North Sichuan Road - 四川北路
1.It had a few names in the past: Laobazi Road , North Sze Chuen Road, the North of the Ferry Bridge and the North of the Sichuan Road.
2. An ancient business street, 3.7 km long, on the west bank of Huangpu River in Hongkou District , famous for the entertainments and diversified stores.
3.It stretches from the Suzhou Creek in the south, crosses North Suzhou Road, Haining Road, and Hengbang Road among others, and connects with Shanyin Road in the north, giving the road an "S" shape. It joins Duolun Road, and runs to East Jiangwan Road then turns to the west, ending at Lu Xun Park.
4.Before Shanghai was settled as a port city, North Sichuan Road was only a secondary street linking Suzhou Creek and Baoshan Town (now Baoshan District).
5.During the 1860s, there were several stores and a natural ice stadium. After the completion of the construction of the bridge over Suzhou Creek and the Woosung Railway, more and more shops and inhabitants moved to this area.
6.In 1877, Guangxu Emperor ordered to set up a road from the sea port to the British Concession, to make transport more convenient. As a result, the street was paved and in the same year, Gongji Hospital (now the First People's Hospital) moved from the French Concession to this area.
7.The construction of the road system significantly contributed to the growth of the area.
8.During the 1920s, an increasing number of Japanese immigrated to this area. Many Japanese stores, restaurants, tea houses, hospitals, schools and public facilities appeared, including Goumaizuhe (now a Sichuan Chinese traditional medicine store), Fumin Hospital (now the Fourth People's Hospital), North Japan Xunchang primary school (now a middle school attached to Education College), Neishan Hospital, and the Japan Printing store. There was also a special vegetable market for Japanese immigrants in the area. Thanks to the development of the public facilities around this area, from the 1920s, the North of the Sichuan Road became the third largest street of Shanghai after Nanjing Road and Huaihai Road.
9.On August 13, 1937 the Battle of Shanghai broke out and the area was occupied by Japanese troops.The Japanese imposed severe controls, so most of the local inhabitants moved out. The stores along the North of the Sichuan Road gradually closed with only a few Japanese stores remaining open. The road went into decline during this period.
10.After the Second World War in 1945, the Japanese troops and immigrants moved out, and more shops came back to the area. Fuxing Middle School, a theater and book stores reopened and a new Public Museum (now at No. 1844 North Sichuan Road) was established. Trolley car and bus system were resumed too.
11.On January 1, 1946, the North of Sichuan Road was formally named as North Sichuan Road.
12.It was favorite spot for Old Shanghai’s intellectuals. The leading figure of modern Chinese literature – Lu Xun – regularly visited the coffee shops in the area (especially The Gongfei Coffee Shop), together with other writers and allegedly bought books from Japanese intellectual Kanza Uchiyama at the Uchiyama Shoten bookshop.
The most exclusive bar in the area was the invitation only Caldbeck Mc Gregor private club, owned by a prolific alcohol importer.
Other popular spots were the mariners’ club - Captain’s Club, Portuguese Club Lusitano and a Temperance Hall.
