Huaihai Road

Huaihai Road or Huaihai Lu (Chinese: 淮海路; pinyin: Huáihǎi Lù; Shanghainese: Wahae Lu) is one of the two major shopping streets in Shanghai, China; the other is Nanjing Road. Compared with the more touristy Nanjing Road, Huaihai Road is more upscale, and is the preferred destination of local residents. Huaihai Road comprises three sections, the main section being Middle Huaihai Road in the former French Concession of Shanghai. Middle Huaihai Road is also well known by its former French name Avenue Joffre (Chinese: 霞飞路).

Today's Huaihai Road comprises three sections, which were formerly three distinct streets. West Huaihai Road, formerly called Jordan Road, is 1,510 meters (4,950 ft) long and forms part of the boundary between Changning District and Xuhui District. East Huaihai Road, formerly Ningbo Road, is 373 meters (1,224 ft) long and was the boundary road between Huangpu and Nanshi districts before the two districts merged. Middle Huaihai Road, the main section, is 5,500 meters (18,000 ft) long. Most of this section lies in the former Luwan District (which was also merged into Huangpu in 2010), and extends west into Xuhui and Changning districts.

Middle Huaihai Road was built in 1901 as Rue Sikiang (Chinese: 西江路). Five years later it was renamed Route Paul Brunat (Chinese: 宝昌路). It was renamed again in 1915 to Avenue Joffre to honor the French general Joseph Joffre, who visited Shanghai and attended an official renaming ceremony in 1922. In the 1920s Avenue Joffre became an enclave of a large community of Russians fleeing the Communist revolution in their homeland.

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