Street Signs: Yuyuan Road Walking Tour

Districts: Changning and Jing'an
Cross Streets: Jiangsu Road and Huashan Road
Nearest Metro Station: Jiangsu Road and Jing'an Temple Line 2

Beautiful, leafy Yuyuan Road was first constructed in 1911. It is one of Shanghai's 64 preserved roads and runs from Jing'an Temple to Zhongshan Park.

1. The most famous building on Yuyuan Road is the glamorous Art Deco Paramount Ballroom (#218 Yuyuan Road). Financed by a Nanxun merchant and designed by Yang Xi Liu, it was renowned for its lit crystal dance floor, lavish décor, jazz bands, cabaret, famous patrons (Charlie Chaplin and Victor Sassoon!)—and the brutal assassination of its most celebrated taxi dancer.

You could almost hear the jazz at nearby Bubbling Well Lane (#395 Yuyuan Road), with its distinctive entrance and Spanish-style houses, financed by ‘Tobacco King’ Chen Chuxiang. Chen’s stunning mansion (#24 Yuyuan Road), with its Chinese garden, is now a multiple family dwelling, but worth a visit if you can get past the lane guard!

Across the street, the stately neo-Gothic buildings that once housed the former Western District Public School and Shanghai Girls’ School (#404 Yuyuan Road) belies a dark past: from 1943-45, this was the Yuyuan Road Camp, an internment camp for enemy nationals during World War II.

2. A little further on, a large manicured garden fronts another pair of elegant white neoclassical buildings, the Sun Brothers Residence (#546 Yuyuan Road), owners of Siming Bank. By 1945, the Suns were gone, and the buildings were occupied by the Rickshaw Pullers Association. But the Suns remain in a corner of the garden, the site of the family graveyard!

Further down, a feast of Art Deco delights awaits in Lane #749 Yuyuan Road. The villa at #25 and the lane houses at #91-103 are highlights.

3. Back across the street is the lovely Hinton Hall (Yuyuan Road Lane 858, #7) with its landscaped garden. Built as an upscale apartment house, it housed six foreign families in 1936, but by the late 1940s, Hinton Hall had become the home of Yang Shuxun, who was in the pharmaceutical business.

4. Cross Jiangsu Road to discover the graceful Zhou Zoumin Residence (#1015 Yuyuan Road), built for another successful financier. Zhou founded Kincheng Bank and Pacific Life Insurance. This stretch of Yuyuan is dotted with cafes—a good spot for a break! The Wang Boqun Residence (Enter via Lane #1136) is Yuyuan Road’s castle, a 40-room Victorian Gothic fantasy. Wang was Minister of Communications in the Nationalist government and president of Da Xia University; the house was a wedding gift to his young bride. When Wang moved to the wartime capital Chongqing, the house became home to Wang Jingwei, head of the Japanese puppet government; today it’s the district Children’s Palace.

5. Not far away, West Park Mansions (#1396 Yuyuan Road), built in 1926, is an emblem of when apartment living was the new fad. This luxury building was named for its unparalleled views over Jessfield (now Zhongshan) Park, and the 16 generously-sized flats, two per floor, attracted wealthy young Chinese. By the 1930s, residents included the son of a warlord and a soignee divorcee. Yuyuan Road ends at historic Zhongshan Park (#780 Changning Road). Its century-old trees and historic pavilion are a great way to end the walk.