The Laoximen area, north and east of the Old Town, was the commercial district that grew up outside the old city gate and served as the transition zone between the Chinese Old Town and the Foreign Concessions. The area has been largely redeveloped but retains some sections of the pre-war commercial building stock that characterised this border zone.
The Xizang Road South corridor and the streets immediately north of the Old Town circular road preserve examples of the 1930s–1940s mixed-use commercial buildings that served the immigrant population moving between the Chinese city and the foreign concessions. The area is being cleared for development; what remains is best seen soon.