China Guide 2008

When Shanghai first began from its humble beginnings, it was far from obvious that the world would one day hear its roar. Since then, Shanghai has seen dramatic changes, spinning between the far extremes of Fortune’s wheel.

The financial go-go capital of China, Shanghai, which means “go to the sea” in Chinese, is a city of 16 million that remembers its hallucinating history. Divided in half by the Huangpu River into Puxi (west of the Huangpu) and Pudong (east of the Huangpu), Shanghai’s story is one of millions made and mirages lost. Pried open by British guns in the First Opium War, this once sleepy fishing and weaving village gained notoriety as the “Paris of the East” as a colonial city of commerce, vice, money and political intrigue. More recently, Shanghai has benefited the most from China’s economic reforms, rapidly rising as the shining “Pearl of the Orient.”

Dynamic is the best word to describe today’s Shanghai. Since the 1990 opening of the Pudong Special Economic Zone (SEZ), the city has found itself with more building cranes than all of North America, towers of glass and steel sprout up amidst ivy covered colonial villas and old Chinese homes. Displaying all the contrasts of modern China, teeming neighborhoods and birch trees are woven together by elevated highways and modern skyscrapers. Worldly travelers brush elbows with migrant workers; students and artists mingle as they pursue their dreams of wealth.

A BRIEF HISTORY

Earliest regional settlement dates back to 5900 BC. Shanghai became a key cotton exporter under the Song dynasty. The silting of the Wusong River shifted the regional capital to Shanghai in the 13th century. Growing richer, the town needed to defend itself against marauding Japanese pirates. A 6km long wall with six gates and 20 arrow towers was erected in 1553 during the Ming dynasty. Although meteoric development would later engulf this area, it continues to stand as the Old Chinese City. To increase trade, a customs house was erected in 1685 to sell silk and tea. Its population swelled to 50,000, giving birth to many noted Chinese scholars. One particularly important personage was Xu Guangqi (Xú Guāngqǐ 徐光启), friend and pupil of the Jesuit missionary and early Western explorer, Matteo Ricci. However, despite such promising international beginnings, in the end, it was by far less diplomatic means that Shanghai finally opened up to the West.

Leading up to the colonial period, silk, porcelain and tea was all the rage in Britain and China would only trade it for gold. A massive trade deficit built up and British sought a product they could sell to the Chinese in order to restore the balance of trade. Seizing on opium, produced cheaply in colonial India, Britain entered the China market with narcotics. Though illegal, many Chinese couldn’t resist the forbidden pleasure and the Qing dynasty soon faced a crisis as drugs began flowing in and silver flowed out.

When China finally moved to stop the importation of opium, it was too late. The result of the First Opium War was the 1842 Treaty of Nanjing, first of the many “Unequal Treaties.” The treaty granted the opening of five ports: Shanghai, Ningbo, Fuzhou, Xiamen and Guangzhou.

America would ride Britain’s coattails into Shanghai with the Treaty of Wangxia, giving them the same rights as the British. Unwilling to miss a good party, France joined in and secured a similar deal, giving France a large concession in the southern half of Shanghai.

As the Taiping Rebellion swept through the surrounding countryside in the 1850’s, peasants fled en masse to Shanghai. Arriving by rafts on the Suzhou Creek, opportunistic businessmen seized the chance to fleece naive peasants. The wealthy purchased large tracts of land and erected tenement housing overnight. They rented these tiny rooms to displaced farmers at grossly inflated rates, thus began the birth of urban Shanghai.

Trade, with opium at the helm, drew some of the world’s largest trading house. Clippers and steamers began to clog the Huangpu River’s sprawling port. It would be a tough market for the British to hold onto as more traders moved in, making Shanghai a truly international city.

The 1863 formation of the Municipal Council gave Britain, France and America a free hand in administrating and governing Shanghai. That same year, America and Britain solidified their partnership by the formation of the International Settlement, jointly ruling with their own brand of colonial law and order. Meanwhile France continued to develop its own concession.

Legal vagaries gave Shanghai a reputation as a city of adventurers. Missionaries, mercenaries, merchants, grafters, gadflies and gangsters of all stripes flocked here. The population increased from 50,000 to a million by 1900, a mushrooming growth rate of 2,000%.

Meanwhile large foreign trading houses began to diversify their interests into textiles, insurance, real estate and shipping. Architects erected stoic building along the Bund, including the green-tower capped Cathay Hotel, the domed Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank and the clock tower crowned Customs House.

The champagne ball continued for ex-pats who made Shanghai their home. Film houses began making movies in Shanghai and actors like Charlie Chaplin arrived. Christopher Isherwood, Bernard Shaw and Andre Malreaux came to relish its vibrancy for their writing. Jazz wailed and flappers danced. The streets were clogged by rickshaws pulled by men in rags and loaded with tuxedoed men and gowned debutantes. Aldous Huxley said of the city in 1926, “Life itself – dense, rank, richly clotted – nothing more intensely living can be imagined.”

Amidst the chaos of drugs, civil strife and colonialism, the young intellectuals of China began to search for the solutions to China’s rampant poverty and subservience to the West. Many looked to Marxism and the victorious Russian Revolution. Several Chinese Marxist groups met in Shanghai and founded the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1921; among them was future CCP Chairman, Mao Zedong (Máo Zédōng 毛泽东).

Following the power vacuum that ensued after the death of revolutionary hero Sun Yat-sen (Sūn Zhōngshān 孙中山) in 1925, Chiang Kai-shek (Jiǎng Jièshí 蒋介石) stepped into the political fore with the secret backing of the Green Gang, Shanghai’s powerful underground. Under the banner of the Nationalist Party, Chiang began the ambitious Northern Expedition in 1926 to quell the warlords and unite a fractured nation. For the time being, the Nationalists and the Communists cooperated under the aegis of a united front, which would spectacularly rupture in Shanghai.

As Chiang’s Nationalist forces approached Shanghai in 1927, the CCP organized a general strike as a sign of support and solidarity, but once Chiang entered Shanghai, the strike was brutally crushed. Strike organizers were rounded up and executed in the streets and over 5,000 strikers and students were killed. It was the beginning of a ruthless campaign to crush the Communists, one that accelerated when Chiang captured Beijing in 1928 and successfully completed his Northern Expedition.

