Cha House is a building in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The building was constructed in 1920 and was owned and used by two brothers, Qiu Xinshan and Qiu Weiqing, who were businessmen in the

dye A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution an ...

industry at that time. The Qius' residence originally comprised two blocks, the East Block and West Block. The West Block was demolished for the reconstruction of Minli Middle School, while the East Block was used as the office building of the school. In 2002,

HKR International HKR International Limited (, abbreviated as HKRI) is a conglomerate headquartered in Hong Kong. The company was founded by Cha Chi-ming, a textile industrialist from Shanghai and one of the pioneers of Hong Kong's industrial boom in the 1950-70s ...

(HKRI) acquired the land-use right of Dazhongli, on which the building was located. Afterwards, the building was moved from its previous location to the current one and now forms part of the

HKRI Taikoo Hui HKRI Taikoo Hui () is a mixed use development on West Nanjing Road in Shanghai, China. It comprises two office towers, a large retail mall, 102 serviced apartments and a 111-room hotel called The Middle House. In late 2017, Starbucks opened a ...

History

The Qius' residence (1920–1940)

Cha House was built by two brothers, Qiu Xinshan and Qiu Weiqing, who were engaged in the dye industry, in the 1920s. The Qius' residence originally comprised two blocks (East Block and West Block) and each of the blocks was used by one of the brothers and his family members.

Minli Middle School (1940–2002)

After the outbreak of WWII, the campus of Minli Middle School in

was destroyed and the temporary school building located in the

Shanghai International Settlement The Shanghai International Settlement () originated from the merger in the year 1863 of the British and American enclaves in Shanghai, in which British subjects and American citizens would enjoy extraterritoriality and consular jurisdiction ...

was out of capacity. Therefore, Minli Middle School rented the Qiu’s Residence as one of the school buildings. After the war, the building was commandeered by the Nationalist government as “New Life Club” for a short period of time. Later, the West Block was demolished and the East Block continued to be used by Minli Middle School and was named “ Outstanding Historical Building” in 1999.

Reconstruction (2002–2017)

In 2002, HKRI acquired the Dazhongli site with a consideration of

RMB The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 2022. ...

1.3 billion and planned to redevelop the land into a commercial complex. However, the location of Minli Middle School within the site made it impossible to build and excavate for foundation. Evaluation by a team of specialists concluded that the building needed to be moved horizontally to a new site. On 26 January 2010, the building glued to the base was pushed by

hydraulic jack A jack is a mechanical lifting device used to apply great forces or lift heavy loads. A mechanical jack employs a screw thread for lifting heavy equipment. A hydraulic jack uses hydraulic power. The most common form is a car jack, floor jack o ...

s towards its new position at the southern end of the site near Weihai Road along the paved tracks at a speed of two centimeters per minute. The moving of the building over a distance of 57 metres took two weeks and the building reached its final position on 7 February where it was fixed onto a new foundation. Upon its successful relocation and after further restoration, the historic building is ready to be reopened.

Cha House (2017–present)

The building has been renamed as Cha House, in memory of Cha Chi Ming, the founder of HKRI.

References

{{coord missing, Shanghai Landmarks in Shanghai Residential buildings in China Houses completed in 1920