A great way to spend the afternoon after a hearty lunch is a stroll through Tianzifang, an art street rebuilt in a labyrinth of narrow passages and old stone houses.
Tianzifang is located on Lane 210, Taikang Road. While once a cluster of street factories, dilapidated warehouses and ordinary people's homes, the area has been transformed into a SOHO style district.
Artists from all over the world have set up their studios, cafés, bars and restaurants here giving the area an international feel. With an area of 20,000 square meters and more than 100 visual art, industrial art and interior design houses, the former 1930s street factories have become studios for American, Japanese, Belgian and French designers and have earned the name "Shanghai SOHO."
In the 1930s, many people took refuge in the foreign concession areas—including what would become Tianzifang—and built houses combining Western and local architectural styles. Since the gates of the houses are ringed and fixed in stone, they became known as stone gates, or Shikumen.
Visitors looking for a panoramic view of Shanghai, as opposed to the up-close streets of Tianzifang, typically flocked to the Oriental Pearl TV Tower and Jin Mao Tower in the Lujiazui area on the east bank of the Huangpu River. |