Xiangyang Road, the new home of Pawnstar, ranks among the most charming, bustling stretches of Shanghai’s Former French Concession – with dumpling and noodle shops, artisanal bars, and tiny shoe repair and key cutters often within feet of each other. The area manages to be exceedingly hip while maintaining much of its pre-gentrification flavor due to the enduring presence of many of the older inhabitants in the neighborhood. They don’t get priced out here. Xiangyang Road is exactly the sort of organic, messy, dense, colorful, and extremely walkable neighborhood that urbanist Jane Jacobs had in mind and it has not suffered the homogenization – Duane Reade-ization – of much of Manhattan just yet – though there are warning signs. The norm for urban China is, of course, homogenous indeed in terms of chains and architectural diversity.
The new Pawnstar is at Xiangyang North Road No. 34. Nearby us are some establishments that are right out of artisanal, foodie Brooklyn, Egg and Botanist, as well as Kartel, with its stupendous views of the Soviet-inspired Shanghai Exhibition Centre. Other attractions near Xiangyang Road include the sprawling Lost Heaven Silk Road complex on Julu Road as well as pleasant Xiangyang Park, and the mall at IAPM. This article lays out 23 wonderful things to do on Xiangyang Lu. There are also a plethora of fashion boutiques on Xinle Road, ranging from Nike Lab to supermodel Lv Yan’s brand Comme Moi in an impressive, Neri and Hu designed space.
Pawnstar’s specific location on Xiangyang Road is between Julu Road and Changle Road. What would be really cool is if other vintage, secondhand, and designer consignment stores begin opening in this immediate neighborhood so that it would become a real destination for this kind of shopper.
