Oriental Pearl TV Tower

Rising above the Huangpu River and Pudong skyline like something out of an old science fiction flick, the Oriental Pearl Tower (Dōngfāng Míngzhū Tǎ, 东方明珠塔) holds a special place in Shanghai’s recent history. Before the early 1990s, the east bank of the Huangpu was a low-rise jumble of warehouses and muddy settlements. The erection of the tower, completed in 1995, served as a symbolic declaration of Shanghai’s future-forward orientation and grand ambition.

Its quintessential Shanghai retro-futurist architectural kitsch set the tone for much of the high-rise hijinks that have since come to define Shanghai’s active skyline (lots of flashing lights, rooftop ornamentation running from the sublime to the ridiculous). As Pudong’s more recent giants—the Jin Mao Tower and World Financial Center—show, Shanghai’s architecture is maturing, favoring cool international grays and sophisticated glass and metal claddings, but the pink glass orbs and rocket-ship base of the Oriental Pearl Tower will always remain dear to the hearts of true fans of Shanghai style.

Besides admiring the tower from afar, whether from the Bund across the Huangpu or from the observation deck of a nearby skyscraper, most tourists find that they simply must view the cityscape from inside one of the Oriental Pearls—there are 11 glass spheres, all told, threading the 468 m (1,535.5 ft) spire. Three of the orbs house observation decks served by six high-speed elevators. The highest, known as the Space Module, sits 350 m (1,148 ft) above ground, with a second, lower “Sightseeing Floor” at 263 m (863 ft) and “Space City” sphere hanging at 90 m (295 ft). With all this, you might expect a revolving restaurant—and you’d be in luck: you can dine in rotating high style 267 m (876 ft) above ground. Finally, if you’re really lucky and call way ahead, you can stay in the 20-room Space Hotel, lodged between the tower’s two largest spheres.

Be ready for long lines and big crowds on weekends and holidays.

The Bund

For many, the Bund (Wàitān, 外滩) is the face of Shanghai. Even as the city transforms itself, growing upwards and outwards at a tremendous rate, the Bund‘s Art Deco and Neoclassical facades appear much as they did during Shanghai’s previous heyday as China’s most international city, way back in the 1920s and ’30s. Of course, the surroundings have changed radically since then.

There’s no better place to take in the spectacular Lujiazui skyline on the east bank of the Huangpu River than from the Bund’s river promenade or through a picture window in one of a growing number of luxury bars, restaurants and clubs occupying the upper floors of classic Bund buildings. At the north end of the Bund, Nanjing Dong Lu cuts west, a neon-lit paradise for shoppers and gawkers, flanked by a mix of colonial-era edifices and contemporary high rises.

The south end of the Bund terminates near Shanghai’s low-rise Old City, encircled by growing ranks of luxury residential towers. In between is rich evidence of Shanghai’s role as China’s key financial and business link to the West in the early 20th century: stately bank and embassy buildings, proud international hotels and business headquarters line Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu (Zhōngshān Yī Dōng Lù, 中山一东路).

If you’re serious about your architecture, you’ll want to pick up one of a number of guides that go into depth on the Bund’s fascinating history; otherwise, you can get by with a general guide or simply by reading plaques and perhaps popping into the Bund Historical Museum at the north end of the Bund beneath the Monument to the People’s Heroes in Huangpu Park (Huángpǔ Gōngyuán, 黄浦公园). Many of the historic buildings on the Bund feature plaques detailing their history. Buildings to note, running north to south, include:

• The Astor House Hotel, originally opened in 1846, was the first of Shanghai’s international hotels. It’s just across the Garden Bridge over Suzhou Creek.

• The former British Consulate at No. 33 Zhongshan Lu is one of the earliest Bund buildings, dating from 1847.

• The Bank of China Building (1937) combines Chicago and China styles of architecture.

• The Peace Hotel (1929) is perhaps the most famous Bund building, Deco all the way; it hosted luminaries from Charlie Chaplin to Noel Coward. Today, you can stay at the renovated Fairmont Peace Hotel for a taste of the ’30s.

• Bund 18 (1923) is packed with classy retailers like Cartier and Zegna; it also is home to Bar Rouge, a great spot for cocktails with a view.

• The Customs House (1925) with its Big Ben-inspired clock tower.

• The HSBC Building (1923) is worth stepping inside of for the mosaic zodiac ceiling.

• Three on the Bund challenges Bund 18 for the claim to the swankiest tenants and clientele (Jean Georges, Armani, Shanghai Gallery of Art and more).

