Shanghai, the economic capital of Asia, is a city that has both vernacular and contemporary character interwoven in the right proportions. Thanks to a two month summer internship, I was lucky enough to explore this vast city in detail. The Wikipedia page here will give you all the general details that you are looking for and the Wikitravel page here will give you all the information from a tourist’s perspective. I will be adding my personal experiences in the city right here, both from a general and tourist’s perspective.

First let’s look at the city from a tourist’s perspective. Since this was my very first visit to China, the Buddhist temples out here fascinated me. I had visited the famous Jing’an temple at the end of East Nanjing Road and Longhua temple in the south-eastern part of the city. Jing’an temple, thanks to the favourable location, has very many tourists visiting it than Longhua temple and also charges a greater entry fee. I should say that I personally liked the Longhua temple. The reason for this might be the fact that Longhua was the very first temple that I visited or may be because of the huge variety of Buddha statues that the temple had to offer. The one with thousand hands stood out in particular. One of the other interesting features of the temple is the hall full of statues of monks in various meditating and preaching postures. Jing’an temple on the other hand looks relatively new and has some good examples of Chinese wooden architecture. Being a multiple storey complex, it provides some good views for a photography enthusiast. The surrounding buildings of Jing’an temple are rather contemporary, quite understandable from its location in the centre of the city. Hence it fails to create that serine atmosphere that Longhua successfully achieves. The lanterns and multi storied pagodas are other noteworthy elements in the Chinese temple in general. Located close to the Longhua temple is the Longhua Martyrs Park and museum. The museum has a glass pyramid as a prime element, reminding one of the Louvre museum by I. M. Pei. The museum is solely dedicated to the Chinese freedom struggle and has some wonderful interiors. The park too is beautifully designed with symmetry as a key design element.

So let’s move on to another interesting part of Shanghai, the area around the Shanghai Science and Technology museum metro station. The huge steel sundial is the focal point in this region. Built as part of the Shanghai world expo, this interlinking metallic structure embarks the importance given by the Shanghai municipality to urban landscaping. Close to the metro station is the lotus shaped oriental contemporary art centre. All performing arts enthusiasts can enjoy free shows on the first Saturday of every month at this contemporary structure. The entry to the building is free and one can enjoy the elegant interiors spaces and some good views of the surrounding region. The Shanghai science and technology museum is the easily noticeable building in the region and is marked by the huge spherical element made of steel and glass. The plaza around the metro station is well landscaped, intermixing the vegetation and LED’s effectively. The night view of the whole region, especially the sundial is mesmerizing.

Shanghai is one of the finest examples of urban planning in the whole world and the Shanghai Urban planning centre is one place an architect in particular should never miss. The centre gives a deep insight into the urban planning concepts and gives a clear picture of how the city evolved through ages. Beautiful models of the cityscape and skyscrapers adorn each and every floor of this museum. The urban planning centre is located at the people’s square, which houses many of the important buildings of the region such as the Shanghai museum, grand theatre etc. The famous pedestrian shopping road, West Nanjing road is also located very close to this structure. The Shanghai Museum, reminds one of the soviet architecture style and has a huge collection of Chinese jade, calligraphy, sculptures, paintings and so on. The entry to the Shanghai museum too, is free.

The West Nanjing road leads one straight to the bund, a place marked by the European style buildings of the 1930’s. The region which was once home to the Chinese mafia provides the perfect spot to capture the famous Shanghai skyline. The Huang Pu River creates a virtual boundary between the traditional and contemporary regions of the city namely Puxi and Pudong. Other attractions in the region include the war memorial, a tall concrete structure with elegant lighting. The night view of both the sides of the river is something a tourist should never miss.

Next up is the Pudong region, the new face of the booming Shanghai. The region is marked by numerous skyscrapers with a new one overtaking the others in terms of height in a span of few years. The iconic oriental TV tower is located close to the Huang Pu River and provides a good view of the whole city. The elliptical elevated pedestrian road just behind the TV tower provides some good views of the structure. The landscaping around the road is also noteworthy and the LED’s play a key role in it. The HSBC tower and Bank of China towers located very close by, have appeared in the famous Hollywood flick MI-III. The Jinmao Tower and World Finance Tower are the most important skyscrapers of the city. World Finance Tower is the third tallest building in the world and also houses the world’s highest observatory. The elegant geometric design and smart use of LED’s on the facade are some other key features of this building. The Jinmao Tower, designed by SOM, integrates traditional Chinese architecture and the contemporary style. The beautiful interiors are another highlight of this skyscraper.

The water villages of China are quite famous and are often called the Venice of the East (Though I personally believe that Alappuzha in Kerala is the only place on earth that befits the name.) Qibao (pronounced Chibao) is one such water village located quite close to the city. Qibao is famous for its busy pedestrian streets filled with souvenir shops and food outlets. The place is mainly aimed at local tourists and hence the prices are quite reasonable compared to those famous water villages. A 15 minute boat ride in the canals costs just 10 RMB. Moreover you can find souvenirs like the brass dragon and Buddha at reasonable prices. Qibao is usually very crowded in the weekends with people from Shanghai city thronging the place. So if you are planning to go to Qibao, I would prefer you go there on a weekday.

Though the Yu garden is a must visit for a tourist in Shanghai, I decided to give it a miss since I had seen all possible variations of the Chinese gardens in Suzhou. Suzhou is a city located around 100kms from Shanghai, famous for the numerous private gardens and temples. I will write about Suzhou in detail in another article. Some other places I visited include the Shanghai F1 circuit, the Chinese Pavilion etc. The Shanghai F1 circuit is located quite far away from the city centre, at the north eastern tip of the city. The building might interest the F1 enthusiasts, but the others can give this a miss.

I was fortunate enough to visit the Chinese pavilion in the Shanghai world expo just before it closed for further renovation. The Shanghai world expo region covers a huge area in Shanghai and has pavilions of various countries located in the complex. The Chinese pavilion was the only one which was accessible to public and also stands out as the finest of all the structures. The interiors are much more fascinating than the form itself. The overall theme of the pavilion was the sustainable development of the city and the evolution of the country through ages. The whole experience of the pavilion was mind blowing and this being my first experience with a pavilion added to the enthusiasm.

For a person planning to visit Shanghai, the only advice I can give is that apart from visiting all the prominent tourist destinations mentioned above try to experience the city at night. The city seems much more vibrant and colourful at night and the elegantly lit skyline will surely fascinate you.