Private Walking Tour in the Former French Concession

Our tour with Penny was the first thing we did after arriving in China and it was the perfect start to our Shanghai adventure. Penny was lovely company, a superb storyteller and there wasn’t a question she couldn’t answer! The perfect guide for a 12 year old and her history-buff mother. Thank you Penny - we loved our morning with you!

I know quite a bit about the former French Concession and Penny’s tour is a really good introduction. She includes both famous important sites as well as some special almost private ones. Highly recommended.

Penny certainly knows her what she is talking about. This is a very good introduction to the old French Concession. She covers both some of the famous landmarks and also some of the hidden stuff.

Penny did an amazing job with my tour of this beautiful, unique east-meets-west area of Shanghai. As a curious traveler, I especially appreciated Penny's skills as a teacher. I enjoyed understanding the architectural history of the buildings, and how much Chinese history from the past 200 years ties into the area.

Booked this tour solo (did not have the afternoon tea) with my lovely tour guide Ms. Penny. A very knowledgable lady that gave me some fascinating historical tidbits during our walk around the quarter. Something that was not apart of tour which they accomodated was a french costume photoshoot I brought along for my research and reenactment project which Ms. Penny did an amazing jon helping take the photos. Overall I highly recommend her as well as the tour for any curious travellers wanting to learn about the french procession! Transportation was also provided from my hotel to there and Ms. Penny was kind enough to show me some super useful metro tips for getting to Yu Garden after the tour was over.

Penny took us straight to the Okura hotel in the old French concession where we could look from a high window over much of the area. She has an amazing amount of historical knowledge and pictures on her iPad to supplement her explanations. Penny loves teaching and being fascinated by history, she was a perfect match for us. She “walked” us through the history of this area for about an hour. It tied in perfectly with some reading we had done prior to our trip and with things we have learned along the way. Following this we explored the nearby hotel where so many famous heads of state have stayed when visiting China. And explained the connections of the Sassoon family to this area. Of course history is full of both good and bad chapters. Then we moved on to some of the parks, landmarks, colonial architecture and neighborhoods nearby. She treated us to a traditional Shanghai “breakfast on the way to work”. A fresh scallion pancake and a coffee from a small shop. Both were delicious. We explored the cafe/bar area where Shanghai night life comes alive. And the restaurant and shopping area that locals prefer called Xintiandi and Huaihai middle road. Finally we saw the building were the Chinese communist party was founded in the French concession (of course - the Paris seems to be the center from which communism spread to other areas). Overall there was never a dull moment. Thanks to Penny we know much more about Shanghai than before. After the tour we stayed in the area for dinner and then took a didi back to our hotel.

The best way to spend an afternoon in Shanghai, especially if you're the kind of traveler who wants to actually understand the culture and history of the city you're visiting. I'd been to Shanghai a couple of times before, but this is the first time I felt like I've actually BEEN to the city. My guide Penny was a treasure trove of knowledge with a great sense of humor, and tailored her tour perfectly according to what I'd be interested in seeing: I'd mentioned I was particularly interested in the cultural aspect of Shanghai in the 1930s heyday, and she took extra effort to walk me through the history behind the confluence of international cultures in the area, as well as taking me to see the old apartments that famous Chinese writers at the time once lived in so I could get a feel of their day-to-day lives that inspired their work. This was exactly what I was looking for, and I highly recommend Penny and this tour to any self-professed history nerds who love fun facts and hidden finds as much as I do!

Penny PUNG was fantastic tour guide. Highly recommend. Very knowledgeable and took us through some interesting back alleys.

My husband and I had a wonderful time walking through the French Concession with Penny. She was extremely knowledgeable, a great communicator and very enjoyable to be with! We covered a lot of ground walking through various neighborhoods in the FC - all beautiful tree lined streets. It started to rain during our tour so we stopped at a beautiful vintage coffee shop and hung out with Penny and got to learn about her life and experiences living in Shanghai - because Penny was so relatable and easy to get along with that was the highlight of our tour! She's wonderful. Highly recommend her and this tour!

I have visited Shanghai numerous times. I still have relatives here. I normally entertain myself when in the City but traveling alone on this trip, I decided to book a tour with a guide that I hoped would reveal some history that my relatives have failed to do. The reviews of this tour and of the guide, Penny, were all exceptional so this was my selection. I opted for the solo tour. The reviews are accurate. Penny is an excellent guide with historical knowledge of Shanghai and the evolution of the Concessions granted to foreign powers in the 19th and 20th centuries, the unique aspects of the French Concession, and specific landmarks within it. Penny is also a great and well informed conversationalist able to riff on any number of topics. The tour takes place rain or shine and we had some rain which came down hard at times. As long as I was up for it, Penny was willing to soldier on, which we did. She may have cursed me afterward but she couldn’t have shown a greater spirit in showing me around. It was an excellent day in spite of the rain. I enjoyed the tour and Penny’s company. I recommend this tour whether you’ve been to Shanghai before or are here for the first time. Five Stars +++ !!!