Shanghai Exhibition Centre

Shanghai Exhibition Centre (SEC) 上海展览中心

Shanghai Exhibition Centre, Shanghai, China. — Shanghai Exhibition Centre (SEC) 上海展览中心

The huge Shanghai Exhibition Centre on Yan'an Zhong Lu is a reminder of the influence the Soviet Union once had in China, immediately following the rise to power of the Chinese Communist Party in 1949.

Built in 1954 as the Palace of Sino-Soviet Friendship, the ornate building - somewhat reminiscent of a gigantic wedding cake - was designed to show off Chinese advances in agriculture and industrial technology.

The building was constructed on what was once the property of Shanghai property tycoon, Silas Aaron Hardoon (1851-1931).

The building's gilded spire is topped with the Soviet star and the entrance hall is impressively ornate, with columns decorated with red stars.

Close by on Xinle Lu, in the former French Concession is the old Russian Orthodox Church, with characteristic onion-shaped domes. The church served the large Russian emigre population that fled to Shanghai after the 1917 Russian Revolution.

Nowadays the Shanghai Exhibition Centre is home to a number of souvenir stores catering to the tour bus trade as well as continuing as a venue for various exhibitions and trade shows.