The heady days of 1920s and 1930s Shanghai is recreated in the
meticulously restored Mansion Hotel in the former French
Concession. This is where gangster Du Yuesheng staged lavish
parties while plotting the next extension of his vast empire,
writes Douglas Williams.
On the northwest corner of the junction of Xiangyang and Xinle
roads stands an imposing building of a certain vintage. This
property has recently changed hands and opened as the Mansion
Hotel.
The 70-year-old former French Concession villa was once the
headquarters of one of Shanghai's most notorious sons, gangster Du
Yuesheng. The villa was a gift to Du from his chief financial
controller, Jin Ting Sun, and is now part museum, part luxury
boutique hotel with 32 rooms.
"I hope this hotel's unique and special character and history
reflects a little of Shanghai's rich heritage and that people can
enjoy it as a real, living museum as well as a superb hotel," says
Dr Dean Yin, the hotel's CEO and former general manager of
Xintiandi.
Dr Yin is a historian and has authentically recreated how the
building appeared in the 1920s and 1930s when "Big Eared" Du
presided over one of the world's most sophisticated and powerful
organized crime syndicates. Two enormous and very heavy safes from
those heady days were recently removed.
The lobby is full of authentic, historical artifacts from an
opium pipe to a gramophone to numerous sepia-tinted photographs,
even first-edition books such as Dante Alighieri's "The Divine
Comedy."
"I was told by an elderly Chinese guest recently that the lobby
brings back to him memories of his very wealthy grandparents'
living room," says the erudite and urbane Dr Yin.
Du's parties were famed as was his generosity and his love of
Peking Opera, both the watching and the performing. Opposite what
is now the reception area was once Du's own stage where private
shows were held.
"He was a very colorful character gifted in many ways and he
changed the culture of gangsters of that era. He was tall, slim and
very softly spoken and he didn't have any tattoos," says Dr Yin.
"He was a sophisticated and complex man of multiple
characters."
Beginning this month the Mansion Hotel will be serving
traditional afternoon tea in the lobby, allowing guests to sit a
while and enjoy the distinctive Oriental ambience and opulence.
Tea, sandwiches and cakes, just the way it used to be, are
served from 1:30pm to 5:30pm for 158 yuan (US$21).
The Mansion Veranda Italian restaurant on the fifth-floor roof
top has rapidly become one of the city's favorites, booking well in
advance is essential. The view from the veranda and the perspective
afforded is unique and revelatory and was perhaps useful to Du when
he was in residence. Although Du had many friends, he also had no
shortage of enemies.
Du's abilities were spotted early on by Huang Jinrong, also
known as "Pockmarked Huang," leader of the Green Gang until the
early 1920s. Du came from Pudong as a humble fruit vendor,
practically without education.
He took over the Green Gang, unifying the various factions
involved in the opium trafficking while gaining himself the
protection of the authorities in the former French Concession.
"He had an iron will," says Dr Yin, "and he was gifted at making
relationships with the right people."
Unsurprisingly many wished to align themselves with Du - he even
had his own small army. Du struck up a strong alliance with the
senior Chinese police officer in the French police force,
Huang.
Together they ran all the racketeering in the former Concession.
He was also a logistical genius, ensuring huge volumes of opium
passed through the city and out to the hinterland.
In the complex political landscape of the day, Du forged a
number of important connections, probably the most important one
being with Chiang Kai-shek. With Du's assistance, the Kuomintang
routed the Communists from Shanghai in 1927.
Work on the Mansion Hotel began nine months ago, it will soon
join the Small Luxury Hotel Group, becoming one of only three
Chinese hotels in the prestigious group. The company that owns the
Mansion Hotel, Boutique Hotel Investors, plans to open another
seven similar "landmark historical buildings" throughout China over
the next two years.
"These are a new kind of hotel product and in the same way as
this hotel has, these other hotels will contribute to the
renaissance of the cities where they are located," says Dr Yin.
By the early 1930s Du was one of the wealthiest men in Shanghai
with business interests that stretched way beyond opium
trafficking. He invested in banking, textiles, real estate and the
railroads. He even had his own bank, the Chung Wai Bank.
When the Japanese invaded in 1937, Du headed up river all the
way to Chonqqing. There Du poured considerable resources into a
number of relief societies and he supported the anti-Japanese
campaign with great vigor. That ensured he is still remembered as a
patriot, as well as a killer.
Du was also highly superstitious, as were many Chinese from that
time, and reputedly wore a monkey head, which hung from the back of
his collar. With the return of the Communists, the gangsters of
Shanghai fled. Du decamped to Hong Kong in 1949 where he died
peacefully in his bed in 1951. He had been planning to return to
Shanghai.
(Shanghai Daily July 25, 2007)
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