Shanghai Tourism Information

Shanghai is a dynamic international city that is the commercial hub of China. Perfect for visitors seeking exhilaration and exploration or 100% relaxation. Discover the Pearl of the Orient, and its unique blend of dining, shopping and recreation options in one of the world's most attractive city environments.

The Bund (9KM East)

Take a walk along the Bund (which in old Shanghailander English should be pronounced to rhyme with "fund"), once the most famous street in Asia. The major firms of the Far East had their headquarters in the buildings facing the river. First amongst them is the former Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, which after 1949 was used as the city Communist Party HQ. It is now the home of the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank. One of the conditions for Pufa to move in was that they restore it to its original grandeur - which was pretty grand, apparently. They even hired an English restoration expert to do the job. It is one of the most worthwhile sites to visit on the Bund now. They really knew how to decorate in those days. Tere is a list of the buildings and information on their original owners and functions. In 1992, the waterfront was raised for anti-flooding purposes and to provide more room for visitors to take photographs. 

The Old City / Yu Garden (8KM East)

The old Chinese city to the south of the Bund was a walled fishing town when the British arrived in 1843. Modern Shanghai grew up around it. It used to be a maze of tiny alleys, but most of it has been torn down and rebuilt in recent years. The widened alleys are still crowded with tourists, domestic and foreign. At the center of the Old City are the Chenghuang Temple and the Yu Garden, in which stands the Huxining Teahouse, said to be the model for the design on the "willow-pattern" plates much loved by Europeans in another era. The Bridge of Nine Turns zigzags to make it difficult for evil spirits to get across (evil spirits, as is well known, have problems with corners). The Yu Garden is a classical Chinese garden with over 30 pavilions linked by a maze of corridors and bridges over ponds.

Jade Buddha Temple (9KM East)

The Temple contains two exquisite jade statues of the Buddha, one seated, the other lying, which were brought from Burma in the early 20th century. It is said that the temple only escaped destruction by the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s because the Abbot bolted the doors and covered them with pictures of Chairman Mao, which the Red Guards did not dare to touch. You'll find the temple at 170 Anyuan Lu.

Other Temples

JingAn Temple is a delightful little temple on Nanjing Lu to the west of the Shanghai centre with distinctive yellow walls. It is used as temple again, and the monks can be seen chanting the Buddhist scriptures. 1700 Nanjing Xi Lu.

Longhua Temple and Pagoda in the southwest area of the city was a major tourist attraction for foreigners in the days of Old Shanghai. It has eight sides and seven storeys and was first built in the year 274AD. The Pagoda itself is closed but can easily be seen from the road. The Temple complex opposite is huge, featuring several impressive Buddhas.

Revolutionary Sites

The site of the 1st Congress of the Chinese Communist Party is at 76 Xingye Lu in the French Concession. The meeting was held here in secret in July 1921. The small room where the meeting was held is arranged with period furniture and tea service. The attendees fled the house when a suspected spy of the French authorities visited, and they finished the congress on a pleasure boat on a lake.

Also in the French concession: Zhou Enlai the former premier of China (who died in 1976) lived at 73 Sinan Lu during 1946, as head of the Communist Party's Shanghai office.

Museums

The Shanghai Museum, which formally opened in October 1996, features the best museum galleries and displays in the Chinese world. Its collection of ancient bronzes is also considered to be one of the best, and possibly the best in the world. The building itself, on the edge of People's Square in the city centre, is shaped like a giant bronze urn. But the Museum Director, the world's leading Chinese bronze expert, say this is a coincidence, and asserts the design is based upon the ancient Chinese concept of the universe - that the sky is round and the earth is flat.

The Song Qingling Mausoleum. Located in Hongqiao, it contains photographs from all phases of her life. Also, in the extensive park-like grounds, there is an old foreigner's graveyard with the graves of some of Shanghai's most famous foreign families - like the Jardins and the Kadoories.

Shanghai Natural History Museum, at 260 Yanan Donglu. An interesting museum, worth your time.

Shanghai Art Gallery, at 456 Nanjing Xi Lu.

Shanghai Exhibition Center

This Soviet designed structure, with its star-topped spire, occupies a huge area opposite the Shanghai centre on Nanjing Xi Lu. It was originally known as the Hall of Sino-Soviet Friendship and was built with Soviet help in the late 1950s to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Chinese communist victory in 1949. At night, the spire is often lit by pink and lime green lights. There's an excellent Cantonese restaurant on the fifth floor of the central structure, and there are other restaurants and two bowling alleys located in other parts of the complex.