The Great World in Shanghai

上海大世界
Shanghai Da Shijie
The Great World in Shanghai (上海大世界)
1957, April
Shanghai huapian chubanshe (上海画片出版社)
77x53.5 cm.
PC-1957-006

The Great World Entertainment Center in Shanghai. Around the central courtyard with the main stage, four floors with smaller rooms can be seen, each with some performance going on. The amount of detail is amazing. In the puppet theatre on the top floor you can for instance see that a play featuring the legendary hero Monkey (from Journey to the West) is going on. Entertainment is traditional, but there are some hints of the actual political situation: the red flag and five-pointed star on the tower, some Russians in the audience, the slogan on the balcony above the main seating area in Mao's handwriting "Let a hundred flowers blossom, weed through the old to bring forth the new" (Baihua qifang tuichen chuxin - 百花齐放,推陈出新).

This is a print from the sixth impression (August 1958), not in a very good condition.


Puppet show featuring Monkey


Russian sailor in the audience of the main stage

The balcony with Mao slogan

 

31.2302, 121.4748