his daughter, who had a great fondness for Andersen’s fairytales, dreamt she walked into one of the fairytale’s castles. She sketch the house to her father after waking up the next day. Eric was very interested and invited some architects to construct the house as sketched.

It was completed in 1936, but in Tess Johnston’s famous book on Shanghai’s old houses, ‘A Last Look’, she wrote that the house’s completion was delayed for a couple of years after a fortune teller warned Moller misfortune would occur if ever the house is completed. He finally did so in 1949, the year when the house was overtaken by the Communist Youth League.

But a more accurate source was that the Japanese overtook the mansion after the Pacific War, later occupied by some KMT officials, before the Communist Youth League moved in, the latter unveiling the mask of this mysterious house to the public.

The garden of the mansion covers an area of 200sqm. In the centre of the garden lies a grave with a bronze statue of a horse erected above it. Below buried a horse many said that had tuned Moller rich. Later some of his other favourite pets were buried there.

The whole estate comprises of 6 buildings, a total number of 106 rooms, with wood panel interior, decorated with navigation motives that might symbolize Moller’s shipping business.

Hengshan Group, a Shanghai based travel company, took charge of the estate in 2001 and renovated it to adapt its new use as a hotel, which was officially opened in 2002 as Hengshan Moller Villa.

Built in 1936 (although the plague states it’s 1929),it covers an area of 546 sqm and it’s located south of the Avenue Road Apartments; in fact it’s just behind it.
As it’s tucked away in the narrow Tongren Road and sandwiched between larger apartment blocks, it’s easy for one to pass by the place without noticing it.
However with a keen eye and a dare devil soul to discover, the main entrance is worth to take a look at. It resembles a European Castle.

Also known as the Xujiahui Cathedral (or the old fashion way: Sikkawei Cathedral), this Roman Catholic church was designed by a British architect called William Doyle and built by the French Jesuit priest in the early 20th Century. It was known as the grandest cathedral in the Far East back in those days.

Built in 1959 at the site of Silas Hardoon’s gardens at Yan’an Road, the Palace of Sino-Soviet Freindship is a glorious example of the Stalinist neo-classical architecture.

Designed by the firm of Lester, Johnson, & Morris (Henry Lester, George A. Johnson & Gordon Morris) in 1934; now the Shanghai Seaman’s Hospital. The building looks like an airplane or a bird when seen from above: Click here

Now known as Long Chang Apartments and featured in the a Steven Chow film "Kung Fu Hustle", this was once a police office built by the British.

It is cleaner than I expected, probably because it’s a winter day, but I was not able to take a good shot of the building.

A 5-storey structure (or 6?), it’s been occupied by hundreds of families after liberation, the long corridors are the place neighbours do household chores like clothes washing and drying, cooking, and chit-chat. There is no private bathrooms, and in fact, the tenants are mostly old people now, who used to work for state own enterprises. We met a couple of them and had a good chat with them; although our conversation was a bit ridiculous; they wondered what I was saying and me trying to figure out what they say.

More information here: www.chinasmack.com/pictures/shanghai-pig-cage-stronghold-…

Located on No.147 Ward Road (the present Changyang Road), Hongkew District, the first jail building was constructed in 1901 and went into service in 1903. It continued to expand and by 1935, the complex comprises of 10 buildings surrounded by walls of 5 metre high.

It was under the management of the Shanghai Municipal Council (the British) for 38 years and only British, Indian and Russian were recruited as guards in the jail. But in 1930, a group of Indians went on a strike and thus were dismissed. 40 Chinese guards were immediately employed and since then, the number of Chinese seen in this jail increased.

In the beginning, the prisoners were either British or some other westerners. During the 1940s, a lot of revolutionaries were locked and some traitors and Japanese after 1945.

The Shanghai Government invested about 3 million Yuan and converted one of the 6-storey concrete jail into a museum in 1999.

Epilogue: Would you like to take a look when you come to Shanghai next time?

