Tour to Old Street of China Shanghai

Head south down Renmin Lu, which soon turns into Zhonghua Lu. To your right, bamboo scaffolding wrapped in green canvas belies the fate and future of Luwan District, while to your left, stone archways with half chipped away dates lead into longtang dwellings. The further south you go, though, the more the construction gives way to the utilitarian boxes that sprouted up in fits of development between the 1950s to the 1980s. Before long, you're at Fuxing Dong Lu, a stretch wildly different from its more China tours frequented Central and Western incarnations. The intersection of Zhonghua Lu and Fuxing Dong Lu, adjacent to the stairs leading up to the overpass, contains a Junk Market with a truly bizarre array of, well, junk, from second-hand appliances to used clothing to a variety of creatively shaped if crudely made bongs.

Continue south on Zhonghua Lu for a few blocks, with eyes still trained to the right, and soon, over the tops of the red-tiled roofs of 1920s shikumen, you'll catch sight of flourishes more characteristic of Qing Dynasty constructions: gray tiles, stacked horizontally, and curling dragons' heads snorting carved smoke. Welcome to the Wenmiao Confucian Temple, which is most scenically entered the back way Yangtze River cruises by Menghua Jie, past old buildings emblazoned with faded declarations of "10,000 years to Comrade Mao!" (The main entrance, via Wenmiao Lu a block further south, is sanitized past the point of interest.) At the back gate of the temple sits one of two Wenmiao Book Markets. This one specializes in new, surplus books and magazines, stacked high and selling by the jin for a song. Ubiquitous signs loudly prohibit smoking in this, Shanghai's largest fire hazard. Cut south down a side street to Wenmiao Lu, lined by book vendors, and head to the Temple's main entrance.

The Wenmiao Temple is the only extant Confucian Temple in Shanghai. It originated during the Yuan Dynasty (AD 1271-1368) as the Zitong Clan Temple, but was reconstructed in its current form in 1855. Like the Yuyuan, it housed the Small Swords Society when they took over the city during the Taiping Uprising. The Kuixing Tower, standing 20 China tour meters high, once offered a panoramic view of the Old City. The temple was targeted by Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution, so many of its buildings and most of their contents are reproductions. The front courtyard of the temple houses another book market, this one a sprawling used book market; the pedantic Master Kong would be pleased. The offerings include many antique English books, as well as bargain copies of coffee tables on Shanghai and on China. Blow your book budget, then head into the quiet sanctuary of the ponds and gardens of the inner temple for a good read.

From Wenmiao, wander due east, either back along Fuxing Dong Lu or via an alleyway of your choice. Off Fuxing Lu, a stone's-throw east of its intersection with Henan Nan Lu, is Xiaotaoyuan Lu, home to the Xiaotaoyuan Mosque, Shanghai's most distinctive piece of Islamic architecture. Still an actively used mosque, its congregation is not comprised of minority groups like the Uighurs, but rather by Hui, or Chinese Muslims. Built in 1917, the ornately beautiful building is known for the four huge green globes adorning its roof. The architectural style is an interesting blend of Islamic, Western, and Chinese influences. Unfortunately, as the neighboring longtang buildings hedge it in very closely, it is difficult Shanghai tours to get a full view of building. It is not the oldest mosque in Shanghai; that distinction goes to the Fuyou Lu Mosque, hidden behind mobs of trinket vendors in the heart of Yuyuan, which was built in 1868 and is much more sinicized in design than the Western-influenced Xiaotaoyuan.