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STREET STORIES - HENGSHAN ROAD

衡山路

Picture source: Virtual Shanghai

1. Shanghainese name Waonsae Lu.

2. It used to be a farmland in 19th century.

Picture source: Virtual Shanghai; Hengshan Road in 1920s

3. Its former name was Avenue Pétain - after Philippe Pétain, Marshal of France.

4. Hengshan Road is two kilometers long and was built in the year 1922 to link the heart of the French Concession with Zikawei (now Xujiahui) the centre of Catholicism in Shanghai.

Picture source:commons.wikimedia.org

5.      The houses of the poorer Chinese laborers were eventually eradicated and this area was developed as a place for foreign diplomats. It particularly attracted American diplomats.

Picture source: UWM Libraries Digital Collections

6.      It used to be the premier residential district in the city.

7.      The symbols of American presence in Hengshan Road are Former American College – 10 Hengshan Road and the Community Church – 53 Hengshan Road.

Picture source: Smart Shanghai; Former American College
Picture source:commons.wikimedia.org; Community Church

8.      In 1943 Vichy Government handed over Avenue Petain to Wang Jingwei Government ( Nanjing Nationalist Government also also commonly known as Wang's Puppet Regime ), which renamed the boulevard as "Hengshan Road", after Mount Heng, a sacred mountain in Hunan province.

9.      It is the biggest and the olderst bar street in Shanghai. In the 1990s, many of the former mansions were converted into bars, night clubs and restaurants, making the street an important centre of night entertainment in Shanghai.

Picture source:commons.wikimedia.org

10.      Some of the most beautiful apartment buildings in Hengshan Road are The Petain Apartments, The Washington Apartments,  Picardie Apartments and Georgia Apartments.

Picture source: commons.wikimedia.org; The Petain Apartments in 700 Hengshan Road
Picture source:commons.wikimedia.org; The Washington Apartments in 301-305 Hengshan Road
Picture source:flickr.com; Picardie Apartments in 534 Hengshan Road
Picture source: Shanghai Art Deco; Georgia Apartments in 321 Hengshan Road
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