Shanghai Zoo and Sassoon Villa: A Tycoon’s Summer Resort Turned into Migratory Birds’ Rest Stop
2022/01/06
The No.1 Building of Cypress Hotel used to be a summer resort built in the 1930s by Sassoon, Shanghai’s real estate tycoon. Appearing separated into different parts, the British countryside-styled villa is actually joined as a whole. The villa boasts not only elegant layout but also exquisite furnishing. The swing in the shades of luxuriant trees and enclosing tall walls make the private villa reclusive and refined.
The adjoining Shanghai Zoo was the tycoon’s private golf court. It was officially open to the public on May 25, 1954 as a cultural park and was to be expanded into a zoo in August, where there are now over 6,000 rare wild animals of 620 species. To better accommodate the animals, the zoo is rich in greenery, with 100,000-kilo-mater extensive lawns and various horticultural spots. The environment is so agreeable that it attracts migratory birds, which are used to taking the swan lake in the zoo as a rest stop in early spring and late fall, adding natural flavor to the urban mundaneness.
What makes it special?
Having witnessed the splendor of the city in 1930s, the typical British countryside villa, along with Shanghai Zoo, is now a famous scenic spot in contemporary Shanghai. The vitality of the zoo and the serenity of the villa complement each other to be the most beautiful scenery in the west outskirts of Changning. -- Tang Xiaofeng, Curator of Changning Library
Five decades ago, Shanghai was not as prosperous as it is today and with far less public parks and recreational amenities. Therefore, there was nothing more joyous in my childhood than playing with my buddies, chasing dragonflies and seeing animals in the zoo, memories that I can still recall even by today. But I’m happy to see how the zoo develops in its scale, the species of animals it keeps and its overall environment. Now a retiree, I visit the zoo a lot, to relive my carefree childhood and enjoy the city’s remarkable development in the past decades. -- Tan Tongzeng, resident in Xianxia Sub-district