The Press, how a newspaper office turned into a café
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As the only existing newspaper office on Hankou Road, it was built in 1918 and eventually became the headquarters of Shun Pao (《申报》).
The Shenbao (申報 Shen Bao; Shun Pao) was a Chinese newspaper founded 1872 in the International Settlement of Shanghai as a joint venture of four British merchants led by the controlling shareholder and general manager Ernest Major. Influential early Chinese editors working with Major were Jiang Zhixiang (將芷湘), Wu Zirang (吳子讓), He Guisheng (何桂笙), and Qian Xinbo (錢昕伯), who were soon joined by Cai Erkang (蔡爾康) and Shen Yugui (沈毓桂).
Today, the building has been converted into a café named The Press, established through crowdfunding by alumni of Fudan University. The café is still imbued with the independent and free spirit of journalism. Old photos on the walls preserve memories of Shun Pao, and the menu is designed to resemble an old newspaper. In such an environment, one can imagine editors typing away at the desks next to windows while sipping coffee.