Photo Credit :John Meckley

Text with kind permission from www.Hudec.cn

Mr. DV Wu Tongwen’s Residence, formerly Shanghai Urban Planning Design Institute, now with restaurant facililities on the ground floor and office for Zhonghenghao International Trade (Shanghai) Com., Ltd on the upper floors, is situated at No. 33 Tongren Road. Containing over 2,000 square-meters of building area, the four-storey reinforced concrete structure was designed in September 1935 and completed in July 1938. Because of the surface covered with green glazed tiles, it is commonly known as “”the green house”".
This residence is one of Hudec’s masterpieces which integrated a modern architecture with Art Deco style. By putting the main body of the building in the north of the site along East Beijing Road and by building a curved solid boundary wall along the road corner, a large private garden was created in the southern part of the site. There are rooms for different functions such as a banqueting hall, a ballroom, the billiard room, bar, chess room, and greenhouse etc. Composed by graceful curves and straight lines, the simple design of the facade, horizontal balcony, large pieces of curved glass and grand stream-lined outdoor staircase, make the house like a steamship with complete liveliness that visualizes an extreme modernized image. In addition to the first utilization of a small-sized lift in a private residence in Shanghai, the luxurious decoration and elements s of the house include a sun-parlor with glass ceiling, small ballroom with spring floors, full sets of air-conditioning equipment, kitchen and toilet appliances. The house is still a novel design for its indoor staircase paved with marble, imported from Italy, with its cast copper handrail, the glass safety plates, and the copper radiators embedded in the walls. The wall of the staircase and the upper part of the bounding wall were both decorated with special cast iron in the Art Deco style.
The house was once well known as “one of the most spacious and luxurious residences in the Far East”". (The building was listed as Heritage Architecture of Shanghai in 1994)

Text with kind permission from www.Hudec.sh

Yan Xi Tang, known, today, as the Catholic Country Church in the western suburbs of Shanghai, was previously known as the Chapel of the Westerners Cemetery on Rubicon Road Ma Xiangbo and other famous Chinese educators and Catholic patriots raised funds to complete the Church in 1925. The two-storey reinforced concrete structure has a building area of 239 square meters. The building’s address is now on Hami Road near the 6th Gate No.1115,.
The church imitates the structure of Byzantine architecture, emphasizing basic characteristics such as vaults, arches and domes and walls coated in rough textured cement. Sitting upon a square base is a round dome made of steel and concrete. With four clustered piers on the four corners supporting the pendentive and the dome, the plan forms a Latin Cross. Light cast through the window apertures on the bottom of the dome gives the illusion of the huge dome suspended in the air. The ground and the second floors are paved with colourful terrazzo tiles. Doors, arches and lancet windows are of Gothic style. In the north of the church, along with a chapel, stands a Romanesque clock tower with Gothic lancet windows. The 4.96 square-meter courtyard of the church was used primarily as a cemetery and mortuary. Entering from an underground passage, one could hold a memorial ceremony in the church. 4,000 square meters of the church grounds was transformed into the Xin Jing High school in 1968, while the remainder was employed as a nursery for baby animals of the Shanghai Zoo from 1974, until recently.
Radically different from Hudec’s more traditional structures in Shanghai, this Byzantine church shows Hudec’s accurate grasp of different architectural styles. Hungary had once been populated by the seven tribes of “Magyars” coming from the East, carrying features of Eastern culture. There are still numerous Byzantine architectural style buildings in Hungary, once the centre of European Gothic and Romanticism.

“Ruins? Amazing! I’d love to see it!” I exclaimed.

Kylie continued with excitement, “Yes, I know you’re interested, but we got to be quick as I think it might be torn down soon.”

“Please bring me down there next week.” I replied.

I became so restless for the next 6 days but at the same time, I doubted if that place is just one of those many vulgar looking “Euro-Style” houses built in the suburbs during the 1990s.

We met the following week, a hot summer afternoon and walked down to a lane off Changning Road. After a few minutes, Kylie stopped by a gate and pointed to the ruins behind it, “Here we are!”

The empty land that surrounds the ruins is now enclosed by a high wall but fortunately, we were still able to peep through the rusty gate to take a few shots of the ruins.

After looking at the ruins carefully for a while, I agreed with Kylie that it is a building built during the pre-liberation period. Both of us wanted to know more about it thus we walked along the wall in search of the guardhouse.

Our attempts to beg those guards to enter the enclosed land failed. But I still managed to chit chat with them a bit and learned that this piece of land is now owned by a foreign investor and that it’ll be developed soon.

Alas, property developers have no love for heritage, given that the real estate business in Shanghai is a piece of big and delicious cake.

We left the place in despair but my curiosity of this mysterious building has been haunting me since then and I was determined to find out the story behind it.

