READERS will be quite familiar with the history of the foreign "concession" areas in Shanghai as they have been frequently mentioned in past issues.

From the moment Shanghai was opened to the outside world in 1843, foreign invaders began to rush in and claimed their own territories in the city. The first two concessions were established to the north of the old city by the French and the British.

The old city area was later called the Nanshi District and was the only area under the jurisdiction of the local Shanghai Government.

In the early years of the 20th century, another district was set up for working class Shanghainese and for immigrants from neighbouring provinces. The area, because it was to the north of Suzhou Creek opposite the International (British and American) Settlement, was named "Zhabei New District".

Segregated from the wealthy and booming foreign concessions and also separated from each other, the two Chinese districts tried hard but were unable to improve their poor living conditions. This was in marked contrast to the foreign concessions which were becoming more and more prosperous.

Realizing that such an embarrassing situation might be an obstacle to the future development of Shanghai, the local government decided to find a way out. In 1912 the new Shanghai Administration hit on the idea of building a major outer ring-road to connect the Nanshi and Zhabei districts. The road was to start from the Longhua Temple in the south, passing through Xujiahui, then through Hongqiao Lu and Fahua Lu to the Caojiadu area and over a bridge across Suzhou Creek to the Zhabei District.

The idea was far-sighted and enterprising but failed to eventuate because the project was too ambitious and needed large sums of money.

Then, on July 1, 1927, a new construction plan was put forward by the city government.

On November 4, during the 29th local government conference, a resolution was passed unanimously to build the first section of the ring road and to name it "Zhongshan Lu", in honour of Dr Sun Yat-sen.

The road was to be 13 kilometres long and 27 metres in width with 3-metre wide footpaths. An ingenious part of the design was the construction of two 5-metre-wide garden strips in front of the houses along each side of the new road. They were built not only for their scenic value but also to allow for future widening of the road without having to pull down roadside buildings.

The ground-breaking ceremony at the Longhua Temple was held on March 26, 1928 with the then Shanghai Mayor and the garrison commander in attendance. The road, completed at the end of 1929, was the longest and broadest in Shanghai.

And still today, it is a main traffic artery in Puxi and continues to serve local residents.

Vivian Wang