Step to it: Audio guides created for walking tours

Walking tours are considered trendy in China, and Shanghai now introduces audio guide services in four languages to create better experiences.

The Stroll Through Shanghai, Discovering the City's Hidden Treasures audio guide series was launched in Chinese, English, French, and German for seven routes.

The total duration of the GPS audio guide is nearly 200 minutes for each route, aiming to meet the needs of foreign tourists entering Shanghai and domestic tourists for in-depth tours, as the city happens to have more walking tours than any other city in China, attracting countless tourists due to its historical heritage and modern urban landscape.

With the introduction and expansion of the 144-hour visa-free transit policy, there also has been a surge in the number of inbound travelers. Plenty of these tourists are interested in walking tours.

The seven routes cover different areas in Shanghai from Wukang Road to the Bund.

Hidden Mansions of Old Shanghai, Remnants of a Dream - Yangpu's Hidden ArtDeco Past, Beyond the Bund and Literature and Life in the Old Lanes of Hongkou are some of the routes.

Tourists can access the audio guide service through a simple QR code scan, and learn more about Shanghai's past.

Mike Norton, from England, is the designer of these routes. He has lived in Shanghai 14 years.

"It is an ideal and flexible way for people to explore cities," he said. "The script is the same for different languages because it's about the feeling. It's not about how many floors of buildings around Shanghai, but it's really about digging down and finding the interesting stories and interesting people who lived here hundreds of years ago."

"The tour is flexible because you use GPS on your phone. If you want to take a break, or any time you want to stop, you can stop, you can spend as much time as you like looking around, then when you go back to the roots, the tour is there waiting for you on your phone," he added.

"The places are not just the main big tourist attractions, but the places that perhaps they wouldn't have found on their own, and it helps people discover new places in the city."

Norton has been in the tourism industry for a long time, and he was involved in bus tours and developing tourist destinations and infrastructure for tourists in the past.

"I always have some interest about the history of Shanghai, and I always enjoy finding out those small places, perhaps not so many people discover already," he said.

"Shanghai changes very much, and the old Shanghai lilong (lane), where still with people living there is the places I like the best, and these places still have the atmosphere of old Shanghai," said Norton.

How to use:

People can access the service via "Youxing Citywalk" (优行Citywalk) mini program on the WeChat or find the QR code at Wukang Road Tourism Information Center (武康路旅游咨询中心) on 393 Wukang Road in Xuhui District.