Speaking of Jiangning Road, I believe many people pass by, because it is in the center of Shanghai's old town, the southern end is perpendicular to the bustling Nanjing West Road, spanning Jing'an and Putuo districts, and the northern end leads to the Jiangning Road Bridge on the Suzhou River.
But when it comes to its history, many people are not necessarily clear, especially this road still has a lot of Haipai style, but it is very easy to miss.
Jiangning Road Public Concession Ministry bureau was built in 1900, initially named Gordon Road. In the course of suppressing the Taiping Rebellion, the British soldier Gordon built several military roads in the vicinity. Later, this part of the road overlapped with the military road, so it was named Gordon Road. Because the road design was relatively wide when it was first built, today's Jiangning Road has basically not been widened, and many sections and buildings have been able to maintain the original appearance of "Gordon Road".
In 1943, Gordon Road was renamed Jiangning Road, although it is a place name in Jiangsu Province, but Jiangning is also one of the old names of Nanjing, Nanjing Road and Jiangning Road are vertically connected, it seems to have a different meaning, foreign civilization and Traditional Chinese culture are blended with each other on these two roads, reflecting each other, interpreting the unique Shanghai style.
Today's Nanjing West Road and Jiangning intersections are still full of style, and buildings such as Meilong Town Square and CITIC Pacific Plaza on the east and west sides of Jiangning Road have refreshed the "appearance" of the T-shaped intersection. The building of Meyron Town Square adopts the "modern architectural design concept", the appearance is based on soft light apricot color, with elegant geometric patterns, the main building adopts the traditional European tower and oblique spire shape, also in the west, in the surrounding buildings appear outstanding, elegant and magnificent.
The Meron Town Square was originally the site of the Majestic Hotel. In the early 1920s, the hotel belonged to Shanghai's top luxury hotels, and its main building was a fake four-storey European classicist building surrounded by a large green lawn. The ground floor hall covers an area of more than 1,000 square meters, which can accommodate thousands of people to gather and dance at the same time, and the center of the hall is equipped with a marble fountain and a semicircular music table. The Majestic Hotel is also accompanied by many fashionable facilities and accessories of the time, which are famous for their influence in the Far East.
On the afternoon of December 1, 1927, Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling held a grand wedding here, which was attended by more than 1,300 guests from Soong Ziwen, Wang Jingwei, Chen Guofu, Kong Xiangxi, and consuls of the United States, Britain, Japan and other countries.
After 1932, the hotel was demolished due to a fire, and the Metropolitan Garden Ballroom was built by a Guangdong businessman surnamed Jiang facing Gordon Road, which opened in 1934. The main building of the ballroom is an octagonal building with a cornice roof made of traditional Chinese yuli tiles, like a Chinese palace. The entire dance hall is painted inside and outside the paintings, magnificent, beautiful, famous in Shanghai Beach, becoming one of the "four dance halls" in old Shanghai.
In 1954, the Metropolitan Ballroom was closed and replaced by the Jingyuan Bookstore, which was later transformed into a karaoke hall and a video screening hall. In 1992, with the commercial upgrading and renovation of the West Section of Nanjing, the "Metropolis" and its outbuildings were completely demolished after their historical mission, and a large shopping mall Meilong Town Square was erected on the original site.
In 1941, a luxury cinema was built in the open space opposite the original Metropolitan Ballroom, and the entire building was facing the street on both sides, with elegant and atmospheric shapes. The foyer is cylindrical in shape and has five floor-to-ceiling glass doors decorated with geometric patterns.
Because the theater is east of Dahua Road (now Nanhui Road), majestic (Majestic) English Chinese pronunciation contains the word "Maggie", so the cinema named "Maggie", and on the opening day, intentionally chose to show the American movie "Maggie", which suddenly made the theater popular in Shanghai.
Due to its prominent location, luxurious facilities, and the first round of screening of foreign films, Shanghai citizens at that time were proud to see a movie at Majestic. Maggie Cinema has also often appeared in the pen of writers such as Zhang Ailing and Bai Xianyong, becoming an iconic background for their interpretation of Haipai characters.
