A short walk west along Gaolan Rd from Fùxīng Park is rewarded by the distinctive shape of the vacant, and now derelict, St Nicholas Church, one of Shànghǎi’s small band of Russian Orthodox houses of worship, built to service the huge influx of Russians who arrived in Shànghǎi in the 1930s.
Dating from 1934, the church has a typically varied CV, ranging from shrine to washing-machine factory to French restaurant. It was spared desecration during the Cultural Revolution by a portrait of Mao Zedong, hung strategically from the dome. The building was not open to the public at the time of writing and the space in front of the church was occupied by the terrace of Kinlock Coffee cafe next door.
