The Astoria Confectionary & Tea-Room
When Kyriaco Dimitriades arrived in Shanghai in the 1920s, he was young, ambitious and ready to make his fortune. When he left, in 1949, he had created an icon: the Astoria Confectionary & Tea-Room, which sold bread, pastries and the city's most gorgeous wedding cakes. His daughter, Daphne ...
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Bookshelf: The Sassoons: The Great Global Merchants and the Making of an Empire
In Shanghai, the grand Art Deco Peace Hotel on the Bund is the most recognizable legacy of a global empire that flourished here for nearly a century. Yet the Peace Hotel (originally the Cathay Hotel) and its famous bon vivant owner, Sir Victor Sassoon, were the final chapter in the story of the ...
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The Street Formerly Known As Wulumuqi Road
As Wulumuqi Road street signs were taken down in the wake of protests that began early Sunday morning, rumors were flying that the street name may be changed--again. Although most of the street signs do remain, it seems like a good time to take a look at the century-long history of this street, and the ...
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No Exit: David Marshall and the Last Jews of Shanghai
David Marshall, Singapore's first Chief Minister, visited China in 1956, and became the man who got the last Jews out of China. On Sunday November 20, we heard from Marina Shlau Cunningham, a member of one of those Jewish families who was here until 1957. It's quite a story. (For the event recording, ...
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Stateless in Shanghai: Living History with Liliane Willens
What was it like to grow up, from birth into young adulthood, in Old Shanghai? Glamour, chaos, deprivation, hope? Yes, yes, yes, and yes. The delightful Liliane Willens, our guest in the ‘Living History’ series, was born in Shanghai in 1927 to stateless Russian Jewish parents and lived here – ...
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Queen Elizabeth II in Shanghai
September 9, 2022 – As the world bids a sad farewell to Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s much beloved and longest-serving monarch, we take a look back on her historic trip to Shanghai, in October 1986. Embed from Getty ...
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Shanghai Gangsters: The Big Eight Mob
Before the rise of notorious gangster kingpins like Du Yuesheng and Huang Jinrong, there was the Big Eight Mob 八股党 and a crooked cop named Shen Xingshan. Dan Stein delves into the tale: The Louza Police Station, where Shen likely worked. In February 1909, the International Opium Commission, ...
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