Shanghai
Guide
Shanghai City:
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Shanghai Metro Map
Shanghai, an open
city on the coast and a famous historical and cultural city, is a municipality
under the direct jurisdiction of the Central Government, the largest
economic and
trade center, a comprehensive industrial base and the leading port in China.
Shanghai is well-known in the world not only for its prosperous cosmopolitan features but also for its rich humanistic resources. With success in winning the bid for the sponsorship of World Expo 2010, Shanghai will become more and more attractive and exciting for people from all over the world.
Main attractions:
The Bund
– A
symbol of Shanghai and an epitome of Shanghai's modern history. After the Opium
War of 1840, Shanghai was forced to become one of the 5 ports to international
trade under the first unequal treaty. As a result, foreign enclaves were leased
along the waterfront by Land Regulations.
On one side of the broad highway stand 52 blocks of magnificent buildings of
different styles mainly built between 1870's and 1930's, which can be called
museum of modern world architecture, on the other side is the wide embankment,
where crowds of visitors come to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Huangpu
river-mother river of Shanghai.
Take a cruise along
the River HUANGPU, both attractive day time scenes & by night.
"Shikumen"
(meaning "stone gate") houses -
a unique architectural style in
Shanghai 1920's. It
originated from the heavy stone wall and the frame with wooden gate (usually was
black color) which as the main entrance of these buildings (see photo left).
Shikumen buildings were usually
built along narrow lanes, local people call them "Long-Tang". The
style was a combination of influences of Eastern and Western culture, showcasing
Shanghai's culture of that era. With the city's drive toward progress and
modernity, Shikumen, as a form of residential design, began to fall out of
favor, prompting some experts to predict that by the 21st century Shikumen style
houing would altogether disappear.
Before the development of Shanghai Xintiandi (a hot
urban tourist attraction imbued with the city's historical and cultural
legacies), the area it encompasses had been a spread of aged lanes
crowded with mid-19th century Shikumen buildings which had witnessed the
vicissitudes of time.
Now only a
few Shikumen houses are maintained by the government as historic work of
excellence, a lot more have been or will be demolished according to the city
development plan.
Shanghai Old Street – the architecture and layout of the street from west to east display the historical and cultural evolution during a period from the Ming, Qing Dynasties to the Chinese Republic, when western culture began to infiltrate into Shanghai. It is mainly featured by its traditional trade character, emphasizing on traditional folk custom culture, creating a Shanghai-style culture atmosphere. Shanghai Lao Jie has become a tourist attraction for its unique style of business culture in Shanghai.
Yu Yuan Garden – a classical garden south of the Yangtze with a history of over 400 years. Halls, chambers, towers and pavilions, rockeries and flowing streams all express the essence of the Ming and Qing Dynasty garden architecture of the South, which is quite different from that of the North-those ancient gardens in Beijing for example. The tour guide will show and explain you what these differences are.
Chenghuangmiao - is famous for Shanghai snack. There is large choice
of traditional food and Shanghai snacks here, you can get real Shanghai Nanxiang
Xiaolongbao (Nanxiang small steamed dumplings) here. Apart from the food, there
are also many traditional and fashion shops in this place. The architecture in
Chenghuangmiao is typical Chinese, 100% local atmosphere. It attracts both
foreign and Chinese tourists every year. It's one of the place for souvenirs.
(see the photo on the right).
Shikumen Museum - The SHIKUMEN Museum
located in
the middle of XINTIANDI, all about old Shanghai people's life and the unique
Shanghai SHIKUMEN architecture. Here you can see a well preserved sample SHIKUMEN
house and the furniture in 1920's - 1930's.
Over 70% of Shanghai people have grown up in Shikumen houses. It's a good place
for the tourists getting to know Shanghai's past; also a nostalgic experience
for the locals.
Add:
Taicang RdT：021 - 3307 0337
Open Hours: M - F, 10am - 10pm
Xintiandi
– means New Territory. A
unique combination of different culture. Xintiandi has it's own style. It's a
leisure area which was renovated from one of Old Shanghais SHIKUMEN houses
zone. It kept a lot of SHIKUMEN charaters.
Shanghai in
the 21st century would become an important international metropolis. Shanghai
Xintiandi provided an answer for preserving the old architecture of Shanghai
that would be representative of its historical and cultural heritage.
Xintiandi's Shikumen attraction was created by converting residential blocks
into a multifunctional dining, retail and entertainment center flowing with
restaurants, boutiques, cafes and bars of an international standard.
The Shikumen
buildings within Shanghai Xintiandi retain the antique walls, tiles and exterior
of the Shikumen housing of old Shanghai, while the internal spaces have been
designed and decorated to suit the up tempo lifestyle of the 21st century
urbanites, with infinite details that exude the casual elegance of modern city
living. Shanghai Xintiandi is where "yesterday meets tomorrow in Shanghai
today."
