Historical Marshall Mansion in Shanghai

In the mid-1990s, I had the great fortune to live and work in China for several years for a European cargo and trade company - a job I landed by a fluke, and just as luckily did fairly well with. A German business colleague I befriended there once told me of an adage spoken among his peers:

"In China, the days are long, but the years are short."

True words which have stayed with me to this day. I can easily say that those few years in China were among the most interesting and enjoyable times of my life. I'll never forget it.

I LIVED IN GENERAL MARSHALL'S HOME

Life as a foreigner was tough in China sometimes.

Among the less pleasurable experiences I endured were the many times I had to move for business reasons. I lived in Shanghai most of the time, and one of the best places I ever stayed was for several weeks in a wonderful old mansion (SEE IMAGE 1) in south-central Shanghai (SEE IMAGE 3).

This wonderful place was called the Marshall Mansion, named after the historic military figure, General George C. Marshall (SEE IMAGE 4). Marshall is known in American history as a US Army leader, a former Secretary of State, and the third Secretary of Defense. Hailed by Winston Churchill as an "organizer of victory" for his role in the Allied victory in World War II, Marshall later lent his name to the Marshall Plan, for which he was given the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953. Marshall lived in this villa mansion from 1945-1946 when attempting to negotiate truce between Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong.

THE MARSHALL MANSION

The Marshall Mansion was built in south-central Shanghai's former French concession in 1920. After Marshall's departure from China, it became a luxurious digs to Chinese government officials traveling away from their homes in other parts of China. The address is 160 Taiyuan Rd in Shanghai's Xuihui district (in simplified Chinese code:中国上海市徐汇区太原路160号 - 太原别墅).

MANSION'S OWNER ASSASSINATED BY A CHINESE GANGSTER

The Marshall Mansion's origins attest to the sweetly alluring siren call with which Shanghai beckons people the world over. But as we can all see, Shanghai can also be a most fiendish femme fatale.

Rumored to have been built originally in 1920 by a woman bearing the family name Marcus, the mansion's history also hints at another inhabitant: a French civil servant turned lawyer by the name of Comte Maurice Frederic Armand du Pac de Marsoulies (whose coat of arms still hangs above the mansion fireplace).

De Marsoulies moved to Shanghai in 1918 to do business as a lawyer. Apparently he met with some notoriety, but of the wrong kind. Sadly, Mssr. de Marsoulies was assassinated by an Shanghai underworld Green Gang leader, the infamous Du Yuesheng (whose exploits have been the inspiration of a spate of recent Shanghai movies such as Shanghai Triad, Purple Butterfly, and the upcoming Shanghai starring the lovely Chinese actress, Gong Li.).

Later the mansion was sold, and even later rented out as military headquarters for Japanese occupational forces. Mao Zedong eventually took control of Shanghai and the mansion perforce. And thus Mao's wife, Jiang Qing, frequented the mansion on her many visits to Shanghai.

Unlike the many other mid-rate hotels I had stayed in China, the Marshall Mansion now operates as a rather posh hotel (or a long-stay flat) under the name Taiyuan Villa, and will rent to anyone who can pay - except under "certain odd circumstances" (which I explain later).

"15 FOOT HIGH CIELINGS AND DOORS"

I had first heard about the Marshall Mansion from an Australian "mate" of mine, the illustrious Brodie Paul, who was an avid Sinophile with a penchant for holding flamboyant parties in exotic Shanghai locales - many of which do not exist any more. I had to move again, and Brodie generously offered to accompany me to see the Marshall Mansion as my next possible home.

I was hooked on the spot.

The suite I checked into had the highest ceilings I have seen in any residence, and they easily spanned 15 feet from top to bottom. Even the monstrously heavy wood-and-glass entrance doors stretched upwards to the ceiling. Upon opening these doors I stepped onto original teak wooden flooring. Directly in front of me was a gigantic wooden desk upon which I was to hand-write (no email available in those days) many letters to home. Above this desk was a heavy double window, which stretched also upwards to ceiling height.

To my right (facing north), was the entrance to an impeccable tiled-floor bathroom, complete with a tub, shower, toilet, and an extravagant novelty I had only heard of and had never seen until that day: a French bidet.

The sink was an alabaster porcelain sea-shell, above which another heavy double window stretched upwards to the ceiling. In the silence of the morning after I awoke in my home, I would splash water on my face at that sink and cast open those windows to gaze in wonder at the beautiful old trees outside.

The stories those old trees could have told...

A BRIGHT SPOT IN A DESOLATE PLACE

In the southern part of the suite was a modest four-post king sized bed (after all, this was a guest house). While the room had been set up with a wall-mounted air conditioner, I could envision ceilings fans formerly used in its place soon after the mansion was originally built in 1920.

There were two closets, and further down at the end of the room (facing south) was what I considered the best features of the room: a set of ceiling doors opening out to a balcony.

This balcony overlooking the lawn (curiously called a "garden" in Shanghai) in which lived the very first birds I had ever seen or heard in China.

For those of you who know about my love of birds, the months after I had arrived in and lived in Shanghai, I had missed hearing the sound of birdsong. One day after an especially heartbreaking grind at work, I went to bed feeling depressed at the haggling of many business meetings, the sleepy taxi cab drivers, the grime, the grit, the incessant hock-hocking of China's many smokers, and the ceaseless pounding of pile drivers amidst Shanghai's desperate race to erect the most skyscrapers of any metropolis in the world.

The next morning I awoke to the most welcome sound for a homesick heart - the sound of birds drifting over my balcony and through those half-opened full doors.

Why would birdsong otherwise be so special China? Some residents I spoke with speculated because Shanghai had never recovered from the Great Sparrow Campaign, which had all but decimated the bird life in famine-era China.

Red maple, green camphor, and golden Chinese parasol trees made the exotic Marshall Mansion (AKA Taiyuan Villa) a veritable fairyland. Mated with this windowed opening to the outside avian world, my room comprised the brightest spot in my life in the midst of an otherwise desolate place.

"CERTAIN ODD CIRCUMSTANCES"

"China is a vast and mysterious place."

So said to me my amazing Danish boss, Lars Amstrup, frequently when we worked together into the wee hours at the office. True to his words was a strange caveat to my rental contract at Taiyuan Villa.

I had chosen to make Taiyuan Villa my long-stay flat - a kind of apartment of sorts. However, written both in Chinese in my rental agreement, and spoken to me by the concierge attendant upon my check-in - I was under strict agreement to forfeit all rights to my room, and to be able to remove myself and all personal belongings from Taiyuan Villa within 48 hours notice. Why?

Because at that time Taiyuan Villa was still a part-time home to Chinese government officials visiting from out of town. During these times, all tenants were evacuated and the property compound walls were closed and locked. Later on, I was to see armed Red Army guards patrolling the perimeters outside.

While I had been given the assurances of the unlikelihood of such an ousting, sure enough, several weeks after checking in, I was asked to leave to make room for some government honcho.

TIME TO CHECK OUT

Another dreaded move!

While these moves weren't particularly tough physically (I lived out of two suitcases the first two years I lived in China), in my heart I wanted a steady home in China and had hoped to have found it at the Marshall Mansion / Taiyuan Villa.

As wonderful a place as Shanghai was. So also was it a breaker of hearts. I had to move out to another hotel before I could finally secure a decent apartment. Aiya!

But no worries, soon afterwards I was to meet many wonderful friends and continue the adventures in China - adventures which you can read about here.

If you go visit Shanghai, try staying at Taiyuan Villa, formerly the Marshall Mansion.

Have fun!

- John

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