Rebirth and Renewal
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| American Consulate in Shanghai, China |
Shanghai itself came to symbolize the normalization of Sino-U.S. relations in 1972, with the issuance of the Shanghai Communique'. On April 1980, almost exactly 30 years after it closed, the United States Consulate General in Shanghai reopened at its present location at 1469 Central Huai Hai Road. A member of the old Consulate's Chinese staff later presented Consul General Donald Anderson with the same flag that his predecessor had lowered three decades earlier. It now hangs in the Consulate's reception rooms as a symbol of the historic ties between the old Consulate and the new.
The current Consulate property was built in 1921. The main house is a villa in the French Renaissance style. It sits on three acres, and includes several outbuildings, an orange grove, a Chinese rock garden, and a carp pond.
As Shanghai continues to grow, and Sino-U.S. relations develop deeper and broader linkages, the work of the u.S. Consulate General in Shanghai also continues to grow and expand. Shanghai has again become a major center of commerce and trade, and is a potent symbol of China's rising status. American businesses and citizens have returned to the city in large numbers. The Consulate General's large staff works to support and promote American interests, assist U.S. companies and private American citizens, and promote exchanges and dialogue between Chinese and American individuals and institutions. Much has changed in the past century and a half since the United States established a consular presence in Shanghai, but much has also remained the same: the relationship between the Consulate and Shanghai is as vibrant, dynamic and durable as Shanghai itself.
Will Lynch did not live to see the reopening of the Consulate in Shanghai, but I know he would be pleased to see what is happening in that city at the present time. I will print a little more about him and his obituary in the next and last post.
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