
The Great World () is an
amusement arcade
An amusement arcade, also known as a video arcade, amusements, arcade, or penny arcade (an older term), is a venue where people play arcade games, including arcade video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, mercha ...
and entertainment complex located in
Shanghai
Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
, China. Built in 1917 on the corner of Avenue Edward VII (now
Yan'an Road) and Yu Ya Ching Road (now Middle Xizang Road), it was the first and for a long time the most influential indoor amusement arcade in Shanghai, so much so that it spawned imitations all over China. It had gained a reputation as the "No. 1 Entertainment Venue in the
Far East
The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...
."
While the traditional style entertainment offered by the Great World today faces great competition from newer forms of entertainment and electronic media, it remains an important tourist attraction popular with visitors to Shanghai from other parts of China.
Such is the influence of Great World, that its Chinese name (''Da Shijie'') has become the name of a locality in its vicinity, "Dashijie".
Dashijie Station, on Line 8 of the
Shanghai Metro
The Shanghai Metro (; Shanghainese: ''Zaon6he5 Di6thiq7'') is a rapid transit system in Shanghai, operating urban and suburban transit services to 14 of its 16 List of township-level divisions of Shanghai, municipal districts and to the neighb ...
is located nearby and is named after Great World.
It was closed in 2003 due to an outbreak of the
SARS
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the virus SARS-CoV-1, the first identified strain of the SARS-related coronavirus. The first known cases occurred in November 2002, and the ...
epidemic, and the reopened at its centennial after repairs, in March 2017.
History
The Great World opened on 14 July 1917, the brainchild of Shanghai magnate
Huang Chujiu.
It was built as an integrated entertainment complex featuring amusement arcades,
parlour games, music hall shows, variety shows and traditional Chinese theatre. Great World was rebuilt in 1928 in an eclectic style borrowing largely from European
Baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
, topped by a distinctive four-storey tower which quickly became a landmark. In 1931, Great World changed hands, bought out by another magnate,
Huang Jinrong.
On 14 August 1937 it was the site of the Great World bombing, or "Black Saturday", and also the location of where the
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...
flagship ''
Izumo'' was berthed, in front of the area of the
Shanghai International Settlement
The Shanghai International Settlement () originated from the 1863 merger of the British Concession (Shanghai), British and American Concession (Shanghai), American list of former foreign enclaves in China, enclaves in Shanghai, in which Brit ...
, the location of Great World. It was the second day of the
Battle of Shanghai
The Battle of Shanghai ( zh, t=淞滬會戰, s=淞沪会战, first=t, p=Sōng hù huìzhàn) was a major battle fought between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China in the Chinese city of Shanghai during ...
between the
Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
and the
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...
and the beginning of full-scale World War II combat operations. Great World had thrown open its doors for refugees fleeing the fighting in the Chinese and Japanese zones of the city for the relative safety of the Shanghai International Settlement. Two bombs from a damaged
Republic of China Air Force
The Republic of China Air Force ( Chinese, 中華民國空軍), or the ROCAF; known colloquially as the Taiwanese Air Force ( Chinese, 臺灣空軍) by Western or mainland Chinese media, or commonly referred as the National Military Air Force ...
bomber were accidentally released and exploded in front of Great World. The pilot, fearing the plane would crash, had intended to release the bombs into the large uninhabited space of the nearby
Shanghai Race Course, but the bombs were released too early. About two thousand people, made up of shoppers, passers-by, Chinese and foreigners, and refugees who were standing outside Great World, were killed or injured. However, it's believed that the errant bombs were meant for the Japanese warship ''Izumo'' that was berthed right next to the International Settlement, using the densely populated area as a
human shield, and there is also speculation that the International Settlement was deliberately bombed by orders given to the "errant" pilot as a means to draw the foreign powers to join the war; Europeans did not join the war until the
German invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...
and the Americans rejected joining the war until the
attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...
.
After the
Communist
Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
takeover of Shanghai in 1949, Great World was renamed "People's Amusement Arcade", but reverted to the old name in 1958. Closed during the
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...
