Shanghai Dongchang Riverside Greenland

Shanghai Dongchang Riverside Greenland is located on the east bank of the Huangpu River along Binjiang Avenue in Pudong. It occupies the site of a disused coal processing plant called the “elevated coal corridor”. In converting the industrial site into a recreational green space, selected bits of the original structures were preserved, adding a nostalgic charm to the area. 

This park is part of a picturesque riverbank redevelopment that stretches for several kilometres and dotted with remnants of shipyard cranes, anchors, bollards and other icons of its maritime past.

This anchor is one of several objects salvaged and preserved as monuments to the site’s coal industry past. In the distance is the business district dominated by the new Shanghai Tower, at 632m the second tallest building in the world.

A grapple bucket pays homage to the days when it grabbed coal from the holds of a barge onto the conveyer belt that ferries it into the factory.

Stilts are all that remain, silent testimony to their supporting role in days gone by.

This service road run the length of the park and shared by pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles delivering supplies to the refreshment outlets.

Residential skyscrapers overlook the well manicured grounds. Several will have lost their river view to newer projects closer to the green belt.

Another row of luxury apartments with prized river views over the park. In the foreground are steps of the old factory and the stub of a chimney.

A galleon-shaped vessel awaits boarding for a night cruise that captures the romance of the past.

Boats, barges, ferries and coastal ships stream up and down and across the Huangpu River passing beneath several bridges that link the new Pudong district to the old Shanghai city with its historic Bund and quaint Old Walled City.