Born in Shanghai in 1920 as Zhang Ying (her mother later renamed her Zhang Ailing), Eileen Chang went on to become one of China’s best known writers. In addition to spells in Tianjin and Hong Kong, the author of Lust, Caution and Love in a Fallen City spent many of her formative years in Shanghai, penning some of her most famous works here.
There are numerous sites associated with Chang dotted around the city, though unfortunately only a handful have received protective cultural heritage status. Her former school for example, the St Maria Girls’ School from which she graduated in 1937, now stands in ruin in the middle of a construction site next to Zhongshan Park metro station after it was nearly demolished several years ago. This walk takes in some of her old haunts in Jingan and the former French Concession.
Starting point Nanjing Xi Lu metro station, line 2
Walking time 1.5 hours
Click for larger map
Head out of exit one onto Nanjing Xi Lu itself and turn
left, crossing the junction with Maoming Bei Lu and going past the entrance of
Jingan Villas to number 1081. Inside the gates, you’ll find a grand red brick
building housing a Chinese restaurant surrounded by smaller, more modest
white-washed houses. The simpler buildings make up Zhonghua New Estate, where
Chang lived with her aunt for a short time after they vacated the Changde Apartment
complex, where this walk will end.
Q. Dragons adorn the entrance to the Meilongzhen Jiujia
restaurant. How many green dragon heads are there in total?
Retrace your steps back out through the gates and towards Jingan Villas. Use the pleasant old Shanghai longtang as a cut through to Weihai Lu, stopping along the way for refreshment at one of the numerous pleasant cafes if necessary.
At Weihai Lu, turn left toward the junction with Maoming Bei Lu. Just beyond the bakery on the left used to stand the house of Cao Qiqiao, the main character in Chang’s The Golden Cangue, purportedly based upon an aunt of the author. The original building was demolished some time ago. Head south on Maoming Lu and turn right when you get to the junction with Yanan Zhong Lu, just past KIN. At number 740 Yanan Zhong Lu, just past a VW showroom, is the entrance to the leafy Kangle Estate, mentioned in Chang’s short story A Flower in a Sea of Sins.
Q. Below the lamp on the right of the entranceway to the Kangle Estate there is a plaque of what?
Once you’ve taken in the plesantly peaceful longtang,
continue heading west along Yanan Zhong Lu and use the pedestrian bridge over
the junction with Shaanxi Nan Lu to cross underneath the Yanan raised road to
the southwest corner, beside the Hengshan Moller Villa. The fairytale
gothic-style Villa, today a fairly exclusive hotel, was built by British merchant
Eric Moller for his youngest daughter and completed in 1936 after a decade-long
construction period.
Keep going along the southern edge of Yanan Zhong Lu until
you reach number 877, opposite the Russian classical-style Shanghai Exhibition
Centre. Beside the entranceway at 877 is a small plaque commemorating the
former residence of Mao Guangsheng, an accomplished Ming dynasty scholar.
Q. Next door to the entranceway is an old Concession-era
house, now home to a branch of which restaurant chain?
Head in through the gateway at 877, travelling south until
you can go no further. At this point, turn right, squeeze through a small
gateway and continue on until the complex, Siming Estate, opens up into one of
its main passageways. Chang lived for a short time here before 1945 with her
first husband Hu Lancheng, himself a renowned writer and editor. Other
important Chinese literary figures such as poet Xu Zhimo also resided here and
the area is one of the best preserved longtang in the city. Head south
from here and you’ll emerge on Julu Lu.
Q. Turn and look back to the first building inside the
estate. How many storeys are there above the archway?
Turn right on Julu Lu and head west to the junction with
Fumin Lu. Here, take a right heading north under the raised Yanan Lu, past the
site of the new Shangri-La hotel and Kerry Centre, and across Nanjing Xi Lu. On
the western side of Changde Lu at number 195 is the beautiful Art Deco
structure of the Changde Apartment. Chang lived here for two stints and penned
novels Love in a Fallen City and The Golden Cangue during her
time in the complex.
Q. According to a heritage plaque on the wall, Chang’s
second stay in these apartments lasted until what date?
Head in through the gateway at 877, travelling south until
you can go no further. At this point, turn right, squeeze through a small
gateway and continue on until the complex, Siming Estate, opens up into one of
its main passageways. Chang lived for a short time here before 1945 with her
first husband Hu Lancheng, himself a renowned writer and editor. Other
important Chinese literary figures such as poet Xu Zhimo also resided here and
the area is one of the best preserved longtang in the city. Head south
from here and you’ll emerge on Julu Lu.
Q. Turn and look back to the first building inside the
estate. How many storeys are there above the archway?
Turn right on Julu Lu and head west to the junction with
Fumin Lu. Here, take a right heading north under the raised Yanan Lu, past the
site of the new Shangri-La hotel and Kerry Centre, and across Nanjing Xi Lu. On
the western side of Changde Lu at number 195 is the beautiful Art Deco
structure of the Changde Apartment. Chang lived here for two stints and penned
novels Love in a Fallen City and The Golden Cangue during her
time in the complex.
Q. According to a heritage plaque on the wall, Chang’s
second stay in these apartments lasted until what date?
The ground floor of Changde Apartment is now occupied by a
small coffee shop supposedly dedicated to the author. In practice, this means
that there are a few posters displaying Chang’s face, Chinese editions of her
books and, if you’re lucky, the odd copy in English. Nonetheless, a small
courtyard hidden out the back makes for a pleasant place to rest your feet
after walking this far, with coffee, tea, bottled beers and glasses of wine all
for 50RMB each. According to the menu, this is where Chang ‘found her favourite
cream cake’. The café also advertise that you can look in on ‘Eileen’s living room’ upstairs, now mostly used as a small conference centre, from 11am-10pm daily, though if you ask the surly staff will likely refuse. The Changde Apartment has a sign that blatantly prohibits visitors from fans of Chang, stating that it's a private residence which is understandable.
Q. What is the name of this cafe?
Getting home From Changde Apartment, Jingan Temple
metro station is just a minute’s walk away. Follow the signs for lines 2 and 7.
While there are numerous quirky and quaint cafes tucked away
in the Jingan Villas lanes, you arrive at The Grumpy Pig (65-4 Maoming Bei Lu,
near Yanan Lu) at a good juncture on this walk and the shaded conservatory
behind KIN makes for a perfect place to rest your feet.
We particularly like
the tonkatsu ramen (48RMB) and the beer-braised pork sandwich (55RMB),
while The Trotter Bar also does some great cocktails including the refreshing
Cel-Ray (60RMB) with gin, celery and yuzu kosho.