• The Meteorological Signal Tower (1908) houses a collection of old Bund memorabilia and images.

Jin Mao Tower

Though no longer China’s tallest building (having recently been eclipsed by the neighboring World Financial Center), the Jin Mao Tower (Jīn Mào Dàshà, 金茂大厦) remains Shanghai’s most elegant and distinctive skyscraper. It also still proudly houses the world’s highest hotel, post office and bar.
Situated in the heart of the Lujiazui financial district, the Jin Mao’s design is based on the lucky number eight: 88 floors soar upward, divided into 16 segments, each 1/8 smaller than the preceding one. Architecturally a blend of the monumental Art Deco of the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings and the balanced composition of the traditional Chinese pagoda, the Jin Mao renews the long-standing Shanghai tradition of blending Western and Chinese styles, resulting in a dynamic hybrid that beautifully compliments the Bund’s colonial-era façades across the Huangpu River.
The interior is as impressive as the exterior, featuring expansive vaulted spaces in the entrance lobby and the stunning Grand Hyatt Shanghai atrium, which spirals upwards from the 56th to the 87th floor. From the 88th floor, visitors can either look down into the atrium or out across the Shanghai cityscape all the way to the mouth of the Yangzi (atmospheric conditions permitting, of course). The 87th floor is home to the world’s highest bar, Cloud 9, and its mezzanine Sky Lounge.
Dining options include the swank Shanghainese Club Jin Mao (86th floor) and Canton (56th floor) along with a selection of smaller and somewhat less expensive restaurants in the On Fifty-Six dining area. The larger Jin Mao complex includes J-Life, an upscale shopping and entertainment space sitting alongside the tower, and the Jin Mao Concert Hall, which favors Western chamber music and small Chinese traditional music ensemble performances.

Yuyuan (Yu Garden)

The Yu Gardens (Yùyuán, 豫园) are a classical oasis—albeit a generally crowded one—in Shanghai’s relentlessly modernizing cityscape. The gardens, completed in 1577 by the aristocratic Ming Dynasty Pan family, retain their original grace and elegance even in the face of throngs of tourists and the commercial hubbub of Yu Bazaar just on the other side of the garden walls.
Situated in the midst of the Old City near the Temple of the City God, the gardens make an excellent and restful stop in a walking tour of the area. The famous Mid-Lake Pavilion Teahouse (Húxīn Tíng, 湖心亭) sits right next to the garden’s main entrance, reached by way of the zigzag bridge across a large carp pond. An excellent example of Ming-era garden design, Yuyuan’s paths, corridors, rock formations and carefully arranged greenery lead visitors through a space that is much smaller than it appears, past limpid carp ponds, up atop cleverly scaled “mountains,” into shady pavilions and through miniature groves of bamboo, ornamental pines, willows, cherry trees and gingko.
Seasonal changes in flora are a delight to track for return visitors, with various flowers blooming from early spring well into the fall. Today’s garden is actually a recreation of the original Ming-era garden; the British and Taiping rebels did great damage to the grounds during the First Opium War and Taiping Rebellion, respectively. Be sure to spend some time viewing the Exquisite Jadestone, the Hall of Heralding Spring, the Chamber of Ten Thousand Flowers and the Grand Rockery, among other specific garden spots (maps in English are available upon admission).

Cite Bourgogne

Cité Bourgogne (Bùgāolǐ, 步高里) is a unique example of the shikumen style lane house dwelling constructed across the city during its early-twentieth-century heyday. Located in the former French Concession, one can stroll through the narrow lanes of this block-sized complex completed in 1930 and get a bit of a sense of yesterday’s Shanghai. A blend of European and Chinese architectural features, the shikumen (which translates as “stone gate”) neatly balanced the demands of density with those of privacy, creating tightly knit communities with shared common space that still allowed residents considerable separation.
Designed to accommodate 78 families, and currently occupied by some 450 households, Cité Bourgogne provides a glimpse of a way of life that is fast disappearing as old housing stock falls before the wrecking ball to make way for high-rise developments and glitzy malls. Located on Shaanxi Nan Lu (Shǎnxī Nán Lù, 陕西南路) just south of Yongjia Lu (Yǒngjiā Lù, 永嘉路), Cité Bourgogne makes for a quick stop on a casual walking tour of the French Concession that might include nearby Fuxing Park, the cafés and small galleries on Shaoxing Lu and hip Taikang Lu, as well as classic colonial-era villas along Fuxing Lu (Fùxīng Lù, 复兴路), Ruijin Lu (Ruìjīn Lù, 瑞金路) and Shimen Yi Lu (Shímén Yī Lù, 石门一路)—including historic sites like Sun Yatsen’s Residence, Zhou Enlai’s Residence and the site of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party—and the Sinan Mansions development.
If you’re interested in more information on the shikumen, the Shikumen Open House Museum in nearby Xintiandi is a half hour’s walk away.

