Cathay Mansions

Cathay Mansions

Cathay Mansions is a protected historical site under Shanghai’s cultural heritage preservation.

Cathay Mansions

Now known as the North Building of Jinjiang Hotel, it is located at 189 Changle Road, built in the 18th year of the Republic of China (1929), designed by Palmer & Turner and constructed by Xin Sunji Construction Company. The building covers a construction area of 21,202 square meters, stands 57 meters tall, has 13 floors, and features a steel frame structure.

It was originally an apartment building exclusively for British guests and was owned by the British company A.N. Lee. Floors one to ten were guest rooms, with each floor containing 12 single rooms and 8 suites, each equipped with private sanitation facilities. Floors eleven and twelve housed restaurants, while the top floor was the kitchen. The internal functions were clearly defined, with protruding parts of the building serving as service rooms and storage areas.

The building’s façade features neatly arranged steel windows, with the exterior walls clad in brown face bricks and the window ledges finished with artificial stone. The guest rooms all face north or south. There are seven elevators, four of which are centrally located in the lobby for guest use. The interior decoration follows a British style, and the entire building is designed in the British Georgian style with Art Deco details and ornamentation. The structure has sunk significantly, with more than two meters of subsidence recorded by 1992. In 1989, it was designated as a protected historical site under Shanghai’s cultural heritage preservation.