If you’re standing here on the Bund, look straight ahead for a grand, ten-story building topped with a striking green pyramid roof and a red flag fluttering daringly at its peak-welcome to the legendary Peace Hotel.
Now, take a deep breath and let’s time travel together, back to the roaring 1920s-jazz was in the air, rickshaws rattled by, and Shanghai was the “Pearl of the Orient.” This towering beauty in front of you, the North Building-or Sassoon House, as it was once called-was dreamed up by Sir Victor Sassoon. Sassoon was a true city legend: a British Sephardic Jew with Iraqi roots, who swapped the quiet life of Harrow School and Cambridge for the raw buzz of Shanghai’s bustling business world. Talk about a career change!
When Victor Sassoon snapped up this prime block facing the Huangpu River, he wasn’t planning on blending in. Nope-he wanted a skyscraper that would make everyone else look up, literally. By 1929, the building soared fifty feet above its neighbors. With a reinforced concrete skeleton and a full suit of granite on the outside, it was the first high-rise he ever built-and one of the Eastern Hemisphere’s earliest skyscrapers.
Just imagine the scene back then: marble swirling under your feet, elevators whirring like magic, and rooms with indoor plumbing that felt impossibly modern. There were themed “national suites”-picture spending the night surrounded by tatami mats in the Japan Suite, or relaxing among bright Indian rugs and cushions. Even the interiors got in on the action, draped in glitzy art deco glamour. Meanwhile, on the tenth floor penthouse, Sassoon himself kept watch from windows that touched the sky, no doubt feeling like the king of Shanghai.
The building’s ground floor buzzed with banks and shops. Over time, even a Citibank branch took up residence-bankers love a bit of art deco too, apparently! But this old hotel isn’t just about luxury-oh, it’s seen some stories. After 1949, the Communists swept in and gave the place a serious career switch, housing Shanghai’s Municipal Government and a dash of intrigue: during the Cultural Revolution, the notorious Gang of Four made it their headquarters. Rumor has it the halls echoed with both secrets and schemes.
But the jazz never really stopped. The Old Jazz Band kept the rhythms alive, playing music that weaved right into the building’s bones. They became so legendary, they even inspired a movie, and their music still drifts out some nights from the infamous ground floor bar. If you close your eyes right here, you might just imagine those lively notes floating in the night air-with a view of Pudong sparkling across the river like a box of neon jewels.
A little fun: this place was the muse for international novels, like “Shanghai ’37.” Apparently, if walls could talk, they’d have great tips for your next novel-or at least some good gossip over dim sum.
Of course, all this style needed a facelift, so the hotel closed for a few years starting in 2007 for a full glow-up. In 2010, it flung its doors open again as the Fairmont Peace Hotel, now boasting 270 rooms and 39 suites, plus a rooftop terrace restaurant where you can stare out at new Shanghai from the perch of history. There’s even a swimming pool and spa out back-just in case you fancy a soak where revolutionaries once whispered plans! And get this: starting May 2025, this old dame’s getting another top-to-toe renovation, destined to be reborn as the ultra-swanky Raffles Peace Hotel Shanghai in 2027. Talk about staying trendy.
But don’t let me steer you only to the North Building. Just across Nanjing Road, the South Building waits with its Renaissance-inspired face and a history nearly as dramatic. Born as the Central Hotel in the 1850s, this spot saw Sun Yat-sen rally support after the Xinhai Revolution, survived World War II occupation, and today it’s The Swatch Art Peace Hotel, hosting artists who bring the past alive with every brushstroke, poem, and sculpture.
So as you stand here, feel the past beneath your feet and imagine the bustle, the dreams, the deals-and the never-ending jazz. This hotel isn’t just a stone shell; it’s a living chronicle of Shanghai.