Xintiandi has already become a new Shanghai landmark. The blocks of Shikumen buildings, with their preserved original walls and tiles, give tourists a unique feel of walking the bustling Shanghai streets of the 1920s and 30s. Inside every building-which may house a stylish international gallery, a trendy haute boutique, a theme restaurant, a fashionable cafe or a bar-everything is designed to keep pace with an exciting, modern lifestyle that is becoming vastly synonymous with the city of Shanghai. The marvelous Shikumen courtyard outside and the gleaming modernity inside strike a curious but charming contrast, shuttling customers between the past and the present.
Shanghai Xintiandi has rewritten the history of Shikumen, salvaging it from decay and revitalizing it with a new modernity. Today Shanghai Xintiandi has become the place of choice for local people, visitors from the mainland, and tourists from abroad who long to sample this glorious city's past and its dramatic metamorphosis into a metropolis booming with international promise.
Recommended Restaurants:
Shanghai Laozhan
The word “Shanghia Laozhan” in Chinese means “Old Shanghai station”. The name of this restaurant actually came from several old train carriages and an engine, which were collected by
the restaurant owner. One of
the carriages was made in Germany in 1899 as an official business train, it was used by Empress Cixi in the Qing dynasty. Another
carriage was made in Russia in 1919. It arrived in China in 1922 and was used by the old Chinese government. After 1949, it was used as Song Qingling’s special train.
Inside the train carriage is decorated as a part of the restaurant, but the the
carriages only have a capacity of 5 tables, 30 people. So, If you want to sit in the old
carriage, you must book in advance. Another attraction of this restaurant
is: elegant decoration and the displayed old items - old photos, typewriter, phonograph, film projector, camera and
some other antiques from the early 20th century. The building (main
part of the restaurant) was built in 1921, used to be a convent.
Opening Hours: 11:30~1:30, 5:30~9:30
The restaurant is located opposite the cathedral in Xujiagui.
201 Caoxi Beilu, Xuhui District, Tel: (021) 6427 2233
Herbal Legend (Xintiandi branch)
This is a specialised restaurant which is located in the centre of Shanghai - Xintiandi.
The character of this restaurant is that all dishes and soups are made with different traditional Chinese herbs (not very strong).
Herbal Meal
has a long history in China. It's delicately made according to the seasons and
the various effects of the herbs. It is delicious in flavour and very
nourishing.
Address: Lane 123, Taicang Road,
Shanghai(near Madang Road)
Opening Hours:
11:00 pm - 1:00 am
Tel: 021-63866817 021-63866818
Recommended Teahouses:
1. Yuyuan "Huxinting Teahouse":
Over 150 year old teahouse in the centre of the lake
in Yuyuan. The oldest teahouse in Shanghai city.
257 Yuyuan Rd, Huangpu District
T: (0) 21-
63558270 / 63736950
Opening hours: 8:00 ~ 21:00 (7 days a week).
Buses: 11, 932, 930, 66
Accept VISA and MASTER card.
Traditional Chinese music performance on every Monday afternoon.
2. "Old Shanghai Teahouse"
This teahouse is located in Shanghai Old Street. Walking through the narrow front door and wooden stair case, you will see a back in time tea room. Along one side of the wall, displaying 1930's antiques: from an old telephone, fan, sewing machine to radio, umbrella and car number plate, even the "three inch" women's shoes and old bank cheques... There are hundreds of old items are telling you the old Shanghai story, they are all from the owners many years collection, it's almost a 1930's exhibition here. Outside of the window is the view of the busy Shanghai Old Street.
Add: 385 Fangbin Zhonglu, Huangpu District,
Tel: (0) 21- 5382 1202
Opening hours: 9:00 ~ 23:00 (7 days a week).
Buses: 211, 66, 25, 55, 926, 71, 911.
Bar / Cafe Street: HENGSHAN Rd and MAOMING Rd (S) or call MAOMING NANLU.
Other recommended places
If you have more time in Shanghai, you can just wandering around in the following places:
HUAIHAI Rd - Fashion Street.
DUOLUN Rd - Cultural Street, because there were many notable Chinese authors, scholars, artists used to live here in 1920 ~ 1930.
HUAIHAIFANG (original name XIAFEIFANG) - a typical Shanghai Shikumen style old days living area, Chinese people call this type of area "LONG-TANG", it's Shanghai speciality. HUAIHAIFANG was built in 1924 with nearly two hundred three storeies buildings, and used to lived notable Chinese authors, progressive scholars, artists and business people in the past.
Add: 927 Long, HUAIHAI Rd (M), Luwan District. Buses: 920, 945, 926 CHONGQING NANLU stop.
TIANZIFANG - a Creation Zone, where there are full of artist's studios and craft shops. It's in TAIKANG Rd.
SHANGXIANFANG - also a typical SHIKUMEN residential Long-Tang area, built in 1920's. City-Level cultural relic protected area.
Add: 358 Long,HUAIHAI Rd (M), Luwan District. Buses: 869, 253, 304 YIAN'AN ZHONGLU stop.
The well known Chinese romantic writer/poet Yu Dafu and wife used to live in No. 43.
