Sun Yatsen’s Former Residence

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 hall next door has more than 150 cultural items on exhibit exalting his memory and serves as a full-on prelude to his pebble-dash ‘Spanish-style’ home. There's a free audio guide if you leave your driving licence or passport for a deposit.

Once you get to his house proper – where he lived on what was rue Moliere from 1918 to 1924 – you need to pop transparent shower caps over your shoes to protect the threadbare carpets. Don’t forget to catch the lovely garden, where a Magnolia grandiflora flowers deliciously in summer.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby French Concession attractions

1. St Nicholas Church

0.09 MILES

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…

2. Fuxing Park

0.14 MILES

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…

3. Zhou Enlai’s Former Residence

0.15 MILES

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…

4. Beaugeste

0.51 MILES

One of Shanghai's top galleries, this small space is concealed high above the street-level crowds. Curator Jean Loh captures humanistic themes in…

5. Shikumen Open House Museum

0.52 MILES

This two-floor exhibition invites you into a typical shíkùmén (stone-gate house) household, decked out with period furniture. The ground-floor arrangement…

6. Xintiandi

0.54 MILES

With its own namesake metro station, Xintiandi has been a Shanghai icon for over a decade. An upmarket entertainment and shopping complex modelled on…

8. Tianzifang

0.55 MILES

Tianzifang and Xintiandi are based on a similar idea – an entertainment complex housed within a warren of lòngtáng (弄堂, alleyways). Unlike Xintiandi,…