Duolun & Tian'ai Road: The League of Left-Wing Writers, Plus a Love-Letter Lane
The streets Lu Xun walked, finished with a lane of love letters
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Stops in order
Duolun Road Cultural Celebrities Street
Start here. Lu Xun, Qu Qiubai, Ding Ling and Mao Dun all lived around Duolun Road. The street signage is recent, but the door plates at Lane 201 and No. 189 are originals from the Republican era.
Hongde Church
Built in 1928 by the Chinese Christian Independent Church — a Christian church in the form of a traditional Chinese temple, with a double-eaved hip roof topped by a cross. The couplet at the door reading '荣神益人' (Glorify God, Benefit Mankind) is in original Republican-era calligraphy.
Lu Xun's Former Residence · No. 9 Dalu New Village
Lu Xun moved in in 1933 and died here in 1936. His writing desk sits in the front room on the third floor; the indentation in the desktop is genuine — pressed in by years of leaning hard while copying out manuscripts.
Lu Xun Park, North Gate
Originally Hongkou Park, opened by the British Settlement in 1896. Locals do morning exercises in the northwest corner; behind the rockery, amateur troupes sing Yue opera every day.
Tian'ai (Sweet Love) Road
528 metres long, with 28 love poems set into the walls — from the Book of Songs to Pablo Neruda. Locals come here before getting married to post a letter to themselves at the streetside mailbox.
1338 Liyang Road
End of the walk. The former Japanese Naval Attaché's residence, built in 1936 — neoclassical with a Japanese irimoya hip-and-gable roof. The southern magnolia at the corner is the original tree.
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