And “猪笼城寨” comes from a well-known place in Hong Kong history “九龙(Kowloon)城寨” （Kowloon Walled city http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowloon_Walled_City）,it’s a funny way to name sth that way in Steve’s movie . (eg. Some people would called that book by Bill Clinton “My Lie” rather than “My Life”),hope it’s clear to you. The Kowloon Walled city had been turn into a public park early 1990 by HongKong govonment.

What’s so nutty about Yangpu in the 30’s? Jiangwan was going to be the Sun Yat Sen’s Chinese Shanghai and it’s even further north. Also, the International Settlement extended along the northern side of the Huangpu north of the Bund, and it was run by the Brits and Americans. Just look at the 1933 Slaughterhouse — similar architecture, similar scale, built in 1933. And the concrete is typical of construction at that time, concrete embedded with little pebbles. So… nothing improbable at all.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gropius/2806196608/

Also see: http://www.daylife.com/photo/04DHenN3lH45N/bike

“A man rides a bike at the Longchang Apartments on November 25, 2008 in Shanghai, China. Longchang Apartments were used to be the dormitory of former Shanghai Municipal Police, a police force set up by the Shanghai Municipal Council which governed the Shanghai International Settlement between 1854 and 1943. The building is one of the protected cultural relics of Shanghai, where hundreds of impoverished families now live.”

And: http://comment.dayoo.com/comment.dy?id=268856

隆昌公寓和杨浦公安分局是连体建筑，由英国人设计建造，解放前叫葛兰路(Glen Road)巡捕房，现杨浦公安分局是前巡捕房办公场所，隆昌公寓则是前巡捕房工作人员的生活场所，公寓大门由“红头阿三”（印度人）把手着，不出隆昌公寓可直接进入杨浦公安分局。隆昌公寓住房设计理念在对人性关怀方面比上海超前了半个多世纪，二室一厅居室，室内有储藏室、壁橱和厨房，厨房内有木材和大理石混合建成的橱柜。地板是需要打蜡的，屋顶是线状几何形雕塑，这里是上海乃至全中国首先使用煤气和自来水的住处。在隆昌公寓内有两座电梯，这在当时的中国大概也是寥寥无几的吧，公寓内每层楼面有烘衣间和洗澡间，底层有家食堂，门房间即是小卖部又是公用电话亭。在上海，没有与隆昌公寓相同的建筑，提篮桥监狱、杨浦区政府等建筑风格与之相似，可能出自同一建筑设计师。新中国成立后，隆昌公寓曾是杨浦区党政机关领导干部的集中居住地。这幢建筑其实有着很高的文化价值和很深的历史意义，哪一天能恢复原貌，能成为很好的人文教育基地。

its a 5 story building in 1920s? in yangpu? the colour of the concrete also suggests otherwise.
i imagine a photo of that area at that time wud show no such building

According to some info on the web I found, it was built in the 20s or 30s by the Municipal Council as a holding facility for the Shanghai Municipal Police (makes sense, since it looks like a prison design). Since it’s located in Yangpu District, it may have been built by the Americans… haha, the irony :)

Why not call it a rooster strong hold? Rooster sign stand for lover of philosophy, knowledge.

“We came to snuff the rooster, but he ain’t going to die,” as Alice in Chains say.;

SF Chinatown has housing projects with similar-looking balconies.

it was a great improvement i think over existing accomodation when built. it got screwed by CR and pop. bloom

These indeed have soviet origin. Most of these 筒子楼(Tongzilou, or tube-shaped apartment) were built in 50′ and 60′. The only advantage of them is that they can be built fast and can accommodate A LOT of people. Privacy was not a consideration in that era. TongziLou is truly a symbol of the living standard in era before the reform. However, Hong Kong’s “Pig Cage Stronghold” is different because it has much longer history than Tongzilou.

@Joe

The concrete tube is a trash passage. People living upstairs dump their trash to the passage and garbage was collected periodically from the stove-like thing. Residents usually take turns to collect garbage and electricity/water fee.