Tianzifang 田子坊

Hello, dear visitors, and welcome to Tianzifang in Shanghai! Today I will lead you in this order — Taikang Road Main Entrance → Shikumen Lane Architecture → Former Studio of Chen Yifei → Shoubai Art Centre → Painters' Building Rooftop → Scent Library → Jin Fen Shi Jia → Lane 248 → Lane 274 Art Corridor — as we wind together through this "lane labyrinth" that brings together five hundred years of everyday street life and more than two decades of artistic rebirth.

We are now standing at the entrance to Lane 210 on Taikang Road. Look up — this entrance archway is the face of Tianzifang. The archway blends shikumen gateway elements with modern design; the red-brick walls on either side echo the depths of the lanes within, and at the entrance stands a stone tablet inscribed with the three large characters for "Tianzifang." The name is an elegant coinage made in 2001 by the great painter Huang Yongyu, drawn from a play on the name of a painter, "Tian Zifang," in the ancient text Zhuangzi, signifying that this is a gathering place for artists.

At the entrance, remember to do two things: first, pick up a free neighbourhood map — the lanes crisscross like a maze, and a map will set your mind at ease; second, look at the bronze plaque set into the wall, inscribed with a brief history of Tianzifang. This place was originally called "Zhicheng Fang," with a history reaching back to the Jiajing reign of the Ming dynasty. In the late nineteenth century it became part of the French Concession, in the early twentieth century it turned into an industrial zone, and in 1998 Chen Yifei was the first to set up a studio here, giving rise to the Tianzifang of today. It takes only a few minutes to read — think of it as homework for the tour ahead.

Tianzifang is open free of charge, all day, though shops generally open around ten in the morning and close around ten at night. We recommend coming on a weekday before ten in the morning, when there are fewer people, the light is good, and photos turn out especially well.

This entrance is a popular photo spot, especially when the street first opens in the morning, when light slants in from the east and the stone texture of the archway and the red-brick walls stand out beautifully. We suggest a wide-angle lens, framing the archway together with the red-brick walls on both sides for greater depth. If you come on a busy weekend, you can crouch a little lower and shoot upward to avoid the crowds. At the entrance you can also see Tianzifang's signature sculpture; the ribbon above it symbolizes the joining together of artists from the five continents and four oceans. Frame the sculpture together with the archway and you have a classic "I was here" photo.

Passing through the entrance, we now step properly into the shikumen lane architecture of Tianzifang. Look at the houses on both sides — these are Shanghai's most distinctive shikumen buildings. What is a "shikumen"? It means a doorframe built of stone, with exquisite carving on the lintel above, and inside a traditional layout of courtyard, main hall and side rooms. Notice that gateway — above the stone doorframe is a semicircular or triangular carved decoration; this is the most classic feature of the shikumen. The shikumen is an architectural type unique to Shanghai, born in the mid-nineteenth century, a fusion of East and West — Western ornament on the façade, the traditional Chinese courtyard layout within.

Let us walk on to the entrance porch of Zhicheng Fang. This porch was built in 1933, nearly a hundred years ago, and the original shikumen gateway and the scale of the lane have been preserved. Take in the width of this lane — at its narrowest it is only one point eight metres, so that two people walking side by side must turn sideways. So we were right to wear flat shoes today; in high heels on these stone slabs you would scarcely be able to move. The lane is paved with stone slabs, uneven in places, so watch your step as you walk.

What is the greatest distinguishing feature of Tianzifang? It is that residents still live here. Look — over there a green letterbox in the style of the 1980s still hangs on the wall, and it is still in use today. The laundry the residents hang out, the flowers they grow on their balconies — this breath of everyday life mingles with the galleries and cafés alongside, creating a flavour all its own. Ordinary street life and artistic creativity coexist here so naturally. Think about it — where else in the world can you see residents picking over their vegetables in a lane, then turn around and step into a contemporary art gallery? This is the unique charm of Tianzifang.

The architectural forms of Tianzifang trace a line of development from a modern Jiangnan rural village, to a mixed Chinese-foreign residential community, to a lane-factory community. Notice — some houses are purely Chinese traditional dwellings, some are Western-style shikumen built during the French Concession era, and others are studios converted from lane factories. These buildings of different eras and different styles crowded together are themselves a living history of Shanghai's urban development.