Though Chiang nominally united China, Japanese imperialism was a constant threat. When Japan invaded northeast China in 1931, the Shanghainese responded by boycotting Japanese shops and goods. Five years later Japan began a general invasion of China and Imperial Japanese planes and warships bombed Shanghai while European and American ex-pats stood on the roof of their exclusive clubs watching the bombardment.

China ended the Second World War as a member of the victorious Allied powers and many flocked back to Shanghai hoping to return to the status quo of easy living and easier profits. But as quickly as one conflict ended, the civil war between the Nationalists and Communists swiftly resumed. Shanghai, once an economic bastion, was reduced to financial ruins as Chiang and his cronies mismanaged the nation’s treasury and siphoned away public funds into their private accounts.

The 1949 liberation of the city by the CCP marked the beginning of a new era for Shanghai. The brothels and opium dens were shut down with the addicts receiving rehabilitation and the prostitutes job training. Child labor was banned, slums eliminated and inflation slowed.

SHANGHAI & THE FUTURE

Deng Xiaoping’s sweeping economic reforms of the early 1980’s sought to open China and bring wealth back into the nation. With Deng successors continuing his policies of economic development, Shanghai continues to experience massive growth. The city has been propelled so far forward that it doesn’t even have the time to look back.

While many point to Shenzhen’s meteoric rise from fishing village to metropolis, Pudong’s rise is just as spectacular. Facing the Bund across the Huangpu River, it was once a nearly uninhabitable marshland better known as Shanghai’s vegetable garden. Today its skyline now looks like the backdrop to a sci-fi movie. Two of Asia’s highest towers, the Jin Mao Tower and the Oriental Pearl Television Tower, top its glittering skyline. By capturing much of China’s foreign and domestic investment, Pudong is at the forefront of China’s giant economic machine. Its broad avenues are lined with glittering office buildings overlooking their forerunners along the Bund.

Infrastructure construction has been a major theme in Shanghai since its economic reawakening. So far, two metro lines and a light rail have been built and more lines are planned. The old Hongqiao Airport, now mainly serving domestic routes, was replaced by the new Pudong International Airport, which is connected to the city by a futuristic Maglev. Elevated highways run through the city and connect Shanghai to the rest of country, paving China’s road to riches. While Beijing grabbed the 2008 Olympics, Shanghai followed suit by picking up the 2010 World Expo with plans to host a Disneyland and Universal Studios Theme Park along with scores of new development schemes. This convergence of capital, limitless self-confidence and the mixing of local and foreign know-how have many wondering if Shanghai will once again become Asia’s financial capital. Those who come to this glittering jungle all share a common desire to roll the dice in Asia’s new fat city – where opportunities seem limitless.

The dancing days have returned with Shanghai’s nightlife turning up the heat. Chinese and foreigners fill the streets at night, eating and drinking, shopping and dancing. By day, the main commercial streets of Nanjing Road and Huaihai Road are thronged with tourists and eager consumers. Those who live, work and play in the “seen and be seen” city are only too aware that the eyes of the world are on Shanghai as it strives to cement its reputation as Asia’s new capital – but one thing is certain, they’ll do it in style.

FORMER FRENCH CONCESSION

Leafy birch trees and bamboo renovation scaffoldings line the sentimental lanes of the former French Concession, arguably the most romantic slice of the city. Its northern border runs west from the Old City to Jing’an Park (jìng’ān gōngyuán 静安公园) and makes up the area south of Yan’an Road. There remains much to see around this colonial quarter, from the French dog track to the former revolutionary residencies of Sun Yat-sen and Zhou Enlai to the glitz of modern Xintiandi, its heady history and glamorous present promises to woo.

The easiest way to reach the classical arteries of the former French Concession is from People’s Square. From People’s Square, take metro line 1 to Huangpi South Road Station. Take Exit 3 up to the bustling Madang Road. Turn right (south) and you’ll find yourself at the intersection of Huaihai Road (the former Avenue Joffre). Towers of glass from the Hong Kong Plaza (xiānggǎng guǎngchǎng 香港广场) shopping mall will lure, but avoid the pull of shopping for now and head one block south on Madang Road to the trendiest place in town: Xintiandi (xīntiāndì 新天地). Until the mid-1990’s, this ultra-chic funhouse for Shanghai’s partying elite was inhabited by old warehouses. Redecorated and gentrified, this area now sports immaculately reconstructed buildings melded with a modern twist. Swanky bars and discos burst with revelers and posh restaurants dish up cuisine as beautiful as the venue itself. Standing in front of the Starbucks on the corner of Taicang Road and Madang Road, it’s hard to fathom that this is just a stone’s throw from where the Chinese Communist Party was founded. Follow the broad cobblestone lanes and wander behind Xintiandi to the back alleys to spot refurbished tenement homes with doors framed with large stones (shíkù mén石库门). Follow the signs on Xingye Road to the 1st National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, a Marxist exhibit of heroic red and gold proportions.

From the corner of Madang Road and Huaihai Road head west on Huaihai Road, go under the elevated highways, until you reach Yandang Road. This pedestrian street hosts charming teahouses, bars and restaurants and takes you to the mouth of the lush Fuxing Park (fùxīng gōngyuán 复兴公园), formerly known as French Park. The shady paths of Fuxing Park are a godsend during Shanghai’s hot and humid summers. Abutting this quiet park is the uber-hip Park 97 nightclub that sets the park into party-mode during the weekends.

From the park head into the bottleneck alley of Gaolan Road and look for the Ashanti Dome, a French restaurant in the former Russian Orthodox St. Nicholas Church. This 1930’s era church features classical frescoes in homage to Tsar Nicholas II. Following the Russian Revolution, thousands of White Russian refugees flooded the French Concession and made part of it into a little Moscow: black bread and vodka abounded. Just a few blocks away on Sinan Road is the Old Residence of Zhou Enlai, a key leader of the Chinese Communist Party. Giant brown signs on Sinan Road point the way to the homes of Zhou and Sun Yat-sen, the hero of China’s 1911 revolution. Sun’s old flat is furnished as it was when he lived here and is full of memorabilia. Both residences are good examples of residential buildings of the period – short and squat shikumens (石库门) hidden in twisty alleyways called longtangs (弄堂).

