# Shanghai Old City (Nanshi)

> Shanghai's Old City (Nanshi) is the former walled Chinese town inside the ring of Renmin and Zhonghua roads, just south of the Bund. Walking its lanes is free at any hour; Old Street's shops keep daytime hours. Yu Garden and the City God Temple sit inside but charge separately. Allow one to two hours.

Web page: https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/shanghai-old-city

- City: [Shanghai](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai), China
- YesGo score: 42/100 (Yes, if nearby)
- Time on site: 1 h
- Opening hours: Streets always open; Old Street shops and teahouses close by evening; Dajing Ge ≈ 9:00–16:00 (unofficial)
- With kids: Fine with kids
- Entry: Free — these are public streets; only some gardens and temples charge
- Where: Inside the ring of Renmin Road (north) and Zhonghua Road (south), Huangpu District, south of the Bund
- Metro: Yuyuan Garden (Lines 10, 14), Laoximen (8, 10), Xiaonanmen (9)
- Dajing Ge: ≈ 9:00–16:00 or 8:30–16:00 depending on the guide; no official price found
- Wenmiao: Closed for renovation since 2021; a 2025 reopening was planned but we found no confirmation
- Payment: Alipay or WeChat Pay with a foreign Visa/Mastercard; carry some yuan
- Time needed: 1–2 hours on foot; half a day with Yu Garden and lunch
- Coordinates: 31.22500, 121.48500
- Facts checked: 04.11.2026

## Key facts

- **Free** — to walk the Old City's streets, including Old Street (source: chinatravel.com; chinaxiantour.com)
- **≈ 200 ha** — inside the Renmin–Zhonghua ring, where the wall once stood (source: Chinese Wikipedia: 上海老城厢; Shanghai government, Laochengxiang Historical and Cultural Block)
- **1912** — demolition of the city wall began; a ring road replaced it (source: English and Chinese Wikipedia)
- **1553–54** — the Ming wall went up to fend off Japanese pirate raids (source: Chinese Wikipedia (1553); English Wikipedia (1554))
- **825 m** — length of Old Street, the tourist stretch of Fangbang Middle Road (source: chinatravel.com; chinaxiantour.com)
- **Dajing Ge** — the only surviving section of the city wall, topped by a Guandi shrine (source: English and Chinese Wikipedia; Huangpu District)
- **34 lanes** — protected as historic laneways under the district conservation plan (source: English and Chinese Wikipedia)
- **1294** — Wenmiao Confucian Temple founded; on its current site since 1855 (source: Chinese Wikipedia: 上海文庙; Shanghai government (shio.gov.cn))
- **4 lines** — of the metro along the edges: 8, 9, 10 and 14 (source: English Wikipedia (Yuyuan Garden, Laoximen, Xiaonanmen stations))
- **上海老城厢** — Chinese name; Nanshi, the “Southern City”, is the old local name (source: English and Chinese Wikipedia)

## What is Shanghai's Old City?

The Old City, or **Nanshi**, is Shanghai before it became a treaty port: a walled Chinese county town that existed long before the Bund and the foreign concessions. You can still trace its outline on a map. **Renmin Road** forms the northern half of a ring and **Zhonghua Road** the southern half — both laid over the wall and moat after demolition began in 1912.

Inside the ring are around 200 hectares of dense streets. [Yu Garden](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/yu-garden) and the [City God Temple](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/shanghai-city-god-temple) sit in the north-east, wrapped in the busy Yuyuan Bazaar. West and south of them the lanes turn residential: laundry on bamboo poles, vegetable stalls, workshops and tiny noodle shops.

Set your expectations honestly. The wall is gone, many houses have been rebuilt, and Old Street in front of the temple was re-created as a tourist strip. What makes the area worthwhile is the mix — a handful of genuine historic sites, everyday lanes, and a sense of the Chinese city that was here before the skyscrapers.

## How to get to the Old City

1. From the Bund at Nanjing Road, walk back to **East Nanjing Road** station and take Line 10 towards Hongqiao. Ride one stop to **Yuyuan Garden**.
2. Leave by **Exit 1** (South Henan Road, Renmin Road, Yu Garden). You are on the Old City's northern edge. Walk south down South Henan Road and Old Street (Fangbang Middle Road) begins within a few minutes.
3. To start from the quieter west side, stay on Line 10 one more stop to **Laoximen** — the “Old West Gate” — where Line 8 also stops. The Wenmiao Confucian Temple is about 500 m from the station as the crow flies.
4. The south-eastern corner is served by **Xiaonanmen** station on Line 9, on Zhonghua Road.
5. On foot from the Bund, Yu Garden is about 1 km due south — 15–20 minutes.
6. In a taxi or DiDi, show 上海老街 (Old Street) or 大境阁 (Dajing Ge). The bazaar lanes are pedestrian-only, so expect to be dropped on the edge.

