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Version Française When discovering Shanghai Bund marvels, one is often told about the Shanghai Club Long Bar. This actually used to be themeeting place in the 1920s and 1930s for the British elites, but not only them, as the Club was open to foreigners. It was however closed to Chinese citizens and to women who were only invited once a year! The first Shanghai Club, now part of the Warldorf Astoria Hotel, was built in 1864 to provide the newly arrived group of British businessmen with an exclusive place to meet and discuss... [Lire la suite]

Version Française It's been a while I wanted to write about Shanghai Sketch, this Shanghai 1930's famous magazine. Shanghai Sketch （上海漫画 or Shanghai Manhua, nearby) was founded in 1928 by a group of eleven artists including Ye Quanyu, Huang Wennong, Lu Shaofei, Zhang Guanyu and Zhang Zhenyu. One of the sponsors was Shao Xunmei, the Chinese and highly controversial lover of Emily Hahn. From the very beginning, it used erotic pictures or dramatic scenes on its front page to attract readers' attention. Inside the magazine, one... [Lire la suite]

 Version Française  After traveling to Yerevan Armenia this summer, I got extensive information about the Armenian genocide occurring from the end of the eighteenth century in Turkey to the early nineteenth century. During this period some 2 million Armenian people were slaughtered, walked to death and tortured by Turks and Kurd militias working with them. The peak of this period was 1915 corresponding to the rise of the Young Turks party in the former Ottoman Empire. This very sad episode is still denied by many... [Lire la suite]

 Version Française I recently watched the movie called "The White Countess" with one of my preferate actors, Ralph Fienes (Voldemort in Harry Potter, The English Patient, The Constant Gardener, Schindler List...). This movie is about White Russians in Shanghai 1930s, telling the story of a former Russian noble lady obliged to work as a bar hostess. Although the story itself is of little interest, it is probably the first time I watch such a precisely and well documented movie about Shanghai 1930s. The background is... [Lire la suite]

  Version Française  Harbin's Russian heritage architecture has often been praised. The city which was founded along the Chinese Eastern Railway by czarist Russia was indeed known as the St Petersbourg of the East because of its resemblance to the capital of the former Russian Empire. There are still many orthodox style churches in town today, though some of them have been turned into catholic churches or even museums (see Saint Sophia on the left). The Chinese Cultural Revolution in Mandchuria however destroyed a few of... [Lire la suite]

 English version On a souvent vanté l'architecture russe de Harbin. Il est vrai que la ville fondée le long du chemin de fer de l'Est chinois par la Russie tsariste est tellement marquée par l'héritage culturel de la Sainte Russie que la ville a longtemps été surnommée la Saint-Petersbourg de l'Est. Les églises orthodoxes, transformées en églises catholiques pour certaines ou en musées pour d'autres (comme Sainte Sophie ci-contre), subsistent encore nombreuses, et ce malgré le déchaînement de la Révolution Culturelle dans... [Lire la suite]

Version Française As I was flipping again in Peter Hibbard's excellent book about the Bund, my attention was caught by one of Victor Sassoon's love stories. The one with Emily Hahn, a most fascinating character! American journalist and adventuress, considered by many as the first American feminist, Emily Hahn, whose friends and family knock named "Mickey", arrived in Shanghai in 1935. Emily left the United States a couple of years earlier for Africa when she extensively commented Belgian Congo pygmies. The first women... [Lire la suite]

 Version Française Among the outstanding characters who lived in Shanghai in the 1930’s was undoubtedly William Ewart Fairbairn. Being a member of the Shanghai Municipal Police, for 30 years, Fairbairn got himself involved into hundreds of street fights, most of them implying use of knifes. At the end of his carreer, Fairbairn’s body was covered with all kind of scars, even on hand palms. Knick-named “Fearless Dan” or the “Shanghai Buster”, W.E. Fairbairn arrived in Shanghai in 1907 to join the Police force. When on duty, he... [Lire la suite]

English version Récemment, en relisant le superbe livre sur le Bund de Peter Hibbard, mon attention a été retenue par la référence à l'une des liaisons de Sir Victor Sassoon. Celle avec Emilie Hahn (ci-contre), un personnage tout aussi fascinant que lui. Emilie Hahn est une journaliste américaine qui arrive à Shanghai en 1935. Surnommée "Mickey" par ses amis et sa famile, elle se déplace souvent en compagnie de Mr Mills, un petit singe gibbon. Véritable incarnation de la femme libre, "Mickey" a quitté les États Unis par ennui,... [Lire la suite]

Version Française  If you get a chance to visit a Chinese Market in Shanghai or the rest of China, you probably notice that in addition to raw eggs, another variety will be on sale: the “One Century Eggs”, also called “pidan”   This sort of preserved egg has nothing in common with the fertilized duck eggs that one finds in the Philippines (“ballut” in Philippino) or in Vietnam. It is actually more often used as a condiment than a single dish. There is no reason to fear this kind of egg: it contains nothing that can... [Lire la suite]