Shanghai Trip Part 10: Xintiandi, Middle Huaihai Road, Hengshan Road and Tianzifang

[Introduction]

I traveled to Shanghai, China, in late May. If I had been fluent in Chinese, I could have enjoyed the trip more, but I was impressed with a fine mixture of retro and modern elements in Shanghai. In this article, I will write about Xintiandi, Middle Huaihai Road, Hengshan Road and Tianzifang as part of Day 3. I visited these four areas quickly due to my tight itinerary, but each area had unique characteristics respectively, so I wish I had had more time.

[Visit Places (series of articles)]
* Day 1: Fly to Hongqiao International Airport
* Day 1: Waitan (The Bund)
* Day 1: Waitan (The Bund) (Light-up)
* Day 2: Oriental Pearl Tower
* Day 2: Jin Mao Tower
* Day 2: Shanghai Tower
* Day 2: Shanghai World Financial Center
* Day 2: Pudong (Light-up)
* Day 3: Yu Garden
* Day 3: Xintiandi, Middle Huaihai Road, Hengshan Road and Tianzifang [This article]
* Day 3: East Nanjing Road (Light-up)
* Day 4: Shanghai World Expo Museum
* Day 4: Natural History Museum, Ocean Aquarium and China Art Museum
* Day 4: Yu Garden (Light-up)
* Day 5: Great World (Dashijie), Jing’an Temple and Shanghai Exhibition Center
* Day 5: Return Home from Pudong International Airport

[Travel Date]
2018.05.23 – 27

[Main Part]

Following the previous post, I left Yuyuan and will go around Xintiandi, Middle Huaihai Road, Hengshan Road and Tianzifang in the 3rd day afternoon.

Xintiandi (新天地)

To begin with, I will walk around “Xintiandi (新天地)”.

“Xintiandi (新天地)” is a renovated area where reconstituted traditional mid-19th century shikumen (“stone gate”) houses on narrow alleys.

Now the area has been redeveloped with lots of fancy restaurants and shops.

There was “Shikumen Open House Museum (屋里厢-石库门博物馆)” that presents a house in the traditional shikumen style.

When I stepped into alleys, I saw shikumen style houses with retro atmosphere.

There were also several shopping malls around here.

A Hong Kong based shopping mall.

A Singaporean hotel.

Middle Huaihai Road (淮海中路)

I came to “Middle Huaihai Road (淮海中路)”, which was said to be a trendsetting city in Shanghai. I saw several Japanese shops including UNIQLO.

I stopped by “iapm”, a shopping center.

The mall had an open ceiling space.

When I went around the basement floor, I found “Song Fa Bak Kut Teh”.

“Song Fa Bak Kut Teh” is a Singaporean restaurant specializing in “Bak Kkut Teh (肉骨茶)”. I have lived in Singapore for one and a half year before and love “Song Fa Bak Kut Teh”. When I traveled to Singapore, I visited the restaurant. If you are interested in it, please see the past article.

“Clarke Quay: the largest night spot in Singapore”

I hit on an idea to visit “Song Fa Bak Kut Teh”, but I was not so hungry, and instead dropped into nearby “恋暖の初茶 (Modern Tea Art)” for a rest.

I had cheese cake and tea with tapioca.

Hengshan Road (衡山路)

I moved southwest from “Middle Huaihai Road (淮海中路)” and came to “Hengshan Road (衡山路)”.

I visited “Hengshan Road (衡山路)” to take photos of “Wukang Mansion (武康大楼)”, though it was unfortunately cloudy.

I felt deja vu to “Wukang Mansion (武康大楼)” and realized it was similar to “東亜餐館 (Tong Ah Eating House)” in Singapore.

Daytime: related article

Evening: related article

“Hengshan Road (衡山路)” retained the atmosphere of the French Concession and I walked around the area.

It seemed rental bikes was popular in Shanghai and I heard “OffO”, “Mobike” and “Hellobike” were major companies.

There was a campus of “Shanghai Jiao Tong University (上海交通大学)” and I stopped by it.

“Shanghai Jiao Tong University (上海交通大学)” is the oldest university in China and there were lots of notable alumni including “Jiang Zemin (江泽民)”.

Tianzifang (田子坊)

The last destination in the 3rd day afternoon was “Tianzifang (田子坊)”.

There were a variety of shops, which were renovated from old houses and factories, in the alley of “Tianzifang (田子坊)”.

The area had a similar atmosphere of Bugis Street in Singapore.

“Tianzifang (田子坊)” was a popular spot especially for young people and I felt like a fish out of water 🙂

Then, I will return to East Nanjing Road where I have been staying and take evening photos.

[Closing]

That’s it for the article about Xintiandi, Middle Huaihai Road, Hengshan Road and Tianzifang as part of Day 3.

I visited these four areas quickly due to my tight itinerary, but each area had unique characteristics respectively, so I wish I had had more time. If you have a chance to visit Shanghai, it would be a good idea to go around some of these areas taking more times than me 🙂

In the next article, I will write about evening scene in East Nanjing Road as part of Day 3.

[Map]

1 Shikumen Open House
2 iapm
3 Wukang Mansion
4 Shanghai Jiao Tong University
5 Tianzifang

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