List of guests and residents of the Astor House Hotel (Shanghai)
Encyclopedia
Notable people who have stayed at the Astor House Hotel
Astor House, Shanghai
The Astor House Hotel , known as the Pujiang Hotel in Chinese since 1959, which has been described as once "one of the famous hotels of the world", "the pride of Shanghai", "a landmark of modern Shanghai", and perhaps hyperbolically as "once the most luxurious hotel in the world", was the first...

 in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

, China as guests or residents over the years include:

1860–1873

  • Pioneering Swiss photographer Pierre Rossier
    Pierre Rossier
    Pierre Joseph Rossier was a pioneering Swiss photographer whose albumen photographs, which include stereographs and cartes-de-visite, comprise portraits, cityscapes, and landscapes...

     stayed at the Astor House from June 1860 for several weeks;
  • British military engineer Lt. Thomas Lyster (born 5 July 1840; died 17 August 1865), of the Royal Engineers
    Royal Engineers
    The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....

    , aide to Charles George Gordon
    Charles George Gordon
    Major-General Charles George Gordon, CB , known as "Chinese" Gordon, Gordon Pasha, and Gordon of Khartoum, was a British army officer and administrator....

     (then commander of the Ever Victorious Army
    Ever Victorious Army
    The Ever Victorious Army was the name given to an imperial army in late-19th–century China. The Ever Victorious Army fought for the Qing Dynasty against the rebels of the Nien and Taiping Rebellions....

    ), stayed at the Astor House Hotel from 24 August 1862;
  • Representatives of the Embassy of Japan stayed at the Astor House in February 1864 while negotiating with other foreign powers in Shanghai regarding the practical implications of extraterritoriality;
  • American Charles Carleton Coffin
    Charles Carleton Coffin
    Charles Carleton Coffin was an American journalist, Civil War correspondent, author and politician.Charles Carleton Coffin was one of the best-known newspaper correspondents of the American Civil War. He has been called "the Ernie Pyle of his era," and a biographer, W.E...

    , a journalist for The Boston Journal
    The Boston Journal
    The Boston Journal was a daily newspaper published in Boston, Massachusetts from 1833 until October 1917 when it was merged with the Boston Herald....

    , and his wife, stayed at the Astor House Hotel in early 1868;
  • Prince Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
    Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
    Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was the third Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and reigned from 1893 to 1900. He was also a member of the British Royal Family, the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha...

    , the Duke of Edinburgh, and second son of Queen Victoria of Great Britain, chose to stay at the Astor House Hotel when he visited Shanghai in 1869;

1873–1900

  • Scotsman John Francis Campbell
    John Francis Campbell
    John Francis Campbell , Celtic scholar, educated at Eton and Edinburgh, was afterwards Secretary to the Lighthouse Commission...

     (1821–1885), authority on Celtic folklore, publisher of Popular Tales of the West Highlands
    Popular Tales of the West Highlands
    Popular Tales of the West Highlands is a four-volume collection of fairy tales, collected and published by John Francis Campbell, and often translated from Gaelic as well. Alexander Carmichael was one of the main contributors...

    , and inventor of the Campbell–Stokes sunshine recorder, was a guest at the Astor House in January 1875;
  • American attorney
    Lawyer
    A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

     Benjamin Robbins Curtis, Jr. (1855–1891) (the son and namesake
    Namesake
    Namesake is a term used to characterize a person, place, thing, quality, action, state, or idea that has the same, or a similar, name to another....

     of Benjamin Robbins Curtis
    Benjamin Robbins Curtis
    Benjamin Robbins Curtis was an American attorney and United States Supreme Court Justice.Curtis was the first and only Whig justice of the Supreme Court. He was also the first Supreme Court justice to have a formal legal degree and is the only justice to have resigned from the court over a matter...

    , the former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
    Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
    Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are the members of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the Chief Justice of the United States...

     (1851–1857), and a lead defence attorney at the 1868 Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
    Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
    The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States, was one of the most dramatic events in the political life of the United States during Reconstruction, and the first impeachment in history of a sitting United States president....

    ) stayed at the Astor House for three nights from 12 September 1875;
  • Cornish
    Cornwall
    Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

     antiquarian
    Antiquarian
    An antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient objects of art or science, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts...

     William Copeland Borlase
    William Copeland Borlase
    William Copeland Borlase FSA was an antiquarian and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1880 until 1887 when he was ruined by bankruptcy and scandal....

     (1848 – 31 March 1899), later a Liberal
    Liberal Party (UK)
    The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

     Member of Parliament
    Member of Parliament
    A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

     for East Cornwall
    East Cornwall (UK Parliament constituency)
    East Cornwall was a county constituency in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected two Members of Parliament by the bloc vote system of election.- Boundaries :...

     in 1880, and from 1886 Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board
    Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board
    The Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board was, from 1871 – 1919, a junior ministerial post in the United Kingdom subordinate to the President of the Local Government Board...

    , but resigned later that year due a scandal involving a Portuguese
    Portugal
    Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

     mistress
    Mistress (lover)
    A mistress is a long-term female lover and companion who is not married to her partner; the term is used especially when her partner is married. The relationship generally is stable and at least semi-permanent; however, the couple does not live together openly. Also the relationship is usually,...

    , and bankruptcy
    Bankruptcy
    Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....

    , stayed at the Astor House from 30 May 1878;
  • Scottish American industrialist Andrew Carnegie
    Andrew Carnegie
    Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...

     stayed at the Astor House Hotel for almost a week from 5 December 1878;
  • American adventurer Thomas Wallace Knox (born in Pembroke, New Hampshire
    Pembroke, New Hampshire
    Pembroke is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 7,115 at the 2010 census. Pembroke includes part of the village of Suncook. The center of population of New Hampshire is located in Pembroke.- History :...

    , 26 June 1835; died 1896), "one of the preeminent travel writers in the second half of the Nineteenth Century" and the author of 46 books, who had been court martialed by Ulysses S. Grant
    Ulysses S. Grant
    Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...

     during the American Civil War
    American Civil War
    The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

    , stayed at the Astor House in 1879;
  • King David Kalākaua I of Hawaii
    Kalakaua
    Kalākaua, born David Laamea Kamanakapuu Mahinulani Nalaiaehuokalani Lumialani Kalākaua and sometimes called The Merrie Monarch , was the last reigning king of the Kingdom of Hawaii...

    , the last reigning king of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, the first monarch to travel around the world, stayed at the Astor House Hotel in April 1881, where he occupied a suite of rooms on the first floor;


  • Prussia
    Prussia
    Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

    n born Christian evangelist George Müller
    George Müller
    George Müller , a Christian evangelist and Director of the Ashley Down orphanage in Bristol, England, cared for 10,024 orphans in his life...

    , philanthropist
    Philanthropist
    A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...

     and founder of orphanage
    Orphanage
    An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...

    s in Bristol
    Bristol
    Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

    , stayed at the Astor House during his two weeks in Shanghai from 4 October 1886, in which he preached 17 times;
  • Simon Adler Stern (born 8 December 1838 in Philadelphia; died May 2, 1904), American Jewish author, and editor of Penn Monthly and Industrial Review, was a guest in the Hotel in 1887;
  • In May 1894, American mezzo-soprano
    Mezzo-soprano
    A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...

     opera singer Minnie Hauk
    Minnie Hauk
    thumb|Minnie Hauk in a [[cabinet card]] photograph, ca. 1880Amalia Mignon Hauck , was an American operatic soprano....

