Shanghai
From MyVacationsTo
Shanghai is a scintillating city swirling with rapid cultural change. Since market restrictions were lifted, Shanghai has embraced the forces of business and design and rewritten its rule book shaping a fresh, new city that is sophisticated, innovative and living a life it has never lived before.
While it can't match the epic history of Beijing or Xi'an's grander sights, Shanghai is the hotspot of modern China; a cosmopolitan city buzzing with the concept of 'lifestyle revolution', showcased in the architectural temples of art, fine dining and contemporary urban living on the Bund.
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[edit] When To Go
Above all, the rule for Shanghai is to lay low during, or altogether avoid the Chinese New Year; the city grinds to a halt and public transport is flooded. The rest of winter offers good hotel discounts and few tourists.
Summer is peak season and gets a bit muggy, while from September to November the temperate weather brings out several interesting arts festivals and fairs. These are probably the best months to visit but trade fairs and conventions do little to bring the prices down from peak season.
[edit] Weather Overview
Shanghai starts the year shivering in midwinter, when temperatures can drop below freezing and the vistas are grey and misty. Spring brings warmth; April to mid-May is probably one of the best times to visit weather-wise, along with autumn (late September to mid-November). In summer the hot and humid weather makes conditions outside uncomfortable, with temperatures sometimes as high as 40°C (104°F) in July and August. In short, you'll need silk long johns and down jackets for winter, an ice block for each armpit in summer and an umbrella wouldn't go astray in either of these seasons.
[edit] Places to see
In many ways, Shanghai is a Western invention. The Bund, its riverside area, and Frenchtown are the best places to see the remnants of its decadent colonial past. Move on to temples, gardens, bazaars and the striking architecture of the new Shanghai.
[edit] Fuxing Park
This leafy park, laid out by the French in 1909 and later used by the Japanese as a parade ground in the late 1930s, remains one of the city's more pleasant. There is always plenty to see here. It is a refuge for itinerant musicians, t'ai chi masters and elderly folk and there's a kiddies' playground watched over by huge busts of Marx and Engels.
Hours: 6:00am-6:00pm
[edit] Huangpu River Cruise
There are three main perspectives on Shanghai - from the gutters, from the battlements of the tourist fortresses and from the water. The Huangpu River offers some remarkable views of the Bund and the riverfront activity at night as well as during the day. Tour boats leave for one, two and 3.5-hour tours from the dock on the Bund.
Both day and night tours offer excellent sights. The best but dearest choice is the 3.5-hour, 60km (38mi) round-trip cruise, which takes you up the Huangpu to Wusongkou, the junction with the Yangzi River, and back.
Hours: 9:30am-9:00pm 219-239 Zhongshan Dong Erlu Tel: 021 6374 4461 (info) Web: http://www.pjrivercruise.com Email: rivercruise@pjrivercruise.com
[edit] Jade Buddha Temple
This temple is one of Shanghai's few active Buddhist temples. It attracts large numbers of local and overseas Chinese tourists. Built between 1911 and 1918, the centrepiece is a 2m-high white-jade Buddha around which the temple was built.
The story goes that a monk from Putuoshan travelled to Myanmar (Burma) via Tibet, lugged the Buddha back to its present site and then went off in search of alms to build a temple for it. During the Spring Festival in January or February, some 20,000 Chinese Buddhists come to worship.
The seated Buddha, encrusted with jewels, is said to weigh 1000kg. A smaller Buddha from the same shipment reclines on a mahogany couch. There's an extra 10.00 admission to view the Buddha. No photography is permitted.
cnr Anyuan Rd & Jiangning Rd Tel: 021 6266 2668 (info) Hours: 8:30am-5:00pm
[edit] Jinmao Tower
Shanghai's most spectacular building, visible from almost everywhere in the city, is largely an office block, but boasts stupendous views from the 88th-floor observatory. It's accessed from the separate building to the side of the main tower.
Hours: viewing platform: 8:30am-9:00pm Luijiazui Lu Tel: 021 5047 5101 (info) Web: http://www.jinmao88.com
[edit] Room With a View Gallery
Art critic Wu Liang set up this space on top of a department store to showcase contemporary art and digital videos. There's an image-conscious loft bar attached if you want to make an evening of it.
479 Nanjing Donglu Tel: 021 6352 0256 (info) Web: http://www.topart.cn
[edit] Shanghai Art Museum
This museum relocated in 2000 to a stunning new location in the former British racecourse club building (built in 1933), and some of its decorative features, such as the Art Deco chandeliers, remain. The collection ranges from modern works and pop art to the Shanghai school of traditional Chinese art.
