DISTANCE: 6km (3.7 miles)
TIME: A full day
START: Fuxing Park, junction of Chengdu Road and Central Fuxing Road
END: French Consul’s Residence, Central Huaihai Road
POINTS TO NOTE: Take the metro to Xintiandi station and walk west on Fuxing Road to the starting point. Alternatively, catch a taxi to the starting point.
In old Shanghai, it was said that the British would teach you how to do business but the French would teach you how to live. It’s a maxim that still holds true, as the old villas and lane houses of the former French Concession are now hubs of shopping, entertainment and dining.
Fuxing Park
Originally a military drill field and subsequently laid out in 1907 as a public park (called the ‘French Park’ by most locals), Fuxing Park 1 [map] (Fuxing Gongyuan; junction of Central Fuxing Road and Chengdu Road; daily 6am–6pm; free) still retains its European landscaping. A well-executed statue of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, added in the 1990s, beams down benevolently on the carnival of Chinese martial arts, synchronised exercise and ballroom dancing that can be found here every morning. An old-school amusement park makes this a good stop for families.
The exterior of the Okura Garden Hotel
David Shen Kai/Apa Publications
Directly south of Fuxing Park, Sinan Mansions is a cluster of old villas that have been renovated and are now home to a collection of restaurants and shops linked by outdoor piazzas, plus an ultra-exclusive all-villa hotel.
Exit the park on to Gaolan Road and head south on Sinan Road to the Former Residence of Sun Yat-sen 2 [map] (Sun Zhongshan Guju; 7 Xiangshan Road; daily 9am–4.30pm; charge), celebrated as the father of the country on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Sun’s Kuomintang Party was established in 1905 with the aim of replacing the Qing Dynasty with democratic leadership, finally succeeding in 1911. He lived here with his wife, Soong Ching-ling, from 1918 to 1924. Inside the well-preserved house with its plush carpets and blackwood furniture, keep an eye out for Sun’s map planning the Northern Expedition and a 1924 photo of Sun and Soong beside the first aeroplane in China.
Ballroom dancing in Fuxing Park
Ryan Pyle/Apa Publications
The Former Residence of Zhou Enlai 3 [map] (Zhou Enlai Guju; 73 Sinan Road; daily 9.30am–4pm; charge) is further south. The much beloved Premier and Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic lived here in 1946 as head of the Communist Party mission during peace talks with Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist government. The Spanish-style villa is furnished as it was in those days; an exhibition documenting Zhou’s life is displayed in a separate building.
Fuxing Park activities include chorus singing
David Shen Kai/Apa Publications
Ruijin Guesthouse
Continue south along Sinan Road to Taikang Road and Tianzifang, a warren of lanes filled with galleries, boutiques, restaurants and shops. One of the best is photographer Erh Dongqiang’s gallery, showcasing photographs of China’s Western architecture.
Exit Tianzifang at Central Jianguo Road, turn left, and then right on to Ruijin No. 2 Road. Continue past Shaoxing Road, a charming street home to a tucked-away urban park and cute cafés, Vienna Café and Old China Hand Reading Room – worth a stop if you need a reviving coffee. One block further along Ruijin No. 2 Road and you’ll reach the sprawling lawns and grand manor houses of the former state-owned Ruijin Guesthouse, recently rebranded as Intercontinental Shanghai Ruijin 4 [map] (Ruijin Bingguan; 118 Ruijin No. 2 Road). HE Morriss Jr, son of the North China Daily News owner, built the estate with its four villas in 1928. Many buildings have been added on the grounds, but the originals remain: enter Building No. 3 to see the brilliant hues of a stained-glass window depicting a tiger in the jungle, the only surviving stained glass from the Siccawei Orphanage workshop, the rest having been lost during the Cultural Revolution. Shanghai’s oldest Dao temple site, dating back 600 years, and a 14th-century water well can also be found on the pretty 100-acre grounds, surrounded by ancient cinnamon trees and wisteria vines.
Exit the guesthouse grounds on to Maoming Road, on the other side of which is the futuristic oval structure of the Shanghai Culture Square (Wenhua Guangchang). The underground concert hall was opened in 2011 after several years’ construction.
Sassoon’s Shanghai
Head north on Maoming Road to the shopping hub of Central Huaihai Road. Here, amid the buzz of neon, block-long adverts and superscale shops, is a clutch of genteel old buildings, including property mogul Victor Sassoon’s 1932 Cathay Cinema (Guotai Dianyingyuan; 870 Central Huaihai Road), an Art Deco classic that, then and now, screens Hollywood blockbusters and Chinese films.
