Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
6
XINTIANDI
A stroll through the rapidly changing neighbourhoods around Xin-
tiandi's shopping and dining enclave takes you from the birthplace
of the Chinese Communist Party to the heart of the city's consumer
culture.
DISTANCE:
2km (1.2 miles)
TIME:
A half-day
START:
Wanshang Bird and Flower Market, Tibet Road
END:
Shikumen Open House Museum
POINTS TO NOTE:
Take the metro (line 10) to Laoximen station and
head to the starting point. Alternatively, take a taxi to Tibet Road/Fux-
ing Road. This is a good route if you have children in tow.
Until recently, Xintiandi was just one of many Shanghai
lilongs
, or lane neighbourhoods. Its
fortunes altered in 1999 when a developer, unable to build above the birthplace of the Com-
munist Party next door, decided to retain the
lilong
within an upscale shopping and dining en-
clave. This novel gentrification project, unprecedented in China, became a nationwide sensa-
tion. Xintiandi, meaning 'new paradise', comes from a song that was popular in old Shanghai.
