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The Earliest Printing House in Modern Times in China
¡¡¡¡ In 1043(the twenty-third year of Emperor Daoguang of Qing Dynasty), British Missionary Midas set up Mohai School in Dajing Pavillion near the North Gate of Shanghai, and initiated typographic printing in China. Mohai School used iron printing machine one zhang (about 9.99 meters) long and three chi (about 0.33meter)wide. When at work, the printing machine was drawn by an ox to move the boss rod. It mainly printed religious books and printed some western academic masterpieces such as Geometric Elements, On Light, Physics Abstract and so on. The School later moved to Maijiaquan Shangdong Road.
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The Earliest Undersea Cable in China
¡¡¡¡ In the middle of the 19th century, the western countries were fighting for the domination over Shanghai¡¯s telecommunications. In 1871 (the tenth year of Emperor Tongzhi of Qing Dynasty), Denmark Great North Telegraph Corporation laid undersea cable from Vladivostok (Haishenwai) to the Bund via Nagasaki . but the cable in the Huangpu River was not buried deep enough and often broken by the passing ships. In 1873 (the thirteenth year of Emperor Tongzhi of Qing Dynasty), the Corporation laid the cable to Zhangjiabang and put up land cable to the Bund.
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The Earliest Tram in China
¡¡¡¡ Tram was invented by German Siemens in 1882. In 1905(the thirty first year of Emperor Guangxu of Qing Dynasty, the British Shanghai Trolley Corporation was established and laid the tram rail from the Bund(near Yan An Road) to Jing An Si Road. On March 5, 1908, the first tram moved on the rail with only 24 passengers and half of them foreigners. In July 1912, Shanghai Chinese Tram Corporation was set up and prepared to construct a tram rail in Nanshi District. The first tram rail run by the Chinese people was opened on August 11, 1913. In 1914, the British Shanghai Trolley Corporation laid an interurban on Shi Road (the present Middle Fujian Road) and opened the interurban from Zhengjia Wooden Bridge Yangjing Creek to Laozha Bridge Suzhou Creek and from then on Shanghai had trackless trolley.
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The First Privately-owned Steamship Corporation in China
¡¡¡¡In 1905, the Number One Scholar in the Highest Imperial Examination, Zhang Qian raised 1000000 liang in silver and got a fund of 260000 liang in siver the government appropriated. He began to construct Dada Dock in Shiliupu and established a Steamboat Corporation which has a 86-tonnage steamboat mainly sailing in the waters between Shanghai, Haimen, Chongming and Tongzhou for passenger transport.
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Dada Steamship Corporation in the period of the People¡¯s Republic
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The Earliest Telephone in China
¡¡¡¡ In the summer of 1882 (the eighth year of Emperor Guangxu of Qing Dynasty), a British man named Bishop laid telephone line between Shiliupu and Zhengfeng Street and set Public Telephone Room with telephones at each end. He charged 36 wen coined money for each call. And in the twenty-forth year of Emperor Guangxu, the British and American Concession Bureau of Industry set up Sino-foreign Telephone Corporation and launched telephone service
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The operators in the early-stage British Telephone Corporation
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The Largest Trade Association Hall
¡¡¡¡ In 1715(the fifty-fourth year of Emperor Kangxi of Qing Dynasty), largejunk businessmen raised money to build Merchantmen Trade Association Hall to the South of Dongjiadu ferry and expanded it under the rule of Emperor Qianglong and Jiaqin. It covers an area of 20 mu and is the largest trade association hall in Shanghai. It faced the east, and the front wall is pasted with black quadrel with an arc door framed with stone. The main building is a bi-structure with a 200-square-meter hall . The front stage of the Hall is upheld by strong stone columns and on the roof is the octagonal painted caisson. The Hall¡¯s economical power and social influence ranked first among other trade associations in Shanghai. The hall is now demolished but other structure remains. |
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Merchantmen Trade Association used to be the largest trade association hall in Shanghai.
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