Information on Shanghai

Publicerad: 2006-01-13 00.00  |  Senast ändrad: 2006-02-08 00.00

What is Shanghai all about?
Throughout the past century, Shanghai has had numerous name tags attached to it; the "whore of the East", the "Paris of the Orient" and the "Pearl Of China". Images of Shanghai more than any other Chinese city, are bountiful in the west. A visit here therefore, is naturally tainted to some extent, with a preconception of how the city will be.

As the largest and most prosperous city in the nation, Shanghai is the economic, financial and cultural center of China, where Beijing is the political heart. And this image of Shanghai as a fast and modern metropolis is certainly the one that most visitors take away. Those old preconceptions of Shanghai as the home of crime vice and prostitutes are wiped away, as the city successfully projects an image of itself as young, vibrant and cool.

Shanghai is a modern and fast paced city, rich in history and culture and with a wealth of areas and sites just waiting to be explored. One of the nicest aspects of Shanghai is that the crowds here are much more manageable than in a city like Beijing. This is largely because there are no great ancient sites which people flock too. Rather, this is a city to be walked, wandered, explored and discovered in your own time and, in your own style.

What makes Shanghai particularly attractive are the many different styles of architecture and design throughout the city. Shanghai was once divided up into different "Concessions" or districts and the boundaries of these areas still remain today.The famous, Bund was home to the "British Public Park" and this boulevard has a plethora of colonial structures to visit, all reminders of Shanghai's days of decadence. The Japanese and the French Concessions too, are fascinating areas to explore.

The French quarter is a particularly charming district to wander, and there are many former residences to look at and discover something about old Shanghai and the people who lived here. The area known as the "Chinese City" is also worthy of a visit. Take a break from the tourists around the Yuyuan and do some serious antique shopping or just lose yourself amidst the old alleys and streets.

But perhaps most of all today, Shanghai is a spectacularly modern city. The pace of development here is unbelievable. Currently, seventeen percent of the world's cranes are in the city and developers boast that the city is changing at a rate incomparable to anywhere else in the world ever. The newest area of the city, Pudong, has just celebrated its 10th anniversary and is almost unrecognizable from the way it was when development began here. Two of the most impressive city structures can be found here, the Jinmao Tower and the Oriental TV Tower.

For any visitor to China, perhaps the most attractive thing about this city is just how fashionable it is. Museums, galleries, restaurants and bars have emerged in the past few years. This cosmopolitan cultural scene which harks back to the heydays of the 1920s and 30s and the new found wealth in the city are helping to reinvent Shanghai as a place with a fabulous and optimistic style and attitude.

----------------------------------------

Getting around:

Using Taxi
Well taking a taxi in China is very cheap but you need nerves of steel, because the drivers are very good at maneuvering in traffic. A simple honk with the horn and then they switch lanes, well that is the way it's done Chinese style. Traveling 36 kilometers by taxi in 2005 cost around 100 - 110,- RMB and compared to Europe it's extremely cheap.

Using Train and Subway
NEVER throw away your ticket when you're traveling by train or Subway, you might need it to leave the station you arrived at!!

Travelling by train in China is very cheap and going from Shanghai to Beijing in 2005only cost around 599,- RMB

----------------------------------------

Taking pictures

Please be aware that there are a lot of places where you're not allowed to take pictures. If you're in doubt please ask the local guards or at the ticket vendor. As an example it's forbidden to take pictures in a shop selling Jade as it's seen as bad luck. The same thing goes for temples (inside) and The Ming Tombs are very strickt, here you can't take pictures once you're inside the main entry gate.

----------------------------------------

Shopping

Shopping in China is also very cheap, especially if you go to the huge shopping malls like in Shanghai and Beijing. Shopping electronics is also very cheap if you buy local Chinese brands while brands like Samsung, Erichsson and Nokia is almost as expensive and sometimes even more expensive than in Europe. Buying DVD movies is extremely cheap (around 10 RMB) but be aware that you might have problems taking them through customs in Europe. If you buy Hong Kong produced movies you shouldn't have problems bringing them. Don't forget to visit Nanjing Road (worlds longest shopping road).

----------------------------------------

The Art Of Bargaining

It helps to know the going prices for items you're interested in. The Friendship Store is worth scoping out with prices in mind because it sets the standard price for most items. Prices in hotel shops and at the new megamalls are usually your ceiling -- you should be able to beat that price elsewhere. The street markets usually have the lowest prices. There, for example, you can buy porcelain chopstick rests for ¥5 (60¢), painted fans at ¥10 ($1.20), silk shirts at ¥100 ($12), quilts at ¥150 ($18), and ecru tablecloths at ¥200 ($24).

