Soviet Sports Club (1947)
PastVu. Images collected by Valery Fominykh.
PastVu.
These photos show an open-air concert of the SSC orchestra in 1947. The Soviet Sports Club was on an empty block between Avenue Petain and Avenue Joffre, at 50 Route Pershing (more precisely, on today’s NW corner of Kangping and Wuxing Roads). The second photo shows the buildings along Route Pershing (Wuxing Road 吴兴路), some of which survive to this day.
Aerial map from 1948 shows the outline of the stadium.
According to Dr. Victor Smolnikov, the Club was financed by the wealthiest Soviet citizens (to which category he belonged): “They employed the Robin Hood’s principle of stealing from the rich. The Soviet Consul General invited the richest USSR citizens to the Consulate for the premiere of the newest Soviet film, The Ballad of Siberia (1948). The film had an enormous effect. The dinner followed; the salmon caviar was served. Finally, when the guests were sipping their coffees, the Consul rose and gave a speech, mentioning that the Association of the USSR Citizens in Shanghai needed the money to build a sports venue. Everyone started reaching for their wallets. The woman sitting next to me took off her golden watch and a bracelet. In short, the finance was not a problem.”
Collected by Valery Fominykh. PastVu.