29 Mar 2021

Uncovered Signs in Shanghai, New Book from The Type

Fading painted shopfront with Chinese characters advertising a candle and cigarette shop.
Sheng Chang Zhu Hao (Shengchang Candle & Cigarette Store), Hongkou District, Shanghai. Photo: Colleague Dong, courtesy of The Type.

I was excited to learn of this new publication about ghost signs in Shanghai, China, and have my copy on order. It is a collaboration between The Type and three local photographers, published as a small-format (A6) art book. The book features over 170 signs, many from the early-20th Century, revealed by the unrelenting property development in the city. The text is in Chinese and English, and accompanied by an online locations map, although the vast majority of the signs have been lost again to the developments that briefly revealed them.

Uncovered Signs in Shanghai

Published by The Type, 372pp at 105×148mm (A6), ISBN 978-1-9162848-1-4, £25 ($34 / €28). Order online.

More books about ghost signs.

Fading painted sign with Chinese characters advertising a goggles and swimwear shop.
Yongjing Yongzhuang (Swimming Goggles & Swimwear), Zhabei District (now Jing’an District), Shanghai. Photo: Jiayu Shi, courtesy of The Type.
Fading painted lettering with Chinese characters across boarded up windows.
Luwan District (now Huangpu District), Shanghai. Photo: Colleague Dong, courtesy of The Type.
Fading painted sign with Chinese characters advertising a mechanic.
Sign board for mechanical maintenance service, Yangpu District, Shanghai. Photo: Jianwen Shen., courtesy of The Type
Fading painted shopfront with Chinese characters advertising a food shop.
Xinhua Fushipin Shangdian (Xinhua Non-Staple Food Store), Changing District, Shanghai. Photo: Colleague Dong, courtesy of The Type.
Cover and inside spread of the book Uncovered Signs in Shanghai.
Uncovered Signs in Shanghai, published by The Type.
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