Continue north on Maoming Road and enter the Okura Garden Hotel 5 [map] (Huayuan Fandian; 58 Maoming Road South) by the road entrance. This New Baroque beauty is the former Cercle Sportif Français – the French Club. Explore the original lobby with its glittering gold mosaics and polished marble columns, and head up the dramatic stairway. The original Grecian nudes still top the columns, and the ballroom’s stunning stained-glass skylight remains intact. It is one of the earliest manifestations of Art Deco in Shanghai. The grounds are a lovely spot for a stroll.
Cross Maoming Road to the historic Jin Jiang Hotel (Lao Jinjiang Fandian), built by Sir Victor Sassoon in 1928 as Cathay Mansions. He soon added the Art Deco Grosvenor House (luxury apartments today) and the low-rise Grosvenor Gardens, now offices. In 1972, US President Richard Nixon and China’s Foreign Minister Zhou Enlai signed the Shanghai Communiqué at the Jin Jiang, the first step towards normalising US–China relations after decades of enmity.
Lyceum Theatre
David Shen Kai/Apa Publications
Okura Garden Hotel ceiling
David Shen Kai/Apa Publications
The Lyceum Theatre (Lanxin Daxiyuan) is a few steps north, at the corner of Changle Road. Built in 1930 as the home of the Shanghai Amateur Dramatic Club, legendary ballerina Margot Fonteyn performed here as a girl.
Cathedrals and conservatories
Now head west on Changle Road, turning left on Shaanxi Road and then right on Xinle Road. After a block of supremely hip fashion boutiques, you’ll see the sapphire-hued onion domes of the former Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God. Inspired by the Cathedral of the Saviour in Moscow, this 1931 Russian Orthodox church is now an exhibition space.
Continue to Donghu Road and turn left, passing the old Donghu Hotel, a generous gift to Shanghai mafia chief Du Yuesheng in 1937 from a grateful disciple. Continue south and cross Central Huaihai Road to Fenyang Road. On your right will be the Shanghai Conservatory of Music (Shanghai Yinyue Xueyuan; 20 Fenyang Road; open daily), one of China’s premier conservatories. Across Fenyang Road is Madison Restaurant, see 1, a great lunch stop.
A rooster-shaped lantern at the Shanghai Arts and Crafts Museum
David Shen Kai/Apa Publications
Shanghai Arts and Crafts Museum
David Shen Kai/Apa Publications
Shanghai Arts and Crafts Museum
Proceed south on Fenyang Road, crossing Fuxing Road, and enter the Shanghai Arts and Crafts Museum 6 [map] (Shanghai Gongyi Meishuguan; 79 Fenyang Road; daily 9am–4.30pm; charge) on your left. Set in lush grounds, this grand whitewashed mansion, its curved facade reminiscent of the US White House, was designed by László Hudec in 1905 for the director of the French Compagnie des Tramways. The museum’s gorgeous interior houses an eclectic collection of dying crafts including wood, ivory and jade carving, silk embroidery, needlepoint and dough modelling.
Elegant villas
Head west on Dongping Road to Sasha’s (Shasha), see 2. Built in 1921 by Spanish architect Abelardo Lafuente, the mansion was the home of TV Soong, of the powerful Soong family, then said to be the richest man in the world. The villa next door was the home of TV’s sister, Soong Mei-ling, wife of Nationalist China’s president, Chiang Kai-shek. Adjacent to this was the home of another sister, Soong Ai-ling, married to HH Kung, head of the Bank of China. Only Soong Ching-ling, the widow of the Republic of China’s first president, Sun Yat-sen, lived apart.
From Sasha’s, turn left on to Hengshan Road. A five-minute walk will take you to the ivy-covered International Community Church (Guojie Jiaotang; 53 Hengshan Road; English services Sun 2pm, 4pm). Founded by a group of Americans in 1925, this Gothic Revival Protestant church has hosted celebrities from US presidents to Bishop Desmond Tutu.
Continue along Hengshan Road and turn right at Gao’an Road. Enter Lane 18 to the Xuhui Children’s Palace (Xuhuiqu Shaoniangong; 9am–4pm daily). Built in the latest Streamline Moderne style in 1939 for Rong Desheng, a member of a powerful industrialist family, the mansion is today a ‘children’s palace’ for after-school and weekend activities.
