In Center near Shanghai Stadium station. Photos: Zhu Jialei/GT

Editor's note

This year is the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Shanghai metro. The subway has facilitated more than 13 billion journeys during its 20 years, and half of Shanghai citizens cite the metro as their favored mode of transport. To commemorate the anniversary, each week the Global Times will take an in-depth look at one metro station and its surroundings. In the case of downtown stations, we will focus on points of interest within walking distance; while for suburban areas, we will cast our net a little wider.

After touring the city on metro line 1, 2 and 3, this weekly column finally comes to Line 4, the only loop line in the city which connects to all the other metro lines except for line 5. Opened in 2005, this circular line is a milestone of the massive network of Shanghai's underground veins.

Metro Line 4 serves many of the city's prime locations in downtown Puxi and Pudong New Area, including the districts of Changning, Xuhui, Yangpu, Hongkou and Putuo. Among its 26 stops, 16 of them are transfer stations. In other words, almost every station that Line 4 stops at is close to densely populated areas with either large residential compounds or busy commercial complexes.

Today's metro column takes us to the station of Shanghai Stadium, which is located on the outskirts of the upscale Xujiahui area.

In Center

Built right on top of the metro station, In Center (580 Tianyaoqiao Road, 6102-1888) is a small shopping mall targeting commuters and residents living in the neighborhood, and houses coffee shops, bakeries, restaurants, a gym, a KTV and game center.

Zhangshang Hanpin, a small eatery serving Korean food on B1, is popular with young people. To create a cozy, homelike ambiance, the owner painted the walls bright pink with various cartoon figures and decorated the venue with stickers and handwritten notes and photos taken by customers. The menu is written on the blackboard in both Korean and Chinese.

Customers can write down their reviews of the restaurant on a sticker and put it randomly on the wall, or hang the paper on the tree in the center of the space. While perusing the menu, you can read other customers' recommendations on the wall.

Part of the restaurant's appeal lies in the very reasonable prices. Tteokbokki, a typical Korean dish of soft rice cakes and sweet chili sauce, costs 10 yuan ($1.64). Korean-style cold noodles are available for 22 yuan.

If Korean food is not your bag, try the xibei restaurant at the corner. Dunhuang Xiaoting, a local Chinese eatery is famous for its northwestern cuisine, including roasted lamb and beef.

In addition to typical xibei dishes, this restaurant has some recommended specialties. Juegenfen, noodles made from fern roots, is a crispy cold dish to whet your appetite. It costs just 7 yuan for one dish.

Since xibei cuisine is heavy and greasy, the restaurant serves a special apricot tea that helps to digest the oil and fat in the main courses. It is available at 6 yuan per cup.

Novel Place, a commercial center near Shanghai Stadium station. Photos: Zhu Jialei/GT

Novel Place

As the temperatures continue to plummet, a bowl of hot tongsui containing all kinds of healthy ingredients is the perfect way to keep you warm. Walking down Tianyaoqiao Road, you will come across one of the city's best tongsui spots, Tangpin in Novel Place (1/F, 133 Tianyaoqiao Road).

Tongsui on offer at Tangpin

Tongsui, or "sweet soup," is a Cantonese term for any liquid or custard dessert. A staple part of Cantonese cuisine, tongsui is especially popular anywhere in the world where Cantonese-speaking people have settled.

The dessert shop is decorated in a retro Shanghainese style, with an old bicycle hanging from the ceiling, an original rotary-dial telephone and a traditional typewriter placed by the side of the food counter. There are also a number of 1930s-style photographs featuring graceful Shanghai ladies adorning the shelves.

A wide selection of tongsui are available at the store; flavors include ginger with sweet potato (16 yuan), almond tea (25 yuan), and fuzhu (dried tofu skin) and ginkgo and barley (25 yuan).

Tongsui on offer at Tangpin

If you're looking for a heartier meal, Tsui Wah Restaurant (1/F, 133 Tianyaoqiao Road), which sits opposite Tangpin, is a good choice.

This Hong Kong-based chacanting chain serves staple Cantonese classics including Hong Kong-style milk tea and homemade fish balls. The bakery sells coconut pastries, egg tarts and pineapple buns.