A few blocks west from Sinan Road is Maoming Road. While Xintiandi is for the posh, the strip of clubs on Maoming Nan Road is where the all-night-spill-onto-the-street parties take place. North along this street leads to the area’s most fashionable shops and boutiques offering chic clothing, fine art and classy furniture. On Maoming Road, just north Huaihai Road, is the historic Jinjiang Hotel, a one-time hot spot from the “Roaring Twenties.” Ballroom dances, exclusive clubs and champagne fantasies were all lived out here by the rich and those aspiring to make their fortune. One block west on Huaihai Road, at the corner of Shaanxi South Road, are two massive shopping malls, Parksons and Printemps – upscale fashion and everyday goods can be bought here. Small cafés also dot this area, making it a good place to grab an iced-coffee in the summer and a hot tea in winters.

Running from east to west, Huaihai Road is a major commercial artery and a consumer’s paradise, everything from designer couture to beef jerky can be found and outdoor fashion shows featuring mobile phones to wedding gowns are held on the weekends to throbbing techno and hip-hop music. Crowds on the weekends will make you feel claustrophobic, just be sure you don’t lose your friends in the throng of shoppers – you may never seen them again. Several line 1 metro stations follow the road and give easy access to the shops.

Just west of Shaanxi South Road is the sprawling Xiangyang Market (xiāngyánglù shìchǎng 襄阳路市场). Expect to be accosted by all manner of watch, purse and clothing vendors who will lead you into twisting back alleys for copies of international brands. In Xiangyang Market itself, there are hundreds of open-air clothing, jewelry and trinket stalls. If you’re after bazaar style-street bargaining then this is the place to come. The vendors will shove a calculator in front of you with a price entered. Punch in 20% of the opening price and bargain accordingly – haggling is essential so don’t be timid as great deals can be had for the skillful bargainer. One final tip, buying in quantity will get the vendors into the mood to slash prices, so it’s a good place to stock up on gifts for the folks back home. An eclectic blend of restaurants and open-air cafés also line the streets in this area. Everything from noodles to donuts is available for the tired shopper.

Along Ruijin Er Road is the cozy Ruijin Guesthouse. This lovely compound of trees and brick buildings is also home to the trendy Face bar and the fashionable restaurant Colours. The Ruijin Guesthouses were build by media mogul Mohawk Morris of the North China News and later used as the seat of the Shanghai government following liberation in 1949.

At the end of Maoming Road, where it meets Yongjia Road, is a large alleyway that leads into the Maoming Flower Market where all manner of orchids and ferns are sold wholesale. The flower market is planted in the Cultural Square (wénhuà guǎngchǎng 文化广场), which used to be the site of the old French dog track. Its heyday of franc-fisted fights and celebratory champagne toasts over bets on the hounds are long over. Now the area boasts quaint tree-lined streets where early risers do their exercises and vendors sell the morning’s breakfast of youtiao (油条) and steamed buns.

OLD TOWN & YU GARDEN

Made into a rounded walled city in 1553 to fend off Japanese pirates, the Old Town (nánshì 南市) displays the richness of Ming and Qing architecture and the vibrancy of traditional Shanghai street life. Some call this Shanghai’s “Chinatown” because of the traditional atmosphere, though the bright visages of Colonel Sanders and neon lights lining the narrow alleys add a modern touch. Considered unhealthily overcrowded, dirty and smelly by foreigners during the concession era, this was the one place that the Chinese could call their own in Shanghai.

Today the Old City is one of the few historic tourist highlights in a city that’s all about modernity. One of the best ways to enter this area is from the northern gate from Renmin Road and Lishui Road. Walk south on Lishui past the new park underneath a massive gate straddling the road.

Some streets in the Old City are more understated than others, explore the sidewalk shops and lanes – quiet shopping opportunities abound. Small niches filled with clay kettles, glazed teacups and all sorts of trinkets line the walls in small stores, and antiques and antique replicas lure collectors and those stumped for souvenirs. Posters of 1930’s era beauties to simple peasant art vie for your attention and cash. Parts of this area remain residential, it’s easy to get lost in the maze of longtangs while walking past residents washing vegetables at outdoor sinks, toddlers playing hide and seek, and old men hunch over a game of Chinese chess.

Head down Chenxiangge Road and walk west down a tight alley to the mustard yellow walls of Chenxiangge Temple (chénxiāng gé 沉香阁). Tourists come to take a peak into this tiny temple that was once part of the larger estate that held the Yu Garden. The dainty temple continues to serve the people of this neighborhood. Narrow streets are framed with tiny two-storey abodes with doorways that lead to an apparent maze of cluttered corridors.

A block south is the intersection of Fuyou Road and the start of Old Jiaochang Road, it’s marked with jutting traditional Chinese roof peaks and roadside vendors. Large department stores selling high-end items such as gold, pearls, massive Buddhas, silk embroidery, sandalwood fans, jade chopsticks and an assortment of teas and alcohol are housed in the buildings that circle the Yu Garden. The kitschy atmosphere of traditional architecture spiced up with modern pop music and garish lights attract tourists like moths to a flame.

Traditional Chinese medicine shops are also abundant – you’ll smell them before you see them. The fragrant aromas of curious plants and dried animals will tell your nose how to reach them. Ginseng is a big sell here, the tiny roots, which are eerily human shaped, can sell for thousands of RMB and highly valued for the therapeutic properties.

To enter the main nerve of Old Town and visit the Ming era Yu Garden (yùyuán 豫园), look for one of the many small entrances that lead into the central garden area. The dark narrow lanes are towered over with a mish-mash of Chinese architecture and modern styling. Commercialism is the word of the day; it’s a modern version of an old bustling market – with the added kick the Shanghainese throw into making money.

Different snacks and trinkets are available. Tasty goodies include sweet sticky rice candies, grilled sausages and assorted fried kebabs (check out the fried swallows). Shanghai is known for its steamed meat dumplings (xiǎolóng bāo 小笼包) and the most famous in Shanghai are found in the Yu Garden shopping complex. Just off the central pond, this vendor is hard to miss, just look for the long line of salivating people. The dumplings are made on the spot and steamed to juicy perfection in a few minutes.

Like a green aquatic gem ensconced in a shell, the lake in the center of the market complex features a nine-bend bridge where locals and tourists alike all compete for the best photo opportunity. Fat fish swim lazily underneath the bridge, but come alive into a feeding frenzy whenever people throw in some food.

Across the bridge is the famed Huxinting Teahouse (húxīntíng chálóu 湖心亭茶楼). This massive structure dominates the Yu Garden skyline, with massive upturned eaves, this building was originally built in 1784 and became a teahouse just before the turn of the 19th century. The restaurant inside the five-sided structure is as famous as the dignitaries that have poked their chopsticks into the restaurant’s rice bowls. Pictures of Jiang Zemin, Queen Elizabeth II and the Clintons mingling with the staff hang on the walls.

