Shanghai interesting places. China: the best places and things to do in Shanghai. The Wax Museum
Shanghai is constantly changing. New shopping centers, restaurants, nightclubs, and theme parks are being built, while the old is being demolished and forgotten. Shanghai has become a model city for the 21st century, an example for every other city in the world, in less than ten years. Tourists from foreign countries will immediately notice how Shanghai differs from other large Chinese cities. Shanghai is a mixture of traditional atmosphere Chinese culture and modern Western culture and architecture. High skyscrapers in the eastern part of the city overlooking classical architecture and ancient buildings on the western side.
Sights of Shanghai
1. Shanghai Promenade, The Bund
The Bund (Waitan) or promenade is a 1.5-kilometer boulevard on the west bank of the Huangpu River and is one of Shanghai's most famous architectural symbols. The word "Bund" comes from the Anglo-Indian word for "dirty embankment". The Bund or promenade in Shanghai dates back to 1846, when the first offices of British companies opened on the riverbank. Today, Shanghai's promenade boasts over 50 different buildings in a variety of architectural styles, including Gothic, Baroque, Romanesque, Classical and Renaissance, as well as one of the world's most impressive collections of art architecture. -deco These beautifully preserved buildings now house various boutiques and restaurants, as well as antique shops. The Bund is rightfully considered one of the main attractions of Shanghai.
2. Yuyuan Garden
Yu Yuan Garden or "Garden of Happiness" is the most famous garden in Shanghai and one of the oldest surviving gardens in China. It is located in the heart of the Old City, Yu Yuan Garden is one of the main attractions of Shanghai.
Yu Yuan Garden was founded in 1559 - 1577 during the Ming Dynasty by a wealthy Chinese official for his old parents. The Garden of Peace and Comfort, as he called it. IN Chinese"yu" means peace and health. The park occupies only 2 hectares, but how beautiful these 2 hectares are! This is a classic example of southern Chinese landscape design that reflects the diversity and beauty of the southern nature. You will notice exquisite ponds, beautiful landscapes and artistic architecture typical of garden design in the style of the time.
The park is divided into 6 areas using the so-called dragon walls. These Area Big Mountains, Ten Thousand Flower Pavilion, Hall of Freshness, Hall of Jade Splendor, Inner Garden and Lotus Pool.
The Great Mountains region features 14-meter stacked mountains with peaks, cliffs, winding caves and gorges that are made of 2,000 tons of rock.
The Ten Thousand Flowers Pavilion is decorated with a dragon's head and paved with scale-like tiles, which create the illusion of a huge dragon resting in the garden.
The Hall of Freshness contains weapons and coins made by the Small Swords Society, a society that led a rebellion against the Qing Dynasty and occupied Shanghai for 17 months in 1853-1854.
Yu Yuan Garden is an architectural marvel of the Yangtze River region in southeast China. You will get a lasting impression of peace and tranquility during a tour of it!
3. The Jade Buddha Temple
The Jade Buddha Temple is the most famous Buddhist monastery. The temple was originally built in 1882 and named after two jade Buddha statues. In the temple, there are many other priceless masterpieces - such as paintings and Buddhist scriptures, as well as a wonderful collection of porcelain. The Jade Buddha Temple is not famous for its architecture, which is very new and built in the standard style of the Song Dynasty. Two Buddhas are located inside, both made from white jade in Burma and depict Shakyamuni Buddha (the historical Buddha).
4 The Shanghai Museum
Founded in 1952, the Shanghai Museum remains the most important museum of classical Chinese art. The museum embraces traditional Chinese ideas about the earth - the museum's four floors include impressive collections of bronzes and ceramics from prehistoric cultures, ink drawings, calligraphy, as well as large collections of art from ethnic minorities throughout China. Available rich collection jade, coins and furniture from the Ming and Qing periods (1368-1912).
5. Nanjing Road
Nanjing Road (Nanjing Lu), the main shopping street of Shanghai, was built in the second half of the 19th century. Nanjing Road is 5.5 kilometers of shops, boutiques and restaurants that are visited by an average of about 1.7 million people every day. In total, there are more than 600 shops of various types on the street, from branded, expensive boutiques to simple souvenir shops.
6. The Oriental Pearl Tower
The East Pearl Tower is a 468-meter radio and television tower in Pudong Park on east coast Huangpu River. Built in 1991, the tower takes its name from its 11 connected spheres of varying diameters, the tallest of which, the Cosmos module, sits at 350 meters and has a glass floor. The Oriental Pearl Tower is the tallest in Asia and the third tallest in the world. The Tower offers beautiful panoramic views of Shanghai. The Pearl Tower is one of the main architectural landmarks of Shanghai.