     (1851–1929), who was rumoured to be the illegitimate daughter of American financier
    Financier
    Financier is a term for a person who handles typically large sums of money, usually involving money lending, financing projects, large-scale investing, or large-scale money management. The term is French, and derives from finance or payment...

     Leonard Jerome
    Leonard Jerome
    Leonard Walter Jerome was a Brooklyn, New York, financier and grandfather of Winston Churchill.- Early life :...

    , and was the first American to sing the title role in Carmen
    Carmen
    Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...

    , and her husband, Austrian journalist Baron Ernst von Hesse-Waltegg, were guests during Hauk's performances in Shanghai;

  • American theatre manager Miss Grace Hawthorne (born ca.1847 in Maine; died 23 May 1922, London, England), "a tall, handsome American actress", who had starred as Zoe in The Octoroon
    The Octoroon
    The Octoroon is a play by Dion Boucicault, which opened in 1859 at The Winter Garden Theatre. Boucicault adapted the play from the novel The Quadroon by Thomas Mayne Reid . It concerns the residents of a Louisiana plantation called Terrebonne. The play was very popular in its day, and sparked...

    in the 1880s, and former lessee of the Princess's Theatre, London
    Princess's Theatre, London
    The Princess's Theatre or Princess Theatre was a theatre in Oxford Street, London. The building opened in 1828 as the "Queen's Bazaar" and housed a diorama by Clarkson Stanfield and David Roberts. It was converted into a theatre and opened in 1836 as the Princess's Theatre, named for then Princess...

     and the Olympic Theatre
    Olympic Theatre
    The Olympic Theatre, sometimes known as the Royal Olympic Theatre, was a 19th-century London theatre, opened in 1806 and located at the junction of Drury Lane, Wych Street, and Newcastle Street. The theatre specialised in comedies throughout much of its existence...

    , London, who "must have had abundant means of her own or else was backed by others who had, for she met failure after failure with a grim determination to go on at all costs", stayed in the Astor House during her round the world trip in 1895, because of its name;
  • John James Aubertin (1818–1900), British railway engineer and translator of Portuguese poet Luís de Camões
    Luís de Camões
    Luís Vaz de Camões is considered Portugal's and the Portuguese language's greatest poet. His mastery of verse has been compared to that of Shakespeare, Vondel, Homer, Virgil and Dante. He wrote a considerable amount of lyrical poetry and drama but is best remembered for his epic work Os Lusíadas...

    ' magnum opus
    Masterpiece
    Masterpiece in modern usage refers to a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or to a work of outstanding creativity, skill or workmanship....

    Os Lusíadas
    Os Lusíadas
    Os Lusíadas , usually translated as The Lusiads, is a Portuguese epic poem by Luís Vaz de Camões ....

    and also seventy of his sonnet
    Sonnet
    A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...

    s, stayed on five separate occasions between Palm Sunday
    Palm Sunday
    Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in all four Canonical Gospels. ....

     and November 1890;
  • Annie “Londonderry” Cohen Kopchovsky
    Annie Londonderry
    Annie “Londonderry” Cohen Kopchovsky was the first woman to bicycle around the world. She was a free-thinking young woman, who reinvented herself as the daring “Annie Londonderry” — entrepreneur, athlete, and globetrotter.-Biography:...

    , the first woman to bicycle
    Bicycle
    A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....

     around the world, stayed at the Astor Hotel on her pioneering journey in 1895;

  • English travel writer Isabella Lucy Bird (15 October 1831 to 7 October 1904), the most famous and influential of the Victorian
    Victorian era
    The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

     "lady travelers,", and the first woman admitted into the Royal Geographical Society
    Royal Geographical Society
    The Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...

     in 1892, stayed at the Astor House in 1896;
  • British travel writer and explorer Mary Hall (born 1857 in Southwark
    Southwark
    Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...

    ; died 1919 in Hampstead
    Hampstead
    Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...

    ), one of the first women to be admitted as a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
    Royal Geographical Society
    The Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...

     in 1913, later "the first woman to have crossed Africa from south to north", stayed at the Astor House in 1897, and again in April 1914;
  • American Congregational clergyman John Henry Barrows (born 11 July 1847 near Medina, Michigan; died 3 June 1902 of pneumonia
    Pneumonia
    Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...

     and pericarditis
    Pericarditis
    Pericarditis is an inflammation of the pericardium . A characteristic chest pain is often present.The causes of pericarditis are varied, including viral infections of the pericardium, idiopathic causes, uremic pericarditis, bacterial infections of the precardium Pericarditis is an inflammation of...

    ), president of the Parliament of the World's Religions
    Parliament of the World's Religions
    There have been several meetings referred to as a Parliament of the World’s Religions, most notably the World's Parliament of Religions of 1893, the first attempt to create a global dialogue of faiths. The event was celebrated by another conference on its centenary in 1993...

     held in Chicago
    Chicago
    Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

     in September 1893 in connection with the World Columbian Exposition, and later president of Oberlin College
    Oberlin College
    Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...

    , stayed at the Astor House in April 1897;

  • British travel writer John Foster Fraser
    John Foster Fraser
    Sir John Foster Fraser was a British travel author. In July 1896, he and two friends, Edward Lunn and F. H. Lowe, took a bicycle trip around the world riding Rover safety bicycles. They covered 19,237 miles in two years and two months, travelling through 17 countries and across three continents...

    , arrived at the Astor House Hotel on 23 December 1897 during his bicycle trip around the world;
  • American mariner Lt. Bradley Allen Fiske (13 June 1854 – 6 April 1942), later a Rear Admiral
    Rear Admiral
    Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...

     and Aide for Operations for the United States Navy
    United States Navy
    The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

     (a post that later became that of Chief of Naval Operations
    Chief of Naval Operations
    The Chief of Naval Operations is a statutory office held by a four-star admiral in the United States Navy, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Navy. The office is a military adviser and deputy to the Secretary of the Navy...

    ), stayed at the Astor House Hotel in December 1898, while on furlough
    Furlough
    In the United States a furlough is a temporary unpaid leave of some employees due to special needs of a company, which may be due to economic conditions at the specific employer or in the economy as a whole...

     after the Battle of Manila Bay
    Battle of Manila Bay (1898)
    The Battle of Manila Bay took place on 1 May 1898, during the Spanish-American War. The American Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey engaged and destroyed the Spanish Pacific Squadron under Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasarón...

    ;
  • Future American president Herbert Hoover
    Herbert Hoover
    Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...

    , then a leading mining engineer, and his wife, Lou Henry Hoover
    Lou Henry Hoover
    Lou Henry Hoover was the wife of President of the United States Herbert Hoover and First Lady of the United States, 1929-1933. Mrs. Hoover was president of the Girl Scouts of the USA for two terms, 1922-1925 and 1935-1937....

