Xuhui / Huangpu
The French Concession
Plane trees, low houses, and the streets everyone means when they say "old Shanghai". The best walking in the city, full stop.
Strictly the Concession was abolished in 1943, but everyone still calls it that, and everyone means the same area: the grid of tree-lined streets west of the old city, built from the 1900s to the 1930s with villas, lane houses and apartment blocks. It survived the twentieth century largely intact, and it is now the most pleasant place to walk in Shanghai.
Wukang Road & the French Concession
Plane trees, low balconies and a street that bends eleven times. The Shanghai most visitors picture, walked slowly.
Tianzifang & Sinan Mansions
Two lane neighbourhoods half an hour apart: one a dense maze of artist studios, one the quietest gardens in central Shanghai.
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