In July, we’re celebrating national days (the U.S., France), keeping cool with an evening river walk, a cool museum day trip, and a refreshing beer & buildings walk
RMB 200 members, 300 nonmembers
On the 250th anniversary of American independence, we’ll take a walk through the story of America in the former French Concession. In 1930, there were more Americans living the former Concession than French, and they were a fascinating lot: journalists and socialites, embezzlers, petty gangsters, revolutionaries, and jazz musicians escaping America’s race laws.
Our walk will take us to their places and spaces, and to the buildings they named after their Presidents, their Generals, and their ideals—the Washington, the Lincoln, the Pershing, the Liberty—and the massive city block that served as a school for their children. We’ll see America’s influence in the Art Deco created by Chinese architects trained in America, and the surprising legacy of America in postwar Shanghai, still on the streets, and much more.
RMB 200 members, 300 nonmembers
Hot summer nights, cool Suzhou Creek.
Rivers are where great cities are born, and Shanghai’s no exception.
With the neon of the city glowing, the story of Shanghai unfolds: from the factories and warehouses of the industrial engine that fueled her growth, to the site of a landmark World War II battle, sprawling apartment houses and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, the stately post office, churches, and the historic bridges, prettily lit up against the evening sky.
RMB 200 members, 300 nonmembers
A walk through the history of la Concession is the only way to celebrate French national day in Shanghai—starting at the oldest part of the former French Concession, by the waterfront, where very few venture these days.
From the site of its beginnings on the old Quai de France, we’ll head westward, tracing the trajectory of the Concession as it grew. As we go, we’ll also trace the story of Shanghai’s French pedigree in the former institutions we’ll see along the way, and the lives of those who lived there, of the historic schools, churches, residences, police stations, the prettily landscaped parks, and hear all about the spirited characters of Frenchtown.
RMB 1000 members, 1100 nonmembers, includes museum entry & all tickets, curator-led museum tour, Lili town visit, lunch and dinner, private bus (round-trip)
A day trip to the wonder that is the Six Arts Museum, China’s largest folk arts museum, for a deep dive into thousands of years of Chinese culture through its world class collection of ancient hand-crafted works. Sixty galleries, over 40,000 works, spread over four floors in a former factory building in a water town.
Founder Mitch Dudek began collecting pieces in the countryside in 1981, and as China transformed, these objects became the last remaining repositories of now-vanished traditions and lifestyles. He collected the pieces, and the stories that went them—Mitch didn’t know it then, but he was rescuing them from demolition and oblivion. A whole way of life, preserved.
We’ll explore neighboring Lili town, an utterly charming watertown where local residents still live, the kind of place that the museum artifacts came from.
Six Arts best-kept secret is its excellent Chinese restaurant, and we’ll sample its specialties and then, for those who wish, stay the night in Six Arts stunning onsite hotel, surrounded by museum pieces, and head up to the roof for a round of mini-golf surrounded by classic pailous, or gateways.
If you’d like to stay the night at Six Arts, contact us for information and to book at info@historic-shanghai.com
RMB 350 members, 450 nonmembers, includes 2 beers
Come hear about Shanghai’s beer-drinking history while enjoying a stroll through historic architecture and some refreshing brews!
On this walk, we’ll explore a part of Jing’an that’s just not explored enough, one that is rich with history and also beer. A grand domed neoclassical mansion, home of the scion of a newspaper fortune and a tobacco fortune; a modernist lane and a hidden temple; a Fujian retreat and lane neighborhoods, and full of colorful stories and Shanghai’s usual extraordinary range of architecture, from Art Deco to neoclassical to shikumen.
Along the way, we’ll answer some burning questions: who first brought beer to China? What was the beer lovers drink of choice in Old Shanghai? Where did they drink it? What happened to the beer business after 1949? All this, and suds too!
Know someone who might like to come on a walk? Or just someone who misses Shanghai and wants to read about upcoming walks? Share away!
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