This pleasantly restored but sleepy street of fine old houses, just off North Sichuan Rd, was once home to several of China’s most famous writers (as well as several Kuomintang generals), when the road was known as Doulean Rd. Today it is lined with art-supply stores, curio and Burmese jade shops, galleries, teahouses and cafes. The main appeal of the street is its galleries and antique shops, including Dàshànghǎi .
The Shànghǎi Duōlún Museum of Modern Art has a focus on experimental contemporary art. Further along the street, you may find the 1928 Hóngdé Temple open, its grey-brick interior adorned with pictures of the Stations of the Cross and simple wooden pews; upstairs is a lovely hall with a wooden ceiling. The church was built in a Chinese style as the Great Virtue Church.
The League of Left-Wing Writers was established down a side alley on 2 March 1930. Today the building serves as a political museum , worth a look for the architecture alone.
Duolun Rd ends in another Kuomintang residence, the Moorish-looking, private Kong Residence , built in 1924.
If you need a break, try the Old Film Café , next to the 18.2m-high Xīshí Bell Tower at the bend in the road. There’s a statue of Charlie Chaplin outside.
