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.

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

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.

This Art Deco Apartment Building was invested by Wing On in 1933 and designed by 列文*. The 8-storey apartment building was popular among the expatriates at that time, and according to T. Johnston’s A Last Look, the 1939 directory only revealed 1 Chinese tenant!

In the year of 1937, a Soochow businessman invested a piece of land at the intersection of Route Gustare de Boissenzon (the present day Fuxing Xi Lu) and Rue Alfred Magy (the present day Wulumuqi Zhong Lu) and built an apartment building that named after the road, Alfred Magy. At that time, all the people in Shanghai were very impressed at this project — a 10-storey structure on a piece of land with merely an area of 220sqm!

The original layout consisted of a garage that can park 4 cars, and a garbage chute on the ground floor. There are two 2-room apartments on the second floor, while all other floors consisted of just 1 apartment. (According to some Chinese sources, including OLD SHANGHAI APARTMENT BUILDINGS published by Tongji University press), the 9th to 10th floor is a “skip floor apartment” (DC will confirm later)

The good thing about these apartments is that light travels to each corner of the apartment, from bedrooms to living rooms to bathrooms and to kitchens. High quality materials were used for the interior. Heater and hot water and everything essential for daily lives (even by modern’s standards!) were all available. So it’s small, but you get everything. The huge curve of the balconies and streamline design was considered something very modern during those old Shanghai days.

The Alfred Magy Apartments remained to be one of the most classic example in Shanghai. Its clever design has given us a lot of inspiration.

The history of this mansion at 255 Anfu Lu is shrouded in mystery. The four-story castle with tapering tower and Gothic windows sits surrounded with a village of small shacks that barely reach one third of its first floor. Inside the mansion, a spiraling cream-colored staircase runs all the way to the top of the octagonal tower. What used to be a lofty residence for one rich family now has one family in every room, and the flights are used as kitchens. In the early forties, Route Dupleix (now Anfu Lu) was often clogged with automobiles lining up to get to the notorious club and residence of Pan Sanxing, a Shanghai’s nouveau-riche and a collaborator with the Japanese.

Built in 1921, this red “garden residence” as it is referred in the historical databases, was a property of a man called Rosenfeld, and in 1927 became the residence of Soong Tse Ven. It’s converted into an English pub in 1998.

(info from Shanghai Daily Supplement, graciously provided by MRP46)