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Essential
Architecture- The Bund, Shanghai
Huangpu Park |
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Public Garden |
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architect
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location
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Shanghai, China |
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date
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1886 |
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type
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Park |
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Early 20th century
and Park regulations, 1917 |
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Today with monument. |
Huangpu Park is the name of the triangular stretch of green at the
northern end of the Bund in Shanghai, the oldest and smallest park of
the city. It is the site of the high-rising Monument to the People's
Heroes, commemorating those who helped to free China from foreign
occupation, and the Bund Historical Museum, showing the history of the
Bund in old photographs.
Name and history
The first park at this location was established in 1886 as Public
Garden, the first park in China open to the public. Designed by a
Scottish gardener in European style, it included a resting pavilion and
a tennis court, aiming at the increasing number of foreigners living in
Shanghai ever since the city became an international trade port in the
1840s.
The Public Garden was closed to Chinese people between 1890 and
1928, and according to a popular myth, a sign at the park's gate read
"No dogs and Chinese are allowed". However, no such sign existed and the
regulations instead stated "The Gardens are reserved for the foreign
community", and further down: "No dogs and bicycles are admitted". In
any case, the banning of Chinese from Huangpu Park and other parks in
China has remained in Chinese public mind as one of the many moments of
humiliation by the Western powers in the 19th and early 20th century.
After World War II, Public Garden was renamed Huangpu Park.
Confined by Suzhou Creek to the north and Huangpu River to the east, the
park bears the name of the latter, larger river.
The Park was remodeled in the 1990s with the addition of the
Monument to the People's Heroes and the Bund Historical Museum.
While the place looks very different today, the historical name
of Huangpu Park lives on in the names of places in the neighbourhood
like Garden Bridge and the New Bund Garden, a high-rise apartment
building in Hongkou District.
References
^ Robert A. Bickers and Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom.
"Shanghai's 'Dogs and Chinese Not Admitted' Sign: Legend, History and
Contemporary Symbol." China Quarterly, no. 142 (1995): 444-66.
In the media
In the Bruce Lee film Fist of Fury, a scene taking place
at Huangpu Park gate has a (fictitious) "No dogs and Chinese allowed"
sign, further adding to the legend.
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links
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http://web.utk.edu/~plee3/shanghai.html
http://www.simonfieldhouse.com/shanghai.htm |
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www.essential-architecture.com
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