French Concession, Shanghai: neighborhood guide

The French Concession is the part of Shanghai that the French government administered from 1849 to 1946. Plane trees, walled villas, wrought-iron railings and stair rails give the streets a European look that will feel familiar to anyone who knows Paris or Montreal. It has been a fashionable address for over a century.

Today it is also a dense, developed part of the city: upmarket residential and office towers, several large shopping malls, and a steady supply of boutiques, galleries, bars and cafés threaded through the older blocks. Many of the historic buildings, and some whole neighbourhoods, have been renovated rather than replaced.

For travellers the useful shape is three strips. Huaihai Road (Avenue Joffre under the French) is the main shopping street, with the smaller lanes between Julu Road to the north and Jianguo Road to the south holding the best wandering. Hengshan Road and its side streets were long the city's biggest dining and nightlife cluster, now partly overtaken by Found 158 and Xintiandi, but still upmarket and generally a little cheaper than the tourist-heavy spots. Xujiahui, to the south-west, was Catholic Church land and an extension of the concession rather than part of it; its centre is now a huge intersection with a metro station and malls above and below it.

Stay in the French Concession if your trip is about walking, eating and drinking in the evening, and you want to step out of a hotel into a street with trees and small shops rather than a highway. The metro line 1 spine along Huaihai Road puts the Bund, People's Square and the rest of central Shanghai within a few stops, and line 10 and line 12 at South Shaanxi Road plus line 7 at Changshu Road widen the options.

Look elsewhere if the view is the point. For the Bund and riverfront, or the Pudong skyline, base in those areas instead. If you want low-rise calm and cheaper rooms, the far west of Huaihai Road is more residential, and districts further out trade convenience for price. Central Xuhui and the Huaihai Road corridor are busy and increasingly high-rise, so a "quiet lane house" booking is not guaranteed to be quiet.

A practical split for a 3–4 night Shanghai stay: two nights here for food, bars and lanes, and one or two nights on the Bund or in Pudong for the skyline. Both are short metro rides apart.

This is one of the better areas in Shanghai to eat without a plan. Huaihai Road and the lanes around it mix local Shanghainese places with international restaurants, and the side streets between Julu and Jianguo roads have a growing number of small designer shops and cafés.

Hengshan Road and the smaller streets off it hold many older two-storey buildings converted into bars and restaurants; it is upmarket with few bargains, but food and drink are generally somewhat cheaper than in Xintiandi. Xintiandi and Sinan Mansions, both 5–10 minutes' walk from Huaihai Road, are the polished, tourist-facing end of the scale — convenient, pricier, and busy at weekends. Tianzifang, about 30 minutes' walk or a 15-minute taxi ride in normal traffic, is the lane-and-alley version with shops and small kitchens.

Xujiahui adds volume rather than character: many restaurants around the metro station and malls, much of it reachable underground without going outside. For a specific dish, budget or opening time, check before you go — venues here open and close quickly.

The metro does most of the work. Line 1 runs under Huaihai Road through the main shopping stretch, with stations east to west at South Huangpi Road, South Shaanxi Road and Changshu Road. Line 7 also calls at Changshu Road; lines 10 and 12 meet at South Shaanxi Road. Further west, line 10's Shanghai Library and Jiaotong University stations sit on Huaihai Road in the more residential end. From Changshu Road, line 1 swings south to Hengshan Road and then Xujiahui, where lines 1, 9 and 11 meet under a large intersection with malls and an underground shopping area.

On foot, the area rewards wandering: Huaihai Road to Xintiandi or Sinan Mansions is 5–10 minutes, while Tianzifang is about 30 minutes on foot or 15 minutes by taxi in normal traffic. Distances between the Huaihai Road strip, Hengshan Road and Xujiahui are longer than they look on a map, so plan on the metro or a taxi for those hops.

From Pudong International Airport, take metro line 2 to the city and change to line 1 or line 10 for this area, or a taxi; allow roughly an hour by metro and more in traffic (check current line 2 services, which have been affected by works). From Hongqiao Airport and Hongqiao railway station, metro line 10 runs toward the area directly. Fares, first and last train times: check.