Private Walking Tour in the Former French Concession
Overview
The former French Concession is always the highlight of a visit to Shanghai. It also becomes the city's hottest and hippest neighborhood, where trendy bars and clubs multiply like mushrooms after a rainstorm. The area still holds something of the alluring mix of scrappy Shanghainese street life, shopworn European colonial charm, Art Deco edifices, hidden brick courtyards and film noir intrigue that have, along with the proud stone edifices of the bund and the twisting alleys of Shanghai's Old city, long defined Shanghai in the Western popular imagination. Shanghai's idiosyncratic push-pull between new and old, development and preservation, takes a special form in the French Concession, making it an absolutely unique urban experience.
Inclusions
- Hotel pickup
- Transportation to attraction
- Excellent English-speaking guide
- Entrance Tickets
- Entry/Admission - Shanghai Lanxin Theater
- Entry/Admission - Shanghai Museum of Sun Yat-sen's Former Residence
What to expect
This tour is designed for city walkers, and minimum walking time is around 3 hours. Your English tour guide will lead you through architecture of 1930's Art Deco and leading about modern history of China from 1850 to 1950. You will get to know the environment and culture during this relax walking tour.
You will be visiting following places:
• Okura Garden Hotel: The former French club, the lobby in eastern part shows the best case for French classical style in interior design.
• Lanxin Theatre: The first western style theatre in Shanghai.
• Cathay Mansion: Formerly owned by famous Sassoon's family, known for hosting distinguished guests worldly wide since 1950's as well as its typical Art Deco style.
• King Albert Apartment: Another name popularly known as Royal Garden, built by French Catholic church for expatriates living in Shanghai. Walking through this living community, which is now hidden between two busy narrow streets, one may take a close look to the French Concession.
• The former residence of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen: A museum of China's revolutionary history.
• St. Nicholas Church: An Orthodox church built by Russian expatriates in 1920s, small but delicate.
• Fuxing Park: The only one French style garden in the country, which experienced a lot of changes during the past 100 years. Now stays popular both for senior's exercises in the morning and party animals' gathering in the evening for its club and KTV partyworld.The walking tours that are designed for the ones of same interests with different options at - routes to go, ways to do and certainly, stories to hear from selected guides who are fond of this part of Shanghai history themselves. This tour offers a choice of morning and afternoon departure time (10am or 2pm). Your guide will come to meet you at your hotel lobby, and either take taxi or public transportation to attractions at your own cost. After tour, your tour guide will arrange taxi for you to go back to your hotel or you can spend time to walk around in the city by yourself.
You will be visiting following places:
• Okura Garden Hotel: The former French club, the lobby in eastern part shows the best case for French classical style in interior design.
• Lanxin Theatre: The first western style theatre in Shanghai.
• Cathay Mansion: Formerly owned by famous Sassoon's family, known for hosting distinguished guests worldly wide since 1950's as well as its typical Art Deco style.
• King Albert Apartment: Another name popularly known as Royal Garden, built by French Catholic church for expatriates living in Shanghai. Walking through this living community, which is now hidden between two busy narrow streets, one may take a close look to the French Concession.
• The former residence of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen: A museum of China's revolutionary history.
• St. Nicholas Church: An Orthodox church built by Russian expatriates in 1920s, small but delicate.
• Fuxing Park: The only one French style garden in the country, which experienced a lot of changes during the past 100 years. Now stays popular both for senior's exercises in the morning and party animals' gathering in the evening for its club and KTV partyworld.The walking tours that are designed for the ones of same interests with different options at - routes to go, ways to do and certainly, stories to hear from selected guides who are fond of this part of Shanghai history themselves. This tour offers a choice of morning and afternoon departure time (10am or 2pm). Your guide will come to meet you at your hotel lobby, and either take taxi or public transportation to attractions at your own cost. After tour, your tour guide will arrange taxi for you to go back to your hotel or you can spend time to walk around in the city by yourself.
Additional information
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Please wear comfortable shoes
- Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
- A maximum of 10 people per booking
- Please indicate morning tour or afternoon tour in special requirement area upon booking
- Wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Near public transportation
- Infants must sit on laps
- Transportation is wheelchair accessible
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 10 travelers
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Ticket delivery
You can present either a paper or an electronic voucher for this activity.
Cancellation
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start time of the experience.
