Shanghai - Do & See
Shanghai is a wonderful city! Here you can find an amazing architecture in a lovely mix of old and new design, visit the Shanghai museum to get an insight of how the city used to be and how rapidly it has changed just within the last couple of years. If you like early mornings, you should visit one of Shanghai’s park where thousands of people do their morning exercise every day.
The Bund
Shanghai’s best-known street is impressive at any time of day, but it’s at its most glam in the evening when floodlighting illuminates the colonial piles and the neon across the river in Pudong gaudily glitters. Take a stroll along the waterfront walkway and watch Shanghai go by.
Urban Planning Museum
It may sound a little weird, but this place is fascinating. There are photographic exhibitions of Shanghai old and new, but the pièce de résistance is a huge, fantastically detailed model of the way Shanghai will look in the decades to come.
Shanghai Museum
The Urban Planning Museum features the future, while the Shanghai Museum provides a glimpse into the past. Outstanding displays of 120,000 pieces including ancient Chinese ceramics, bronzes and paintings fill this five-storey space.
Fuxing Park
Anyone of Shanghai’s parks is worthy of a visit, but this one has the advantage of being central. The best time to visit is around 7 am when hundreds, perhaps thousands, of locals gather for their daily exercise. Solitary old men practice t’ai chi formations of well-coiffed women dance with fans or spin through a waltz or three. The energy pulses through aerobic routines or the flying leaps of a sword dance - while others simply sit around and watch their caged birds sing.
Bund Tourist Tunnel
Run down there quick, before the lights are extinguished: there’s talk of turning the Bund Tourist Tunnel into a tediously ordinary commuter line. In the meantime, it’s the most entertaining way to cross between the Bund and Pudong. Pumping music, psychedelic neon and nebulous commentaries accompany your journey - it’s showy, it’s tacky and it’s truly outrageous fun. It’s sometimes called the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel.
Maglev
If you fly into Shanghai’s international airport in Pudong, be sure to take the Maglev into town rather than a taxi. And if you arrive in China by other means, you’d better make a special trip. The Maglev is China’s futuristic magnetic levitation train and the fastest ride in its technological repertoire. The journey only lasts a few minutes, but during that time the train reaches a top speed of 430 kilometres per hour.
Dragonfly Therapeutic Retreat
There’s great massage to be had all over Shanghai - if you’re in a hurry, just drop into one of the blind masseurs’ centres that seem to pop up in every other street. If you want a more luxurious interlude, however, try one of the branches of Dragonfly Therapeutic Retreat. There are currently ten branches around Shanghai. All branches open seven days a week and hours vary. Go to the website for full details of opening hours.
Jin Mao Tower
It’s the view you’re going for: on a clear day, Jin Mao Tower offers incredible 360 degree panoramas across city. It’s 88 storeys high it’s located at number 88 - had you guessed that eight is a lucky number for the Chinese? There are offices up to the 50th floor, then the Grand Hyatt hotel from floors 53 to 87. A public observation deck is located on the top floor. Otherwise, forget the lucky numbers and go for a drink at the Grand Hyatt’s Cloud 9 bar, just one storey below.
Old City
Step back in time as you wander these rickety old lanes. Particularly vibrant is the wet market at Dajing Road where stallholders sit behind colourful piles of vegetables, knead dough for pastries and chop meat with mighty cleavers.
The Paramount
This Art Deco dance hall was the place to be seen in 1930s Shanghai (Charlie Chaplin once danced here) and now it’s reopened for the twenty-first century crowd. The clientele is mostly older and the style is mostly ballroom. This place is a real throwback to the glamour of old Shanghai, so strap on your dancing shoes and take to the floor for a whirl.