Longhua Temple

The sight of the Buddhist Longhua Temple (Lónghúa Sì, 龙华寺) pagoda rising into the sky against the backdrop of Shanghai’s 21st century high-rise skyline can be both jarring and sublime. As the city’s largest remaining pagoda, the 40 m (130 ft) tower stands as a monument to China’s traditional culture, which so often seems lost in the thicket of Shanghai’s metastasizing glass-and-steel high-rise developments and freeway flyovers. At the same time, the pagoda and the busy temple grounds surrounding it illustrate a deep and vibrant continuity between China’s past and present.
The location is reputed to have been a temple site since 242 AD; Longhua Temple itself goes back to 977 AD and the Song Dynasty. Many of the complex’s buildings are more recent still, dating from the rule of Qing Dynasty Emperor Guangxu (1871-1908), and the entire site was renovated in 1954. In addition to the pagoda, the 20,000 sq m (5 acre) area contains five main halls, a bell tower and a drum tower. The grounds bustle with monks and the faithful as well as throngs of tourists, though the seven-tiered pagoda, dating from 249 AD, is generally closed to the public because of its age and fragility.

Longhua Temple is dedicated to the Maitreya Buddha and contains two significant statues. In the Hall of Heavenly Kings stands a statue of Maitreya Buddha’s Bodhisattva form, while in the Maitreya Hall is a figure of Maitreya Buddha’s incarnation as budai, or the “cloth bag monk.” The other halls include beautiful statues and carvings of a host of other figures important to the Chan (Zen) Buddhist sect from the Tang, Ming and Qing Dynasties. One unique aspect of Longhua Temple is that, unlike most temples, in which the traditional 18 arhats (monks) and 20 heavenly “guardians of Buddhist Law” stand opposite one another, in Longhua’s halls the arhats and guardians stand together.

Temple of the City God

The Taoist Temple of the City God (Lǎo Chénghuángmiào, 老城隍庙), tucked away within the Old City alongside the Yu Gardens and Yuyuan Bazaar, is the home of the local deities (there are actually three, all derived from actual historical personages) responsible for the well being and wealth of Shanghai residents. Going by Shanghai’s booming economy, they’ve done quite a good job in recent years, and you can see citizens making offerings of incense, candies, fruit and other goodies fit for a City God in order to keep the good times rolling.
The temple and city haven’t always been so lucky. Since its founding during the Ming Dynasty in 1403, the City God’s Temple has been destroyed several times; the current temple was built in 1926. During the Japanese occupation of Shanghai during World War II, local merchants, cut off from the original temple, were forced to build a secondary temple in the International Concession (the site is now, to no one’s surprise, occupied by a high rise). During the Cultural Revolution, the temple was used as a factory. Despite the tough times, the red-faced City God today presides in fine style over his temple along with a cast of Taoist and Buddhist deities.

Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Center

Tucked away in the basement level of a nondescript apartment building, the Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Center (Shànghǎi Xuānchuánhuà Yìshù Zhōngxīn, 上海宣传画艺术中心) is a remarkable private museum dedicated to documenting the collective spirit of Chinese communism as depicted on thousands upon thousands of striking posters in the years since the 1949 establishment of the People’s Republic. A labor of love, the museum was founded by Yang Pei Ming, who grew concerned that both the art of the posters and the complicated history that they document were in danger of disappearing in a China that has increasingly embraced consumer capitalist culture since the death of Mao Zedong in 1976.

Most visitors will recognize the basic style: Bold images of stolid young Chinese holding up copies of Mao’s Little Red Book or of soldiers fiercely staring down cartoonish capitalist monsters, all printed with plenty of red ink. Upon closer inspection, however, one comes to realize how much artistry went into the production of these posters and how styles changed over the course of the years, reflecting subtle and not-so-subtle changes in China’s political, cultural and economic climate.

