Appendix 3 · Then and Now: Place Names
One: district level
| Present name | History |
|---|---|
| Jing'an District (from November 2015) | created by merging the former Zhabei District (29.19 km²) and the former Jing'an District (7.62 km²), area 37.37 km², administering 13 sub-districts and 1 town |
| Zhabei District (abolished November 2015) | the district was set up in 1927 and formally established in 1928; in 1956 Zhabei and Beizhan merged to form Zhabei District (6.70 km²); after Pengpu town was transferred in in 1992 it reached its present 29.19 km² |
| Former administrative division code | Zhabei District 310108 (now "out of print") |
Two: sub-districts and town
| Present name | Jing'an code | Area (approx.) | Formerly part of | Main changes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tianmu West Road sub-district | 310106015 | 1.94–1.95 km² | former Zhabei | Guangzhao Road sub-district set up 1962 → renamed Aug 1963 → merged Hanzhong Road 1991 → merged Zhongxing Road 1996 |
| Beizhan sub-district | 310106016 | 1.78–1.99 km² | former Zhabei | set up Nov 1962 → merged Haining Road 1984 → merged Shanxi North Road 1991 → merged Xizang North Road 1996 |
| Baoshan Road sub-district | 310106017 | 1.62 km² | former Zhabei | office set up 1959 → made a sub-district 1961 → merged Qingyun Road 1996 |
| Zhijiang West Road sub-district | 310106022 | 1.56–1.60 km² | former Zhabei | 9th office 1953 → Zhijiangmiao Road office → Fenghuo sub-district → renamed Aug 1987 → merged Qiujiang Road 1996 |
| Gonghexin Road sub-district | 310106018 | 2.73–2.74 km² | former Zhabei | split off from Pengpu sub-district Nov 1978 → split off Daning Road Feb 1985 |
| Daning Road sub-district | 310106019 | 6.24–6.26 km² | former Zhabei | split off from Gonghexin Road sub-district Feb 1985 |
| Pengpu Xincun sub-district | 310106020 | 3.72–3.96 km² | former Zhabei | Pengpu sub-district set up Apr 1960 → Pengpu Xincun split off Nov 1978 → Linfen Road split off Jan 1988 |
| Linfen Road sub-district | 310106021 | 1.98–2.12 km² | former Zhabei | split off from Pengpu Xincun sub-district Jan 1988 |
| Pengpu town | 310106100 | about 7.35 km² | former Zhabei | Pengpu township abolished and made a town Sep 1992; the only town in Jing'an District |
Three: sub-districts that have disappeared (merged in the great reorganisation of 1996)
| Old sub-district | Where it went | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Hanzhong Road sub-district | merged into Tianmu West Road sub-district Sep 1991 | split off from Tianmu West Road sub-district Jul 1964 |
| Zhongxing Road sub-district | merged into Tianmu West Road sub-district Nov 1996 | |
| Haining Road sub-district | abolished Oct 1984, divided between Beizhan and Shanxi North Road sub-districts | |
| Shanxi North Road sub-district | merged into Beizhan sub-district Sep 1991 | |
| Xizang North Road sub-district | merged into Beizhan sub-district Oct 1996 | formed in 1991 by merging the Xinjiang Road and Kaifeng Road sub-districts |
| Xinjiang Road sub-district | merged into Xizang North Road sub-district Sep 1991 | |
| Kaifeng Road sub-district | merged into Xizang North Road sub-district Sep 1991 | |
| Qingyun Road sub-district | merged into Baoshan Road sub-district Oct 1996 | |
| Qiujiang Road sub-district | merged into Zhijiang West Road sub-district Nov 1996 | its area was the old course of the Wusong River |
| Fenghuo sub-district | renamed Zhijiang West Road sub-district Aug 1987 | |
| Pengpu sub-district | abolished Nov 1978, divided into Gonghexin Road and Pengpu Xincun sub-districts | set up Apr 1960 |
| Guangzhao Road sub-district | renamed Tianmu West Road sub-district Aug 1963 |
In this round of 1996, Zhabei abolished the 8 sub-districts south of Zhongshan North Road and rebuilt 4 sub-districts. Most of the changes in bold in the table above happened in that year.
