Advanced Search

Related News

Home » District » Jiading

Soy sauce and wine in Expo ties

By Chen Zhaoxiong and Wang Jie | April 26, 2010, Monday | Print Edition

LOOKING back in history, we find that Jiading has a century-old tie with the World Expo. One hundred years ago, Jiading was still under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.

For this reason, its earliest exhibitors at the World Expo all marked their products as "made in Jiangsu." Sitting outside the western gate of Jiading at that time was a big winner of World Expo awards - Huang Huiji Sauce Mill - whose Flying Eagle Brand soy sauce, White Crane Brand radix trichosanthes (snakegourd root) and White Rose Wine scooped respective awards.

Huiji Sauce Mill was located at Xixiatang Street, south of the Lianqi River and west of the Xianghua Bridge outside the western gate. The workshop stood right behind its store with its six rooms along the street. Its exact establishment year and the full name of its founder have fallen into oblivion over the years, but existing documents show that it was founded in the 1860-70s (during the reign of Emperor Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty) by someone surnamed Huang from Anhui Province.

Apart from its main business of soy sauce, it also produced wine and vinegar. Since its store and workshop sat right next to each other, it retailed its products directly. In its heyday, the mill covered an area of 1.73 hectares and employed nearly 100 workers. On the large ground behind the store stood many pots for making sauce, as well as over 30 warehouses storing a myriad of wine jars and sauce jars.

Although the mill was closed 50 years ago, there are still many such pots and jars left by the Lianqi River. Later, the Luohan Dish made in Nanxiang and the wood engravings from Jiading-based Zhangwenyu Studio and Shiwenxiu Studio also received awards at Expos, only to arouse a feeling of nostalgia among overseas Jiading people.

Some Jiading people have also helped Chinese exhibitors to participate in the World Expo. One of them was diplomat Wu Zonglian living outside the western gate. In 1909, he was appointed by the Qing government as its imperial envoy to Italy, equivalent to an ambassador to Europe. It was because of all his efforts of mediation that the war-ridden Qing government finally sent a delegation to the World Expo in Turin, Italy in 1911.

Wu himself headed the government delegation, while his son Wu Kuangshi supervised its organization and liaison. Thanks to their efforts, China scooped 266 awards at this Expo. Among those award winners were the soy sauce (gold medal) and radix trichosanthes (silver medal) made by Huang Huiji. Wu Kuangshi attended the award ceremony and immediately sent a letter of congratulation to Huiji Mill in Jiading.

Wu Yunchu, a relative of Wu Zonglian and Wu Kuangshi, was the founder of "Buddha's Hand," a popular MSG brand that won Expo medals three times during 1920-30s (see story below). He also took a seat on the appraisal board at the World Expo in Chicago in 1933. Former Chinese Ambassador Gu Weijun (a.k.a Wellington Koo) accepted the assignment from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to negotiate with the French organizers about China's participation in the World Expo in Paris in 1937 (see story left).

After spending over two months shuttling between the two countries more than 10 times, he finally convinced the French organizers to allow free use of two exhibition rooms in the international pavilion by Chinese participants. To commend his efforts, the French government rewarded him a medal of the International Art and Technology Expo 1937 Paris.

Jiading


 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend