See the evolution of Shanghai’s shikumens from its oldest neighborhood in Laoximen to the Westernized food and shopping district of Xintiandi.
Walking from my boutique hotel at The Waterhouse at South Bund to Xintiandi is a great way to see how Shanghai has evolved and been able to maintain the past while integrating more modern architecture. The walk is about 45 minutes and you cut through Laoximen residential district to get there.
Laoximen is a large historic neighborhood in the formerly walled city that still retains its pre-colonial Shikumen style housing. This is a neighborhood that’s been around for over 500 years. It’s one of the last and oldest neighborhoods in Shanghai fighting for it’s life to remain as is as the Shanghai government continues to demolish it in order to build newer more modern buildings. Walking through, pay close attention to the carvings and details in the buildings, the small houses selling freshly made noodles and vegetables, or locals playing board games within the alleys.
A very obvious stark contrast happens as soon as you arrive in Xintiandi. The old wooden shikumen houses turn to stone wall shikumens. Shikumens are typical residential building representative of Shanghai’s traditional buildings. At first they were wooden buildings, but because of flammability eventually they made them stone. Surrounding the center of Xintiandi are tree-lined streets, stone walls, and stone shikumens with balconies.
Xintiandi is located in the French Concession area. The area is named French Concession because it was governed by the French from 1849 until 1946. Xintiandi literally translates into “New Heaven and Earth,” because of its perfect blend of past and modern culture. In fact, A lot of it’s tree lined streets and architecture recall Paris. The exterior architecture mirrors the traditional walls of the old walled city and outer designs of old shikumen houses, while the interior showcases the best of New World Shanghai. Getting to the center can be a bit of a maze at first. Shikumens are characterized by Western like stone wall arches, so you’ll have to pass under a few of these before making it to the center. Little cute alleys with boutique shops, spas, and restaurants lead you to the heart of Xintiandi.
The inside is closed to cars and is reserved solely for pedestrians making it kind of like a small Italian piazza. International galleries, bars, cafés, boutiques, themed cafés, high-end restaurants and shops, workout studios and cinemas fill the stone buildings. On warmer days, everyone is sitting outside on the European tables drinking coffee, enjoying lunch and dinner and basking in the beauty of old and new Shanghai. It’s the best of Shanghai in the 1920s and Shanghai now.
The walk from Waterhouse at the South Bund to Xintiandi takes you full circle. You go from seeing the oldest shikumen neighborhood in all of Shanghai in Laoximen to seeing how shikumens have evolved and taken on a more Western and modern feel. It’s a walk I recommend everyone take to better understand the history, culture, and architecture of Shanghai. Plus, it feels like a mini-Europe, so why not stop at Xintiandi for a coffee or a bite to eat!
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2 comments
Amazing post.Nice clicks as well.Thanks for sharing.