Attention, tourists, shoppers, and scammers! Shanghai’s signature pedestrian street will soon be two blocks longer.
Work is currently ongoing to extend Nanjing Road Pedestrian Malll from its current stopping point at Henan Middle Road to Sichuan Middle Road. This extension will open to the public in September, Shanghai officials say.
At the National People’s Congress, Huangpu district chief Gao Yun bragged that the road would become a “new highlight and name card” of Shanghai. It will also feature new lighting, more seating, and upgraded businesses.
The project was announced last September and commenced in December. It was supposed to be completed by May but, obviously, some other things got in the way.
East Nanjing Road has long been one of Shanghai’s most important thoroughfares. It was first built all the way back in 1851, though the now-iconic pedestrian strip was only launched in 1999.
A second phase of the project is supposed to take it all the way to the Bund.