Compact · Huangpu
Ninety minutes through the most famous restoration in Shanghai — plus the one lane house you can go inside and actually see how people lived.
Xintiandi is where Shanghai figured out it could sell its own old houses. The brick lane houses were gutted, re-pointed and turned into restaurants and bars; the surrounding blocks kept the same facades and stayed residential.
Most visitors only see the restaurants. Walk ten minutes further and you find the museum where one of these houses is left as it was, and the congress site that made the district famous for a second time.
The restored restaurant quarter. Brick lanes, outdoor seating, and the highest prices in the city for a coffee.
Wander free, sit only if you want to. The architecture is the product and it costs nothing to look at.
One lane house furnished as it would have been in the 1920s-30s: the hall, the bedroom, the tiny kitchen.
Small admission fee. This is the single best place in Shanghai to understand how these houses actually worked.
A shikumen house where a small meeting was held in 1921. Free admission, book ahead.
Requires advance reservation and ID. Verify the current booking method before you rely on it.
Finish in the park across the road: a lake, willows, and the skyline behind them.
Best light is the last hour before sunset, from the west side of the lake.
Start at Xintiandi (Line 10 / 13), Exit 2. Finish: Site of the First CPC National Congress (then South Huangpi Road station).
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.
The walled city, the bazaar, the teahouse on the pond — and the five minutes past the tourist ring where the old street grid still runs.
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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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On request
FAQ
Everything on this site is written and re-checked on the ground. When something changes, this page changes.
For an hour, yes — the restoration is beautifully done. The museum next door is the part worth planning around.
Usually yes, with ID. Check the current booking channel before you go; it has changed several times.
Yes for eating and drinking. Walking through it is free, and that is most of the value.
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