Across the pond from the teahouse is the Yu Garden, the garden was built by the Pan family, powerful officials of the Ming dynasty. Built between 1559 and 1577 as part of their estate, this typical southern-style garden was destroyed several times and later restored to its former glory. One defining feature of southern gardens is the carefully created sense of space within small confines using narrow lanes, strategically placed partitions and windows that provide frames for portrait views. One of its more alluring displays is a naturally hollowed out jade boulder standing in front of a large hall, it’s considered by experts to be an exquisite sample.

Just behind the Yu Garden is the Chenghuang Temple (chénghuáng miào 城隍庙), the temple to Shanghai’s city god. Each Chinese city used to have a city god based on the Taoist pantheon of Chinese deities and they were worshipped in these colorful temples. Loud, crowded and full of eager worshippers, these temples were rambunctious places where people would gather in front of their preferred god and pray for health and wealth, and being Shanghai, perhaps more for wealth. Originally the Jinshan Temple, it was rebuilt during the reign of Emperor Yongle of the Ming dynasty in the 13th century. The temple was refurbished again in 1926 and today, still drenched in incense smoke, it continues to attract worshippers. In the front hall is a statue of a Han dynasty general while in the back hall stands Qin Yubo, Shanghai’s city god.

Operas performances can be seen at the Yuyuan Stage Theater, arriving at the Yu Garden in the afternoon then spending the day shopping and eating is a perfect way to spend a lazy day. As night falls over the city, the old buildings light up and the crowds thin out allowing visitors to explore the old city in relative peace. The night vista of the upturned eaves falling from tiled roofs juxtaposed against the Herculean metallic towers of light from nearby Pudong nicely sums up Shanghai’s past and present.

Other must see in the Old City includes the colorful antiques and bird market a few blocks west of Yu Garden on Tibet South Road. The lane is full of ceramic and glass curios as ell as chirping chickadees. Make sure to take in the buildings in this area as it’s highly probably that they’ll be redeveloped into skyscrapers within the next few years.

Chenghuang Temple 城隍庙 chénghuáng miào

Address: 249 Fangbang Middle Road 方浜中路249号

Phone: 6386 8649, 6386 5700

Chenxiangge Temple 沉香阁 chénxiāng gé

Address: 29 Chenxiangge Road 沉香阁路29号

Phone: 6320 0400

￥: RMB 5

Yu Garden Stage 豫园古戏台 yùyuán gǔxìtái

Chinese opera and sublime tea tasting. Performances start at 7pm, tickets are RMB 200.

Address: 3/F, 10 Wenchang Road 文昌路10号3层

Phone: 6215 9190

THE BUND

Of all the sights evocative of the splendor and decadence of old Shanghai, none is singularly more impressive then the Bund (wàitān 外滩). Getting its name from an Anglo-Indian word meaning “muddy embankment,” the Bund rolls down a million dollar mile along the west bank of Shanghai’s most essential waterway, the Huangpu River (huángpǔ jiāng 黄浦江). It’s on this swampy riverbank where Shanghai’s previous taipans

(heads of trading houses) erected these monuments of wealth. The Bund still remains Shanghai’s number one tourist site and with all the things to see in Shanghai, this is the one that can’t be missed. Running the length of the Bund is Zhongshan East Road, a major thoroughfare that can be crossed by tunnels or pedestrian bridges.

During the 1920’s and 30’s, the Bund served as the focal point for the thriving city’s financial and social life. The great edifices built here held great symbolic importance. When junks and cargo ships reached Shanghai, this promenade along Shanghai’s waterfront was the first sight they would see. If any doubted the economic prowess Shanghai enjoyed during those times, the buildings along the Bund quickly disposed of any notions that the city was a pretender. From their windows overlooking the teeming Huangpu, Shanghai’s wealthy could watch with baited breath as their cargoes of opium, gold and silver bullion, tea and spices were loaded on and off their ships.

Built of marble and stone, the Bund is emblematic of foreign interest and business anchored in Shanghai’s staying power. They also served to assure Shanghai’s foreign residents and visitors as to who was in control. By night, away from the brothels and opium dens lining the Bund’s auxiliary streets, Shanghai’s richest met in the British and French Clubs to quaff whiskey sours while Shanghai’s endless night burnt to its wick.

Although things are different now, the buildings of the Bund retain much of their previous grandeur. To prevent flooding from the Huangpu and Suzhou Creek (sūzhōu hé 苏州河), the promenade was raised from a simple street to an elevated, cement walkway. As one of Shanghai’s few free tourist attractions, it’s regularly thronged with both domestic and international tourists. Hawkers sell glow sticks and light-up toys by night while photographers offer to capture your magic moment backlit by either Pudong’s futuristic skyline or the Bund’s colonial massif. The best place to view the Bund is from the walkway along the river’s edge; from here you can take in the view of the old masterpieces and the new wonders across the river.

Today’s Bund is as evocative of Shanghai’s yesteryears with hints of the city’s tomorrow. The once teeming wharves have been moved further downstream, though the Bund is still a great place to view the Huangpu River’s ship traffic. When the foreigners left, control of the buildings was assumed by the state though very few continued to perform their original functions. The Peace Hotel, the AIA Building and the Shanghai Customs House, though no longer holding the eminent prestige of the past, have persisted throughout the march of time. M on the Bund, one of the city’s classiest restaurants serves martinis and haute cuisine while providing stunning views of the Huangpu and Pudong.

The northern end of the Bund begins just south of the Garden Bridge (wàibáidù qiáo 外白渡桥). Despite being north of the bridge, the Park Hotel (shànghǎi guójì fàndiàn上海国际饭店), the Astor House Hotel (pǔjiāng fàndiàn 浦江饭店) and the Russian Consulate (élóusī lǐngshìguǎn 俄罗斯领事馆) are worth visiting. Still sporting a Bayer neon sign at its apex, today’s Park Hotel is where pharmaceutical giant Bayer began distilling opium into morphine. On the other side of the street stands the Astor House Hotel, now the Pujiang Hotel, it dates back to 1860 and was Shanghai’s first hotel. Once the darling of Shanghai and hosting luminaries such as Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russel and Charlie Chaplin, it’s now Shanghai’s number one backpacker hotels. Directly across the old Astor House stands the Russian Consulate in its austere grey.

