What is Shanghai Paramount?

Paramount is a famous comprehensive entertainment venue in Shanghai. The full name is "Parlem Hotel Ballroom". In 1929, the "Dahua Hotel" that originally opened on Gordon Road (today's Jiangning Road) and also operated as a dance hall closed. The West District of Shanghai, known as the "Aristocratic District", did not have an entertainment venue suitable for the "Aristocratic District". In 1932, Chinese businessman Gu Lian undertook an investment of 700,000 taels of silver to purchase the Jing'an Temple site to build Paramount Hall, and named it "Paramount Hall" with a homophonic pronunciation. At the opening ceremony in 1933 [1], Wu Tiecheng, then mayor of Shanghai under the Kuomintang government, attended in person to deliver a congratulatory speech. At that time, Zhang Xueliang was a frequent visitor to Paramount. The engagement ceremony of Chen Xiangmei and Chennault was held here. Chaplin and his wife also visited Shanghai. Came here in admiration.

Chinese name

Shanghai Paramount Hotel Ballroom

Foreign name

Shanghai The Paramount

Geography Location

No. 218 Yuyuan Road, Jing'an District, Shanghai, China

Climate type

Subtropical monsoon climate?

Area

2550 square meters

History

In 1929, the "Dahua Hotel" that originally opened on Gordon Road (now Jiangning Road) and operated as a dance hall closed and was known as There is no casino in Shanghai's West District that is suitable for the "aristocratic area". In 1932, Chinese businessman Gu Lian undertook an investment of 700,000 taels of silver to purchase the Jing'an Temple site to build Paramount Hall, and named it "Paramount Hall" with a homophonic pronunciation.

The entertainment venue was designed by Yang Xixuan Architect and is known as the "First Yuefu in the East". The building has the third floor. The ground floor is the kitchen and store, the second floor is the dance floor and banquet hall, and the third floor is the hotel. After the casino was built, it was rented to a Frenchman for operation. As the rental contract stipulates that the owner of "Paramount" draws a commission based on the number of guests, the Frenchman stipulates that dancers must bring their own dance partners, and the fees are extremely expensive, which causes "Paramount" to suffer huge losses. Soon, "Paramount" dismissed the Frenchman, re-operated the business, and recruited dancers from the society. At that time, the monthly income of dancers was as high as 3,000 to 6,000 yuan, more than ten times that of ordinary employees.

After the Pacific War broke out in 1941, a dancer named Chen Manli was shot dead in the dance hall by the Japanese because she refused to dance with the Japanese. In 1954, due to serious deficits in "Paramount", it was taken over by relevant government departments. The main building of the original dance hall was converted into Hongdu Theater, and other ancillary buildings were converted into shopping malls. Later it was changed to Hongdu Cinema. On June 11, 1990, the awning at the entrance of the theater collapsed due to disrepair, killing a pedestrian. The theater was ordered to cease operations and undergo major repairs. The current address is No. 218 Yuyuan Road.

Chen Manli was the most popular dancer at Paramount in the 1940s. She is slim, versatile and good at Peking Opera. He once co-starred in "Hongluan Jubilee" with Peking Opera masters Ye Shenglan and Ma Fulu. At that time, Liu Huizhi, the general manager of the Industrial Bank of China, was lucky enough to win the heart of Chen Manli and rented a house in Zhongshi New Village, Lane 579, Yuyuan Road. Logically speaking, now that Chen Manli has a strong backer, she should bid farewell to her career as a dancer and live a new life