Shanghai: Golden Age to Modern City Walking Tour

From the Great World’s entertainment heyday to the Shanghai Concert Hall’s relocation, Huaihai Road, Sinan Mansions and Fuxing Park — see how old Shanghai’s glamour meets today’s urban transformation.
Shanghai in the 1930s was the “Paris of the East”—a city of neon-lit entertainment halls, European-style avenues, and a nightlife scene that rivaled any capital in the world. But the story doesn’t end there. This walking tour traces how that golden age was preserved, relocated, and reimagined into the modern city you see today.

This 3-hour walk begins where old Shanghai’s nightlife and entertainment empire once thrived — the Great World. From there, trace the city’s dramatic transformation: the Shanghai Concert Hall’s remarkable relocation, the rise of elevated highways, the historic grandeur of Huaihai Road, and the intimate lanes of the former French Concession. Ending at Fuxing Park where you can continue your Shanghai exploration after dark.This is a story of how Shanghai became the “Paris of the East” — and what it has become today.

Most Shanghai walking tours focus on the French Concession as a standalone historical curiosity. This tour does something else: it shows you how the French Concession became part of modern Shanghai.

You will see:

A 1930s entertainment empire (Great World) that made Shanghai famous
A building that was physically moved to survive (Shanghai Concert Hall)
Elevated highways that cut through colonial-era streets
Garden villas preserved not as museums but as living spaces
A French-style park that remains a neighborhood gathering place

This is not a tour about nostalgia. It is a tour about how a city chooses what to keep, what to move, and what to let go.

It is a story of glamour, grit, and the stubborn determination to keep history alive.

Book this tour to see the Shanghai that most visitors miss: not just the old streets, but the story of how they survived.

Per garantire la disponibilità, prenota il prima possibile. La prenotazione anticipata è consigliata soprattutto se stai pianificando il viaggio durante l'alta stagione come le festività pubbliche o i fine settimana.

Questa escursione può essere annullata senza costi fino a 24 ore prima dell'inizio del viaggio. Se la annulli dopo 24 ore o non ti presenti all'escursione, ti verrà comunque addebitato il prezzo intero dell'attività. Essere in ritardo al ritiro o alla partenza sarà considerato come non presentarsi.