, in 1974 the site became the "Shanghai Youth Palace". On 25 January 1981, Great World was re-established, and renamed "Great World Entertainment Centre".
Great World was closed following the SARS epidemic in 2003. It was reopened in March 2017.
The basic layout of the complex has remained the same since the 1928 rebuilding. While the entertainment options have been updated over the years (with
motion picture
A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...
s early on and
karaoke
is a type of interactive entertainment system usually offered in nightclubs and bars, where people sing along to pre-recorded accompaniment using a microphone.
Its musical content is an instrumental rendition of a well-known popular song. I ...
more recently, for example), some elements remain the same. One legendary feature is the series of
distorting mirrors near the entrance, which have provided simple entertainment to visitors for more than a century.
Description
In its heyday, Great World's main attractions were vaudeville, various regional forms of traditional
Chinese opera
Traditional Chinese opera (), or ''Xiqu'', is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more tha ...
, and
Chinese folk art
Chinese folk art or Chinese handcrafts are artistic forms inherited from a regional or ethnic scene in China. Usually there are some variation between Province (China), provinces. Individual folk arts have a long history, and many traditions are ...
forms. It was also famous for the twelve distorting "magic mirrors" imported from the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
in the lobby area.
Writing of his visit in the mid-1930s, Hollywood film director
Josef von Sternberg
Josef von Sternberg (; born Jonas Sternberg; May 29, 1894 – December 22, 1969) was an American filmmaker whose career successfully spanned the transition from the Silent film, silent to the Sound film, sound era, during which he worked with mos ...
described, "On the first floor were gaming tables, singsong girls, magicians, pick-pockets, slot machines, fireworks, birdcages, fans, stick incense, acrobats, and ginger. One flight up were… actors, crickets and cages, pimps, midwives, barbers, and earwax extractors. The third floor had jugglers, herb medicines, ice cream parlors, a new bevy of girls, their high collared gowns slit to reveal their hips, and (as a) novelty, several rows of exposed (Western) toilets. The fourth floor had shooting galleries, fan-tan tables, … massage benches, … dried fish and intestines, and dance platforms. The fifth floor featured girls with dresses slit to the armpits, a stuffed whale, storytellers, balloons, peep shows, masks, a mirror maze, two love letter booths with scribes who guaranteed results, rubber goods, and a temple filled with ferocious gods and joss sticks. On the top floor and roof of that house of multiple joys a jumble of
tightrope walkers slithered back and forth, and there were seesaws,
Chinese checkers,
mahjong
Mahjong (English pronunciation: ; also transliterated as mah jongg, mah-jongg, and mahjongg) is a tile-based game that was developed in the 19th century in China and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century. It is played ...
, …
firecracker
A firecracker (cracker, noise maker, banger) is a small explosive device primarily designed to produce a large amount of noise, especially in the form of a loud bang, usually for celebration or entertainment; any visual effect is incidental to ...
s, lottery tickets, and marriage brokers."
Now there is theater, music hall,
Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...
competition hall, movie hall, video hall, magic world, dancing hall, KTV, tea house and ski field and so on. There is also the new Shanghai flavor snack corridor, restaurant and boutique market and so on. The Shanghai Great World is a playing center with entertainment, performance, viewing, food and sports and so on.
Architecture
The Great World consists of three four-storey buildings and two annexe buildings.
The building was built in a simple
Vernacular Style, except a tall,
Baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
-inspired spire in the centre, which is supported by grand order columns extending to the first floor.
Transportation
Address: 1 Xizang Road, Shanghai
*
Shanghai Metro
The Shanghai Metro (; Shanghainese: ''Zaon6he5 Di6thiq7'') is a rapid transit system in Shanghai, operating urban and suburban transit services to 14 of its 16 List of township-level divisions of Shanghai, municipal districts and to the neighb ...
:
**
Dashijie Station: Lines 8 and 14
**
People's Square Station: Lines 1, 2 and 8
*
Shanghai Buses: routes 127, 71, 48, 49, 01, 17, 18, 23, 980 etc.
References
External links
*
{{coord, 31.2302, 121.4748, type:landmark_region:CN, display=title
Buildings and structures in Shanghai