The classic · Xuhui
Plane trees, low balconies and a street that bends eleven times. The Shanghai most visitors picture, walked slowly.
Wukang Road is the one street everyone photographs and almost nobody walks end to end. It runs about a kilometre, bends eleven times, and passes the houses of a film star, a writer and a Ba Jin. Do it slowly and in the late afternoon, when the plane trees throw the light sideways and the tour groups have gone.
Start from the north end and walk south. That way the big intersection — and the famous flatiron building — comes first, and the quiet residential stretches come last, when you are already in the mood for them.
The flatiron-shaped apartment building at the six-way junction. Built 1924, designed by László Hudec.
Do not stand in the road for the photo. The pavement on the Wukang Road side gives the same angle and does not get you honked at.
A quiet house with a garden where the writer lived for forty years. Small, rarely crowded.
Opening hours are short and it closes on Mondays in most seasons — check before you make a special trip.
A courtyard off Wukang Road with coffee, a wine bar and a bookshop. Good place to reset.
Restrooms are inside the courtyard, clean, and free. This matters more than it sounds after two hours of walking.
A rounded corner balcony on Wukang Road that has become a minor pilgrimage site. It is a private residence.
People queue for the photo. It is a balcony. Take one and move on.
Turn east here. Independent shops, a theatre, and the densest stretch of everyday neighbourhood life in the area.
The Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre is at the end. Same-day tickets are often available and it costs very little.
The last stretch north: bakeries, a wet market in the morning, and the real Concession street grid.
End at Changshu Road station (Line 1 / 7), or keep going ten minutes to Jing'an Temple.
Start at Jiaotong University (Line 10 / 11), Exit 1. Finish: Anfu Road (walk back to Changshu Road station, Line 1 / 7).
Keep walking
The largest shikumen compound in the city, restored and reopened, sitting on top of the busiest shopping street in Shanghai.
Two lane neighbourhoods half an hour apart: one a dense maze of artist studios, one the quietest gardens in central Shanghai.
A gilded temple inside a glass-and-steel district, then ten minutes into lanes where the 1930s are still doing business.
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Every route on this site can be walked on your own. If you would rather have someone explain it, these are the listed guides who cover this one.
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FAQ
Everything on this site is written and re-checked on the ground. When something changes, this page changes.
Two hours at a normal pace with a coffee stop. You can rush it in fifty minutes, but the point of this street is not to rush it.
Yes, mostly — the plane trees cover a surprising amount of it. Bring a small umbrella and duck into Ferguson Lane if it turns heavy.
Yes. Pavements are wide and mostly flat, though a few sections are uneven brick. The Anfu Road stretch is the easiest.
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