For those who want to photograph the shikumen, we suggest a medium-to-long telephoto lens to capture the carved details of the gateway; the patterns on the stone doorframes, weathered for nearly a century, carry a distinctive sense of time. If you encounter an overcast day, the light in the shikumen lanes becomes very even and soft, the best time for shooting whole buildings. Also, the laundry and bedsheets hung out in the lanes are actually fine photographic elements — the colourful fabrics fluttering in the lane breeze are full of everyday life. But when taking photos, please do not point your lens directly into residents' homes; respect their privacy.

Continuing inward, we come to the depths of Lane 210 on Taikang Road, and here is the former studio of Chen Yifei. This building was originally a workshop of the Haihua Leather Factory, a two-storey old timber structure. In 1998, Chen Yifei was invited to move in here, becoming one of the first artists to set up a studio in Tianzifang. It is fair to say that without Chen Yifei there would be no Tianzifang as we know it today.

Do you know who Chen Yifei was? He was one of China's most renowned oil painters working in America, born in Ningbo, Zhejiang, in 1946, who later went to develop his career in the United States. His works such as Ode to the Yellow River and The Taking of the Presidential Palace are milestones in the history of Chinese art. Here he created the bronze sculpture Oriental Maiden, as well as the sundial sculpture in Pudong, reflecting his love for the city of Shanghai. Chen Yifei was not only a painter but also a film director and fashion designer — a true cross-disciplinary artist. He chose to set up his studio in what was then a run-down lane of Tianzifang precisely because he was drawn to the sense of space and history of the old factory.

Notice the details of this building — it embodies a plain, weighty style. The timber staircase, the old brick walls, the iron-framed windows are all relics of the leather-factory era. The fireplace in the lounge is not just for show — in winter a fire really can be lit in it. Imagine, in the depths of winter, gathering around the fire with a cup of coffee, talking about art — what a wonderful atmosphere. Beside it is the Yifei Art Exhibition Hall, displaying porcelain and works of calligraphy and painting by masters that record a thousand years of Chinese culture — well worth stepping inside to see.

After Chen Yifei arrived, a wave of artists followed — Er Dongqiang, Wang Jieyin, Wang Jiajun, Li Shoubai and others — and the old factory buildings and shikumen dwellings gradually turned into artists' studios, design offices and galleries. On 28 December 1998, the Yilufa Cultural Development Company became the first to move onto Taikang Road, raising the curtain on the Taikang Road Shanghai Art Street. So the Tianzifang you see today was in fact transformed bit by bit, beginning in 1998.

Industrial heritage and artistic creation found a perfect point of union here. Notice that some studios still keep the factory's old cranes and the imported skylight panels of the canopy — Er Dongqiang's studio has two cranes that are not mere ornaments but can still be started up, and the skylight panels, a fruit of the Industrial Revolution, now serve as the finest source of natural light.

For photography, the exterior of this two-storey timber building is well suited to a low-angle shot, framing the timber staircase together with the old brick walls. The interior light is rather dim, so we suggest a wide aperture or your phone's night mode. At the entrance is a bronze plaque introducing Chen Yifei, which you can photograph as a record of your visit.

Coming out of Chen Yifei's studio, we arrive at the Shoubai Art Centre. This is a multi-functional art space combining exhibition, hands-on experience and sales, chiefly showcasing Shanghai-style heavy-colour painting and Shanghai-style paper-cutting, along with modern oil paintings and ink sketches.

Step inside and look at these paintings on the wall. Representative works such as Spring of the Four Seasons of Shikumen and Memory's Rhyme are vivid in colour and delicate in brushwork, depicting the charm of Shanghai's lanes and the transformation of the city. Founder Li Shoubai is an inheritor on Shanghai's list of intangible cultural heritage, an outstanding representative of Shanghai-style art. If you are interested in paper-cutting, the centre holds paper-cutting workshops and art salons year-round, where you can try the knife-work of Shanghai-style paper-cutting with your own hands.

Shanghai-style heavy-colour painting and Shanghai-style paper-cutting are art forms unique to Shanghai. Shanghai-style heavy-colour painting layers mineral pigments one over another for colours that are both rich and luminous, depicting subjects such as shikumen lanes, women in qipao, and old Shanghai street scenes. Shanghai-style paper-cutting, unlike the bold style of the north, prizes flowing lines and refined composition, especially suited to portraying Shanghai's lane life and urban charm. Look closely at these paper-cuts — every cut and line is extremely precise, and some intricate works take thousands of cuts to complete. This is the allure of intangible cultural heritage.

