International Hotel, located at 170 Nanjing West Road, near Huanghe Road
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Directly opposite is the people’s park with beautiful scenery
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It was announced as a national key cultural relics protection unit in 2006
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It also has a well-known identity – “the origin of Shanghai city”
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The reason why the international hotel can become the origin is actually very simple because of its “high”
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In the 1930s, the height above the ground of the building reached 83.8 meters
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After completion, it quickly became a beautiful scenery
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It was the highest building in China and even Asia at that time
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Today, let’s take a look at the stories behind this historic building that you don’t know..
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The architectural history international hotel was called the international hotel at the beginning of its establishment, also known as the “Sixing savings association” building in Shanghai
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It was started in 1931 and opened in 1934
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At that time, the first, second and third floors of the building were for the self use of Sixing savings association, the fourth to nineteenth floors were hotel rooms, and the 22nd floor was equipped with a lookout
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It was renamed international hotel after 1954
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The lobby is on the ground floor, the Chinese restaurant is on the second floor, the western restaurant is on the third floor, and the guest rooms are above the fourth floor
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On March 16, 1934, the facade of the international hotel was completed
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When the international hotel was just completed, the whole building was in the shape of a sailboat
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Below the third floor, the outer wall was poured with reinforced concrete and covered with black granite
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All the external walls above the fourth floor are inlaid with brown Taishan tiles, and floor glass windows are set at the protruding corners of the second, third and fourteenth floors, showing a strong sense of paragraph
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Above the fourth floor, the vertical lines are emphasized by high pilasters and vertical window frames that run through the whole facade
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Above the fifteenth floor, they are retracted layer by layer on all sides in a ladder shape, highlighting the sense of height of the building
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The simple decoration and vertical lines of the facade have the typical characteristics of decorative art style
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The interior decoration and floor of the building are made of Eucalyptus and teak, with excellent production and luxurious and modern internal facilities
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Architectural story how is it covered? In the 1920s and 1930s, it was a challenge to build skyscrapers on the soft foundation of Shanghai
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Because there is no relevant experience to refer to, many technical problems need to be solved, many people are skeptical, and even structural engineers are not sure
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However, under various conditions, the designer contributed to the final completion of the building with keen judgment and bold decision
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When the international hotel was built, the steam engine was used for pile driving
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The pile heads were all round logs and American pine
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Five plum blossom piles were driven under each steel column, with a depth of 39.8m, equivalent to half of the total ground height of the building
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Because the pile is deep and dense, the settlement of the international hotel is very small
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Who built it? In order to obtain the construction right of the international hotel, seven construction plants at home and abroad were eager to try and participated in the bidding of the international hotel
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Although Chinese enterprises started late, foreign enterprises were more competitive at that time
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However, a well-known Chinese engineering company, relying on its experience in the construction of Guangzhou Zhongshan Memorial Hall and Nanjing Zhongshan Mausoleum and its good reputation in the construction industry and the people, finally won the construction right, making the international hotel a representative of “made in China”
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It is a witness of history
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On December 1, 1934, the international hotel opened, and many Chinese and foreign newspapers reported it
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Every day, guests from all directions gather here to enjoy the first-class service and food of modern Shanghai
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At that time, the wedding banquet, reception banquet and other social activities of celebrities from all walks of life in Shanghai were held here
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In the history of the international hotel, the repair of the building has only experienced two major repairs in the real sense
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One was the external wall repair in 1988, and all the pipelines, lines, air conditioners, steel windows, ventilation equipment and other patterns were transformed and decorated
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The other was the comprehensive transformation of the main building in 1996
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After understanding the historical materials of the international hotel, the designer decided to reopen the fully closed ground floor and atrium space on the first floor; Second, the original closed roof in the 14 storey multi-functional hall was restored, the position of the previous air outlet was restored, and the feeling of roof skylight was re presented with exquisite glass skylight and exquisite murals; Third, remove the carpet to show the copper wire pattern in the middle of the teak floor vertically paved on the ground..
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The design and restoration of these details also make the International Hotel reproduce the classic style of that year and regain its luster
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In November 1950, in order to unify the plane coordinate system of Shanghai, the surveying and Mapping Office of the then Land Bureau conducted triangulation of the whole city
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Taking the central flagpole on the roof of the international hotel as the origin of the plane coordinate system, and the projection of the meridian circle on the plane through the point as the ordinate axis, the origin of Shanghai Urban plane coordinate is established
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Now we can see the “origin of Shanghai city coordinates (sub point)” sign in the lobby of the ground floor of the international hotel, which also makes Shanghai the only city in China that has not changed the origin
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2
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International Hotel literature and History Museum if you want to explore the history of international hotels in person, you might as well visit the literature and History Museum in the corridor on the first floor of the hotel, where there are Chinese and Western utensils, shareholder seals, stock stubs and all kinds of old photos used in the early years
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Here, you will find an inheritance of your career, which has experienced the care and polishing of countless people and the persistence of several generations, and has accumulated quietly in a long time
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Punch in 1
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Daguang cinema Founded in 1928, it is a typical modernist style
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The vertical and horizontal lines of the facade are staggered, the light yellow outer wall, large glass windows and square columns, translucent milky white glass lamp columns have the characteristics of decorative art school
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The cinema is the first to introduce wide screen equipment in Shanghai and the first four channel stereo cinema in China
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Address: No
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216, Nanjing West Road opening hours: 11:00-17:00 （ Limited to public areas and the historical corridor of Daguang cinema) admission: free of charge (tickets are required to see the film) reservation Tel.: 632770112
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The building of sports building (formerly the Western overseas Chinese Youth Association) is divided into cultural and recreational activities and gymnasium
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The architectural style is a mixture of neoclassicism and decorative art school, with a slight Roman style
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In 1954, it was officially renamed “Shanghai Sports Club”
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Since then, the building has trained many sports talents in the name of sports
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The Shanghai Sports Museum has officially opened on July 11, 2021 and is open to the public free of charge.
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