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the Bund in 1932; in the foreground is the statue of Sir Harry Parkes, marking the end of Nanking Road

 

Intrigue and Espionage Law and Law Enforcement Transportation Media Newspapers and Periodicals Movie Theaters Radio Clubs in Shanghai Lodgings in Shanghai Currency in China Wages in Shanghai Cost of Living in Shanghai Language and Glossary Communications Other Notes Useful Links

Shanghai, China

Population 3,204,012

     GENERAL INFORMATION. -- Distance from London by sea 11,000 miles; from San Francisco, 5,000 miles; from Hong Kong, 850 miles. Local time is 8 hours in advance of Greenwich. Shanghai lies in 31° 14' N. Latitude and 120° 29' E. Longitude, being on the same parallel as Cairo and New Orleans.

     Greater Shanghai is made up of several municipalities including the International Settlement, the French Concession and the Chinese administered Municipality of Greater Shanghai. The population of the International Settlement is 1,023,330, the French Concession 478,552 and the Chinese Municipality 1,702,130, a total of 3,204,012, making Shanghai the fifth city in the world in point of population.

     It is exceeded in population by London, New York, Berlin and Chicago but is ahead of Paris, Los Angeles, Rome and Boston.

     The population, both foreign and Chinese, is strikingly cosmopolitan. No less than forty-seven nationalities are numbered among the foreigners, while Chinese from every province are represented in the Chinese population. In the foreign population of Shanghai, the following are the principal nationalities represented:  Japanese 18,804; British 10,747; Russian 9,532; American 3,667; Portuguese 1,784; French 1,565; German 1,474; Danish 334; Italian 326; Polish 343; Swiss 223; Dutch 190; Spanish 241; Greek 190; Czechoslovakian 153; Norwegian 164. These figures do not include several thousand foreigners who live outside the two foreign settlements, and approximately 200 nationals from many of the smaller central European and South American countries.

     Arrival. -- Although one of the world's greatest seaports, Shanghai is no on the sea but on the Whangpoo River, 12 miles from Woosung, an undeveloped port at the mouth of the river. All important passenger steamers  proceed up the Whangpoo and tie up at docks or buoys which are in easy reach of the principal hotels. Passengers by train arrive at the North Station of the Nanking-Shanghai Railway, near the edge of the International Settlement. Representatives of all hotels meet the steamer or train and take charge of baggage.

     Hotels. -- Astor House, Burlington, Cathay, Metropole, Palace, Plaza. All hotels are on the American plan. The Great Eastern, Yih Ping Shang, Oriental and many other hotels, under Chinese ownership and management, serve foreign style meals and are patronized by some foreign travelers.

     Consulates. -- Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, United States of America.

 

• American Consul-General:  181 Kiangse Road *
  

• Belgian Legation and Consul-General:  1300 Rue Lafayette *
  

• Brazilian Consul-General:  601 Grosvenor House *
  

• Chilean Consul-General:  401 Grosvenor House

• Cuban Legation and Consul-General:  275 Route Maresca

• Danish Legation and Consul-General:  26 The Bund * (in 1939 the Danish consul is senior-most in the Settlement)
  

• Finnish Consul-General:  301 Rue Cardinal Mercier

• French Consul-General:  2 Rue du Consulat *

• German Consul-General:  2 Peking Road
  

• British Legation: 27 The Bund *

• British Consul-General:  33 The Bund *

• Greek Vice Consul:  55 Yuen Ming Yuen Road

• Guatemalan Consul:  814 Avenue Petain

• Iranian Consul:  see the Netherlands Consul-General

• Italian Legation and Consul-General:  555 Bubbling Well Road *

• Japanese Legation and Consul-General:  25A Whangpoo Road *

• Mexican Consul:  208 Hamilton House

• Netherlands Consul-General:  9 Quai de France *

• Norwegian Legation and Consul-General:  2 Peking Road *
  

• Polish Legation:  26 Rue Delastre

• Portuguese Consul-General:  1050 Rue Lafayette *
  

• Swedish Legation and Consul-General:  9 Quai de France *

• Swiss Consul-General:  1469 Avenue Joffre *

• U.S.S.R. Consul-General:  20 Whangpoo Road

• Venezuelan Consul:  40 Picardie Apartments *

 

* have extraterritorial privileges, also known as "treaty nations"

The "Senior Consul" has some particular rights and duties under the various treaties which define the Settlement. This will be the Minister or Consul from a treaty nation with the oldest date of taking up their office in Shanghai.