    , stayed at the Astor House on their honeymoon
    Honeymoon
    -History:One early reference to a honeymoon is in Deuteronomy 24:5 “When a man is newly wed, he need not go out on a military expedition, nor shall any public duty be imposed on him...

     for 4 days from 8 March 1899, and again in August 1900 just after the Boxer Uprising, registered under the pseudonym
    Pseudonym
    A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...

     of Mr. Clark to allow the registering of a mining lease without detection;
  • British mining
    Mining
    Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

     expert Herbert William Lewis Way stayed at the Astor House Hotel from 4 October 1899;

1900–1915

  • English magician Charles Bertram (1853–1907), who was a favourite of the future King Edward VII, performing for him more than twenty times, performed at the Astor House in March 1900, and stayed there;
  • American journalist Wilbur J. Chamberlin, who stayed at the Hotel in September 1900 and again in March 1901, to cover the aftermath of the Boxer Uprising, whose reporting for the New York Sun
    New York Sun
    The New York Sun was a weekday daily newspaper published in New York City from 2002 to 2008. When it debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of an otherwise unrelated earlier New York paper, The Sun , it became the first general-interest broadsheet newspaper to be started...

    fueled the Twain-Ament Indemnities Controversy
    Twain-Ament Indemnities Controversy
    The Twain–Ament indemnities controversy was a major cause célèbre in the United States of America in 1901 as a consequence of the published reactions of American humorist Mark Twain to reports of Rev...

     by criticising missionary
    Missionary
    A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

     William Scott Ament
    William Scott Ament
    William Scott Ament was a missionary to China for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions from 1877, and was known as the "Father of Christian Endeavor in China." Ament became prominent as a result of his heroism during the Boxer Uprising and controversial...

    ;
  • Scottish author C.D. Mackellar stayed overnight in January 1901;
  • Future First Lady of the United States
    First Lady of the United States
    First Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president. The current first lady is Michelle Obama.-Current:The...

     Helen Herron Taft
    Helen Herron Taft
    Helen Louise Herron "Nellie" Taft was the wife of William Howard Taft and First Lady of the United States from 1909 to 1913.-Early years:...

     was staying at the Astor House Hotel in October 1901, when she received news that her husband, William Howard Taft
    William Howard Taft
    William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...

    , then Governor-General of the Philippines
    Governor-General of the Philippines
    The Governor-General of the Philippines was the title of the government executive during the colonial period of the Philippines, governed mainly by Spain and the United States, and briefly by Great Britain, from 1565 to 1935....

    , was severely ill in Manila;


  • American mariner Captain Ransford D. Bucknam (born 1869; died 27 May 1915), later pasha
    Pasha
    Pasha or pascha, formerly bashaw, was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire political system, typically granted to governors, generals and dignitaries. As an honorary title, Pasha, in one of its various ranks, is equivalent to the British title of Lord, and was also one of the highest titles in...

     of the Ottoman Empire
    Ottoman Empire
    The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

     and rear admiral
    Rear Admiral
    Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...

     of the navy of Turkey stayed at the Astor House prior to 1902;
  • American geological engineer Bailey Willis
    Bailey Willis
    Bailey Willis was a geological engineer who worked for the United States Geological Survey , and lectured at two prominent American universities. He also played a key role in getting Mount Rainier designated as a national park in 1899...

    , who was employed by the United States Geological Survey
    United States Geological Survey
    The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...

     (USGS), and later a leading global expert in earthquake
    Earthquake
    An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...

    s, stayed at the Astor House during his geological expedition in China in 1903;
  • Controversial American medical practitioner and radio pioneer John R. Brinkley
    John R. Brinkley
    John Romulus Brinkley was a controversial American medical doctor who experimented with xenotransplantation of goat glands into humans as a means of curing male impotence in clinics across several states, and an advertising and radio pioneer who began the era of Mexican border blaster radio...

    , who paid $65 a day for his suite at the Astor House in 1903;
  • Jagatjit Singh Bahadur
    Jagatjit Singh Bahadur
    Jagatjit Singh Bahadur was the ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Kapurthala in the British Empire of India from 1877 until his death...

     (1872–1949), the ruling Maharaja
    Maharaja
    Mahārāja is a Sanskrit title for a "great king" or "high king". The female equivalent title Maharani denotes either the wife of a Maharaja or, in states where that was customary, a woman ruling in her own right. The widow of a Maharaja is known as a Rajamata...

     of the princely state of Kapurthala
    Kapurthala
    Kapurthala is a city in Punjab state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Kapurthala District. It was the capital of the Kapurthala State, a princely state in British India. The secular and aesthetic mix of the city with its prominent buildings based on French and Indo-Saracenic...

     in the British Empire of India from 1877, stayed at the Astor House in 1903;
  • English feminist and travel writer Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell, later associated with T.E. Lawrence, stayed at the Astor House Hotel in April 1903;
  • American humorist Marshall P. Wilder
    Marshall P. Wilder
    Marshall P. Wilder was a famous actor, monologist, humorist and sketch artist who was one of the first persons with a disability to become a celebrity on his own terms.-Early life:...

     (born 19 September 1859 in Geneva, New York
    Geneva, New York
    Geneva is a city in Ontario and Seneca counties in the U.S. state of New York. The population was 13,617 at the 2000 census. Some claim it is named after the city and canton of Geneva in Switzerland. Others believe the name came from confusion over the letters in the word "Seneca" written in cursive...

    ; died 10 January 1915), born with congenital kyphosis
    Kyphosis
    Kyphosis , also called roundback or Kelso's hunchback, is a condition of over-curvature of the thoracic vertebrae...

    , who was editor of the 10 volume The Wit and Humor of America, made 16 command performances for the future King Edward VII, was a guest in 1905;
  • American poet
    Poet
    A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

     and essayist Joaquin Miller
    Joaquin Miller
    Joaquin Miller was the pen name of the colorful American poet Cincinnatus Heine Miller , nicknamed the "Poet of the Sierras".-Early years and family:...

    , "the Poet of the Sierras", was a guest in 1905;
  • After the beating of the British Vice Consul
    Vice Consul
    A vice consul is a subordinate officer, authorized to exercise consular functions in some particular part of a district controlled by a consulate....

     George D. Pitzipios and the torching of his car, American Consul General to Shanghai, James Linn Rodgers (born 10 September 1861; died 2 September 1930), and his family stayed in the Astor House Hotel from 18 December 1905 during anti-American riots during the boycott
    Boycott
    A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...

     of American goods by Chinese in response to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, because of the isolation of their official residence on Bubbling Well Road
    Nanjing Road
    Nanjing Road is the name of more than one road:* Nanjing Road * Nanjing Road * Nanjing Road...

    ;

  • American herpetologist Thomas Barbour
    Thomas Barbour
    Thomas Barbour was an American herpetologist. From 1927 until 1946, he was director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology founded in 1859 by Louis Agassiz at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts....

     (1884–1946), later director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology
    Museum of Comparative Zoology
    The Museum of Comparative Zoology, full name "The Louis Agassiz Museum of Comparative Zoology", often abbreviated simply to "MCZ", is a zoology museum located on the grounds of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is one of three museums which collectively comprise the Harvard Museum...