Mr Li Shoubai learned paper-cutting from his father as a child, later studying painting and design, and combined traditional paper-cutting with modern heavy-colour painting to form his distinctive "Shoubai style." His works are not merely art pieces on a wall but a visual archive of the city's memory — look at the shikumen lanes, the drying poles, the women in qipao in his work; these vanishing scenes of old Shanghai have all been permanently preserved by his brush and scissors.

Buying a small painting here, or a set of paper-cut bookmarks, makes for a souvenir with real Shanghai flavour. Prices range from a few dozen yuan for a small bookmark to several thousand for an original painting, to suit any budget. If you would like to join a paper-cutting workshop, you can book in advance at the shop, where a teacher will guide you step by step through a simple piece.

Photography is permitted inside the Shoubai Art Centre, but please do not use flash, as flash accelerates the fading of the pigments. Heavy-colour paintings are richest under warm lighting, so we suggest setting your white balance to a warm tone. If you want to capture the details of the paper-cuts, hold the work up to the light — the play of light through the cut-out openings is exquisitely beautiful.

Having seen the Shoubai art, let us go up to the rooftop of the Painters' Building. The earlier life of the Painters' Building is fascinating — in 1935 it was first the "Kangfu Weaving Factory," in the era of New China it became the "Shanghai Watch and Clock Parts Factory," and later, when artists such as Chen Yifei arrived, the building took on a new identity as the "Painters' Building." Having brought Tianzifang more than a decade of development, the Painters' Building is a living witness to its transformation from industrial zone to art district. Originating in 1935, the building passed through a threefold change of identity — from weaving factory, to watch-and-clock parts factory, to artists' studios — each change corresponding to a stage in Shanghai's urban development.

Standing on the rooftop and looking out, you can take in the whole panorama of the Tianzifang lanes — the dense shikumen rooftops, the drying poles, the chimneys, and the high-rises in the distance; this contrast between the texture of old Shanghai rooftops and the modern city skyline is something you cannot see anywhere else. Look to the east and you see Lujiazui's "three-piece set" — the Shanghai Tower, the Shanghai World Financial Center and the Jin Mao Tower; look to the west and you see the red-tiled roofs of the old villas left from the French Concession era. Standing on a 1935 factory rooftop and seeing Shanghai's past and future at the same time, this sense of overlapping time and space is wonderfully strange.

Many artists have left traces of their work on this rooftop, and the ground beneath your feet may still bear the marks of paint splashed here long ago. More than a dozen renowned artists, including Chen Yifei and Er Dongqiang, once worked in the Painters' Building, creating, exhibiting and exchanging ideas here, turning an old factory into one of Shanghai's most important art incubators. Although the Painters' Building later underwent adjustments to meet development needs, its contribution to Tianzifang is indelible.

The rooftop is the best place in all of Tianzifang for a panoramic shot. We suggest a wide-angle lens, framing the texture of the lane rooftops together with the distant Lujiazui skyline. If you come at dusk, the setting sun strikes from the west and the red-brick roofs are bathed in gold — truly spectacular. For a more layered photo, you can stitch a super-wide panorama, from the old French Concession roofs all the way to the Lujiazui skyscrapers — a hundred years of Shanghai distilled into a single image.

But the rooftop space is limited, so when it is crowded, mind your safety and do not push. The edge of the rooftop has no high railing, so watch your footing while taking photos and do not back into a dangerous position for the sake of a shot. Also, the wind on the rooftop is quite strong, so if you come in winter, remember to bring an extra layer.

Coming down from the rooftop, let us visit the Scent Library. This place is on the second floor at the back of No. 16 Tianzifang, with a very distinctive décor — an industrial style mixed with shikumen elements. Once inside, look at the display counter, where test tubes, beakers and other laboratory apparatus are set out. This is because the brand's philosophy is "scientific perfumery," treating the blending of fragrance as a scientific experiment.

