If the 3rd of September rings a bell, then it’s very likely due to the fact that its China’s newest public holiday. Or the fact that its likely to be almost impossible to travel anywhere that day thanks to a military parade of apparently epic proportions taking place in the capital. But with all the bravado from Beijing, it’s easy to forget that this day commemorates events that were hugely significant here in Shanghai.
For this date marks the end of, ahem, ‘The War of Chinese People’s Resistance Against Japanese Aggression’ – a war that started in 1937 and would go on to merge with World War II, concluding in 1945 and leaving the region changed forever. Shanghai played various key roles throughout the period of conflict and the city government, never ones to let such an opportunity pass by, have overseen several new projects commemorating the various incidents. The Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum (a Bespoke favorite, and one that we would encourage any inquisitive visitor to include in their itinerary) has just reopened with a new exhibition, including a recreation of the White Horse Café, a 1939 establishment that was said to have sheltered hundreds of the Jewish refugees who arrived in Shanghai from Europe.
But the real eye-opener for us was the unveiling of the Sihang Warehouse, a crumbling old building on the banks of Suzhou Creek that was, until recently, crammed with wholesale stationary joints. The defense of Sihang Warehouse marked the last phase of the 1937 Battle of Shanghai during which the ‘eight hundred heroes’ (actually only just over 400, the number was exaggerated to intimidate their foe) successfully defended this strategically important location against the far superior might of the Japanese army. After years in the wilderness, the warehouse has been unveiled as a new museum dedicated to the events that took place. The most evocative part of the new exhibit, and the section that Bespoke would recommend most, doesn’t even require you to enter the building: the exterior walls, peppered with canon ball holes, have been exposed providing a stark reminder of the severity and ferocity of the fighting that occurred on the site. Not an easy experience, perhaps, but another window into an under-explored period of Shanghai’s past that history buffs will surely relish.
The Sihang Warehouse Museum is open Tuesday-Saturday, 9am-Midday & 2pm-5pm. Want to get historical with Bespoke? Email us for more info.