Also, it’s refreshing to see that it’s not all stereotypical “imperialist running dog” bashing and blatant Mao worship—a number of posters depict everyday scenes of women buying stationery, children playing in villages, busy city streets and farmers bringing in the harvest. Yes, the style remains hyperbolic, but the popular Western image of a monolithic communist state softens and begins to dissolve as the visitor recognizes the individual human touch in many of the pieces, as well as the still-inspiring messages of universal brotherhood and justice that shines through in the best.

Yang Pei Ming is often on hand to discuss his collection and its historical significance—good, bad and ugly—with visitors, so don’t be shy about asking for more information. If you’re a fan of the genre or simply want a unique souvenir, bring a wad of RMB with you—many posters are for sale, with damaged or common pieces running around RMB150-450 and larger and rarer posters running well into the thousands of RMB.

Tianzifang (Taikang Lu)

Shanghai’s trendiest fashionistas, hippies, hipsters and artists are flocking to Tianzifang (Tiánzǐfāng, 田子坊), one of Shanghai’s youngest art districts, to browse the boutiques and lounge about in the many stylish hole-in-the wall cafés.

A decade ago, Tianzifang’s art scene began with a single four-story former candy factory being renovated into an artist’s factory and art quarter. Today, it’s a bustle of locally owned art shops, interior design stores, jewelry and clothing boutiques, bag shops, cozy cafés and restaurants—all tucked into a tiny bohemian oasis. Though Xintiandi and Moganshan Lu must be mentioned for sake of comparison, there’s really nowhere else like Tianzifang in the city.

You might occasionally have to duck some hanging laundry and stumble into the back door of someone’s house while in search of a toilet, but that’s what makes Tianzifang so fun—it’s immediate, organic connection to the surrounding neighborhood, not a sterile development drawn up by planners and corporate architects.

Of course, Tianzifang isn’t everyone’s cup of chai. If you’re in search of brand name labels and wider selection of merchandise, Xintindi might be more appropriate; if you want to see a large collection of contemporary Chinese art, Moganshan Lu is the place to go.

On weekends Taikang can get quite crowded, so book ahead or prepare to wait to get a table at a café. If you’re looking for a Chinese experience, Taikang might be too globalized for your tastes. On the other hand, some fear that Tianzifang will cave to the pressures of the franchise market and submit to the bland, consumable design imperatives preferred by needy yuppies.

What to do in Tianzifang: Shop, wander, eat, sit at a café with a novel, gather with friends, soak up the atmosphere. This is definitely a place for a Sunday brunch at Bohemia, Café Mojo or Kommune, or a weeknight diner date at Alyssa or Ups Café. At night the cobbled alleyways are lit by strings of white, twinkling lights.

Some good shops to check out are: InSH (specialty T-shirts), the Pottery Workshop, Jooi Design (cool bags), Casa Pagoda (arty interior design), Nuzi (art, books, knickknacks) and La Vie (Hong Kong designer clothes).

Moganshan Lu (M50 Galleries)

China’s art scene has been booming in recent years, and though Beijing remains the undisputed center of the Chinese art world, Shanghai is showing signs of catching up.
Along with its growing complement of museums (the Shanghai MOCA, Shanghai Museum, Zendai Museum and Doland Museum all stage major contemporary shows, including the Shanghai Biennale) and the new ShContemporary Art Fair, Shanghai’s galleries are beginning to make a name for the city, not only in China, but internationally. And the art district off Moganshan Lu has had a lot to do with it.
Housed in a fascinating assortment of old industrial buildings within spitting distance of Suzhou Creek, the Moganshan galleries, often referred to as 50 Moganshan Lu (Mògānshān Lù wǔshí hào, 莫干山路50号) or M50, can give a first-time visitor a good idea of where China’s art scene is at. There’s blatant imitation of commercially successful Chinese artists like the Luo Brothers, Yue Minjun and Wang Guangyi; there’s played-out pop art laden with easily identifiable ironic Cultural Revolution references; and even slick abstract work suitable for a corporate lobby or designer apartment. Whatever your artistic leanings, Moganshan’s eclectic collections are almost always sure to surprise and challenge you, easily worth the cab ride to this out-of-the-way corner of Shanghai.
ShanghArt, Bizart, OV Gallery and Eastlink are among the established Moganshan galleries known for their edgy exhibitions and consistent quality, and smaller up-and-coming spaces are scattered throughout the complex, along with galleries content to sell less-challenging work that has proven popular and profitable. No matter what your tastes, Moganshan Lu is worth a visit if you’re at all interested in contemporary art in China. Give yourself at least three hours to wander about the complex. There’s a casual restaurant-café at the entrance, a steady stream of taxis and always something new and interesting to see.