A wooden toll bridge, built by an English businessman in 1856, originally crossed the Suzhou Creek along the Bund, but because its arch wasn’t high to accommodate the increasing number of ships, it was replaced by the Garden Bridge, an 18m wide free iron bridge built in 1906. Boats still pass under the Garden Bridge because Suzhou Creek remains an important waterway linking Shanghai with inland China.

At the Bund’s northern end stands the Monument to the People’s Heroes (rénmín yīngxióng jìniàn tǎ 人民英雄纪念塔). This granite obelisk, erected in 1993, honors those (post-1949) who fought for the new China and is flanked by walls carved with their names. At its base is the Bund History Museum (wàitān lìshǐ bówùguǎn 外滩历史博物馆) where visitors can gaze at a collection of photos from Shanghai’s old days.

Heading south from the north end of the Bund, one of the first architectural monuments to catch the visitor’s eye is the Friendship Store Curios Branch (yǒuyì shāngdiàn友谊商店), a branch of the Friendship Store that specializes in art and antiques. Continuing south is the former Banque de l’Indo-Chine (28 Zhongshan East Road中山东路28号), built in 1914, this classical French buildings features baroque arches and Greek columns. Next to this building is the stylistically eclectic Glen Line Building (29 Zhongshan East Road 中山东路29号). Built in 1922, the Glen Line was once Shanghai’s largest German bank.

Today’s Shanghai Foreign Trade Bureau (wàimào dàshà 外贸大厦) is the former home of Jardine Matheson and Co., once the largest and most powerful trading house in Shanghai. Their prominent position on the Bund reflects the importance of this firm – the company was instrumental, both politically and financially in Shanghai’s early development and corruption. This massive English Renaissance structure was constructed in 1920 with roman arches, huge blocks of stone and giant pillars.

The Peace Hotel (hépíng fàndiàn 和平饭店) was built in 1929 as the private residence and office of the Victor Sassoon. Then known as the Cathay Hotel, it still stands in all its art deco glory at the intersection of Nanjing Road and the Bund as a Shanghai cornerstone. Its green pyramid roof, once Victor Sassoon’s penthouse apartment, is illuminated at night and in the Peace Hotel’s bar, jazz musicians still jam to the tunes of years gone-by. If you’re looking for a building that evokes the Bund’s past glamour – suave gentlemen in tuxedos with debutantes preening in their glittering dresses, this is the place to go.

South of the Peace Hotel stands the former Palace Hotel (now the south wing of the Peace Hotel), which sports an eye-catching exterior of red and white brickwork. This stoic building was built in 1906 and features an English-style exterior punctuated with baroque windows. The former Chartered Bank of America, India, and China (18 Zhongshan East Road 中山东路18号), featuring Renaissance architecture, was built in 1922. Beside this structure is the former North Daily News Building (17 Zhongshan East Road 中山东路17号), which was built in 1921 and is now the AIA Building. These two buildings share the block with the Palace Hotel and are slated for restoration. The next block features the former Russo-Chinese Bank Building (15 Zhongshan East Road 中山东路15号). This squat building was built in 1901 and features six carved columns. Also on the same block is the former Bank of Communications Building (14 Zhongshan East Road 中山东路14号). Designed with all the modernity of 1940, this streamlined building looks like it came straight out of Batman’s Gotham City.

One of the few buildings on the Bund to have changed owners but not purpose is the Shanghai Customs House (13 Zhongshan East Road 中山东路13号). Built in 1927 and distinguished by its four colossal Roman granite columns, the customs house is topped with a bell tower and a clock face visible up and down the river, reminding ships that it would soon be time to pay. The bell now rings to “The East is Red,” though it’s hard to hear above the noise of the street and boat noise.

Designed by G. L. Wilson, the former Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank (12 Zhongshan East Road 中山东路12号) was the second largest bank in the world when it was completed in 1923 and is still one of the largest buildings on the Bund. It has been extensively restored and the lobby approaches its former 1920’s splendor. A Greek dome stands above its exterior columns and archways and is decorated with panels saluting the financial capitals of their day. Many consider this building to be icing on the Bund’s architectural cake.

Now the Bangkok Bank and Thai Consulate, the Hospital of the Shanghai Navigation Company (7 Zhongshan East Road 中山东路7号), built in 1907, is one of the oldest buildings on the Bund and is next to the even older China Merchants Bank (6 Zhongshan East Road 中山东路6号), which was built in 1897 and once served as the British Municipal City Hall. Built in an English Gothic style with baroque pillars, it’s one of the more poignant relics of the colonial period, a reminder of the contradiction of Shanghai’s past.

South of Guangdong Road stands another of the Bund’s most important buildings. The Dong Feng Hotel is the former Shanghai Club (2 Zhongshan East Road中山东路2号), which was built in 1910 and was once the city’s most lavish private club. A haunt of British and American bankers and merchants, it was rivaled only by the marble fronted French Club further south down the Bund. The Shanghai Club was once the home to the world-renown black and white granite “Long Bar,” measuring over 100 feet and, at the time, the longest in the world.

From here, it’s possible to continue south into what was once the French Concession’s part of the Bund or cross over Zhongshan East Road to the elevated walkway, from this position you can take in all the buildings you’ve just visited as they stand facing the Huangpu like giant stone sentinels. At Nanjing Road and the Bund there’s a psychedelic tourist tunnel (wàitān guānguāng suìdào 外滩观光隧道) ride to Pudong – be prepared to be perplexed by the short kitschy ride. There are also pedestrian tunnels at Fuzhou Road going underneath Zhongshan East Road towards the banks of the river.

Bund History Museum 外滩历史博物馆 wàitān lìshǐ bówùguǎn

Address: north end of the Bund 外滩北端

Opening hours: 9am to 5pm

￥：RMB 10

NANJING ROAD

Shanghai’s most famous thoroughfare, Nanjing Road spills from its eastern terminus on the Bund and past the People’s Square to its western extreme by the newly remodeled Jing’an Temple (jìng’ān sì静安寺). Divided into East, Middle and West sections, it’s at times a pedestrian shopping street, a winding tree-lined road, and a modern thoroughfare cutting between some of Shanghai’s most posh hotels.

Once known as the premier shopping street in China and Asia, colonial Nanjing Road stood in stark contrast to the rest of agrarian China. The hottest fashions from Italy were imported regularly and the road was full of shops selling some of China’s finest silks. Massive department stores were built, the most famous being the Great World and Wing-On, where shopping was only one of the activities enjoyed amongst gambling and sing-song halls, game parlors, bars and freak shows.

