If nostalgia or home sickness starts to hit when your in Shanghai, you don’t need to fly back home to cure it. Just head to Hengshan Road were the expats have created their own community.
If you’re nostalgic while in Shanghai, then the streets off of Hengshan Road will make you feel right at home. This part of the former French Concession was not my favorite because it didn’t feel as authentically Chinese, but it’s still an important part of Shanghai and it’s history. The area is flooded with a younger expat crowd and almost everyone speaks English here. Before arriving to Hengshan Road, my mom and I stopped by a café for a quick coffee break. It was obvious we were already in the French district. Staring out the window and into the courtyard, the green foliage, open windows, and wrought iron railing with detailed turns and curls made me feel like I was back in France.
At 119 Hengshan Road is a small quarter with a ton of international restaurants and boutiques. I was there during Thanksgiving break in November, so there was a holiday market at the time. I felt like I was back in America. Everywhere I turned, English speaking expats from left to right shopping at the Commune Market that makes it way around the French Concession once a month selling crafts, art, food, and other goods.
We were starting to get hungry, but didn’t want to eat in one of the international restaurants in Shanghai. We wanted to continue eating the amazing Chinese food. The options for genuine Chinese food are quite limited in this area of the French Concession. A lot of the streets directly off of Hengshan Road are full of cashmere stores, vintage stores, international stores, cocktail bars, Italian restaurants, American restaurants, French cafés with outdoor seating and believe it or not—they even had brunch spots. There were small courtyards filled with English-speaking expats enjoying brunch on Sunday. One of my favorite bars was the one pictured below that had a small outdoor patio with white Chinese paper lanterns hanging from the trees. I could see myself lounging here with a glass of wine in hand reading a book. Not very Shanghai, but still very picturesque!
After walking North, Henghsan Road meets Wulumqui Middle Road. We finally were walking by more authentic Chinese restaurants. We walked by this small hole in the wall that spoke to us. There were no expats inside and no one spoke English. We peered inside and tried to guess what type of food it was. It almost looked like fondue? A man waved us inside and the rest was history. We ended up eating at Yanji Old Beijing Hot Pot for lunch and it was an experience I definitely did not think I would check off my Shanghai bucket list! Read on to know more about my experience at Yanji Old Beijing Hot Pot.
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