Shanghai/French Concession

From World travel guide

The French Concession is the area of Shanghai once designated for the French. Today, the area's central Huaihai Rd is a busy shopping street, but the tree-lined avenues and their many Tudor mansions still retain an air of the "Paris of the East".

Contents 1 Get in 2 See 3 Buy 4 Eat 4.1 Budget 4.2 Mid-range 4.3 Splurge 5 Drink 6 Sleep

Get in

Metro Line 1 runs along Huaihai and Hengshan Roads. Most useful stop is probably the Shan Xi Nan Lu station, which is fairly central.

See

• Xintiandi (新天地, near Metro Huangpi Nanlu) - Xintiandi is a popular spot for young people. It is a place where you can find a lot of restaurants and clubs. Besides these pubs you can also see some traditional Shanghai-style lodgings (Shikumen) which are a unique blend of European and Chinese design. There is a nice miniature museum, showing the configuration and interior of a recreated 1930s shikumen house.
• Old French Concession Streets get away from the busy streets and explore the area between Julu Lu to the north and Huai Hai Lu running through the center, plus Mao Ming Lu and surrounding area to the south of Huai Hai Lu. Pleasant tree-lined streets and local Shanghainese bustle, combined with a growing number of trendy boutiques and restaurants. Chang Le Lu and Xin Le Lu are rapidly becoming the places to find small designer clothing shops. Interesting architecture built with French and Belgian money and showing mixed Chinese-European styles.
• There is a walking guide to the French Concession, with a downloadable map, at this link

Buy

• Huaihai Road (淮海路 Huáihǎilù) - The main commercial street, with mainly international brand stores.
• Xujiahui (徐家汇) - big shopping malls here. You can get here by metro. Right at the Xujiahui intersection a large computer mall can be found.
• Xiangyang Market(襄阳路服饰礼品市场) - towards the western end of Huaihai Road is this crowded outdoor market where you can buy clothing and accessories. It's a shoppers paradise of original and knockoff goods, mostly known for its (fake) North Face jackets, leather shoes, designer bags, reproduction watches and DVDs. It can get quite crowded on weekends. Prices range from RMB 200-300 for a knockoff North Face jacket, or RMB 150 for a backpack. Though they are not exact copies of the real thing, the build and quality is remarkable for the price.

• Julu Lu and Chang Le Lu - these two parallel east-west streets and the surrounding neighbourhood are gradually acquiring some outstanding boutiques and shops. Highlights include:

• Garden Books - near to the junction of Chang Le Lu and Shanxi Nan Lu - good selection of China travel guides
• Torana House - on Chang Le Lu, near to the junction with Xiang Yang Lu - converted house with 3 floors of Tibetan and Chinese carpets and Tibetan furniture (www.toranahouse.com). Beautifully displayed handmade rugs.
• Spin Ceramics - designer ceramics by Chinese artists but with a Japanese flavor, in a stylish minimalist space off Julu Lu. Bit difficult to spot since it is set back off the street: it is next to Mesa restaurant (known to many expats for its excellent Sunday brunch)
• Silk QiPao shops a row of shops along Chang Le Lu, between Mao Ming Lu and Shan Xi Nan Lu specializes in silk Qi Paos (traditional Shanghai-style silk dresses), which can be made to measure for you. The shops are especially popular with Japanese visitors staying at the nearby Okura Garden Hotel.

Generally, both these streets and the connecting north-south streets are worth a stroll, and something new seems to open every week. This is also the area to see Shanghai style Deco architecture, that has been getting a lot of press lately.

• Other nearby areas:
• Posh Shopping along Mao Ming Nan Lu, by the Jin Jiang Hotel. Designer shops and art galleries. Don't forget your platinum Amex card.

Eat

Budget

• Vegetarian Lifestyle, 77 Song Shan Rd (in a fabulously decorated alleyway just south of Huai Hai Rd.), 21-6384-8000. Every day until 10pm. Wow! A beautifully appointed modern restaurant where everything just happens to be vegi. You won't find much in the way of fake meat that pervades most of the other vegetarian places. Instead you'll enjoy beautifully cooked dishes from all over the country, and juices from the juice bar. They serve beer as well, but careful, one bottle will double your bill! ~30 RMB (18 RMB Lunch special).
• Xintiandi, at the southeast corner of Huaihai Park. This is not the trendy district, but a small 24 hour coffee/dumpling shop just next to the park. They sell steamed-and-fried soup-filled dumplings are famous for squirting across the room if you don't suck out the juice beforehand. Four dumplings for RMB 1.50 is a steal.

Mid-range

• Shanghai Uncle is a famous chain of three restaurants known for the Shanghai flair with some Western accents. Known for their spare ribs, smoked fish and fatty pork with garlic. (Phone: 6464 6430) Locations: 211 Tianyaoqiao Lu, others

• Hailaogui (海老亀 Hǎilǎogūi, 41 Yandang Rd 雁蕩路41号) is a cafe that specializes in sweet Chinese desserts with all sorts of beneficial effects for your health (or so they claim), particularly dishes made with turtle. No English menu, but try the milk pudding with ginger (Y10).

• Saleya Chang Le Lu, between Xiang Yang Lu and Shanxi Nan Lu: your neigbourhood French Restaurant. By Chinese standards the prices would be in the "splurge" category, but for a foreign restaurant the prices are very reasonable. Unpretentious and you can close your eyes and imagine you are on the Isle de la Cite...

Splurge

• Xintiandi (see See) has many of Shanghai's hippest (and most expensive) restaurants, especially international food.
• Mesa on Julu Lu, short distance west from Xiang Yang Lu junction. Excellent Western and fusion food, fine wine list. Not cheap but worth it. Balcony is great in the spring and fall.
• Dome at the corner of Xiang Yang Lu and Xin Le Lu in the North French Concession area. Very interesting building: a converted Russian Orthodox church, complete with domes and painted ceilings.
• Casanova Very competent Italian at the far western end of Julu Lu

Drink

• Judy's Too, 176 Maoming Nan Lu (Metro: Shaanxi Nan Lu), tel. 6473-1417. Doors open at 6pm, but the party doesn't really get started 'till at least 10pm. A somewhat cheesy but fun favorite among expats. Locals dance it up here here too, but mostly before 11pm. If you've ever wanted to watch a drunk Russian guy try to pick up a French girl in Han Chinese at 2am, this is the place. Some, however, feel this place offers all that is bad about older western men and younger eastern girls in Asia - at times there is some pretty unpleasant letching to be seen here unfortunately. (No cover). http://www.judysco.com/

Sleep

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