| Introduction
Feature
Climate
Shopping
Dining
Getting to Shanghai
Getting to other
cities
Getting to Vietnam
From Saigon to
Shanghai
Shanghai Hotel
Shanghai
Tour
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Throughout
the past century, Shanghai has had numerous name tags attached
to it; like "Paris of the Orient" and "Pearl
of China". Images of Shanghai more than any other Chinese
city, are bountiful in the west. A visit here therefore, is
naturally tainted to some extent, with a preconception of
how the city will be.
As the largest and most prosperous city in
the nation, Shanghai is the economic, and financial
centre of China, while Beijing is the political heart. And
this image of Shanghai as a fast and modern metropolis is
certainly the one that most visitors take away. Those old
preconceptions of Shanghai as the home of crime vice and prostitutes
are wiped away, as the city successfully projects an image
of itself as young, vibrant and cool.
Shanghai is a modern and fast paced city,
rich in history and culture and with a wealth of areas and sites
just waiting to be explored. One of the nicest aspects of Shanghai
is that the crowds here are much more manageable than in a city
like Beijing. This is largely because there are no great ancient
sites which people flock to. Rather, this is a city to be walked,
wandered, explored and discovered in your own time and, in your
own style.
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What makes Shanghai
particularly attractive are the many different styles
of architecture and design throughout the city. Shanghai
was once divided up into different "Concessions"
or districts and the boundaries of these areas still remain
today.The famous, Bund
was home to the "British Public Park" and this
boulevard has a plethora of colonial structures to visit,
all reminders of Shanghai's days of decadence. The Japanese
and the French Concessions too, are fascinating areas
to explore. The French Quarter is a particularly charming
district to wander, and there are many former residences
to look at and discover something about old Shanghai and
the people who lived here. |
The area known as the "Chinese City" is also worthy of a visit. Take a break from the tourists around the Yuyuan and do some serious antique shopping or just
lose yourself amidst the old alleys and streets.
But perhaps most of all today, Shanghai is
a spectacularly modern city. The pace of development here
is unbelievable. Currently, seventeen percent of the world's
cranes are in the city and developers boast that the city
is changing at a rate incomparable to anywhere else in the
world ever. The newest area of the city, Pudong,
has just celebrated its 14th anniversary and is almost unrecognizable
from the way it was when development began here. Two of the
most impressive city structures can be found here, the Jinmao
Tower and the Oriental TV Tower.
For any visitor to China, perhaps the most
attractive thing about this city is just how fashionable it
is. Museums, galleries, restaurants and bars have emerged in
the past few years. This cosmopolitan cultural scene which harks
back to the heydays of the 1920s and 30s and the new found wealth
in the city are helping to reinvent Shanghai as a lace with
a fabulous and optimistic style and attitude.
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