 

     Telegrams and Cables. -- Domestic telegrams and radio messages can be sent by the Chinese Telegraph Administration, corner Foochow and Szechuen Roads. Offices of foreign cable companies located in the Cable Building, 4 Avenue Edward VII, near the Bund, also at 3 Peking Road. The Japanese Telegraph is at 4 Seward Road. Radio messages may be sent abroad by the Chinese Government Radio Administration in the Sassoon House (Cathay Hotel) on Jinkee Road. Domestic telegrams in local currency; cable rates are based on gold currency, but, at a fixed rate in local currency which is changed each quarter in accordance with exchange fluctuations.

     Railways. -- Nanking-Shanghai Railway, from Shanghai to Nanking, 193 miles, connecting by steam launch or train ferry across the Yangtze with the Tientsin-Fukow Railway; Shanghai--Hangchow-Ningpo Railway, from Shanghai to Hangchow, 125 miles. The latter line will eventually be extended to Ningpo.

     Transportation. -- Ricshas, 20 minutes, 20 cents; half-day $1; whole day, $1.70. Motor cars $3 to $6 per hour; minimum fare of $1 per 20 minutes.

     Newspapers. -- Daily English: The China Press, the North Daily News, the Shanghai Times, the Evening Post and Mercury; French: Journal de Shanghai; Russian: Shanghai Zharia, Slovo. In addition there are many daily papers printed in the Chinese and Japanese languages and many weekly and monthly periodicals published in English and other foreign languages.

     Steamer Routes. -- Shanghai is a port of call for nearly all the trans-Pacific and European steamship lines, as well as the steamers which run from Japanese to Australian ports. It is the most centrally located of all the Far Eastern ports and frequent sailings can be had to all points on the China coast, to Japan, the Philippines or other countries of Eastern Asia. In point of tonnage entering and leaving, Shanghai is the second largest port in the world.

     Travel by Air. -- The China National Aviation Corporation provides daily mail and passenger service by airplane from Shanghai to Hankow by way of Nanking, asking and Kiukiang. Planes take off every morning except Sunday at 8 o'clock and reach Hankow at 3 o'clock the same afternoon. Connection is made at Nanking with a similar airplane service to Peiping and at Hankow with a service to Chungking.

     Currency. -- The old standard currency of Shanghai was the Mexican dollar, but in recent years Chinese dollars of the same value have come into general circulation. The small coins, ten and twenty cent pieces and coppers, are always depreciated. The dollar is usually exchanged for about 120 cents. Local money exchange shops are licenses and strictly regulated by the municipal authorities.

