WANDER SHANGHAI

Building 2, 178 South Wulumuqi Road

Xia Yan’s Former Residence

夏衍旧居

English house with Spanish decorative elements

Built in 1932, this was Xia Yan’s Shanghai home from 1949 to 1955. Born Shen Naixi, he worked across reportage, drama and cinema; works such as Bonded Labour and Under Shanghai Eaves brought urban life to literature and the stage.

Explore the historical timeline
Exterior of Xia Yan’s Building 2, from The Paper’s 2019 field report; photographer not separately credited.

Capture date unstated; published 2019-03-28

Exterior of Xia Yan’s Building 2, from The Paper’s 2019 field report; photographer not separately credited.

The Paper field report: Xia Yan and Cao Ying · Publishing institution; photographer not separately credited · Image source · Original source declares no open licence

At a glance

Built
1932
Architect
Not established by the sources
Architecture
English house with Spanish decorative elements
Original use
Garden residence
Present use
Xia Yan memorial and room displays
Address
Building 2, 178 South Wulumuqi RoadSouth Wulumuqi Road

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

The beginning

Why was it built here?

Built in 1932, this was Xia Yan’s Shanghai home from 1949 to 1955. Born Shen Naixi, he worked across reportage, drama and cinema; works such as Bonded Labour and Under Shanghai Eaves brought urban life to literature and the stage.[1] [2] [3]

It opened to visitors after conservation in 2019. The upstairs study and bedroom were re-presented with objects supplied by the family. Reconstructed room settings should be distinguished from retained floors, stairs and other building fabric.[1] [2] [3]

Look up, then look closer

Details worth a closer look

Massing and façade

Sloping roofs, dark decorative timbering and tall chimneys establish an English-house outline, while the entrance arch and green glazed openings introduce another vocabulary. One style label cannot describe every detail.[1] [2] [3]

Space and details

The residence stands inside the No. 178 compound facing its lawn and Cao Ying’s Study. The street-front block, residence and study are separate structures; the entrance building is not Xia Yan’s house.[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. 1932

    House built

    The garden house combined English and Spanish decorative elements.[1] [2] [3]

  2. 1949–1955

    Xia Yan and family live here

    Xia Yan lived in Building 2 with his family before moving to Beijing in 1955.[1] [2] [3]

  3. 2019

    Opens after conservation

    Opened on 23 March alongside Cao Ying’s Study, presenting rooms and cultural work.[1] [2] [3]

Today and visiting

Discover the building from the street

Xia Yan memorial and room displays[1] [2] [3]

Address
Building 2, 178 South Wulumuqi Road
Visiting
Observe from public pavements; entry follows posted opening and booking rules. Respect residential, office and worship uses. A guide marker is not permission to enter.
Find the address on a map ↗

Sources checked: 2026-10-26 · Observe from public pavements; entry follows posted opening and booking rules. Respect residential, office and worship uses. A guide marker is not permission to enter.

Shanghai and the world

Read history across the neighbourhood

Neighbouring apartments, houses and public spaces have different construction and use histories. Addresses, photograph directions and records together reveal how the neighbourhood developed.[1] [2] [3]

Garden House at 64 South Wulumuqi RoadCao Ying’s Study

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. Tianping Road Subdistrict: Xia Yan residence ↗

    Compiled from the listed evidence. Publication, capture and construction dates are distinguished.

  2. The Paper field report: Xia Yan and Cao Ying ↗

    Compiled from the listed evidence. Publication, capture and construction dates are distinguished.

  3. Xinhua: opening of two cultural spaces ↗

    Compiled from the listed evidence. Publication, capture and construction dates are distinguished.

  4. The Paper field report: Xia Yan and Cao Ying ↗

    Original source declares no open licence

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.

Original framing is retained, with WebP conversion and previews only. Article dates do not replace unknown capture dates; drawings and photographs are identified separately.