Located at the center of the mainland's coastline, Shanghai has been a major hub
of communications, transportation, and international exchange for a long time. It
is also a tourist resort renowned for the Oriental Pearl Tower, and its new reputation
as a cosmopolitan center of culture and design. It has a rich collection of buildings
and structures of various architectural styles. It’s mixed by western and eastern,
modern and contemporary.
The well-known Bund is a must for visitors to Shanghai. Fifty-two buildings lining
the narrow shoreline of the Huangpu River offer a living exhibition of Gothic, Baroque,
Roman, Classic Revival and Renaissance architectural styles, as well as combinations
of Chinese and Western styles.
They are also a condensation of the recent history of the city. The wide embankment
offers ample room for strolling and is used by locals for morning exercises and
evening gatherings. In the evening, colorful illuminate the area and create a shimmering
image deserving of the name Pearl of the Orient.
The Orient Pearl TV Tower is 468 meters high, the tallest in Asia and third tallest
in the world. It faces the Bund across the Huangpu River. When viewed from the Bund,
the tower and the Nanpu and Yangpu bridges create a vivid imagery known as “two
dragons playing with a pearl”. The sphere at the top has a diameter of 45 meters
and is 263 meters above ground. The observation deck in the sphere offers a sweeping
view of the city. The tower integrates broadcasting technologies with sightseeing,
catering, shopping, amusement, and accommodations. It has becomes the symbol of
the city and a major tourist destination.
Nanjing Road, honored as “China’s No. 1 Street”, has
become an all-weather pedestrian arcade. Shops and restaurants provide products
and services with their own characteristics, making it a paradise that integrates
shopping, restaurants, amusement and sightseeing.
Xin Tian Di has becomes an urban tourist attraction that holds the historical and
cultural legacies of the city. It is a fashionable pedestrian street composed of
Shikumen and modern architecture style.
People’s Square has becomes the political and cultural center in Shanghai since
1994, when it was rebuilt. In and around the square are a massive fountain named
the Light of Huangpu River, 10,000 square meters of the lawns, six groups of relief
carvings that depict the history of Shanghai, the New Shanghai Museum, the offices
of the municipal government, an underground shopping plaza, the Shanghai Grand Theater
and the Shanghai Exhibition Center.
Shanghai Maglev Train is notable for being the first commercial high-speed maglev
line in the world. It can reach 500 kilometers per hour or more, is the world’s
fastest transportation tool in the ground.