Fuxing Road runs east to west through the southern edge of the city center, forming the boundary between the French Concession and the Old Town. The western portion, in Luwan district, is one of Shanghai's best remaining examples of a pre-war residential boulevard — plane trees on both sides, Art Deco apartment buildings, and a scale that was standard for Shanghai's wealthy neighbourhoods before 1949.
The stretch between Sinan Road and Ruijin Road includes Fuxing Park (the French park donated to the city in 1909), several former foreign consulate buildings, and the Sinan Mansions complex, a cluster of restored Republican-era villas converted into a dining and cultural complex. The road is best experienced in late afternoon when the tree canopy filters the light and the scale of the original boulevard planning is evident.