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Having browsed through multiple historic images of the Jewish ghetto in Hongkou, I could not resist putting them on a map, starting with Chusan Road (now Zhoushan Road 舟山路). Its best-documented part is the southern block, stretching from Wayside (now Huoshan Road 霍山路) to Ward Road (now Changyang Road 长阳路). You can click on any image to go to its location.



At the southern end of the block, facing Wayside (Huoshan Road), stands the Joint Distribution Committee Building:

Source: Yad Vashem collections.

Behind it is a similar building where the photographer Horst Eisfelder's family lived in a room on the second floor:

Source: Yad Vashem collections.

Moving northward along Chusan Road, one passes a row of stores and restaurants on the right (east) side, located in three-story houses built in 1940 (specially for the refugees, it seems). Here is one of the storefronts, Wiener-Konditorei, at No. 42, between two fashion shops:

Source: LMU collections.

Here is Boris Cafe (Only Cash) at No. 50:

Source: LMU collections.

Here is another business, the Promenaden Cafe. I cannot confirm its address, so I haven't mapped it:

Source: Yad Vashem collections.

The entrance to Lane 54 on Chusan Road is entitled United Building. It leads to a restaurant approved by Rabbi Ashkenazi, the business consultant Martin Glass and the tailors Weiskopf and Herta Camnitzer, Dr Loewenstamm, the dentist A. Klemann and the United Knitwear Factory.

Source: Google Arts and Culture.

Going through the gate, one gets inside a very narrow alley runing behind the storefronts and the second row of houses; we see a sign for the judiciary Steindler:

Source: Yad Vashem collections.

The opposite (western) side of Chusan Road is comprised of decorative brick three-story houses with small gardens in front, constructed in 1920 (some sources and plaques say 1910). Here is the southern end, with the Wiener cafe-restaurant Delikat, a dentist upstairs, and the Radio store next door:

Source: https://lascheratlarge.com/.

Here is the central part of the block, showing a furniture store, a restaurant, a goldsmith, and a provision store:

Source: https://lascheratlarge.com/.

Moving further north, here is the gateway No. 69, shared by the men's tailor Joseph Wank and the jeweller M. Schachter. The Restaurant Rosenthal, originally located in Berlin, emerged next door after 1941:

Source: https://lascheratlarge.com/.

Here is the northern end of the block, with the signs for Joseph Wank and M. Schachter again, and the Cafe International of A. E. Mikiladze at the end of the block, at No. 81:

Source: Yad Vashem collections.

At the intersection with Ward Road (Changyang Road 长阳路), at the southwest corner, stands the Ohel Moishe synagogue, but I haven't found any historic photos of it, only this wedding picture:

Source: The China Press, 1931.

Across from the synagogue, at the northwestern corner of Ward Road, stands the famous nightclub and restaurant Zum Weissen Röss'l, or the White Horse Inn:

Source: Yad Vashem collections.

If I have the time and energy, I might continue with East Seward Road, Ward Road, Tongshan Road, Wayside and Broadway.

Yad Vashem Photo Collection has over 250 photos of Shanghai, mostly of the Jewish neighborhood in Hongkou, but also of some central streets, places, interiors, and many individuals. There are detailed captions with attribution and abundant info on the provenance. The images are in relative high-res, especially those in Horst Eisfelder's and Beatrice Reubens' collections.


Horse-driven car, in times of no gas, on Shanghai street. Photo by Horst Eisfelder.



Ceremonial arch erected over Bubbling Well Road during Mrs. Liza Hardoon's funeral. Photo by Horst Eisfelder.


American-run secretarial school.

Now there are over 900 historic photos of Shanghai on the modern map. But given the impossibility of searching on the website (other than browsing the map), I will probably stop adding them after I reach one thousand.

This is a very useful website: http://chinamarine.org/. I never thought I'd be reading on people in uniforms, but the very readable text is illustrated with abundant and unique photographs. And the pics are actually high res!


