The Bund
The Bund, which extends from Jinling Road in the south to the Waibaidu Bridge over the Suzhou Creek in the north, is on the western bank of the 114-kilometer-long Huangpu River, a tributary of the Yangtze River. It is a 1.5-kilometer boulevard and used to be called the Huangpu Shoal. Walking along Zhongshan Road, visitors can enjoy the fade grandeur of old Shanghai, for this was the Bund, where the great trading houses and banks had their headquarters. On one side is a line of imposing 1930S European buildings, while the other is the Huangpu River. The Bund underwent a face-lift several years ago, which included raising the level of the breakwater to prevent flooding. The raised pedestrian promenade gives a wonderful view of the Huangpu River with the futuristic-looking buildings of the New Pudong Area rising on the other side. Across the Waibaidu Bridge is the Shanghai Mansions. On the 22nd Floor of the Mansions, you will find yourself above the tree line, and unfurling below you, a marvelous view of the bustling city of Shanghai with a sea of buildings in all their majesty. The architecture, along the Bund is unanimously honoured as a “World Architectural Fair.”
The Oriental Pearl Tower
Shanghai Oriental Pearl TV Tower was completed on Oct. 1, 1994. It is 468 m high, being the highest in Asia and the third highest in the world, only next the TV towers in Toronto in Canada and Moscow in Russia. It stands opposite to the bund on the west bank. The architectural modeling of the tower is unique, expressing the flavor of oriental culture. The structure of the tower consists of 11 spheres, different in sizes and arranged at different levels, hanging from the sky down to the green lawns. It expresses the artistic concept of “pearls, big and small, dropping on a jade plate”. The body of the tower is formed of two huge glittering spheres and one small delicate sphere; the sightseeing level in the upper sphere is 45 m in circumference, 263 m high, offering a bird’s-eye view of the city. In the upper sphere at the 267-m level, there is a revolving restaurant, with one revolution every hour, a disco ball, a piano accompanied bar and at the 271-m level there are 20 KTV private rooms. The space cabin is at a level of 350 m, containing a sightseeing terrace, a meeting hall and a coffee room. Hotel in the Air is in the five smaller sphere with 20 guest rooms. The lower sphere contains a space city. There is a science fiction city inside the tower pedestal. The Oriental Pearl TV Tower combines sightseeing, catering, shopping, recreation, accommodation, broadcasting and TV transmission into one body. It has become a symbolic architecture and a favorable spot for tourists in Shanghai.
Pudong
Bordering the East China Sea and at the estuary of the Yangtze River, Shanghai Pudong New Area is situated at the junction of China’s “golden coast” and “golden waterway.” Covering an area of 522 square kilometers, it has a population of about 1.4 million. In April 1990 the Chinese Government declared an important policy of developing and opening-up Pudong, which has attracted the world attention. After more than ten years’ development, with a mint of money from overseas fed into the mammoth construction in the Pudong area, remarkable achievements have been made, of which the four key zones have become the vanguard of developing and opening-up in Pudong. These four key zones include Lujiazui Financial and Trade Zone, Jinqiao Export Processing Zone, Zhangjiang High-tech Park Zone, and Waigaoqiao Free-Trade Area.
Since 1970s, especially since 1980s, for the fast development of New Pudong Zone, three big Bridges and four underwater tunnels have been built between Shanghai’s Pudong and Puxi (the city proper of Shanghai). To residents and visitors alike, set amidst the Huangpu waters formed by the Suzhou Creek and the Yangtze River estuary, is acknowledged as one of the most beautiful and bustling cities in the world.
Nanjing Road
Nanjing Road in Shanghai, the so-called No 1 shopping street on the Chinese mainland, is being groomed over the next 10 years into a world-class commercial destination.
The history of Nanjing Road can be traced back to the year 1851. At that time it was called “Park Lane”, which comes from the Bund to He’nan Road. In 1854, it was extended to Zhejiang Road, and eight years later, once more extended to Xizang Road. In 1865, it was named formally “Nanking Road” by the Municipal Council, which administered the International Settlement. In Chinese it was usually referred to as the Main Road (literally Great Horse Road). In 1943 the International Settlement was annulled, and after World war Two the government changed its name from Nanking Road to East-Nanjing Road, meanwhile named the former Bubbling Well Road West－Nanjing Road, and give a general name of the two roads—Nanjing Road, which with five kilometres total length.
