Sinan Road and its Villas

In front of you is Sinan Road, one of the most elegant streets of the former French Concession. It opened in 1914 as Rue Massenet, named after the French composer Jules Massenet, who had died two years earlier. In 1946 it was renamed Sinan, after a town in Guizhou with a similar sound.

1A street of villas

Villas with gardens were built along the street for well-off families, both Chinese and foreign. The complex you see, Sinan Mansions, brings together several dozen of them, restored around 2010 and turned into a hotel, restaurants and shops.

2Zhou Enlai at number 73

In 1946, after the war against Japan, the Communists and Nationalists were still negotiating. The Communist delegation rented a Spanish-style villa at number 73 in Zhou Enlai's name, because the government would not accept a lease in the party's name. Neighbours called it “the Zhou Mansion”. The delegation had to leave in March 1947, by which time civil war had broken out in earnest. Today it is a museum.

From 1932, Mei Lanfang, the most celebrated actor of Peking opera, lived at number 87. During the Japanese occupation he grew a moustache so that he would not have to perform.

If you still have energy, about two and a half kilometres to the west is Wukang Road, with Hudec's Wukang Mansion, another street of concession villas.

3What to look for

• The wooden balconies and tiled roofs.
• The heritage plaques on the walls, telling you who lived in each house.
• The plane trees, which roof the street like a canopy.