Taikang Road Art Street

　　Taikang Road, situated in the northwest of Dapuqiao, stretches east from Xujiahui Road, passes Sinan Road, and terminates at Ruijin No. 2 Road. The road is 464 meters in length and 12.4 meters wide. Built in 1926, it was initially named Jassey Road after a French cruiser. In October 1943, it was renamed to its current name. The street is lined mostly with two-story residential lanes, both old and new. Since the era of the French Concession, the area has hosted numerous small factories. By 1949, there were about 30 businesses along the road, including Dazhong Industrial Society, Fuhua Cigarette Factory, and Jianchen Flavor No. 2 Factory. In the late 1980s, there were still enterprises such as Huamei Wireless Factory, Watch Plastic Parts Factory, People’s Needle Factory, Emerging Tape Factory, Food Industry Machinery Factory, and Shanghai Electrolytic Manganese Factory, along with a decades-old roadside market.

　　During the environmental clean-up efforts starting in the 1980s and the factory reforms in the mid-1990s, many factories along Taikang Road were left vacant. The successful relocation of the roadside market into these unused factory spaces sparked ideas for deeper regional redevelopment. Considering the completion of upscale residential communities such as Haihua and Tiantian, which significantly altered the area's demographic makeup, Dapuqiao was set to become a community inhabited by compatriots from Taiwan and Hong Kong, white-collar workers, and middle- to high-income residents. Dapuqiao Subdistrict took the lead in proposing, without relying on state investment, the use of these idle factories to establish Taikang Road as an arts and crafts specialty street. On January 13, 1999, the site office meeting of the Luwan District People’s Government reviewed and confirmed this redevelopment strategy. In March, a management committee composed of members from 15 district-level bureaus and offices was established, with an administrative office set up underneath.

　　On December 28, Yilufa Culture Development Co., Ltd. was introduced. This ceramic crafts showroom occupied a 700-square-meter retail space and benefited from a 10-year rent-free policy. Later, artists such as painter Chen Yifei, sculptor Xie Jianling, and photographer Er Dongqiang moved in, giving initial shape to the art street. In October 2001, the former premises of the Food Industry Machinery Factory were renovated to create an Art Creation Center. On January 30, 2002, the cross-street sculpture “The Gate of Art,” designed by Chen Yifei, was officially unveiled at the intersection of Taikang Road and Xujiahui Road. On the same day, the Taikang Road Art Street Fellowship was established, with internationally renowned painter Chen Yifei elected as its president. By July 2002, a total of 83 art shops, studios, and exhibition halls had moved in, occupying over 10,000 square meters of space. The area housed antiques, old books, calligraphy, paintings, photography works, ceramic sculptures, and other artworks and collectibles. An art and cultural street funded without government investment began to take shape, becoming one of Shanghai’s top three markets and four major streets for antiques and art collections. After the opening of Taikang Road Art Street, large-scale events organized by the management committee included the June 22–30, 2001 exhibition of works by French artist Didier Mathieu Dartigues, the “Famous Paintings Enter Every Home” art sales event on January 15–25, 2002, the Wang Yin painting exhibition, the “Collecting Taikang Road” Gao Yuwen photography exhibition, and more. From May 31 to June 9, 2000, the Shanghai Xianggeda Art Center hosted an exhibition featuring Jerry Kolacz, a Canadian painter known as “one of the world’s ten most successful illustrators.”

　　Han Yuan Culture, Yi Dian Painting, and Shunji Cultural Art Center also held numerous cultural and artistic activities since their establishment.

　　Chen Yifei Studio

　　No. 2A, Lane 210, Taikang Road. Established in August 1999. Chen Yifei, a Chinese-American and renowned painter, had his oil painting “Twin Bridges in Zhouzhuang” gifted by the U.S. President. The studio includes four sections: sculpture, ceramics, oil painting, and the “Yifei Fashion” costume photography area, covering a total area of 658 square meters. In 2000, the sculpture “Oriental Girl” was created here and sent to Paris, becoming the first artwork by an Asian artist displayed at the Musée du Luxembourg.

