The former Race Club

The former Race Club

The former Race Club is a protected cultural heritage site of Shanghai.

The former Race Club

Located at 325 West Nanjing Road and facing north, the building occupies a land area of 8,900 square meters and has a total built-up area of 21,000 square meters. It was completed in the 22nd year of the Republic of China (1933), designed by the British firm Palmer & Turner and built by the Yu Hongji Construction Company. The ground floor originally housed the ticket office and prize claim area, while the mezzanine served as a bowling alley for members. The second floor contained the members’ club, which included a café, card room, reading room, and billiards room. The east side featured a raked grandstand, while the third and fourth floors had over 30 private boxes for members. The front corridor offered a direct view of the racecourse. The top floor was used for staff accommodations. In addition to hosting irregular horse races throughout the year, the racecourse also held two major competitions each spring and autumn, issuing “Prix de Champagne” race tickets. The exterior walls of the main building on the ground floor are made of granite, with brown face bricks and interspersed stone blocks forming the façade. The west side features a Tuscan-style colonnade that spans the second and third floors. The interior decoration is also quite refined. The architectural style is eclectic with classical composition elements. The clock tower, situated at the bend of the street, is equipped with large clocks with a diameter of 3.3 meters on all four sides, visible from a considerable distance across the city, serving as both a focal point and landmark in the urban landscape.

The former Race Club building was designed in 1926 and completed in 1933. Its exterior is classical in style with eclectic elements. The building, including the clock tower, has eight floors and stands 53 meters tall, with the main structure having four floors and some sections six. The racecourse was repeatedly used as a barracks by foreign invaders. The “Foreign Legions” used to suppress the Taiping Rebellion and the “Shanghai Volunteer Corps” established by the foreign concessions both occupied the site at different times. After Japan launched the war of aggression against China and Shanghai fell, the Japanese military, as well as the U.S. forces after the victory in the War of Resistance, also used the site as barracks. On October 2, 1949, the people of Shanghai held a celebration here for the founding of the People’s Republic of China. In 1950, the former Race Club building became the Shanghai Museum, in 1956 it housed the Shanghai Art Exhibition Hall, in 1959 it was converted into the Shanghai Library, and in 1997 the Shanghai Library moved to a new location. In 2000, it became the Shanghai Art Museum, which relocated in 2013. In 2016, it was to become the new Shanghai History Museum. It was designated as a protected cultural heritage site of Shanghai in 1989.