Anfu Road, lined on both sides by century-old parasol trees, has become a must-go for hipsters and other creative types in Shanghai.
The road, 850 metres (half a mile) long, is at the heart of the Chinese city’s former French Concession, which covers parts of the Huangpu and Xuhui districts.
The Chinese government conceded the area to French occupiers in 1849, seven years after it lost the opium wars against Western countries.
The French built commercial and residential streets primarily to serve American, British and, later, Russian settlers. Before 1943, when the European-style neighbourhood was signed over to a puppet state (dissolved in 1945) of the Japanese empire during the second world war, it was a hub of opium smoking and gambling. That included Anfu Road, then called Rue Dupleix.
Eight decades on, this avenue is known as the headquarters of Chinese fashion lovers.
