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Discovery of the Year: The former Ying Family Residence

On a beautiful early summer night in May 2009, I had this special chance to attend the regular ESH Meeting (Explore Shanghai Heritage) at the German Consulate and listen to the night's special guest, Mr. To Foo Ying recalling about the life of Old Shanghai. Born in Shanghai to the wealthy Ying family, he left for Hong Kong after the liberation and according to Mrs. Gabi, the consul's wife, Mr. Ying went on to become a very successful businessman in the city. An alumnus of the St. John's the Divine, he revisited Shanghai with his very elegant wife on this special occasion for an alumni gathering.

A 3-storey building with a "false fourth floor" located on the former Burkill Road, the present day Fengyang Road, it was built by To Foo's father, this house cost him 100,000 tils of silver with all stone granite delivered from Soochow. It is interesting to note the rather hidden location of the house too. I have been in Shanghai for so many years and walked down this street for a trillion times but never will I know the existence of this unique building had I not attended this meeting. To Foo said Mr Ying the Senior was once kidnapped thus he wanted his house to be hidden behind the markets so as to keep away from any unwanted attention.

The family owned a lot of properties, Linongs (Alley Houses) and lands all over Shanghai and one day, after 33 years living in the house, the People's Government wanted to sue Mr. Ying,Sr. because a wall of one of the family's Linongs on Tianjin Road was slanting. To Foo, who was 32 years old back then, represented his father on the 1st hearing.

"What do you have to compensate?"
"Nothing"

On the 2nd hearing: The same question and also the same reply from To Foo.

After the 3rd hearing, To Foo went home and told his father that he'd go to jail if he can do nothing to compensate and convince his father to sell the house.

Mr. To Foo continued a very interesting part about the currency reform after the liberation which I couldn't quite understand but anyway, in the very end, they sold the house to the government for 175,000 yuan.

Currently, the house was owned by a private advertising company. On a cold rainy afternoon, I went into the courtyard of the house and told the guard the words Boris (an architect, son of Mr. To Foo) taught me; I asked him earlier whether it's possible to visit the house. Then I was greeted by a Mr. Y-, who I suppose is the boss of the company. A firm handshake and a friendly smile, he instructed the guard to show me around and I had this privilege to take pictures from any corners of the house, from the ground floor up to the "false fourth floor". Mr Zhao the guard, who happens to be a serious amateur photographer, helped me to get my tripod setup in the narrow staircase and hallways, and gave me a lot of invaluable suggestions on getting the best angle inside the house. The stained glass, I would say, are the most beautiful things, so as the tiled floors and the beautiful balcony... ...

Address: No. 338, Fengyang Road

the half-bath is 5' x 3' -- yesterday I created a pattern...we could have created a pattern at the tile store and ordered it that way but it would have cost an arm and a leg (and I need my arms and legs), so I did the pattern after receiving the tile - there is an entire row of errors through the top 12", but I caught them in time before the tile went down on the floor today.