Former French Concession
Region in Shanghai, China.
At a glance
| Source | Author | Role | In one line |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breakneck | Dan Wang | setting | The author lives here and walks twenty minutes in each direction to a French bakery, a Starbucks Roastery and the museum at the site of the Communist Party’s first congress. |
Breakneck — Dan Wang (2025)
Source: Readwise highlight
My home in Shanghai was in the former French Concession, which is still full of plane trees and cafés. I loved this area.
- Role: setting
- In the book: The author lives here and walks twenty minutes in each direction to a French bakery, a Starbucks Roastery and the museum at the site of the Communist Party’s first congress. He and Silvia cycle its cafes, and a friend there helps explain police tactics after neighbors topple a lockdown barricade.
- Why it matters: It is the lived-in home base for the whole Shanghai chapter and embodies the city’s colonial-turned-consumer charm that the lockdown disrupts.