Hours: 9:00am-5:00pm 325 Nanjing Xilu Tel: 021 6327 2829 (info)
[edit] Shanghai Museum
Of the Shanghai Museum's 120,000 works of art, one-third have never before been shown. While guiding you through the craft of millennia, the museum simultaneously draws you through the pages of Chinese history. Expect to spend half, if not a whole day here - it's one of the city's highlights.
The excellent museum shop sells postcards, a rich array of books and faithful replicas of the museum's ceramics and other pieces.
Hours: Mon-Fri 9:00am-5:00pm Sat 9:00am-8:00pm 201 Renmin Dadao Tel: 021 6372 3500 (info) Web: http://www.shanghaimuseum.net Email: webmaster@shanghaimuseum.net
[edit] Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall
Pitching itself as a tourist attraction, this essentially just features enjoyable hi-tech propaganda. The exhibits paint a picture of how Shanghai will develop in the next 20 years (witness the elderly Shanghainese looking to see what will become of their bulldozed houses). The highlight is definitely the absorbing scale plan of the Shanghai of the future.
There are also some interesting photos of 1930s Shanghai, a few interactive displays and a top-floor cafe. If you need a break, you exit the building through a basement street of mock 1930s cafes.
Hours: Mon-Thu 9:00am-5:00pm Fri-Sun 9:00am-6:00pm 100 Renmin Dadao Tel: 021 6318 4477 (info)
[edit] Taikang Lu Art Centre
Shanghai is light on artistic focus, which makes this new art centre doubly welcome. It's a collection - 'community' even - of art galleries, cafes and shops hidden down an alley. An adjacent multistorey warehouse hides a handful of design studios, media companies and home decor boutiques, many of which front the small alley on the east side of the building.
Highlights here include a Pottery Workshop, which exhibits and sells designer pottery and, further down the alley, the Deke Erh Art Centre, an impressive warehouse space with ground floor exhibits and 1st floor photos. The Taikang Art Museum is a gallery/showroom with changing exhibits in a barn-like space.
[edit] Yuyuan Gardens and Bazaar
The delightful Yuyuan Gardens took 18 years (1559-77) to create, only to be ransacked during the Opium War in 1842. The gardens have been restored and are worth visiting to see a fine example of Ming garden design. The bazaar is a wonderland of tasty snacks and souvenirs.
Things to look out for include the Exquisite Jade Rock, which was destined for the imperial court in Beijing until the boat sank outside Shanghai, and the Hall of Heralding Spring (Dianchun Tang), which in 1853 was the headquarters of the Small Swords Society (perhaps one reason why the gardens were spared revolutionary violence in the 1960s). Note also the beautiful stage, with its gilded carved ceiling and excellent acoustics. The two shiny pavilions in the eastern corner were added in 2003.
Next to the entrance to the Yuyuan Gardens is the Mid-Lake Pavilion Teahouse (Huxinting), once part of the gardens and now one of the most famous teahouses in China, visited by Queen Elizabeth II and Bill Clinton among others. The zig-zag causeway is there to thwart spirits, who can only travel in straight lines, and trap tourists. Buy a packet of fish food and enjoy the sight of dozens of thrashing koi.
Hours: 8:30am-5:30pm 218 Anren Jie 200010 Tel: 021 6355 5025 (info) Web: http://www.yuyuantm.com.cn
[edit] Restaurants
[edit] Accommodation
[edit] Night Life
[edit] Things to do
[edit] Cycling
The French Concession offers some charming areas for cycling, and the ambitious can head out of the city to Sheshan or even Suzhou.
[edit] Swimming
For swimming, the Shanghai Swimming Pool opens to the public on weekends only, but there are hotel pools, or you could try the Ocean World water park.
[edit] Tennis
There are public tennis courts at the Shanghai Stadium, or you can have a game at the Xianxia Tennis Centre.
[edit] Badminton
The Chinese excel at accuracy sports. Test your eye at the public badminton courts at the well-equipped Shanghai Stadium.
[edit] Events
Shanghai's revelling options are myriad; the city's inhabitants celebrate everything from the dead poets to beer, and they do it with a vibrant dash you'll remember long after you've licked away the last crumbs of moon cake.
