Away from the Yu Garden tourist zone, the lanes of the Nanshi district retain something of the pre-modern Chinese urban fabric that existed before Shanghai's rapid development — narrow streets, courtyard houses, local shops, and a pace of life that contrasts sharply with the city a few blocks away. The area between Fangbang Road and Zhonghua Road has the best surviving examples.
The streets are in various states of preservation and renovation; some blocks are being cleared for development while others retain their 19th-century scale and character. Walking through the Nanshi lanes in the morning, when residents are doing their shopping and the food stalls are active, is one of the more direct ways to see Shanghai's pre-1949 neighbourhood life. The Old Town is bounded by the ring road of Renmin Road/Zhonghua Road.