     Shanghai, the commercial metropolis of the China Coast and of Asia, is the most important of the treaty-ports of China, and one of the most diverting and cosmopolitan cities of the world. Popularly termed "the Paris of the East" by observant tourists, it is an interesting mixture of East and West, for while the dominating business interests are largely Western, the greater part of the population is Oriental. In the teeming streets every day it is not unusual to see almost every national costume, and although the Chinese form the bulk of the population, they and their dress are nearly as varied as the foreigners and their assorted costumes, for the Chinese population is made up of representatives from every province in the country. Japanese and Russians comprise the largest part of the alien population. In the Hongkew section are to be found extensive Japanese settlements, where many of the shops deal in nothing but Japanese merchandise. Here one may find anything from dainty lacquer boxes and gaily flowered kimono to heavy leather goods of expert workmanship. Although here and there will be found shops which deal exclusively in Indian, French, British, American and Russian goods, the Hongkew district is predominately Japanese. On the other hand, the Russians have appropriated a great stretch of Avenue Joffre and the adjoining blocks as their owns particular territory. Avenue Joffre, the principal street of the French Concession, is a phenomenon of the post-war period. Since the Russian Revolution, thousands of "White" Russians, their property confiscated and their lives endangered by the Soviets, have fled to the comparatively secure havens which the larger cities of China afford. In large numbers they came to Shanghai, selecting the French Concession as a place to start anew. And from a placid residential street, Avenue Joffre was gradually transformed into a gay and bustling thoroughfare that bears many resemblances to streets in the larger continental cities. Here are to be found the clever modistes who smartly gown more than half of the chic women of Shanghai, and side by side are the milliners and shoemakers who provide the accessories. Here, too, are the tiny cafés serving the delicious cream cakes and thick chocolate of which the Russians are so fond, the florist and delicatessens, the cosmetic and barber shops, and even an occasional pawn shop, where, if one is an astute shopper, an ancient samovar or a bit of strange jewelry may be unearthed.

     Shops of almost every other nation are scattered throughout the rest of the strangely conglomerate city. More than forty distinct nationalities have found their way to Shanghai, and with every nation in Europe represented here, it would seem that there is scarcely a nation in the world which has not helped to make up the cosmopolitan community. Malays, Parsees, Sikhs, Japanese, Koreans, Annamese, Brahmins, Hindus, Singalese, Persians, Turks, and Javanese are only a few of the many races to be seen on the streets.

     The international nature of Shanghai's population may be judged by the great numb of national clubs established here. In addition to the many national associations, there are the American, British, French, Japanese, German, Portuguese, Swiss, Italian, and Jewish clubs. The schools also show the international character of the city. Not long ago one school gave a program which included recitations in twenty-two different languages by students of the same number of nationalities. So cosmopolitan is the population of Shanghai that it has acquired the name of "a miniature League of Nations."

     The native city, which gives its name to the now important port of Shanghai, is of no great importance commercially. It was only a small village when it was first known in the kingdom of Wu, the feudal state of which Soochow was the capital. When Shi Hwang-ti, who built the Great Wall of China, captured the delta, he made Shanghai a hsien, or district, and during the Sung dynasty the name of Shanghai began to be used, the first mention being chronicled in A.D. 1075. Before the foreigners came and developed it into China's largest port, it was only a small fishing port enclosed by a sturdy wall to protect it against the inroads of marauding Japanese pirates, and could boast of no more important than that of being a port of call for seagoing junks and the one of a fishing fleet of about four hundred vessels. When the Treaty of Nanking was signed in 1842 between China and Great Britain Shanghai was included as the most northern of the five ports to be made open to foreign residence and trade. It is no longer considered to be a part of North China, although the earlier geographical division is perpetuated in the name of the oldest newspaper, the North China Daily News. The settlement was formally opened on November 17, 1843, and at first grew very slowly. At the end of the first year as an open port, Shanghai had but 23 foreign residences, one consular flag, 11 business firms and two missionaries. To-day there are approximately 700 foreign firms engaged in foreign trade in Shanghai, employing about 9000 foreigners and 60,000 Chinese.

     The site which had been selected for a British Settlement was little more than a reed-covered marsh, intersected by many small canals -- what is now the famous and imposing waterfront boulevard called "The Bund" was then only a foot-path used by the trackers who towed the boats. The settlement limits were marked by what are now Peking Road, Avenue Edward VII, Honan Road, and The Bund. One of the first tasks of foreign residents was to make this place habitable. How well that work has been accomplished can only be appreciated by a visit to this modern and progressive city. Six years after the British Settlement was marked out, the Chinese government gave territory to France for a settlement between the Chinese city and the British Concession. In the late fifties the Americans leased ground on the north of the British Settlement, although the so-called American Settlement was never formally taken over by the American government. Later the British and American Settlements were combined as the International Settlement, while that of the French remains separate. Thus there are three distinct municipalities in Shanghai: the Chinese municipality of Greater Shanghai which includes the cities of Nantai and Chapei, the French Concession and the International Settlement. These cities are separated only by streets so that the newcomer and many old residents pass from one city to another without knowing it.

