Astor House, the first hotel in Shanghai to receive investment from Western merchants in the 1840s, has a gallery highlighting its storied past. Gao Erqiang / China Daily

Founded in 1846, Astor House has played witness to the city's 170-year history as a commercial port. It was the first hotel to receive investment from Western merchants in China and was conceived as a mixture of Victorian and Baroque styles.

It has changed hands, and names, several times. After the hotel was relocated close to Wales Bridge on the Huangpu river in 1857 it became known as Astor House in English while also retaining a Chinese name among local people.

The first electric light in China is said to have been switched on there in 1882, and the country's first-ever telephone was connected in the hotel that same year. The first "talkie" ever to be shown in China premiered at Astor House in 1908, according to archive records.

Its advanced facilities have attracted famous visitors like Albert Einstein, Chaplin and former US president Ulysses Grant.

Address: 15 Huangpu Road

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