周璇 Zhou Xuan, 阮玲玉 Ruan Lingyu - 夜上海 Ye Shang Hai (Nightlife in Shanghai)

A music video that I made about desperate living in Shanghai in the 1930’s. Shanghai was one of the world’s hotspots for jazz music and also for other hybrids of Eastern and Western popular culture. A great example of Shanghai’s creative power in the Jazz Age is the dress that Ruan Lingyu is wearing in this video. It is a style that was created in Shanghai in the 1920’s and is still in use today. It is the lovely cheongsam or qipao dress. Unfortunately Zhou Xuan and Ruan Lingyu both had very tragic lives