Shanghai lane houses

There is a specific corner in Shanghai that has become something of a pilgrimage site. At the intersection of Huaihai Middle Road and Wukang Road, a wedge-shaped building shaped like a ship's bow slices through the traffic. Tourists crowd the opposite sidewalk, phones held high, all trying to capture the same perfect shot. This is the Wukang Building. And it is the gateway to one of the most...

There is a particular kind of magic that happens when you turn off a busy Shanghai thoroughfare and duck into a quiet lane house neighborhood. The noise of the city softens. The plane trees grow thicker overhead. And suddenly, you are walking through history. Lane houses – or lilong (里弄) in Chinese – are the architectural soul of Old Shanghai. For decades, they have been the backdrop...