People's Park (Shanghai)
| People's Park | |
|---|---|
| 人民公园 | |
|
People's Square from the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center, 2013 | |
| Type | Urban park |
| Location | Shanghai, China |
| Coordinates | 31°13′56″N 121°28′23″E / 31.23222°N 121.47306°ECoordinates: 31°13′56″N 121°28′23″E / 31.23222°N 121.47306°E |
| Created | 1952 |
People's Park (Chinese: 人民公园; pinyin: Rénmín Gōngyuán) is a public park in Huangpu District of central Shanghai, China.[1] It is located south of Nanjing Road, a major shopping street, and north of People's Square.[2] Originally the northern part of the Shanghai Race Club, the park's central location makes it the main spot for rallies and demonstrations in Shanghai. With several major museums and Shanghai's main shopping street nearby, it is one of the top tourist destinations in the city.
History
The park is built on the grounds of the former Shanghai Race Club, which was established by the British in 1862. It was the leading horse racing track in East Asia, and a popular place for the Chinese and the British for gambling on horse racing. The club building, built in 1933, became a landmark in downtown Shanghai.[3]
The club's flagpole was considered a great shame for the Chinese, as it was made from the mast of a Chinese warship captured by British and American troops. When the People's Republic of China was founded on 1 October 1949, the new Chinese national flag was hung from the pole.[4] The new Communist government banned horse racing and gambling, and converted the racecourse into People's Park (the northern half) and People's Square (the southern half) in 1952. Due to its location in the city's center, it became the main spot for political rallies and demonstrations in Shanghai.[4]
In the winter of 1986–87, the park was the focus of major student protests. Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in the park, and marched to The Bund. They were met by Jiang Zemin, then Communist Party Chief of Shanghai, and demanded democracy and radical political changes.[5] More than two years later, during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, tens of thousands of people again gathered in the park and The Bund in a display of solidarity with the protesters in Beijing.[6]
In the 1990s, major changes were made to the area. The Shanghai Municipal Government was moved to just south of the park from the former HSBC Building on The Bund. Other additions include the Shanghai Museum, the Shanghai Grand Theatre and the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall, also south of the park.
Facilities
The park is the location of two museums (Shanghai Art Museum and Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai), a large pond with a cafe-bar ("Barbarossa"), and several other attractions such as a funfair.[1][2][7] Overlooking the park are a number of highrise buildings including Park Hotel Shanghai and Tomorrow Square.[7]
The Shanghai marriage market in People's Park has existed since 2004, in which marriage advertisement listings are publicly posted each weekend.[8]
Transportation
People's Park can be reached on the Shanghai Metro using Line 1, Line 2 or Line 8 to People's Square station.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Pitts, Christopher (April 2013). "Best Green Spaces". Pocket Shanghai (3rd ed.). Lonely Planet. p. 130. ISBN 978-1-74179-963-7.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "People's Park in Shanghai China". ShanghaiChina.ca. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
- ↑ Lee, Leo Ou-fan (1999). Shanghai Modern: The Flowering of a New Urban Culture in China, 1930-1945. Harvard University Press. pp. 29–30. ISBN 9780674805507.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Yu, Xuanmeng; He, Xirong (2004). Shanghai: Its Urbanization and Culture. CRVP. p. 108. ISBN 9781565182073.
- ↑ Becker, James (2006). Dragon Rising: An Inside Look at China Today. National Geographic Books. p. 54. ISBN 9780792261933.
- ↑ Baum, Richard (2010). China Watcher: Confessions of a Peking Tom. University of Washington Press. p. 130. ISBN 9780295989976.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Lonely Planet review for People’s Park". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
- ↑ Tacon, Dave (6 April 2013). "Finding a spouse in a Chinese marriage market". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
External links
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Media related to People's Park at Wikimedia Commons
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