Former French Concession

The former French Concession, in Shanghai

The former French Concession is one of the most elegant and most emblematic districts of Shanghai, born in 1849 as a foreign enclave. The Shanghai audio-guided tour stops here to evoke its boulevards lined with plane trees, its villas of European inspiration and its shikumen, these houses with a stone gate, in a setting where each street murmurs a fragment of history.

The plane trees, the shikumen and the Champs-Élysées of Shanghai

You are in the heart of the former French Concession of Shanghai. Born in 1849 as a foreign enclave placed under French administration, it has become, a century later, one of the most elegant and most emblematic districts of the town. Here, each street seems to murmur a fragment of history. The straight boulevards lined with plane trees, the villas of European inspiration and above all the shikumen, these houses with a stone gate typical of Shanghai, compose a unique decor. Behind their façades, a maze of alleys, the longtang, formerly formed small communities where life was organised around a common courtyard. Not far from here stretches Huaihai Middle Road, the former Avenue Joffre, that was once nicknamed the Champs-Élysées of Shanghai: its elegant shops, its cafés, its theatres and its Art Deco façades made it one of the chicest arteries of Asia. During the first half of the twentieth century, the district attracted intellectuals, artists, writers and exiles from the whole world, in a cosmopolitan and refined atmosphere. Today restored and much prized, it has kept its charm of yesteryear; its shaded lanes shelter cafés, galleries, designer shops and tea houses, while former longtang have been rehabilitated into trendy places of life, as at Xintiandi or Tianzifang. To stroll here is to go back in time in the mixed Shanghai of the past century. An elegant district and a cosmopolitan memory, the former French Concession is a fine stop of the discovery of Shanghai.

What to see

Here you discover one of the most elegant districts of Shanghai, born in 1849 as an enclave under French administration, with its boulevards lined with plane trees, its villas of European inspiration and its shikumen, these houses with a stone gate hiding a maze of alleys, the longtang; you walk along Huaihai Road, the former Avenue Joffre nicknamed the Champs-Élysées of Shanghai, and the rehabilitated districts of Xintiandi and Tianzifang. The former French Concession is an emblematic district of Shanghai. It is a fine stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The former French Concession stretches over the Huangpu and Xuhui districts, around Huaihai Road, reachable on foot and by metro. It is a freely accessible district, to be explored at leisure through its shaded streets, its cafés, galleries and shops, and its lively hubs like Xintiandi and Tianzifang. You discover it during a long walk.

What is the former French Concession of Shanghai?

A foreign enclave born in 1849 under French administration, become one of the most elegant districts of the town, with its boulevards lined with plane trees, its European villas and its shikumen, these houses with a stone gate hiding the longtang lanes; you find there the former Avenue Joffre, nicknamed the Champs-Élysées of Shanghai, and the trendy districts of Xintiandi and Tianzifang.

Where is the former French Concession in Shanghai?

On the Huangpu and Xuhui districts, around Huaihai Road, in Shanghai, in China.