This Chinese phrase means literally "stone framed doors", the name given to the thousand upon thousands of western-style rowhouses built in the maze of small intersecting lanes which run off the main thoroughfares all over Shanghai. They  were erected in the early part of the twentieth century to accommodate the masses of Chinese refugees who fled to western concessions for the law and order and the relative safety they offered. Later they housed other refugees, this time westerners: The Russians fleeing the Russian Revolution and later European Jews fleeing Hitler.

These rowhouses were often leased by one family and then subleased to many, each family having one room and all sharing the kitchen. Indoor toilets were rare, and the wooden chamberpots used in those days are still used today in the many areas of Shanghai which lack indoor plumbing.

Hui Le Li

This elaborate doorway is on Foochow Road, a street renowned for its booksellers and prostitutes. It leads to Hui Le Li, or Seeking Happiness Lane. Before 1949 this short lane contained 151 houses offering both "Sing Song" girls and prostitutes (which the former might or might not be). This alley, along with "Blood Alley "and" The Great World" amusement center, helped earn Shanghai its reputation as the "wickedest city in the East".

The earlier picture shows the globes, lighted red at night, with the house names, such as: Lingering Smile, Flower Fragrance, Tree and Spring, Dear and Beautiful, Green Butterfly, Rainbow, Colorful Clouds, Sweet Dew. The names of the "stars", the most popular girls, would be plastered to the house door on a long red strip of paper. The houses not only offered feminine pulchritude and talent, but also music, food, drink, and opium for those who requested it –a precursor of Total Entertainment Centers to come.