My quest begins. I asked many professors, architects and old Shanghailanders I know of, but I got the same answer, “ I’m sorry, I know nothing about it.”

A late dinner with a friend and our chat about buying a few copies of “The Last Look” as souvenirs back home recalled me another person who might know the answer: TESS JOHNSTON!

Her prompt reply within 9 hours to my email enquiry was the same like all others, “No, I don’t know about it and I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before.”

However, she invited me to check her old maps and directories at her Art Deco apartment which houses a collection of interesting books and information that every Shanghai heritage scholar dreams of.

Tess greeted me with a glass of cold red drink and then handed me 2 thick directories dating back to the 1930s-40s. One contains a comprehensive series of Shanghai maps while the other directory just contains plain text of street names and residents who lived on the roads.

Then I showed her the pictures of the building from my laptop and she immediately said, “No, I’m 100% sure this isn’t a church building. Hmm…A Spanish Colonial revival style building……a style common in those days. I bet it might have been a school or a hospital. Look at the tower, it doesn’t look like a bell tower of a church!”

The research, with the kind help of Tess, took hours and reminded me of Robert Langdon breaking the Da Vinci Codes.

First, with the help of Google Earth, we tracked down the exact location of the ruins on the modern map and then corresponded with the old map directory. Without much success.

Then we checked the other directory for the corresponding old name of Changning Road; this was pretty easy. It used to be known as  Bresnan Road. We then check the other directory for the list of buildings and residences along Bresnan Road. Most of the places on the list were factories and private residences of the wealthy…and then we saw:

61-5 St. Mary’s Hall High School (A.C.M.)

Tess said she heard this name before but suggested me to google the name. Most results that came up were the St. Mary’s Hall High School in USA or UK, but nothing about Shanghai; probably not when you’re reading this as mine will be included in the results!

I’m fortunate to understand Chinese so I “baidu” instead. It turns out that this ruins was indeed St. Mary’s Hall, the school that Eileen Chang studied!

Founded by the same church that established St. John’s University, the original campus was located within St. John’s until 1922, when they moved to Bresnan Road. Once considered as one of the 2 most prestigious schools for girls, it was merged with McTyeire School in 1952 to form the present day Shanghai No. 3 Middle School for girls, and the campus has been based in McTyeire School since then.

The then St. Mary’s Hall became a garment vocational school and later became part of HuaDong University until some years ago when HuaDong sold it to the developer.

I’ve had a chance to meet a designer tonight (1 day after I met Tess) who has got friends studying in HuaDong and she told me that HuaDong sold the land to the developer for 500 million yuan and the developer immediately torn down part of the building. Later they were stopped by the government since there is a plaque on the building’s wall. But as Tess told me, she witnessed lots of buildings with plaques demolished over the years.

It’s nice to have this mystery finally solved. I can’t wait to share with Kylie this exciting news. So let’s pray it won’t disappear, but frankly speaking, who knows?

Text with kind permission from Katya Knyazeva

Brothers Qiu from a northern province made their fortune overnight in the 1920’s Shanghai. Their eccentric twin mansions with a lush garden full of exotic animals were the talk of the town for years. When the third generation Qiu released his fleet of pigeons the skies would darken.

In 1940’s the brothers escaped the turmoil and disappeared without a trace. The school that came to use the buildings after them demolished (!) one mansion in 1990 to make space for more classrooms. Talk about good education! Now the school moved to the other end of Weihai Lu, its hastily erected classrooms are gone too, and the orphaned exotic mansion will be pushed deeper into the land. I won’t be surprised if ‘moving’ involves disassembling it brick by bricks and replacing whole structures.

Photo Credits: Katya Knyazeva and John Meckley

Text by John Meckley

Historic Art Deco theatre designed by Fan Wen Zhao (Robert Fan) and completed in 1941.

Empire Mansions were built in 1935. The building occupies a corner of Huaihai Lu and Changshu Lu and has distinctive horizontal lines running along the facade that are intersected by vertical patterns.

Chongming Lu and Jiangxi Bei Lu. Derring Apartments were built in 1935 by a British construction firm. The building was meant to be the first in the line of white collar housing projects. In its short life as an apartment building it had two famous residents, both writers: Zhang Henshui and Liu Baiyu. After 1947, a pharmaceutical company Xin Yi purchased the building and adapted it to its production purposes, basically turned it into a factory. In 1956, the factory went into the joint state private ownership and by 1958 the building housed over ten glass-making factories and pharmaceutical productions, becoming Shanghai’s largest concentration of pharmaceutical processes.

