An English guide to Shanghai
See Shanghai on foot.
Self-guided walks, the stories behind the buildings, and practical help for your first visit.
HSBC BuildingThe Bund
Start walking
Choose a walk. Follow the stories.
Pick a route, follow its mapped stops, and open each place for the story and visiting details.
Photo: Suicasmo Approx. 2.2 km13 stops
The Bund, building by building
Thirteen stops along the Bund, from the 1907–08 signal tower to Broadway Mansions: banks, hotels, a clock that changed its tune and the oldest building.
Photo: Suicasmo Approx. 2.8 km6 stops
Wukang Road and the former French Concession
Six stops under the plane trees of the former French Concession: Art Deco flats, Hudec's Wukang Mansion, and the homes of Soong Ching-ling and Ba Jin.
Photo: Jakub Hałun · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped to fit Approx. 4 km5 stops
The Old City and Yu Garden
Five stops inside the line of Shanghai's old city wall: the one surviving stretch, the Confucian temple, a Qing mansion, the City God Temple and Yu Garden.
Route distances are estimates. These routes have not yet been checked on foot.
Where to go
Find your part of Shanghai
Compare what to see, where to stay and how to get around each neighbourhood.
Photo: ScareCriterion12 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped to fit The Bund
first-timers · short stays
Photo: Suicasmo Former French Concession
history lovers · slow walkers
Photo: Jakub Hałun · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped to fit Old City and Yu Garden
traditional lanes · temples and gardens
Photo: shankar s. · CC BY 2.0 · Cropped to fit Lujiazui
skyline · business
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The history
Read the city as you walk.
Follow the places, people and changes behind the streets, with sources for further reading.
Historical map · 1845–1914
1914
French Concession (extended)
法租界（1914 扩展）· 15,150 mu
The historical map
Move through the years to compare former settlement boundaries with today's streets, then overlay a historical map.
How to read the Bund: one waterfront, three rebuildings, 1845–1948
Why the Bund's banks stand where they do, how to date a facade by its stone, and what the old directories say was behind each door.
Behind the stone gate: how Shanghai's shikumen lanes were built, let and divided, 1853–2022
Refugee shacks, a fire rule and a property boom made the shikumen lane house. Then rents split each house among five families. What is left to see.
Shanghai Art Deco: towers, cinemas and flats, 1929–1941
How Shanghai built its modern skyline in a dozen years: who paid, who designed, who built, and where to see it now.
How this site is made
A guide you can check
Place pages bring together referenced history, Chinese address cards and map links. Photo credits and visit check dates help you see where the information comes from.
Useful on the street
Open a place page for a Chinese address card to show a taxi driver, plus links to Amap and Apple Maps.
Explore the map