Sinan Road runs south from Fuxing Road through the heart of the French Concession, lined with former consulate buildings, villas, and the Sinan Mansions development of restored Republican-era houses. The street is one of the best in Shanghai for experiencing the pre-war residential architecture of the foreign concessions at close range.
The buildings on Sinan Road include former residences of Republican government figures, foreign-run medical facilities, and the Sinan Mansions cluster where Zhou Enlai and other Communist Party leaders had houses during the 1940s underground period. Walking from Fuxing Road south to Jianguo Road passes the full range of concession-era residential architecture without leaving a single street.