Editor's note:

This year is the 21st anniversary of the opening of the Shanghai metro. The subway has facilitated more than 13 billion journeys during its 21 years, and half of Shanghai citizens cite the metro as their favored mode of transport. To commemorate the anniversary, each week the Global Times will take an in-depth look at one metro station and its surroundings. In the case of downtown stations, we will focus on points of interest within walking distance; while for suburban areas, we will cast our net a little wider.

Starting from the transportation hub in Hongqiao area, metro Line 10 runs northeast toward the residential compound New Jiangwan Town in Yangpu district, passing through some of the city's prime locations that include Gubei, Xintiandi and Wujiaochang.

Located at the heart of the Gubei community in Changning district, South Shuicheng Road Station is near a high-end expatriate neighborhood that has international schools, luxury hotels, many Japanese and Korean restaurants and foreign healthcare facilities.

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Artistic scenes

Tucked away on Hongqiao Road, Liu Haisu Art Museum (1660 Hongqiao Road, 6270-1018, http://www.lhs-arts.org/) is the artistic landmark of the neighborhood. Named after the great painter Liu Haisu (1896-1994), the museum was built in 1993 and officially opened to the public in 1995.

Liu is regarded as one of the most influential Chinese artists of the 20th century. Hailing from Changzhou in Jiangsu Province, he opened China's first private fine arts school, Shanghai Fine Arts College, in the city in 1912. The institution since relocated to Nanjing and is known as Nanjing University of the Arts.

Covering an exhibition space of 1,100 square meters, the museum holds a large collection of artworks by Liu, including 360 oil paintings and 200 calligraphy and ink paintings.

To celebrate the opening of the museum, the artist donated over 300 original calligraphy and painting works by other artists dating from Tang Dynasty (618-907), Song Dynasty (960-1279), Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

The museum opens from 9 am to 4 pm from Tuesday to Sunday with free entry. A week-long exhibition of 200 calligraphy and seal engraving works by local teenagers starts Wednesday.

A visitor checks up exhibits at Liu Haisu Art Museum. Photo: CFP

Korean flavor

Densely populated with Korean residents, the neighborhood has some of the city's largest South Korean supermarkets stocking a wide range of imported South Korean products.

Ensuring residents in the neighborhood don't need to travel far for their home comforts, the city's largest Korean supermarket, 1004 Mart (27-33 Shuicheng Road South, 6655-1004), supplies everyday necessities from ready-to-eat kimchi to gochujang (chili pepper paste).

If you're craving authentic Korean soju, a distilled alcoholic beverage native to Korea, you can find popular brands Jinro and Lotte at 1004 Mart.

Mangosix (81 Shuicheng Road South, 6247-0083) is a Korean coffee and dessert café in the area, serving imported Hawaiian Kona coffee and 100 percent pure mango juice. Established in Seoul in 2011, Mangosix provides cafés where customers can enjoy freshly squeezed fruit juices, daily baked breads, cookies and muffins.

The signature caramel vanilla waffle is available for 38 yuan ($6.08) and a regular cup of latte costs 29 yuan.

Caramel vanilla waffle from Mangosix Photo: Zhu Jialei/GT

Fancy accommodation

Sitting behind Yanhong green space, Hongqiao State Guest Hotel (1591 Hongqiao Road, 6219-8855, http://www.hqstateguesthotel.com/) is a five-star hotel that hidden in a tranquil Chinese-style garden. The hotel provides 216 guest rooms in 47 different villas with 12 ballrooms and five restaurants. It blends traditional Chinese gardening with European-style architecture.

If you're looking for something modern and luxurious, Millennium Hongqiao Hotel Shanghai (2588 Yan'an Road West, 5101-5566, http://www.millenniumhq.com/) could be an alternative.

Opened in 2006, Millennium Hongqiao is the first branch of UK company Millennium & Copthorne Hotels on the Chinese mainland. Although it is located in busy Gubei, the hotel provides an 18,000-square-meter garden with man-made ponds that provides a tranquil respite from the hustle and bustle of city life.

International education

Along with expat mothers in supermarkets, blonde girls at nail spas and Japanese boys on skateboards, foreign kids in school uniforms are a common sight in the area.

Sitting at the corner of Shuicheng Road and Hongqiao Road, Yew Chung International School of Shanghai (11 Shuicheng Road, http://www.ycis-sh.com/) Hongqiao Campus was the first YCIS Shanghai campus. It was established in 1993, making it the first international school to be established in the city after 1949. Founded in Hong Kong in the 1930s, Yew Chung Education now has four campuses citywide.