The Former French Concession in Half a Day
Choose one continuous Former French Concession walk rather than collecting disconnected landmarks. Wukang and Anfu form one natural half-day, while Sinan and Fuxing belong to another; decide whether cafés or history is the priority.
The short answer
Metro Line 11 to Jiaotong University, photograph the Wukang Building from the south pavement of Huaihai Middle Road, walk 800 m north up Wukang Road to the information centre at No. 393A for the map, then sit down for coffee on Anfu Road one block north. Leave the Sinan Mansions and Fuxing Park for another half-day.
The streets are free; the residences are not all alike. Soong Ching-ling's (20 yuan) and Sun Yat-sen's (10 yuan) sell through WeChat mini-programs - Sun Yat-sen's ticket office helps if you cannot buy online; Zhou Enlai's is free with no booking; Ba Jin's is closed for repairs.
Soong Ching-ling's, Sun Yat-sen's and Zhou Enlai's residences are all closed unless it is a public holiday. The streets, the Wukang Road information centre, the Sinan Mansions and Fuxing Park are open, so make it a walking day.
Stand on the south pavement of Huaihai Middle Road facing the tip; the morning is front-lit. If the police have put up a rope, shoot from outside it. Do not go into the lobby - residents have posted rules about outsiders.
The bookshops close at 18:00 and the Sinan Mansions turn into restaurants. Zhou Enlai's garden stays open to 21:00 from April to September (19:00 in winter), and Fuxing Park's east side becomes a playground and bar strip; the Wukang Road information centre is open to 20:30 on Saturdays.
Side by sideEach cell ends with the date of the notice it was checked against
Swipe sideways; the first column stays put
Wukang Building
武康大楼Open the place →- What you see & how long
- Hudec's 1924 flatiron apartment block (the old Normandie Apartments) at the fork of Huaihai Middle Road and Wukang Road - Shanghai's most photographed residential building. The visit is a photo and a coffee · 2026-09-10
- Ticket
- No ticket; a residential building you cannot enter. The ground-floor shops - bookshops and a café - can be visited · 2026-09-10
- Hours & closed days
- Exterior at any hour (tourism promotion site, 0:00-24:00); the shops keep their own hours · 2026-09-10
- Booking & ID
- None. Residents' rules since 2023 say outsiders must register to enter the building - stay out of the lobby and stairwells · 2026-09-10
- Getting there
- 1850 Huaihai Middle Road; Metro Line 11 Jiaotong University station. It is the south end of the Wukang Road walk · 2026-09-10
- Crowds & photos
- The spot is the south pavement of Huaihai Middle Road facing the tip - front-lit in the morning, backlit after noon. When it is crowded the police rope it off; you can shoot from outside the rope, so do not push in · 2026-09-10
- Don't get this wrong
- The themed post office at 1883 Huaihai Middle Road, opened on New Year's Day 2026, is a different building. '2 Wukang Road' is another address that circulates - not checked · 2026-09-10
Wukang Road
武康路Open the place →- What you see & how long
- A 1.2 km plane-tree street of 1920s-30s villas and apartments from the Wukang Building to Huashan Road - plaques on private gates, two former residences and a free information centre. Best walked in a morning · 2026-09-10
- Ticket
- Free; the information centre is free too · 2026-09-10
- Hours & closed days
- The street at any hour. Information centre (No. 393A) Sunday-Friday 9:00-17:00, Saturdays and public holidays 9:00-20:30 · 2026-02-23
- Booking & ID
- None for the street or the information centre · 2026-09-10
- Getting there
- From the Wukang Building walk 800 m north to the information centre at No. 393A (021-64335000), which has a hand-drawn map and luggage lockers at 2-4 yuan an hour - collect before 17:00 · 2026-02-23
- Crowds & photos
- Most villas are private homes or offices: the plaque is all there is - do not push the gates · 2026-09-10
- Don't get this wrong
- Ba Jin's residence at No. 113 is closed for repairs; Soong Ching-ling's at 1843 Huaihai Middle Road is open but needs booking · 2026-09-10
Anfu Road
安福路Open the place →- What you see & how long
- Four hundred metres with the densest cafés and boutiques in Shanghai, anchored by the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre at No. 288; no museum sights - a street for sitting. Time: not published · 2026-09-10
- Ticket
- Free; plays at the drama centre are ticketed separately. Coffee 30-50 yuan a cup · 2026-09-10
