A concession to peace and quiet in Shanghai

You can now rent bicycles for a do-it-yourself tour of the gracious former French Concession, Xu Junqian reports.

One of the great surprises of Shanghai is the city's sprawling former French Concession. It is hard to believe a modern Asian city like Shanghai could have such a district that, in places, is more reminiscent of a European city than a bustling Asian metropolis. Within its confines are peaceful tree-lined streets, historic buildings, art galleries, fashion boutiques, al fresco cafes, and bistros and restaurants. It is a wonderful place to spend a few hours just wandering around or, as is now the case, hiring a bicycle (see details at the end of story) and riding beneath the canopy of tress along generous bike lanes. The bicycle tour outlined below brings to visitors the best of the former French Concession at a gentle pace befitting its atmosphere.

1. 1843 Huaihai Road M - Former Residence of Soong Ching Ling

Surrounded by lush camphor trees and a large lawn, this beautiful white villa with a red roof was once the Shanghai residence of Madame Soong Ching Ling, the wife of the father of modern China, Sun Yat-sen. With its Western style, the house is more elegant than Houhai Royal Garden, Soong's residence in Beijing. Built in the early 1920s, the villa was the property of a German shipbuilder before Madame Soon lived there.

The residence is open to the public. Tickets are 20 yuan for adults and 10 yuan for students. The two-floor mansion retains many of Soong's personal belongings.

2. 1836-1858 Huaihai Road M - Normandie Apartment

On the intersection of Huaihai Road M and Wukang Road stands a high-rise apartment building. Named after the WWI warship Normandie and designed by the famous Hungarian architect Ladislav Hudec, the building has a French Renaissance style similar to a large ship. Built in 1924, the building was the first apartment house in Shanghai with an outside gallery. Over the years, the apartments were home to many film stars.

3. 376 Wukang Road - Ferguson Lane

Ferguson Lane is a world away from the hustle and bustle of Shanghai, with its aromatic smells of coffee, the fragrance of flowers and avant-garde statues. In this loft-style building, there is a wine shop that has a good reputation for its wine-tasting events and dinners, some fashion boutiques and a French bistro, which is one of the most authentic French restaurants in Shanghai.

4. 210 Wukang Road - Romeo's Balcony

It is a common (for the area) three-story Spanish style villa built in the 1930s. But it's beautiful red tiled roof, apricot-colored facade and emerald-glazed ornaments decorating the windows and walls give the building a unique style.

What makes it even more special is its small semicircular balcony with wrought iron railings on the second floor. For decades it has been called "Romeo's balcony" by romantic Shanghai locals, alluding to the famous Shakespearean play Romeo and Juliet.

5. 200 Yongfu Road - Yong Foo Elite

This former British Consulate, a Spanish-style garden villa, was built in the 1930s and is now one of the most famous private clubs in the city, run by fashion designer Wang Xingzheng. It is more like a museum, with its collection of over 6,000 pieces of artwork and antiques dating back to the Qing Dynasty, than a private club. The club's theme is based on the life of the Shanghai elite of the 1930s. Its restaurant, which serves traditional Shanghai cuisine, is open to non-members.

6. 811 Hengshan Road - Small Red Mansion

Inside Xujiahui Park is the Small Red Mansion. At the end of 19th century, when EMI Music France arrived in Shanghai with the first phonograph in the city, people were thrilled with this novel instrument. Two decades later, a three-story redbrick villa was built in the southwest corner of the city as the office of the Oriental EMI Company. It became the first music studio in the city and the largest in Asia, and began the era of music recording in China. Numerous top artists in the industry recorded albums here. Now, it's a Western-style restaurant called Restaurant Martin. Guests can still see some of the albums that were recorded here in one of the building's showrooms.

7. 53 Hengshan Road - Community Church

This Gothic brick and timber structure was built in the 1920s with funds raised by foreigners in Shanghai. Visitors are attracted to this church by its peaceful atmosphere. Re-opened after the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), it has become one of the most popular Christian churches in Shanghai. Church services are held every Sunday.

8. 150 Fenyang Road - Ambrosia

This grand palace-like white mansion was home to Kuomingtang General Pai Chung-hsi in the 1940s, and later became a painting and opera school. It's ironically nicknamed the "White House" because of its facade and the surname of the general, "pai", which means white in Chinese. The mansion is now a high-end Japanese restaurant. Guests have a chance to dine in the former bedroom of General Pai.

9. 9-11 Dongping Road - Love Cottage and Sasha's

The area was once the property of Soong Ching Ling's family, presented as a dowry to Ching Ling's sister, Soong Mei-ling, the second daughter of the family, on her marriage to Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the Kuomingtang. The couple spent their honeymoon there and it was later used as a meeting venue for government officials. Chiang named the house "Ai Lu", meaning love cottage. The government took over the house after 1949 and it is now the Middle School affiliated to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

The other part of the property originally belonged to Soong Ziwen, the eldest son of the Soong's family. This Dutch-style garden house has been transformed into a restaurant and bar, Sasha's, named after the Russian mistress of Charlie Soong, father of Soong Mei-ling.