Wukang Rd near Hunan Rd

Text with kind permission from www.hudec.sh

Grand Theatre, known today as the Grand Cinema, is located at 216 West Nanjing Road. It was built on the site of old houses owned by the United Movies Co., Ltd, who took 1.1 million Liang of Silvers to clear the site. Designed in October 1931 and completed in May 1933, the three-storey building with reinforced concrete structure covers 4,016 square-meters of site area and 6,249.5 square-meters of building area. B. J. Lindskog designed the structural engineering and the English company Eastern Ironworks undertook the mechanical engineering aspects.
With the interleaving of vertical and horizontal lines and cubes on the street façade, and light yellow stucco on the external walls, the theatre has a modern Art-Deco style, from exterior to interior. The entrance was composed of 12 high glass doors with chromium-alloy-steel frames and black marble inlay in walls on both sides. Upon an ivory glass canopy, above the entrance, there is a large window with strong vertical-lines, attached to which was a cubic translucent glass lighting box 30.5-meters high. During the night, the light box seemed to glow.
The whole façade was quite modern in its varied layout, flowing lines, powerful contrasts and vivid colours. The elegant auditorium was designed in the shape of a bell parallel to the longitudinal axis of the site in order to make the best use of this limited and irregular plot. There were 2,016 seats arranged in concentric circles, in both upper and lower storeys of the auditorium, achieving the maximum application of business area as well as guaranteeing the comfort of the interior space. Hidden lighting systems with grooves were applied in the auditorium, entrance and rest halls. Thanks to the cooling air system with a jet supply scheme, there is neither a vent nor noise in the theatre. The lobbies on the first and second floor were all designed in cashew shapes, and linked to the entrance hall with two straight-run stairs.
The ceiling, the walls of both sides and the decoration on the walls were totally designed into flowing curves. In this way, all halls were united into one comfortable, active and unique public space. What a smart and creative solution for this difficult site in its compact urban context.
For its extremely modern and luxurious characteristics, the Grand Theatre was reputed as “the best theatre in the Far East”. As an important milestone in Hudec’s architectural life in Shanghai, the completion of the Grand Theatre marked the turning point of Hudec’s architecture style. With his accurate understanding of commercial projects, outstanding talent for dealing with difficult design contexts such as complex sites, sophisticated functions etc. and skillful expression Hudec gradually established his status as one of the most important modern architects in Shanghai. (The building has been listed as Heritage Architecture of Shanghai since 1989.)

Text with kind permission from www.Hudec.cn

Shanghai Joint Savings Society Building, known today as the International Hotel, or Park Hotel, is located at No. 170 West Nanjing Road. It was named after the allied bank founded in 1923 by the Yienyieh Commercial Bank, Kincheng Banking corporation, the China and South Sea Bank and the Continental Bank. Designed in March 1931 and completed in December 1934, the building is 83.8-metres high and contains 22 stories above ground and another 2 stories underground. Built by Voh Kee Construction Company, the piling project was finished by a Danish Company established by Corrit.
Taking early American skyscrapers in New York and Chicago as a source of inspiration, J.S.S. Building was designed in a style of modern Art Deco with long vertical stripes shrinking layer upon layer on the elevations and creating a setback skyline at the top of the tower above the 15th floor. The facade is mostly covered with brown facing bricks while the bottom is coated with black granite. All these materials are produced in China. The building has a steel frame structure, coated with concrete for fireproofing, and reinforced concrete floors. Thanks to the raft foundation of reinforced concrete and the dense and deep sheet-piling, the building has the least subsidence among the high-rises built in Shanghai at that time. Each floor is equipped with hydrants, automatic extinguishing spray devices and artesian units along with a tap water supply system. Its cold air system was also the first application among hotels built in China at that time.
J.S.S Building has been reputed as the tallest in the Far East for several decades and the highest landmark in Shanghai for nearly half a century. It is Hudec’s masterpiece of modernism and Art Deco by virtue of rapid development in both financial investment in real estate and building technology in Shanghai in 1930s, the design and the construction of the Park Hotel reached the highest level of skyscrapers in the Far East in 1930s. (The building has been listed as Heritage Architecture of Shanghai in 1989.)