- Hours & closed days
- Shops keep their own hours, most opening after 10:00 and closing in the evening; the drama centre box-office hours are not published · 2026-09-10
- Booking & ID
- None · 2026-09-10
- Getting there
- One block north of Wukang Road, running from Wukang Road east to Urumqi Middle Road; metro: not published in our entry · 2026-09-10
- Crowds & photos
- Weekend afternoons every outdoor seat is taken - it is where young, fashionable Shanghai comes to be seen · 2026-09-10
- Don't get this wrong
- Not a sightseeing street: if cafés and people-watching are not your thing, skip it. East at Urumqi Middle Road are the market and breakfast stalls · 2026-09-10
Sinan Mansions & Sinan Books
思南公馆 · 思南书局Open the place →- What you see & how long
- 51 garden villas of the 1920s-30s restored in 2010 as hotels, restaurants and bookshops, with open lawns; the Sinan Books poetry store is in the 1934 St Nicholas church. The lawns and the poetry store take half an hour · 2026-09-10
- Ticket
- Free; you pay only for what you buy in the bookshops and restaurants · 2025-01-10
- Hours & closed days
- Public areas all day. Both bookshops 10:30-18:00; the poetry store (16 Gaolan Road) closes on Wednesdays, the main store (517 Fuxing Middle Road) opens daily from 1 January 2026 · 2025-12-25
- Booking & ID
- No booking for the public areas or either bookshop · 2025-01-10
- Getting there
- 51-95 Sinan Road (odd numbers). The poetry store is 5 minutes south past the east side of Fuxing Park. Metro given for Sun Yat-sen's residence nearby: Line 13 Huaihai Zhonglu exit 1, Line 10 / 13 Xintiandi exit 6 · 2026-09-15
- Crowds & photos
- Polished and pricey: behind the facades are restaurants, a hotel and the two bookshops, with weekend markets on the lawns · 2026-09-10
- Don't get this wrong
- 'Sinan Books' is two shops: the main store at 517 Fuxing Middle Road (open daily) and the poetry store in the old church at 16 Gaolan Road (closed Wednesdays) · 2026-09-10
Fuxing Park
复兴公园Open the place →- What you see & how long
- The 1909 French Concession park: formal French beds and a fountain to the north, rockery and lawns to the south, plane trees everywhere, and at dawn older people dancing, playing cards and doing tai chi. Time: not published · 2026-09-15
- Ticket
- Free · 2026-09-15
- Hours & closed days
- 5:00-21:00 on the city's 2021 park list; the district says it opened round the clock after the walls came down in 2022 - go by what you find · 2021-04-25
- Booking & ID
- None · 2026-09-15
- Getting there
- Main gate at 105 Yandang Road, with entrances on the Sinan Road and Fuxing Middle Road sides too; Sun Yat-sen's residence is opposite the south gate · 2026-09-15
- Crowds & photos
- For the dancing, weekend mornings on the big north lawn and the fountain square - do not stand in the lines to film. After dark the east side along Yandang Road is loud; the rest is quiet · 2026-09-15
- Don't get this wrong
- Two parks behind one fence: by day an old people's park, by night a playground and bars on the east side. Whether the nightclubs once named online are still inside, nobody official has said · 2026-09-15
| Compare | Wukang Building | Wukang Road | Anfu Road | Sinan Mansions & Sinan Books | Fuxing Park |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you see & how long | Hudec's 1924 flatiron apartment block (the old Normandie Apartments) at the fork of Huaihai Middle Road and Wukang Road - Shanghai's most photographed residential building. The visit is a photo and a coffee · 2026-09-10 | A 1.2 km plane-tree street of 1920s-30s villas and apartments from the Wukang Building to Huashan Road - plaques on private gates, two former residences and a free information centre. Best walked in a morning · 2026-09-10 | Four hundred metres with the densest cafés and boutiques in Shanghai, anchored by the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre at No. 288; no museum sights - a street for sitting. Time: not published · 2026-09-10 | 51 garden villas of the 1920s-30s restored in 2010 as hotels, restaurants and bookshops, with open lawns; the Sinan Books poetry store is in the 1934 St Nicholas church. The lawns and the poetry store take half an hour · 2026-09-10 | The 1909 French Concession park: formal French beds and a fountain to the north, rockery and lawns to the south, plane trees everywhere, and at dawn older people dancing, playing cards and doing tai chi. Time: not published · 2026-09-15 |
