Shanghai Travel Guide |
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Home --Single City Guide -- Shanghai Tours--Travel Tips
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Shanghai History |
Shanghai Weather & When to Go |
Shanghai Culture |
| Health & Safety |
Shanghai Architecture |
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Shanghai History
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Shanghai started out as a coastal fishing community, and grew as an urban trading area during the Tang Dynasty. The area initially prospered as a ship building and textile producing city, and became a major shipping port in the 13th century. Shanghai was such a fantastic port on into the Qing dynasty because it was not only a coastal port, but they had great ability to ship inland up the Yangtze River.
In 1840 the British occupied Shanghai during the Opium War, the result of this conflict established Shanghai as a treaty port and a set of foreign concessions in the city were built, areas managed by Britain, France, and the United States. The build of foreign presence in Shanghai was followed by times of conflict, the worst of which was the Sino-Japanese war. Early communist party meetings occurred in Shanghai, and when they rose to national power in 1949, the foreign presence withdrew from Shanghai
Along with the rest of China, Shanghai started opening its doors in 1976, and the city has a pace of economic development several paces ahead of the rest of the country. Pudong was designated a development zone in 1990, and this helped encourage further investment both domestically and internationally. The city has a vibrant expat community, and its economic success attracts a workforce from across the country, if not the world.
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Shanghai Weather & When to Go
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Shanghai weather is characterized by generally mild winters and hot, humid summers. The best time to go is late September to November timeframe, when days are generally quite pleasant. The winter months, December through February, are typically chilly but not snowy. Late spring is the rainy season, usually extending from mid-April through end of May. The rainy season can be 2-3 straight weeks of endless drizzle and gray, dreary skies. July and August are hot and humid, so be sure to stay well hydrated (bottled water is available everywhere and very cheap). In August, an occasional typhoon will make its way toward Shanghai, but they normally hit well south of the city so Shanghai only sees a heavy rainstorm from it.
Two weeks to avoid are the first week of May and first week of October. These are national holidays and all of China is on vacation during these weeks. So be prepared for huge crowds at the airport, tourist sites, shopping areas, restaurants, and hotels.
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Shanghai has a little bit of everything, depending on where you spend your time. Culturally, you can retreat to the comforts of home, or you can venture out and experience the local life. High end places in the city like West Nanjing Road, Xintiandi, and Hengshan Road are places filled with people in high fashion going to high end stores like Versace, Tiffany’s, Chanel, and a huge Sony gallery. Other parts of the city show much more of a mixture of class and dress, but with a tendency towards cosmopolitan hipness not found in other parts of China.
Shanghai has a culture of activeness, a busy city where aside from the daily commute to and from work, people make the time to run to the fresh market for daily groceries, walk around the city and maybe do a little shopping, and even take part in early morning exercises in parks and other pedestrian areas. There are also dance and exercise groups in the evenings, most notably in People’s Square, in front of YuYuan Garden, and also at Zhongshan Park.
There is a professional sports scene in the city, and Shanghai is renowned for its Chinese Basketball Association team, the Shanghai Sharks. The team made international news when the player Yao Ming was picked up for the NBA’s Rockets. Shanghai has hosted international tennis tournaments, and also has a professional soccer team.
People in Shanghai value good food, and have a taste for the exotic, so many foods can be found like Brazilian barbeques, Hong Kong specialties, Japanese cuisine, and even specialties from Turkey. This is in addition to restaurants with all Chinese cuisines. Try to venture beyond the typical outlets for foreigners, and be sure to ask about the cuisine. Of particular note are Hot Pot restaurants, where the broth is cooked at your table and you add the foods you’d like to eat to the broth. Other Shanghai specialties include pork dumplings filled with meat and a soup broth called Xiao Long Bao.
Performing arts can be found all over the city, especially at the Shanghai Center, located in the Ritz Carlton complex, and the Grand Theater, which is found in People’s Square. Performances range from plays, operas, touring international musicals, to concerts from international superstars. Chinese opera and acrobatic shows are also featured in the city, and cinema complexes are found all over the city. Shanghai strongly values education and competition, and on weekends it is common to see contests on tv and around shopping centers in the city. Competition can range from English speaking contests to music competitions or modeling competitions. The people in Shanghai are in a race to get ahead, to make more money and give their children a better education.
It’s important to keep in mind that there is not as much customer service sense in China, so be patient. This is changing, and the level of service that you see in Starbucks and other foreign companies is showing up in local establishments.
In this financially minded city, a final value to reflect on is the bargain. People value bargains, and also value the fine art of bartering. It is important to get a sense of where you can bargain. While some places like department stores do not allow bargaining, street stalls, small boutiques, and large stores that rent out counters often do allow bargaining. It doesn’t hurt to try, and it is a safe bet that if the person is trying to talk you into looking at their wares that you can bargain with them.
