Hua’an Building

Hua’an Building

Hua’an Building is a protected cultural heritage site in Shanghai.

Hua’an Building

It is now the Jinmen Hotel, located at 104 West Nanjing Road. Completed in the 15th year of the Republic of China (1926), it originally housed the Hua’an Life Insurance Company and Hua’an Apartments. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the Jinmen Grand Hotel was opened on the ground floor. It was later converted into the Overseas Chinese Hotel after liberation. Covering an area of 1,973 square meters, the building has a construction area of 12,526 square meters, with nine floors and a height of 38.16 meters. It was designed by the Hazards & Co. architectural firm and constructed by Jiangyujee Construction. The building structure uses a frame construction.

The floor plan is shaped like an “H”. The entrance features outdoor symmetrical granite staircases leading directly to the second-floor lobby. The lobby is spacious and bright, with a domed ceiling engraved with lilies. It houses the reception desk, restaurant, and shopping area. Floors three to seven contain 120 guest rooms, while floors eight and nine house various restaurants and bars. The exterior of the building exhibits an eclectic style with classical composition. The ground floor facade is built with natural granite, while the rest of the exterior uses stucco-finished stone. The façade is divided into three horizontal sections. The central entrance on the first and second floors features Roman Doric columns, flanked by Ionic columned windows. Between the seventh and eighth floors, there is a projecting cornice. The eighth floor is one level higher than the others, featuring a two-story colonnaded tower above it — the lower part uses Corinthian columns, and the upper part uses Tuscan columns. At the top stands a 9-meter-high clock tower with a gilded dome.

Before the 1980s, the hotel was one of the main lodging options for returning overseas Chinese and was known as the “Home of Overseas Chinese.” Its exterior has become one of the landmark buildings along Nanjing Road’s commercial street. In 1989, it was designated as a protected cultural heritage site in Shanghai.