Changxing and Hengsha — the new sandbars

Changxing and Hengsha are the two islands between the mainland and Chongming. They are younger, smaller, and much less visited.

Changxing holds the Jiangnan shipyard, which is one of the largest in the country and visible from the road. Hengsha holds almost nothing — fields, a few villages, and the end of the road.

The pair makes an odd and satisfying day: heavy industry at one end, near-empty farmland at the other.

Changxing

Flat, wide, and dominated by the shipyard on the south shore. The road network is good and the cycling is easy.

There is a service area on the G40 expressway here, which tells you what the island is mostly for.

Hengsha

Smaller and quieter again. Almost no through traffic, and the eastern end is essentially farmland and dyke.

This is the emptiest place in the municipality that you can realistically reach in a day from the centre.

Practicalities

Connections are the constraint. Check the ferry and coach times before you commit, and know when the last one back leaves.

Take food. Services are sparse, particularly on Hengsha.

Getting there without a car

Line 6 to Wuzhou Avenue then onward transport; ferry connections to Changxing.

The honest part

This is one of the city’s official countryside routes, not a ShanghaiWalk route. Distances are as published.

✓ Tick off what you have walked

All countryside routes →