Bandstand pavilion in Shanghai's Public Garden 上海黃浦公園演奏亭

The "Public Garden", established in 1886 in Shanghai was the first park in China opened to the public. Designed in European style by a Scottish gardener, it included a bandstand pavilion for martial music played on Sundays, resting pavilion and a tennis court, aimed at the increasing number of foreigners living in Shanghai since the city had become an international trade port in the 1840s. The Public Garden was closed to Chinese citizens between 1890 and 1928 and, according to an incorrect popular myth, a sign at the park's gate read No dogs or Chinese allowed. However, period photographs show a sign listing ten regulations the first of which was "The Gardens are reserved for the Foreign Community", with the fourth being "Dogs and bicycles are not admitted". In any case, the banning of Chinese from Huangpu Park and other parks in China has remained in Chinese psyche as one of the many examples of the country's humiliation by the Western powers in the 19th and early 20th century.
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