In December 1945, Mei Lanfang, a Peking Opera master with eight years of beard, chose to perform commercial performances at the Majestic Theater, which was a sensation. In 1964, the Shanghai People's Shanghai Opera Troupe performed the Shanghai opera "Ludang Tinder" at the Majestic Theatre, which lasted for half a year and performed 284 consecutive performances. After 1966, the Majestic Theater was renamed Beijing Film Theater due to its proximity to Beijing West Road, but in the 1980s it reverted to its original name, and after several repairs, it has always maintained its original appearance and become a classic Shanghai school comprehensive theater recognized by people.
In 2015, the Majestic Theater staged a play of the same name based on the sensational novel "Blossoms", which reflects the life of Haipai. Watching "Blossoms" at the place where the story of "Blossoms" takes place makes many new and old audiences feel as if they have returned to their hometowns, their old dreams have been regained, and they have a lot of feelings and are very kind.
Today, opposite Meilong Town Square is CITIC Pacific Plaza, and these two squares, together with Plaza 66 on the west side, form the "Golden Triangle" of Nanjing West Road business. The façade of CITIC Pacific Plaza is composed of an all-glass curtain wall, the base is equipped with pale yellow granite, and the dozens of stories high buildings tower between the blue sky and white clouds, and the "Golden Eagle" building behind it, becoming the "new commercial favorite" of modern Nanjing West Road.
The predecessor of CITIC Pacific Plaza is also the new Xianlin Ballroom, known as one of the "four major dance halls" in old Shanghai. The new Xianlin Ballroom originally did not cover a large area, but there was a large garden in front of the hall, which was particularly quiet. In 1945, the auxiliary facilities of the dance hall were further expanded, and an indoor ice rink, a weightlifting room, a martial arts room, a chess and card room, a billiard room, etc. were built, making the new Xianlin Ballroom even more famous and unique.
However, what was even more sensational was that on August 20, 1946, the final of the "Miss Shanghai" election was held at the Xinxianlin Ballroom, which was also the first swimsuit beauty pageant in China with the participation of all sectors of society, which lasted for a month and opened the eyes of all the citizens at that time.
That night, the New Xianlin Ballroom was illuminated and bustling. In the courtyard, colorful lights are displayed, and fire trees and honeysuckle flowers are set off. On the lawn, on the dance floor, there are many people, almost without gaps. At eight o'clock in the evening, the music began to sound and the guests began to vote. At eleven o'clock, the ticket was issued on the spot, and miss Shanghai Crown, Ya, Dian Jun, and the empresses and queens of each group were born successively. Wang Yunmei, who had worked as a dancer at the Shanghai Xianle Ballroom, won the miss Shanghai championship with an absolute advantage of 65,500 votes.
Mei Lanfang, the king of the lingjie, was invited to be the guest of honor, and all 400 million yuan of event ticket and advertising revenue was donated to the victims of northern Jiangsu.
More than 40 years later, Wang Anyi, a famous female writer in Shanghai and a "descendant of the Shanghai School", was inspired by the "Shanghai Miss Election" and wrote a novel called "Long Hate Song" with the emotional experience of "Miss Shanghai" Wang Qiyao as the main line, reflecting the change process of Shanghai's 40 years of cultural history, becoming a classic of "Shanghai Epic", which has always been talked about.
Wang Anyi's text depicts for us the grand situation of Jiangning Road with a Haipai style: all the carnations in this city are concentrated in the front hall of the New Xianlin Garden, and the carnation dance floor is like a dance floor. Red and white are the colors of style, and the floral fragrance is even more style. ......
The lights in front of the new Xianlin gate are foggy, and the carnations in the hall are also foggy, and they come out, gathering a layer of clouds, and the flash of the news reporter is the thunder and lightning in the clouds, and in an instant, it causes a storm. The ladies' cars came, one by one, and the scene of the cars coming out was the first appearance. ......
This scene is so beautiful! This prosperity is the afterglow of forty years, forty years of dreams! ......