The Sand Pebbles - Steve McQueen (1966) - Penglai Pavilion, Taipei

The American Consulate in Changsha was portrayed by a rather elegant looking building in Taipei called Penglai Pavilion. Sadly, it has been completely redeveloped - which is a big shame considering there are qite a few historicaol buildings in the area that have survived. Especially nearby on DiHua Street which I'll visit in the next post.

This is the scene when the Nationalist Army (led by Richard Loo) take over the Consulate and humiliate the American sailors by frogmarching them back to their ship through a gauntlet of angry Chinese who want to kick the foreigners out.

Holman later returns there to inquire about whether there is anyone in the building able to help Frenchie marry his Chinese girlfriend.

The building was built in the mid-20's and was originally a high-class restaurant/hotel. It shut down operations in 1955 and was leased to the US Govt as a club and dormitory for the military for a couple of years. In 1957 it was bought by a famous doctor (Xu Yuxing) and turned into a surgical hospital.

I can't find when it was closed but it was subsequently demolished and redeveloped and a small commercial premises (containing a cheap hotel) now stands on the site. The site, at 163 West Nanjing Road can be seen in my picture below with the glass front. It takes a fare amount of imagination to try and see that spot as the front garden of the old building.

This location is quite close (about 100 metres away) to Di Hua Street which was the real street the sailors had to walk down whilst being pelted with food by the local population.