An Autumnal Dander Through Tianzifang

Andy Hill

By afternoon, I had finished with a meeting that took place on Taikang Rd. in Shanghai and was walking around, trying to find my way back to the Dapuqiao Metro station. I peeked down what looked like the entrance to an ordinary alleyway and saw a small, interesting-looking shopping area; so I popped in.

It was a series of alleyways. However, it was filled with shops and restaurants and looked quite old. The ground was cobblestone and there was a swarm of rubberneckers around every corner. I eased in, braving my way into the gently-parting throng.

It was an old area that had been done up in recent years in a brilliant appropriation of real estate. I took my time dipping in and out of shops.

Art, pizza, coffee

Most of the stores were interesting, like the one filled with incense smoke selling Tibetan goods and pieces of art as well as the one selling kitschy Mao-era-propaganda-inspired souvenirs. An art gallery called Link Shanghai was showing some remarkable pieces by artist Shan Jiang; and if I were wealthy, I would have bought the lot of them then and there.

I had a slice of delicious pie at New York Pizza, which transported me back home not only by the genuinely well-done food but also the clichéd, imitation graffiti that adorned the walls as decoration.

Next, I stopped at a coffee shop called Kommune, a hip, artsy little affair with a nice courtyard which seemed to sort of know what they were doing with an espresso machine (an unusual find in China).

I do not drink anymore, but I wanted to go back in time to when I did while walking through Tianzifang because of the amount of little bars flanking the alleys, of which a surprising number offered high-brow Belgian beers (I even found a place selling Delirium Tremens- a reason to fall off the wagon if ever there was one).

Tianzifang isn’t massive, but it is definitely big enough to spend a few hours in, especially if you’ve got some money to burn. It’s one of the nicest places for a dander that I’ve found in years and all the more fun because I just stumbled into it.  

It reminded me very much of the Houhai lake district of Beijing without the lakes and in a comparatively tightly-packed space.

Tianzifang should definitely be on the list of anyone visiting Shanghai, even if they are only in the city for a couple of days.