Suhewan Commercial District

Suhewan (苏河湾, Sūhéwān, “Suzhou Creek Bay”) is a redeveloped stretch of the north bank of Suzhou Creek in Jing’an District. It is the best choice in this group for a visitor with an interest in history: new malls and offices stand beside the Sihang Warehouse, a temple and old lane housing. It is a walkable riverside district rather than a single street.

Chinese Wikipedia defines the area as bounded on the east by Luofu Road, Wujin Road and North Henan Road, on the south by the creek, on the west by Changshou Road Bridge and on the north by the Shanghai-Nanjing railway. The name is recent: it first appeared in an Eastday article dated 6 February 2007, when the former Zhabei District government planned a development zone between the railway and the creek. The sites listed for the area include the Fuxin Flour Mill, Shanghai Tianhou Temple, the former Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce, the Oriental Library and the Sihang Warehouse.

The main redevelopment projects are recent. Suhewan Wanxiang Tiandi (苏河湾万象天地), at 100 Fujian North Road, opened on 13 October 2022, jointly developed by China Resources Land and Shun Tak Group. It has about 60,000 square metres of open commercial space and 42,000 square metres of central green space, and it kept Shanghai Tianhou Temple (上海天后宫) and the lane houses of Shenyu Li (慎余里). Nearby, Jing’an Joy City (静安大悦城) at 166 Xizang North Road opened its first building on 18 December 2010 and its second on 19 December 2015.

The 2022-2035 commercial-space plan lists Suhewan as a long-term city-level commercial centre of about 0.5 square kilometres. It is to rely on the creek and its historic buildings, with international business, commerce and housing as the main uses, and to stress cultural and creative uses, business and trade, leisure tourism and ecological living.