The Paramount

The Paramount (Chinese: 百樂門; pinyin: Bǎilèmén; lit. 'gate of 100 pleasures') is a historical nightclub and dance hall at 218 Yuyuan Road in Jing'an, Shanghai, China. It was the largest ballroom in Shanghai before the People's Liberation Army established control over the city in 1949.

History

The Paramount, designed in Art Deco style by the architect S. J. Young (楊錫鏐 Yáng Xíliù, 1899-1978) was completed in 1933,[1] by a group of Chinese bankers. It lay just off Bubbling Well Road (now Nanjing West Road), a major entertainment thoroughfare and was a meeting place for the wealthy elite of Shanghai society. The Ballroom lasted under its original owners before going bankrupt in 1936. In 1937, it was converted into a taxi dance hall featuring Chinese dance hostesses, which it remained until 1949.[2]

In 1956, following the Chinese Communist Revolution, the Paramount was closed and it later reopened as the Red Capitol Cinema showing Maoist propaganda films.[3] As a result of the Cultural Revolution, the building became defunct and obscure. On a rainy day in 1990, part of the structure's façade collapsed and killed a passerby on a sidewalk.[4]

High resolution photograph of The Paramount Theatre in 1994
The Paramount Theatre photographed in July 1994.

In 2001, Taiwanese investors spent $3-million to refurbish the venue and reopened it as a ballroom in its original style, with red-and-gold décor.[5]

In December 2006, the Paramount's Taiwanese owners announced the ballroom was losing revenue, so they decided to convert the second and third floors into a disco. Only the fourth-floor ballroom will remain in the old style, and preservationists have expressed concerns that the structure could be damaged by the reverberations of the disco.

In the last item from the BBC Radio Program: "From Our Own Correspondent" on June 16, 2012, Fuchsia Dunlop reported on a dance visit to the refurbished Paramount.

In July 2012, Tangobang chose this venue for the Shanghai Tango Festival. In March 2017, the Paramount reopened as a nightclub after it was renovated.[6]

The Paramount building in 2015

References

  1. ↑ Warr, Anne: Shanghai Architecture, The Watermark Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-949284-76-1
  2. ↑ "远东第一乐府"：百乐门舞厅（红都剧场） 上海地方志办公室
  3. ↑ French, Howard W. (October 3, 2007). "Where West Met East, and Then Asked for a Dance". New York Times. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
  4. ↑ 东方第一乐府——百乐门里故事多 Archived 2014-06-05 at the Wayback Machine(in Chinese)
  5. ↑ 远东第一乐府：上海百乐门《检察风云》2013年 第23期
  6. ↑ Wong, Megan (February 24, 2017). "The Historical Paramount Turns Into A Nightclub". City Weekend. Retrieved September 14, 2017.

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