Listen to the history-not ‘his’ story-but ‘the’ stories about the longtang in Jing ’an District

Longtang or lilong (lane in Shanghai) as a style of dwelling peculiar to this city, was closely interwoven with the lives of tens of thousands of Shanghai citizens.

Jing 'an Villa

The biggest new style lilong

In the 1920s, there rose 12 rows of three-story red-brick foreign-style houses, causing quite a stir in Shanghai. This new style lilong, however, is different from its predecessors. They are European-style villas, with floor tiles with carved patterns, garden court, and balcony ornamented in baroque style.

So far, Jing 'an Villa is still the largest modern residential block of new style lilong in Shanghai.

Lane 749, Yuyuan Road

The most mysterious lilong

The lane has three “mysterious villas”, which are not easily spotted by one outside the lane. However, when you enter into the lane, you will find there is hidden a beautiful spot inside the winding lane.

The main lane forks into several side-lanes, which link with branch side-lanes. Quite surprisingly, a seemingly dead end would connect with a blind pass, which often leads to, quite out of one’s expectation, a broader side-lane.

Tongle Lane

A lane of the greatest fun

Tongle Lane, once home to many small lane-run factories, now has theatres, cinemas, bookstores, gyms and lots of small shops.

In the early twenty-first century，while preserving the characteristics of plants of national industry in Shanghai, the lane was added with the elements of culture, leisure and creativity, and thus grew into a commercial zone where fashion, entertainment and cultural and leisure industries were thriving, as well as a landmark reflecting the urban trends of Shanghai.

Zhang Garden

The most garden-like lane

Zhang Garden is the first and largest private garden open to the public in Shanghai.

It has a vast lawn lined with trees admiring their reflections in the pond. Various flowers blossom in the garden, filling the air with sweet scent all through the year.

Siming Village

A most poetic lane

It is a lane appeals to literary youth, because the great poet Tagore and the famous Chinese poet Xu Zhimo once lived here. On 18 May 2005, it was officially named Village of Cultural Figures

Tagore, the famous Indian poet and the winner of Nobel Prize in Literature, once lived here during his visit to China. On a wall in the village there are still his verses: “The world speaks to me with pictures, and my soul answers it in the form of music.”