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(Youzheng Bowuguan; 2nd fl, 250 North Suzhou Rd; 250 2 9am-5pm Wed-Thu, Sat & Sun, last entry 4pm; Tiantong Rd) This interesting museum in the Main Post Office building explores postal history in imperial China, which dates back to the 1st millennium BC and used an extensive pony express to relay messages; Marco Polo estimated there were 10,000 postal stations in 13th-century China. Check out the collection of pre- and post-Liberation stamps (1888–1978) in a special climate-controlled room. On the 5th floor (after you exit) is a rooftop garden (being restored at the time of writing) with panoramic views of the Shanghai skyline.

Historic Hongkou

For a mini walking tour of the streets surrounding the Ohel Moishe Synagogue, turn right outside the synagogue, then right again past the former Jewish tenements of Zhoushan Rd, once the commercial heart of the district. At Huoshan Rd (formerly Wayside Rd), head southwest past the art-deco facade of the former Broadway Theatre Offline map Google map () at No 57, to the Ocean Hotel. Turn right up Haimen Rd (Muirhead Rd), past Changyang Rd, to what was once a row of Jewish shops and a kosher delicatessen.

At the top of the road (the crossing with Kunming Rd) you’ll see the largely rebuilt Xiahai Buddhist Monastery Offline map Google map (Xiahai Miao;; Kunming Rd; admission Y5; 7am-4pm). Take a right turn, then another right, down Zhoushan Rd (formerly Ward Rd) once again to complete the circle back to the synagogue.

Zhoushan Rd is also home to the British-built Ward Road Jail Offline map Google map (), once Shanghai’s biggest. Used by the Japanese during WWII, it’s still functioning as a prison and is probably as close as you’ll get, or would want to get, to a Chinese detention facility. You can catch bus 33 here from the Bund.

If you’re interested in learning more about Hongkou’s Jewish heritage, contact Dvir Bar-Gal, an Israeli Shanghai resident who offers informative English and Hebrew tours ( 130 021 467 02; www.shanghai-jews.com; half-day tour Y400) of the area.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14