In the heart of Shanghai’s glitziest shopping complex, nestled between high-end restaurants and a giant advertisement for Gucci, stands a small, old, stone building containing one of the most revered sites of the Communist party of China.
On the street outside, a hawker selling toy rattles says he has no idea what the building is. This is, however, the house where 13 members of the fledgling party held its first national congress, 90 years ago this month.
Just as he is about to answer a question on what he thinks of the Communist party and its six decades of rule, the vendor is shooed away by a security guard employed by the Xintiandi – literally “new heaven on earth” – luxury shopping complex. “The Communist party is great, it’s great. OK, I’m leaving, I’m leaving,” the hawker yells over his shoulder as he scurries off.