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June 13, 2014

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Home » Metro » Environment

‘Green house’ and spies’ lane open to the public

By Yang Jian | June 13, 2014, Friday | Print Edition

MORE than 20 local historic buildings will open to the public for the first time tomorrow to mark China’s annual cultural heritage day — with many open for one day only.

Premises opening their doors include the Laszlo Hudec masterpiece nicknamed “the green house” and a mysterious lane where spies lived.

Tomorrow, some 100 historic sites will be open across the city. There are no entry charges.

A highlight is the 74-year-old “green house” villa on Tongren Road, designed by Hungarian architect Hudec, who created some of Shanghai’s most distinctive buildings in the first half of the 20th century.

“The green house” got its name from its glazed tiles and is regarded by many experts as Hudec’s masterpiece. Cheng Naishan, a Shanghai writer, described it as resembling a passenger liner and named a novel after it.

Completed in 1938, it was famous for its array of rooms, including a banquet hall, ballroom, billiard room, bar, chess room and sun room. The first home in Shanghai an elevator and air conditioning, it was owned by “pigment magnate” DV Woo.

Also open to visitors is a mysterious lane dating from 1941 on Yuyuan Road that was home to spies during the Chinese War Against Japanese Aggression (1937-45).

The oldest building in the event is the Shichun Pavilion on Wutong Road in Huangpu District, a residential building dating back to the final years of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

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