     Of these the International Settlement is the most important. A single self-governing community, it unites the subjects and citizens of many different nations under a municipal constitution of a popular character and the administration of an elected representative body, the Shanghai Municipal Council. The Council is composed of fourteen members in all, of which nominally five are British, two American, two Japanese and five Chinese. This body of public-spirited men, none of whom receives any remuneration for his services, has controlled the activities of the community since 1854. In that year the Settlement established a representative governing body and provided for the organization of a police force because of the large increase of Chinese population due to civil uprisings and rebellions throughout the land and also because the Chinese authorities in 1853 were unable to afford protection to the Settlement against the dangers resulting from rebellion and civil war.

     The activities of the Council are manifold. In the International Settlement taxes are uniformly and without discrimination imposed and collected in accordance with the requirements of the municipality. Thus the necessary revenue is provided which enables the Council to maintain its several departments. Of these, the Police Department provides an excellent police force and administers the jails and reformatories which it has established. The control and supervision of municipal cemeteries, the administration and maintenance of municipal hospitals the examination of water, milk and ice-cream, the providing of clinics for vaccination against smallpox and the maintenance of public sanitation are only few of the duties of the Public Health Department. The Public Works Department superintends the construction of roads, bridges, municipal buildings, buntings, parks and sewers, while the Education Department provides six municipal schools for foreign children and seven schools for Chinese. In addition to these departments, the Council maintains the Shanghai Fire Brigade, and the Shanghai Volunteer Corps, which, including the Light Horse, the American Troop, the Field Artillery, the Engineer Company, the Armoured Car Company, the Infantry Units, the Unit Reserves, the Special Reserve and the Russian Detachment, totals about 2,000 members in all, and has ben called, by competent military authorities, "the most complete and efficient small army in the world." Since the close of the World War, it has undoubtedly sen more active service than any other army.

     The International Settlement has the right to take active measures for its own protection against invasion or attack, the right to maintain an attitude of armed neutrality during Chinese wars, and the right to require of all Chinese commanders, including commanders of Chinese government forces to respect its neutrality by keeping their forces outside the Settlement limits. The years 1913, 1924, 1925 and 1927 are memorable in the history of the Shanghai, for during those stirring times the Settlement Volunteer Corps and police force, together with foreign naval and military reinforcements which had come to their aid, had to resort to desperate measures to prevent the entry into the Settlement of Chinese military forces engaged in civil war on its borders. Justice is administered in the Settlement by fifteen national courts of fifteen different countries, and in addition to these there is also the Court of Foreign Consuls, which is an international court exercising jurisdiction in cases in which the Shanghai Municipal Council is the defendant. Thus, under the long and honorable administration of the Council, this section of Shanghai has become known the world over as "The Model Settlement." Its modern buildings, clean, paved streets and its prosperous air of business activity usually surprise the visitor who expects to find a Chinese city rather than one which has all the aspects of a Continental metropolis.

     The French Concession, adjoining the International Settlement on the south, is administered by the French Consul-General and the French Municipal Council, which consists of four French councillors, elected by French electors, four foreign councillors, belonging to at least three different nationalities, elected by foreign electors, five Chinese councillors and three French councillors nominated by the Consul-General and the Commissioner for Foreign Affairs. At first glance it might easily seem that the power and authority of the French Municipal Countil is similar to that of the Shanghai Municipal Settlement. Upon closer inspection, however, it is of a very different type -- the real powers of government are vested in the French Consul-General, the Council merely serving as an advisory body.

