Shanghai Natural History Museum and French Concession Hutongs

By Sally Franz

The Natural History Museum of Shanghai is found amidst a sculpture garden on 510 Beijing W. Road, Jingan Qu. So first definitely tour the gardens and wonderful sculptures and water features. Along pools and fountains there are open green lawns and landscaping. Make sure you go all the way to the back where there is a two-story high wire mesh sculpture of hands and beyond that in a pasture are several large horses that upon closer look are only a foot wide.

Then head into the museum. An ultra-modern building has an open floor to ceiling space with a Guggenheim-vibe circular ramp going past displays with explanations. I recommend starting at the top and working your way down. Hanging from the ceiling are whales, sharks, dinosaurs and birds and on the main floor there is a living tidal pool with specimens you can touch such as starfish and shells. 

An insider tip, especially if you have kids in tow, is to look for the unintentionally comical lion and wolf. Somehow when they were stuffed the expression on their faces took on a life of their own. The wolf looks hilariously quizzical and the lion looks wide-eyed surprised. Also a wonderful African Savanna is in the basement, but the decks above from other displays look out over the basement displays along one entire side allowing for several stories of open ceiling with daylight. It is easy to get to the basement via stairs or large elevators and worth the trip.

If you have time the same day, jump onto the subway Line 6 exit Dapuqiao station. There you will find the French Concession hutong area aka Tian Zi Fang. Actually in Shanghai these buildings are known as LongTangs because the extended structures were constructed to house refugees. The French Concession was controlled from 1849-1943 until the French gave it back. The roads within the hutong are narrow alleys and wind around with many dead-ends. In season there are boat rides to hire so you can see the old architecture from the water passing under the Ming Dynasty Bow Bridges. The hutong has been used for movie sets or for inspiration. Think Mission Impossible, Memoirs of a Geisha, Jackie Chan, and Kung Fu Panda. Not surprisingly back-in-the-day the chief business in the French Concession was opium dens and gambling.

Today the most fun in the hutong (the entire reason for going) is the local food and shopping. Handheld food includes noodle bowls, cotton candy the size of your head, soft ice cream cones with Churros stuck in them and of course deep fried squid on a stick. There are also a few sit-down restaurants stuck down alleys with wonderful dumplings and stir-fry. After you have eaten enough combinations to make your stomach very confused it is time to shop. The old homes of the hutong have been turned into souvenir shops. The nooks and crannies house amazing stores with everything from fine silk clothing to plastic chopsticks in packs of 12. There are costume jewelry stores, fragrance stalls, shoe stores, T-shirt stores, purse stores, novelty shops, pottery and tea/spice shops. It goes on and on. You leave when you run out of money because the hutong is a place where cash is more accepted than credit cards. In China a few of the higher end stores and restaurants will take Master Card/VISA. Because crime is so low, carrying cash is no big deal.

As a heads up, this is the old city. It has been reversed engineered to have electricity. That means you will look up and see a jumble of wiring that looks like a bowl of noodles on each store roof. It is not even close to any codes we follow in the states. I have no idea what happens when even one connection goes down. If you are an electrician, do yourself a favor and don’t look up or you will start looking like the wolf and lion at the museum. 

Sally Franz and her third husband live on the Olympic Peninsula. She has two daughters, a stepson, and three grandchildren. Sally is the author of several humor books including Scrambled Leggs: A Snarky Tale of Hospital Hooey and The Baby Boomer’s Guide to Menopause. She hosts a local radio humor segment, “Baby Boomer Humor with Sassy Sally”.