## What to see in the Old City

- **Shanghai Old Street (上海老街)** — an 825 m stretch of Fangbang Middle Road between South Henan Road and Renmin Road, split in two at Guanyi Street. One half is styled on Ming and Qing buildings with red pillars and lattice windows; the other keeps late-Qing and early-Republic shopfronts. Teahouses, seal carvers, herbal medicine shops and plenty of souvenirs.
- **Dajing Ge (大境阁)** on Dajing Road — the only surviving piece of the city wall, with a pavilion and a hall to Guandi on top and a small photo exhibition about the walled city inside. The clearest place to picture where the wall ran.
- **Baiyun Guan (白云观)** — a Quanzhen Taoist temple right next to Dajing Ge at 239 Dajing Road, moved here in the 2000s and now home to the Shanghai Taoist Association.
- **Chenxiang Ge (沉香阁)** — a Buddhist nunnery a few steps from Yu Garden, named after its agarwood statue of Guanyin, enshrined on the upper floor.
- **Wenmiao Confucian Temple (文庙)**, 215 Wenmiao Road — the only Confucian temple in central Shanghai, on this site since 1855. Currently closed for a major renovation; see below.
- **Yu Garden and the City God Temple** — the district's two ticketed headliners, each with its own page, joined by the Yuyuan Bazaar's lanes of shops and snack stalls.
- **The lanes between Fangbang Road and Dajing Road** — a protected historic zone of narrow alleys, old doorways and daily life without shop windows.

## Is Shanghai Old City worth visiting?

Yes, if you want Chinese Shanghai and not just skyscrapers and the colonial Bund. It costs nothing, it is 15 minutes' walk from the Bund, and it packs in temples, teahouses, markets and lanes. It works best paired with Yu Garden: the garden gives you the classical beauty, the Old City gives you the context around it.

Skip it if you expect an intact medieval town. The wall is gone, much is rebuilt, and Old Street is a stage set with repeating souvenir stalls. Fans of early-20th-century architecture will get more from the [Former French Concession](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/shanghai-french-concession), and for canals and stone bridges head out to [Zhujiajiao](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/zhujiajiao).

## A one- to two-hour walking loop

Go north-east to south-west. From Yuyuan Garden station, take in Yu Garden and the City God Temple, then head west along **Old Street**; past Guanyi Street the crowds thin noticeably. Turn north to **Dajing Road**, where Dajing Ge and Baiyun Guan stand side by side, roughly 900 m in a straight line from the City God Temple.

From Dajing Ge, cut south through the lanes to **Wenmiao Road**, about 850 m further. Even with the temple shut, the streets around it are worth the walk. Finish at **Laoximen** station, about 500 m away. Point to point it is roughly 3 km as the crow flies, more through the lanes — allow one to two hours at an easy pace.

Weekday mornings are best: Old Street is still quiet and the back lanes are at their most lived-in. The streets stay open in the evening, but Old Street's shops and teahouses close and Dajing Ge keeps daytime hours only.

> **The district is changing** The Old City has been under redevelopment since the early 2000s: its north-western quarter was cleared for new housing, and more lanes — including around Wenmiao Road — have been emptied in recent years. Thirty-four historic laneways are protected, but the residential fabric is shrinking. If you find hoardings where a guidebook promised shops, stick to the main streets.

## Dajing Ge and the old city wall

Shanghai's wall was built under the Ming in 1553–54 to keep out Japanese pirate raids. After the 1911 revolution it came down from 1912, and by 1914 a ring road had replaced the wall and moat. Only small fragments survive, the main one at **Dajing Ge**: a stretch of wall topped by a pavilion with a shrine to Guandi.

Inside is a small exhibition of photographs of the wall, gates and old streets. Guides give hours of roughly **9:00–16:00** or **8:30–16:00**; there is no official website and we could not confirm the fee, so check at the door. Sources disagree on the street number (239, 259 or 269), so look for 大境阁 on Dajing Road beside Baiyun Guan.

## Is the Wenmiao Confucian Temple open?

Short answer: **probably not yet**. It closed for renovation in autumn 2021, and in early 2023 the Shanghai government said it would reopen in 2025 with a new library, lecture hall and gardens. We found no English or Chinese report that it has actually reopened, so check before you build a day around it.