     The Chinese areas, Chapei and Nantao adjoining the Settlement and the French Concession, constitute the the Chinese Municipality of Greater Shanghai, and are independent of district or provincial administrations, being under the direct control of the Central government at Nanking. They are administered by a mayor, appointed by the National Government and the directors of various administrative bureaus and a chief secretary, also appointed by the government.

     Shanghai is built on the low banks of the Whangpoo a muddy river which flows with a deceptive lethargy into the great mouth of the Yangtsze, near the sea. In reality, it is a river of amazingly swift currents. The navigability of the Whangpoo, upon which the growth and prosperity of commercial Shanghai have been greatly dependent, was achieved though the enterprising efforts of the Whangpoo Conservancy Board, which consists of the Commissioner of Customs, the Harbor Master and a member appointed by the Chinese Government. In 1905 the river had two narrow channels of 8 and 10 feet, and a bar at the mouth of 15 feet at low tide. Since that time the Board has superintended the dredging and widening of the river, training walls have been build in many places by means of piles, brushwood mattresses, caissons and stone, so that now the Whangpoo has a navigable depth of 24 feet at the low tide, and 32 feet at the high tide, enabling large ocean steamers to make their way up-river to the docks conveniently situated near the center of the business district.

     From the banks of the Whangpoo River the surrounding country extends for miles into a monotonously level plain, which, because of its fertility, is the garden spot of China. The great productiveness of this region, as well as the commanding position of Shanghai in the trade of the Yangtsze Valley, have combined to make it the most important business center of the Far East. Its trade territory embraces the great Yangtsze valley with a population of about 200,000,000, or half the population of China.

     The visitor coming up the Whangpoo see but little that suggests China or the Orient. The river is crowded with shipping, the waters dotted with large and small steamers and freighters, tugs, lighters and barges. Here and there, it is true, he may see small brown sampans, their sails taut, scampering before the breeze and occasionally a junk fleet putting out to sea, but more than likely this native craft is the only means he has of reassuring himself that he is in Chinese waters. The smoke stacks of many factories form a business-like pattern against the blue background of the sky, just as they do in London, or New York or any other of the largest cities throughout the world. On the shores there are huge ship-building plants, warehouses, cotton mills, silk filatures, oil tanks, docks and a busy line of railway, the branch of the Nanking-Shanghai line from Shanghai to Woosung. This was the first railway to be constructed in China, it being built from Shanghai to Kiangwan by a British firm in 1876. For a short time the road was run successfully, but there soon developed native opposition based on superstitious grounds, railways being thought to offend feng shui (spirits of wind and water), which grew to such serious proportions that the Chinese government bought the line. The rails and rolling stock were shipped to Formosa, then a Chinese possession and dumped on the beach there to disappear in rust. The present line was built many years later.

     The traveler who arrives on a trans-Pacific steamer is usually landed at the Customs Jetty on The Bund, the principal street, which marks the waterfront of Shanghai. It is shaded and inviting, and behind the trees are the proud buildings of the city's largest banks and business houses. That strange mosaic which is Shanghai is well illustrated by the medley of vehicles which crowd The Bund at all times. These include tramcars, motor buses, carriages, motor cars, bicycles, ricshas, handcarts and wheelbarrows, all contending for the right of way.

     The northern end of The Bund is marked by the Garden Bridge which spans Soochow Creek. It may be interesting to the newcomer to know that until a few years ago the slope over this bridge was the steepest to be found on any Shanghai road, and that motor cars which could negotiate it had achieved the most grueling hill climbing test Shanghai could offer. The Szechuen Road bridge two blocks west now has that distinction, its grade being a few degrees steeper. The river life to be sen from the Soochow Creek bridges is always amusing. The creek is usually crowded with native boats, for much of the cargo discharged from vessels anchored in the stream is brought up this creek for storage in warehouses and godowns along Soochow Road. The public garden on The Bund at the junction of Soochow Creek and the Whangpoo River is largely made ground. A small vessel was wrecked near the center of the garden and mud collected around it. The surrounding marsh, formerly a part of the grounds of the British Consulate, was ceded to the Settlement by the British Foreign Office, and here the handsome garden was built. In the garden and on The Bundlawn are a number of monuments. Just inside the southwest gate of the garden is a monument to the foreign officers of the "Ever-Victorious Army" who fell in attacks against the Taiping rebels.

