Do you come for roller skating and Tai Chi? [Memories of the Sea] My Past Life at the Shanghai Grand Theatre

Shanghai Grand Theatre is 25 years old.

At 7:30 pm on August 27, 1998, at the Shanghai Grand Theatre, the Central Ballet of China brought the classic ballet "Swan Lake". When the Yangtze River Basin was hit by a catastrophic flood, according to media reports at the time, the box office revenue of the first audition at the Shanghai Grand Theatre was 500000 yuan, which was donated to the affected areas through the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau.

In the following quarter century, the Shanghai Grand Theatre has performed more than 12700 times, with an audience of over 14.45 million. This is an irreplaceable landmark in the hearts of countless artists, and it constantly attracts people from all over the world, creating the unique charm of this neighborhood.

In fact, before becoming an art hall, this street corner had also attracted people from all over the country and even the world, but it was not artists who came at that time, but athletes.

Before laying the first foundation for the construction of the Shanghai Grand Theatre, another building had once stood on the original site of this land - the Shanghai Sports Palace, which has left countless athletes with dreams and aspirations.

If we push the time forward, one day in the 1860s, a British officer rode from the gate of the No. 1 Department Store on Xizang Middle Road to the west, turning from Jing'an Temple Road to Mahuo Road, and then to the east via Happy Valley Road to the current Shanghai Workers' Cultural Palace, and then to the north along Xizang Road to return to the original place. The land that this officer passed through became a "horse racing hall".

The Shanghai Grand Theatre under construction

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Speaking of horse racing halls, after 1850, Shanghai had three horse racing halls.

Speaking of horse racing halls, after 1850, Shanghai had three horse racing halls.

To the west of Henan Middle Road and north of Huayuan Lane, there used to be over 80 acres of the "First Racecourse". Later, there was the "Second Racecourse" covering an area of over 170 acres between Zhejiang Road and Nichengbang, as well as around Liuma Road. Around 1862, a notice was issued on the Shanghai Road platform allowing horse racing clubs to occupy the area. As a result, over 460 acres of land, covering approximately the present-day People's Park and People's Square, were designated as the third horse racing field in Shanghai.

In previous wars, this place has successively become a Japanese military base, a US military camp, and a warehouse for US surplus supplies. Until the liberation of Shanghai, on September 7, 1951, the people of Shanghai held a ceremony to renovate People's Square at the former site of Happy Valley. On October 1st of the following year, the park was opened to the public.

In the 1950s, the Shanghai Municipal People's Government transferred the former Shanghai Concession Happy Valley to the Shanghai Municipal Sports Commission, Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Culture, and Shanghai Municipal Library.

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Gu Liuxin was born in 1908 and has been involved in the revolution since her youth. In 1936, she was implicated in the "Seven Gentlemen" case and was arrested along with Tao Xingzhi and others, detained in Suzhou Prison. At the age of 79, when recalling the past, he said, "In prison, I performed swordsmanship and received enthusiastic applause from all my friends. Zhang Naiqi and Zou Taofen from the 'Seven Gentlemen' expressed their strong desire: once released, they would learn martial arts from me."

The first director of Shanghai Sports Palace was Gu Liuxin, a famous martial artist and chairman of the Shanghai Martial Arts Association. His other identity was the first district chief of Huangpu District after the liberation of Shanghai.

Gu Liuxin was born in 1908 and has been involved in the revolution since her youth. In 1936, she was implicated in the "Seven Gentlemen" case and was arrested along with Tao Xingzhi and others, detained in Suzhou Prison. At the age of 79, when recalling the past, he said, "In prison, I performed swordsmanship and received enthusiastic applause from all my friends. Zhang Naiqi and Zou Taofen from the 'Seven Gentlemen' expressed their strong desire: once released, they would learn martial arts from me."

Inside the Shanghai Sports Palace, there are two ice skating rinks in Taitung. In the 1950s, they were originally a 250 meter track and field, with two basketball courts in between. In 1979, with the help of Shanghai Steam Turbine Factory, a skating rink with an area of 1200 square meters was built at the northern end. In 1984, he received training and performances from international figure skating stars such as the United States, Italy, Canada, and Japan. In 1987, he held the National Roller Skating Championships.

