Architectural, Cultural sights in Shànghǎi
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A
Moller House
One of Shànghǎi’s most whimsical buildings, the Scandinavian-influenced gothic peaks of the Moller House could double as the Munsters’ holiday home. The Swedish owner and horse-racing fan, Eric Moller, owned the Moller Line. Previously home to the Communist Youth League, the building now houses a hotel, the Hengshan Moller Villa. Fancifully perhaps, legend attests that a fortune teller warned Moller that tragedy would befall him on the house’s completion, so the tycoon dragged out its construction (until 1949). Moller clung on for a few years before dying in a plane crash in 1954.
reviewed
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B
Zhou Enlai’s Former Residence
In 1946 Zhou Enlai, the urbane and much-loved (although some swear he was even more sly than Mao) first premier of the People’s Republic of China, lived in this former French Concession Spanish villa at 107 (now 73) Sinan Rd. Zhou was then head of the Communist Party’s Shànghǎi office, and spent much of his time giving press conferences and dodging Kuomintang agents who spied on him from across the road. There’s not much to see these days except spartan beds and stern-looking desks, but the charming neighbourhood, with its lovely old houses, is a great place to wander around.
reviewed
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C
Lu Xun Former Residence
Lu Xun buffs will adore ferreting around this three-floor domicile on lovely Shanyin Rd, where an English-speaking guide can fill you in on all the bits and bobs. Attracted by the city’s progressiveness and literary scene, Lu Xun moved to Shànghǎi in 1927; this was his final residence, from 1933 to 1936. Don’t overlook wandering along Shanyin Rd and peeking into its lovely alleyways and traditional lòngtáng houses (for example at Nos 41 to 50, Lane 180, Shanyin Rd).
reviewed
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D
Lujiazui Development Showroom
Undergoing renovation at the time of writing, this exhibition of photos, folk life and recent development in Pǔdōng, on the edge of Lujiazui Park, is mildly diverting but it’s the historic building itself – unique in a forest of skyscrapers – that stands out. Built in 1914 to 1917 as the residence of a rich merchant, Chen Guichun, it has both a main hall and interior courtyard.
reviewed
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E
Song Qingling’s Former Residence
Putting the dubious pebbledash exterior aside, this home to the wife of Sun Yatsen has historic charm. The English-style garden, with waxy-leaved Magnolia grandiflora and towering camphor trees, steals the show.
reviewed
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F
Sun Yatsen’s Former Residence
Sun Yatsen (1866–1925), the father of modern China, dwelled in this two-storey house on Rue Molière from 1918 to 1924. It’s a simple and retiring slice of Sun Yatsen nostalgia and memorabilia.
reviewed