Originally named Bubbling Well Road after a small stream that once ran beneath it, Nanjing Road became China’s most famous strip and may now regain this crown. Modern department stores, though not as gay as the old ones, still line the street and exert a tremendous tourist draw over Chinese and foreign visitors alike. During holidays, it’s common to see people jostling to have their photo taken in front of the Nanjing Road sculpture at the two ends of the pedestrian street. Beginning at the Jing’an Temple metro station, the redesigned Jing’an Park (jìng’ān gōngyuán 静安公园) features upscale restaurants and charming teahouses. By morning, Shanghai’s elderly flock there to practice Tai Chi and the young stumble home from the bars. All day long people while away the day taking in the scenery or chat away on its numerous benches.

Directly across the street stands the Jing’an Temple. Dating back to the 19th century, it was once one of Shanghai’s richest and most frequently visited temples. Located on the busy intersection of Huashan Road and Nanjing West Road, this small temple manages to filter out the cacophony of the street and creates a small niche of tranquility.

Continuing west is the Shanghai Center (shànghǎi shāngchéng 上海商城), home to the Portman Ritz-Carlton, and one of Shanghai’s masterpieces of modern architecture. Featuring three towers, it fully utilizes its space yet providing numerous vistas that dramatically change with your line of sight. Home to numerous upscale shops and restaurants, it has one of Shanghai’s first Western-style supermarkets, a Western medical clinic and a branch of the HSBC Bank.

Built in 1955 with help from the Soviet Union, the Shanghai Exhibition Center (shànghǎi zhǎnlǎn zhōngxīn 上海展览中心) received a facelift over the past few years and now stands as an ornate sandblasted monument to Sino-Soviet friendship. Once home to the Hardoon Gardens, which was built by an Iraqi (Thanks David) Persian millionaire, the Shanghai Exhibition Center is as prime as Shanghai real estate gets.

Continuing east, the shopping malls and hotels of modern Shanghai’s commercial greatness arise. Plaza 66, CITIC Center, Meilong Zhen, the Hilton Hotel, and the J.W. Marriot, none budget options, provide numerous choices for dining and shopping – look for big names like Louis Vuitton to Kenny Roger’s Roasters. For a taste of traditional China, try the Shanghai Jingdezhen Porcelain Artware store on the corner of Nanjing and Shaanxi Road. A wide array of pottery and porcelain are for sale, much of it originating in Jingdezhen, one of China’s traditional pottery centers.

Stretching from Maoming Road to the Shanghai Television Station, slightly south of Nanjing Road is the Wujiang Food Street (wújiānglù shípǐnjiē 吴江路食品街), a nighttime hotspot filled with shops, food stalls, trinket stands and restaurants. The Shanghai Broadcasting and Television International News Exchange Center (shànghǎi diànshì tái 上海电视台) stands at the street’s eastern terminus.

At this point Nanjing West Road becomes Nanjing Middle Road and skirts the northern perimeter of People’s Square and People’s Park. Under the square is Shanghai’s largest metro station, it’s also the transfer station between metro lines 1 and 2. Across the park and square is the Shanghai Arts and Crafts Shopping Center (shànghǎi gōngyì měishù shāngshà 上海工艺美术商厦), a fascinating market is filled with small shops selling everything from birdcages and picture frames to strangely shaped rocks and plants.

From the Tibet Road overpass to the Henan Road metro station, a sprawling walking street closed to vehicular traffic, winds between numerous shops, restaurants, hotels and department stores. The Nanjing Road Pedestrian Mall (nánjīng lù bùxíng jiē 南京路步行街), while usually flush with tourists and shoppers, makes for easy walking and provides numerous places to sit down and people watch.

On the eastern end of the pedestrian mall is the east building of the Number 1 Department Store (xīnshìjiè bǎihuò 新世界百货). Formerly known as the Sun, it was one of Nanjing Road’s four anchor department stores. Opening its doors back in 1934, it was designed by Chinese architects and was the first building in China to use an escalator. At its pre-liberation peak, it attracted more than 150,000 daily shoppers.

Another Nanjing Road’s shopping anchors was the world famous Wing-On. Along with the Great World, old descriptions of these shopping centers call up images closer to three-ring circuses than modern department stores. The former Wing-On stands at the southwest corner of an expansive square now replete with a giant television monitor and numerous vendors. This square, at the mid-point of the walking street, occasionally has weekend performances and during the early morning it’s used by seniors practicing Tai Chi or women doing traditional dances for exercise.

Before reaching the Henan Middle Road metro station, you’ll pass by Shanghai’s City of Books and the old Sincere Department Store, another of the famed “big four” department stores. Past the metro station, the walking street ends and Nanjing Road resumes its bustling traffic of cars, trucks and buses heading towards or away from the Bund. Two blocks further east and the road ends by the riverside. If your legs are tired, the metro station is your best option for a quick escape. Tourist trolleys can be ridden the entire pedestrian section of Nanjing Road for RMB 1.

Jing’an Park 静安公园 jìng’ān gōngyuán

Address: Adjacent to Jing’an Metro Station 靠近静安寺地铁站

Opening hours: Open 24 hours

￥：Free

Jing’an Temple 静安寺 jìng’ān sì

Address: 1686 Nanjing West Road, Jing’an District 静安区南京西路1686号

Phone: 6248 6366

Opening hours: 9am to 5pm

￥：5

Shanghai Exhibition Center上海展览中心 shànghǎi zhǎnlǎn zhōngxīn

Address: 1000 Yan’an Middle Road 延安中路1000号

Opening hours: 9am to 5pm

￥：Free to visit but special exhibitions may have a charge

PEOPLE’S SQUARE

Shanghai’s People’s Square (rénmín guǎngchǎng 人民广场) occupies a large portion of the geographic city center and is home to Shanghai’s city hall. Underneath the square is the city’s largest metro station and the only station to transfer between metro lines one and two. Linking the two lines are elongated shopping arcades while above ground is the People’s Park, the Shanghai Museum, the Shanghai Art Museum, the Grand Theatre and the Urban Planning Hall.

