Sight
Shanghai Exhibition Centre
Chinese name
上海展览中心
Chinese address
上海市静安区延安中路1000号
Opening hours: 10:00 - 17:00
This vast neoclassical complex rising right in the center of modern Shanghai, is the Shanghai Exhibition Centre, crowned by a dramatic spire that held the title of the tallest structure in the city for over three decades. It was completed in 1955 as the Sino-Soviet Friendship Building, designed with Soviet experts in the monumental Stalinist style to celebrate the ties between China and the Soviet Union.
Before this grand monument was built, the ground beneath our feet looked entirely different. In the early twentieth century, this immense estate belonged to Silas Aaron Hardoon, a Baghdadi Jewish real estate magnate who became one of the wealthiest men in old Shanghai.
Hardoon created a lavish private estate here named Aili Garden (Àilì Huāyuán), commonly known throughout the city as Hardoon Garden. It was a sprawling oasis that combined traditional Chinese landscapes with Western elements, featuring winding waterways, pavilions, a theater, and even schools. After Hardoon passed away and the Second World War engulfed Shanghai, the garden fell into neglect and suffered devastating fires. In the 1950s, the cleared grounds of Hardoon Garden became the prime downtown site for the monumental exhibition palace you see today.