Ferguson Lane

A former hospital hosts artsy shops, cafes and offices - By Alex, May 18, 07

My first contact with Ferguson Lane was last summer when I was looking for office space. Our property agent introduced the complex to us as an upcoming lifestyle hub with loft-style trendy office spaces, cafes, art galleries and artsy shops. Some sort of Xintiandi but smaller and without the gaggles of tourists, more quietly located in a laneway off Wukang Lu, close to Arch Cafe; my favourite area in Shanghai.

Ferguson Lane takes its name from the small street it's on. Today's Wukang Lu was formerly named Ferguson Route, in honour of John Calvin Ferguson (1865-1945); a young American missionary sent to China at the turn of last century. He was a prominent foreign figure in successive Chinese governments, advising on trade and foreign relations as well as representing the Chinese government in the United States. Ferguson founded Nan King University, today's Jiao Tong University, and he published and edited the Xinwen Bao and the Shanghai Times Newspapers.

During this last year I've visited Ferguson Lane a few times while on my way to the gym and could see how this laid-back building with all its history was completely gutted and re-built and, unfortunately, was robbed of most of its charm and character. Today, Ferguson Lane looks like a clean shopping centre or office complex, just on a smaller scale, with a more interesting location and a touch of history.

Coming in to Ferguson Lane from the main entrance you first see a flower shop selling all sorts of creative arrangements and indoor plants, similar to the Shanxi Lu Flower market but more catered towards foreigners, so slightly more expensive.
Walking further inside you then pass a few untouched old French Concession buildings before you get to the actual building, a five-story newly-renovated former-hospital. The ground floor is mostly taken up by cafes and shops, there's the new 'Coffee Tree' Cafe and the French bistro Franck, both making use of the outdoor area with a few tables. In between these two cafes is Globus Wines, which was one of the first shops that opened there, and they have already managed to make themselves a name in Shanghai with various wine tasting events and wine dinners at Maneo and HFZ. There's also a shop selling hand creams made of natural elements, and apparently some more boutiques preparing to open soon, some of which are quite hard to find (one is in the basement and one behind the main building).

Franck is certainly the most outstanding and interesting element of Ferguson Lane so far, and looking at the flow of people coming in, it's the main reason for most to enter this complex. Franck is one of the most authentic French restaurants I've seen in Shanghai, with a tiny menu that doesn't do any culinary experiments but strictly offers French cooking. The hand written menu boards, the hand painted logo on the wall, the French staff, the bar with French wines and French ingredients on sale all add up to a friendly authentic atmosphere - quite a contrast to the cold feeling in the rest of the building. It's also at odds to the neighbouring Coffee Tree that has as much charm as an IKEA restaurant and a name that sounds to me as if it was made up with a future franchising plan in mind.

I didn't have a chance to try many dishes at Franck, in fact I was quite surprised they didn't offer any lunch sets. Most dishes are around 60-80 kuai, which makes a pricey lunch if you have a drink and a coffee with your main course. While I was drinking my almost-40 kuai coffee at Franck, I was thinking about last summer and remembered the reason why we didn't choose to take an office in Ferguson Lane: with property prices (and as a result coffee prices) similar to prime locations such as Huaihai Lu, Ferguson Lane is an expensive new-slash-old piece of Shanghai.

Ferguson Lane - 376 Wukang Lu - more pictures & map here

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Chesland

Jul 24, 07

I went there two weeks ago for Saturday brunch. Franck was closed for summmer vacation, the owner left a note on the door explaining that it is family tradition for him to head back to Provence for two weeks. Well, that left us only Coffee Tree. Business is thriving and we have to fight for our table (the manager got mixed up who got there first). The food is so-so but the waffle I ordered for my daughter tasted great (not too sweet, just right). An interesting shop in the back of the main building sells Dutch clothing. A friendly intern from Nethelands make the shopping experience quite enjoyable. All in all, I like the place and plan to visit again when the weather is cooler and the Frenchman is back.