Shopping street · in The Bund
East Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street
南京东路步行街Nánjīng Dōnglù Bùxíngjiē
Shanghai's best-known shopping street, pedestrianised in the late 1990s and extended east to the Bund in September 2020.
- Built
- c. 1851–1854
- Architect
- Not recorded
- Style
- Not recorded
- Heritage listing
- Not recorded
- Status
- Open to visitors
- Then in
- British Settlement1848–1863International Settlement1863–1943Central District from 1899
What you're looking at
- The Peace Hotel's two buildings at Nos. 19 and 20, at the Bund end of the street.
- The old department-store names Wing On, Sincere, Sun Sun and Da Sun, which formed the 'New Four Great Companies'.
- The new walkway of about 500 m between Zhongshan East 1st Road and Henan Middle Road.
The story
East Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street (南京东路步行街, Nánjīng Dōnglù Bùxíngjiē) is the pedestrian section of Shanghai’s best-known shopping street, running from the Bund west to Xizang Middle Road. Chinese state media called it “China’s No 1 commercial street” in 2020, when its pedestrian zone was extended east to the river.
The road’s early history is given differently in different places. Chinese Wikipedia says construction began in 1851 under the name 大马路 (Big Road), linked to the racecourse, and that it opened to traffic in 1854. English Wikipedia dates the road to 1845, when it was called Park Lane, and says it reached Zhejiang Road in 1854. It was named Nanjing Road in the 1860s: 1865 on Chinese Wikipedia, 1862 on English Wikipedia. It became East Nanjing Road in 1945.
Tram tracks were laid in 1908. Chinese Wikipedia says the wooden road surface was replaced with cement in 1953.
Four department stores, the “New Four Great Companies” (新四大公司), had been established on the street by 1937: Wing On (永安), Sincere (先施), Sun Sun (新新) and Da Sun (大新). Two hotels stood at the Bund end: the Palace Hotel (汇中饭店) at No. 19, built in 1908, and Sassoon House (沙逊大厦) at No. 20. Both now belong to the Peace Hotel (和平饭店), as its south and north buildings.
Weekend pedestrian operation began on 15 July 1995. After a renovation completed in 1999 (2000 on English Wikipedia), the section from Henan Middle Road to Xizang Middle Road became an all-weather pedestrian street, over 1,200 m long and up to 28 m wide.
On 12 September 2020 the pedestrian street was extended about 500 m east to the Bund. The architects, Snøhetta with ECADI, give the new walkway as 495 m long, adding 21,370 square metres of pedestrian space.
From the archive
The Sincere Company store on Nanjing Road, from Shanghai of Today, 1927.
Photo: unknown photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
How to visit
- Status
- Open to visitors
- Opening times and prices not yet confirmed; check before you go.
- Nearest metro
- Metro directions will be added after a site visit.Plan a metro journey here →
Chinese address — show this to a taxi driver
上海市黄浦区南京东路步行街
East Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street, Huangpu District
Amap (高德地图) works best in mainland China; Apple Maps on iPhone. Both open in the app when it is installed.
Nearby
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Within a 10-minute walk
- Moore Memorial Church沐恩堂6 min walk
- Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center上海城市规划展示馆10 min walk
Within a 20-minute walk
- Park Hotel国际饭店12 min walk
- People's Park Marriage Market人民公园相亲角12 min walk
- Holy Trinity Cathedral圣三一堂13 min walk
- Great World大世界14 min walk
People
Silas Aaron Hardoon哈同property developer, merchant, philanthropist(owned)
Stories
- How to read the Bund: one waterfront, three rebuildings, 1845–1948
- Licensed to pull: rickshaws, wheelbarrows, sedan chairs and motor cars, 1874–1934
- Lighting the Settlement: oil, gas and the Council's own electricity, 1854–1935
- Markets and hawkers: how the Council tried to get Shanghai's food off the street, 1880–1932
- May Thirtieth and the three Chinese seats: the Council's own account, 1925–1930
- The 64 roads that will not be widened: how Shanghai fixed the width of its old streets, 2002–2023
- The first trams, 1905–1928: how the Settlement got moving
- The four companies: Nanjing Road's department stores, roof gardens and neon, 1917–1956
- The hongs: how Shanghai's foreign trading houses rose, changed and left, 1843–1958
- The Mixed Court: who judged the Chinese of the International Settlement, 1864–1927
- The Municipal Police: from eight constables to five thousand, 1854–1932
- We fight the flames: the Shanghai fire brigade from volunteers to professionals, 1866–1932
Sources
- 1.Chinese Wikipedia (article given in each fact's locator) (中文维基百科), Wikimedia Foundation — https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/南京东路步行街wikipedia
- 2.English Wikipedia (article given in each fact's locator) (English Wikipedia), Wikimedia Foundation — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Nanjing_Roadwikipedia
- 3.Famous commercial street of Shanghai stretches to the Bund (Famous commercial street of Shanghai stretches to the Bund), China Services Info (Xinhua), updated 2020-09-14, 2020 — https://www.chinaservicesinfo.com/s/202009/14/WS5f6856a5498ed1e2f34098ac/famous-commercial-street-of-shanghai-stretches-to-the-bund.htmlarticle
- 4.Shanghai Nanjing Road East Extension (Shanghai Nanjing Road East Extension Revitalizes the Historic Pedestrian Path to the Bund), Snøhetta, 2025 — https://www.snohetta.com/news/shanghai-nanjing-road-east-extension-revitalizes-the-historic-pedestrian-path-to-the-bundwebsite