ACCORDING to the Xinmin Evening News, Nanjing Donglu Pedestrian Mall once again surpassed all other scenic spots in Shanghai during the National Day Holiday.

Enjoying its reputation as the No. 1 commercial street in China, it is becoming a must-see destination for travellers both from home and abroad.

The story began in 19th Century Shanghai, after the British concession was first set up in 1845. In 1848 the British opened the Shanghai Horse Racing Club and bought land in the west of the city for the construction of a race course. The site was too small, however, so another horse track was added, the reason why the road was called "Ma Lu?in Chinese. Later on, the parallel roads were called "Second Ma Lu?and "Third Ma Lu?respectively. But at first Chinese were mystified by horse racing, so it was also called "Park Lane?or "Park Road?

In 1865, the then construction bureau took the advice of the acting British consul-general and renamed the roads in the concession.

With reference to the first unequal treaty signed with Britain, it gained the name Nanjing Lu. It stretched for a total length of 1,600 metres, from the Bund to the middle of Xizang Lu.

Since then, batches of foreign firms such as Whiteaway Co Ltd and the Central Hotel (now the south tower of the Peace Hotel) opened for business one by one. With the local economy flourishing, Nanjing Lu began to be known as a business centre at the end of the 19th century.

The removal of the Horse Racing Club brought an increase in the number of restaurants, especially tea houses on the east of the Nanjing Lu. Among these, the "Ri Sheng Lou?(Sun Rising Mansion), located between Zhejiang Lu and Xizang Lu, was the most famous.

In 1908, Shanghai's first tram began running along this road. But it was only after the Jewish entrepreneur Silas Aaron Hardoon developed the road that its social prestige rocketed. Hardoon accumulated the bulk of his wealth from such extravagant real estate transactions.

With the establishment of the big four department stores, such as Sincere Co Ltd and Sun Sun Co Ltd, during the period from 1914 to 1930, Nanjing Lu became one of the busiest and most prosperous streets in China.

The old Nanjing Lu changed its name to Nanjing Donglu and the former Jing'ansi Lu changed to Nanjing Xilu in 1945. The local government adjusted the commercial structure of the road after the founding of the new China in 1949.

In the late 1980s, joint efforts were made by the Huangpu District government and the Jing'an District government to transform the whole of Nanjing Lu into a comprehensive commercial street combining shopping with entertainment. In 1993 Nanjing Donglu was partly pedestrianized. Vivian Wang