Marion L
August 2018
A private tour with Penny alongside a colleague in academia helped provide an additional dimension in understanding (past and present) Shanghai, within globalization and in reference to cosmopolitan multi-culturalism. Penny was informed and knowledgeable, backed by implicit intellectual curiosity...
A private tour with Penny alongside a colleague in academia helped provide an additional dimension in understanding (past and present) Shanghai, within globalization and in reference to cosmopolitan multi-culturalism. Penny was informed and knowledgeable, backed by implicit intellectual curiosity and continuing interest in history, on her part. Penny was engaging and thoughtful in answering (bombarding) questions, providing key information and anecdotal stories in events and matters, which are entwined with and imprinted on buildings, places and sites. Yes, I would consider going on another private tour with Penny.WBen101
November 2019
This was our first trip to Shanghai and we are so glad that we booked this trip early on. Our guide Penny was an absolute delight. She explains the history of both Shanghai and the French Concession in a way that is both educational and fun. Walking through the park, she introduced us to peo...
This was our first trip to Shanghai and we are so glad that we booked this trip early on. Our guide Penny was an absolute delight. She explains the history of both Shanghai and the French Concession in a way that is both educational and fun. Walking through the park, she introduced us to people she knew, making us feel very much at home. Penny then spent extra time with us afterwards at lunch, guiding us through one of our best meals ever. Just a great experience from start to finish!matt_f
September 2019
I spent a half day with Penny as my guide on a private tour of the French Concession. She was extremely knowledgable, having been a teacher and very well versed in Chinese history and the evolution of Shanghai. She brought the town to life and I found myself quoting her and her knowledge to my f...
I spent a half day with Penny as my guide on a private tour of the French Concession. She was extremely knowledgable, having been a teacher and very well versed in Chinese history and the evolution of Shanghai. She brought the town to life and I found myself quoting her and her knowledge to my family when I returned home. We spent most of our time in the park where she was able to bring to life the songs, dances and discussions many of the locals were taking part in on a Sunday afternoon. She paced the half day quite well as we covered a lot of ground and history and never felt rushed. The other piece that she ensured was how easy everything was logistically. Her and her group communicated regularly in advance, picked me up right on time at the hotel, covered the taxi rides and she even made sure I found a great gift for my wife and two daughters as I was traveling solo on this trip. At the end of the tour she made sure I was dropped at the location I needed to be and gave me a few notes on a good dinner spot....that I hit for dumplings AND LOVED. I think overall this tour was an incredible value, Penny brought the area to life and I learned a ton on the history of Shanghai. Very good use of a half day if you want to dive a bit deeper into the area and learn.Donna2014nyc
August 2019
Excellent tour of the French Concession with Kelly (Ping). Kelly arrived on time and handled the transportation. On our way there, she provided a historical overview so I had a basic understanding before our walk. We started at a park, where I got a first hand look at how the locals spend a quie...
Excellent tour of the French Concession with Kelly (Ping). Kelly arrived on time and handled the transportation. On our way there, she provided a historical overview so I had a basic understanding before our walk. We started at a park, where I got a first hand look at how the locals spend a quiet Sunday. We then moved onto the neighborhood itself, strolling down some of the alleyways, as Kelly explained how many of the residents live today. We also stopped for tea (dumpling place was optional) and ended at the French Club, with a view of the city 30+ stories up. Kelly made sure to show me other suggestions to visit and offered her support during my stay. Thoroughly enjoyed the tour, I highly recommend it!LavinGnaw
August 2019
There were two in our group and both of us were extremely happy with our guide Penny. She was highly knowledgeable about the history of Shanghai and the French Concession in particular. We gained a lot from her insights. After our three-hour tour she recommended a restaurant for lunch which se...
There were two in our group and both of us were extremely happy with our guide Penny. She was highly knowledgeable about the history of Shanghai and the French Concession in particular. We gained a lot from her insights. After our three-hour tour she recommended a restaurant for lunch which served wonderful dumplings and hot/sour soup (yum). We highly recommend Penny if you are thinking about a private tour of the French Concession.Kari R
August 2019
Our guide Penny was great. We walked though Fuzhou Park enjoying the morning activities, learned a lot about Dr Sun Yat Sen and had a delicious lunch of Shanghai specialties. Highly recommended!
Our guide Penny was great. We walked though Fuzhou Park enjoying the morning activities, learned a lot about Dr Sun Yat Sen and had a delicious lunch of Shanghai specialties. Highly recommended!