Home » Images » 0023 Pictures From History » CPA0011363

Shanghai: A luggage label from Broadway Mansions, Shanghai, c. 1930s, with British Union Jack flag atop building

The Broadway Mansions (simplified Chinese: 百老汇大厦; traditional Chinese: 百老匯大廈; pinyin: Bǎilǎohuì Dàshà) is a nineteen-floor Art Deco five star hotel, one of the most famous hotels in Shanghai, China.

It has been for over five decades one of the primary symbols of Shanghai. It was once its most visible landmark, Completed in 1934, the same year as the Park Hotel, which is 19 feet taller, it was the tallest apartment building in Shanghai and remained so for several decades. Located near the confluence of Suzhou Creek and the Huangpu River, as well as the northern end of The Bund, it was built by the architectural and engineering firm of Palmer and Turner, and its completion in 1935 signalled the commencement of the high-rise building era in Asia.

It commands possibly the best view of the Bund and Huangpu. Originally named 'Broadway Mansions' in 1935, it was renamed 'Shanghai Mansions' by the Shanghai Municipal Council in 1951, but reverted to its original name after China opened up again to the West.