During the Treaty Port era, Bubbling Well Road in Shanghai was one of the most important thoroughfares in China. It began at the Shanghai Race Club and was in many ways a continuation of Nanking Road, which ran west from the Bund (indeed the name was changed after 1949 to Nanjing Road West). As Bubbling Well Road proceeded toward the city outskirts, it passed some of the most desirable homes in Shanghai, belonging to some of the most prominent foreign residents of the city, as well as Chinese commercial and official elites.
It was the latter category that was the focus of attention on November 4, 1897. Hundreds of dignitaries, military officers, diplomats, and their guests thronged the official residence of the Daotai — Shanghai’s top highest Chinese civilian official — to celebrate the birthday of China’s most famous woman, the Empress Dowager Cixi. It was, reported the North China Herald, “a bewildering presentment of naval, military and volunteer uniforms, Chinese official robes, brilliant and varied ladies’ dresses, and the more sober evening dress of the gentlemen, relieved in many instances by the orders and collars worn by foreign officials.”
A hardwood dancefloor was installed on the Daotai’s lawn, which was enclosed with a temporary roof, and a portable generator for strings of lights and other illumination (bear in mind that Shanghai had only had electricity for 15 years) The North China Herald could barely contain its enthusiasm for the setting in its November 12 edition,
