The Huangpu River slowly turns from east to north near Shanghai's Yangshupu Port. A small island looks like a fully drawn bow, with the back of the bow facing east. The Huangpu River flows along the back of the bow, while to the west a narrow artificial canal flows quietly.
This is Fuxing Island, covering approximately 1.31 square kilometers. It once nurtured the China Hudong Shipyard and witnessed the rise and prosperity of modern Chinese industry. In recent years, with the city's renewal and development, the island's industrial heritage has been undergoing transformation and utilization. The main exhibition area of the 6th Shanghai Urban Space Art Season, opening on September 28th, will be located here.
"Bus No. 577, heading to Fuxing Island." This is the only bus that enters the island. After crossing Dinghai Bridge, it enters Fuxing Island and drives from south to north along the tree-lined Gongqing Road, passing by the China Shipyard, United Warehouse, Fuxing Island Park and many other places.
Fuxing Island, located in Shanghai's Yangpu District, is the only enclosed inland island within the city. Measuring approximately 3.42 kilometers long and 550 meters wide at its widest point, Fuxing Island covers only 1.44 square kilometers. It was once a major industrial base for shipbuilding, fuel, timber, oil, warehousing, and fishing.
Fuxing Island, Yangpu District, Shanghai
History of Fuxing Island
Fuxing Island, named to commemorate the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945, had two previous names. When the island was built in the 1920s, it was known as "Zhoujiazui Island" because of the nearby Zhoujiazui natural village. After the Japanese occupation in 1937, it was renamed "Dinghai Island," named after Dinghai Road. These changes in name reflect the vicissitudes of history on this small island.
Aerial photos of Fuxing Island
Originally, the island was a large shoal at the bend of the Huangpu River. The Boxer Protocol, signed in 1901 between the Qing government and the Eight-Nation Alliance, included a provision for "Regulations for Improving the Huangpu River Waterway." In 1905, the Qing government, in accordance with the provisions of the Boxer Protocol, established the Huangpu River Dredging Engineering Administration, or simply the "Dredge the Huangpu River Bureau." Its primary responsibility was to dredge the waterway and improve the mudflats. By building embankments and raising the mudflats naturally, and then blowing in soil, the artificial island took shape.
In 1927, the Shanghai Dredging Bureau purchased the Zhoujiazui beach, which hadn't yet become an island, and used it as a base for dredging the Huangpu River. The Dinghai Road Bridge was built on the south side of the island to connect it to the city. Because the island is adjacent to the Zhoujiazui natural village in Puxi, it was originally named "Zhoujiazui Island."
Gongqing Road is the only road on the island
Before the Anti-Japanese War, the Dredging Bureau built roads, established civil engineering workshops and raw material warehouses on the island, managed the construction and repair of dikes, revetments, buoys, and factory buildings, and constructed several commercial warehouses. Factories and institutions such as the Great China Shipyard, the China Vegetable Oil Company, and the Mobil Petroleum Company were also located on the island. The Bureau also established a staff club, a sports club, and a garden.
Fuxing Island Park was first built in the 1930s (data picture)
During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese army, after occupying Shanghai, took a liking to this small island. Following the outbreak of the Pacific War in December 1941, the Japanese invaders occupied the island as a weapons storage area, renamed it "Dinghai Island," and transformed the garden into a Japanese-style courtyard, housing their headquarters and command post. Following the victory of the war, the Kuomintang government established a naval school on the island. In 1947, the island was returned to the Junpu Bureau under the name "Fuxing Island," and a "Fuxing Island Repossession Monument" was erected within the garden to commemorate the event.
Today, Fuxing Island Park retains its original Japanese garden style and features Japanese late cherry blossoms, crape myrtles, and chrysanthemums. Its lush greenery and tranquility create a tranquil paradise, a stark contrast to the surrounding industrial complex.
The current Fuxing Island Park
The current interior of Fuxing Island Park
Fuxing Island Hotel
China Shipbuilding Corporation transformed into a slipway park
For a century, Fuxing Island has been home to industries such as construction, recycling, and fishing, playing a vital role in Shanghai's economic and industrial development. In recent years, with industrial restructuring and technological upgrades, large areas of the island's factory areas have become increasingly derelict, leaving behind a large number of idle factories and warehouses. Among them, the China Shipyard, located adjacent to Fuxing Island Park, has taken the lead in completing this transformation into an industrial heritage site and will soon be unveiled to the public as a brand new slipway park.
The China Shipbuilding Corporation was one of Shanghai's earliest shipyards, founded by patriotic industrialist Yang Junsheng. After liberation, through public-private partnerships and then state ownership, it became one of China's nine largest shipyards, capable of building world-class vessels.
Historical photo, the old gate of China Shipyard
The Paper understands that the design of the slipway park combines the old and the new, embodying the urban renewal concept of "light renovation while preserving the industrial heritage." The park's multiple slipways, extending along its length, are intended to offer the public the illusion of space for launching a ship.
