Chen Zhanxiang (alias Charles Chen),whose hometown was Fenghua County of Zhejiang Province,was born in a merchant family in Shanghai on Jun.13,1916.When the City Hall of Shanghai,designed by Chinese architect Dong Dayou in a Chinese style,was completed in Jiangwan in the early 1930s,it strongly influenced and even determined Chen Zhanxiang's career choice.He once recalled in his later years that,in front of that building,"I feel proud of being a Chinese.I am determined to follow Mr.Dong Dayou's path to be an engineer of building."