Shanghai glamour in the Astor House

A photographer friend, Robert Cassidy, recently emailed these photos he took in Shanghai’s famous Astor House Hotel, the hotel in which Moon Chin completed the deal that led to him leaving CNAC and becoming operations manager of Central Air Transport Corporation, CATC. (A scene described between pages 372-375 of China’s Wings.)

Aside from Moon Chin, a host of famous people stayed in the Astor House during its heyday, among them former U.S. President Grant, Charlie Chaplin, Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russell, Edgar Snow, and Guglielmo Marchese Marconi. It’s a strange and beautiful old place, and I enjoyed a drink or two in the hotel cafe while taking notes for China’s Wings during my research trip to China in 2005.

Shanghai glamour in the Astor House

 

Astor House Hallway