|
Your guide will surely recommend visiting the Shanghai Museum with four floors of fascinating exhibits. More Chinese culture can be enjoyed in the Yifu Theatre, the Grand Theatre and the Shanghai Centre Theatre. You are sure to walk along the Waitan, formerly called the Bund, where many buildings built before the Second World War have been restored and now provide food, shopping and entertainment. There is the historic Peace Hotel (formerly called the Cathay Hotel), still entertaining guests with its 1930s jazz band, at the corner of Zhongshan and Nanjing roads. Other magnificent colonial buildings also line Zhongshan Road, including the Seamen's Club (which once housed the British Consulate) and the Bund18 shopping centre (formerly the site of the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China). There is also the building that once housed the headquarters of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, from which HSBC gets its name. There are both modern and colonial buildings along Nanjing Road. They include the Ohel Moshe Synagogue, which is now a museum. Another grand building of the colonial period is the Gothic Xujiahui Cathedral, which is still in use. Shanghai's old French Quarter is noted for its 1930s art deco, Mock Tudor and Gothic mansions and villas. However, there is also the New Heaven and Earth (Xin Tian Di) Pedestrian Mall. Some visitors to Shanghai make a point of visiting the former home of Sun Yat Sen, Sunzhongshan Guju, as well as that of his wife Song Ching Ling, Songqingling Guju. You can still experience something of life in old Shanghai in the Old City, where small, old-fashioned dwellings still still line narrow streets. There, you will also find the beautiful Yuyuan Garden. Its attractions include rockeries, ponds and the Hall of Ten Thousand Flowers. Also in the Old City is the Huxinting Teahouse, which is over 400 years old. It is reached by walking over the Nine Turnings Bridge. The Old City also has the Yuyuan Shopping Centre, where you can buy traditional Chinese products. Then there are the teahouses and antique shops of Shanghai Old Street (Fangbang Zhong Lu). Also venerable is the Temple of the Town Gods, which has been the site of fairs since the 15th century. Your guide may also recommend the ancient Longhua Temple and the Jade Buddha Temple (named after its white Burmese jade statues of Buddha). Modern Shanghai can be seen in the architecture of Pudong. Much can be seen from the observation deck of Shanghai Mingzhu (the Pearl of the Orient TV tower) and by strolling along the Riverside Promenade and around Jinmao Plaza. You can also watch the activity on the Huangpu River while relaxing on a riverboat cruise starting in Shanghai. |