Tranquil backstreet steeped in history
Print Edition
TAI’AN Road, a 514-meter-long backstreet that crosses Changning and Xuhui districts, is worth exploring on a fine afternoon to soak up the tranquil and nostalgic atmosphere of the neighborhood.
Starting from Wukang Road, the narrow street goes west through Xingguo Road and joins Huashan Road. It was built in 1921 and originally called Route Camille Lorioz after a Frenchman who ran silk and jewelry business in Shanghai and returned home to fight in World War I. Camille Lorioz was killed in the Battle of Verdun in 1916.
Tai’an Road is one of 64 old streets in Shanghai that will never be widened. The street is charming with plane trees, Western-style buildings and historical figures who used to live there. Each house has a story to tell.
The compound at 120 Tai’an Road is called Willow Garden, or Wei Le Yuan. It has a dozen of exquisite houses built in 1924 by the Continental Bank. Most of these two-storey houses have attics and are in Spanish Revival or English Half-Timber style. Oleander and fig trees are widely planted here and a metal fence with an iron gate separates the compound from the outside. Its inhabitants included famous film director Huang Zuolin.
Across the street at 117 Tai’an Road is the mansion of Richard Pan, a Cantonese businessman who was the Shanghai tai-pan of Jardine, Matheson & Co, a British trading firm. The house features suspended ceilings and modern lighting, very rare in the 1920s and ’30s.
The gate at 115 Tai’an Road leads to a walled compound of eight Spanish-style houses built in 1948 by an American company called Texaco. Each house has a garden. The compound is on the list of heritage buildings protected by the Shanghai government.
Chinese historian Zhou Gucheng used to live in the No. 6 Building at 115 Tai’an Road. Zhou’s neighbors included playwright Du Xuan and Kunqu Opera master Yu Zhenfei. They often spent time together talking about drama, poetry and fine arts.
The house at 76 Tai’an Road, at the crossroad with Xingguo Road, is the former residence of He Luting, the famous Chinese composer, who lived there from 1956 until his death in April 1999. His piano room was on the ground floor and his house has a 200-square-meter garden.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
