Yangpu Riverside: From the Hemp Warehouse to the Municipal Power Plant

Completed in 1881, China's first modern waterworks. Its Gothic Revival crenellations are still intact; a boardwalk has been carved out of the south edge of the still-active plant for the public.

Commissioned in 1913, once the largest thermal power station in the Far East. The 105-metre chimney is preserved; the ash silo next door is now a café, though its lower steel framework is original.

Built in 1920 by a Japanese trading firm — a long-span warehouse without internal columns. Now used for exhibitions, but the I-beams and cast-iron capitals have not been touched.

Founded in 1921 by Japanese-owned Yufeng Textiles. The faded characters '国营上海第十七棉纺织厂' (Shanghai State-Run Cotton Mill No. 17) are still legible. Behind the gate is now parkland.

The factory-turned-Soap Museum is free, but the real find is the stainless-steel railing along the river — welded together from parts salvaged from the factory's old boilers.