Top-Ten Popular Streets in Shanghai Named
In a recent poll conducted in Shanghai, ten commercial and entertainment streets in Shanghai were identified as the most popular. On the list are Xintiandi, Nanjing Street, Binjiang Avenue, Duolun Road, Hengshan Road, Meichuan Road, Zhongshan East First Road, Old Shanghai Street, Qibao Old Street and Zhujiajiao North Street.
The stop-most street on the list, Xintiandi, is not really a street. Located in the city’s French Concession that dates back to the pre-Communist era, Xintiandi is a cluster of streets lined by Shanghai’s traditional buildings in the Shikumen-style (“stone gate”), which in recent years have been converted into chic dining, retail, and entertainment establishments. The popularity of this reinvented district can be seen in the fact that more people chose it as their favorite spot to frequent than those who supported Nanjing Street, which in the past has been the greatest crowd-drawer. In fact, Nanjing Street remains the city’s most valuable shopping street, for local residents and visitors from outside alike; it is just that in terms of having a nice evening with one’s friends or lover, Xintiandi is the place to go right now.
Other streets on the list have their own appeals. Binjiang (“Riverside“) Avenue, for instance, showcases the newly-developed Pudong area. Duolun Road is known for art and culture; the greatest modern Chinese writers such as Lun Xun, Guo Moruo and Mao Dun also used to live here. As for Shanghai Old Street, don’t let the name mislead you; while the buildings and shops here certainly look like dated, they were actually restorations made in the 1990s. The architectural style does befit and complement the neighborhood, however, as it is just next door to Yuyuan (Yu Garden), which is authentically old.
But at the age of 400 years, even Yu Garden is not all that old, especially wehn compared to historical sites in other parts of China. The simple matter of fact is that Shanghai is a new city in constant changes and re-invention, and indeed that is the most intriguing thing about the city.
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