Shanghai Concert Hall

The Shanghai Concert Hall

The Shanghai Concert Hall is one of the most emblematic cultural monuments of the town, an elegant concert hall of classical European inspiration inaugurated in 1930. The Shanghai audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this witness of the golden age of the 1930s, famous for having been, in 2007, entirely moved stone by stone.

The concert hall that changed place

In front of you rises one of the most emblematic cultural monuments of Shanghai: the Shanghai Concert Hall. Its elegant façade, inspired by classical European architecture with its columns and its pediment, evokes the golden age of the 1930s, when the town was already a vibrant cosmopolitan centre. Designed by the Chinese architect Fan Wenzhao, trained in the United States, it was inaugurated in 1930 under the name of Nanking Theatre. At that time, it was one of the rare performance halls entirely conceived for Western music. Over the decades, the building changed name and function, serving as a cinema then a concert hall, before becoming, in 1959, the Shanghai Concert Hall that we know today. But its destiny does not stop there, and it is here that the story becomes extraordinary. In 2007, the entire building, weighing nearly four thousand tonnes, was literally moved: to move it away from an expressway and offer it a more peaceful setting, engineers lifted it and made it slide several tens of metres, while raising it. This technical feat, that made a great noise, allowed to save and to magnify this heritage jewel. Restored, endowed with a first-rate acoustic, it today hosts symphonic concerts and recitals in a setting of marble and gilding. A historic hall and a feat of engineering, the Shanghai Concert Hall is a fine stop of the discovery of the town.

What to see

You admire the elegant concert hall of classical European inspiration, designed by the Chinese architect Fan Wenzhao and inaugurated in 1930 under the name of Nanking Theatre, become Shanghai Concert Hall in 1959; a famous feat, the building of nearly four thousand tonnes was entirely moved in 2007 to move it away from an expressway, then restored and endowed with a first-rate acoustic. The Shanghai Concert Hall is a cultural jewel of the town. It is a fine stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The Shanghai Concert Hall lies in the Huangpu district, near the People's Square, reachable on foot and by metro. You admire its façade from the street; to attend a concert, it is best to enquire in advance about the programme and the conditions of access, which vary according to the performances.

Why was the Shanghai Concert Hall moved?

To move it away from an expressway and offer it a more peaceful setting: in 2007, this building of nearly four thousand tonnes was lifted and moved several tens of metres, while being raised, a technical feat that saved this jewel; inaugurated in 1930 under the name of Nanking Theatre by the architect Fan Wenzhao, the hall became Shanghai Concert Hall in 1959.

Where is the Shanghai Concert Hall?

In the Huangpu district, near the People's Square, in Shanghai, in China.