The biggest event in Shanghai's calendar is the Spring Festival, otherwise known as Chinese New Year, when many people take a week off. The Longhua Temple has large celebrations, with dragon and lion dances. The Lantern Festival (February) is a lovely time to visit - buildings are decorated with coloured lanterns. A Temple Fair is held at the Longhua Temple on the third day of the third lunar month (around April). It's eastern China's largest and oldest folk gathering. The Shanghai International Tea Culture Festival is usually at the end of April. Tomb Sweeping Day, also in April, is a day for worshipping ancestors; people visit the graves of their dearly departed relatives and often burn 'ghost money' (for use in the afterworld) for the departed.
The Dragon Boat Festival on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month (June) commemorates the death of Qu Yuan, a 3rd-century-BC poet-statesman who drowned himself to protest against the corrupt government. The Shanghai Beer Festival staggers into town around the end of July. The Mid-Autumn Festival is also known as the Moon Festival and is the time to eat tasty moon cakes. It takes place in September, on the 15th day of the 8th moon. The Shanghai Tourism Festival kicks off in late September and offers a wide variety of cultural programs. In November and early December there's an annual International Arts Festival.
[edit] Transport
[edit] Getting there
Shanghai is easy to get to. It is China's second-largest international air hub (third-largest if you count Hong Kong) and if you can't fly direct, you can go via Beijing or Hong Kong. With rail and air connections to places all over China, ferries travelling up the Yangzi River, many boats along the coast, and buses to destinations in adjoining provinces, you'll be hard pushed to find somewhere you can't get to.
by Plane: Shanghai has two international airports and is a nexus for international flights. A new airport opened in 1999 near Pudong, about an hour's drive from the city centre, handling most international and some domestic flights. Buses and taxis connect this new airport to the city centre and the second aiport, Hongqiao. There's also the Maglev, one of the world's fastest trains, which speeds you into Pudong. Hongqiao airport is 18km (11mi) from the Bund and reachable via bus, shuttle or taxi. It has some international and most domestic flights. Departure tax is USD11.00 (international) and USD6.00 (domestic) - although there is a plan to incorporate these into the ticket price. Both taxes are paid at the airport from which you depart.
by Bus: Shanghai has a few long-distance bus stations; the most useful is probably Hengfeng Lu. It's a 13-hour trip to Beijing from this station.
by Train: Shanghai is at the junction of the Beijing-Shanghai and Beijing-Hangzhou train lines. Since these branch off in various directions, many parts of the country can be reached by direct train from Shanghai. Most trains arrive and depart from Shanghai station.
by Ferry: Boats are one of the fastest ways of leaving Shanghai and are often the cheapest. Ferries travel up the Yangzi River and there are many boats that stop along the coast - although these are probably an endangered species. There are also regular ships and ferries to Korea and Japan.
[edit] Getting Around
Shanghai isn't exactly a walker's paradise. There are some fascinating areas to stroll around, but new road developments, building sites and shocking traffic conditions conspire to make walking an exhausting, stressful and sometimes dangerous experience. Travelling on buses can also be hard work; the routes, and particularly the stops, are not easy to figure out and buses are packed at rush hour. The metro and light railway system, on the other hand, work like a dream. Taxis are cheap and hassle-free as long as you avoid the rush hours. As private cars become increasingly affordable to the new middle class, traffic is becoming noticeably heavier, a trend that will only worsen. The city took a big swipe at traffic congestion in 1999, investing more than a billion dollars in transport - building overpasses, a second metro line and a light railway within a year. Unfortunately there is still not enough space for everyone at rush hour and from around 07:00 to 09:30 and 16:00 to 18:30 it's every frail old man for himself. Cool aggression and elusive speed, along with a friendly smile, keep things from getting ugly.
Walking: While there are some fascinating places to stroll through in Shanghai, new road developments, building sites, jam-packed walkways and shocking traffic conditions conspire to make walking in most areas an exhausting experience.
Bus: Local buses are hard work. During the rush hour and the weekends they are packed to the hilt and virtually impossible to board. Stops can also be unpredictable: you may be helplessly carried past your destination. Pickpockets are another drawback.
Underground rail: Shanghai's subway system is a dream, and probably the best way to get around town. Trains are fast, cheap, clean and easy, although they can be crowded at peak hour. The new Mag Lev (Magnetic Levitation) line has started regular services between the city and Pudong airport. The 30km (19mi) trip will take just eight minutes.
Car: Only residents can hire a car in Shanghai; besides, it's really not worth the hassle unless you're familiar with the nightmare one-way system and the appalling conditions on the roads.
Taxi: Shanghai's Volkswagen taxis are reasonably cheap and easy to flag down, except during rush hour. Only a few take credit cards. Most taxi drivers are surpisingly honest, but you should always go by the meter.