The founder of the Scent Library is Lou Nanshi. In 2009 he and his partners founded the brand, with the core idea of "linking scents together" — transforming the scenes of everyday life into the notes of a fragrance. Abstract feelings such as "a rainy day," "grandmother's wardrobe" or "first love" can all be blended into a concrete perfume. You may find this hard to believe — how can an emotion become a scent? But when you smell that bottle of "rainy day," you really do catch the scent of earth and grass after rain — this is the magic of the Scent Library.

Foreign friends can look here for your own "scent of Shanghai." The shop has limited-edition fragrances themed on shikumen lanes and the Shanghai autumn; one whiff and you will remember the scent of this trip. You can smell the test tubes on the counter one by one — each is labelled with the theme of its scent — and slowly find the one that moves you most. The fragrance products here have very designerly packaging, making them ideal gifts — a little glass bottle holding a fragment of memory is far more interesting than buying a pile of keychains.

The philosophy of the Scent Library actually fits the character of Tianzifang especially well — Tianzifang itself is a place of "linking together," linking history and the present, ordinary life and art, China and the world. The Scent Library links memory through scent, and Tianzifang links eras through its lanes — different means to the same end.

The interior of the Scent Library is rather dim, with the atmosphere of a laboratory. For photography we suggest a wide-aperture lens to capture the details of the test tubes and beakers, and if you can catch the light refracted through the coloured glass bottles, it is simply beautiful. Note, however, that some product areas in the shop may not allow photography, so ask a staff member before you shoot.

Out of the Scent Library, let us browse Jin Fen Shi Jia. This is a themed cultural-creative shop inspired by Zhang Henshui's novel Jin Fen Shi Jia (The Gilded Family). Do you know Jin Fen Shi Jia? It was one of the best-selling novels of the Republican era, written by Zhang Henshui, telling the tragic love story between Jin Yanxi, the young master of the Jin family in Beiping, and Leng Qingqiu, a girl from a poor household. It was later made into a television series in 2003, starring Chen Kun and Dong Jie, a nationwide hit, and its theme song "Hidden Fragrance" is still sung in karaoke rooms today.

Step inside and take a look. It sells Republican-style clothing, jewellery, bookmarks, notebooks and other spin-off products. The cleverest part is that the shop has recreated the classic scenes from the novel — the Jin family parlour and Leng Qingqiu's study; stepping in, you feel as though you have travelled back to the residence of a Republican-era noble family. Vintage furniture, Republican-era posters, an old-fashioned gramophone — every detail has been carefully matched. See if you can find the desk lamp in Leng Qingqiu's study, and the vase in the Jin family parlour — both recreated one-to-one according to the novel's descriptions.

This shop is especially popular with young people, and many visitors change into a qipao or a Republican-era student uniform to take photos here, with wonderful results. If you have come to Tianzifang in a cotton-linen dress or a qipao, this is the perfect backdrop — sink into that grand master's chair, with the gramophone beside you playing a song by Zhou Xuan, and the photo looks straight out of a Republican-era magazine. Note, though, that trying on clothes and taking photos may require a purchase, so do ask the shopkeeper for details.

When Zhang Henshui wrote Jin Fen Shi Jia, although he was telling a Beiping story, the rise and fall of a great family and the clash between old and new ideas were shared across all of Republican-era China. The French Concession where Tianzifang stands was, in those days, exactly such a frontier of old meeting new, East colliding with West — in this Republican-era space at Jin Fen Shi Jia, what you feel is precisely the spirit of Tianzifang in that age.

The interior of Jin Fen Shi Jia is in warm yellow tones, and the Republican-era props have a strong period feel under the warm light. We suggest portrait mode, blending the figure into the Republican-era setting, so the photo looks like the cover of a Republican-era magazine. For a more narrative photo, you can pick up one of the thread-bound books in the shop as a prop and pretend to read — the result has a lovely literary air.

Out of Jin Fen Shi Jia, we enter Lane 248. This is the most photogenic of Tianzifang's three main lanes. Why do I say so? Because every doorway looks like a film set — stained-glass doors and windows cast dappled colour in the sunlight, and walls of climbing vines and flowers change colour with the seasons; walking here is like walking through a rainbow tunnel.