Haggling is not done at government-run stores, most hotel stalls, and modern shops, but it is expected on the street and in small private stores. A good rule of thumb is to offer no more than a quarter of the quoted price and not to accept the first counteroffer. Try to reach a compromise (no more than half the quoted price). Walking away with a firm but polite "No" often brings about a more favorable price. Smiling through the entire exchange (whatever the outcome) helps as well, as does negotiating alone with the vendor who will never give you the best price if he/she stands to lose face in front of other prying eyes. Remember that locals are demon shoppers who scrutinize each potential purchase and exercise mountains of patience before making a buy.

Buyer Beware -- A local saying goes, "Everything is fake, only the fake things are real." This is true of goods sold at many antiques markets, and especially the open-air markets that line the entrances to major tourist sites where, in general, you'll be charged extravagant prices for mass-produced kitsch of shoddy quality. Jade is particularly difficult to evaluate and prone to being fake, so buy only what you really like and don't pay much.

----------------------------------------

Shànghai's Top Shopping Areas

Shànghai's top street to shop has always been Nánjing Lù, enhanced recently by the creation of the Nánjing Lù Pedestrian Mall on Nánjing Dong Lù downtown, where the most modern and the most traditional modes of retailing commingle.

Even more popular among locals, however, is Huáihai Zhong Lù, the wide avenue south of Nánjing Lù and parallel to it. The Huáihai shopping area tends to run far west across the city, from the Huángpí Nán Lù Metro station to the Chángshú Lù station. The modern shopping malls here have better prices than you'll find on Nánjing Lù, and there are plenty of boutiques featuring fashions and silks. Some of the most interesting shopping for fashion and accessories is concentrated in the Màomíng Lù/Chánglè Lù area, just off Huáihai Lù. In the southern part of the concession, Tàikàng Lù, home to a bunch of art galleries and trendy clubs, also has some fashionable boutiques selling everything from designer handbags to pricey silks.

Another major shopping street is Héngshan Lù, which continues at the western end of Huáihai Lù and runs south to the Xújiahuì intersection and subway stop, where one of the city's largest collections of shopping centers is located.

Shànghai's Old Town Bazaar is a fine place to shop for local arts and crafts and for antiques. In Pudong, the shopping is concentrated mostly east of the riverfront and south of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower in the malls anchored by the massive Nextage department store on Zhangyáng Lù and more recently the Super Brand Mall (Zhèngdà Guangchang) in Lùjiazui.

----------------------------------------

Markets & Bazaars

Some of Shànghai's most interesting shopping experiences are provided by its colorful street markets and alley bazaars. Curios, crafts, collectibles, antiques, jewelry, and coins are all here for those who are willing to bargain hard, but perhaps the most common item you'll find in the markets these days is designer-label clothing, much of it knockoffs (copies) with upscale labels sewn in, although some items are factory seconds or overruns (sometimes smuggled out of legitimate brand-name factories). Many of the markets also sell fresh produce, seafood, spices, and other consumables to residents, along with snacks and drinks. At all such markets, cash is the only means of exchange, and pickpockets are plentiful, so keep all your valuables in a concealed pouch or money belt. If you're purchasing goods from an outdoor antiques market, be aware that not all older (pre-1949) items sold at such markets will have the red-wax seal attached. A stern Customs inspector, finding an old item without a seal, might confiscate it.

----------------------------------------

Dongjiadù Fabric Market
(Dongjiadù Lù Zhipin Shìchang)

Located at Dongjiadù Lù and Zhongshan Nán Lù in the southeastern corner of the old Chinese city, this gem of a market, a favorite with expatriates, features hundreds of stalls selling bales of fabric at ridiculously low prices, from traditional Chinese silk and Thai silk to cotton, linen, wool, and cashmere, though the heavier fabrics are only carried during the colder months. Many stalls have their own in-house tailors who can stitch you a suit, or anything else you want, at rates that are less than half what you'd pay at retail outlets like Silk King. Come with a pattern. Turnaround is usually a week or more. Open daily from 9am to 5pm.

----------------------------------------

Dongtái Lù Antiques Market
(Dongtái Lù Guwán Shìchang)

This largest of Shànghai's antique markets has hundreds of stalls and many permanent shops along a short lane, located on Dongtái Lù and Liúhé Lù, 1 block west of Xizàng Nán Lù, Lúwan (about 3 blocks south of Huáihai Lù). Dealers specialize in antiques, curios, porcelain, furniture, jewelry, baskets, bamboo and woodcarvings, birds, flowers, goldfish, and nostalgic bric-a-brac from colonial and revolutionary days (especially Máo memorabilia). When it rains, most stalls aren't open, but the stores are. Open daily from 9am to 5pm.

