Promenades au coeur de l’ancienne Concession Française

I always try to write unbiased book reviews… but this one will be a bit different, since I have been involved in creating the book. “Promenades au coeur de l’ancienne concession française” is the new version of an older guide about Shanghai’s former French concession. As the original one, this book was made by “A pleines mains” an expat charity in Shanghai with proceeds used in various help projects in Shanghai and surrounding cities. The original guide was published in 2002 and has become out of print.

The new version published in 2008 includes a number of guided walks throughout the former French Concession. Each walk is about one hour and can easily fit into a busy afternoon shopping or as a short break in a business trip. Walks are spread around the old French Concession and the adjacent Xu Jia Hui area. One of them passes by the entrance of the lane where I live. Fortunately, my house is not included… keeping my little private Shanghai quiet. (I left this location in 2015, see post “Leaving Route Kaufmann“.)

The book is both in French and English, ensuring that the information collected by the large French community in the city is spread out to every lover of the old Shanghai. The original text was written in 2001 and the original author interviewed a few remaining Chinese survivors of the Concession time. This adds anecdotes and real stories to the book, making it a lively read. Having been interested in the topic for a few years, I still managed to learn quite a few things from it.

I did not design the walks, but I contributed with my own collection of old Shanghai postcards and documents to be used as illustration. I am quite proud of having been part of it as the result is really good. If you are looking for a practical book about old Shanghai, it’s a good point to start.

An update to the book was added in 2013. Some of the sites visited have now been teared down, but the book is still relevant. Unfortunately, this particular book has never been reprinted and has become very difficult to find nowadays. Another very good series of guide books for walks around Shanghai is the Shanghai Walks series that was coordinated by Tess Johnston. Since they were also printed in small number, they are also very difficult to find nowadays.