The lawns and plazas making up People’s Square hint at the old racetrack that once occupied the grounds. Of all the Western extravagances throughout old Shanghai, none was more celebrated by the wealthy than the horse races. Held twice annually, schools and businesses went on holiday and all social life focused on the outcomes of the races and the surrounding festivities. The rich imported horses from Arabia and Monglia were trained throughout the year in preparation for their big day. After 1949, the racetrack was converted into the People’s Park to offer festivities all could enjoy.

People’s Square is now mainly used for transit, and the addition of several cultural centers has increased tourism. Expansion of the park and open spaces gives locals a pleasant place to enjoy Shanghai’s balmy springs and crisp autumns. The square remains quite crowded, especially during rush hour and ongoing construction only seems to exacerbate congestion, however, it’s also a good place to fly kites, enjoy an evening stroll or read a book and people watch.

From a cultural and historical perspective, the highlight of the People’s Square is the Shanghai Museum (shànghǎi bówùguǎn 上海博物馆). Often ranked as China’s best museum, the new building was completed in 1996 at a cost of RMB 570 million and is a modern and well-kept facility. The museum was designed by Shanghai architect Xing Tonghe to evoke the image of a ding, an ancient Chinese vessel, and architecturally, it’s a harmonious fusion of ancient and contemporary styles. The entrance, flanked by six stone lions and two stone bixi, mythical ancient Chinese beasts, opens onto a wide plaza with benches for sitting and music at night.

Inside, China’s greatest display of art and artifacts awaits the visitor. Though museums in Beijing and Xi’an have larger collections, nowhere are they better exhibited. Its 14 galleries house collections of bronzes, sculptures, ceramics, paintings, calligraphy, seals, jades, coins, furniture and ethnic minority art. Whereas most major Chinese museums are arranged chronologically by dynasties, the exhibits in the Shanghai Museum are arranged by theme, allowing the visitor to observe the progression of aesthetics and style.

Signs introducing the objects are in Chinese as well as English and the track lighting is focused and bright. For anyone visiting Shanghai, or China for that matter, the museum is a must see. Chinese history and culture buffs will likely find one day too short to take in the extensive collection and with over 120,000 artifacts to choose from, the displays are often changed, making the museum worth a return visit.

Now housed in the old Race Club Building, the Shanghai Art Gallery (shànghǎi měishùguǎn 上海美术馆) has been steadily improved its collection to provide visitors with greater access to Chinese and foreign masterpieces. In 2002, the museum hosted a blown glass exhibition featuring colored glass blown into traditional and modern shapes. Much of the collection has since found its way into high-priced boutiques on Nanjing and Huaihai Road. With a focus on modern Chinese art, the museum still strives to feature works of ethnic artists and Renaissance masters.

Another highlight found in People’s Square is People’s Park（rénmín gōngyuán人民公园）, a welcome respite from the crowds. Tree-lined lanes wind through pools and over gentle rises topped with small pavilions. It’s one of the few places in Shanghai where visitors can sit on the grass and this park is rarely crowded despite its central location. Vendors sell drinks and snacks outside the entrance.

Located near the west-end of People’s Park is Shanghai’s premier venue for truly big name entertainment, the Shanghai Grand Theatre (shànghǎi dàjùyuàn 上海大剧院). The highlights of its early days may have been limited to Chinese symphonies and visiting philharmonic and ballet troops from Russia, the theatre’s billing has grown rapidly in recent years. A one-month engagement in 2002 of Les Miserables featured the original Broadway cast and in early-2003 it hosted the Broadway cast of Cats. Featuring the largest stage in the world, Shanghai’s Grand Theatre is comprised of three different theatres, the largest seating 1,800. Its space-age design somehow resembles a giant Chinese pagoda.

Moving east, is Shanghai’s city hall, the Municipal Government Building. This imposing structure resembles most other government buildings in China – imposing and boxy. To its east is the more interesting and accessible Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall (shànghǎi chéngshì guīhuà zhǎnshì guǎn 上海城市规划展示馆). This hall is open to visitors and has numerous scale models detailing the history and future of Shanghai’s development and it’s a good place to get some perspective on the changes sweeping through the city. One highlight worth viewing is the latest scale model of the planned development in preparation for Shanghai’s 2010 World Expo. Shanghai is a city that’s growing in leaps and bounds and in a blink of the eye, much of the city has already changed.

People’s Park 人民公园 rénmín gōngyuán

Address: 213 Nanjing West Road, Huangpu District 黄浦区南京西路213号

Opening hours: 6am to 8pm

￥：5

Shanghai Art Museum 上海美术馆 shànghǎi měishùguǎn

Address: 225 Nanjing West Road 南京西路225号

Phone: 6327 2829

Opening hours: 9am to 4pm

￥：20

Shanghai Grand Theatre 上海大剧院 shànghǎi dàjùyuàn

Address: 300 Renmin Dadao, People’s Square 人民广场，人民大道300号
Phone: 6372 8701

Opening hours: 9am to 1pm

￥：50

Shanghai Museum 上海博物馆 shànghǎi bówùguǎn

Address: 201 Renmin Dadao, near People’s Square metro station 人民大道201号，靠近人民广场地铁站

Phone: 6372 3500

Opening hours: 9am to 5pm

￥：20

LUJIAZUI

It’s hard to imagine just over a decade ago this area was defined by farmhouses and small warehouses hemmed in by rice paddies and the muddy Huangpu. In 1990, this area was dubbed the Pudong New Area and made into a Special Economic Zone. This kick started Shanghai’s second rising and construction began on some of the China’s tallest buildings. A modern Wall Street-style financial district complete with world-class convention centers have been built alongside expansive avenues, plush shopping malls and grandiose apartments.

To appreciate its rapid ascent into the upper regions of advanced capitalism, one should start under the sea at the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium (shànghǎi hǎiyáng shuǐzú guǎn 上海海洋水族馆). The best way to reach this liquid marvel is to take metro line 2 to Lujiazui station just across from the Huangpu River. Take exit 1 and walk straight towards the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, a thought-provoking building that looks like a rocket with enormous pink bubbles that most people either love or hate. The aquarium is a large triangle shaped concrete building decorated with striking blue and green lines that form the outlines of fish. The Shanghai Ocean Aquarium is a state of the art facility featuring every marine eco-system representing nearly every continent with hairy spider crabs, sleek penguins, stealthy sharks, neon fish of every of hue. Escalators and moving floors allow visitors to rest as they take in the large collections and elaborate displays of sea life. The aquarium features Asia’s longest underwater glass tunnel and visitors glide under sweeping mantas, happy turtles and tunas that get nervous when sharks come too close.