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Shanghai is a fairly safe city. Areas of greatest concern are the foreigner targetted nightclub areas such as Mao Ming Road and Ju Le Road. These areas can be a bit more risky late at night when the establishments close around 2AM. Right around closing, police cars can be seen guarding the end of the street, so being aware of your surroundings should be enough to stay safe. Keeping to well lit areas late at night is a great way to stay in safe areas.
The bigger issue in Shanghai is pickpocketing. When walking around pedestrian boulevards and outdoor shopping areas no pocket and no bag is safe. Again, being aware of your surroundings is the best policy. Police and security are fairly present in the city in navy uniforms, and the police can be reached by dialing 110. The pedestrian area of Nanjing Road is the area where travellers should exercise the most caution, especially on the edges by the intersection with Henan Road, and the intersection with Xizang (Tibet) Road.
When crossing streets, be aware that motorists, bicyclists, and motorcyclists will most likely not stop for you, but try to find the shortest way around you. Avoid making direct eye contact with motorists, because if you do, he assumes you will stop for him.
In rainy weather, many public places become extremely slippery as the surfaces are covered in highly polished marble which offer no traction for most types of footwear.
You may be approched by beggars or see beggars with small children on the street. These are sometimes run by large underground networks that take kids from villages, then put them on the street to beg. Sometimes these underground operations even physically deform a child in the hope of generating more sympathy money. So don't feed this negative cycle by giving them money.
You might also be approached by beggars in outdoor dinning areas on Nanjing Road (for example, outdoor bars, coffee shops, cake shops etc), often these are young children who are not really poor but is just looking for an easy way to make money. These kids will often beg by standing near your table, then getting down on their knees to beg, and as a last resort, they will ask you to give them your food instead of money. The quickest way to get rid of these kids is to inform the resturant staff, or to tell them you will call the police if they don't leave you alone.
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Shanghai Architecture
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Shanghai's main streets and back roads give an immediate feeling of old versus new. The old consists not so much of Chinese style buildings as European buildings, and while it might seem that temples would be a great place to visit to find older buildings, many of these have been rebuilt in the last forty years.
The Bund is the showcase of European buildings, and it follows right along the Huangpu River. The area is both scenic and extremely well lit at night. In fact, on a busy weekend night police try to limit the crowding along the river walkway, so you may have to wait if you head to this popular pedestrian strip in the early evening. The buildings here are now occupied by several companies and some government offices, and if you walk along the Bund at the top of the hour, you can hear the bell tower ring out the tune “The East is Red.” One of the key features of the Bund is the contrast it provides. The Puxi side of the river, with the former British settlement, is a preserved historic site, so no new development can happen in a way that cuts the classic buildings off from the river. While strolling the Bund walkway the view across the river shows an amazing contrast of contemporary or even space-aged looking buildings. This is a great view of Lu Jia Zui.
A short ferry ride from The Bund will put you in Lu Jia Zui, but take some time to enjoy the view of the buildings from The Bund side before heading over there. The Oriental Pearl Tower is probably the most noticeable building, and street vendors everywhere in Shanghai sell models and balloons of this architectural model. You may not think it's beautiful, in fact many people don't, but you must admit the structure is unforgettable. At night there is an impressive light display on this building, as well as large tv projections off the Aurora building in Lu Jia Zui that are easily viewed from The Bund. Also in Lu Jia Zui is the tallest building in Shanghai (at least for the next few years, plans are underway for a taller Shanghai World Financial Center): the Jin Mao Building. Interesting modern buildings are all around Shanghai, all you need to do is look up while touring the city. The Bund Center, a block in from The Bund, stuns with its crown top, the J.W. Marriott looks like something directly out of Gotham City, and city buildings like the Shanghai Museum stun with the meeting of old and new – a modern building in the style of a classic Chinese vessel
Xin Tian Di is certainly worth a visit not only because of the interesting shops and bars, but also because of the architecture. The older buildings in this area were built in the mid 1800s as a fusion of European and Chinese architecture. The newer buildings towards the back of the complex show the ultra-modern style Shanghai currently promotes.
Other areas for European architecture include parts of Huai Hai Road and Heng Shan Road. These areas run through the former French Concession, though most of the interesting buildings were estates rather than public buildings. Today many countries' embassies are found in this area, some interesting night clubs can be found, the former house of Premier Zhou Enlai (a historic site), and some private residences.
Jing An Temple is an easy site to visit by subway or bus, and it is a reinvented temple. This is a prime example of a classical building that is not so old, so it is technically not so classical. The building was originally a temple, converted to a plastic factory, and then re-opened as a temple in the 1980s. The complex underwent another rebirth in 2002-2003 as the complex was expanded and areas rebuilt to bolster up the building next to a large shopping center next door.
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