　　Han Yuan Culture – Er Dongqiang Art Center

　　No. 2B, Lane 210, Taikang Road. Established by Er Dongqiang in early 2001. The center was converted from two factory buildings, covering about 800 square meters, and includes a printmaking studio, exhibition hall, and café. Since its inception, it has hosted events such as the 2001 Shanghai Printmaking Academic Exchange Exhibition “Expansion and Extension,” European Printmaking Exhibition, Er Dongqiang’s Western Expedition Photography Exhibition “Kanas & Ejina,” exhibitions by Gerhard Richter and Wang Jian, Zeng Hong, Nie Jun’s piano concert, Tian Guoan’s jazz concert “Gershwin Night,” classic opera excerpts concert “Under the Silver Moonlight,” and more. Starting March 2002, an opera salon was added, inviting outstanding Shanghai opera artists to perform on the last Saturday of every month.

　　Shunji Cultural Art Center

　　No. 15–17, Taikang Road. Established by Zheng Dengji in May 2000. Engaged in the production and sale of arts and crafts, calligraphy, and paintings, as well as planning art-related events. Since its founding, the center has hosted exhibitions and events such as the “Welcome PLA Day” painting and calligraphy exhibition, the 3rd Comic Art Exchange Auction, the Trust Auction Company’s auction of famous oil paintings and traditional Chinese paintings, the first public auction of oil paintings and Chinese paintings by the Mass Auction Company, Luo Jun’s wine bottle sculpture collection exhibition, Li Feng’s painting exhibition, Wang Dexin’s Chinese painting exhibition, Wang Mouxin’s Mao Zedong badge collection, Ma Xijing and Lin Zhenzhi painting exhibitions, Meng Yunhe’s painting exhibition, Fan Linpeng’s painting exhibition, Lin Qin’s painting exhibition, the Chinese Wine Culture Festival painting and calligraphy exhibition, Shunji Family Treasure Watermelon Cultural Art activities, and Zhang Haiguo’s pottery art collection exhibition.

　　Yi Dian Gallery

　　No. 25B, Taikang Road. Established by Zhang Jindi. A comprehensive art and culture enterprise mainly dealing in visual art, while also offering services such as graphic design, planning of large-scale art events, exhibition PR, and environmental art design. Since its establishment, it has hosted exhibitions such as “History of Currency Symbols” by Jiang Hong, “Chinese Mythology” – a joint exhibition of 26 contemporary artists, “Surveying the Region” – a report on contemporary art from Xi’an, exhibitions of imagery landscape and still-life paintings, contemporary ink wash paintings, “Happy Times – Born in 1973” joint exhibition, the small-format fine art exhibition by Yang Zhongguang and Chen Shoufei, invited exhibition of works by outstanding female artists, and the Northern China Modern Art Exhibition.

　　Art Creation Center

　　Located at No. 3, Lane 210, Taikang Road. Originally the factory building of Shanghai Food Machinery Factory, five stories tall with a construction area of 4,500 square meters. Now divided by the resident artists into individual creative spaces according to their needs. Artists from 13 countries and regions have set up 34 creation and design studios here, including Yugoslavian photographer Long Feiber, Australian body designer Zhang Yi, Danish pattern designer Trine Petersen (Shen Cuina) and Gitte Nielsen, as well as the studio of Hong Kong’s largest ceramics center, Pottery Workshop.

　　Petersen (Shen Cuina) and Gitte

　　Nielsen, as well as Hong Kong's largest pottery center, Pottery Workshop studio, and more.

　　Suggested Visit Duration

　　2–3 hours

　　Transportation

　　Take air-conditioned bus lines 146 or 17 and get off at Dapuqiao Station

　　Admission

　　Free

　　Opening Hours

　　All day

　　Location

　　Dapuqiao, Huangpu District, Shanghai