| Ticket | No ticket; a residential building you cannot enter. The ground-floor shops - bookshops and a café - can be visited · 2026-09-10 | Free; the information centre is free too · 2026-09-10 | Free; plays at the drama centre are ticketed separately. Coffee 30-50 yuan a cup · 2026-09-10 | Free; you pay only for what you buy in the bookshops and restaurants · 2025-01-10 | Free · 2026-09-15 |
| Hours & closed days | Exterior at any hour (tourism promotion site, 0:00-24:00); the shops keep their own hours · 2026-09-10 | The street at any hour. Information centre (No. 393A) Sunday-Friday 9:00-17:00, Saturdays and public holidays 9:00-20:30 · 2026-02-23 | Shops keep their own hours, most opening after 10:00 and closing in the evening; the drama centre box-office hours are not published · 2026-09-10 | Public areas all day. Both bookshops 10:30-18:00; the poetry store (16 Gaolan Road) closes on Wednesdays, the main store (517 Fuxing Middle Road) opens daily from 1 January 2026 · 2025-12-25 | 5:00-21:00 on the city's 2021 park list; the district says it opened round the clock after the walls came down in 2022 - go by what you find · 2021-04-25 |
| Booking & ID | None. Residents' rules since 2023 say outsiders must register to enter the building - stay out of the lobby and stairwells · 2026-09-10 | None for the street or the information centre · 2026-09-10 | None · 2026-09-10 | No booking for the public areas or either bookshop · 2025-01-10 | None · 2026-09-15 |
| Getting there | 1850 Huaihai Middle Road; Metro Line 11 Jiaotong University station. It is the south end of the Wukang Road walk · 2026-09-10 | From the Wukang Building walk 800 m north to the information centre at No. 393A (021-64335000), which has a hand-drawn map and luggage lockers at 2-4 yuan an hour - collect before 17:00 · 2026-02-23 | One block north of Wukang Road, running from Wukang Road east to Urumqi Middle Road; metro: not published in our entry · 2026-09-10 | 51-95 Sinan Road (odd numbers). The poetry store is 5 minutes south past the east side of Fuxing Park. Metro given for Sun Yat-sen's residence nearby: Line 13 Huaihai Zhonglu exit 1, Line 10 / 13 Xintiandi exit 6 · 2026-09-15 | Main gate at 105 Yandang Road, with entrances on the Sinan Road and Fuxing Middle Road sides too; Sun Yat-sen's residence is opposite the south gate · 2026-09-15 |
| Crowds & photos | The spot is the south pavement of Huaihai Middle Road facing the tip - front-lit in the morning, backlit after noon. When it is crowded the police rope it off; you can shoot from outside the rope, so do not push in · 2026-09-10 | Most villas are private homes or offices: the plaque is all there is - do not push the gates · 2026-09-10 | Weekend afternoons every outdoor seat is taken - it is where young, fashionable Shanghai comes to be seen · 2026-09-10 | Polished and pricey: behind the facades are restaurants, a hotel and the two bookshops, with weekend markets on the lawns · 2026-09-10 | For the dancing, weekend mornings on the big north lawn and the fountain square - do not stand in the lines to film. After dark the east side along Yandang Road is loud; the rest is quiet · 2026-09-15 |
| Don't get this wrong | The themed post office at 1883 Huaihai Middle Road, opened on New Year's Day 2026, is a different building. '2 Wukang Road' is another address that circulates - not checked · 2026-09-10 | Ba Jin's residence at No. 113 is closed for repairs; Soong Ching-ling's at 1843 Huaihai Middle Road is open but needs booking · 2026-09-10 | Not a sightseeing street: if cafés and people-watching are not your thing, skip it. East at Urumqi Middle Road are the market and breakfast stalls · 2026-09-10 | 'Sinan Books' is two shops: the main store at 517 Fuxing Middle Road (open daily) and the poetry store in the old church at 16 Gaolan Road (closed Wednesdays) · 2026-09-10 | Two parks behind one fence: by day an old people's park, by night a playground and bars on the east side. Whether the nightclubs once named online are still inside, nobody official has said · 2026-09-15 |
Soong Ching-ling's Former Residence：On the Wukang Road walk at 1843 Huaihai Middle Road: 20 yuan, Tuesday-Sunday 9:00-17:00, closed Mondays. Buy on its WeChat mini-program first; whether the mini-program takes a foreign passport is not stated - if you cannot book, ring 021-64747183. About 45 minutes; some rooms are no-photo The one former residence on the Wukang Road walk that is open.