The temple was founded in 1294 and has stood at 215 Wenmiao Road since 1855, with its Dacheng Hall, Kuixing Pavilion and Lingxing Gate. Its famous Sunday second-hand book market closed in 2020 ahead of the works.

> **Visiting the temples** Baiyun Guan, Chenxiang Ge, Dajing Ge and Xiaotaoyuan Mosque near Laoximen are active places of worship. Cover shoulders and knees; women should cover their hair in the mosque. Don't carry lit incense into halls, don't touch the statues, and skip the flash and close-ups of people praying.

## Old City, City God Temple or French Concession?

|  | Old City | City God Temple | French Concession |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| What it is | Former walled Chinese town: streets, temples, lanes | Working Taoist temple inside the Old City | Former foreign district: villas and plane-tree avenues |
| Entry | Free | ≈ ¥10 (unofficial) | Free |
| Time needed | 1–2 hours | 30–40 minutes | See the district's page |
| Metro | Yuyuan Garden, Laoximen, Xiaonanmen | Yuyuan Garden | See the district's page |

The City God Temple and Yu Garden are inside the Old City, so one walk covers all three.

## Paying and eating

Most stalls and snack shops take QR payments by **Alipay or WeChat Pay**, and both accept linked foreign Visa and Mastercard cards — set them up before you fly. Contactless foreign cards are far less useful in small shops, so keep some yuan in small notes for the back lanes.

Eat where locals eat. Prices around the Yuyuan Bazaar are tourist-level, while the lanes west of Old Street have ordinary dumpling and noodle shops. Xiaolongbao — soup-filled dumplings — are the district's signature food.

## Before you go

- [ ] Alipay or WeChat Pay set up with a foreign card
- [ ] Some yuan in small notes
- [ ] Comfortable shoes for about 3 km
- [ ] 上海老街 and 大境阁 saved for the taxi
- [ ] Shoulders and knees covered for the temples
- [ ] Offline map downloaded — Google Maps is blocked in China without a VPN

## The Bund to the Old City in half a day

Start on the Bund, walk to Yu Garden and the City God Temple, then west along Old Street to Dajing Ge and the lanes. In the evening, Xintiandi is one stop from Laoximen on Line 10. Add them to your route — YesGo fits in the timing and transfers.

1. [The Bund](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/the-bund) — YesGo score 59/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h · Free
2. [Yu Garden](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/yu-garden) — YesGo score 46/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 15 min · ¥30–40 by season
3. [City God Temple](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/shanghai-city-god-temple) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · ≈ ¥10 (one guide says free)
4. [Shanghai Old City](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/shanghai-old-city) — YesGo score 42/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free
5. [Xintiandi](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/xintiandi) — YesGo score 41/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free

## Historic Shanghai compared

Historic sights in Shanghai rated by YesGo.

- [The Bund](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/the-bund) — YesGo score 59/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h · Free
- [Oriental Pearl Tower](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/oriental-pearl-tower) — YesGo score 49/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · ¥199 — two spheres
- [Shanghai Maglev](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/shanghai-maglev) — YesGo score 46/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · ¥50, ¥40 with a same-day flight
- [Nanjing Road](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/nanjing-road) — YesGo score 46/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free
- [Yu Garden](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/yu-garden) — YesGo score 46/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 15 min · ¥30–40 by season
- [Shanghai Museum](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/shanghai-museum) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h · ¥148 show; Museum East free
- [Shanghai Old City](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/shanghai-old-city) — YesGo score 42/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free
- [People's Square](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/shanghai-peoples-square) — YesGo score 42/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Free
- [People's Park](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/shanghai-peoples-park) — YesGo score 42/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 40 min · Free
- [Xintiandi](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/xintiandi) — YesGo score 41/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free
- [Tianzifang](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/tianzifang) — YesGo score 39/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free
- [City God Temple](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/shanghai-city-god-temple) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · ≈ ¥10 (one guide says free)
- [Former French Concession](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/shanghai-french-concession) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h · Free
- [Wukang Road](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/wukang-road) — YesGo score 37/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · Free
- [Suzhou](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/suzhou) — YesGo score 36/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 4 h · Train ≈ ¥30–45, garden ¥70–80
- [Jing'an Temple](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/jingan-temple) — YesGo score 36/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 40 min · ≈ ¥50
- [Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/shanghai-urban-planning-center) — YesGo score 36/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 15 min · Free, booking required
- [Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/shanghai-jewish-refugees-museum) — YesGo score 36/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · CNY 20; students 10, 60+ 15
- [Jade Buddha Temple](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/jade-buddha-temple) — YesGo score 33/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · Free; Jade Buddha hall ≈ ¥10
- [Longhua Temple](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/longhua-temple) — YesGo score 29/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · ≈ ¥10 (one guide says free)
- [Zhujiajiao](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/zhujiajiao) — YesGo score 24/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 3 h · Free entry; three sights ¥60
- [Xitang](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/xitang) — YesGo score 16/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 4 h · ≈ ¥95 by day, free in the evening

## Good to know

This page covers Shanghai's Old City (Nanshi) as a whole. Yu Garden and the City God Temple inside it have their own pages and tickets. Don't confuse it with Nanxiang Ancient Town on Shanghai's outskirts — a different place.

