Street Signs Walking Tour: Wulumuqi Road

District: Xuhui
Cross Streets: Zhaojiabang Road and Huashan Road
Nearest Metro Station: Changshu Road, Line 7 and Jing'an Temple Line 2

The street we know today as Wulumuqi Road once had three different names and ran through both the former French Concession and the International Settlement. It was laid out between 1918-1921, following World War I, and developed in the boom years between the wars, when money was plentiful and Art Deco was all the rage. For tours, you can contact WeChat ID: historic-shanghai to stay tuned on their upcoming walking tours.

1. Rue Dufour—now Wulumuqi South Road—was named for Alexandre Dufour, a young Frenchman from Shanghai who died on the battlefields of France. The American Masonic Lodge, constructed by the American Freemasons, is a streamlined modernist building designed by one of the brothers. When it was consecrated in 1928, a box with Masonic symbols was placed inside the cornerstone.

Address: 178 Wulumuqi South Road

2. Just next door is the stunning Dufour Apartments. This classic Art Deco beauty is as cosmopolitan as Shanghai: a building with a French name, designed by the Russian architect W.A. Federoff for a Baghdadi Jewish developer, Jacob Isaiah Jacob. Pro tip: wait until someone opens the gate so that you can get inside and see the vibrantly colored tiles in the lobby.

Address: 176 Wulumuqi South Road

3. On Wulumuqi Middle Road, where the modern Avocado Lady now stands, there was once a food market. Pop into the lane nextdoor to see the Chinese Art Deco Crystal Palace. Built in the 1940s for a wealthy Chinese hat merchant, the name comes from his many crystal chandeliers. The most iconic buildings on this stretch are the Art Deco pair on the corner of Fuxing West Road (Route Boissezon) and Wulumuqi Middle Road (Route Alfred Magy): The Magy Apartments and The Boissezon. Both were designed by architects Alexandre Leonard & Paul Veysseyre, the most prolific architects in the Concession. Indeed, Leonard liked the Magy so much that he lived in the penthouse. 

Address: 24 Fuxing West Road and 26 Fuxing West Road

4. Wulumuqi North Road, formerly Tifeng Road, is where some of Shanghai’s wealthiest families lived. Families like the Kadoories, current owners of the Peninsula Hotel, settled in their home, Marble Hall. It was named for the quantities of marble used, including their own ballroom and expansive grounds. It’s now the Children’s Palace. 

Address: 64 Yan’an Road

5. Another influential family to settle in the area is the Nissim Family. The Nissims began trading in Shanghai in the 19th century, before moving into banking and real estate. Their home, Nissim Mansion, is rather neglected these days but the grandeur is still there, albeit shabby. On the final stretch of this road, you can see the beautiful Shanghai Free Christian Church (25 Wulumuqi North Road), estabilished by British missionaries and built in 1939. 

Address: 1875 Nanjing West Road.