Duolun Street: Home to Private Museums, Former Chinese Celebrities' Residences

(Women of China) Duolun Street, which was built in 1912, is known as the home of several private museums and residences of many of China's early 20th century writers and political and military leaders. Now, the street is a must-see scenic spot in Shanghai. It attracts visitors from around the world who want to see the Shanghai-style buildings that were built during the Republic of China (1912-1949) era.

Duolun Street, which is 500 meters long and more than 10 meters wide, is located in Hongkou District, in Shanghai. Prior to 1943, the street was named Darroch Street.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the site of Duolun Street was nothing but a small river. John Darroch, a British missionary who was received by then-Emperor Guangxu (1871-1908), bought the land from the Shanghai Municipal Council (the municipal authority of the Shanghai International Settlement) in 1912. Darroch bought the land because it was close to Songhu Railway, the first railway built in China, and the price of the land was rather low.

The river was filled and a street was built over it. Darroch named the street after himself, and he attracted businessmen who established stores and built houses along the street.

A number of large residences were built by Chinese industrialists, who made a lot of money by opening and operating factories, in which machines produced commodities for civilian use.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Darroch Street was a well-known residential street. Some high-ranking political and military leaders, including Kung Hsiang-hsi (a wealthy Chinese banker and politician in the early 20th century), Pai Chung-hsi (a general in the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China) and Tang Enbo (a Nationalist general of the Republic of China) lived on the street.

Many celebrities, including famous writers, lived on the street during those years. Such residents included literary master Lu Xun (novelist, essayist, poet, literary critic and a leading figure in modern Chinese literature), Guo Moruo (author, poet, historian and archaeologist), Mao Dun (novelist, journalist and cultural critic) and Ye Shengtao (author, educator and publisher).

In 1930, the League of Left-wing Writers, an organization of writers to promote socialist realism and support the Communist Revolution, was founded in a house on the street. Several of the league's members, including Ding Ling and Qu Qiubai, lived on the street.

In 1943, during the Anti-Japanese Aggression War (1937-1945), the puppet government that collaborated with the Japanese occupiers changed the street's name to Duolun, after Duolun County in Inner Mongolia.

After that, the street was not as prosperous as it had been, as it had been reduced to merely a residential street. At the end of the 20th century, the government of Hongkou District restored the buildings and transformed Duolun Street into a tourist destination.

Nowadays, Duolun Street is representative of the historic architecture that was prevalent in Shanghai in the early 20th century.

The former residences of those prominent historical people are now open to the public. The street is also home to many private museums, including the chopsticks museum, newspaper museum, ancient clock museum, rare stone museum, ancient coin museum and ancient pottery museum.

Duolun Street Modern Art Gallery, the first modern art gallery in China to specialize in contemporary art, was established on Duolun Street in 2008. The gallery is a nonprofit art organization.

The architecture, museums, art galleries and antique shops along the street attract visitors from around the world. The street has recovered its vitality since its transformation to a tourist destination.

Source: Women of China By Wei Yixuan

from China Travel & Tourism News http://ift.tt/1iB6EFm

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