Exploring Colonial Architecture and History in Puxi

Puxi, China

By the Travel Wiki editorial team

Walk the Bund and step into colonial Shanghai

Stand on Zhongshan East 1st Road where the Huangpu River curves, and look at the row of early 20th-century buildings rising above you—neoclassical facades, Art Deco cornices, Gothic Revival stone. This is the Bund, the International Settlement's waterfront, where foreign banks, consulates and trading companies once commanded Shanghai's commerce. The architecture is layered: Western forms grafted onto Chinese soil, each façade telling the story of a moment when Shanghai was becoming itself. Walk the length of it unhurried. Stop at the Bund Historical Museum, housed in a park at the north end, to ground yourself in what you are seeing.

Wander the shikumen lanes and discover how Shanghai lived

Shikumen are the lane houses that Shanghai invented—narrow rows of terraced homes with stone-framed gateways, blending Western terrace structures with traditional Jiangnan courtyard layouts. Two neighbourhoods preserve and repurpose them. Xintiandi sits in the former French Concession and has been redeveloped with shopping malls, bars and restaurants; it draws crowds and carries an easy, upscale gloss. Tianzifang, also in the former French Concession, is newer and leans toward arts, crafts and boutique shopping rather than brand names—it feels less manicured, more like a working creative quarter where you might stumble into a small gallery or find a café tucked into a recessed doorway. Either one rewards slow wandering.

Visit museums that anchor Shanghai's past and present

The Shanghai Museum and Shanghai Urban Planning Museum sit on opposite sides of People's Square, a large downtown park that was once the horse-racing track on the edge of the British district. The square itself is dense with metro lines (1, 2 and 8 converge at one of Earth's busiest subway stations) and flanked by high-end malls, but the museums offer quieter depth. Elsewhere in Huangpu, the Power Station of Art occupies an old power plant on the Huangpu River—first converted for Expo 2010, then opened as China's first state-run contemporary art museum. If you have time, the Yuan-Dynasty Water Sluice Museum in Putuo District shows medieval engineering that once controlled water flow through the region.

Explore art districts and the visual culture of now

M50 art district, housed in a former factory in Putuo District, is Shanghai's main center for contemporary Chinese art—dozens of studios and galleries in repurposed industrial space. The West Bund, in the former French Concession, is one of the city's newest art districts and home to the West Bund Museum, where the Centre Pompidou established its first Chinese outpost in 2019. 1933 Shanghai, in Hongkou, occupies a former abattoir and now holds a theatre, shops, cafés and studios. The Shanghai Propaganda Poster and Art Centre, on the west side of the French Concession, collects Mao-era posters and memorabilia. Tianzifang (mentioned above) also houses many galleries and studios woven into its shikumen fabric, making it less a destination and more a neighbourhood you discover bit by bit.

Walk the shopping streets and the precincts of the old city

Nanjing Road East, running from the Bund to People's Park in Huangpu District, is a busy pedestrians-only shopping strip—the main street of the old British Concession, now upmarket retail. Its western extension, Nanjing Road West in Jing'an District, runs along the north side of People's Park and leads to Jing'an Temple, a beautiful ancient building with a metro station named after it. For a different pace, Huaihai Road is an upscale shopping street that many Shanghai residents prefer. The Old City (also called Nanshi), in Huangpu District, is the original Chinese settlement reaching back about 1000 years. Its center is Yuyuan, a classical Chinese garden where you can step into a layered, intricate world of courtyards, rocks, water and carefully framed views. Nearby, the former French Concession—with its garden villas built mainly in the 1920s–1940s along Wukang Road, Hengshan Road and within Sinan Mansions—remains fashionable, dense with boutique shopping, small galleries and craft shops, and interesting restaurants.

Experience Shanghai's performing arts traditions

Shanghai has a living theatrical heritage. Huju Opera, or Shanghai Opera, is a national intangible cultural heritage born from folk songs sung by farmers along the Huangpu River in the late 19th century. Unlike grand classical Chinese opera, Huju focuses on the daily lives of ordinary people—family stories, urban change, emotion—performed in authentic Shanghai dialect with soft melodies and natural, understated movements. You can watch performances at the Shanghai Huju Theater or small theatres in old neighbourhoods. Shanghai-style Pingtan is a traditional narrative singing art combining storytelling with singing, accompanied by pipa and sanxian; artists perform one or two at a time, telling folk tales and historical stories in soft Shanghai or Suzhou dialect. Xiangyin Shuyuan is a famous venue for authentic Pingtan performances, where you can listen while drinking tea in the tradition of teahouse audiences. Yue opera, the second most popular style of traditional Chinese opera nationwide, also thrives in Shanghai.

Visit classical gardens that preserve traditional art

Beyond Yuyuan, Shanghai preserves several classical gardens that embody the contemplative aesthetics of traditional Chinese landscape design. Guyi Garden, Qiuxia Garden, Qushui Garden and Zuibai Pond each offers the refined experience of water, stone, plantings and architecture arranged to invite meditation and slow looking. They are scattered across the city but worth seeking out as counterpoints to Shanghai's modern energy.

Puxi is where Shanghai's memory lives alongside its modernity. The Bund's colonial facades, the shikumen lanes, the classical gardens, the teahouses where Pingtan singers tell old stories—these anchor a city that is also rising constantly upward. Start with the Bund and People's Square, then follow the streets that draw you. End a day in the French Concession or the Old City, somewhere you can sit and watch how Shanghai's past and present move together. A week here is not too much; a few days will give you enough to understand why this place matters.

Sources

  1. Puxi
  2. Wikivoyage: Shanghai

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