Historic Shanghai

04/10/2026

In a city full of exquisite mansions, Elly Kadoorie’s Marble Hall was considered the most beautiful of all.

Come see it with us on October 17, on our Last Kings of Shanghai walk, the story of the Sassoons and Kadoories, based on the book by Jonathan Kaufman.

Story (and booking info) here: https://historicshanghai.substack.com/p/inside-marble-hall-the-kadoorie-mansion

[email protected]

18/09/2026

Remembering Tess on what would have been her 95th birthday. Hard to believe that she’s been gone a year. But we’ll never forget her!

Story here: https://historicshanghai.substack.com/p/remembering-tess-the-pioneer-of-old

17/09/2026

Pop artist Peter Max, who died this week, learned to draw in the Hongkou Jewish Ghetto, from his young babysitter.

Peter was barely a year old when the family fled Hitler’s Europe for Shanghai. When young Peter was three, his mother hired a young neighbor girl to babysit, the daughter of an artist. She taught him to draw, to use multiple colors, took him outside to sketch.

Poignantly, when he returned in 2012–the first time since the family left in 1949–his main mission was finding her. But he had no name, no address, not even one of her drawings. So he drew his impression of her.

He never did find her, but that sketch is in the Jewish Refugee Museum.

17/09/2026

SATURDAY!
Shanghai History Series: Japanese Occupation, 1937-1945

Shanghai’s history is fascinating, but complicated. Our Shanghai History series attempts to unravel the complications with walks that take us through different eras in the city’s history through its buildings—because in Shanghai, that’s how we do history.

This month, it’s the Japanese Occupation of Shanghai. It defined an era and would leave its mark well into the future.

How was the day-to-day occupation experienced by Shanghai residents? From guards on bridges to secret prisons, from the buildings where power was wielded, from internment camps, ghettos, to a shifting center of power , all in the architecture and stories.

Saturday September 19, 10am
RMB 200 members, 300 nonmembers
Book at https://jinshuju.com/f/Q8Feap or email [email protected]

16/09/2026

There’s a temple in Shanghai that doesn’t look like much, but its powers are so mighty that even when it’s closed (as it is now, as it was for 50 years from the Cultural Revolution onwards), worshippers gather outside.

That temple made Silas Hardoon Shanghai’s richest man, it soothed courtesans and had Du Yuesheng on its board.

The goddess is that powerful, its protectors are that fierce.

Here’s its story: https://historicshanghai.substack.com/p/shanghais-hidden-ming-temple

11/09/2026

If you’d spent any time at Old Shanghai’s racecourse, you would’ve seen the chaste widow.

Well, not the chaste widow herself, but the memorial arch dedicated to her on the racecourse infield, the sports field known as the Shanghai Recreation Ground.

This is the story of an ancient tradition, an 18th century Shanghai village, the Shanghai racetrack, and a gentleman jockey—the layers of Shanghai mixing and mingling as only they can do.

Tap the link to read for free: https://historicshanghai.substack.com/p/the-chaste-widow-of-the-shanghai

07/09/2026

This map of Shanghai, undated but probably mid-1930s, hangs on Betty Barr’s wall. Betty’s 93, and the map belonged to her mother, Ruth Hill Barr, who came to China in 1930 from Dallas to work at the YWCA. Betty remembers looking at it as a child.

Why mid-1930s? The Park Hotel is on there, and so is a bombed out building in Chapei (Zhabei)

It was created by John Kirk Sewall, an American illustrator, who’s much more famous for his Map of Peiping and illustrations for the book “Chinese Festive Board”.

Fun fact: Janet Fitch Sewall, his wife, was also an artist, and illustrated a children’s book with Soong Mayling, “Little Sister Su”.

07/09/2026

03/09/2026

In the heart of Shanghai’s old neon-lit entertainment district--now People’s Square--lies one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods. Forgotten, mostly.

But here, beyond the neon lights, is a whole world: thriving lane neighborhoods and quiet ones, the legacy of a Shanghai’s richest man, the historic theater district, a bustling food street, Art Deco apartments, a park with a past.

A slice of Old Shanghai, in the shadow of future Shanghai.

Saturday September 5, 10am
Beyond the Neon Lights: People’s Square
RMB 200 members, 300 nonmembers

Book at https://jinshuju.com/f/Q8Feap or email [email protected]

02/09/2026

An historic photo tribute to the historic Park Hotel, once the pride of Shanghai. Laszlo Hudec’s 22-storey, 83.8-meter Art Deco wonder was the tallest building in Asia! Everyone wanted their picture taken in front of it, it appeared in postcards, in photo studio backdrops.

Even if it no longer holds that title, it’s still stunning, still a masterpiece, and still the anchor of the historic neighborhood that we’ll visit this weekend. You’ll see: look up from the lanes, from the bustling food street, from the theaters, and there she is.

Saturday September 5, 10am
Beyond the Neon Lights: People’s Square
RMB 200 members, 300 nonmembers

Book at https://jinshuju.com/f/Q8Feap or email [email protected]