Attractions

Shanghai has precious few sights on the scale of the Forbidden City or the Great Wall, but the treasures it does have -- its colonial neighborhoods, historic homes, museums, parks, and shopping avenues, not to mention Asia's most famous street -- speak to a unique legacy all its own. This chapter describes Shanghai's treasures, with a special focus on the city's four top attractions: the Bund, Yu Yuan (and Old Town), the Shanghai Museum, and the Huangpu River Cruise.

The average tourist usually blows through town in about 2 days, but 3 days is a minimum to do any real sightseeing, as attractions are scattered all over the city. Even then, Shanghai is about more than just its buildings. The city, one of the most exciting in the world, demands time to soak in its energy, to appreciate its complexity, and to sample its many offerings, which may not be apparent on the surface. Bear in mind that sights outside Shanghai, such as Suzhou, Hangzhou, or the water villages of Nanxun, and Tongli require day trips.

How to See Shanghai -- The best way to see Shanghai is on your own, armed with a good map and this guide, and using a combination of taxis, subways, and your own two feet. Transportation facilities and many of the sights described here are very user-friendly, even for the non-Chinese-speaking, first-time visitor. Because Shanghai's traffic is getting worse by the day, if you are traveling long distances between attractions, consider taking the subway, where available, to the Metro stop nearest the attraction, then hopping a taxi the rest of the way.

Of course, if you are severely pressed for time and only have a day, an organized tour in the company of an English-speaking guide can be a hassle-free if superficial way to cover the major sights. Your hotel travel desk or a travel agency can arrange this.

The last and least advised option is to hire a car for the day through your hotel, an expensive option that will easily cost you upwards of ¥800 ($114/£57) a day for a car and driver. It's cheaper if you hire a taxi for the day yourself on the streets.

World Expo 2010

The World Expo of 2010 is to Shanghai what the 2008 Summer Olympics were to Beijing: an opportunity for China to further solidify its position as a world power, and a chance for the host city to shine as a bona fide international city. To that end, just as in Beijing, no expense will be spared in gussying up Shanghai for the event. Visitors to Shanghai in 2008, 2009, and the first half of 2010 can expect to see a city frantically building, renovating, and upgrading for the World Expo, which will run from May 1 to October 31, 2010. Seventy million visitors and 200 countries and international organizations are expected to participate. The Expo grounds will cover a land area of around 5.28 sq. km (2 sq. miles), with sites straddling the Huangpu River in the south of the city: On the Puxi side, the grounds will cover the area south of Zhongshan Dong Er Lu, between the Lupu Bridge and the Nanpu Bridge to the east; on the Pudong side, from Yaohua Zhi Lu to the Nanpu Bridge. While the full details of the Expo's offerings are still forthcoming, a big highlight is expected to be the various national pavilions whose designs will be highly individualized even as they all incorporate the Expo's central theme of urban living. After 2010, some of these pavilions are expected to be turned into permanent exhibitions, all part of a plan to redevelop the waterfront areas around the Huangpu River. Those in town before 2010 can witness some of the sites taking shape from the top of the Lupu Bridge. Otherwise, armchair travelers can keep up with the Expo's development online at http://en.expo2010china.com.