Travel Guide
French entrepreneur turns Shanghai city walk into a cultural business
Sep
French entrepreneur Clarisse Le Guernic was born in La Roche-sur-Yon, a city in western France. She began studying Chinese in center college, satisfied that she would at some point reside in China. Today, on the banks of the Huangpu River, she runs her personal cultural firm and has developed dozens of city walk routes, main Chinese and worldwide guests by means of Shanghai’s streets and neighborhoods. In the method, she has develop into a younger cultural ambassador connecting Shanghai with the world.
For Le Guernic, China has no scarcity of fascinating locations to discover, and she or he believes journey is likely one of the finest methods to expertise them. While pursuing her grasp’s diploma, she secured an internship at a journey company in Shanghai. She spent her days biking by means of the city’s streets and neighborhoods, gaining a deeper understanding of Shanghai’s structure and historical past. After graduating in 2019, she determined to remain in Shanghai and construct her profession there.
Her city walk undertaking started in 2020, when the idea was nonetheless comparatively unfamiliar to the general public.
At first, she merely designed a number of strolling routes round Shanghai for Chinese learners of French, taking them on immersive excursions in French to discover the city’s historical past and tales.
Her participating storytelling and powerful information of native historical past shortly earned constructive suggestions, attracting an growing variety of Chinese and worldwide guests. As demand grew, so did the variety of routes she developed.
Before launching every new route, Le Guernic repeatedly walks it herself, checking the assembly level, transportation choices, amenities alongside the way in which and close by eating choices.
She goals to steadiness comfort with the general expertise, guaranteeing that each route helps guests higher perceive Shanghai and its historical past.
At her busiest, Le Guernic leads three or 4 teams a day, masking a number of routes and strolling 20,000 to 30,000 steps every day. To date, she has developed greater than 30 themed city walk routes, masking matters starting from László Hudec’s structure and the cultural heritage of Suzhou Creek to native delicacies and Shanghai’s comic-book historical past.
