Tianzifang

Tianzifang occupies a block of shikumen lane houses, the stone-gated terraces that housed most of Shanghai for a century, off Taikang Road in the old French Concession. From the late 1990s artists took studios in a former factory and adjacent houses, and the area grew organically into a warren of alleys barely two metres wide holding galleries, craft studios, cafés, bars and shops on several levels, with residents still living above in some lanes and laundry hanging over the visitors below. It is often contrasted with Xintiandi nearby, which was created by demolishing and rebuilding shikumen wholesale, while Tianzifang kept its fabric and its inhabitants.

History

The quarter grew from Zhicheng Fang, a block of shikumen lane houses of 1933 near the end of the Zhaojiabang canal, which was filled in during 1954. Cheap rents drew artists in the last quarter of the 20th century, the Taikang Road wet market moved indoors in 1998, and in 2001 the area was named an arts quarter and given its name, a pun on Tian Zifang, often called China's earliest recorded artist; when it was slated for demolition in 2006, residents, shop owners and the painter Chen Yifei campaigned to keep it (Wikipedia, Tianzifang).

Highlights

• The shikumen alleys - narrow lanes of stone-gated terrace houses.
• The studios and galleries - working artists and craft shops through the maze.
• The residents above - people still living in the lanes over the shops.
• The contrast with Xintiandi - preserved fabric against wholesale reconstruction.

When to go

March to May and September to November; evenings bring the bars to life. Weekends are extremely crowded in lanes that are too narrow for the numbers. Weekday mornings are calm.

Good to know

The alleys are very narrow and become uncomfortable when busy. Commercialisation has pushed out many of the original artists in favour of souvenir shops. Residents live here and privacy is limited, which sits uneasily with the crowds.

Nearby

Xintiandi lies north; the French Concession streets spread west.

Key facts