As a major industrial center during the 20th century, Yangshupu area in Yangpu district still contains the shells of many old plants and factories that once made up an important part of the city's mercantile and utilities industry. Today, some of them have already been transformed into lofts, art studios and office space, while other sites are still under renovation. The Global Times takes a wander around the old gas, water and electricity plants on the banks of the Huangpu River.

By the gasworks wall 

Located at the corner of Yangshupu Road and Longchang Road, the grey and red compound of the former Yangshupu Gasworks still houses many historic buildings.

Before the gas pipelines were laid in 1930s in the northeast of the city, residents who didn't want to burn coal for cooking had to order the home delivery of gas canisters.

According to archives kept in the Shanghai History Museum, Shanghai built its first gasworks as early as 1865, and was the first Chinese city to do so. The first gasworks, which was situated along Suzhou Creek, provided power for street lights on the Bund and Nanjing Road.

Later, with the development of the city, a British commercial council decided to build a new gas plant to the northeast of the Huangpu River. And in 1934, a gas plant was put into use at 2524 Yangshupu Road.

"The plant installed 30 upright gas stoves for continuous combustion, and two 12-ton distillation pots, which was the world's most advanced gas equipment at the time," Xue Leyong, a researcher at the Shanghai History Museum told the Global Times. "It was the largest gasworks in the Far East with a daily output of 4 million cubic feet of gas and 2 million cubic feet of water gas, facilitating residents' lives as well as the development of local industry."

Today, the Yangshupu Gasworks has changed its name to Shanghai Gas, and has shrunk its operations by more than 60 percent due to the success of other gas plants and the introduction of electricity and natural gas.

However, the British Tudor-styled three-story office building is still standing. The general public have no right of admission to the site, but visitors can take photos from outside the gate. 

Water, water everywhere

The sight of Gothic-styled "castles" with red and black brick walls on Yangshupu Road, is unusual to say the least. This is the site of the Yangshupu Waterworks at 830 Yangshupu Road, the first-ever water plant in Shanghai.

According to Xue, Shanghai residents did not have access to clean water until 1875 when a British company opened a water-cleaning plant to sell water in barrels to wealthy residents. Less well-off citizens had to make do with low-quality, salty water from rivers and wells. In 1883 the Shanghai Tap Water Supply Corporation was established to ensure that the rest of the city's residents began to have access to clean water as well.

"The priority of the water plant was to guarantee water safety, and the 'castle' has a symbolic significance in that it was meant to repel 'intruders' at the time," said Zhang Ting, a staff member from the Shanghai Tap Water Science and Technology Museum located next to the plant.

The Yangshupu Waterworks now occupies an area of 129,000 square meters and the later buildings have all adopted the same "castle" style. According to archives kept at the adjoining museum, the daily tap water production of Yangshupu tap water plant has now reached 1.48 million cubic meters, providing some 25 percent of the city's water supply to mainly Yangpu, Hongkou, Putuo, Zhabei and Baoshan districts.

Admission to the museum is free and English service is available.

Park life

The Yangshupu Riverside Creative Park is sited on the oldest and largest industrial park and complex in Shanghai. Located at 2218 Yangshupu Road, the buildings are responsible for many of China's firsts, including the first electricity plant, the first light bulb, the first bar of soap, and the first dyed cloth among others.

The 15-kilometer-long industrial park, which dates back to the late 19th century, was the base of China's modern industrialization. Later in the 1920s and 1930s it focused on emerging high-tech industries of the time, and at one point during the 1980s it boasted 20 clothing plants. It is the world's largest park of its kind in the downtown area of a major metropolis, and is only seven kilometers from the Bund.

However, after the 1990s, due to pollution controls in built-up areas and the restructuring of industry in the city from manufacturing to finance, the industrial park went into decline.

From 2006 onwards, a Taiwanese designer, Teng Kun-Yen, who has successfully designed and planned art parks along the Suzhou Creek, began to generate interest in transforming the former industrial park into a creative park.

"Today, many people want to protect historic buildings, but it's hard to raise funds to do so, let alone to protect such a large complex as this," said Teng at a press conference to mark the opening of the creative park in 2009. "Our only option was to persuade businesses to invest here. Therefore it was necessary to renovate these old buildings and make them attractive to traders."

The creative park, with an area of more than 5,000 square meters, includes a pioneering design center, plants, warehouses, and transportation docks.

"Our showroom will be open soon, and the architecture in this park matches our brand image very well - it's easy, creative, and environmentally friendly," a marketing manager surnamed Qian for Adidas which is opening a plant in the creative park. "Our only concern is that the transportation system in the area is not that convenient, and I think it will be a while yet before this is addressed."