Yangpu Riverside Urban Space Art Season

Duration: 1 day Time: October Companion: Solo Traveler Activities: Freestyle Travel The author visited these locations: Yangpu Bridge, Shanghai Huangpu River, Lujiazui. Published on October 19, 2019, at 22:39. This art festival isn’t limited to indoor exhibitions. The entire Yangpu Riverside, which has currently opened up 2.8 kilometers of waterfront space west of the Yangpu Bridge, will also open the eastern 2.7 kilometers in sync with the Urban Space Art Season, forming a continuous 5.5 kilometers of public space. The Yangpu Riverside, located in the Yangshupu Industrial Zone, was once the largest energy supply and industrial base in Shanghai and modern China, known as the ‘Corridor of Modern Chinese Industrial Civilization.’ In the southern section of the Yangpu Riverside, a large number of distinctive historical buildings and industrial heritage facilities are planned to be protected and preserved, each of which is a must-visit spot! The Yangpu Water Plant, as an extension of the outdoor public art exhibition, has seen a batch of old industrial buildings gradually restored, with some regaining their historical appearance. The former soap factory and ash storage facility of the Shanghai Municipal Electrical Office will also be given new life and color by artists. The Yangpu Riverside is becoming more fashionable day by day~ Known as the ‘Corridor of Modern Chinese Industrial Civilization,’ Yangpu Riverside has been the most concentrated industrial area in Shanghai since the city opened its port, carrying the marks of the era of big industry. Now, as an extension of the outdoor public art exhibition, a batch of old industrial buildings are gradually being restored, with some regaining their historical appearance. The Yangpu Promenade’s Urban Space Art Season this time lasts for two months and has invited dozens of domestic and foreign artists to create 20 sets/group of large-scale public art works based on the characteristics of the public space, which will be permanently preserved here. If you take a walk along the riverside promenade recently, you will definitely notice these changes. ‘Urban Wilderness’ by Yuusuke Asai & Yan Shuai. While the sun is just right, join the 2019 Shanghai Urban Space Art Season and experience the encounter of art and urban space, feel the changes of time in the Yangpu industrial belt. Walking along the Yangpu Riverside Promenade, you can see a brick-red building, which is the former Mao Ma Factory Warehouse. The warehouse, built in 1920, was originally the German-owned Rui’s Foreign Firm and later evolved into the first silk weaving factory in Shanghai. It was the leading enterprise in the country for the production of real silk and artificial silk at that time and was allocated to the Shanghai Shipyard in 2003. This old building with nearly a hundred years of history has witnessed countless ups and downs by the Huangpu River and is currently the largest existing beamless warehouse in the Yangpu Riverside area, also a testament to the vigorous development of Shanghai’s national industry. Now, the Mao Ma Warehouse is serving as one of the main exhibition areas for the third Shanghai Urban Space Art Season themed ‘Encounter,’ with a large number of exhibits available for free viewing. The exhibition inside the Mao Ma Warehouse is mainly divided into ‘Spatial Art Section’ and ‘Planning and Architecture Section’.
Among the spatial art sections, the ’16 Views of Shanghai’ stands out as a highlight. Numerous artists have encapsulated their impressions of Shanghai into various artistic pieces. After visiting the exhibition, do not rush to leave, as standing on the staircase of the Mao Ma Warehouse offers an excellent vantage point to gaze across at the Lujiazui skyline. Next to the Mao Ma Warehouse is the former Rui Rong Shipyard. This building has been successively used by Wan Long Iron Factory, Rui Rong Shipyard, British United Shipyard, and Shanghai Shipyard Repair Branch, witnessing the development and changes of Shanghai’s ship repair and shipbuilding industry over a century. The shipyard, a legacy of the former Shanghai Shipyard, is also part of this exhibition. It is one of the oldest shipyards in Shanghai and will be open to the public as one of the main exhibition areas. The shipyard was excavated by the German-funded Rui Rong Shipyard in 1900, merged with Xiangsheng Shipyard and Yesong Shipyard in 1936 to become the British United Shipyard, becoming the shipyard with the most shipyards in China at the time. It was incorporated into Shanghai Ship Repair and Construction Factory in 1954 and renamed Shanghai Shipyard again in 1985. On November 6, 2007, China’s only third-generation polar icebreaker scientific research vessel ‘Xue Long’ was upgraded and delivered after the shipyard. Now, this 200-meter-long shipyard stands before people’s eyes, with its industrial aura and mottled rust still full of tension in the sunset, which is very shocking. The memory pieces introduced between the changes of light and shadow seem to still hear the ships of the year sailing from here to the Huangpu River, whistling and pushing the surging waves. During this Space Art Festival, the interior of the shipyard will also showcase characteristic installations and video art works, playing different art films on a loop. Standing in the century-old shipyard to watch movies, are you sure you don’t want to experience this novel experience? Speaking of century-old factories, it is necessary to mention Tian Zhang Record Paper Factory! I have worked in this century-old factory for a long time. The predecessor of Shanghai Tian Zhang Record Paper Factory, the Yangshupu Industrial Belt, originated from the Shanghai Machinery Paper Mill, which was approved by Li Hongzhang in the eighth year of the Guangxu Emperor (1882) as a government-supervised and merchant-managed enterprise. In 1882, Cao Zihui, Cao Zijun, Zheng Guanying, and others raised 155,700 taels of silver, intending to establish a Chinese machinery paper enterprise. After submitting the plan to the Northern Ocean Minister Li Hongzhang for approval, they chose to build a factory at No. 408 Yangshupu Road, Shanghai, namely the Shanghai Machinery Paper Mill, which was the first Chinese-owned paper enterprise. The main equipment of the enterprise includes one multi-cylinder long net paper machine and eight cylinders, which were produced by the British Leicester City Umfuson Company in 1877. In 1915, Liu Bai Sen rented the factory and then bought more Baoyuan Paper Factory. In 1920, he bought the Hua Zhang Paper Factory from the Japanese Mitsubishi Company for 820,000 taels and named it Baoyuan Paper Factory East Factory, and the original Yangshupu Road factory became Baoyuan Paper Factory West Factory.

In 1925, it was renamed Tianzhang Paper Mill Co., Ltd. In 1983, Liu Mengjing, its son, cooperated with the Japanese and changed the name to ‘Tianzhang Changji Paper Mill’ for a time. In 1947, the Kuomintang government redeemed the factory. After liberation, it was nationalized and named Tianzhang Paper Mill. In 1981, Tianzhang Paper Mill merged with Shanghai Record Paper Mill and was officially named Tianzhang Record Paper Mill. Tianzhang Record Paper Mill was the first and largest manufacturer of instrument recording paper and electronic printing paper in the country. There is also a road named Tianzhang Road in Yangpu Binjiang, named after Tianzhang Factory.

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