## Tips

- Start at Yuyuan Garden station and finish at Laoximen so you never retrace your steps.
- West of Guanyi Street, Old Street is noticeably calmer than the bazaar end.
- Come on a weekday before noon: Dajing Ge only opens in the daytime and Old Street's shops shut by evening.
- Do Yu Garden first and shop afterwards — carrying bags around the garden is no fun.
- In the evening, Shiliupu pier is close by — end the day with a [Huangpu River cruise](https://yesgo.io/china/shanghai/huangpu-river-cruise).
- Check whether Wenmiao has reopened before making a special trip.
- Save the Chinese names of each stop: taxi drivers rarely know the English ones.

## Questions

### Is Shanghai Old City free to visit?

Yes. The streets, Old Street included, are public and free at any hour. Only individual sights inside — Yu Garden and the City God Temple — charge.

### Is Shanghai Old Town worth visiting?

Yes if you want a taste of Chinese Shanghai alongside Yu Garden. Not if you expect an intact ancient town: the wall is gone and Old Street is largely rebuilt.

### What is Shanghai Old Street?

An 825 m stretch of Fangbang Middle Road between South Henan Road and Renmin Road, rebuilt in Ming–Qing and late-Qing styles, lined with teahouses and shops.

### Which metro station is closest to the Old City?

Yuyuan Garden (Lines 10 and 14), Exit 1. For the west side use Laoximen (Lines 8 and 10); for the south-east, Xiaonanmen (Line 9).

### How long do you need in the Old City?

One to two hours for Old Street, Dajing Ge and the lanes; half a day with Yu Garden, the City God Temple and lunch.

### Does any of the old city wall survive?

Only a short section at Dajing Ge on Dajing Road. The rest came down from 1912 and became Renmin and Zhonghua roads.

### Is the Confucian Temple (Wenmiao) open?

It closed for renovation in 2021 and was due to reopen in 2025. We found no confirmation that it has, so check before you go.

### Is the Old City the same as Yu Garden?

No. Yu Garden is a separate ticketed garden inside the Old City; the Old City is the whole surrounding district.

### Can you visit the Old City at night?

The streets are open, but Old Street's shops and teahouses close by evening and the temples and Dajing Ge keep daytime hours.

## How we checked

Boundaries, area, wall dates and protected laneways were checked against English and Chinese Wikipedia and the Shanghai government site. The wall's construction year differs — 1553 in Chinese Wikipedia, 1554 in English — so both are shown. Old Street's 825 m comes from chinatravel.com and chinaxiantour.com; Chinese Wikipedia's longer figure is for the whole of Fangbang Middle Road. Dajing Ge hours: 9:00–16:00 per Wikivoyage, 8:30–16:00 per Ctrip; Ctrip blocks automated access, so we used its search snippet only; no fee found. Its street number varies (239, 259 or 269) and is left out. Wenmiao has been closed since 2021 with a 2025 reopening announced by the Shanghai government in 2023; we found no report of it reopening, so it is marked as being checked. The English core comes from search results and related questions; distances are from Wikipedia coordinates.

## Sources

- English Wikipedia: Old City (Shanghai); Dajing Ge Pavilion; Laoximen station; Yuyuan Garden station; Xiaonanmen station (Shanghai Metro); Line 10 (Shanghai Metro); Wikidata Q7083702
- Chinese Wikipedia: 上海老城厢, 大境阁, 上海文庙, 上海老街, 沉香阁, 白云观 (上海)
- Shanghai government: english.shanghai.gov.cn — Laochengxiang Historical and Cultural Block; en.shio.gov.cn — Wenmiao renovation and planned reopening
- Huangpu District — article on the Renmin–Zhonghua ring and Dajing Ge
- chinatravel.com and chinaxiantour.com — Old Street length, layout and free entry
- Wikivoyage: Shanghai/Old City — Dajing Ge hours, temple addresses, metro
- Ctrip — Dajing Ge hours (from search results)

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