Four: important place names and roads, then and now
Roads
| Old name | Present name | Reason for the change |
|---|---|---|
| Jielu | Tianmu East Road | it was the northern boundary of the concessions |
| Zongju Road | Gonghe Road | in 1913, to commemorate the first rising at the Zhabei police bureau and the founding of a republican government |
| Xinzhaqiao Road | Datong Road | |
| South Chuanhong Road (a stretch) | Guangfu Road | commemorating the Restoration of Shanghai |
| South Chuanhong Road (a stretch) | Xinjiang Road, Guoqing Road, Tianmu Middle Road, Xinmin Branch Road | five races in one republic / other republican namings |
| North Chuanhong Road | Tianmu Middle Road | |
| Gongyi Road | Menggu Road | five races in one republic |
| Manzhou Road | Jinyuan Road | after the war of resistance was won, to commemorate Xie Jinyuan |
| Jinling Road / Nanjing Road (proposed name) | Moling Road | changed because it duplicated the Nanjing Road in the International Settlement |
| Guangzhao Road | Tianmu West Road | renamed in 1963 and given another province's mountain name |
| Zhijiangmiao Road | Zhijiang West Road | in 1964, to commemorate the victory in the war of resistance (the surrender at Zhijiang) |
| Song Garden Road | Hetian Road | it originally commemorated Song Jiaoren |
| North Shanxi Road | Shanxi North Road | where Wu Changshuo's former residence in Jiqing Lane is |
| Xiangshan Road | Linshan Road | the junction where Sanzeng Lane is |
| North Suzhou Road (part) | Guangfu Road (East Guangfu Road, later merged into Guangfu Road) |
Institutions and facilities
| Old name | Present name | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Shanghai North Railway Station (the old North Station, Beizhan) | Shanghai Railway Museum | museum built 2000, opened Aug 2004; the old station yard became a carriage servicing yard |
| Shanghai Station (before 1987, the old North Station) | Shanghai Station (from 1987, the new passenger station) | the station name made one "transfer" |
| Hanfen Tower (the book room of the Commercial Press's editorial office) | the Oriental Library (its rare-book room is still called the Hanfen Tower) | burned in 1932 |
| Song Garden / Jiaoren Park | Zhabei Park | renamed 28 May 1950 |
| Jiaozhou Park | Jinyuan Park | separated by a wall from the lone army camp |
| Yaojiazhai | Fangua Lane (estate) | named because an unusually large pumpkin was grown there in 1947 |
| Sanzeng Lane (Gongxing Road × Xiangshan Road) | Xiangshan Estate (around 202–204 Linshan Road) | the original buildings were destroyed in 1932 |
| Guangzhao Shanzhuang | no longer standing | a charitable hall and burial estate for Cantonese living in Shanghai, set up in several places, at its largest covering more than a thousand mu |
Water bodies
| Name | Note |
|---|---|
| Wusong River | the formal name of Suzhou Creek |
| Qiujiang | the old course of the Wusong River; in the Northern Song it silted and narrowed and was called the "Old River", shifting in sound to "Qiujiang" |
| Pengyuepu | running from Zoumatang in the north through Pengpu town and reaching Suzhou Creek at Tanzhiwan in the south, about 7 km long; named after the Pengwang Temple on its banks (built in 1299) |
| Yujingpu, West Sitang, East Jiaojing, Zoumatang, Xiachangpu | Zhabei's backbone waterways (the other 5) |
| Xujiazhai River, Zhongyang Lake, Xianfeng River, Jiangchang River, Mayibang | Zhabei's ordinary waterways (5 in all) |
| Daning Lake | Zhabei's large lake, with a water area of about 68,000 m²; inside Daning Lingshi Park |
Five: lanes, wards and alleys (a selection)
Zhabei had a huge number of lilong. According to the Gazetteer of Zhabei District, by the 1920s a "road network had formed, with 220 lanes, wards and alleys built"; and by the end of the 1920s "more than 590 lilong had been built one after another".
A few lilong of particular significance:
| Lilong | Location | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Baoshan Lane | near 393 Baoshan Road | the Shanghai General Trade Union was founded here on 1 Jun 1925 (No. 2 Baoshan Lane); the Kaiming Bookstore, the Beixin Bookshop and other cultural institutions clustered here |
| Sandeli | 220–300 Baoshan Road | near the scene of the Baoshan Road Massacre of 13 Apr 1927 |
| Jiqing Lane | Lane 457, Shanxi North Road (formerly 923 North Shanxi Road) | Wu Changshuo's former residence |
| Yingye Lane | Huiwen Road | the premises of the preparatory committee of the Shanghai General Trade Union in May 1925 (No. 18) |
| Hexing Lane | Gonghe Road (today's Huakang Road) | the office of the Shanghai General Trade Union in Jul 1925 (No. 27) |
| Baode Lane | Jinling Road (today's Moling Road) | the Shanghai provisional workers' delegates' conference in Sep 1925 (No. 16) |
| Shuncheng Lane | Zhonghua New Road | the Shanghai General Trade Union's open office in Dec 1925 (No. 25) |
| Jingyun Lane | East Hengbang Road, Zhabei | the office of the Shanghai General Trade Union in Nov 1926 (No. 14) |
| Yifu Lane | Baoshan Road | the temporary office of the Shanghai General Trade Union in Jun 1926 (No. 29) |
| Yipin Lane | Qiujiang Road | the printing general union in Dec 1926 (a subsidiary office of the Shanghai General Trade Union) |
| East Baoxing Lane / West Baoxing Lane | around the Commercial Press main works | lane housing built by the firm for its staff in 1904 |
| Zhicheng Lane, Tongde Lane, Ruyi Lane, Jiqing Lane and 17 others | the Fangua Lane area | a busy part of south-western Zhabei in the 1920s |
Six: a few names easily confused
| Pair of names | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| Pengpu town vs Pengpu Xincun sub-district | these are two administrative units. Pengpu Xincun is not within the former Pengpu town; the two merely share the name "Pengpu" (from the Pengyuepu river) |
| Zhabei Park vs Zhabei District | the park is named after the former district; the district is gone now, but the park remains, still called "Zhabei Park" |
| Shanghai Station (today's) vs Shanghai Station (1950–1987) | the former is the new passenger station opened in 1987; the latter means the old North Station |
| Qiujiang vs Qiujiang Road | Qiujiang is the old course of the Wusong River; Qiujiang Road is the road along that old course |
| Tianmu West Road vs Tianmu Middle Road vs Tianmu East Road | three stretches of road: Tianmu West Road (formerly Guangzhao Road), Tianmu Middle Road (formerly North Chuanhong Road) and Tianmu East Road (formerly Jielu) |
Sources: this appendix follows the general introduction to the Gazetteer of Zhabei District (1998 edition); the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau's "The 1911 Revolution and Shanghai's Street Names"; the Administrative Divisions and Place Names website (xzqh.org); the Boya Place-Name Directory; the website of the People's Government of Jing'an District, Shanghai; the Shanghai Party History website; and China National Radio's "This Is How Shanghai's Waterways Got Their Names!". The full bibliography is in Appendix 4.