WANDER SHANGHAI

Lane 120, Tai’an Road

Weileyuan Garden Lanes

卫乐园

A neighbourhood behind an archway

Financed by the Continental Bank, Weileyuan was built in 1924 in the former Lijiazhai area. Garden houses formed lanes for tenants including finance professionals, rather than one family’s mansion.

Explore the historical timeline
Weileyuan entrance at Lane 120, Tai’an Road, leading to the housing ensemble.

Capture date not stated by the source

Weileyuan entrance at Lane 120, Tai’an Road, leading to the housing ensemble.

Image from the cited report or institutional source · Image source · Rights retained by the original creator

At a glance

Construction / use dates
1924
Architect
Not established in reviewed sources
Character
Garden lanes with varied Western house styles
Original use
Bank-financed rental housing
Use and access
Residential ensemble; some houses have had commercial uses
Address
Lane 120, Tai’an Road

Architecture and use: sources[1] [2] [3]

The people behind the address

A life in brief

Huang Zuolin (1906–1994) was a theatre and film director who lived at No. 1.[1] [2] [3]

Contributions and influence

His work connected modern spoken theatre and cinema. This is one address in his life, not the setting of every house or every stage of his career.[1] [2] [3]

The beginning

Why was it built here?

Financed by the Continental Bank, Weileyuan was built in 1924 in the former Lijiazhai area. Garden houses formed lanes for tenants including finance professionals, rather than one family’s mansion.[1] [2] [3]

The ensemble was listed in 1999. Director Huang Zuolin lived at No. 1; other houses have separate histories. The street entrance represents the public edge of the group.[1] [2] [3]

Look up, then look closer

Details worth a closer look

Space and facade

A semicircular entrance arch capped with red barrel tiles marks the lane. Inside, mostly two-storey or attic houses have individual gardens and differing roofs and walls.[1] [2] [3]

Entrance and details

English country-house and Spanish elements coexist, with red-brick details and textured render. One representative villa cannot stand in for the lane’s actual arrangement.[1] [2] [3]

One building, changing roles

Read the building through time

Captions distinguish photographic dates from publication dates; periods without reliable images are covered in the text.

  1. 1924

    Bank-financed housing built

    Bank investment organised several garden houses as rental lanes sharing an approach from the main road.[1] [2] [3]

  2. 1999

    Listed as historic buildings

    Listing recognised the ensemble’s value, treating its varied styles and lane layout as one place.[1] [2] [3]

  3. 2021

    SUSAS guide documents Huang’s address

    The guide connects No. 1 in Lane 120 with theatre director Huang Zuolin; that address should not be extended to every house.[1] [2] [3]

Today and visiting

Discover the building from the street

Residential ensemble; some houses have had commercial uses[1] [2] [3]

Address
Lane 120, Tai’an Road
Access
View from public roads and permitted areas. Historic importance does not open residential gardens, stairs or institutional compounds to the public; follow posted access rules.
Find the address on a map ↗

Sources checked: 2026-10-26 · View from public roads and permitted areas. Historic importance does not open residential gardens, stairs or institutional compounds to the public; follow posted access rules.

Shanghai and the world

Building and neighbourhood

Compare Yicun at Lane 76 to see different developments arranging neighbourhood life through lanes and gardens.[1] [2] [3]

Back to the street

Text and image sources

This account is based on the sources below. Unverified details are identified as such. Where photographs are included, sources and licences are listed beneath each image.

  1. Shanghai Urban Space Art Season 2021 guide ↗

    Checks dates, people, uses and architectural descriptions; reported uses belong to the source date.

  2. Shanghai Xuhui: Tai’an Road and its residents (2018) ↗

    Checks dates, people, uses and architectural descriptions; reported uses belong to the source date.

  3. Wikipedia: Weileyuan (cross-check) ↗

    Checks dates, people, uses and architectural descriptions; reported uses belong to the source date.

Image handling and dating

Images come from the archives or image source pages listed beneath each photograph. We resize and compress them to WebP, preserving their original proportions without colourisation or added detail. Grain, blur and scanning marks in historical photographs are retained.

Publication and capture dates are distinct. Monochrome and file images are not automatically historical photographs; captions follow what the source establishes.