Gucheng Park

The Gucheng Park, in Shanghai

The Gucheng Park, or park of the old city, is a peaceful green space laid out on the site of the former Ming walls of Shanghai, between the Yu Garden and the Bund. The Shanghai audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this haven of calm where history and modernity meet, with its reconstituted vestiges and its fine view over the skyscrapers.

The garden of the former Ming walls

You are here in a rare place in Shanghai: a space where calm, history and modernity meet. The Gucheng Park, or park of the old town, was laid out in 2002 on the site of the former walls of Shanghai, erected under the Ming dynasty; its name moreover means the park of the old city. There where you walk today formerly stood the fortifications that protected the nascent port town from incursions, notably those of the pirates. This small verdant park offers a peaceful pause between the Yu Garden and the Bund, two of the most frequented places of the town. While strolling, you will discover reconstituted vestiges of the old walls and, a little further, the Danfeng terrace, built on the location of a former Taoist temple of the thirteenth century. It is one of the best viewpoints to contemplate the striking contrast between the traditional roofs of the old town and the glass towers that rise on the horizon. With its pavilions, its trees, its ponds and its winding paths in the tradition of the Chinese gardens, the Gucheng Park invites to relaxation and to promenade. Far from the bustle of the great arteries, it recalls that, under the vertical metropolis, slumbers an ancient and fortified town. A peaceful garden and a memory of the ramparts, the Gucheng Park is a fine stop of the discovery of Shanghai.

What to see

Here you discover a verdant and peaceful park laid out in 2002 on the site of the former Ming walls of Shanghai, between the Yu Garden and the Bund; you see there reconstituted vestiges of the walls and the Danfeng terrace, raised on the location of a former Taoist temple of the thirteenth century, from which you contemplate the contrast between the roofs of the old town and the glass towers. The Gucheng Park is a haven of calm in Shanghai. It is a fine stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The Gucheng Park lies in the Huangpu district, between the Yu Garden and the Bund, at the southern end of the former old town, reachable on foot and by metro. It is a public park that follows its own opening hours, variable according to the season; access is generally free. You discover it during a walk in the old town.

What is particular about the Gucheng Park in Shanghai?

It was laid out in 2002 on the site of the former Ming walls of Shanghai, of which it keeps reconstituted vestiges, between the Yu Garden and the Bund; you find there the Danfeng terrace, raised on the location of a former Taoist temple of the thirteenth century, and one of the best viewpoints over the contrast between the roofs of the old town and the skyscrapers.

Where is the Gucheng Park in Shanghai?

In the Huangpu district, between the Yu Garden and the Bund, in Shanghai, in China.