----------------------------------------

Fúyòu Market

If you like rummaging through lots of junk for the chance to find the rare real nugget, this is still the best place to do it in Shànghai. This favorite for weekend antique and curio hunting, currently located in the Cángbao Lóu (building) at Fangbang Zhong Lù 457 and Hénán Nán Lù (the western entrance to Shànghai Old St. in the Old Town Bazaar, Nánshì) is also called a "ghost market" because the traders -- up to 800 of them -- set out their wares before sunrise (when only ghosts can see what's for sale). Come as near to dawn as possible on Saturday or Sunday morning, preferably the latter, when vendors come in from the surrounding countryside. The goods are various and few are polished up; many of the items are from the attic or the farm, though increasingly also from some factory backroom that churns out modern pieces that are then scuffed up with mud to look old. Porcelains, old jade pendants, used furniture, Qing Dynasty coins, Chairman Máo buttons and little red books, old Russian cameras, Buddhist statues, snuff bottles, and carved wooden screens are just a few of the treasures here, none with price tags. Three floors of the market building are open daily from 9am to 5pm, with the third floor specializing in concession-era relics; the weekend market (on the third and fourth floors) runs from 5am to 6pm, but tapers off by noon.

----------------------------------------

Temple Of Town God Market
(Chénghuáng Miào Shìchang)

This daily market starts out in the basement of the Huábao Building (Fangbang Lù 265, Old Town Bazaar, Nánshì), but on weekends it spills into the courtyards of the temple and nearby Yù Yuán pedestrian mall. It offers hundreds of vendors and hundreds of chances to bargain for curios, collectibles, and an occasional museum-quality relic. It's open daily from 8:30am to 9pm.

----------------------------------------

Xiangyáng Clothing Market
(Xiangyáng Lù Fúshì Shìchang)

At the intersection of Huáihai Zhong Lù and Xiangyáng Lù, Xúhuì (between the Shanxi Nán Lù and Chángshú Lù Metro stations), you'll find Shànghai's version of Beijing's famous Silk Alley -- but with a broader range of goods. This outdoor market with many covered stalls has as its main draw designer-label clothing and accessories. The Western-branded merchandise (North Face jackets, Prada handbags, Nike shoes, and so on) sells for a fraction of retail, but of course the labels may not be genuine (that silk tie or scarf may prove to be synthetic, for example). Seconds and fakes abound, but some of the best deals are genuine, hustled out the back door of Shànghai factories. Haggling is expected. Do not, for example, pay more than ¥180 ($22) for a "North Fake" jacket or ¥100 ($13) for a pair of jeans. New rules imposed as a result of China entering the World Trade Organization have closed down some stalls, but the vendors are still there. Now they congregate at the entrance to the market and accost passers-by and tourists with their decrepit laminated photos of the Louis Vuitton handbags and the Rolex watches they have stashed away. Do not go with these vendors no matter how appealing the prices quoted. You can get similar items at plenty of stalls inside the market. Open daily from 8am to 9pm.

----------------------------------------

Vendors Behaving Badly

When visiting the Fúyòu Market, be very careful when navigating your way through the makeshift vendors on the third and especially fourth floors; many are itinerant peddlers here for the weekend who merely display their wares on the ground wherever they can find space. Shoppers with large bags or heavy bag packs should be especially vigilant as a careless swing of an arm or even a tiny push from the crowd can cause bodies to topple and wares to go flying. This has happened before and will happen again (whether by accident or design). If you are the hapless soul who ends up damaging something (even if you were pushed by someone else), you will be held responsible. This is open season for vendors who, smelling blood, will claim that you've broken their precious Táng Dynasty vase (when it has just come from the factory backroom), and cite a ridiculously marked-up charge that you must now pay. Fortunately, the Fúyòu Market now has a supervising manager familiar with the quality and price of the goods on sale to monitor and mediate precisely such incidents. Should you ever find yourself in such an unlucky situation, don't attempt to bargain your way out; immediately consult the supervisor (jiandu) whose office is in the small alley just east of the building.

