Old Town 老城市 － Shanghai

Old Town during Chinese New Year '09

Shanghai’s Old Town, 老城市 (lao cheng shi) in Chinese, is an extremely popular tourist area in downtown Puxi (not far from the bund) that offers a glimpse into what Shanghai might have looked like in the 1920’s and 1930’s. The area is littered with hundreds of tiny souvenir shops, restaurants, jewelry shops, the famous Yu Yuan garden, and even two historic temples (both the temples and Yu Yuan garden will be covered in other posts).  Old town is another one of Shanghai’s attractions that should not be missed by anyone planning on visiting this metropolis.

Once you arrive you might feel overwhelmed with the number of different directions you can take, and my advice is simply, pick one direction and go.  Aside from the typical tourist-trap souvenir shops there are a number of really cool shops that sell some truly unique souvenirs that you can’t find anywhere else.  Upon my last visit, my wife and I came across a shop that sells tons of anime themed merchandise at pretty reasonable prices. Be warned however that there are A LOT of people that try to recruit customers to shop at hidden stores that sell “grey market” goods. They can be annoyingly persistent so be prepared.

The Famous Huxingting Tea House

There are also a number of Chinese tea shops that offer a variety of traditional teas that range from fairly inexpensive prices to the absolute ridiculous.  The price will largely depend on the type and quality. With tea, this is one thing you do not want to skimp on, as the cheaper teas can have a lot of harmful ingredients and just taste awful.  The tea can be purchased in its normal processed state, or it can be purchased as intricately designed “flowering” buds.  The flowering ones are usually on display and make excellent gifts.

The most famous tea house in the area is the Laoxingting Tea House, nestled in the middle of a scenic pond with bridges connecting it on both ends. This tea house has a history spanning hundreds of years and the tea is of excellent quality.  This also means you will be paying a much higher price for similar tea that can be found in other tea shops nearby.

Old Town at Dusk

After you’ve had your fill of shopping and sightseeing make sure to stop by the two temples and Yu Yuan garden. All of these attractions are well worth the small entrance fees and provide an excellent look into traditional Chinese philosophies and architecture. I highly recommend visiting this place both during the day and at night. All of the other attractions in the area close relatively early (at around 5pm) All of the buildings have beautiful red lanterns and are decorated with loads of lights.

Old Town at Dusk

To finish off the day you can pay a visit to an extremely delicious hot pot restaurant (which will be reviewed in the near future), or the ever-delicious Din Tai Fung restaurant, and then pay a visit to the Bund to get a spectacular view of Pu Dong.

Have you been to Shanghai's Old City? Sound off in the comments below and let us know what you thought!

How to get there:

• Cab - The easiest way to get to Old City is to find a taxi and simply tell the driver you want to be taken to Yu Yuan 豫园 (or just simply show the driver the Chinese characters) as this is within the Old City area. 
• Subway – you can also take line 10 and get off at the Yu Yuan station.