Sometimes, understanding a city’s history means looking at familiar places from a different perspective. On October 17, 41 NYU Shanghai students and five first-year students from Fudan University had the opportunity to come together and do just that.
The group explored two distinctive landmarks—the Pudong Minsheng Wharf and 1933 Old Millfun—to learn firsthand how Shanghai’s industrial past continues to shape its urban landscape.
The excursion kicked off “The Series,” an NYU Shanghai program organized by the Office of Residential Education and Housing designed to get students acquainted with Shanghai culture and history on foot. This particular installment of The Series, titled “Shanghai Rewritten: Tales across the Huangpu” was held in collaboration with Fudan University’s Center for Land and Cultural Resources Research.
At Pudong Minsheng Wharf, students explored a historic grain transportation and storage site that reflects Shanghai’s development as a major port city. The wharf once played an important role in handling and storing grain, connecting the movement of agricultural goods with the city’s expanding transportation networks.
Now closed to the public, the site offered students a rare opportunity to explore its interior and observe its industrial structures firsthand. Their visit was made possible by Fudan University’s participation in the 2025 Echoes of the Era, Source of Renewal art exhibition, which granted access to the site and allowed students to discover how art and historical spaces intersect to create new ways of engaging with the past.
The exploration continued at 1933 Old Millfun, a landmark of Shanghai’s industrial heritage. Originally built in 1933 as a municipal slaughterhouse, the building features a distinctive combination of a square exterior, a circular central structure, umbrella-shaped concrete columns, spiral staircases, and interconnected bridges.
Designed to facilitate the movement of people, animals, and materials, the complex layout reflects the practical demands of its original function as an industrial processing facility. Today, the building’s distinctive architecture has been preserved and adapted for cultural, creative, and commercial use, an example of how historic industrial spaces can be given new life.
Throughout the event, students took part in a photography challenge and architectural sketching activities, using their cameras and sketchbooks to document distinctive architectural details, explore spatial arrangements, and interpret the sites from their own perspectives.
“I had so much fun exploring parts of Shanghai that often go unnoticed,” said Hakob Khachikyan ’28. “Both locations felt quite different from my everyday experience of the city, which made the whole experience feel refreshing and gave me a new perspective on Shanghai.”
His favorite activity? The photography challenge. “Finding all the locations on the map required a bit of walking, observation, and thinking, which made exploring the buildings feel more engaging and interactive rather than simply visiting them,” he said. “I really enjoyed the experience and would love to join more Series events in the future.”
Duman Abdurakhmanuly ’29 said the photo challenge helped him pay closer attention to small architectural details he might otherwise have overlooked. “Working in groups gave me the chance to connect with other students, especially those from Fudan, and we exchanged a lot of our observations about the buildings,” he said.
The day concluded on the NYU Shanghai campus with a guest lecture and Q&A session by Fudan University’s Associate Professor Hou Shi of the Department of Cultural Heritage and Museology and the Center for Land and Cultural Resources Research. Hou is also UNESCO Chair on Living Heritage and Community Development.
Drawing on historical photographs, architectural records, and case studies, Hou traced Minsheng Wharf’s transformation from a major shipping facility into a key grain storage hub, illustrating how the site reflects more than a century of change in Shanghai’s port industry. He also highlighted the technical and architectural significance of its warehouses and mechanized grain silos, whose designs were shaped by the demands of loading, unloading, and storing grain at an industrial scale.
Hou also introduced a broader understanding of industrial heritage as a record of technological development, labor, and collective memory. The discussion connected the day’s site visits to larger questions about how historic industrial spaces can preserve the stories of the people, industries, and economic transformations that have shaped modern Shanghai.
The day offered a glimpse into how Shanghai’s industrial spaces carry stories of the city’s past while continuing to evolve in the present.
“I’m glad that our first Series collaboration was such a success,” said Residential Hall Director Li Siwen. “Throughout the program, the professor gave our students detailed explanations of the history and development of both locations.”
The event was just the first of more programs that will bring students to new places in Shanghai and China.
“Looking ahead, we will continue to give students more opportunities to explore Chinese culture and gain a deeper understanding of the places and stories around them,” Li said.
Next up for The Series? A day trip to nearby Suzhou, with stops at an architectural design firm and a solar manufacturer before experiencing Suzhou’s traditional architecture and picturesque canals.