Shanghai Customs Building is famous for its towering bell tower and big clock. /kloc-a big clock was installed in the customs building in the second half of the 9th century. 1893, a big customs clock was installed in the church-style Jianghai Beiguan building.
The bell tower is divided into bell pendant, clock face, main engine and bell ringing in turn, which is a group of bell ringing devices with harmonious tuning. This clock is the largest in Asia and one of the world famous clocks.
The customs clock was designed and manufactured by Whitchurch Company in England, with a total cost of more than 5,000 taels of silver. 1927. It was shipped from London to Shanghai in August of the same year. The original wooden box containing the clock weighed 6.25 tons. When the 6-ton wooden box was hoisted to the bell tower more than 72 meters high, pedestrians on the Bund stopped to watch the spectacle of hoisting. 1928 On New Year's Day, the first sound sounded, and Westminster music was played all the time. This big clock tower ranks first in Asia and third in the world.
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1 92865438+1 October1early morning1,the customs clock rang the first sound, which has been engraved with the famous British royal song Westminster. 1966 in may, a group of "young red guards" broke into the customs building and threatened to smash the bell tower. Fortunately, some sober customs cadres bravely stood up to stop these excesses.
The Shanghai Municipal Government decided that it was necessary to "refit". So the central part of the clock face changed from four round glass patterns to "golden sunflower", and the music inscribed in Westminster Abbey was also changed to "Oriental Red". The bell and hammer bell stopped being used, and the electronic dot and music were played instead. There are 12 speakers on both sides of the clock end and 48 speakers around it, which are broadcast to the whole city on time.
1986 10 Queen Elizabeth II visits Shanghai. After obtaining approval, she decided to restore the customs bell tower to its original state and imported the same glass from abroad. Hudong Shipyard specially made the iron frame in the clock to assemble the glass fragments. The clock face was restored, the mechanical points were restored, the electronic points used in the Cultural Revolution were terminated, and the music of Westminster was played in the customs bell tower.
1997 in the first half of the year, some overseas Chinese and tourists wrote to the relevant departments out of patriotism, asking the customs clock to park Westminster music. According to the notice from the superior, Shanghai Customs stopped playing Westminster music at 0: 00 on June 30th. 1997. The customs clock runs mechanically as usual, and the bell still rings on time, but there is no music accompaniment.
After expert argumentation and the consent of the leaders of the municipal party Committee and the municipal government, it was decided to resume the time-telling music of Dongfanghong on May 1 2003. After receiving the official letter from the Propaganda Department of the Municipal Party Committee, the Customs Party Group attached great importance to it and immediately organized a special person to implement the renovation project of the Shanghai Customs Clock Time Telling System. After hard work day and night, the time-telling music of Dongfanghong finally recovered smoothly on time.
Baidu encyclopedia-Shanghai customs building