Text with kind permission from www.hudec.cn

Union Brewery Ltd, formerly Shanghai Beer Factory, was located at No.130 Yichang Road, which recently, a renewal project, converted the old factory building into a complex with galleries and shops, and Mengqing Garden shops along the Suzhou creek.
The Union Brauerei AG (established in 1911) was run by the German company Schwarzkopf & Co. The brewery produced 2,000 tons yearly (2 million liters) and had 100 employees. The brewery was purchased in 1919 by a Norwegian businessman. Frithjof Gustav Cark Hohnke, who can be credited for making beer popular in Shanghai. Victor Sasson bought most of the shares of the brewery in 1935 and the name was changed to Shanghai Brewery. Hohnke continued as director of the company, and kept his private villa, built by Hudec, in the French Concession, now the chancery of the Belgian Consulate.

The English Jardine Group built a new factory on this site. Designed in October 1931 and completed in May 1933, the factory once boasted being the biggest beer producer in the far-east containing 11,100 square-meters of plot area and 28,800 square-meters of building area.
The main business of the factory was as a Brewery. The process was controlled by mechanization and all the equipment was imported from overseas. To make full use of the land area, the master plan was designed in a horseshoe shape. The main structures included a brewery building, bottling building, garage, office building and electric- power room etc. The bottling building was five-storeys high of reinforced-concrete construction. The south facade which was shaped in a curve had extensive horizontal windows. The north façade, shaped in hackle, had filleted corners. The new factory had more commodious inner-space, on a no-beam floor system which was rarely used. The brewery building was nine-storeys high in a reinforced-concrete structure. A tower on the east façade was built in Art-Deco with similar disposal, for the entrance along Suzhou creek. These two buildings both had dark architraves around the windows and air corridors between them. As a part of the renewal project along Suzhou creek, the factory site, of which none of the original buildings exist, has been changed into an ecological green park named Mengqing Garden in 2005, and also has a brewery.
As one of the two huge industrial factories designed by Hudec, Union Brewery Ltd. successfully integrates Modernism with industrial design. (The Factory site was listed among the Heritage Architectures of Modern History in Shanghai since 1999).

Old apartment block built in 1924.

Also known as the Atlantic Café, it was popular among many Jewish that time. Some musicians frequented that café and played instruments there. The old commercial sign was salvaged in 2004 from being overpainted.

*UPDATE: IT IS NOW A DISAPPEARED CORNER.

One of the largest shelters for Jewish Refugees during WWII. Established in 1939, it was once used as a hospital.

Built in 1917, it was also another favourite gathering spot for Jewish Refugees during WWII. It is now a residential compound occupied by many local families.

Designed by architects Leonard, Veysseyre & Kruze and located in the French Concession in 1930. Some parts of the building is 7-storey high, while some are 10-storey covering a land area of 5200sqm. It was a property of the French businessmen until the outbreak of the Pacific War when they sold it at a low price of H.H Kung, the then richest man in China.

If you happen to work near Huai Hai Middle Road, then you should visit Nanchang Road, formerly known as Rue Vallon. There you will find a lovely old building sitting quietly, usually haunted except a few elderly who look after it during the day; the old Shanghai Science Hall.

There are only very few sources about this beautiful old facade, and it really took me some time to trace its origins. The whole story dates back in 1904, when the number of French population grew rapidly. The Municipal Council in the former French Concession commissioned a Sports Club for the French community in town. It is a 2-storey building of brick and concrete composite with a large tennis court with a total area of 500sqm. When the club was moved to a new venue, the present Okura Garden Hotel on Maoming Road in 1925, this building was converted into a school known as College Francais, or College Municipal Francais according to some sources. After liberation in 1949, it was assigned for a new mission, and became the headquarters of the Shanghai Science Hall.

I arrived at this haunted hall on a late afternoon and the old guard who was on duty told me I should come another day; he’ll turn on all the lights of the hall and show me its original grandeur……Hope he’ll keep his promise.

Note: I am still searching for the name of the architects who designed this building. The Chinese translation is 万茨 and 博尔舍伦. If you happen to come across their corresponding French names, please contact me. Thank you.

Chinese courtyard located in Lujiazui

Designed by Hudec for Hudec in the 1930s, he and his family lived in this cottage until 1937. It is now vacant.