7. People's Square
Built on the site of the city's former hippodrome, People's Square on this moment is main square Shanghai. People's Square is perfect place, where the city tour begins. The square is surrounded by Shanghai City Hall buildings, Grand Theatre Shanghai and the building of the Shanghai Museum.
8. Shanghai Science and Technology Museum
The Shanghai Science and Technology Museum is the largest of its kind in China and one of the largest in the world, attracting more than two million visitors every year. Opened in 2001, the museum contains numerous fun, interactive, multimedia exhibits and permanent exhibits on modern science and technology. Museum highlights include cutting-edge scientific advances, fascinating robotics exhibits, and exhibits focusing on space travel. The museum also includes the Shanghai Aquarium with a 120-meter tunnel through the water column with the inhabitants of the world's oceans.
9. Shanghai World Financial Center (World Financial Center)
Shanghai World Financial Center is the most high building in Shanghai and the fourth highest in the world. The skyscraper was built in 2007 and reaches a height of 492 meters. The skyscraper has two viewing platforms with beautiful panoramic views of Shanghai. There are several high-speed elevators inside and it is not as crowded as the TV tower, but it is much higher. The Shanghai World Financial Center is one of the symbols of the city and a landmark of Shanghai.
10. The China Art Museum
The museum is located in the former China Pavilion of Expo 2010. With its 166,000 square meters, it is the largest art museum in Asia. It houses the most important collections of contemporary art, with a main focus on the collection of Chinese contemporary art, as well as numerous works related to cultural development Shanghai for decades.
In one of the most amazing cities on earth, where skyscrapers are harmoniously combined with pagodas and gardens, a traveler can spend a whole month and still not have time to see everything.
Therefore, for those who are going to Shanghai for a short time and want to see all the main attractions, we have selected ten places that cannot be missed.
Begin sightseeing tour The best way to get around Shanghai is from the Bund or from a boat trip on the Huangpu River. The embankment looks best in the light of evening lights, and during the day it resembles the streets of New York and Chicago with its skyscrapers and dense infrastructure.
Now the embankment is considered a symbol of Shanghai, and tourists are entertained here by street performers and musicians. By the way, you can buy the best souvenirs here, in one of the many shops.
The Shanghai museum, theater and city government building are concentrated in People's Square. However, to the traditional city square it is absolutely not similar, because it is a park with sculptures, fountains, benches and quiet clearings for relaxation.
People's Square will become great place for relaxing with friends or a secluded walk.
Created more than half a century ago on the grandstands of a former hippodrome, the Shanghai Museum has 11 galleries. Connoisseurs of art and antiquities can spend the whole day here and not get bored.
The museum has a wonderful sculpture hall, an art gallery, and a selection of ancient porcelain, items made of precious stones and metals. And the picturesque jade hall is of particular value to the museum.
In the old part of the city there is a huge garden spread over four hectares, part of which is the ancient Yu Yuan Bazaar. This garden was founded in the 16th century by a family of wealthy officials and was called the Mandarin Garden. Shopping malls soon grew around it, which still exist today.
Among the hundreds of shops you can find traditional souvenir shops, antique shops, and food shops. And in a local cafe you can have a snack of chicken soup, radish pies and wash it all down with hot tea or inexpensive wine.
The Jade Buddha Temple was built at the beginning of the 20th century. Its main shrine is a Buddha statue made of white stone, which was brought here by an anonymous monk. However, he is not alone here, because his peace is guarded by three more gilded sculptures and hundreds of stone guards.
The temple is open to guests on all days except the Chinese New Year, when religious services take place there, however, photography is still not allowed here. Well, as a consolation, tourists can buy themselves small gongs, copied from those used in the temple.
Longhua Pagoda has remained a landmark that can only be admired from the outside for many years. Built in the middle of the 3rd century, it has already been restored several times and still remains too fragile to admit crowds of tourists who dream of seeing the pagoda from the inside.
However, no one forbids taking photographs of the seven-story building, and there are a lot of people around the pagoda at any time of the day.
A popular place among families with children is the modern Shanghai Zoo. Here you can see the living symbol of China - the panda, and for such an unusual spectacle, thousands of people flock to the walls of the zoo.
By the way, the animals live here in conditions as close as possible to wild ones, so people will have to hide and travel on buses in a strictly limited area.
The Temple of Confucius is small, but very beloved local residents. This building, dating back several centuries, was destroyed by the imperial army and restored only at the end of the 20th century. Now a statue of the philosopher greets guests on the threshold of the temple, and his sayings can be found inside.
It’s worth visiting the temple if only to appreciate the elegance of the national architecture and take a break from the crazy flow of tourists that, as a rule, surrounds all the sights.
The giant Shanghai Aquarium is located on twenty thousand square kilometers. It is rightfully considered one of the best in the world and receives more than a million visitors annually.