----------------------------------------

What to Know about Knockoffs

The Customs services of many nations frown on the importation of knockoffs on trademark goods. The U.S. Customs Service allows U.S. residents to return with one trademark-protected item of each type; that is, one counterfeit watch, one knockoff purse, one camera with a questionable trademark, and so on. For instance, you may not bring back a dozen "Polo" shirts as gifts for friends. Even if the brand name is legitimate, you are not a licensed importer. Copyrighted products like CD-ROMs and books must have been manufactured under the copyright owner's authorization; otherwise, tourists may not import even one of these items -- they are pirated. The U.S. Customs Service booklet Know Before You Go and the U.S. Customs website www.customs.ustreas.gov provide further guidelines.

----------------------------------------

Places to visit:

Century Park
(Shìjì Gongyuán)
Hours: Daily 7am-6pm (to 5pm Nov 16-Mar 15)
Address: Jinxiù Lù 1001

Built to herald the new millennium, this sprawling 140-hectare (347-acre) park lies at the southern terminus of Century Boulevard (Shìjì Dà Dào), which runs from the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. Designed by a British firm, the park is divided into seven scenic areas including a minigolf course, a beach area complete with man-made cobblestone beach, a bird-protection area, and an international garden area. The center of the park contains a lake where fishing poles and paddleboats can be rented. There's plenty here to distract the kids, but it's an even better place to watch local families enjoying themselves.

----------------------------------------

Fuxing Park
(Fùxing Gongyuán)
Hours: Daily 6am-6pm
Address: Gaolán Lù 2

Formerly a private estate in the French Concession, Fùxing Park was purchased by foreign residents and opened to the French public on July 14, 1909. It was popularly known as French Park, styled after your typical Parisian city park with wide, tree-lined walks and flower beds. Today, this is one of the city's most popular parks, home to a number of restaurants and nightclubs, as well as to pleasant fountains, a children's playground with a carousel and bumper cars, a rose garden to the east, 120 species of trees, and, near the north entrance, a statue of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel before which Chinese couples often practice their ballroom dancing.

----------------------------------------

Hengshan Community Church
(Guójì Libài Táng)
Hours: Services Sun 7:30am, 10am (English translation available), 7pm
Address: Héngshan Lù 53

Established in 1925 and also called the International Church, this is the best known of Shànghai's Protestant churches among foreign residents and visitors, and is the largest in use. The ivy-covered English-style building and grounds are beautiful, fully in keeping with this upscale colonial-style shopping district on the fringes of the French Concession. Special services for foreign passport holders are currently held here at 4pm on Sundays.

----------------------------------------

Jade Buddha Temple
(Yù Fó Sì)
Hours: Daily 8am-4:30pm
Address: Anyuán Lù 170

Though an active Buddhist monastery today (devoted to the Chán or Zen sect, which originated in China), the real emphasis at this temple, Shànghai's most popular with visitors, is squarely on tourism. What the busloads come for are the temple's two gorgeous white jade Buddhas, each carved from an individual slab of Burmese jade and brought to Shànghai in 1881 by the monk Huígeng, who was on his way back from Burma to his hometown on nearby Putuó Shan (Putuó Island). A temple was built in 1882 to house the statues, but was destroyed in a fire and rebuilt at the present site in 1918 with swirling eaves characteristic of the Song Dynasty architectural style. Northeast of the main Dàxióng Bao Diàn (Treasure Hall of the Great Hero), which contains golden images of the Buddhas of the past, present, and future, the Cángjing Lóu houses the first of the two treasures: a lustrous, beatific, seated Buddha weighing 205 kilograms (455 lb.), measuring 1.9m (6 ft. 5 in.), and adorned with jewels and stones. The other Buddha is found northwest of the main hall in the Wòfó Sì, where a less impressive but still beautiful 1m-long (3 ft. 4 in.) sleeping Buddha reclines, his peaceful expression signaling his impending entry into nirvana. Opposite it is a much larger, coarser replica donated by the Singapore Buddhist Friendship Association in 1988.

----------------------------------------

Jing An Temple
(Jìng An Sì)
Hours: Daily 7:30am-5pm
Address: Nánjing Xi Lù 1686

Always lively and crowded, this garishly decorated temple has the longest history of any shrine in Shànghai, about 17 centuries (though the shopping annex is more recent). Its chief antiquities are a Míng Dynasty copper bell (the Hóngwu Bell) that weighs in at 3,175 kilograms (3.5 tons) and stone Buddhas from the Northern and Southern States period (A.D. 420-589). Although its name means "Temple of Tranquillity," it is hardly the place for quiet meditation these days, nor was it in the past. Before 1949, this was Shànghai's richest Buddhist monastery, presided over by the Abbott of Bubbling Well Road (Nánjing Xi Lù, as it was known in Colonial times because of a well that was located in front of the temple), an imposing figure who kept seven mistresses and a White Russian bodyguard. Today's Southern-style main halls are all recent renovations using Burmese teakwood (yóumù). Reconstructions (part of an expansion plan that seems hellbent on turning the temple into a marketplace) will continue into 2007. The temple is also the headquarters and repository for the Mí Sect, a Chinese-originated Buddhist discipline that was all but extinct until it was reintroduced from Japan in 1953.