Text with kind permission from www.Hudec.cn

Moore Memorial Church, known today as the Mu En Tang, is located at No. 316 Middle Xizang Road. It was formerly a Methodist Church, established in 1887 and then changed its’ name to “Moore Memorial Church”, when rebuilt in 1931 with money donated by Mr. JM Moore, in memory of his daughter. Occupied by the Japanese army from 1941 to 1945 and then by a Nanjing Middle School, it resumed its religious functions in 1979. Covering a site area of 1,347 square-meters and building area of 3,138 square-meters, the church was of a three-storey steel－concrete structure, constructed by the “English Eastern Ironworks” Company.
The Moore Memorial Church now serves as a community Church for Chinese Christians. . Facing West, the main church lies in the centre, with several auxiliary rooms at the four corners. Wide galleries on each side of the chapel serve as a transition space from the exterior to the interior worship space.. The English neo-Gothic church features unique exterior walls constructed in a textured pattern with alternating protruding red bricks and stone quoins on the wall corners. The flamboyant ecclesiastical lancet windows in the tower and on the bay windows in the entrance, and in the flanking halls are a typical Tudor style.. The Gothic vaulted ceilings, finished with stone ribbing combined with the stained glass windows, give mystery and warmth to the church. With a height of 42.1 meters, the Bell Tower on the south-west corner was the highest tower in Shanghai at the time.
The completion of Moore Memorial Church witnessed Hudec’s maturity in the free application of classical architectural styles. He was able to deal with complicated functional requirements, foundation conditions and the surrounding street-scape, and to cast rational thought toward the creation of an environment of a special character.

Part of the building was demolished in 1986, thus it is no longer a symmetrical structure but still it is one of the most well-preserved historical school halls in Shanghai.

Built in 1931… …

This Queen Anne style mansion was built in 1923. Now part of the building is used as a rubbish chute.

Completed in 1923, this Methodist Church was founded by an American Missionary. The legendary Charlie Soong (The father of Madame Soong QIng Ling) once preached in this church.

Designed in 1931 by Ogano Shigehisa. It became an internet bar for young people for a while and was vacant for a long time until September 2009, when it was converted into a posh club called CHINATOWN.

An apartment building erected in 1931. Known us PuXi Apartments today.

Embankment Building was built by the film of Palmer and Turner in 1933. At the time, it was famed for its style and size. At almost a quarter of a mile long, this Streamline Art Deco structure was the largest apartment building in the Far East, with wide balconies, eight elevators, an servants’ quarters for most apartments.

Currently used as a vocational school, this building was the old Gordon Road Police Station built by the British. A lot of Sikhs were hired as guards and police thus there used to be some Gurdwaras (Sikh Temples) built nearby.

Designed by the American Chinese architect Poy Gum Lee , it was built in 1934. This 13-storey apartment building has a Spanish Rooftop, which is said to be a very popular style back then.

Not much information is available for this house.

Designed by Lazlo Hudec, this mansion was built in 1920 for a W. Katz and later owned by the famous Hong Kong businessman Sir Robert Ho Tung. It was renovated in the mid 2000s by a company Lister and now used as offices for small companies.

Text by John Meckley

The Capitol Theatre, the first air-conditioned cinema in Shanghai, was located in the Shahmoon Building designed by C.H. Gonda.

Built in 1929, it’s not a recreational centre where one can see lots of middle aged locals debating about the stock market at the main entrance during weekends.

Update: I visited the building today (20th August, 2008) and climbed to Level 6, which is still a hotel, with a cafe overlooking the People’s Park. There is a roof top garden where a yoga house hides.

(text from Ruan Yi Shan Brochure)

Shanghai was officially opened to foreigners as a commercial treaty port on November 17, 1843. The British consulate to Shanghai was built in July 1849. It was burnt to askes on December 24, 1870. The rebuilding commenced in June, 1872 nd was completed in 1873. The building displays a combination of British Renaissance and Victorian Style. Brick-wood structured, it has an H-plan with a four-slope roof.

Not much is known about this building. From what we have learned, it was built in the 1930s by a Chinese merchant and used as a Flour Mill. It is currently vacant and not opened to the public. From the broken window, we can see the Victorian style lobby kept in good shape; there is also an inner courtyard behind the house which resembles a typcial Chinese residential building.