Areas
Former French Concession
原法租界（衡复风貌区）
Plane-tree streets of villas, apartment blocks and lane houses around Wukang, Hengshan and Fuxing roads, in the west of the former French Concession.
Best forhistory loversslow walkerscafés
The former French Concession (原法租界, Yuán Fǎzūjiè) covered a long strip of the city west of the old walled town. This page covers its western part, which the city protects as the Hengfu historic area (衡复风貌区, Héngfù Fēngmào Qū): the streets around Wukang Road, Hengshan Road, Fuxing West Road and Anfu Road.
This is an area to walk rather than to tick off. The houses are mostly private, and the pleasure is in the streets themselves: plane trees, garden walls, apartment blocks with rounded corners, and lane entrances that open onto rows of houses.
Where to start
Wukang Road is the easiest line to follow. It runs to Wukang Mansion, the wedge-shaped apartment block at its south end, and passes Ba Jin’s Former Residence, one of the few houses on the street you can go inside.
The two former residences open as museums, Soong Ching-ling’s on Huaihai Middle Road and Sun Yat-sen’s near Fuxing Park, are the best way to see one of these houses from the inside. Beside the park is the former Russian Orthodox St Nicholas Church, and, further west on Huaihai Middle Road, the Cathay Theatre.
For how the concession was governed, read How the French Concession was run.
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Places to see
Church· 1925
All Saints Church
诸圣堂Zhūshèng Táng
A red-brick Anglican church of 1925 on Fuxing Middle Road, described as Shanghai's only surviving Neo-Romanesque church and still used for worship.
Museum· 1923
Ba Jin's Former Residence
巴金故居Bā Jīn Gùjū
House at 113 Wukang Road where the writer Ba Jin lived from 1955 until his death in 2005; opened to the public as a house museum on 1 December 2011.
Building· c. 1924
Blackstone Apartments
黑石公寓Hēishí Gōngyù
A 1924 apartment house on Fuxing Middle Road built by an American missionary, named for its black stone; the ground floor is now a public bookshop-café.
Building· 1930–1931
Cathay Theatre
国泰电影院Guótài Diànyǐngyuàn
Art Deco cinema on Huaihai Middle Road, opened 1 January 1932 and listed as a Shanghai Outstanding Historical Building in 1994.
Church· 1924–1925
Community Church
国际礼拜堂Guójì Lǐbàitáng
A brick-and-timber Gothic Revival church of 1925 built by Shanghai's American community; still in use, with a Sunday service in English for foreigners.
Building
Dingxiang Garden
丁香花园Dīngxiāng Huāyuán
Garden villa at 849 Huashan Road built for Li Jingmai, son of Li Hongzhang. The popular story of a concubine named Dingxiang is rejected by sources.
Park· 1909
Fuxing Park
复兴公园Fùxīng Gōngyuán
A park laid out by the French Concession authorities and opened in 1909, with a French formal garden, a Chinese garden and a Marx and Engels statue.
Building· 1934
Hengshan Picardie Hotel
衡山宾馆Héngshān Bīnguǎn
A fifteen-storey Art Deco block of 1934, built as the Picardie Apartments by the International Savings Society and run as a hotel since 1955.
Building· 1935
Jin Jiang Hotel
锦江饭店Jǐnjiāng Fàndiàn
Two Sassoon apartment towers of 1929 and 1935, a state guesthouse since 1951 and the place where the 1972 Shanghai Communiqué was signed.
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Church· 1933–1936
Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Mother of God
东正教圣母大堂Dōngzhèngjiào Shèngmǔ Dàtáng
A Russian-Byzantine cathedral of 1933–36 on Xinle Road, with five blue domes, now a protected heritage building; check on site whether it is open.
Museum
Shanghai Museum of Arts and Crafts
上海工艺美术博物馆Shànghǎi Gōngyì Měishù Bówùguǎn
A white French neo-Renaissance villa on Fenyang Road holding carved ivory, jade and lacquer, opera costumes and working craft studios.
Museum· 1920
Soong Ching-ling's Former Residence
上海宋庆龄故居Shànghǎi Sòng Qìnglíng Gùjū
The 1920 garden house at 1843 Huaihai Middle Road where Soong Ching-ling lived and worked from the late 1940s; a national protected site, open as a museum.
Church· 1932–1934
St Nicholas Church
圣尼古拉堂Shèng Nígǔlā Táng
Former Russian Orthodox church on Gaolan Road, built 1932-34 with funds raised by White Russian emigres, later a restaurant and a poetry bookshop.
Museum· c. 1910–1918
Sun Yat-sen's Former Residence
上海孙中山故居Shànghǎi Sūn Zhōngshān Gùjū
The pebble-clad villa at 7 Xiangshan Road where Sun Yat-sen lived from 1918 and Soong Ching-ling until 1937; a national protected site, open as a museum.
Building· c. 1924
Wukang Mansion
武康大楼Wǔkāng Dàlóu
László Hudec's 1924 Normandie Apartments: an eight-storey wedge with a ground-floor arcade where Huaihai Middle Road meets Wukang Road.
Street· 1897
Wukang Road
武康路Wǔkāng Lù
A 1.2 km plane-lined street in the former French Concession with 1920s-40s villas, residents' plaques and Hudec's Wukang Mansion at its south end.
Site· c. 1920–1929
Zhou Enlai's Residence in Shanghai
周公馆Zhōu Gōngguǎn
A 1920s garden house at 73 Sinan Road used in 1946-47 as the Chinese Communist Party delegation's Shanghai office, now a memorial museum.
Also nearby
Church· 1993
Christ the King Church
君王堂Jūnwáng Táng
Walks in Former French Concession
Where to stay
Staying in Former French Concession
Why stay here
- +Quiet, tree-lined streets that are pleasant to walk at any time of day.
- +Plenty of cafés, bakeries and small restaurants on the side streets.
- +Several metro lines cross the district, so the Bund and People's Square are a short ride away.
Downsides
- −The Bund and Pudong are a metro or taxi ride away, not a walk.
- −Most old houses are homes, offices or consulates; you see them from the street.
Price level¥¥¥
Getting to and from
| Pudong Airport | 74 minLines 7 and 2 from Changshu Road(estimate) |
|---|---|
| Hongqiao Airport | 31 minLines 1 and 10 from Changshu Road(estimate) |
| Hongqiao Railway Station | 33 minLines 1 and 10 from Changshu Road(estimate) |
| Shanghai Railway Station | 12 minLine 1 from Changshu Road(estimate) |
Where to stay
Hotel recommendations for this area are being checked.
Getting here
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