1. Cheongsam Can Be Modern, Classics is Not Just about the
Past – “Shanghai Artists” Report Shanghai Classic Gate Tea
Party Pt. I
Author: The Elegant Story
Part I. Cheongsam, Women and Shanghai
Nov. 5th, 2012 at Shanghai Equatorial Hotel, members of the Shanghai Classic Gate Salon gathered to
enjoy their monthly tea party. The theme of the month is “Cheongsam Dreams over the Sea”, in
corespondent to the theme, ladies are all dressed up in gorgeous cheongsam costume, while gentlemen
are in suits, making the British afternoon tea party even more enjoyable.
Members of the salon are culture lovers in Shanghai, they named the salon “Classic Gate”. It was a
simple gathering by the culturalist Chen Gang, Cheng Nai-Shan, and their friends at the beginning, but
later, as their friends of common interests in cuture increases, it became a well-known monthly routined
tea party.
While members enjoying the tea, slide shows on a big screen delicately demonstrates the connections
between cheongsam dress, women, and Shanghai: cheongsam (or qipao) was originally the costume of

2. Manchurian, after the Revolution of 1911, this imperial dress came out from the palace and went into the
humble families of Han, though it was in Shanghai, the so called “the Paris of the east”, cheongsam qipao
really started to thrive. Back in Shanghai, most of the cheongsam dresses are tailor-made, with superior
fabrics and craftmanship. Tailors in Shanghai modified the straight loose cutting to slim fit cuttings, and
they amplified the feminine beauty by narrowing the waist. People named this new kind of qipao
“Shanghai cheongsam” or “modern cheongsam”. And it soon became the mainstream, and that’s why
people consider Shanghai as the origin of Cheongsam qipao.
As the hostress talking, some fine cheongsam dresses were exhibited on the stage. Those precious
collections was brought by the renowned American-Chinese architect Pei Leoh-Ming’s daughter from
overseas, the owner Mrs. Jiang Shi-Yun, the step-mother of Mr. Pei is a over 100 years old lady. The
appearance of the cheongsam brings back the memories of Mrs. Jiang’s affair with the warload of
Manchuria Mr. Peter H. L. Chang that lasted over decades. Through the vicissitudes of life, those
cheongsams have became the witness of history.
Before the tea party was held, an action of showing stories about cheongsam dress has been called for
on Chinese microblogging (Weibo) webstie weibo (akin to a hybrid of Twitter). Photos of new and old,
beauties and stories relates to cheongsam dress are all posted on Weibo. Make people nod to the line by
Cheng Nai-Shan “Shanghai women are born to wear cheongsam” in his article “Songs about
Cheongsam”.
The composer of “Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto”, Chen Gang shared his understandings about
cheongsam. Cheongsam dress possesses both the openness of the west, and the beauty of constraints
of the east. Just when you think it’s about to open up, silence followed, leaving nothing but lingering
thoughts of entanglements. Chen emphased on the word “entanglements”, he continued, “it’s hard to
define cheongsam, so I think I should start with the things I aquainted, music, when we composing
‘Butterfly Lovers’…”, as he humming the tune of “Butterfly Lovers”, his interpretation of cheongsam dress
suddenly became vivid.
Shanghai women endowed cheongsam with a unique quality, an exclusive sense of beauty, which leads
us to trace back to the land where those women bred – old Grand Shanghai. The sponsor of the salon
specially invited 95-year-old master Shanghai tailor Mr. Chu to join the tea party. Chu is the oldest master
cheongsam tailor in Shanghai, since he started as an apprentice at his age 16, Chu has been working
with cheongsam dress for nearly 80 years. Many celebrities are loyal customers of his. The hostress

3. introduced, “although Mr. Chu is retired, and he’s got a big family back in his home town, but he enjoys
staying in Shanghai by himself, because there lies his memories and his passion for cheongsam in the
enchanting sceneries of Shanghai”.
Source: http://www.elegantstory.com/cheongsam-can-be-mordern-pt1.html