----------------------------------------

Yu Garden

Yù Yuán is a pleasant enough, well-contained classical Chinese garden, if not quite the loveliest of its kind, as local boosters would have you believe. Bearing the burden of being the most complete classical garden in urban Shànghai and therefore a must-see for every tourist, this overexposed garden overflows daily with hordes of visitors, and is no longer the pastoral haven it once was. Built between 1559 and 1577 by local official Pan Yunduan as the private estate for his father, Yù Yuán (meaning Garden of Peace and Comfort) is a maze of Míng Dynasty pavilions, elaborate rockeries, arched bridges, and goldfish ponds, all encircled by an undulating dragon wall. Occupying just 2 hectares (5 acres), it nevertheless appears quite expansive, with room for 30 pavilions.

Essentials--Yù Yuán is located at the heart of Old Town (Nánshì), a few blocks southwest of the Bund in downtown Shànghai (nearest Metro: Hénán Zhong Lù, which is still a mile away). The main entrance and ticket window (tel. 021/6355-5032) are on the north shore of the Húxin Tíng pond. It is open daily from 8:30am to 5pm (last ticket 4:45pm), and admission is ¥30 ($3.75). The least crowded time to visit is early morning. Allow 2 hours for a leisurely tour of this site.

----------------------------------------

The Bund

The Bund (which means the Embankment) refers to Shànghai's famous waterfront running along the west shore of the Huángpu River, forming the eastern boundary of old downtown Shànghai. Once a muddy towpath for boats along the river, the Bund was where the foreign powers that entered Shànghai after the Opium War of 1842 erected their distinct Western-style banks and trading houses. From here Shànghai grew into a cosmopolitan and thriving commercial and financial center, Asia's leading city in the 1920s and 1930s. Many of the awesome colonial structures you see today date from that prosperous time and have become an indelible part of Shànghai's cityscape.

Today, a wide avenue fronts the old buildings while a raised promenade on the east side of the road affords visitors pleasant strolls along the river and marvelous views of both the Bund and Pudong across the river. Pudong's new skyscrapers and modern towers -- constituting Shànghai's "21st Century Bund" -- may dominate today's skyline, but the city's core identity and history are strictly rooted in this unique strip on the western shore. For years, the Bund was the first sight of Shànghai for those arriving by boat; it should be your first stop as well.

Essentials--Stretching for 1.6km (1 mile) along the western edge of the Huángpu River, the Bund runs from Suzhou Creek in the north to Jinlíng Lù in the south. On the west side of the main avenue (Zhongshan Dong Yi Lù) that runs along the Bund are the colonial edifices of yore, while the eastern side is taken by the Bund Promenade, a raised embankment that acts as a dike against the Huángpu River, because downtown itself, situated on a soggy delta, is slowly sinking below the river level. The Bund is pleasant to stroll at any hour but is often crowded with tourists and vendors selling snacks and souvenirs. Early mornings see tai-chi practitioners and ballroom dancers out in force. Early to mid-morning on weekdays is best for avoiding the crowds and for photography. If possible, try to return here at night when the Bund buildings are all aglow.

Exploring the Bund--The highlights of the Bund are undoubtedly the colonial-era buildings lining the west side of Zhongshan Dong Yi Lù, standouts of which include the former British Consulate, the Customs House, the former Hong Kong and Shànghai Bank, and the Peace Hotel.