Lane 248 hides plenty of good things. At the "Pottery Workshop" you can try throwing a pot on the wheel and make a cup with your own hands to take home; the "Time Museum" displays vintage cameras and vinyl records, and retro lovers who go in never want to come out; and there are little shops selling old-Shanghai vanishing cream and tin toys, full of childhood memories. If you see a shop that interests you, there is no need to rush to buy — take a stroll round first. The pleasure of Tianzifang lies in the strolling itself; you never know what you will find around the next corner.

Tianzifang has three main entrances from Taikang Road, with Lanes 210, 248 and 274 as the three principal routes for a visit. Lane 210 is the main street, the liveliest; Lane 248 is the artistic lane, the most photogenic; Lane 274 is the art lane, the quietest. Each of the three lanes has its own flavour, and we suggest you walk all three to feel the full layering of Tianzifang.

This lane is also the best place in Tianzifang for a leisurely stroll and street photography. The stained-glass windows are the finest of natural filters — shooting passers-by across the lane through the coloured glass gives a dreamlike play of light. In front of the flowering vine walls, we suggest a wide aperture to blur the background; a figure standing before the flower wall makes for an artful shot. If you come in spring, the vines on the wall bloom with little purple flowers, especially romantic; come in autumn, the leaves turn yellow and red — a different charm again.

A reminder: the market in Lane 248 is about thirty per cent cheaper than the main street, so for souvenirs it is more worthwhile to buy here, and you can bargain a little too. But bargain kindly, not too hard — they have a living to make as well. We recommend old-Shanghai-style tin toys, vanishing cream, handmade soaps and the like — inexpensive and full of character.

Also, Lane 248 has a few good cafés and teahouses where you can sit and rest your feet when you tire of strolling. Drinking a cup of coffee in the lane, with laundry hanging overhead, the century-old shikumen wall beside you, and sunlight falling on the table through the flowering vine trellis — this is an experience only Tianzifang in all the world can give you.

Finally we come to Lane 274, Tianzifang's hidden "art corridor." Look at the walls — they are hung with designers' poster works, and at the corners there are giant murals, something you do not see in the first two lanes. The atmosphere here is far quieter, with relatively few visitors, ideal for in-depth exploration.

The depths of the lane gather many international artists' studios and design offices, where creative minds of different nationalities and cultural backgrounds meet and spark off one another. If you see a studio that interests you, do push the door open and take a look — many artists are happy to chat with visitors about their work. This is also the most "international" corner of Tianzifang, where you can feel the deep fusion of lane space and contemporary art. Within Tianzifang there are more than a hundred studios, design offices and exhibition centres run by foreigners, and Lane 274 is where this international creative force is most concentrated.

Notice the murals and posters on the walls — these are not painted at random; many were created by international artists based in Tianzifang. Some murals blend shikumen architectural elements with Western street art; some posters are redesigned in the style of old Shanghai advertising calendar prints. Every wall you see here is a dialogue between Chinese and foreign art. Some murals are changed periodically, so each time you come to Lane 274 you may see something different — one more reason Tianzifang never grows dull.

At the end of the lane is Jianguo Middle Road, and once outside you can stroll over to nearby Sinan Road, which is lined with French plane trees and is very beautiful. Sinan Road was also one of the core roads of Shanghai's French Concession era, with many garden villas preserved on both sides; the former residences of Soong Ching-ling and Mei Lanfang are both on that road. Come out of the lanes of Tianzifang, turn a corner, and you are beneath the plane trees of Sinan Road — from ordinary street life to French romance in just a few steps. This is the allure of Shanghai.

The mural wall of Lane 274 is the best place in Tianzifang for a "cool" photo. We suggest an ultra-wide or fisheye lens to capture the visual impact of the entire mural wall. If you like posting travel photos on social media, the shots here will surely earn a wave of likes. When photographing the murals, you can lean against the wall and interact with the artwork — far more interesting than simply shooting the wall.

And so, dear visitors, our tour of Tianzifang draws to a close here. From the stone tablet and archway at the Taikang Road main entrance, to the five hundred years of life in the shikumen lanes, from the artistic awakening at Chen Yifei's studio, to the international murals of Lane 274 — Tianzifang is just such a place, kneading history and the present, ordinary life and art, China and the world, all into a single lane. We hope that here you have not only seen Shanghai's architecture and art, but also felt the unique charm of this city — inclusive, open, and brimming with the warmth of everyday life. Thank you all!