Aerial photo of the old town in the 1940s
Found this 1940s aerial at an online auction. The top photo shows the northern half of the old town, looking across the northwestern quarter toward the northeastern part. I'd love to have it, but the set of three pictures sold for 23,000 yuan.
Image: Huachen auction.
In the lower right corner (of the top image) we can see the devastation from the wartime artillery raids and conflagrations. That area corresponds to today's Sanpailou Road三牌楼路, Zhangjia Lane 张家弄, Guangqi Road 光启路, Xueyuan Road 学院路, Hongqiao Lane 虹桥弄, etc, all of which were built up again after 1949. The curved path at the bottom is Fuxing Road 复兴东路.
Image: Huachen auction.
In the lower right corner (of the top image) we can see the devastation from the wartime artillery raids and conflagrations. That area corresponds to today's Sanpailou Road三牌楼路, Zhangjia Lane 张家弄, Guangqi Road 光启路, Xueyuan Road 学院路, Hongqiao Lane 虹桥弄, etc, all of which were built up again after 1949. The curved path at the bottom is Fuxing Road 复兴东路.