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Key Attractions Bund Street of legends, the Bund is actually two kilometres (1.2 miles) of historic riverfront buildings, separated from the Huangpu River (which has now risen above street level) since the mid-1990s by a raised terrace embankment. It runs roughly from Nan Suzhou Lu in the north to Jinling Dong Lu in the south. The word ‘bund’ is an Anglo-Indian construction from the Hindi ‘band’, or embankment, recalling the flood barriers that used to line it. The name is a hangover from the British colonial regime in the city and many of the landmark buildings originally belonged to British companies. The grand remnants of colonial power are crowded along the Bund. These include the Customs House (with its famous bell ‘Big Ching’), the former Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank (now the Pudong Development Bank), the former Shanghai Club, the Peace Hotel (one of Asia’s Art Deco masterpieces and a favourite of Noel Coward), the Glen Line Building, the Bank of China and many others. This parade of Shanghai’s past also looks straight onto its future, the glittering towers of the Pudong New Area on the opposite riverbank. The Bund is an absolute must-see for any first-time visitor to Shanghai. Huangpu, from Nan Suzhou Lu to Jinling Dong Lu Transport: Bus 928 down the Bund from Shanghai Railway Station, bus 926 from Shanghai Stadium or bus 831 from Hongqiao Airport. Shanghai Museum Rebuilt in the shape of an ancient Chinese bronze ritual vessel, in 1994, the Shanghai Museum houses over 120,000 historical and artistic treasures and is one of the city’s cultural gems. Its four storeys present a chronological and stylistic tour of China’s greatest artistic traditions, with bronzes, sculptures, ceramics, paintings, calligraphy, jades, coins, furniture and ethnic minority folk art, as well as special exhibitions. Particular highlights are the display of ancient bronzes on the entrance level and the Chinese painting on the floor above. Given the size of the collection, only some 3% of the museum can be shown at any one time. 201 Renmin Dadao, Renmin Square, Huangpu Tel: (21) 6372 3500. Website: www.shanghaimuseum.net (in Chinese). Transport: Metro Renmin Square. Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1700 (last ticket sales 1600), Sat 0900-2000. Admission: RMB20 (concessions available). Yuyuan Gardens and Bazaar A fine survival of the pre-colonial era, the Yuyuan Gardens are also the core of Shanghai’s most frenetic tourist bazaar, with stalls and eating houses packed together in brightly coloured alleys that recall the sets from the film Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000). The gardens and bazaar cover several city blocks, stretching south from Fuyou Lu to Fangbang Dong Lu. A haven of tranquillity after the throng of tourists in the bazaar, the Yuyuan Gardens (in fact the Yu Gardens – Yu Yuan) was founded by a family of Imperial officials, in 1559, during the Ming Dynasty. Although looted by the Western powers during the 19th century, the gardens still preserve an exquisite catalogue of Ming garden design. The curiosities include many tunnels and grottos, a stone boat for staging river parties, quiet pools, a fine Chinese opera stage, a hall that became the headquarters of the Small Swords Society – one of the most important 19th-century patriotic societies – as well as many other delightful corners. Outside this walled tranquillity, the bazaar presses multifarious souvenirs on visitors, however, one eating house in particular, the Mid-Lake Pavilion Teahouse, has become an attraction in itself, with queens and presidents ceremoniously taken to visit it. Old Town, from Fuyou Lu to Fangbang Dong Lu Transport: Bus 42 from the Bund to Renmin Lu near the Yuyuan Gardens. Bus 11 circles the district on Renmin Lu and Zhong Hua Lu. Opening hours: Daily 0830-1700. Admission: RMB15. French Concession Lined with French colonial-era architecture that survives remarkably unspoilt in the heart of this dynamic city, the French Concession is – in film terms – the Empire of the Sun to Yuyuan Garden’s Crouching Tiger. It typifies Shanghai’s international sophistication at its most relaxed and harmonious. Particular gems include the grounds of the Ruijin Guest House, 118 Ruijin Er Lu, formerly the Morris Estate and full of garden cafés and restaurants, as well as the bars and clubs of Maoming Nan Lu. Fuxing Park has its shady walks and own Hong Kong-derived bar strip and there are many old residences along Sinan Lu (including ones belonging to Sun Yatsen and Zhou Enlai) and some fine colonial-period hotels – the Garden Hotel, 58 Maoming Nan Lu, and the Jinjiang Hotel, 59 Maoming Nan Lu. Most Western visitors will feel so at home in this area that they will not want to leave. French Concession Transport: Metro Shanxi Nan Lu. Site of the First National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party Not everybody will want to see this site, which stands as testimonial to the fact that Shanghai was the nursery of Chinese Communism. Here, the Chinese Communist Party was formed, in a room belonging to one of the delegates, Li Hanjun, on 23 July 1921. Another delegate, Mao Zedong, was one of only two of 13 that ever served in the first Chinese Communist government, formed in 1949. The modern museum occupies the whole building and documents the formative years of the CCP. Renovated in 1998, it incorporates delights such as a life-size wax diorama of the first meeting, with Mao centre stage, at his most idealised. 374 Huangpi Nan Lu Tel: (21) 5383 2171. Transport: Metro Huangpi Lu. Opening hours: Daily 0900-1700 (last ticket sold 1600). Admission: RMB3. Shanghai Municipal History Museum Shanghai’s most modern – and probably most expensive – museum, the Shanghai Municipal History Museum, occupies the lowest ball of Pudong’s signature Orient Pearl Tower and uses all the latest interactive devices to tell the city’s history, including a diorama of a ‘main street’ from the 1920s. The museum documents 6000 years, with sights, sounds and even scents of the colonial era. But the most recent exhibits – such as the lion dogs that used to guard the old Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank building – are the most interesting. The high entrance fee reflects the admission price for the Tower itself – there is no way to get into the museum without entering the Tower, packaging past and future in one. Gate 4, Oriental Pearl Tower, 1 Shiji Dadao, Pudong Tel: (21) 5879 3003. Transport: Metro Huangpi Lu. Opening hours: Daily 0900-2100. Admission: RMB70 (RMB20 for museum and RMB50 for Tower). |
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