     At the termination of Nanking Road is a statue of Sir Harry Parkes, British Minister to China, 1882-1885. Before going to Peking as British Minister, he had served as British Consul at Canton, Amoy and Shanghai, and as Minister to Japan and Korea. Near by, at the front of and facing the Customs Building, is a statue of Sir Robert Hart who was for so many years Inspector-General of the Chinese Maritime Customs, and to whom much of the credit for organizing that efficient service is due.

     Many of the finest business buildings in Shanghai are located on The Bund. In the early days of the settlement, all of the business houses were on this waterfront. Land was cheapd, and pioneer firms provided themselves with liberal sites. With few exceptions, they have kept their original locations, so that here, as elsewhere in the China coast, a Bund address has come to signify age and stability. Among the notable buildings are those of the Hongkong & Shanghai Bank, Jardine, Matheson & Co., Chartered Bank, Customs House, North China Daily News, Yokohama Specie Bank, Glen Line, Yangtsze Insurance and the Sassoon House. The British Consulate occupies a large area near the Garden Bridge. At the junction of The Bund and Jinkee Road is a striking building of German architecture, formerly the German Club, now the premises of the Bank of China. Near the junction with Avenue Edward VIII, the street which separates the International Settlement from the French Concession is the Shanghai Club, the oldest and most important organization of its kind in the city, famous for the possession of what is reputed to be the longest bar in the world.

     Second in importance and in interest to The Bund is Nanking Road, on which will be found the large foreign and Chinese shops, the retail shopping street of the city. A few years ago it was, except for a few blocks near The Bund, composed almost entirely of two-storey native shops. Now most of these have been replaced by what has aptly been described as buildings of the "compradoresque" style of architecture. But the most startling buildings on the road are three great Chinese department stores located at and near Chekiang Road crossing. Each store is under Chinese management, and each in addition to its varied merchandise, maintains a modern hotel, roof garden and restaurant.

     Foochow Road, famous all over China for its restaurants, is decidedly worth visiting, especially at night when it is ablaze with electric lights in huge, fantastic signs. Here the epicure picks his way past shops of every description through the crowds gathered about fortune tellers and street peddlers, to one of the restaurants for which the Foochow Road tradition is so justly famous. Since Shanghai is one of the most cosmopolitan of cities, there are no restaurants serving food that can be said to be characteristic of Shanghai. There is as much difference between the food and cookery of Peking as there is between Germany and Italy and in fact there are numberless schools of cookery in China, each with a definite following. Hence if one is in search of the delectable Cantonese food, he goes to Hang Fa Lau, at 526 Foochow Road. Da Ya Loo, at 231 Foochow Road, has an enviable reputation for its Peking food, while only a block north, Toa Loo Chuen, at 243 Hankow Road, and Siao Yu Tien, at 148 Hankow Road, tempt ones appetite with savory dishes of Szechuen and Fukien fare. The average dinner at any of these restaurants consists of four cold dishes, corresponding to hors d'ouvre, four preliminary hot dishes, ten main courses, four kinds of dessert, two of which are sweet, noodles, four dishes of meat or vegetables to accompany rice, and some kind of sweet gruel, generally made from almonds. There is one Cantonese restaurant on Nanking Road which serves a dinner costing $600. This provides food for the usual table of 6 persons and must be ordered days in advance. Apart from the fact that the courses appear with a regular frequency that is apparently endless, each dish of this veritable banquet is an epicurean delight in itself. To ensure accommodation at these restaurants it is always best to make reservations in advance. No visitor who spends any length of time in Shanghai should forego the interesting experience of dining in a Chinese restaurant.