    , stayed at the Astor House Hotel during his honeymoon trip in May 1907;
  • Danish explorer Frits Holm, leader of an expedition to copy and purchase the Nestorian Stele
    Nestorian Stele
    The Nestorian Stele is aTang Chinese stele erected in 781 that documents 150 years of history of early Christianity in China. It is a 279-cm tall limestone block with text in both Chinese and Syriac, describing the existence of Christian communities in several cities in northern China...

     in Xian, stayed there in February 1908;
  • The Ashburton Guardian reported that British Major General
    Major General
    Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

     Hector MacDonald
    Hector MacDonald
    Major-General Sir Hector Archibald MacDonald, also known as Fighting Mac , was a distinguished Victorian soldier....

    , who had been reported as commiting suicide in Paris in 1903 after allegations of illicit homosexual activity, was seen breakfasting at the Astor House in 1909 by a non-commissioned officer
    Non-commissioned officer
    A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...

     who had served with MacDonald in India and Egypt.
  • American Presbyterian evangelist
    Evangelism
    Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....

     John Wilbur Chapman
    John Wilbur Chapman
    John Wilbur Chapman was a Presbyterian evangelist in the late 19th Century, generally traveling with gospel singer Charles Alexander. His parents were Alexander H. and Lorinda Chapman.-Faith & Education:Chapman grew up attending Quaker Day School and Methodist Sunday School...

     stayed at the Astor House from 7 September 1909, during the first Chapman-Alexander worldwide campaign, which was held in Shanghai from 8–16 September;
  • American gospel singer Charles McCallon Alexander
    Charles McCallon Alexander
    Charles McCallon Alexander , a native of East Tennessee, was a popular 19th Century gospel singer who worked the evangelistic circuit for many years. Over the course of his ministry, he toured with R. A. Torrey and John Wilbur Chapman, most notably. In 1904, Alexander married Helen Cadbury,...

     and his wife, Helen Cadbury
    Helen Cadbury
    Helen Cadbury was an evangelist.In 1904, Cadbury married popular gospel singer Charles McCallon Alexander. She toured with him on the evangelistic circuit as a women's worker, and they worked together to found the Pocket Testament League, which distributes free pocket-sized New Testaments via...

    , stayed at the Astor House from 7 September 1909, during the first Chapman-Alexander worldwide campaign, which was held in Shanghai;
  • Malayan-born Chinese medical practitioner Dr. Wu Lien-teh
    Wu Lien-teh
    Dr. Wu Lien-teh was a Malayan-born Chinese and the first medical student of Chinese descent to study at University of Cambridge. He was also the first Malaysian Chinese nominated to receive a Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1935...

     (伍连德) (1879–1960), the first person of Chinese ancestry to study medicine at the University of Cambridge
    University of Cambridge
    The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

    , and later first president of the China Medical Association (1916–1920), stayed at the Astor House Hotel about 1910;
  • Commander of the US Marine detachment at the American Legation in Peking Major
    Major (United States)
    In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, major is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel...

     John H. Russell, Jr.
    John H. Russell, Jr.
    John Henry Russell, Jr. was a major general and 16th Commandant of the Marine Corps. His only child was Brooke Astor, a noted philanthropist.-Biography:...

    , and later the Commandant of the Marine Corps
    Commandant of the Marine Corps
    The Commandant of the Marine Corps is normally the highest ranking officer in the United States Marine Corps and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff...

    , stayed at the Astor House in 1911, with his family, including the seven-year old Brooke Astor
    Brooke Astor
    Roberta Brooke Astor was an American philanthropist and socialite who was the chairwoman of the Vincent Astor Foundation, which had been established by her third husband, Vincent Astor, son of John Jacob Astor IV and great-great grandson of America's first multi-millionaire, John Jacob...

    , future socialite
    Socialite
    A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....

     and philanthropist
    Philanthropist
    A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...

    ;
  • British Antarctic explorer Apsley Cherry-Garrard
    Apsley Cherry-Garrard
    Apsley George Benet Cherry-Garrard was an English explorer of Antarctica. He was a survivor of the Terra Nova Expedition and is acclaimed for his historical account of this expedition, The Worst Journey in the World....

     (2 January 1886 – 18 May 1959), a survivor of Robert Falcon Scott
    Robert Falcon Scott
    Captain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13...

    's Terra Nova expedition
    Terra Nova Expedition
    The Terra Nova Expedition , officially the British Antarctic Expedition 1910, was led by Robert Falcon Scott with the objective of being the first to reach the geographical South Pole. Scott and four companions attained the pole on 17 January 1912, to find that a Norwegian team led by Roald...

     stayed at the Astor House from 30 March 1914, while in China on an expedition to study Asiatic schistosomiasis
    Schistosomiasis
    Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by several species of trematodes , a parasitic worm of the genus Schistosoma. Snails often act as an intermediary agent for the infectious diseases until a new human host is found...

     and bilharziasis;

1915–1929

  • Canadian railway engineer Donald Mann
    Donald Mann
    Sir Donald Mann was a Canadian railway contractor and entrepreneur.Born at Acton, Ontario, Mann studied as a Methodist minister but worked in lumber camps in Ontario and Michigan before moving to Winnipeg, Manitoba...

    , who dueled with a Russian count with an axe;
  • James Anthony Walsh
    James Anthony Walsh
    James Anthony Walsh was the co-founder of Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers.- Background :The son of James Walsh and Hanna Shea, James Anthony was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts...

     (born 24 February 1867; died 14 April 1936) the co-founder of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers
    Maryknoll
    Maryknoll is a name shared by three organizations that are part of the Roman Catholic Church and whose joint focus is on the overseas mission activity of the Catholic Church in the United States...

    , attended a banquet in his honour at the Astor House in December 1917;
  • Randolph Ortman, owner of Blue Ridge Farm in Greenwood, Virginia
    Greenwood, Virginia
    Greenwood is an unincorporated community in Albemarle County, Virginia. It is home to the . The Greenwood Community Center, which has the area's only Roller Skating rink. Greenwood has a post office with ZIP code 22943...

    , and his wife, Blanche Sellers Ortman, stayed in late December 1919;
  • English novelist and playwright
    Playwright
    A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

     W. Somerset Maugham
    W. Somerset Maugham
    William Somerset Maugham , CH was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era and, reputedly, the highest paid author during the 1930s.-Childhood and education:...

    , stayed at the Astor House Hotel from 3 January 1920, and this visit to China influenced his On a Chinese Screen (1922);
  • American banker, publisher, and capitalist Charles Henry Crocker (born August 29, 1865), and his wife, Carlotta L. Steiner, stayed at the Astor House in June 1920;
  • A United States Congressional delegation stayed at the Astor House in August 1920;
  • Italian poet and playwright Gerve Baronti, who wrote A Modern Phoenix, stayed at the Astor House in September 1920 after a domestic dispute with her husband American businessman Paul R. Danner, and announced that she would marry G.A. Bena, the wealthy president of Shanghai's Italian Chamber of Commerce;
  • British newspaper magnate
    Magnate
    Magnate, from the Late Latin magnas, a great man, itself from Latin magnus 'great', designates a noble or other man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities...

     Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe
    Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe
    Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe rose from childhood poverty to become a powerful British newspaper and publishing magnate, famed for buying stolid, unprofitable newspapers and transforming them to make them lively and entertaining for the mass market.His company...

     stayed for one night on 20 November 1921;
  • German physicist
    Physicist
    A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...

     Albert Einstein
    Albert Einstein
    Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...

    , arrived in Shanghai on 13 November 1922 en route to Japan on the Kitanu Maru, four days after the announcement that he had won the Nobel Prize for physics, and stayed for one night. Einstein returned to Shanghai on 31 December 1922 after a visit to Japan, and departed on 2 January 1923. It is claimed that Einstein stayed in Room 304 in the Astor House Hotel;

  • American artist Bertha Boynton Lum
    Bertha Lum
    Bertha B. Lum was an American artist known for helping to make the Japanese and Chinese woodblock print known outside of Asia.- Chronology :see "discussion re prose vs. list on comment aboveBased on information from Gravelos & Pulin...

     (1869–1954), influenced by Japonism
    Japonism
    Japonism, or Japonisme, the original French term, was first used in 1872 by Jules Claretie in his book L'Art Francais en 1872 and by Philippe Burty in Japanisme III. La Renaissance Literaire et Artistique in the same year...

     and the stories of Lafcadio Hearn
    Lafcadio Hearn
    Patrick Lafcadio Hearn , known also by the Japanese name , was an international writer, known best for his books about Japan, especially his collections of Japanese legends and ghost stories, such as Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things...

    , stayed at the Astor House during her frequent visits to China from 1922 onwards;
  • American Quaker Nora Waln
    Nora Waln
    Nora Waln was a bestselling author and journalist in the 1930s–50s, writing books and articles on her time spent in Germany and China. She was among the first to report on the spread of Nazism from 1934-38....

     (1895–1964), a best-selling author, who lived in China for 13 years from 1920, stayed at the Astor House in March 1924;
  • From 17 May 1924 two women who claimed to be Mrs Millicent McKiney (or Montgomery), daughter of an English millionaire, Mr Montgomery; and her daughter, Miss Marie Montgomery (or McKiney), stayed at the Astor House. During their stay they successfully defrauded many foreign residents of Shanghai by borrowing expensive furs, money, attracting marriage proposals and engagement ring
    Engagement ring
    An engagement ring is a ring indicating that the person wearing it is engaged to be married, especially in Western cultures. In the United Kingdom, Ireland and North America, engagement rings are traditionally worn only by women, and rings can feature diamonds or other gemstones. In other cultures...

    s, before escaping to Manila
    Manila
    Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...

     on 21 June 1924;
  • The aviator
    Aviator
    An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...

    s from the American Army Air Service, including Lt. Lowell Smith
    Lowell Smith
    Lowell Herbert Smith was a pioneer American airman who piloted the first airplane to receive a complete mid-air refueling on June 27, 1923, and later set an endurance record of 37 hours on August 28, both in a De Havilland DH-4B...

    , who were in the process of making the First aerial circumnavigation
    First aerial circumnavigation
    The first aerial circumnavigation of the world was conducted in 1924 by a team of aviators of the United States Army Air Service, the precursor of the United States Air Force...

     of the world by air stayed at the Astor House for three nights from 4 June 1924;


  • Mrs Wallis Simpson, the future wife of the Duke of Windsor
    Duke of Windsor
    The title Duke of Windsor was created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937 for Prince Edward, the former King Edward VIII, following his abdication in December 1936. The dukedom takes its name from the town where Windsor Castle, a residence of English monarchs since the Norman Conquest, is...

    , and her friend Mary Sadler stayed at the Astor House for ten days in 1925, while Shanghai was in the grip of civil war
    Civil war
    A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....

    ;
  • Stephen P. Duggan
    Stephen P. Duggan
    Stephen Pierce Duggan, Sr. was a professor of diplomatic history at the College of the City of New York, who founded The Institute of International Education in 1919, together with Nobel Laureates Elihu Root and Nicholas Murray Butler. Stephen P. Duggan, Sr...

    , the American co-founder and first president of The Institute of International Education, and later professor of diplomatic history at the College of the City of New York
    City College of New York
    The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...

    , stayed at the Astor House in the late spring of 1925;
  • American journalist Junius B. Wood, foreign correspondent for the Chicago Daily News
    Chicago Daily News
    The Chicago Daily News was an afternoon daily newspaper published between 1876 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois.-History:The Daily News was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty in 1875 and began publishing early the next year...

    stayed at the Astor from 25 September 1925;
  • The Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts
    Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts
    The Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts, founded in 1915 by Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn in Los Angeles, California, helped many perfect their dancing talents. Some of the school's more notable pupils include Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, Jack Cole, and silent film star...

     troupe, including creators Ruth St. Denis
    Ruth St. Denis
    Ruth St. Denis was an early modern dance pioneer.-Biography:Ruth St. Denis founded Adelphi University's dance program in 1938 which was one of the first dance departments in an American university...

     and Ted Shawn
    Ted Shawn
    Ted Shawn , originally Edwin Myers Shawn, was one of the first notable male pioneers of American modern dance. Along with creating Denishawn with former wife Ruth St. Denis he is also responsible for the creation of the well known all-male company Ted Shawn and His Men Dancers...

    , stayed at the Astor House Hotel from 16 November 1925 and again about 4 October 1926 during their eighteen-month tour of the Far East;
  • Manchurian Major General Zhang Xueliang
    Zhang Xueliang
    Zhang Xueliang or Chang Hsüeh-liang , occasionally called Peter Hsueh Liang Chang in English, nicknamed the Young Marshal , was the effective ruler of Manchuria and much of North China after the assassination of his father, Zhang Zuolin, by the Japanese on 4 June 1928...

     (Chang Hsüeh-liang), later Warlord
    Warlord
    A warlord is a person with power who has both military and civil control over a subnational area due to armed forces loyal to the warlord and not to a central authority. The term can also mean one who espouses the ideal that war is necessary, and has the means and authority to engage in war...

     of Manchuria
    Manchuria
    Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...

    , stayed at the Astor House Hotel in late November 1925, "disguised as an American man's servant", to avoid detection;
  • American naturalist
    Naturalist
    Naturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...

     and explorer W. Douglas Burden (1898–1978), stayed in May 1926 en route to capture komodo dragon
    Komodo dragon
    The Komodo dragon , also known as the Komodo monitor, is a large species of lizard found in the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang and Gili Dasami. A member of the monitor lizard family , it is the largest living species of lizard, growing to a maximum length of in rare cases...

    s for the American Museum of Natural History
    American Museum of Natural History
    The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...

    . His account of his expedition to Komodo Island inspired the movie King Kong
    King Kong
    King Kong is a fictional character, a giant movie monster resembling a gorilla, that has appeared in several movies since 1933. These include the groundbreaking 1933 movie, the film remakes of 1976 and 2005, as well as various sequels of the first two films...

    ;
  • Chinese Foreign Minister Eugene Chen (Chen, You-ren) (born in Trinidad in 1878; died 1944 in Shanghai), a friend of Sun Yat Sen, who later married artist Georgette Chen
    Georgette Chen
    Georgette Chen, born Chang Li Ying is a Singapore painter known for her Post-Impressionistic styled oil paintings at the turn of the 20th-century. She was a forerunner of the visual arts in Singapore, who contributed to the birth of the Nanyang art style in Singapore.Chen was born the fourth of 12...