Besides its landmark colonial architecture, however, the Bund has a few other small attractions. On its north end, Suzhou Creek enters the Huángpu River beneath the 18m-wide (60-ft.) iron Wàibáidù Bridge, built in 1906 to replace the original wooden toll bridge constructed in 1856 by an English businessman. On the river shore now stands a granite obelisk, the Monument to the People's Heroes, dedicated to Chinese patriots (as defined by the Communist Party), beginning in the 1840s. It was erected in 1993 and contains a small historical gallery at its base, the Bund History Museum (daily 9am-4:15pm; free admission), which contains a few artifacts and some interesting photographs of the Bund. Just south of the monument, at street level, is the park Huángpu Gongyuán (daily 6am-6pm in winter, until 10pm in summer; free admission), originally the British Public Gardens built in 1868. In the early days, only Chinese servants accompanying their foreign masters were allowed to enter the park. Dogs were also prohibited, leading in later years to the apocryphal NO CHINESE OR DOGS ALLOWED sign being attributed to the park. The park was eventually opened to Chinese in 1926. South of here, across from the Peace Hotel, is the entrance to the new pedestrian Bund Sight-Seeing Tunnel (Wàitan Guànguang Suìdào; Mon-Thurs 8am-10pm, Fri-Sun 8am-10:30pm; admission ¥40/$5 round-trip, ¥30/$4 one-way) located under the Huángpu. Complete with tram cars and light show, the tunnel connects downtown Shànghai to the Pudong New Area and the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. Also here is a statue of Chén Yì, Shànghai's first mayor after 1949 and a dead ringer for Máo Zédong, at least in bronze.

Farther south down the Bund Promenade are scores of vendors, a few restaurants, and excellent overlooks facing the river. Near the southern end of the promenade are the docks for the Huángpu River cruises. You'll also notice the picturesque Signal Tower, a slender round brick tower that served as a control tower for river traffic during colonial days. First built in 1884, the tower was rebuilt in 1907, and also relayed weather reports. In 1993 during the widening of Zhongshan Lù, it was moved 20m (65 ft.) to its current site. Today, a handful of photographs inside show the early days of the Bund, but you can no longer climb to the lookout.

----------------------------------------

Lu Xùn Park and Memorial Hall
Former Residence of Lu Xùn
(Lu Xùn Gongyuán/Lu Xùn Gù)
Hours: Daily 6am-6pm. Memorial hall daily 9am-4pm

What was originally Hóngkou Park (1905), once a foreigners' park opened to the Chinese only in 1928, has been renamed for China's best-known 20th-century writer, Lu Xùn (1881-1936), who lived in this neighborhood from 1927 until his death. Known as the "father of modern Chinese literature" because of his role in developing the modern style of Chinese prose as well as in helping simplify the Chinese script, Lu Xùn was a prolific writer who translated science-fiction novels into Chinese just as easily as he penned scathing critiques of Confucianism and the alternately submissive and arrogant Chinese character. Extolled as a political revolutionary (Máo Zédong penned an inscription on Lu Xùn's tomb which lies at the north end of the park), Lu Xùn was himself deliberately never a member of the Communist party. One can only imagine what his scathing pen would have had to say about China's current headlong rush into capitalism. At the eastern end of the park is a memorial hall devoted to his life, the Lu Xùn Jìniànguan. The main exhibit room on the second floor displays his many books and old photographs, as well as his hat, goatskin gown, and death mask. Signs are in English. There's also a bookstore here selling English-language copies of some of his most famous works, such as The Story of Ah Q. A 10-minute walk east of the park, Lu Xùn's Former Residence is a three-story brick house where he lived from 1933 to his death, and largely decorated as it was then. Exhibits here include an original writing brush as well as a clock marking his exact time of death on October 19, 1936: 5:25am.

----------------------------------------

The Former Residence of Song Qingling
(Sòng Qìnglíng Gùju)
Hours: Daily 9am-4:30pm
Address: Huáihai Zhong Lù 1843

Soong Ching-ling (1893-1981) is revered throughout China as a loyalist to the communist cause. Born in Shànghai to a wealthy family, she married the founder of the Chinese Republic, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, in 1915. Unlike the rest of her family members (the most famous being her youngest sister Soong Mei-ling, who married Chiang Kai-shek) who all fled China after 1949, Soong Ching-ling stayed and was given many important political and cultural posts in the communist government. This 1920s villa, built by a Greek sea captain in the French Concession, served as her residence from 1948 to 1963. Little is changed at this two-story house with white walls and green shutters with many of the rooms much as Soong left them. Unfortunately, only the first floor living and dining areas are accessible; her upstairs office, bedroom, and the bedroom of her devoted maid, Li Yàn'é, are closed to the public for conservation reasons. There are two black sedans in the garage, one presented to her by Stalin in 1952. A new annex just inside the gate displays relics from her life, including her Wesleyan College diploma, phonograph records, family photos, and letters from the likes of Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and American correspondent Edgar Snow. Soong Ching-ling died in Beijing in 1981 but is buried with her parents and her maid in the Wànguó Cemetery in western Shànghai.