Walk straight out of the gate down the lane and exit on to Kangping Road. Just past Wanping Road is the Shanghai headquarters of the Communist Party of China. There’s no sign, but the soldiers at attention with bayoneted rifles are a sure tip-off – keep your camera in your bag.
Henghsan Park and Soong Ching-ling’s Residence
Return to Wanping Road and head south to visit pretty Hengshan Park (Hengshan Gongyuan; daily 6am–6pm; free). Formerly Pétain Park, after Vichy collaborator Marshal Pétain, it was laid out by the French in 1935, and 75 years’ worth of lush greenery lends it a near-tropical feel. Beginning at dawn, the park buzzes with t’ai chi practitioners, old men getting haircuts, ballroom dancers and gossiping grandmas.
Retrace your steps along Wanping Road and continue north to Huaihai Road. Head west (left) until you reach Soong Ching-ling’s Former Residence 7 [map] (Song Qingling Guju; 1843 Central Huaihai Road; daily 9am–4.30pm, charge). Sun Yat-sen’s young widow lived here from 1948 until she moved to Beijing in 1963, and the house stands as a monument to her and to the Communist Party to which she remained loyal despite her family’s leadership roles in the opposing Kuomintang government. Visitors can see her bedroom suite, plus the living and dining rooms, with photographs of the dignitaries she entertained there, from Mao to Nehru. A modern building documents the extraordinary Soong clan in letters and artefacts, and in the garage sit two ebony limousines: a 1952 Jim, a gift from Stalin, and her own Chinese-made Red Flag.
Directly across the street are the beautiful Normandie Apartments (Wukang Dalou), a local landmark that dominates the north side of the street. Strongly reminiscent of Manhattan’s Flatiron building, the Italianate structure was designed by László Hudec in 1924 for the Intersavin Society (ISS), and named for the great ocean liner, the Normandie, from which it gets its shape.
Sculpture on Ferguson Lane
Ryan Pyle/Apa Publications
The Shanghai Library
David Shen Kai/Apa Publications
Around Wukang Road
Cross Huaihai at the ‘prow’ of the Normandie and head northeast on Wukang Road to the Wukang Road Tourist Information Centre (393 Wukang Road; daily 9am–5pm). The centre features scale models of the neighborhood’s historic buildings, allowing you to see them from angles that would not otherwise be possible. About a block further, on your left, you’ll find Coffee Tree, see 3, among the chic cafés and restaurants of Ferguson Lane, a refurbished old factory.
Continue on Wukang Road and turn right on to Hunan Road, then left on to Central Huaihai Road, at the Shan Library (Shanghai Tushuguan; 1555 Central Huaihai Road; daily 8.30am–8.30pm). This spacious, light-filled facility, Asia’s largest, houses collections of rare Chinese books, the Chinese Cultural Celebrities Manuscript Library and a genealogy section. Of particular note is a rare 8,000-volume Ming Dynasty edition of the Taoist Scriptures.
Exit the library and turn right on Huaihai Road. Next door, at 1517, is the Japanese Consul’s residence, built for the northern warlord Duan Qi Rui around 1920. The US Consulate-General is at 1469 Huaihai Road, a neoclassical mansion built in the early part of the 20th century for prominent Chinese entrepreneur and Qing government minister Shang Shu. Across Wulumuqi Road is the French Consul General’s residence, 1431 Huaihai, built in 1921 for the French Basset family. It’s closed to the public, but you can spot the lovely sunflower tiles just below the eaves over the high walls.
Food and Drink
No. 3 Fenyang Road, Building 2, 1F; tel: 6473 0136; daily 11am–11pm; $$
Innovative chef Austin Hu creates New American cuisine with distinctly Shanghai flavours, using locally sourced in-season ingredients from artisan and boutique producers.
2 Sasha’s
11 Dongping Road, House No. 11; tel: 6474 6166; daily 11am–11pm; $$$
Continental cuisine in the former home of TV Soong, said to have once been the richest man in the world. The elegant second floor, with its wooden floors, high ceilings and fireplace, is the setting for Sasha’s gourmet dishes.
3 Coffee Tree
Ferguson Lane, 376 Wukang Road; tel: 6466 0361; daily 9am–10pm; $
Casual spot with wooden floors, chalkboard specials and dishes such as lasagne, quiche and apple crumble. Lovely courtyard in good weather and very child-friendly.
Greater Shanghai