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Although the Shanghai Sports Palace was relocated, in the 1990s, the "Liuxin Cup" named after Mr. Gu Liuxin continued to select talents for Tai Chi, sword, and push hand competitions in Shanghai.

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The Shanghai Grand Theatre, a building that adopts the design scheme of the famous French architectural design firm Charbonje, features a huge curved roof that extends upwards and a square main body below, creating the image of a "round sky and a round place". It is said that this design also references traditional Chinese stages.

According to records in local chronicles, about 620 years ago, during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, there was a theater building in the Chenghuang Temple in Shanghai, which was destroyed by fire. There is a passage under the theatre, and the front of the stage is supported by four square stone pillars. There is a horizontal plaque hanging under the arch of wooden architecture just above the stage entrance, with the words "one song rises to the level" written on it, and a pair of carved wooden cages. The architrave and sparrow are decorated with patterns; The roof is overlapping. The upper layer is octagonal and the lower layer is Xieshan Peak; There are also backstage and left and right ear chambers; The platform is a square shaped extension with wooden railings on both sides. There are two viewing floors on both sides of the platform, and there is a square in front of the platform, which can accommodate more than a thousand spectators. The Tianhou Palace in Shanghai also has a theater located at the north end of Henan Road Bridge, which was first built in the tenth year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty. The theater is located to the south and north, with a platform 2.8 meters above the ground. The entrance is 3.2 meters high, 6.7 meters wide, and 6 meters deep. There are also viewing towers on both sides, as well as more than ten backstage and side rooms for actors to dress up and stay.

When Xia Bangjie passed away due to illness in 2010, his familiar Chinese colleague and designer of the Shanghai Museum, Xing Tong, and his father and daughter recalled that Xia Bangjie's grandfather was a musician and his father was an architect who participated in the planning and renovation of the Montmartre area. Growing up in such an artistic family, Xia Bangjie received strict music training from a young age. He could play the piano like his grandfather, and as an adult, he chose to pursue architecture as his profession, similar to his father. He also worked in the preservation of historical buildings in Europe. In 1984, Xia Bangjie first came to Shanghai and became inseparable with China.

It was also in the year of Xia Bangjie's visit to Shanghai that the notice of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on further developing sports was published, and the sports industry in this city received a great response. On November 12, 1984, famous sports figures from the city gathered at the Municipal Sports Commission, with Gu Liuxin attending. The Shanghai Martial Arts Association, which was chaired by him, was also working in the Shanghai Sports Palace.

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Of course, Xia Bangjie, who later worked in Shanghai for a long time, also had his own residence by the Suzhou River, "watching this beautiful city day and night.".

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On the evening of November 24, 1994, the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra conductor Zubin Metta and violinist Izac Perlman, one of the world's top ten orchestras, visited for the first time, causing a strong shock in the cultural life of Shanghai. Outside the city hall, the queue of citizens waiting for ticket refunds extends from Fuzhou Road to People's Square. The concert was fully packed, and the orchestra performed in complete silence. The high quality of Shanghai fans left Zubin Meta amazed, "Shanghai has the best audience!"

The year 1994, when the Shanghai Grand Theatre laid its first foundation, was also the peak year of major construction projects in Shanghai.

This year, the elevated inner ring road in Shanghai was finally drawn into a circle, and for the first time, Shanghai had its own elevated ring road and complete three-dimensional transportation. In the same year, the main construction of 13 subway stations on Line 1 was completed. As the heart of Shanghai, People's Square has also been showcased to the public with new features such as municipal buildings, Shanghai Grand Theatre, new museums, and extensive greenery.

On the evening of November 24, 1994, the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra conductor Zubin Metta and violinist Izac Perlman, one of the world's top ten orchestras, visited for the first time, causing a strong shock in the cultural life of Shanghai. Outside the city hall, the queue of citizens waiting for ticket refunds extends from Fuzhou Road to People's Square. The concert was fully packed, and the orchestra performed in complete silence. The high quality of Shanghai fans left Zubin Meta amazed, "Shanghai has the best audience!"