----------------------------------------

The Former Residence of Sun Yat-sen
(Sun Zhongshan Gùju Jìniànguan)
Hours: Daily 9am-4:30pm
Address: Xiangshan Lù 7

Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925), beloved founder of the Chinese Republic (1911), lived here with his wife, Soong Ching-ling, from June 1918 to November 1924, when the address would have been 29 Rue de Moliere. Here Sun's wife later met with such literary stars as Lu Xùn and George Bernard Shaw (at the same dinner party) and political leaders including Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh (in 1933). Led by an English-speaking guide, visitors enter through the kitchen on the way to the dining room. Sun's study is upstairs, complete with ink stone, brushes, maps drawn by Sun, and a "library" of 2,700 volumes (look closer and you'll see they're merely photocopies of book spines). The bedroom and the drawing room contain more original furnishings, including an original "Zhongshan" suit, similar to the later Máo suit. The backyard has a charming garden.

----------------------------------------

The Former Residence of Zhou Enlai
(Zhou Gong Guan)
Hours: Daily 9am-4pm
Address: Sinán Lù 73

China's most revered leader during the Máo years, Premier Zhou Enlái (1898-1976), used to stay at this ivy-covered house when he visited Shànghai in 1946. His old black Buick is still parked in the garage. The backyard has a small courtyard garden, where there is a statue of Zhou. The house was used more as an office than residence, and it served before the revolution as the Communist Party's Shànghai office. Zhou kept a spartan room on the first floor (his threadbare blankets are neatly folded on the bed); newspapers were produced on the second floor; and a dorm was maintained in the attic. Signs are in Chinese only.

----------------------------------------

Longhua Temple
(Lónghuá Sì)
Hours: Daily 7am-5pm

Shànghai's largest and most active temple is one of its most fascinating, featuring the city's premier pagoda, Lónghuá Ta. Local lore has it that the pagoda was originally built around 247 by Sun Quán, the king of the Wú Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms period, but today's seven-story, eight-sided, wood and brick pagoda, like the temple, dates to the Sòng Dynasty (A.D. 960-1279). For a long time the tallest structure in Shànghai, today it's pretty (tiny bells hang from the eaves), just a little delicate, and can only be admired from a distance. The extensive temple grounds, on the north side of the newly created pedestrian street, are often crowded with incense-bearing supplicants. There are four main halls (only a century old), the most impressive being the third, Dàxióng Bao Diàn (Grand Hall) where a gilded statue of Sakyamuni sits under a beautifully carved dome, flanked on each side by 18 arhats (disciples). Behind, Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy, presides over a fascinating tableau representing the process of reincarnation: a boat in the bottom right corner indicates birth, while death awaits at the bottom left corner. The fourth hall, Sanshén Bao Diàn, features three incarnations of the Buddha. Behind the third and fourth halls is a basic but popular vegetarian restaurant (11am-2pm). Lónghuá is also famous for its midnight bell-ringing every New Year's Eve (Dec 31-Jan 1), which takes place in the three-storied Zhong Lóu (Bell Tower) near the entrance. The tower's 3,000-kilogram (3.3-ton) bronze bell, cast in 1894, is struck 108 times to dispel all the worries said to be afflicting mankind. For a fee of ¥10 ($1.25), you, too, can strike the bell, but for three times only.

----------------------------------------

Oriental Pearl TV Tower
(Dongfang Míngzhu Guangbo Diànshì Ta)
Hours: Daily 8:30am-9:30pm
Address: Lùjiazui Lù 2

The earliest symbol of the new China, this hideous gray tower with three tapering levels of pink spheres (meant to resemble pearls) still holds a special place in many a local heart and is still one of the first stops in town for Chinese visitors. Built in 1994 at a height of 468m (1,550 ft.), it is hailed as the tallest TV tower in Asia and the third tallest in the world. Visit for the stunning panoramas of Shànghai (when the clouds and smog decide to cooperate) and the stellar Shànghai Municipal History Museum (reviewed earlier in this chapter) located in the basement. Various combination tickets are offered for tower and museum, but for most folks, the observation deck in the middle sphere (263m/870 ft. elevation), reached by high-speed elevators staffed by statistics-reciting attendants, is just the right height to take in Shànghai old and new, east and west. Those partial to vertiginous views can ascend to the "space capsule" in the top sphere (350m/1,092 ft. elevation).

----------------------------------------

Shanghai Ocean Aquarium
(Shànghai Haiyáng Shuizú Guan)
Hours: Daily 9am-8:30pm
Address: Yínchéng Bei Lù 158
(very close to the Orient Pearl Tower!)

