China: Shanghai - The (Old) Shanghai Club, 1902.

The original Shanghai Club was a three-storey red-brick building constructed by the British in 1861. The original Club was torn down and rebuilt in 1910 with reinforced concrete in a neo-classical design. The large first floor dining room had black and white marble flooring, while the entrance staircase used imported white Sicilian marble.

The club was a British men's club and was the most exclusive club in Shanghai during the heyday of the 1920s and 1930s. The membership fee was $125 and monthly dues were $9. The second-floor was famous for the 'Long Bar.' This was an unpolished mahogany, L-shaped bar that measured 110.7 feet by 39 feet. On one side of the bar was a smoking room and library, while on the other side was a billiards room. It was famous for being the world's longest bar at one time. Noel Coward said, laying his cheek on it, that he could see the curvature of the earth.

There were also forty guest rooms on the second and third floors. It later became the Dongfeng Hotel, and even housed a KFC restaurant from 1990 to 1996. The restored building as of October 2010 is the Waldorf Astoria Shanghai, a luxury hotel.

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Credit:

Pictures From History

Theme:

Old Shanghai