Astor House: A View Of Russia

In July of 1914 the shoreline of Soochow Creek in front of the Astor House, a makeshift parklet of trees, bushes and a steep embankment of grass and dirt, was taken over by a construction site - the Russian Consulate, established in 1896, was in need of permanent digs.

The Russian government went all out with a design by German architect Hans E. Lieb for a four-story building that included some Baroque touches that would dominate the view from the northern Bund and the Garden Bridge, putting the older German, Japanese and US consulates further along the same shoreline to shame. Especially the German consulate next door must have been an embarrassment, as that aging building succumbed to termites a few years later.

For the guests of the Astor, as the Russian consulate opened in January 1917, it became the main view from anywhere below the fifth floor, a fact the hotel management must have been extremely unhappy about. The open sky of Soochow Creek and the wide Whangpoo beyond had been replaced with a shadowy facade across the street.

Here we have a photo of Harold Peck and several family members on their boat docked at the public garden across from the newly built Russian Consulate. Harold Peck (1881-1967) was a policeman in the Shanghai Municipal Police (1908-1936) and his photos survived in the collection of the University of Bristol.

In this photo from late 1917 or early 1918, the waterfront of the consulate is not yet finished. The distinctive pavilion on the east end above a small boat dock is not there yet and on the bridge side of the building we see some construction sheds. Beyond the shed we see the corner of the Astor House and in the distance the tower of the Japanese telegraph office.

In late 1918 the pavilion has been added, the embankment wall is finished and some bushes have been planted to provide shade and privacy from the Garden Bridge next door.

A detail from a postcard with a photo taken from across Soochow Creek from the roof of the British Consulate, sometime in the 1930s.

In 1929, two soldiers are protecting the entrance of the consulate. At this time the consulate was not officially operating, and the guards seem to actually be from a Scottish regiment as part of the International Settlement forces.

The consulate had to close and reopen several times over its history:
1927-1932: No diplomatic relations with the Kuomintang government
1939-1949: Intermittent operations during the Japanese occupation
1962-1986: No Soviet-Chinese relations

An aerial view from the tower of the Union Church along Soochow Creek from sometime in the early 1930s, showing the Astor House on the left, and the Soviet consulate next to the German, Japanese and US consulates.

Despite the occasional interruptions, the Russian Consulate is now, 110 years after its construction, still in use for its original purpose, which makes it nearly unique among the many classical buildings along the waterfront.