Editor's Note:

This year is the 21st anniversary of the opening of the Shanghai metro. The subway has facilitated more than 13 billion journeys during its 21 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.

As an interchange point connecting metro lines 8 and 10, Laoximen Station, located in downtown Shanghai's Huangpu district, is one of the city's busiest stations, particularly during rush hour.

But despite the hustle and bustle stirred by commuters, the neighborhood encircling the station is quaint, quiet and packed with local character. The Global Times recently visited Laoximen Station of metro Line 10 to see what its surroundings have to offer.

The Confucius Temple

About 500 meters south of the station, the Confucius Temple on Wenmiao Road is downtown Shanghai's only temple dedicated to the celebrated ancient Chinese thinker Confucius (551BC-479BC). Originally built in the 13th century, the 7,890-square-meter architectural complex has been reconstructed several times over the past 700 years. Today it stands as one of the city's most famous historic and cultural landmarks.

After stepping inside the temple, the visitor's eye is often struck by the multitude of yellow cards which hang from trees in front of Dacheng Hall. These cards contain wishes made to Confucius, in hopes that the spirit of the teacher and philosopher will intercede on their eventual fulfillment. Unsurprisingly, this tradition is often practiced by students looking for good marks on their exams.

West of Dacheng Hall sits the Zunjing Pavilion, constructed in 1484 to store ancient Chinese texts on philosophy, history, military strategy and culture. This structure became one of Shanghai's most well-known libraries in the 1930s. Today, many rare books printed during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) are still on display.

"Antique" jade plates sell for as little as 300 yuan each along Dongtai Road. Photos: Huang Lanlan/GT

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Wenmiao Road

Outside of the Confucius Temple, the 562-meter-long Wenmiao Road was once renowned as a focal point of culture and knowledge since, in addition to the Confucius Temple, the street was home to several prestigious schools during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

These days, the street is perhaps better known as a paradise for anime fans, with more than 30 shops selling comic-related products such as comic books, modeling kits and scale-model figurines of popular anime characters. Still, the winds of change have left their mark on this corner of comic fandom.

"There were once some 100 comic shops along the road, but the number has sharply decreased over the last two years as more people buy things online," one shop owner named Zhu Qingfeng explained to the Global Times.

In Zhu's shop, about 1,000 figurines and statutes line glass shelves, with the smallest of these miniatures no more than 10 centimeters tall. Here people can find not only Asian comic stars like Ultraman and Detective Conan, but also popular Western characters such as Spider-Man and members of The Avengers.

But outside of comics, Wenmiao Road offers other items of interest. Perhaps the oddest offerings are the "blood bag" juice drinks. These juices, sold at various stalls along the road, are packaged in fake medical blood bags, with flavors like blueberry and grape.

According to one vendor, these novelty drinks have proven popular with youngsters, especially fans of hit TV shows like The Vampire Diaries, despite such drinks have been described as unsafe by national authorities due to their lack of product information. "Every day I can sell 70 to 100 bags," she said, adding that each bag is sold for 10 yuan ($1.61).

Dongtai Road Antique Market

Dongtai Road, once known as Taishan Road, is located less than 200 meters west of Laoximen Station. Built in 1902, the road is famous for its roughly 300 antique stalls, which make it not only one of the largest markets of its kind in Shanghai but also a hot spot for tourists and locals.

Here one can find all manner of eye-catching curios and old-fashioned craft goods. In front of one small shop, a piece of black cloth hangs with nearly 400 badges bearing different likenesses of Chairman Mao. Elsewhere, brushes, necklaces, teapots, statues of Buddha, calligraphic works, tin wind-up toys and prints of vintage advertisements can all be had for reasonable prices if one is willing to bargain.

While many enjoy the thrill of hunting for hidden gems within the jumble of knickknacks, those in search of real treasures should be warned that just because an object looks time-worn that doesn't make it a valuable antique. Reproduction antiques that look like the genuine articles sell for extremely low prices on Dongtai Road.

For instance, at one shop, the Global Times found a 30-centimeter "antique" jade plate selling for only 300 yuan.