Past Passions Tell me about Historic Shanghai. Where shall I start? When we arrived in Shanghai in 1997, we were surprised by what we saw. Meaning? The look of the city is quite unusual, and when we started asking questions, we found there was no information. There was no historic society. No historic society? No, so we decided to start one, in our living room, back in 1998. What sort of events do you do? Generally, our events try to combine three different aspects-a speaker on a topic that's relevant to the interests of the group, a historic venue and a social aspect. We have a strong interest in the arts so we've done events related to art, literature and design as well. What are the topics that draw out the crowd? People are interested in the stories that bring the bricks and mortar to life. We're a celebrity-driven culture, and people love to hear the tales of intrigue behind the buildings they see. One of the best events we did was Lynn Pan talking about the gangster history of Shanghai. Are any of you historians? Well, what is a historian? True, it's anyone with an interest. Well, we have interest, and if you think historians are people with Ph.Ds, we've got some of those too. [Laughs]. Have you always had a passion for history? My background is in economics, so looking at the physical structure of a city is one way to enter the economics, politics and sociology of a place. But these can be intimidating to some and sensitive for others. To enter a discussion about these through the stories of people and buildings is more accessible.

Details:

What: Historic Shanghai
 Website: http://www.historic-shanghai.com
 Email: shha-subscribe@topica.com