The preserved shikumen lane houses of the Xintiandi North Block represent the most architecturally polished example of the concession-era lane house in Shanghai — restored to a standard that the original buildings never achieved, but providing an accurate impression of the architectural vocabulary of 1920s and 1930s Shanghai residential design. The stone gate entrances, stucco facades, and narrow lane proportions are all authentic in form.
The ground floor of each lane house is occupied by restaurants, bars, and boutiques; the upper floors are residential. The lanes are best in the early morning before the commercial activity begins, when the architecture is visible without the competing sensory environment of the open restaurants. The CCP First National Congress site is on the North Block (see separate listing).