Columbia Circle

上生·新所

A 1920s club pool ringed by white arches, now with books and cafés

Hours

The compound is open all day (shops vary). Tsutaya opens at 10am; closing is listed as 10pm or 11pm depending on the source.

Address

1262 West Yan'an Road, Changning

In the 1920s this was the Columbia Country Club, where Shanghai's Americans came to swim and dance. The old Navy Club pool is still here, filled and ringed by white arcades, every column doubled in the pale blue water. Next door is a Spanish-style villa that László Hudec — the same architect as Wukang Mansion — built for Sun Ke, son of Sun Yat-sen. For decades the compound was a biological-products institute (hence the Chinese name, 上生·新所); today it holds a bookshop, cafés and gallery space, with markets and pop-up shows on a regular basis.