Head back to the Oriental Pearl TV Tower (dōngfāng míngzhū diànshì tǎ 东方明珠电视塔) and queue up for a sci-fi architectural exploration. Most visitors will rush towards the elevators to see the city in all its expanse, chaos and splendor. However, before heading up to see what Shanghai is becoming, take some time to wander through the basement history museum. This catacomb of excellent historical displays takes you from Shanghai’s early days as a walled fort under the Ming dynasty to the beginning of European colonialism and up to the Japanese invasion. Several of the displays are interactive and the museum is worthy of a half-day visit. It certainly adds a few layers of meaning when you step into the elevator and rocket up 3m per second to the mid-level bubble to gaze at the bustling city below. An additional elevator will take you to the heady top pod – over 342m above the ground. From this top module, there’s a chairman style desk flanked by a flag of China where visitors can sit and have their picture taken and imagine being a captain of capitalism, going where no one has gone before. If the view from this vantage point leaves you wanting, take the series of breathtaking elevator descents and head over to the Jin Mao Tower (jīnmào dàshà 金茂大厦). Rising 420.5m off the ground, it’s the tallest building in China and hard to miss.

Constructed by the same team that built the Sears Tower in Chicago, the building to symbolizes wealth and prosperity with Buddhist symbolism gone post-modern. It has 88 floors (8 is a lucky number in Chinese) and 13 bands, which is symbolic in Buddhism. Its name carries several meanings from “economy and trade” to “gold and prosperity.” Whatever the backers had in mind, one thing is for sure, it’s doing everything they wanted. Fortune 500 firms and joint ventures all share the same office space in this giant monolith. The floors are well guarded and only two areas are open to the public: the observation floor on the 88th floor and the restaurant and bar in the Shanghai Grand Hyatt Hotel (shànghǎi jīnmào jūnyuè dàjiǔdiàn上海金茂君悅大酒店). The entrance to the high-speed elevators is in the high-tech basement and for those who aren’t drunk from the view, there’s the Cloud 9 bar on the 87th floor. Head into the Grand Hyatt Hotel and signs will point you the way. There’s also a restaurant and cafés in the Grand Hyatt that offers great views if the haze isn’t too bad. Be sure to check out the main lounge and try not to fall over when looking up at the gigantic open atrium.

Head back to earth and back towards the Pearl Tower. Pass the behemoth Super Brand Shopping Mall and follow the sound of ship horns, you’ll soon find yourself overlooking the old Bund. There are numerous restaurants and cafés on the walkways and vendors sell souvenirs, sodas and teas. Outdoor seating allows visitors to sit in the sun and drink in the river view. It’s best to come here just before dusk and get a good table, this way you can drink and eat to your heart’s content while watching the old buildings on the Bund light up at sunset. It’s a nice way to close a fine day in the Pudong or begin a wild Shanghai night.

Along metro line 2 is Century Park (shìjì gōngyuán 世纪公园) and the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum (shànghǎi kējì guǎn 上海科技馆). Both are good places to visit if you happen to be farther out in Pudong. Century Park has large tracts of grass and a sizeable lake. The science museum features many interactive displays and an IMAX theater that’ll please children who don’t appreciate architecture and history.

Jin Mao Tower 金茂大厦 jīnmào dàshà

Address: 88 Century Boulevard, Pudong 浦东世纪大道88号

Phone: 5049 1234

Opening hours: 8:30am to 9pm

￥：50 for adults, 25 for children to the observation deck

Oriental Pearl TV Tower 东方明珠塔 dōngfāng míngzhū tǎ　
Address: 1 Century Boulevard, Pudong 浦东世纪大道1号

Phone: 5879 1888

Opening hours: 8:30am to 9pm

￥：100 for adults for access to all levels, 75 for children

Shanghai Ocean Aquarium 上海海洋水族馆 shànghǎi hǎiyáng shuǐzú guǎn

Address: 158 Yincheng North Road, Pudong 浦东银城北路158号

Phone: 5877 9988

Opening hours: 9am to 8:30pm

￥：110 for adults, 70 for children

JADE BUDDHA TEMPLE

Located in the northwest part of Shanghai and tucked away amidst a jumble of charming turn of the century two-storey cottages and small glass office buildings, the Jade Buddha Temple (yùfó sì 玉佛寺) is a spiritual oasis in the midst of a booming city.

The heavily renovated temple was built with Song dynasty architecture in 1918 to house two legendary jade Buddhas. Its mustard yellow outer walls are shrouded with bamboo scaffolding and lined with queues of tourists and worshippers alike. Devotees carry clusters of burning joss sticks and bow in front of the Hall of Heavenly Kings (tiānwáng diàn 天王殿), a giant cavern that holds humbling statues of various golden and bearded arhats that tower over those who enter. Wander past the Grand Hall towards the back of the compound and follow the signs to the Abbott Room, where the jade Buddhas resides.

The two Buddhas in the Abbot room were once part of magnificent five piece jade collection brought to China from Myanmar by a Chinese monk. The larger of the two Buddhas is encrusted in jewels, it was hand-chiseled and polished from white jade and stands and stand 1.9m tall. On each side of this statue is a famous collection Buddhists texts made wood block prints in 1890. Measuring 90cm, the other Buddha is smaller, but is just as impressive with light glinting off its elegant jade body as it reclines languidly. A gnarled sandalwood trunk with carved Chinese characters and displays of late-Qing handicrafts add to the charm of this building. On the first floor outside the Abbot room are several gift shops selling everything from paper prints to traditional Chinese paintings to sandalwood fans and Buddha figurines carved from pure jade.

Crossing the courtyard back to the entrance to the Abbot room is a corridor that takes visitors to a splendid traditional Chinese teashop. The temple entrance fee includes a ticket to sample different sets of tea that can remedy everything from headaches to stomach bubbles. There’s a polite sales pitch included, but all of the proceeds go to the temple.

Across the hall from the tearoom is a vegetarian restaurant that serves all manner of lunch dishes, many of which are fashioned into mouth watering meat entrees. Enclosed in a walled courtyard is a Buddhist research library that has some English books. The bald monks and jade Buddhas provide a break from Shanghai’s frenetic drive to buy, eat and spend.

Jade Buddha Temple 玉佛寺 yùfó sì

Address: 170 Anyuan Road 安远路170号

Phone: 6266 2668

Opening hours: 8:30am to 5pm

￥：10, 5 to see the jade Buddhas