Shanghai cabaret dancer, from http://chinamarine.org

Assure yourself of a Happy New Year. Start it right. Watch the Clarins in entirely new act and song, accompanied by Harry Langums Peppy Orchestra. Balloons, horns, serpentines, hats, noisemakers, etc, etc, at the old standby Shanghai's best New Mumm Cafe, under foreign management. Rue Chu Pao San, French Concession.
N.B. "You tell us when to close!" Signed: the Manager.

Meanwhile, on the same page, a competing establishment, The Black Cat cabaret on Bubbling Well Road, promises 'Miss Ann in a Black Cat Dance Meow' and 'a number of delightful surprises.' I'd be torn.


Grand Carnival Celebration to welcome 1930! We are equal to every occasion – and of course, the merriest one, New Year's Eve. Pio Pineda and his Isle O'Blues Jazzifiers are headliners on an entertainment bill. Special big midnight show: Miss ANN in "Black Cat" Dance Meow! We have a number of delightful surprises in store for you. Balloons, confetti, noisemakers, serpentines, hats, novelties. Bring the girl friend or dance with our charming dancing partners. Dinner de luxe. The Black Cat Cafe & Cabaret on the Bubbling Well Road, No. 53. Also entrance at Grand Theatre.

(From The China Press, 31 Dec 1929)

This collection has over 580 photographs taken mostly in the International Settlement, Chapei (Zhabei) 闸北, and Hongkew (Hongkou) 虹口. The photographer was mainly interested in documenting the life of Jewish refugees, their commercial activities, community events and interiors of their homes. He photographed a great number of storefronts on Wayside 霍山路, East Broadway 东大名路 and Chusan Road 舟山路. There is also detailed documentation of some rarely seen locations, like College Sainte Jeanne d'Arc and St. Francis Xavier's College. There are almost no 'iconic' Shanghai sights in the collection.

Most intriguingly, there are many photographs of Chinese storefronts, some of which are sequential and allow for a partial reconstruction of a streetscape (which is my latest hobby). The LMU archivists were so kind as to decipher the stores' names and specialization.

I was able to map only a few of them, but I'm working on the rest. Click the image to see its location in PastVu:


This sauce factory, 张日新, the first outlet of 张崇新, was on the corner of Haining Road 海宁路 and Kangle Road 康乐路 (Cunningham Road), but it did not survive the widening of Haining Road.


This is Haihualou Restaurant 海华楼 at 268–270 North Zhejiang Road 浙江北路268号–270号, with Dade clinic 大德医院 inside Lane 272 (浙江北路272弄), and Hongyu shoes and hats store 宏裕鞋帽莊 at No. 266. This stretch was close to the Haining Road intersection.


Sometimes a sequence of photos allows to reconstruct the photographer's journey through Shanghai. Here he is standing on the same spot and pointing his camera a bit to the right, to Lane 262 and Tongde Rice Shop 同德米号 at No. 264 (浙江北路262弄，浙江北路264号). Note the beautiful and detailed gateways leading inside the lane compound! These buildings were removed and replaced with a green patch next to Haining Road.


The Mercury Radio Supply store 富星 was on 523 Foochow (Fuzhou) Road 福州路523号. The building was replaced with a new one.


Tien Sun Gramophone Co. was two blocks away, at 331 Fuzhou Road 福州路331号. There is also a new building there now.

There are many more storefronts in the collection that I have not mapped yet (and might never be able to). They are also duplicated on flickr and downloadable in hi-res. It would be curious to know what made the photographer want to shoot these specific shops, but I'm sure glad he looked at them and recorded them!

There is a sizeable collection of Japanese-published postcards of Shanghai, some tinted, plus some exquisite drawings, available in hi-res on the website of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

I am quite pleased with the fact that Google searches of various old Shanghai sites lead to my blog posts, flickr photos and academic articles (mostly, this helps me locate my own pieces quickly). My articles are among the top results of Google searches for Pahsienjao, Shuyinlou, Verdun Terrace, Route Dupleix, Baranovsky, Grigorieff, or Stepanoff. Many interesting people got in touch with me through this!

But I am dissatisfied with the mapping project PastVu being completely disconnected from Google. I've already uploaded and mapped almost 880 historic photos, yet it is impossible to find them by googling; only Yandex can be used.