Astor House　礼查饭店（浦江饭店）

(A National Architectural Heritage)

As the first western restaurant in Shanghai, Astor House was originally built by Richard, a British Merchant, in the 26th year (1846) of Emperor Daoguang of the Qing Dynasty. The present building was constructed in 1910, a hotel in the British neo-classic architectural style. It consisted of over 200 guest rooms as well as the bar, ballroom, billiard room, and chess room.

In 1922, Astor House had a major renovation, including the lobby on the first floor, and all the guest rooms. The dining hall on the top floor became really spacious; it could seat more than 600 people for meals. The whole building turned out to be a typical British hotel. All the guest rooms faced the roads and were equipped with private bathrooms with the provision of hot water 24 hours. The hotel boasted restaurants, reading rooms, smoking rooms, women's lounges, photographic studios, beauty parlors, bars and whatever. The ballroom was so spacious and magnificent that people came to dance every night. The hotel also has five elevators, one cold storage that could store 30 tons of food, self-equipped generators and a boiler room. On the first floor of the hotel, there is a restaurant, a teahouse, and a confectionery open to the public. And this confectionery was famous for its sponge cakes. In the 1930s, the then Astor House was the most magnificent building along the Suzhou Creek in Shanghai.

Astor House was so splendid, comfortable, and popular that celebrities from all over the world liked to stay here if they were coming to Shanghai. Albert Einstein, Charlie Spencer Chaplin Jr., Bertrand Arthur William Russell, and Edgar Snow all stayed at this hotel at one time or another. All the rooms where these renowned people stayed are still kept intact. Anyone who wants to stay in these rooms must get registered on the waiting list. Besides, many diplomats, rich merchants, military and political oligarchs lived here and performed various social activities.

And it was in Astor House that electric lamps were first successfully experimented, gas and running water were used and the semi-audio and audio movies were projected earliest in Shanghai.

Address: No.15 Huangpu Road