Even though I live in the suburban area of Shanghai, I can never resist a late morning brunch on Wukang Rd on a Sunday morning. Sitting down for a pot of freshly brewed coffee with fresh pastries, this is where you'll find Shanghai's most fashionable crowd and the highest chance to see a foreigner.
Wukang Rd. is actually this mere 1.17 km long road that sits in the Xuhui District of downtown Shanghai. It used to be the western part of the former French Concession Area of the city. My high school was around that area, so I would often take a detour just to pass through Wukang rd when I didn't have a lot of work to do. The sides of this road are packed with cute little 2-3 leveled Frech-style houses, shaded by lush Chinese parasol trees so dense that they would block the entire street from sunlight in the summer with only a few streaks of light that come through. I love this road. But if you walk just a block south, it quickly turns back to the usual steel-framed concrete buildings and tall glass skyscrapers.
This one small section of the Frech concession area in the middle of the downtown area of Shanghai sets a clear contrast with the surrounding concrete building, which is a very interesting phenomenon to see, a section of Western culture that sits inside an Eastern city. The French concession in Shanghai was established on 6 April 1849, when French Consul Charles de Montigny secured land from the Circuit Intendant of Shanghai at that time. This is an act following the Treaty of Nanking, China's first unequal treaty that ended the First Opium War, which later opened Shanghai to foreign trade. The concession expanded over the years, becoming a hub for foreigners, commerce, and political activities. It ended in 1943 when the Vichy French government handed the land to the Japanese-controlled Chinese government during World War II; it was then returned to the Republic of China.
I'm glad these French-style houses were preserved after the land was returned. The area formed a lot of old residential neighborhoods after the land was returned. As for now, some former political offices have been maintained as historical buildings that people can now visit. Most of these houses, which used to be private residences, have transformed into fashionable little stores like jewelry boutiques, furniture shops, cafés, and ice cream parlors, attracting Shanghai’s young crowd. Some were later developed into high-end real estate. It has become a unique community that blends a variety of functions and people, unlike anywhere else in China.
This diversity of different people and public spaces seems to be reaching an equilibrium that is a simple, diverse community, but it is also, like other modern cities, going through rapid gentrification. As these old neighborhoods became a hotspot for small businesses and high-end real estate, making these old neighborhoods increasingly difficult to remain. The intentional planning of the city reformed what was once a mix of local life and heritage into a road with the flesh and blood of the city. Standing from the perspective of the young crowd, it's becoming a fun place to go to on the weekend, but raising the conflict with local neighborhoods.
There is no right or wrong or a definite solution, but the conflict has reached an somehow equilibrium that simply exists. That being said, Wukang Rd. Still holds onto something special. It’s one of the few places in Shanghai where the past and present exist so closely together—where trendy brunch spots sit right next to quiet, aging homes and where foreign influences from a century ago still shape daily life. Walking down this road always makes me wonder: how much of a city’s history can remain untouched in a place that never stops moving forward? Maybe Wukang Rd. is proof that some things do survive—even if they take on a different form.
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