Walk in Shanghai – Zhangyuan
Zhangyuan is in Jing’an District, Shanghai.
In 1878, British businessman Grone created a private garden home on a piece of farmland, and on the 16th of August, 1882, Chang Su-ho (or Zhang Shuhe) from Wuxi purchased this garden with a total area of 21 acres from the Hutchison Foreign Bank. Zhang Shuhe named it Zhang’s Taste of Ulva Garden, or Zhangyuan.
The 17th of April, 1885, Zhangyuan Garden opened to the outside world, becoming the largest public venue for Shanghai residents at that time.
After Zhang Shuhe died in 1919, Zhangyuan Garden was gradually divided into up to pieces for selling and reconstructed into a shikumen residential block by different developers.
Built from 1920s to 1930s, Zhangyuan has a value for conservation.
Now coinciding with the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, a part of Zhangyuan is open to the public as an exhibition area. By August, it will be closed for renovation and is said will be a fashionable place beyond Xintiandi.
As I was photographing Zhangyuan, I noticed that among the visitors were residents who used to live here with their younger children, and telling their children about the past.
Jing’an District, Shanghai
Video Source: #China streets 人生贵得适意尔，何能羁宦数千里以要名爵：张园 \ Shanghai’s ZhangGarden \上海の街 from WuWa Vision on Youtube ⁄ CC BY
