Scenes from the Old City of a modern metropolis

24 Jul 2019

Stepping out of Xiao Nan Men Station 小南门站 on Metro Line 9, you've reached the eastern boundary of the Old City, the ancient heart around which modern Shanghai has grown. Famous for its prosperity and urban vitality, the hustle and bustle of the Old City lasted for centuries. From the late1970s however, when the strategy of "Economic Reform and Open Up" was enacted to improve people's lives, the Old City was not prioritized. With extensive reconstruction exploding throughout the city, it became something of a backwater.

A turning point came in the year 2000, when the Old City was merged into the administration of Huangpu district. This Old City's new age was marked with the passage of a series of reconstruction programs, designed to restore its historical dignity.

Zhonghua Road at Xiao Nan Men 中华路

Zhonghua Road by Dongjiadu Road 中华路

Stores on Zhonghua Road 中华路

Reconstruction site at Dajing Road by Luxiangyuan Road

Reconstruction site at Lao Xi Men 老西门

Wandering through the streets and alleys today, visitors can only be impressed by the strong contrast between dilapidated old houses and modern tower blocks.

Reconstruction site on Luxiangyuan Road 露香园路

Old houses on Zihua Road 紫华璐

Old houses on Luxiangyuan Road 露香园璐

Ren Min Road Road by Shouning Road 人民路寿宁路

Old houses on Zhonghua Road 中华路

Old houses on Miezhu Road 篾竹璐

Observation tower erected in 1910, No.581 Zhonghua Road

Restaurant on Zhonghua Road 中华路德兴馆

Restaurant on Zhonghua Road 中华路大富贵

Dongjiadu Road by Miezhu Road 董家渡路

Eatery on Dongjiadu Road

Restaurant on Xue Gong Street 学宫街孔乙己酒家

Xundao Street by Jintan Road 巡道街

Yifeng Alley by Menghua Street 仪凤弄，梦花街

Menghua Street 梦花街

Xiao Nan Men was one of the gates scattered along the fortified wall surrounding the Old City. This wall was initially established in 1553, during the Ming Dynasty, with the intention of resisting the incessant raids by Japanese pirates.

By the year 1912, the Old City wall was considered a restriction on the development and expansion of the city's commercial activities. It was demolished, and replaced by a broad circular avenue connected by two thoroughfares - Renmin Road人民路, and Zhonghua Road 中华路.

Yet some remarkable relics have been carefully preserved and are open to the public at the Da Jing Ge (Da Jing Pavilion)大境阁, where a portion of the old fortified wall meets the corner of Dajing Road 大境路 and Renmin Road 人民路.

The map of the old city (refers to: oldchinabooks.com)

Renmin Road 人民路

Da Jing Ge (Da Jing Pavilion) 大境阁

Even today, the names of the old gates remain in use to define their respective geographic areas. Da Dong Men (East Main Gate) 大东门, Xiao Dong Men (East Gate) 小东门, Xiao Nan Men 小南门 (South Gate), and Lao Bei Men 老北门 (North Gate) are frequently used in the names of bus routes and metro stations.

Numerous sites of historical interest can be included in a fascinating tour around this ring-road-encircled territory. Yu Garden, Da Jing Ge, and the Confucian Temple are among the most glorious destinations, concentrating an extraordinary wealth of deep urban heritage and aesthetic cultivation.

The scenery inside the Yu Garden 豫园

Da Jing Ge (Da Jing Pavilion) 大境阁

Bai Yun Daoist Temple on Dajing Road 白云观

Shanghai Confucian Temple 上海文庙

For a close look at the real lives of people rooted in the neighborhoods that were both point and counterpoint to Shanghai's modern history, take a walk deep into the Old City's alleys and dilapidated dwellings. Once crowded with commercial vitality, most are today shuttered, awaiting a new epoch to begin.

In this ghost world, fabulous architectural detailing can still be found. But living conditions in the area had become increasingly challenging, with families crowded into 10-20 square meters of residential space, without separate bedrooms, sharing communal cooking space and toilets, with privacy an unobtainable luxury. Despite the attractions of the area, most of its residents were easily persuaded to accept government compensation to leave for more spacious and well-furnished apartments in the suburban areas of Bao Shan 宝山, Jia Ding 嘉定, Qing Pu 青浦, or Pudong 浦东).