Gangsters, Lane Houses, Secret Gardens: The French Concession's Hidden History

IMPORTANT: In China, there is a GPS offset that makes your position on Google and Apple maps incorrect. This issue doesn't affect the offline map, so if you turn off WiFi and data you'll be able to track your position on the route.

Exploring Shanghai’s Former French Concession is a pleasure for visitors and residents alike. It’s a place set apart from the modernity of the rest of the city with tree lined streets that inspire lingering strolls. This tour is all about exploring the lesser known parts of the Western concession. We’ll go in search of preserved mansions, Art Deco lane houses and uncover the stories behind the buildings and the people that lived there. I’ll tell you about how the foreign concessions came to be in Shanghai and introduce you to the colourful characters that made their fortunes here, including one or two gangsters. I’ll also tell you how the days of the French Concession finally ended.

On this walk you can look forward to:

• The grandest mansion ever built in the French Concession
• A secret garden built for a concubine
• The site of a gruesome murder that scandalised China
• Luxury apartments with a dark history
• The biggest gang boss in Shanghai and his strange superstition
• How to drive in Old Shanghai
• Opium dealers and opium thieves

Along the route there are plenty of places to stop for a drink or a bite to eat, including some nice cafés and bars in the courtyard in Ferguson Lane.