     To the casual visitor in Shanghai, however, it is the infinite variety and number of cafés and restaurants that prove the measure of Shanghai's cosmopolitan nature. Glittering and gay, hushed and restrained, dozens of these beckon enticingly. In picturesque little Japanese houses one may have sukiyaki, eaten with chop sticks of course, and saké, served by charming little figures in bright flowered kimono. At various Russian restaurants hours slip by in the endeavor to survive and surmount those innumerable strange but delicious courses beginning with zakouska and the inevitable vodka and ending with plumbier, that triumph of Russian culinary art. Hidden away in one of the oldest sections of the city is an Italian restaurant where those with a zest for spaghetti and chianti and Verdi may indulge their particular weaknesses. German, French, Spanish, Austrian and Turkish restaurants or cafés may be found, to say nothing of American restaurants which advertise ham and eggs and freshly percolated coffee. Each of these places, the visitor discovers, has retained its own peculiar identity -- those singular qualities which set it apart from the others just as one country uniquely contrasts another.

     Thibet Road marks the end of Nanking Road, for from that point on, the continuation of the street is picturesquely known as Bubbling Well Road, an avenue which once boasted the finest residences of Shanghai and which is still one of the most famous streets in the Far East. A mile from The Bund at the junction of Bubbling Well and Nanking Roads is the Public Recreation Ground. The presence of this fine race track and recreation ground in the heart of the city is a striking evidence of the rapid growth of Shanghai, for in the sixties, when this magnificent piece of land was acquired, it was barely on the outskirts of the city. Here the semi-annual race meetings are held in spring and autumn, and Shanghai maintains an old custom of its sailing ship days by taking a half holiday on race days.

     The races are held in the first week of May and November of each year on Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. The entries are all "China ponies," that is, native Chinese ponies imported from Mongolia. The riders are amateurs. Many of the more prominent business men of the city not only maintain stables, but ride in the races as well. The betting on the races, which runs into large figures is all on the pari-mutuel basis; all the money wagered, except for a commission charged by the Race Club, being divided among those fortunate enough to pick the winning ponies. The feature of each race meeting is the championship race, and the lottery sweepstakes which accompany it. Each year thousands of sweepstakes tickets are sold at $10 each, so the the purchaser of a $10 ticket who is fortunate

 

  (more to come)

 

-- from Handbook for China, by Carl Crow, fifth edition pub. 1933 by Kelly & Walsh Ltd., Hong Kong.

 

---

 

Intrigue and Espionage

 

     The Blueshirts are a secret para-military force controlled by the Koumintang, with about 10,000 members -- mostly either gangsters or military men. Silencing opponents, especially Communists, is their goal; assassination, kidnapping, and torture are their tools. They are widely feared, but their tactics are crude and wicked enough to have gotten the attention of the foreign press. Their leader is Chen Li-fu.

     Keep in mind that Germany is still supporting the Koumintang (until 1938), and is training and equipping several Chinese army divisions. However, the terms which ended the Shanghai Incident of 1932 forbid the Chinese government from placing any military forces in or near Shanghai.

     The city was designated "Red General Headquarters of Asia" by the Third Comintern, and Communist or Comintern spies and agents are everywhere.

 

Law and Law Enforcement

 

Transportation

 

Media

 

Newspapers and Periodicals

 

     The following are all published in English; a hundred or more others are issued in Chinese, French, Japanese, Hebrew, Russian, etc..

 

• China Press:  

• North-China Daily News:  the most famous and widely-read

• Shanghai Times:  supported by Japanese money

• Shanghai Evening Post and Mercury:  very anti-Japanese

• China Weekly Review:  anti-Japanese, pro-Chinese

 

Movie Theaters

 

     There are nearly 40 motion picture theaters in Shanghai, showing foreign and domestic films.

