Before We Begin: The Underrated North Shanghai
An unfair impression
Many Shanghai people's impression of Zhabei stops at a cab driver's one-liner: "there's nothing worth seeing over there." In the 2000s that impression was not entirely wrong — Zhabei really was old, dense and chaotic then.
But that impression misses the most important side of Zhabei:
Zhabei's sights are not about "prettiness"; they are about "weight".
It has no Bund skyline, no Xintiandi polish, no petit-bourgeois charm of Wukang Road. But it has:
- the west wall of a war-of-resistance warehouse, with its bullet holes left original;
- a station that is the starting point of China's railways;
- a shikumen lane (a lane of stone-gate terrace houses) that hid the organ of the CCP Central Committee for more than a year;
- a park opened in one man's name — and the man buried in it is the most famous assassination victim in China's constitutional history;
- a city green lung made out of farmland.
These things will not make you say "wow", but they will make you stand still, and then fall silent for a few seconds.
A list
This book ranks the entries below by importance:
| # | Entry | Type | Location | Why it is worth going |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sihang Warehouse | War-of-resistance site | 1 Guangfu Road | The bullet holes in its west wall are original; one of the best-preserved war-of-resistance sites in the country |
| 2 | The former site of the Commercial Press and the Oriental Library | Cultural site | Lane 499 / No. 584, Baoshan Road | The original site of a cultural catastrophe |
| 3 | Shanghai Railway Museum and the old North Station | Transport history | 200 Tianmu East Road | The station of China's first commercially operated railway |
| 4 | Zhabei Park | Park + tomb of a notable man | 1555 Gonghexin Road | The tomb of Song Jiaoren + the Qian family ancestral hall |
| 5 | Daning Lingshi Park and Shanghai Circus World | Ecology + performance | Guangzhong West Road / Gonghexin Road | Zhabei's new face |
| 6 | Sanzeng Lane and Huzhou Guild Hall | Red site | Gongxing Road × Linshan Road / Huiwen Road | A central Party organ hidden in a lane |
| 7 | The former site of Shanghai University | Red site | Qingyun Lane, Qingyun Road | "For letters, Shangda; for arms, Whampoa" |
| 8 | The former residence of Wu Changshuo (Jiqing Lane) | Former residence of a notable man | Lane 457, Shanxi North Road | The "Whampoa Military Academy" of the art world |
| 9 | Other corners worth a walk | Mixed | Various | A supplementary list |
Suggested routes
If you have only half a day: Sihang Warehouse (1 hour) + the Shanghai Railway Museum (1 hour) + a stretch of walking along the north bank of Suzhou Creek.
If you have a day: in the morning the Baoshan Road area (the Commercial Press, the Oriental Library, Sanzeng Lane, the Huzhou Guild Hall and the Baoshan Road Massacre memorial point — a complete "red + culture" route); in the afternoon Zhabei Park + Sihang Warehouse.
If you have two days: add a day at Daning (Lingshi Park + Circus World + the three commercial complexes), plus half a day at Jiqing Lane on Shanxi North Road (the former residence of Wu Changshuo).
A few reminders
- Many of the sites are now memorial grounds, not the original buildings. The original buildings of the Commercial Press, the Oriental Library, Sanzeng Lane and the Huzhou Guild Hall were all destroyed in the fires of war in 1932 or 1937; most of the present sites are memorial markers or commemorative structures built later. Adjust your expectations before you go — what you are looking at is "the place where history happened", not "the house of history".
- Sihang Warehouse is the exception. Its building itself is still standing, and the bullet holes in the west wall are original. This is the most "solid" site in Zhabei.
- This book carries no pictures. To see the real thing, go to the addresses given in the entries, or search for photographs yourself.
So let us begin with that wall on the north bank of Suzhou Creek.