City walk
Nanjing Rd
Chinese name
南京步行街
East Nanjing Road is Shanghai's primary commercial street and a major pedestrian thoroughfare. Stretching approximately 1.5 kilometres from People's Square in the west to the Bund waterfront along the Huangpu River in the east, the car-free promenade forms a direct walking route between two of the city's main landmarks.
The street originated in the 1850s as Park Lane, built to link the British concession to a local racecourse, and was renamed Nanjing Road in the 1860s. During the 1920s and 1930s, it developed into China's modern retail centre with the construction of the country's first large department stores, including Wing On and Sincere. These multi-storey emporiums introduced escalators, window displays, and rooftop entertainment to Shanghai shoppers.
Today, the pedestrian mall blends heritage architecture and historic shops with contemporary retail flagships. Visitors pass century-old food purveyors like Shen Da Cheng, traditional pharmacies, and multi-storey food halls offering local pastries alongside international clothing and electronics stores. Small electric sightseeing trams run along the centre of the promenade, and walking the street eastward toward the Bund at dusk offers views of historic facades framed by dense clusters of illuminated neon signs.