The oceanarium is divided into nine zones, each with its own habitat. More than 450 species of sea creatures live here in conditions similar to those in their homeland. During a tour of the aquarium, the visitor seems to be transported from China to other countries, to continents and even to the opposite hemisphere.
And of course, any Russian tourist is simply obliged to visit the monument to his great compatriot. Perhaps in Russia there are monuments to A.S. Pushkin in every second public garden, but in Shanghai this is the only monument to a foreign poet.
The uniqueness of this bronze bust is also that in the 20th century alone it was destroyed and restored twice. So are relationships Soviet Union and China, the history of the monument was not easy, but now it is popular among the population and evokes only respect and love among the residents of Shanghai.
Of course, a couple of days will not be enough to get around all this. But don’t rush and run from one attraction to another. Try to feel the magical atmosphere of Shanghai, and you can leave a few monuments until your next visit.
– the main shopping street of the city. It is always noisy here, there are a lot of people, and the shops on both sides sparkle with lights, attracting customers. Some shoppers like Nanjing Street, but some don't. In the second case, we recommend shopping centers in the Pudong area.
Nanjing Street runs from the Bund to the People's Square (or "People's Square"), where there are parks, the Shanghai Grand Theater and. We recommend visiting it and looking at the unique collection of ancient Chinese items. In addition, visiting it is free. You can see a large collection of photos of exhibits in our article, link above in this paragraph.
Not far from the square there are two more attractions that are worth talking about.
The most famous place, which almost everyone has heard of is . Here you can see a relic - a jade statue weighing three tons, depicting Shakyamuni Buddha during meditation and a second smaller statue of a reclining Buddha. Both of them were brought from Burma, and now this monastery is the center of Buddhism in Shanghai and the surrounding area.
The second important attraction of the Puxi area is, which is not entirely correct to call a garden. This is the estate of a wealthy official from the Ming Dynasty, which is perfectly preserved, and now we can look at how life was lived in China at that time. Yuyuan has preserved many antiques that will be of interest to tourists.
Pudong District
Tourists are most interested in the observation decks and lower rooms of famous buildings. We will talk about each of them separately.
The first tower in the area was a television tower, stylized as a spaceship. Its opening took place back in 1994. Its observation deck has not lost its status as the most popular in the Pudong area, as tourists love the transparent floors, which give the feeling that you are about to fall down. Unfortunately, there's not much else to see here.
The next most built was a skyscraper, which may be more interesting to travelers. There is not only an observation deck, but also shops and cafes on the lower floors of the building. The skyscraper is designed in the style of a traditional Chinese pagoda, and is worth a look if only for aesthetic pleasure.
The third high-rise building in the Pudong area is the building. Particularly interesting is the roof of this building with a special “window” that serves to reduce wind resistance. For this feature it is called a “bottle opener”. Here is the most expensive observation deck for visitors and the highest on the planet, which offers stunning panoramic views of Shanghai.
And the last building is not yet open to visitors at the time of writing this article - this. Even now it is the second tallest building on Earth. When it opens, tourists will have the opportunity to look at Shanghai from a height of almost 600 meters, we are looking forward to it.
And, of course, the shopping centers of the Pudong district will be of interest to fans of inexpensive but branded shopping. Each of the skyscrapers has shopping mall, except for the Oriental Pearl TV tower. There is also a large shopping center - Super Brand Mall located nearby - this is one of the largest shopping and entertainment centers in the world.
This holy place is the oldest among the temples in Shanghai. According to legends, the Longhua Pagoda appeared in 242. Despite the fact that the quality building material wood and stone were used, the architects of that time managed to build a 40-meter building. It has been preserved, but in a mothballed form: due to the dilapidation of the building, it is dangerous to go inside. But next to XIX century a new temple was erected. You can admire both wonderfully beautiful buildings on Longhua Street.
It's so unusual to meet in the middle Chinese metropolis a piece of Europe. They say this is the most romantic place in Shanghai. The French Quarter is located at the intersection of Jiulu and Huaihai streets. Where did this European “oasis” come from? It’s simple: emigrants lived here a century ago; by the way, a third of the then quarter was Russian. The Chinese have preserved the architecture; after restoration, the buildings look magnificent. An abundance of ancient bricks, narrow streets paved with paving stones, an ancient cathedral, many cozy cafes with summer terraces, hundred-year-old trees that save you during the sun - all this makes the attraction attractive to tourists. Join us, because Chinese Europe is so unusual and exciting. How to find the French Quarter? Get off at Huangpi metro station.
Imagine, in Shanghai, in the heart of the French Quarter, a monument to Pushkin “settled”, but not because the poet lived here, but as a tribute to Russian emigrants, persecuted from native land October Revolution. Shanghai once had a great Russian society, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the poet’s death, our fellow countrymen asked the local authorities for just such a gift - a monument to Pushkin. True, it was destroyed more than once, but the statue was always restored, and it is still alive to this day, so come and admire it.