    , and his four children, stayed at the Astor House in the spring of 1927;
  • During the Chinese Civil War
    Chinese Civil War
    The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...

    , when the Astor House Hotel was struck by bullets on March 21, 1927, Admiral General Pi shu-chen (Pi Shou-chen) leader of the anti-Communist Shantung forces who defended Shanghai against the Kuomintang
    Kuomintang
    The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...

     forces from Canton, and who negotiated the surrender of the city to Chiang Kai-shek
    Chiang Kai-shek
    Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....

     on March 21, stayed in the Astor House Hotel until 25 March 1927;
  • Former Governor of California
    Governor of California
    The Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...

     Friend Richardson
    Friend Richardson
    Friend William Richardson , was an American newspaper publisher and politician. A member of the Progressive Party and later the Republican Party, Richardson was elected as the California State Treasurer from 1915 to 1923, and shortly afterwards as the 25th governor of California from 1923 to 1927...

     was forced to sleep on the floor of the lobby of the Astor House in April 1927 when the ship he was scheduled to depart on was prevented from departing by a storm;
  • American playwright
    Playwright
    A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

     and Nobel laureate in literature Eugene O'Neill
    Eugene O'Neill
    Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...

    , stayed for a month from mid-November until 12 December 1928, sometimes with his future third wife, Carlotta Monterrey, excepting for a period he was in hospital after a binge
    Binge
    -People:* Dagmar Anita Binge, German founder of Binge Discs * Ronald Binge, British composer and arranger of light music-See also:A binge is any behavior indulged to excess...

     and when Carlotta moved into a separate hotel after an argument. While in Shanghai, he was called a faker posing as Eugene O'Neill, and was treated for alcoholism
    Alcoholism
    Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...

     in his room at the Astor House.

1930–1939

  • French author and anti-imperialist politician André Malraux
    André Malraux
    André Malraux DSO was a French adventurer, award-winning author, and statesman. Having traveled extensively in Indochina and China, Malraux was noted especially for his novel entitled La Condition Humaine , which won the Prix Goncourt...

    , stayed at the Astor House in 1931, while researching material for his Prix Goncourt
    Prix Goncourt
    The Prix Goncourt is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year"...

     award winning 1933 novel, Man's Fate
    Man's Fate
    Man's Fate is a 1933 novel written by André Malraux about the failed communist insurrection in Shanghai in 1927, and the existential quandaries facing a diverse group of people associated with the revolution...

     (French: La Condition humaine), about the Shanghai massacre of 1927
    Shanghai massacre of 1927
    The April 12 Incident of 1927 refers to the violent suppression of Chinese Communist Party organizations in Shanghai by the military forces of Chiang Kai-shek and conservative factions in the Kuomintang...

    ;
  • American journalist and author Helen Foster
    Helen Foster Snow
    Helen Foster Snow was an American journalist who reported from China in the 1930s under the name "Nym Wales" on the developing revolution in China and the Korean independence movement...

    , who married Edgar Snow
    Edgar Snow
    Edgar P. Snow was an American journalist known for his books and articles on Communism in China and the Chinese Communist revolution...

     in 1932, stayed in Room 303 at the Astor House upon her arrival in Shanghai in 1931;
  • American humorist and actor
    Actor
    An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

     Will Rogers
    Will Rogers
    William "Will" Penn Adair Rogers was an American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, film actor, and one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s....

     spent his only Christmas away from his family at the Astor House Hotel in 1931;
  • Otto Braun
    Otto Braun (Li De)
    Otto Braun was a German Communist with a long and varied career.His most significant role was as a Comintern agent sent to China in 1934, to advise the Communist Party of China on military strategy during the Chinese Civil War...

    , a German Comintern
    Comintern
    The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...

     secret agent, stayed in the Astor House for several weeks in the autumn
    Autumn
    Autumn is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter usually in September or March when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier....

     of 1932;
  • Italian scientist Guglielmo Marchese Marconi, the inventor of the wireless
    Wireless
    Wireless telecommunications is the transfer of information between two or more points that are not physically connected. Distances can be short, such as a few meters for television remote control, or as far as thousands or even millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications...

    , stayed in Room 8103 at the Astor House Hotel in 1933;
  • George Bernard Shaw
    George Bernard Shaw
    George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...

     (1856–1959), Irish-born British playwright, politician and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
    Nobel Prize in Literature
    Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...

     in 1925, visited the Astor House Hotel with Soong Ching-ling
    Soong Ching-ling
    Soong Ching-ling , also known as Madame Sun Yat-sen, was one of the three Soong sisters—who, along with their husbands, were amongst China's most significant political figures of the early 20th century. She was the Vice Chairman of the People's Republic of China...

    , the widow of Sun Yat-sen
    Sun Yat-sen
    Sun Yat-sen was a Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Nation" , a view agreed upon by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...

    , on 17 February 1933;
  • Noted Harvard University
    Harvard University
    Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

     historian
    Historian
    A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

     Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr.
    Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr.
    Arthur Meier Schlesinger, Sr. was an American historian. His son, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. was also a noted historian.-Life and career:...

    , his wife, and two sons, including future Pulitzer Prize
    Pulitzer Prize
    The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...

     winning historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. stayed at the Astor House Hotel in October 1933.
  • On 25 March 1934 Courtney Chauncey "C.C." Julian, former president of the failed Julian Petroleum Company of Los Angeles, who had skipped bail of US$25,000 for mail fraud charges and fled to China, "staged a banquet for friends at the Shanghai Astor House, during which he excused himself, went to his room, and committed suicide" "by taking poison, 'during a glittering dinner party with a woman'", and was subsequently buried in a pauper's grave;
  • On 20 July 1936, Marshall Smith Hairston (c. 1896–1936), American factory manager of the Pudong
    Pudong
    Pudong |Bank]]") is an area of Shanghai, China, located along the east side of the Huangpu River, across from the historic city center of Shanghai in Puxi. Formerly a little-developed agricultural area linked only by ferries, Pudong has grown rapidly since the 1990s and emerged as China's financial...

     branch of the Yee Tsoong branch of the British American Tobacco
    British American Tobacco
    British American Tobacco p.l.c. is a global tobacco company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s second largest quoted tobacco company by global market share , with a leading position in more than 50 countries and a presence in more than 180 countries...

     was found dead in room 302 of the Astor House;
  • Dr. Robert K. Reischauer, professor of international relations at the Woodrow Wilson
    Woodrow Wilson
    Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...

     School at Princeton University
    Princeton University
    Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

     on a study tour of China, had stayed at the Astor House Hotel for a few days in August 1937, before deciding on 14 August to evacuate to the Palace Hotel "believing the latter, farther from the Japanese center of operations, would be safer," only to be killed in the lobby of the Cathay Hotel later that day by a bomb dropped from a Chinese plane during the Battle of Shanghai
    Battle of Shanghai
    The Battle of Shanghai, known in Chinese as Battle of Songhu, was the first of the twenty-two major engagements fought between the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China and the Imperial Japanese Army of the Empire of Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War...

