People's Square, where you'll never again get lost in music
A map showing more than 30 theaters and stages in the area around People's Square
People's Square area is widely celebrated as the heartland of the Chinese theater community. It has the highest density of stages in the country, including some of great historical interest.
The area is home to 39 theaters and stages. Over 3,000 performances take place there each year.
As the city hones its ambition to become Asia’s performing arts capital, Huangpu District yesterday released a map detailing some venues near the square.
The maps are printed in English and Chinese. They are free of charge and can be picked up at any downtown theater or exhibition center, at most hotels and from local Metro stations.
To see the map in all its bilingual glory, visit our website at Shine.cn.
Huangpu has always been the city’s center of traditional Chinese opera, with a large number of opera houses, such as the Great Theatre of China on Niuzhuang Road (formerly the San-Xing Theater), one of the city’s four major Peking Opera venues.
The acknowledged masters of Peking Opera Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu and Yuan Shihai often performed there. The site is immaculately preserved and reopened in May after a restoration. Alongside the core opera performances, the 88-year-old venue has also staged dramatic productions from France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom.
Other historical theaters highlighted on the map include: Tianchan Yifu Theater on Fuzhou Road and the Lyceum Theatre, built in 1930, on Maoming Road S. Peking Opera, modern drama, musicals and orchestral concerts are now being staged in the oldest and most revered theaters.
The Great Theatre of China, restored to its original design, reopened earlier this year.
The Lyceum Theatre at Maoming Road S. and Changle Road.
The map also shows many informal performing arts spaces such as Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai, near the Bund, the only foreign branch of New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and Sanshan Guild Hall, one of the best preserved buildings from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) in the city, where exhibitions and lectures are held.
Shanghai is striving to become the performing arts capital of Asia with theaters both old and new even in the most far flung districts.
The Nine Trees Arts Center, covering 77,000 square meters in Nanqiao Town in southern Fengxian District, is set to be one of the main sites for the national arts festival, and will open its doors in October 2019.
Citywide, there are about 150 theaters and performance stages, still a long way behind New York, Paris, London, Tokyo and Seoul.
Apart from the People’s Square area, another seven theatrical centers are planned including Jing’an Modern Drama Valley, and the West Bund waterfront in Xuhui.
