A view of Tian’an Road. [Photo/VCG]
Dubbed the most romantic road in Shanghai, the 520-meter Tian’ai Road in Hongkou district is setting its sights on expanding the industry centered around romance and marriage.
In January, Hongkou unveiled a three-year action plan for the high-quality development of the love-themed economy, becoming the first district in Shanghai to prioritize this industry.
The plan promotes an integrated development model that combines wedding culture with the romance-driven economy, striving to establish a competitive industry cluster with influence across the Yangtze River Delta and beyond.
Tian’ai Road, whose name literally means “sweet love” in Chinese, has long been a popular destination among young couples looking to express their love.
The romantic atmosphere of the road can be traced back to the 1930s, when literary giants such as Lu Xun and Mao Du left a rich cultural legacy in the surrounding area. Local folklore involving a woman named Tian’ai and a man named Xiangde further adds to the road’s romantic charm, shaping its distinctive Shanghai-style love tradition.
An urban revitalization project that began in 2018 transformed Tian’ai Road into a trendy romantic destination. The road is now adorned with symbolic red mailboxes for love letters, traffic lights shaped like hearts, and painted walls featuring romantic poems from China and around the world.
Two visitors take photos beside a wall covered in people’s signatures on Tian’ai Road in Hongkou district. [Photo/IC]
At the end of 2023, a marriage registration office opened on Tian’ai Road. Unlike regular marriage registration offices, this center exclusively handles marriage registrations – and not divorces. This love-themed office strives to create meaningful experiences for couples.
According to Hongkou District’s plan, the Tian’ai Road area will see the development of three iconic streetscapes, 10 themed wedding travel routes, and 100 popular destinations for wedding tourism and photography.
As one of Shanghai’s 64 streets designated as “never to be widened”, Tian’ai Road has no space for streetside commercial storefronts.
To address this, Hongkou is expanding commercial offerings to nearby streets, including the development of two Shanghai-style wedding photography bases on Duolun Road and Tian’ai Branch Road.
To further boost the wedding and romance industry, an industry alliance has been formed, comprising 89 companies involved in wedding planning, honeymoon travel, cultural product design, hotels, and other related businesses. The alliance aims to attract over 120 companies within the next three years and strengthen Hongkou’s position as a hub for romance-driven commerce.
Source: Shanghai Observer
,https://english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-Latest-WhatsNew/20250218/5a9c88b4cf304cb295a54b1a25378272.html