The Shanghai that is not the skyline

Shanghai's postcard is Pudong: the towers, the lights, the observation decks. It is genuinely impressive and I never skip it. But the part of the city I walk on every trip is west of the Bund, on the far side of People's Square, in the streets that used to be the French Concession.

This is where the plane trees are. Where the lane houses are. Where you can spend an entire afternoon going nowhere in particular and have a better time than you would queuing for a lift to the 100th floor.

The plane trees are the reason to come

French plane trees were planted along these streets in the early twentieth century and the surviving ones are enormous, arching over the road from both sides until the street becomes a green tunnel. In summer they cut the heat by several degrees. In late autumn the leaves turn and the whole district goes yellow, which is when every photographer in China shows up.

The best stretches are Wukang Road, Fuxing West Road, Sinan Road and the lanes off Huaihai Middle Road. None of them are hard to find. Walk west from South Huangpi Road metro station and you are in it within ten minutes.

What a lilong actually is

The lane houses, called lilong, are Shanghai's answer to a dense city. A narrow alley opens off the street, and inside are rows of two or three-storey terrace houses with small courtyards, shared water points and an intricate social life that outsiders mostly miss.

Many were demolished. Some survive, and a few have been converted into shops and cafes, which is fine but not the interesting part. The interesting part is walking past a lilong entrance at six in the evening and seeing people cooking, arguing, hanging laundry and playing cards in the same ten square metres.

A note on manners: people live in these lanes. Walk through quietly, do not photograph doorways with people in them, and if a lane has a guard and says no, believe it.

A route that works

• Start at Wukang Road and the old Norman-style apartment building at the fork. It is the most photographed building in the district.
• Head east along Fuxing West Road, then dip into the lanes near Anfu Road for coffee.
• Continue to Sinan Road and the small park around the former residence there.
• Finish at Tianzifang, or skip it if you dislike crowds and go to the quieter lanes near Jianguo West Road instead.

That is about three hours at an easy pace. Add another hour if you stop to eat, which you should.

Eating and drinking here

This district has the highest density of decent coffee in the country, plus a good number of small restaurants that are neither tourist traps nor wildly expensive. Expect to pay somewhere between forty and ninety yuan for lunch, more for dinner.

Two things worth ordering while you are in Shanghai regardless of where you eat: shengjianbao, the pan-fried pork buns with a crisp base and soup inside, and scallion oil noodles, which cost almost nothing and are better than they sound. Both are available in the older neighbourhoods rather than the mall food courts.

Practical notes

• Best months: late October to early December for the leaves, and March to May.
• This is a walking district. Plan for eight to twelve kilometres in a relaxed day.
• Metro lines 1, 10 and 12 all give you useful entry points.
• Weekday mornings are the calmest. Weekend afternoons around Wukang Road are now genuinely busy.
• Carry your passport. Some smaller shops and all attractions will ask for it.

If you only have two days in Shanghai, spend the first on the Bund and Pudong and give the whole second one to these streets. The contrast is the point: one is the city selling itself, the other is the city living in it.

Originally published on 71Asia Tours blog.