Sun Yat-sen's Former Residence：At 7 Xiangshan Road, opposite Fuxing Park's south gate: 10 yuan, Tuesday-Sunday 9:00-17:00, closed Mondays except holidays and often shut at short notice. Tickets on its mini-program three days ahead, but the ticket office officially helps anyone who cannot buy online - the surest route with a passport Check its notices the day before.
Zhou Enlai's Former Residence (Zhou Mansion)：At 73 Sinan Road: free, no booking, six free (Chinese) talks a day and a Chinese-English audio guide; the house 9:00-17:00, closed Mondays, and the garden open to 21:00 from April to September - the one old house here you can still walk into after dinner The easy one.
Ba Jin's Former Residence：At 113 Wukang Road: closed for repairs, with no reopening date published as of October 2025 (draft entry). From the street you can see the gate, the plaque and the magnolias over the wall Do not plan around it.
One by one
Wukang Building
武康大楼The picture everyone comes for, and nothing more than that: it is a block of flats with residents who have posted rules about strangers in the lobby. Stand on the south pavement of Huaihai Middle Road facing the tip, take the photo from outside the police rope if there is one, have a coffee in one of the ground-floor shops, and start walking north. For the start of the walk, and the photo.
Open the place →Wukang Road
武康路The spine of the walk: a morning under plane trees past villas you can only see from the gate. Pick up the hand-drawn map at the free information centre at No. 393A - the one indoor stop on the street you can simply walk into - and leave your bag in its lockers if you need to, but collect it before 17:00. Ba Jin's house is shut for repairs, so do not come for it; Soong Ching-ling's is open with a booking. For a morning walk with no tickets.
Open the place →Anfu Road
安福路The coffee stop. Four hundred metres of cafés and small shops one block north of Wukang Road - with it, a national-level tourism and leisure street - and nothing to 'see' in the museum sense, which is the point. Sit down here after the Wukang Road walk; on a weekend afternoon you will be competing for the outdoor seats. For a coffee after the walk.
Open the place →Sinan Mansions & Sinan Books
思南公馆 · 思南书局The polished corner of the villa district: fifty-odd restored houses turned into restaurants, a hotel and two bookshops around open lawns. There is little to see behind the facades, so give it half an hour - the lawns, then the poetry bookshop in a 1934 Orthodox church five minutes south. On a Wednesday, when the poetry store is shut, go instead to Sun Yat-sen's Shanghai office next door, free and open to 22:00. The famous residences are all within a few hundred metres. For a bookshop in a church and a half-hour among restored villas.
Open the place →Fuxing Park
复兴公园Come in the morning. The 1909 park is free and full of plane trees, and at weekends the north lawn and fountain square fill with dancers - watch from the side, not from inside the lines. Sun Yat-sen's residence is across from the south gate and Zhou Enlai's is a few minutes away, so it links the Sinan Mansions to both. After dark the east side turns into a playground and bar strip. For an early start, or a stroll between the residences.
Open the place →