As early as in the beginning of 20th century, eight big department stores were established along the street one after another. A series of franchised stores were set up at that time.
In 2000, as a part of the development plan held by the local government, Nanjing Road was reconstructed to be a characteristic pedestrian street. The width is about twenty-eight meters and the total length is one thousand two hundred meters, which extends from Henanzhong Road to Xizangzhong Road.
Shanghai Museum
As a museum of ancient Chinese art, Shanghai Museum possesses a collection of 120,000 precious works of art. Its rich and high-quality collection of ancient Chinese bronze, ceramics, painting and calligraphy is specially celebrated in the world. Founded and first open to the public in the building previously of the horseracing club at 325 W. Nanjing Road in 1952 and then moved into the former Zhonghui Building at 16 S. Henan Road in 1959, the museum developed very quickly in aspects of acquisition, conservation, research, exhibition, education and cultural exchanges with other institutes. In 1992, the Shanghai municipal government allocated to the Museum a piece of land at the very center of the city, the People's Square, as its new site. The whole construction took three years, from August 1993 to its inauguration on October 12th, 1996. The 29.5 meters high new building has a construction space of 39,200 square meters. Its unique architectural form of a round top with a square base, symbolizing the ancient Chinese philosophy that the square earth is under the round sky, is a distinguished architectural combination of traditional feature and modern spirit. The present Shanghai Museum has eleven galleries and three special temporary exhibition halls. It extends warm welcome to the visitors from all over the world.
Yuyuan Garden
Yuyuan Garden is in the northeast of the Old Town. A high official had it designed in the Suzhou style as a private garden and built from 1559-- 1577. Later, it was restored several times. In spite of its relatively small area of two hectares it seems considerably larger due to the skillful arrangement of 30 different landscape scenes.
The garden consists of an inner and an outer section. The inner garden, neiyuan, is in the southern part and substantially smaller than the outer one, but then, it is more impressive and romantic, if it is possible to visit it in the early moring hours in order to enjoy it alone. An excellent calligrapher displays his work in one of the halls. The outer part is in the north and contains numberous halls, pavilions and lakes. In 1853, the Pavilion of Spring in the northeast was the seat of the Xiaodao Hui, the Society of Little Swords, tho led an uprishing against Qing rule and occupied Shanghai for 17 months. Today, weapons and coins made by the Xiaodao Hui society, among other objects, are exhibited in this hall.
A man-made, 11-m-high hill bounds the garden in the northwest. Huxin Ting teahouse is a favorite with the citizens of Shanghai. It is in the southwest, outside of the garden grounds, a two-story building resting on posts in the middle of a pond and connected to the shore by a 'Zigzag Bridge'.
City God Temple （Chenghuang Miao Temple）
The City God Temple in Shanghai originated as the Jinshan God Temple, dedicated to the spirit of Jinshan, or "Gold Mountain", an island off the coast of Shanghai. It was converted into a City God Temple in 1403, during the Yongle era of the Ming dynasty.
During the Qing Dynasty, the temple grew popular. Residents of the old city as well as nearby areas visited the temple to pray for good fortune and peace. The temple reached its largest extent in the Daoguang era. The popularity of the temple also led to many business to be set up in the area, turning the surrounding streets into a busy marketplace.
In 1951, the Board of Trustees of the City God Temple was dissolved, and the temple was handed over to the Shanghai Taoist Association that converted it into a Taoist center. The institution made changes to the temple, removing statues representing folk Underworld personalities such as Yama, the judge of the dead, and placing an emphasis on Taoist spirituality instead.
During the Cultural Revolution, the temple was closed down and used for other purposes. For many years, the main hall was a jewellery shop. In 1994, the temple was restored to its former use as a temple, with resident Taoist priests. The Temple, together with nearby Yuyuan Garden and the surrounding streets, are now part of a large pedestrian zone dedicated to restaurants and retail.
The present structure was re-built in the 1930s during the Republic of China era in the traditional style, following two fires that destroyed the building. The main halls, however, are built with reinforced concrete.
A second complete restoration took place between 2005 and 2006. In October 2006 the place of worship was reopened and reconsecrated by Taoist clergymen.
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