The coolest place in Shanghai? Check out Anfu Road, city’s laid-back fashion central
Indie perfume stores, European-style lunch spots, history museums and Instagram-friendly spots for photos – Anfu Road in Shanghai has it all
Anfu Road, lined on both sides by century-old parasol trees, has become a must-go for hipsters and other creative types in Shanghai.
The road, 850 metres (half a mile) long, is at the heart of the Chinese city’s former French Concession, which covers parts of the Huangpu and Xuhui districts.
The Chinese government conceded the area to French occupiers in 1849, seven years after it lost the opium wars against Western countries.
The French built commercial and residential streets primarily to serve American, British and, later, Russian settlers. Before 1943, when the European-style neighbourhood was signed over to a puppet state (dissolved in 1945) of the Japanese empire during the second world war, it was a hub of opium smoking and gambling. That included Anfu Road, then called Rue Dupleix.
Eight decades on, this avenue is known as the headquarters of Chinese fashion lovers.
Anfu Road is five minutes from the Changshu Road metro station on Line 1, which is the city’s busiest track. It boasts popular independent businesses, from perfumeries and fashion boutiques to cafes, tea-houses and wine bars, and it is near other tree-lined boulevards such as Wukang Road and Changshu Road.
