Nanjing Road and the Department Stores

In front of you, two of old Shanghai's most celebrated commercial buildings face each other. This street began in 1845 as Park Lane, a track running from the river to the racecourse, and in 1862 it was named Nanking Road. Chinese residents simply called it Da Malu, “the Big Road”.

1Two families and a retail revolution

On one side are the Sincere stores, opened in 1917 by Ma Yingbiao; on the other, Wing On, opened in 1918 by the Guo brothers. Both were Cantonese emigrants who had made their fortunes in Australia, and they brought the department store to China: many floors, shop windows, lifts, tea rooms, even hotels and rooftop gardens. Each building had its tower, and the race to be tallest was advertising too. A few years later Sun Sun and Da Sun arrived, and the street became known as China's shop window.

2A street with a political past

On 30 May 1925, outside the Laozha police station a few hundred metres to the west, International Settlement police opened fire on demonstrators, killing several people. The shooting set off strikes and protests across the country.

On 14 August 1937, in the first days of the Battle of Shanghai, bombs dropped by mistake fell on crowded streets; two of them landed on Nanjing Road.

The street has been pedestrianised since 1999, and in 2020 the walkway was extended to the Bund.

3What to look for

• The two towers crowning the corners, rivals for a century.
• The central stone strip, with manhole covers showing city buildings.
• The vertical neon signs, which turn the street into a river of light at dusk.