As a crucial shipbuilding tool at the shipyard, the tower cranes used for lifting have been preserved to the greatest extent possible. Mr. Huang, a retired shipyard employee, explained in a media interview that the 120-ton tower crane, built in 1973, is the shipyard's largest crane, and that he helped assemble it. "I joined the factory in 1968, when it was called the Dongfanghong Shipyard, and the tower cranes were relatively small. Later, as productivity expanded, the site gradually expanded. After the 120-ton crane was completed, the second, an 80-ton crane, was built in 1976, followed by two 70-ton cranes. The operators would ascend the crane ladder every morning and only descend at the end of their shift." Looking at these cranes, the scenes of the workers toiling away at the site come vividly to mind, as if transported back in time.
The slipway park, which was rebuilt from the China Shipbuilding Corporation, retains several tower cranes.
The slipway park, which was rebuilt from the China Shipbuilding Corporation, retains several tower cranes.
Wu Wei, a senior technician at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding, said, "The old Zhonghua Shipyard built a wide variety of ships and made significant contributions to our country's shipping and national defense. These preserved industrial relics are tangible testaments to the development of China's shipbuilding industry."
Now, the newly renovated Shipyard Park is becoming a unique space connecting history and the future. The park offers direct access to the riverside, with some trails maintaining the original shipyard road texture. The main greenway runs from Gongqing Road in the west to the Huangpu River in the east. The riverside greenway stretches approximately 1.1 kilometers from the Friendship Logistics Warehouse in the north to the edge of the preserved docks in the south, including walking and jogging paths. This area is also the first public waterfront space on Fuxing Island in the Yangpu Riverside, echoing the historic buildings of the southern section of the riverside, such as Green Hill, Minghua Sugar Warehouse, and Yong'an Warehouse.
The slipway park, which was rebuilt from the China Shipbuilding Corporation, retains several tower cranes.
The tower crane at Slipway Park and the factory building behind it being converted for art exhibitions
Chen Chao from the Architectural Design and Research Institute of Tongji University said, "The China Shipyard has a glorious past, and its transformation into a park focuses on its social benefits, cultural value, and the inheritance of historical culture, while giving it new functions. We combine industrial heritage with modern elements to provide visitors with a multifunctional experience space that can be sat and walked through, allowing people to get closer to this historical trace."
The old factory building (left) and the newly built talent apartment (right) next to the slipway park
The riverside space at the end of Chuandai Park
Near the slipway park, several former shipyard buildings are undergoing renovation, and will later become the venue for the 2025 Urban Space Art Festival and other art exhibitions in the fall. On the other side, new multi-story residential buildings are reportedly being used as talent housing.
It is worth mentioning that, next to these buildings, there are hidden studios of artists such as Ding Yi and Xu Zhen. Artist Ding Yi's studio is located in a small alley along the river. The "psychological distance" between the island and the city makes his working atmosphere more peaceful.
At the end of Chuantai Park, you can see the riverside space where artist Ding Yi's studio (white house) is located.
Helicopter and helipad area next to the slipway park
Space remodeling and implementation of a series of activities
As development continues to expand along the Huangpu River, the transformation of the shipyard on Fuxing Island is just the beginning. According to The Paper, Yangpu District's plans for Fuxing Island focus on fostering technological intelligence, leading the design arts, and creating a waterfront ecological space, striving to develop it into a "digital intelligence island, a design and art island, and a people-oriented city island." Yangpu District aims to transform itself from "Industrial Yangpu" to "Innovative Yangpu."
Many projects have recently been launched on Fuxing Island. In July, the island successfully completed its first low-altitude air traffic test flight, connecting Kunshan, Suzhou, with downtown Shanghai. This is the first intercity low-altitude air traffic route to enter downtown Shanghai.
Test flight of low-altitude traffic routes on Fuxing Island
In early August, Xiaohongshu held its "RED LAND" adventure event on the island, transforming Fuxing Island into a unique 2.5-dimensional experience zone. The three immersive zones, including the "Turning Point Port," "Rebirth Trial," and "Daze Forest," featured over 50 phenomenal games and anime IPs, becoming an online sensation. Baiban, head of community marketing, recalled that he decided on this location the first time he and the project team visited the island to scout the location. "We chose this location to allow more young people to discover this island, rich in history and rich in imagination for the future."
Xiaohongshu held the MapleStory event "RED LAND" on Fuxing Island
The factory buildings adjacent to Chuantai Park have hosted numerous events, including the "Quantum City Forum of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference" and the "Global Design Competition." This fall, the main exhibition area of the 2025 Shanghai Urban Space Art Season will be held in Chuantai Park, covering over 20 hectares. Three industrial heritage buildings along Gongqing Road will be renovated and reused as indoor exhibition halls, integrating with outdoor spaces to create a "future living experimental zone" where technology and art are mutually empowered.
Regarding the upcoming art season, Wu Jiang, former executive vice president of Tongji University, said, "The theme of Quantum City is not about creating a quantum physics exhibition, but about exploring how technology can reshape urban space and life."
The exhibition area of the 2025 Shanghai Urban Space Art Season is under renovation
It can be said that Fuxing Island, a century-old industrial heritage site, is ushering in a new urban space reconstruction practice after decades of dormancy.