    , making him one of the "first U.S. WWII casualties";
  • On 17 March 1939 Japanese gangster
    Gangster
    A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Some gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from mob and the suffix -ster....

     Yoshio Kodama
    Yoshio Kodama
    was a prominent figure in the rise of organized crime in Japan. The most famous 'kuromaku', or behind-the-scenes power broker, of the 20th century, he was active in Japan's political arena and criminal underworld from the 1950s to the early 1970s....

    , later prominent Yakuza
    Yakuza
    , also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...

     figure, began his stay at the Astor House. "At ¥12 a day, meals not included, he found the hotel expensive, yet comfortable."

Unconfirmed guests

Historian Peter Hibbard indicates that "In the early years of the 20th century the anarchic and flamboyant Astor House played host to a potpourri of regal guests." The following are people that some have claimed have stayed at the Astor House Hotel in Shanghai, but for whom there is no supporting evidence. In fact, as Mark O'Neill wrote in 2006 in relation to the claims of the Astor House Hotel: "historians suspect some of them stayed elsewhere in the city".

  • Various members of the Japanese Imperial family;
  • Czar Nicholas II, the last czar of Russia;
  • Prince Heinrich of Prussia
    Prince Heinrich of Prussia
    Prince Henry of Prussia was a younger brother of German Emperor William II and a Prince of Prussia...

    ;
  • Aga Khan III
    Aga Khan III
    Sir Sultan Muhammed Shah, Aga Khan III, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, GCVO, PC was the 48th Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims. He was one of the founders and the first president of the All-India Muslim League, and served as President of the League of Nations from 1937-38. He was nominated to represent India to...

    , who visited Shanghai in 1900;
  • Prince of Phitsanulok
    Chakrabongse Bhuvanath
    Field Marshal Prince Chakrabongse Bhuvanadh, Prince of Phitsanulok, , was the fortieth child of King Chulalongkorn and the fourth child of Queen Sri Bajarindra....

     of Siam (3 March 1883–13 June 1920);
  • While former United States president Ulysses S. Grant
    Ulysses S. Grant
    Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...

     stayed in Shanghai for two days in 1879, some (including the Hotel itself) claim that he stayed in Room 410, but there is no compelling contemporaneous evidence to substantiate this oft-repeated assertion. Historian Peter Hibbard disputes the claim: "[A]lthough the current management would have us believe that ex-president Ulysses S. Grant stayed there, two years into his family's round the world tour in 1879, he actually didn't";

  • The Astor House Hotel claims that Welsh philosopher, mathematician
    Mathematician
    A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....

     and logician Bertrand Russell
    Bertrand Russell
    Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had never been any of these things...

     stayed in Room 310 in 1920. However, another source indicates that Russell was in Shanghai from 12 October to 20 October 1920, and stayed at room 103 in the Yipinxiang Hotel (the present junction of Middle Xizang Road and Hankou Road). Russell's time in China influenced his 1922 book, The Problem of China;
  • Zhou Enlai
    Zhou Enlai
    Zhou Enlai was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976...

    , the first Premier of the People's Republic of China
    Premier of the People's Republic of China
    The Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China , sometimes also referred to as the "Prime Minister" informally, is the Leader of the State Council of the People's Republic of China , who is the head of government and holds the highest-ranking of the Civil service of the...

    , has a room named after him at the Astor House Hotel, where according to an urban legend
    Urban legend
    An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...

     "he hid in the Astor House when he was a Communist agitator in the 1920s";
  • African American
    African American
    African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

     composer
    Composer
    A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

     and pianist
    Pianist
    A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

     Scott Joplin
    Scott Joplin
    Scott Joplin was an American composer and pianist. Joplin achieved fame for his ragtime compositions, and was later dubbed "The King of Ragtime". During his brief career, Joplin wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas...

     (b. 24 November 1868; d. 1 April 1917) is alleged to have stayed at the Astor House both in 1931 and 1936 in Room 404, and has one of the four celebrity rooms named in his honour but his death in 1917 invalidates this assertion.
  • The management of the Astor House claims British comedian Charlie Chaplin
    Charlie Chaplin
    Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...

     came to Shanghai with Paulette Goddard
    Paulette Goddard
    Paulette Goddard was an American film and theatre actress. A former child fashion model and in several Broadway productions as Ziegfeld Girl, she was a major star of the Paramount Studio in the 1940s. She was married to several notable men, including Charlie Chaplin, Burgess Meredith, and Erich...

    , where they stayed in Room 404 from 5 February 1936. However, the Cathay Hotel also claims Chaplin and Goddard stayed there during that visit. Hibbard indicates: "As Chaplin was a friend of Sir Philip Sassoon
    Philip Sassoon
    Sir Philip Albert Gustave David Sassoon, 3rd Baronet, GBE, CMG , was a British politician, art collector and social host, entertaining many celebrity guests at his homes, Port Lympne, Kent, and Trent Park, Hertfordshire, England.-Family:Sassoon was a member of the prominent Sassoon family and...

    ,... Sir Victor
    Victor Sassoon
    Sir Ellice "Victor" Sassoon, 3rd Baronet, GBE was a businessman and hotelier from the Sassoon banking family. He succeeded to the Baronetcy on the death of his father Edward Elias Sassoon in 1924...

    's cousin, there would be little doubt where he stayed in Shanghai."

Notable residents

Among those who resided at the hotel for a significant period are:
  • Australian journalist Edwin Pickwoad, who took over the ownership of the North China Herald after his arrival in Shanghai in August 1860, and also founded the daily North China Daily News
    North China Daily News
    North China Daily News was an English-language newspaper in Shanghai, China, called the most influential foreign newspaper of its time.The paper was founded as the weekly North-China Herald and was first published on 3 August 1850. Its founder, British auctioneer Henry Shearman , died in 1856...

    in 1864, and served for some time as secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Council, resided at the Astor House Hotel;
  • Johannes von Gumpach (died at Shanghai, 31 July 1875), a German-born, British-naturalized professor of mathematics and astronomy, fired from the Imperial Tung Wen College (or Interpreters College), and litigant against Robert Hart
    Robert Hart
    Robert Hart, Bob Hart, or Bobby Hart may refer to:* Bob Hart , a.k.a. Al Trace, American musician* Bob Hart , American bass player* Bobby Hart , American songwriter...

     in the British Supreme Court for China and Japan
    British Supreme Court for China and Japan
    The British Supreme Court for China and Japan was a court established in the Shanghai International Settlement in 1865 to try cases against British subjects in China and Japan, and from 1883, Korea, under the principles of Extraterritoriality. The court also heard appeals from consular courts in...

    , which was appealed to the Privy Council
    Privy council
    A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...

     in Britain, was residing at the Astor in 1871 while he wrote the controversial The Burlinghame Mission: a Political Disclosure;
  • Former Confederate States of America
    Confederate States of America
    The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

     General John Doby Kennedy
    John Doby Kennedy
    John Doby Kennedy was a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, as well as a post-war planter, attorney, politician, and Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina.-Early life and career:...

