SHANGHAI, China – Lying at the heart of China’s financial capital is Nanjing Road, a five-kilometer stretch that serves as a living timeline of Shanghai’s colonial past and electrifying present.
Nanjing Road is one of the world’s busiest shopping areas. As day falls into night, thousand troop to the street, which has become a go-to getaway for tourists and locals alike. The thick crowd thrums with a young, cosmopolitan energy.
China, in all its wonders and flaws, is full of contradictions. Nowhere is that more apparent than here. Along one side stands a statue commemorating the soldiers that fought and died for China’s communist dream. A few meters down the road, the glitzy megastores of Apple and Gucci swing their doors wide open to anyone who can pay the price.
Nanjing Road’s hundreds of stores offer something for everyone. Anime fans can wander through buildings filled with figurines, photo cards, and other merchandise. Food halls tempt pedestrians with stacked dimsum towers and warm noodle soup. Elsewhere, stalls selling all manners of trinkets line up a star-studded alleyway, from bags of White Rabbit candies to capybara plushies.
On the eastern side of Nanjing Road are historic buildings that date back to the early 20th century. The European-style structures are relics of Shanghai’s foreign concessions, where foreign powers once held sway over the city. These were areas in Shanghai where Britain, France, and the United States had extraterritorial rights and administered their own laws, separate from Chinese jurisdiction.
Nanjing Road is built on what was once the British concession, established in 1845. Several historic buildings remain surprisingly well-preserved. The Swatch Art Peace Hotel, where Chiang Kai-shek and his fiancée celebrated their engagement, was constructed in the early 1900s and is now a protected cultural monument. Just a few steps away stands the Glen Line Building, originally built in 1922 and currently home to the Shanghai Clearing House.
At the eastern end of Nanjing Road, two rows of near century-old buildings give way to a riverside view of The Bund, where lights dance across a skyline of glass towers.
Many years ago, the Huangpu River gave life to a sleepy fishing village called Shanghai. Now, by night, its waters shimmer with the colors of modernity. – Rappler.com
Disclosure: The author was part of a media delegation to the Envision 2023 Global Partners Conference hosted by Trip.com Group