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In photos: Shanghai No 3 girls' high school in 1892 and 2018

Historic Shanghai walks us through a school that's more than a century old

Posted: Thursday September 13 2018

Photograph: Yang Xiaozhe
Shanghai has a rich and long history, with echoes of the past reverberating into the present day. We take a look at historical buildings, then and now.

Research courtesy Historic Shanghai. Read more on The McTyeire School here.
1892, McTyeire School for Girls
Photography Courtesy Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

1892, McTyeire School for Girls

A progressive school for its day – when women’s education was viewed as largely unnecessary – McTyeire was founded by the South Methodist Mission in 1892 for the elite women of Shanghai. Classes, led by foreign teachers, were held in English with a Western, Christian outlook. In 1922, the campus moved from its original location on Hankou Lu to Jiangsu Lu. In 1952, it closed, merging with St Mary’s Hall to become the Shanghai No 3 Girls’ High School. Over the years, McTyeire saw some of Shanghai’s most influential women pass through its hallowed halls, including the three Soong sisters who would go on to shape modern China as we know it.

Now, Shanghai No 3 Girls' High School
Yang Xiaozhe

Now, Shanghai No 3 Girls' High School

Sticking to its roots as an all-girls’ school – albeit it now a state-run one – the high school is still known as a revered establishment for women (in fact it’s the only ‘key’ state girls’ school in Mainland China), from where graduates go on to study at top universities both locally and internationally. Looks wise, two of the original ‘American Collegiate’-style buildings still stand today: the May 1st Hall (then called Lambuth Hall), and the May 4th Hall (then Richardson Hall; pictured) – on the steps outside which graduation pictures were traditionally and still are taken.

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