Troops and the city

Book presents a panoramic view of the Party-led takeover of Shanghai in 1949, Mei Jia reports.

Before Communist troops were to take over Shanghai from Kuomintang rule in 1949, a brochure was printed, offering 15 lessons of "things you need to know about city life".

Shanghai then had a population of 6 million and was the largest city in Asia. It was the industrial and commercial center of China. And when leaders of the Communist Party of China realized that Shanghai might be the place where many of the soldiers would get their first urban experience, they released guidelines that were thought necessary for the troops to stay disciplined.