DONGTAI Rd - For old things and antiques. Approx. 200 m long and 5 ~ 6 m wide street. Full of Shanghai 1920's - 1930's household utensils.
Shanghai Public Transport:
Shanghai Maglev Train: 30km (19 mile) maglev line from Shanghai Pudong Airport meets metro Line 2 (LongYang Road station). Whole journey takes 8 minutes.
Click here to see ticket prices and more info
Shanghai metro map: Click her to see metro map
Taxis: starting price is 11 RMB (up to 3 km). Then 2.1 RMB /km after 3 km.
Click to See Sally's Shanghai Trip Album
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Ancient Waterway Towns Around Shanghai:
There are some beautiful ancient towns and villages around Shanghai. These towns
are a crisscross of waterways with several hundreds of years history.
"Bridges, water and houses" - the picturesque views are the main
attraction of these towns. It will make you feel that you are in an "Oriental Venice".
You can see the "Chinese Gondolas" everywhere in these waterway towns.
Most of these towns are several dozens
km from Shanghai. You can easily take
a day trip to visit them or having one night stay to experience the difference
those inns by the water. Depart from Shanghai Stadium coach station, you
can go to whichever destination you like. Alternatively you can take trains to these places,
but some towns involve a bit bus journey.
Zhouzhuang:
Zhouzhuang is
located in south-east Suzhou, about 60km from Shanghai.
It's well
known for the beautiful environment and simple architecture, well preserved for
over 900 years.
The town is a crisscross of waterways. The houses were built as "street in
front and river at the back", typical waterway towns layout and architecture. There are
many ancient bridges and
carved-brick archways
are still in use,
some of them are
400~800years old. More than 60% of the buildings in this town are original houses
from Ming dynasty (1368~1644) and Qing dynasty (1644~1911). The most interesting
travel experience is
taking a Chinese style gondola to cruise on the waterways.
Sitting on this wooden boat which is rowed by local people, going through
the ancient stone arch bridges, viewing those residential houses along the
waterside is a quintessential experience of China.
In this water village, locals
live life on waterways, still doing everyday activities from washing clothes to
shopping from vendors in boats.
There are also a few impressive manor houses in Zhouzhuang, especially the "The Hall of Shen's
Residence" and "The Hall of Zhang's Residence".
There are more than 40 films and TV series were made in this ancient town.
To get there:
Take the direct bus from Shanghai stadium direct to Zhouzhuang.
Tongli:
About
90 km from Shanghai, close to Taihu. Tongli town is also surrounded by water, among the five lakes. The houses in the town are by the water, also called
“Small
East Venice”. In the town, the Tuisiyuan (garden)
which has been included the World Cultural Inheritance list.
Take the coach from Shanghai stadium direct to Tongli.
Departure time: 8:00~11:00 every hour.
Zhujiajiao: It's located in the Shanghai Qingpu County, and is a preserved ancient town surrounded by rivers and lakes. You can see the original features of Ming and Qing Dynasties downtown. It has got the longest, biggest and highest five-arch stone bridge (Fangsheng Qiao) as well as the most interesting porch bridge (Huimin Qiao) in the Shanghai area.
Take the coach from Shanghai stadium (in Xujiahui) direct to Zhujiajiao.
Departure: 7:30~11:00 every half an hour. About a 1 hour 20 minute journey.
Tel: (021) 5924 2771
Suzhou:
(lick
here for Suzhou accommodation)
Suzhou is one of the oldest
towns in the Yangtze basin, with over 2500 years history, and is known for its
masterpieces of Chinese gardens as well as its 1000 years tradition of silk
production, also famous for it's traditional techniques of double-sided and
double-faced embroidery . Suzhou has interconnected waterways and beautiful
environment, the city is often referred as “The Venice of the East”. Many houses
are built with "street in front and river at back".
To get there: take fast train (from Shanghai train station)
only 1 hour journey from
Shanghai.
Or take direct bus from Stadium Coach station.
Xitang:
An over 1000 years old waterway ancient town
which is
located to the South-West of Shanghai. It's about 90 km from Shanghai, 80 km from
Suzhou and 100 km from Hangzhou. Like some other waterway towns to the south of
Yangtze river, with the boats, water, bridges and the typically designed houses
along the river, it is an evocative scene. What makes this town special is
it's nearly thousand metres long corridor (called "Yanyu Changlang" in Chinese).
Click here to view Sally's XITANG trip album
The admission fee
to enter the town is 30 RMB, for all in one ticket including 11 tourist
attraction sights is 60 RMB. Usually there are guards at the entrance (from 8 am
~ 5 pm) at weekends. You may get in free during the weekdays or out of 8 am ~ 5
pm.
Note: only by the tickets from the proper ticket office at the entrance if you need.
Wuzhen: Wuzhen is also an over thousand year old waterway town which is located approx.140 km South-West of Shanghai. 80 km from both Hangzhou and Suzhou. This is also a typical waterway ancient town.
