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The Paramount () 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.
"BBC Radio 4- From Our Own Correspondent"
at ''China.org.cn'' {{coord missing, Shanghai Art Deco architecture in Shanghai
The Paramount () 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 inArt Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
style by the architect S. J. Young (楊錫鏐 ''Yáng Xíliù'', 1899-1978) was completed in 1933,Warr, Anne: ''Shanghai Architecture'', The Watermark Press, 2007, by a group of Chinese bankers. It lay just off Bubbling Well Road (now Nanjing West Road
Nanjing Road (; Shanghainese: ''Noecin Lu'') is a road in Shanghai, the eastern part of which is the main shopping district of Shanghai. It is one of the world's busiest shopping streets, along with Fifth Avenue, Oxford Street, Orchard Roa ...
), 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.
In 1956, following the Chinese Communist Revolution
The Chinese Communist Revolution, officially known as the Chinese People's War of Liberation in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and also known as the National Protection War against the Communist Rebellion in the Republic of China (RO ...
, the Paramount was closed and it later reopened as the Red Capitol Cinema showing Maoist propaganda films. 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.
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.
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
''From Our Own Correspondent'' is a weekly BBC radio programme in which BBC foreign correspondents deliver a sequence of short talks reflecting on current events and topical themes in the countries outside the UK in which they are based. The prog ...
" on June 16th, 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.
References
External links
"BBC Radio 4- From Our Own Correspondent"
at ''China.org.cn'' {{coord missing, Shanghai Art Deco architecture in Shanghai