    , American Consul General in Shanghai from 1886 to 1889, resided at the Astor House;
  • American journalist Julian Ralph (born May 27, 1858; died January 20, 1903 in New York City), who was China correspondent for Harper's Weekly
    Harper's Weekly
    Harper's Weekly was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor...

    during the First Sino-Japanese War
    First Sino-Japanese War
    The First Sino-Japanese War was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea...

     from 1894;
  • Lithuania
    Lithuania
    Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

    n Jewish convert to Christianity Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky, former Anglican Bishop of Shanghai, and founder of Saint John's University, Shanghai
    Saint John's University, Shanghai
    St. John's University was an Anglican university located in Shanghai, China. Before the Chinese Civil War it was regarded as one of the most prestigious universities in Shanghai and China...

    , who completed a translation of the Hebrew Bible
    Hebrew Bible
    The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...

     into Mandarin Chinese in 1875, resided at the Astor House Hotel from 1895;
  • British chemist Henry Glendinning (born 9 October 1863 at Hartlepool
    Hartlepool
    Hartlepool is a town and port in North East England.It was founded in the 7th century AD, around the Northumbrian monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew during the Middle Ages and developed a harbour which served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. A railway link from...

    ; died 4 June 1938 at St. Albans, Herts.) of Brunner Mond
    Brunner Mond
    Tata Chemicals Europe is a UK-based chemicals company that is a subsidiary of Tata Chemicals Limited, itself a part of the India-based Tata Group...

    , resided at the Astor House for two years from 1899;
  • American conman
    Confidence trick
    A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,...

     Frederick W. Sutterlee, who defrauded customers of Kern Sutterlee & Co in Philadelphia in 1896, and fled to China, smuggled guns to the Philippine insurgents in the Philippine-American War
    Philippine-American War
    The Philippine–American War, also known as the Philippine War of Independence or the Philippine Insurrection , was an armed conflict between a group of Filipino revolutionaries and the United States which arose from the struggle of the First Philippine Republic to gain independence following...

    , and used the name W.F. Sylvester, and became a correspondent for London's The Daily Mail, resided at the Astor House Hotel by 1900.
  • Australian journalist William Henry Donald
    William Henry Donald
    William Henry Donald was an Australian newspaperman who worked in China from 1903 until World War II...

     (1875–1946), editor of the Far Eastern Review (1911–1920), adviser to Sun Yat-sen
    Sun Yat-sen
    Sun Yat-sen was a Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Nation" , a view agreed upon by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...

     and Chiang Kai-shek
    Chiang Kai-shek
    Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....

    , resided at the Astor House for the two years he lived in Shanghai from 1911;
  • American journalist
    Journalist
    A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

     Thomas Franklin Fairfax Millard
    Thomas Franklin Fairfax Millard
    Thomas Franklin Fairfax Millard was an American journalist, newspaper editor, founder of the China Weekly Review, author of seven influential books on the Far East and first American political adviser to the Chinese Republic, serving for over fifteen years...

     lived at the hotel from 1911 during his years in Shanghai as founder and editor of The China News and later The China Weekly Review.

  • American journalist John B. Powell, took up residence in 1917;
  • Chen Chin-tao, the Vice Minister of Finance for the Qing government, and later Finance Minister under Yuan Shikai
    Yuan Shikai
    Yuan Shikai was an important Chinese general and politician famous for his influence during the late Qing Dynasty, his role in the events leading up to the abdication of the last Qing Emperor of China, his autocratic rule as the second President of the Republic of China , and his short-lived...

    , first elected president of the Republic of China
    Republic of China
    The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...

    .
  • Polish-born Jewish Cockney
    Cockney
    The term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, it often refers to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End...

     adventurer Morris Cohen
    Morris Cohen (adventurer)
    Morris Abraham "Two-Gun" Cohen was a British mercenary of Jewish origin who became aide-de-camp to the Chinese leader Sun Yat-sen and a major-general in the Chinese army.-Early years:...

    , known as "Two-Gun Cohen", bodyguard
    Bodyguard
    A bodyguard is a type of security operative or government agent who protects a person—usually a famous, wealthy, or politically important figure—from assault, kidnapping, assassination, stalking, loss of confidential information, terrorist attack or other threats.Most important public figures such...

     and aide-de-camp
    Aide-de-camp
    An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...

    to Sun Yat-sen
    Sun Yat-sen
    Sun Yat-sen was a Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Nation" , a view agreed upon by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...

    , resided in Room 305 at the Astor House Hotel in Shanghai after 1922;
  • Italian Maestro
    Maestro
    Maestro is a title of extreme respect given to a master musician. The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music and opera. This is associated with the ubiquitous use of Italian vocabulary for classical music terms...

     Mario Paci (born 4 June 1878 in Florence, Italy), pianist
    Pianist
    A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

     and conductor
    Conducting
    Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

     for the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra
    Shanghai Symphony Orchestra
    Shanghai Symphony Orchestra is an influential orchestra in China. The music director is Long Yu.It was founded in 1879 as Shanghai Public Band, one of the earliest orchestras in Eastern Asia. It was renamed to Shanghai Municipal Council Symphony Orchestra in 1922. Starting in 1919, an Italian...

     from 1919 to 1942, and his family resided at the Astor House from at least 1925;
  • In 1927, an eight-year-old girl named Margaret "Peggy" Hookham came to live at the Astor House with her family. Hookham's father was the chief engineer for British American Tobacco
    British American Tobacco
    British American Tobacco p.l.c. is a global tobacco company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s second largest quoted tobacco company by global market share , with a leading position in more than 50 countries and a presence in more than 180 countries...

    , which was located just over the Garden bridge on then Museum Road. While at the Astor House Hotel, Peggy continued her ballet lessons, studying with the Russian teachers George Goncharev, and eventually took as her stage name
    Stage name
    A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...

    , Margot Fonteyn
    Margot Fonteyn
    Dame Margot Fonteyn de Arias, DBE , was an English ballerina of the 20th century. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest classical ballet dancers of all time...

    , "perhaps the world's greatest ballerina."
  • American journalist Edgar Snow
    Edgar Snow
    Edgar P. Snow was an American journalist known for his books and articles on Communism in China and the Chinese Communist revolution...

    , author of Red Star Over China
    Red Star Over China
    Red Star Over China, a book by Edgar Snow, is an account of the Communist Party of China written when they were a guerrilla army still obscure to Westerners. Along with Pearl Buck's The Good Earth, it was the most influential book on Western understanding and sympathy for China in the 1930s...

    , from 1928;
  • Future American journalist and spy
    SPY
    SPY is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* SPY , ticker symbol for Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts* SPY , a satirical monthly, trademarked all-caps* SPY , airport code for San Pédro, Côte d'Ivoire...

     for Soviet Russia
    Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
    The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , commonly referred to as Soviet Russia, Bolshevik Russia, or simply Russia, was the largest, most populous and economically developed republic in the former Soviet Union....

     Mark Gayn
    Mark Gayn
    Mark Gayn was an American left wing journalist and a Soviet spy.He was born in China to Russian-Jewish parents who had migrated from Russian Empire. He went to school in Vladivostok and was proponent of the Chinese Communists...

    and his parents, Russian Jews, lived at the Astor House in the late 1920s until his "Father deduced that the hotels were being constantly watched by foreign and Chinese police;
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK