Anting New Town: Car museum, cafes and homes, but no people

Anting (安亭), site of the Shanghai Volkswagen plant in northwestern Shanghai’s Jiading district, is known as the center of the Chinese automotive industry.

Less well known, however, is Anting New Town, a German-themed residential development that popped up in 2005 as part of Shanghai’s One City, Nine Towns plan (see Thames Town and Holland Town) to relieve housing pressures in the city center. 

The Anting New Town development was designed by Albert Speer, the son of Hitler’s favorite architect, to accommodate 50,000 inhabitants in apartment buildings and stand-alone houses. While the town has remained largely vacant, it's worth the long metro ride just to see what was being attempted. 

… but, alas, that is not (yet) to be. In spite of the visible effort put into making this an attractive, comfortable place to live, most storefronts remain empty and, according to one business owner, housing units have only been one-third filled, locking the place in a sort of catch-22 for business owners and potential residents.

One of the few restaurants open in town is Ark Café, a small, funky space offering mostly drinks, small dishes, and a barbecue every Friday and Saturday night. No German fare here, unfortunately.

Just outside of the town, inside the Auto Expo Park, is the Shanghai Auto Museum.

Open since 2007, the multi-floor museum outlines the history of the automobile with a focus on the Chinese car industry. Its multimedia and interactive displays, along with an impressive array of real-life cars from vintage Ferraris to hydrogen-powered vehicles, make it worth the RMB 60 admission. 

For a more recognizable taste of Germany, head over to Wirtshaus, the first Austrian/German restaurant in Shanghai. Don’t be fooled by the restaurant’s grubby surroundings in Old Anting -- the warm ambience, actually friendly service, and hearty food (not to mention imported beer) have turned this six-year-old restaurant into an institution for homesick Germans working in the area. 

After your meal, walk off that meat and potato on Anting’s Old Street, a tastefully lit stretch of shops and restaurants with the usual suspects -- canal, bridge, arch, temple, pagoda -- that is lively and relaxed.

Few tourists make it out here, but the families out on their evening stroll and neighbors playing cards outside give off that warm and fuzzy feeling of community that Anting New Town has yet to achieve.