AFTER resigning from the Missouri School of Journalism, John Benjamin Powell (1886-1947) arrived in Shanghai on a rainy day in February 1917, to help establish the China Weekly Review, an American newspaper in Shanghai.

In spite of the muddy road, Powell walked to the Richard Hotel (today's Astor House Hotel) where he would be staying.

The Richard Hotel belonged to the first generation of hotels built after Shanghai was forced to open to the Western powers. In the centre of the hotel was a large hall in which bands gave performance.

Every night, neatly dressed guests would have dinner there and most of them were prominent figures from foreign countries. However, a long-time expat told Powell: "If you sit in the hall and look around with open eyes, you will find all swindlers who have drifted into this city."

Actually, Powell knew very well what these swindlers were doing. During the days when America occupied the Philippines, Shanghai had become a paradise for foreign speculators and adventurers. Most of these rogues used to spend some of their time in the Philippines, but they were eventually driven out to Hong Kong because of their bad reputation.

When they found that it was difficult for them in Hong Kong too, they moved to Shanghai to find more opportunities. As a result, Shanghai became a base camp for these people to sell counterfeit jewellery, bad cheques and drugs.

Basing himself in the first metropolis of the Far East, Powell, however, felt very gloomy. What made him dissatisfied were the broken-down wooden ships anchored on the Huangpu River. "Although Shanghai has ascended to a first-class seaport city, in view of the modern city's development, it looks more like the countryside in America," Powell wrote.

The roads and sanitation in Shanghai were also terrible in Powell's eyes. "Shanghai has more than 1.5 million people, but no road is well built," Powell noted. In addition, there were many creeks in Shanghai at that time, which resulted in large swarms of flies and mosquitoes. What Powell observed was only the situation in the foreign residences. The places where common Chinese lived were far worse.

Despite seeing many negative things in Shanghai, Powell also witnessed the fast development of the city.

In the early 1920s, Shanghai had been deeply affected by the industrial revolution and modernity. The telephone, telegraph, electric car, automobile, tap water and natural gas could all be found in the city. And the outbreak of World War I brought a rare chance for the development of China's national industry and commerce.

"In 10 years, the industrial construction undertaken by Chinese has exceeded what foreign residents have achieved," Powell wrote.

With his long stay in Shanghai, Powell also noted the growth of anti-colonial feeling among Shanghainese. According to Powell's book, in those days, Chinese were not permitted to enter parks in foreign concessions, however, when foreign residents enjoyed their time in the parks, they were still disturbed by groups of mosquitoes and crows resting on the trees.

"These crows seem to have little respects for noble foreigners, because they always empty their bowels on beautiful ladies and gentlemen in white shirts. I doubt even crows are exclusivists," Powell wrote.

(The author is from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences)