Alexander Vertinsky’s Gardenia Club, Yuyuan Lu, Shanghai – the latest iteration…
Posted: April 4th, 2026 | 1 Comment »Many thanks to Tina Kanagaratnam of Historic Shanghai for a picture of the latest iteration of Alexander Vertinsky’s Gardenia Club at 1389 Yuyuan Lu – some sort of French cafe? The great Vertinsky was a Russian (though born in Kyiv) cabaret artist, singer, composer, poet and all-round Bohemian-libertine who moved around the world after the Bolshevik Revolution and lived in Shanghai in the late 1930s until c.1943 when he was allowed to return the USSR (apparently spared the fate of so many as Stalin was a fan!). He appears as a character in my book City of Devils.
Anyway 1389 Yuyuan Lu has been through some incarnations of late. It was originally built as a private residence before being Vertinsky’s Gardenia Club. In recent years it’s been Superman Hot Pot, a Japanese restaurant, a pizza place and now “Artist la Pie” (??) changing ownership every few years.
So many different iterations since the Gardenia. Is it possible the ghost of Vertinsky visits occasionally?
My parents met Vertinsky. He was very popular in Russian homes like ours. I believe he was even more popular upon his return to USSR where he was grandly welcome. Supposedly his daughter were quite beautiful and, maybe movie stars.
I was born in Shanghai in 1944 to a prosperous Jewish family, and lived throughout l live in Boston. the dangerous times under Mao. As an academic, I have returned to China many times, and impressed by their accomplishments, but also dreading its history.
I am familiar with your writing.