French entrepreneur turns Shanghai city walk into a cultural business

French entrepreneur Clarisse Le Guernic was born in La Roche-sur-Yon, a metropolis in western France. She began studying Chinese language in center faculty, satisfied that she would someday dwell in China. At present, on the banks of the Huangpu River, she runs her personal cultural firm and has developed dozens of metropolis stroll routes, main Chinese language and worldwide guests by means of Shanghai’s streets and neighborhoods. Within the course of, 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 without doubt one of the finest methods to expertise them. Whereas pursuing her grasp’s diploma, she secured an internship at a journey company in Shanghai. She spent her days biking by means of town’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 metropolis stroll challenge 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 language learners of French, taking them on immersive excursions in French to discover town’s historical past and tales.

Her partaking storytelling and powerful information of native historical past rapidly earned optimistic suggestions, attracting an rising variety of Chinese language and worldwide guests. As demand grew, so did the variety of routes she developed.

Earlier than launching every new route, Le Guernic repeatedly walks it herself, checking the assembly level, transportation choices, amenities alongside the best way and close by eating choices.

She goals to stability 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. Up to now, she has developed greater than 30 themed metropolis stroll 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.

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