Outside influences

Pictures from a colorful golden age

Memories of another era

The Peace (formerly) Cathay Hotel testifies to the influence of one of the city's most famous and wealthy immigrants.

Victor Sassoon, a descendent of Iraqi Jews and heir to a vast banking fortune, built a series of luxury hotels and apartment buildings over this 10-year period, some of which remain city landmarks to this day.

Meanwhile, the Americans and French infused the popular culture with jazz orchestras, cabarets and movies, European financial institutions lined the Bund, and Japanese soldiers patrolled the city for subversives and spies.

According to historian Andrew D. Field, "There is a strong continuity from the 1930s till now regarding how foreigners have played an important role in urban culture in Shanghai. This relates to such things as how people consume, and what kind of rituals they engage in."

"Even though the political and regulatory situation is totally different now, there are still a lot of similar cultural dynamics, especially regarding foreigners and how Chinese look up to and emulate them."