Shànghai's newest, biggest, and best aquarium, and Asia's largest, opened in 2002 in Pudong, next to the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. Its state-of-the-art facilities boasts 28 exhibit areas for over 10,000 sea creatures from all continents: sharks, jellyfish, turtles, lionfish, sea otters, Yángzi sturgeon, and more. The centerpiece is the massive, sparkling $6.6-million glass-surround observation tunnel. Adventurous visitors can make special arrangements to dive in the shark tank, though it could well cost you an arm and a leg.

----------------------------------------

Jin Mao Tower
(Jin Mào Dàshà)
Hours: Daily 8:30am-9pm
Address: Shìjì Dà Dào 2

This tallest building in China is, quite simply, sublime. Built in 1998 as a Sino-American joint venture, the Jin Mào is currently the third tallest building in the world at 421m (1,379 ft.). Blending traditional Chinese and modern Western tower designs, the building, which boasts 88 floors (eight being an auspicious Chinese number), consists of 13 distinct tapering segments, with high-tech steel bands binding the glass like an exoskeleton. Offices occupy the first 50 floors, the Grand Hyatt hotel the 51st to the 88th floors, while a public observation deck on the 88th floor ("The Skywalk") offers views to rival those of the nearby Oriental Pearl TV Tower (its admission charge is also lower). High-speed elevators (9m/31ft. per second) whisk visitors from Level B1 to the top in less than 45 seconds. The view from there is almost too high, but exquisite on a clear day. You can also look down at the 152m-high (517-ft.) atrium of the Grand Hyatt. Enter the building through entrance 4.

----------------------------------------

The Shanghai Museum
(Shànghai Meishùguan)
Hours: Daily 9am-5pm (last tickets sold 4pm)
Address: Nánjing Xi Lù 325
(Very close to People's Square)

Relocated in 2000 to the historic clock tower building on the northwest end of People's Square, the museum is more to be seen for its 1930s monumental interior architecture than for its art. The artworks in the 12 exhibit halls are certainly worthy of note, ranging from modern traditional oils to recent pop canvases, but they are overwhelmed by the fastidiously restored wood and marble interiors of this 1933 five-story neoclassical landmark. People's Square, today's Rénmín Guangchang, was a racecourse in colonial times, and today's clock tower, erected in 1933, marks the location of the original grandstand of 1863. After 1949, the building was used as the Shànghai Museum and the Shànghai Library. Today, in addition to the artwork, there is a classy American restaurant, Kathleen's 5, on the fifth floor. Note: If you're going to visit more than one attraction in People's Square, consider buying a combination ticket .

----------------------------------------

People's Square
(Rénmín Gongyuán/Rénmín Guangchang)
Hours: Daily 6am-6pm
Address: Nánjing Xi Lù 231

Shànghai's "Central Park" and central square are built on the site of colonial Shànghai's horse-racing track (dating to as early as 1863), once a favorite amusement for the British community and upper-class Chinese. Today the original 12 hectares (30 acres) of the racecourse have been parceled out into a quiet pleasant park in the north (complete with a small and occasionally scummy pond, rock garden, amusement rides, and clusters of old folks playing mahjong and chess) and Rénmín Guangchang (People's Square) to the south. Opened in 1951 and renovated in 1994, with an intermediary spell as a public reckoning ground during the early days of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), the square is now Shànghai's cultural and traffic center, with an underground shopping arcade, the central subway station, the Shànghai Museum, the Grand Theatre, the 20-story Municipal Hall, and the Shànghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall. Besides being a magnet for locals who come here to feed the pigeons, fly their kites, and gossip on the benches, the square, surrounded as it is by some of Shànghai's tallest and most modern buildings, is also a wonderful place to take in exactly how much Shànghai has grown up.

----------------------------------------

The Great World
(Dà Shìjiè)
Hours: Daily 9am-9:30pm
Address: Xizàng Nán Lù 1

Built in 1915 for the entertainment of the rich, this tower that looks like a multi-tiered wedding cake was an infamous gambling and vice den during the 1920s and 1930s but has since been converted into an entertainment center for the entire family. Among the kid-friendly attractions here are a Guinness Book of World Records gallery, a video game salon, a bumper car track, folk dancing shows, and acrobatic and martial arts performances. The live performances typically run all day from 9am to 6pm, while evening shows start at 7:30pm. Unfortunately, the building, looking rather the worse for wear, was closed at press time due to the road-widening project on Xizàng Lù, and there's been no confirmation as to when it might reopen.

----------------------------------------

Pujiang River Tours
Shanghai Stadium
The Old City God's Temple
The Shanghai Grand Theatre
The Sheshan Mountain Catholic Church
The St. Ignatius Cathedral
Huangxing Park (I live next to it)

Av:  horsemandk