Earlier this month I recorded a short story of mine, Strangers on the Praia, in four parts for Hong Kong’s RTHK3 radio station. As well as being broadcast live RTHK3 have archived the episodes as a podcast for anyone, anywhere to download….
Strangers on the Praia is based on the true stories of the few European Jewish refugees who decided to move on from the Shanghai Ghetto to try their luck in “neutral” Macao, then a Portuguese colony.
you can access and download all the episodes here –
I’ve blogged about JL George furniture of Shanghai before (use the search engine to your right, as ever).
George’s was up on Avenue Road, now Beijing West Road, that ran parallel to the Bubbling Well Road right to the western edge of the Settlement. Like many retailers of the 1930s looking to dodge sudden rent rises (nothing new there then) George appears to have moved around – at 1475-1477 in 1930 but also listed at No.805 at times. Their telephone number was 34732, by the way.
J.L. George appeared to be obviously foreign-owned though using
Chinese craftsman – mostly originating from Dongyang in Zhejiang. In
fact the company was owned by Shuang Hong Tai. We could speculate why
Shuang used a western name of course – issues of trust and reliability
were similar then as often today. Whatever the reason, Shanghailanders
made the store popular.
Shuang hired low cost rural carpenters and craftsmen and brought them to Shanghai. This was a tradition begun in the early 1900s in Hangzhou before the furniture “factories†realised the potential size of the coastal Shanghai market and the spending power of Shanghailanders. Each one of their objects was stamped “Made in China†(which had a rather better reputation then than now!). The company moved to Hong Kong in 1949 to escape the communists and remained in business for some time after that as J.L. Georges. Interestingly, looking at various adverts from the 1930s – the company switched between J.L. George and J.L. Georges quite often. Items of furniture made by J.L. George come up for auction quite often, but due to the not completely great quality, the abundance of items they produced and their relative newness they don’t attract much money. However, they are of interest as being a staple brand found in Shanghailander homes.
I get sent photos of a lot of JL George furniture, which is always interesting to see. However, 90% of what i get shown is post-1949 Hong Kong-made pieces. These are more commonly and attract somewhat less interest at auction. Wonderful then that Patti Bradfield from America shared with me images of some of her parents Shanghai-made JL George. They originally belonged, I believe, to an uncle of hers who was interned in Shanghai during the war.
you don’t want to miss this, if you’re in Shanghai…
Filmmaker Robin Lung turns detective to uncover the forgotten
story of Li Ling-Ai, the un-credited female producer of KUKAN, an
Academy Award-winning color documentary about World War II China that
has been lost for decades.
In the late 1930s China is in dire straits. The country will collapse under Japan’s military juggernaut if it doesn’t get outside help. Chinese American firebrand Li Ling-Ai jolts Americans into action with a new medium — 16mm Kodachrome color film. She hires photojournalist Rey Scott to travel to China and capture a citizen’s perspective of the war-torn country, including the massive bombing of the wartime capital Chungking (now Chongqing). Their landmark film KUKAN screens for President Roosevelt at the White House, is called “awesome†by the New York Times, and receives one of the first Academy Awards for a feature documentary in 1942. Why have we never heard of Li Ling-Ai? And why have all copies of KUKAN disappeared? Filmmaker Robin Lung goes on a 7-year quest to find the answers.
And now the Royal Asiatic Society Shanghai is screening Finding Kukan…
The Shanghai government did say that it would not be undertaking any further demolition in the former Jewish Ghetto in Tilanqiao. While this may be true for the western parts of the ghetto around the old synagogue it is not the case at the eastern end of the ghetto where it runs up against the substantially widened Dairen Road (Dalian Lu) and into Yangtszepoo (Yangpu) District.
The view from Huoshan Lu (Wayside Road) looking west to east towards Dalian Lu (Dairen Road)…
The view from Baoding Lu (Paoting Road) looking south to north towards Changyang Lu (Ward Road)…
A bit late with this as it was last weekend, but anyway…
Every year at Qingqimg, tomb/grave sweeping day, a newspaper somewhere likes to comment on how the new blingy Chinese, obsessed with material things, burn replica paper money, jewellery, pharmaceuticals and cars – presumably so their dead relatives can drive around wherever they are…
However, this is, of course, nothing new and has been going on for, well for as long as there have been cars to admire, want, replicate in paper and burn…here from 1921…
I’ve blogged before over the years about the dilapidation and then apparent restoration of Chaonei 81 (use the search box to see those previous posts), a once lovely house that has managed to avoid destruction and is considered by many in Beijing to be haunted.
Philippe Fourneraut who has been researching the life of Georges Bouillard, the head of Kin-Han railway between Peking and Hankow. M. Fourneraut tells me that, according to Beijing historian Wang Leshun, Bouillard designed and had the house constructed in 1922. He died in Peking in 1930. Apparently M. Bouillard’s wife, Zhu Derong, rented part of it to nuns, and sold it to an Irish priest in 1946.
Recently Georges sent me more details of Bouillard’s life in the house and that he had a meteorological station in this home. An example of his recordings is below, as are pictures of the house from last week. As I walked past the gates opened and a large black Mercedes swept in. Exactly what is going on inside now remains (to me at least) a mystery…
From a newspaper dated 7 August 1927 and containing Bouillard’s data for the months of June and July 1927.
A job almost as old as the Shanghai International Settlement – pollarding (or pruning) the London plane trees of Shanghai. Two out of every three trees in the old Settlement and Frenchtown are London planes – ideal as they require only shallow roots, planted between 18 and 20 feet apart along many road they provide both shade from the sun and protection from winds. They are pollarded to allow for new growth and to prevent excessive overhang, usually around March and April. It’s been done every year for a century and a half now…Here’s 2019 pollarding on Yu Yuen Road (Yuyuan Lu now)….