 

Radio

 

     There are fifty or more stations broadcasting, in many languages. Most are in Chinese languages, and carry light music, with some Christian missionary stations and Japanese propaganda broadcasts mixed in. Some English-language stations:

 

• XHMA:  600 kHz and 11910 kHz. American-owned English-language broadcasts, supporting the Nationalist government and opposed to the Japanese

 

Clubs in Shanghai

 

Lodgings in Shanghai

 

     At a fashionable and expensive hotel, a single room with bath will cost at least M$10 per day at these establishments; a suite will be at least M$20 per night.

     Less fashionable hotels, operated by Anglophone Chinese owners, catering to foreigners and cosmopolitan Chinese, cost M$5 to M$9 per night for a room with one bed. One example is:

 

• Great Eastern Hotel
  

• Nanjing Road, near Garden Bridge. It's owned by the family that also owns the "Wing On" department store, and is sometimes called "Wing On's Hotel". 142 rooms, "Chinese and European meals served."

 

     Apartments in fashionable neighborhoods or very modern, stylish buildings will cost M$100 per month or more.

 

• The Cosmopolitan Apartments, on Lane 1213 just off Bubbling Well Road, about ten stories in Mediterranean style.
  

• The famous Broadway Mansions open in 1934, an Art Deco apartment building nineteen stories tall, with 56 apartments and 156 hotel rooms; alas, the building is taken over by the Japanese military in 1937.

• The Burlington Villas, also on Lane 1213, adjacent to the Burlington Hotel, were built in the early Thirties as a very Art Deco apartment building.
  

 

Currency in China

 

Wages in Shanghai

 

Cost of Living in Shanghai

 

Language and Glossary

 

      Shanghainese, of the Wu language family, as about as similar to Mandarin as French is to German. Fortunately anyone "writing in Chinese" is using the same language. Here's a glossary of common terms; we also have a guide to Pidgin Chinese.

 

Communications

 

     In August of 1930 there were 34,700 telephones installed in Shanghai; by March of 1934 there are over 50,000 telephones, all operating on a dial system by the Shanghai Mutual Telephone Company. The telephone system connects reliably to Nanking (as of the mid-1930s), but only sporadically to other Chinese cities.

     We have a web page with telegram forms and a postcard for China in the 1930s.

     The rate for cable or radio messages, per word in Mexican cents, ranges from 1/4 cent to Hong Kong, up to 4 cents or more to most of the United States. Cables to Europe coast 3.15 cents per word. Priority messages cost twice the usual rate.

 

Other Notes

 

     Hongkew is the portion of the Foreign Settlement north of the Soochow; much of Shanghai's exciting low-class nightlife is there. Cabarets, coffee houses, brothels, bars, and other entertainments crowd the streets. Impoverished non-Chinese refugees who are not protected by one of the treaty powers end up here -- there are many White Russians, for example. The area north of the Yangtsepoo Road, east of the Gongping Road, and west of that stream leading north, is the Jewish ghetto. The Shanghai Incident of 1932 left the Japanese in control of Hongkew; the main training center for the Black Dragon Society is also here.

     Just off of Avenue Edward VII, only a block or so from the Bund, is "Blood Alley", an amazingly drunken, violent and sexual lure for lower-class foreign types with money (mostly soldiers and sailors).

     An even more amazing location, but not as dangerous, is the Great World.

 

Useful Links

 

     Many useful documents and maps at Virtual Shanghai including a nice map of the Bund.

     More maps here.

     The online Tales of Old China site has an immense amount of Shanghai-related stuff, including "All About Shanghai", a guidebook published in 1934. Unfortunately the map isn't included.

     All about the 4th Marine Regiment, in Shanghai from 1927 to 1941.

     "An American in China" web site.

     Nice pictures of yuan paper currency.

     Another "peanut butter wiki", Streets of Shanghai does a great job of providing period information.

     A film from 2005, The White Countess does a good job of showing what Shanghai looked like in 1936. Kung Fu Hustle is also set in 1930s Shanghai; the "Axe Gang" is semi-historical. Empire of the Sun also depicts late-Thirties Shanghai.