French Concession
Tianzifang and Xintiandi are based on a similar idea – an entertainment complex housed within a warren of lòngtáng (弄堂, alleyways). Unlike Xintiandi,…
Must-see attractions in French Concession
French Concession
With its own namesake metro station, Xintiandi has been a Shanghai icon for over a decade. An upmarket entertainment and shopping complex modelled on…
Shanghai Museum of Public Security
French Concession
This offbeat and macabre museum over three floors details how the Chinese authorities keep control. Display cases depict the illicit activities local cops…
French Concession
Design junkies and history buffs will love this vast collection of original posters from 1950s, ’60s and ’70s China, stored in the basement of a…
French Concession
Founded by Taiwanese artists Loretta Yang and Chang Yi, the Liuli China Museum is dedicated to the art of glass sculpture (pâte de verre or lost-wax…
Shanghai Arts and Crafts Museum
French Concession
Repositioned as a museum, this arts and crafts institute displays traditional crafts such as needlepoint embroidery, paper cutting, lacquer work, jade…
Soong Qingling’s Former Residence
French Concession
Built in the 1920s by a Greek shipping magnate, this quiet building became home to Soong Qingling, wife of Dr Sun Yatsen, from 1948 to 1963. Size up two…
French Concession
This leafy spot with a large lawn, laid out by the French in 1909 and used by the Japanese as a parade ground in the late 1930s, remains one of the city’s…
French Concession
This two-floor exhibition invites you into a typical shíkùmén (stone-gate house) household, decked out with period furniture. The ground-floor arrangement…
French Concession
Sun Zhongshan predictably receives the full-on hagiographic treatment at this shrine to China’s guófù (国父, father of the nation). A capacious exhibition…
French Concession
This charming little pebble-dash residence with a delightful garden is where the acclaimed author Ba Jin (1904–2005) lived from 1955 to the mid-1990s. Ba…
Chinese Printed Blue Nankeen Exhibition Hall
French Concession
Head down the lane and through courtyards until you see blue cloth drying in the yard. Originally produced in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guizhou provinces,…
French Concession
In 1946, Zhou Enlai, the much-loved (although some swear he was even more sly than Mao) first premier of the People’s Republic of China, lived briefly in…
Wukang Road Tourist Information Centre
French Concession
On one of the area’s best-preserved streets, this centre displays scale-model concession buildings, photos of historic Shanghai architecture and maps for…
French Concession
On those rare days when Shanghai’s skies are cloud-free, the chic Ferguson Lane courtyard fills up in the blink of an eye with boutique browsers, latte…
French Concession
This small, French-inspired park features a central avenue lined with statuesque plane trees. Come evening, this walkway regularly transforms into a stage…
French Concession
One of Shanghai's top galleries, this small space is concealed high above the street-level crowds. Curator Jean Loh captures humanistic themes in…
French Concession
Spread across two buildings in the charming Ferguson Lane complex, the Leo Gallery focuses on works by young Chinese artists.
French Concession
One of Shanghai’s most whimsical buildings, the Scandinavian-influenced Gothic peaks of the Moller House could double as the Munsters’ holiday home…
French Concession
This is China’s largest public library, with a copy of Rodin’s sculpture The Thinker plonked outside. For a postmodern white-tile building, it is actually…
Shanghai Camera History Museum
French Concession
One for diehard vintage camera fans, this museum displays cameras from the 20th century, including old folding models from the 1920s and ’30s as well as a…
French Concession
Shanghai’s largest and most popular, this nondenominational ivy-cloaked church was built in 1924. There are no cheesy Chinese Catholic frills and the…
French Concession
A short walk west along Gaolan Rd from Fuxing Park is rewarded by the distinctive shape of the vacant and now derelict St Nicholas Church, one of Shanghai…
Site of the 1st National Congress of the CCP
French Concession
On 23 July 1921, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was founded in this French Concession building (then 106 rue Wantz). In one fell swoop, this unassuming…
French Concession
Cité Bourgogne is an excellent example of a shíkùmén lǐlòng (traditional alleyway) neighbourhood. Built in 1930, it has been well preserved and is a great…
French Concession
The Christ the King Church, built in 1928, was originally located on Changle Rd in the French Concession. It's now situated on the corner of Julu and…
Russian Orthodox Mission Church
French Concession
Built in 1934, this lovely blue-domed church was designed for the huge influx of Russians to Shanghai in the 1930s.