One of the symbols of Shanghai, proof of the country's lightning-fast development. The height of the tower is almost 500 meters, which allows us to rank the Pearl of the East among the tallest buildings in the vastness of Asia. In appearance, the tower consists of 15 spheres of different sizes, connected at different distances from each other. These spheres look like pearls - hence the name of the attraction. In the evening, the tower is transformed, glowing and flashing with colored lights. It is said to be the most mesmerizing light spectacle in Shanghai. The inside is no less interesting, especially on observation platforms, from which a charming view of the city opens, and magnificent photographs are obtained. What else is there on the territory of the tower? Museum, restaurants, souvenir shops and shops, galleries and halls, ready to accommodate almost 2 thousand people at a time. Don’t worry, you won’t have to walk 500 meters into the sky; there are 6 elevators here, and they are so spacious that some of them are capable of transporting 50 visitors at once. The ascent time to the top is only 40 seconds. The attraction is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The pleasure costs 150 yuan or 24 dollars. You can get to the Pearl of the East by metro (Lujiazui station) and by bus (No. 81 and 961).
Are you interested in the history, “biography” of China? Then you should go to the Shanghai Museum, where more than 8 thousand interesting exhibits have gathered under one roof, lifting the curtain on the country’s past. The exhibition is divided into 3 halls and 11 galleries. Here you can find anything - from coins to furniture, because history has many faces. It is not only the interior contents of the museum that is interesting, but also the architectural style - the base of the four-story building is square - by Taoist standards symbolizing the earth, and the dome is round, imitating the heavens. The Shanghai Museum lives on People's Square and is available for inspection, free of charge, from 9 am to 5 pm.
Museum of Science and Technology
This attraction is considered the brightest and grandest among its kind. Technological design, spectacular presentation, three-dimensional screens, robots and the secrets of inventions seem to transport visitors to the future. Opening hours (except Mondays) are: 09.00-17.15. However, please note that the ticket office closes at 16.30. Admission is 60 yuan or less than 10 dollars. Other details at www.sstm.org.cn.
The maritime exposition opened in 2010. Construction and collection of exhibits took many years, because the museum was conceived as a symbol of Shanghai gaining the honorary title of a shipping center. The doors of the Maritime Museum open at 9.30, you can enter until 16.00. On Monday the staff rests. The inspection costs 40 yuan or about 6 dollars. Look for a landmark on Shengang Road.
A branch of the House of Sculptures has been successfully operating in Shanghai since 2006. Here you can get acquainted with wax copies of many stars, and also take wonderful pictures hugging celebrities. It’s convenient to get to the attraction by metro; get off at People’s Square station. Next you will see a scarlet sign “Madame Tussauds Museum”, enter the building and go up to the 10th floor.
The 400-year-old park, also named “Mandarin Garden,” has become famous throughout the world for its beauty and medieval Chinese style. Centuries-old mighty trees, picturesque ponds, colorful fish and turtles, an abundance of bridges, cozy gazebos, ancient architecture - how can all these beauties leave at least one tourist indifferent?! Yu Yuan Garden is like a history museum, only natural, come see the Chinese flora from 8.30 am to 5 pm. Prepare 40 yuan ($6) for entry. You can get to the park by taking bus number 11, 55, 906 or 926.
Century Park
No less picturesque, but born recently - at the turn of the century, the park, in fact, which received this name thanks to its opening in 2000, occupies a huge area in the Pudong district. There are gardens, forests, lakes, canals, gazebos, cafes, sports grounds, and sometimes competitions and festivals, the most beautiful of which is the international competition for creating sculptures from flowers. You can ride boats, cars, carousels and, of course, take breathtaking pictures. Entrance to the Century Park is symbolic - 10 yuan (1.5 dollars), but there is a lot of pleasure. You can arrive early - at 7 am; the gates close at exactly 6 pm. More detailed description available here: www.centurypark.com.cn.
Shanghai Zoo
On the territory of the zoo, about 6,000 “residents” peacefully coexist, of which about 10% are rare. The Shanghai Zoo is humane, so the inhabitants are provided with living conditions close to natural, the number of cells involved is minimal. On the territory you can meet pandas, kangaroos, giraffes, penguins, monkeys and many equally interesting animals. The zoo is not like its own kind, it is very green, there are many trees, flowers - in total there are more than 600 species of “representatives” of the flora. Entrance is symbolic - 30 yuan, which does not reach 5 dollars. The gates of the menagerie open at 8 am, you are allowed to admire the animals until 5 pm.
Oceanarium
The Shanghai Aquarium is one of the most worthy of its kind on the planet. The live “exposition” is divided into 8 thematic zones, and the 9th hall is dedicated to the culture of different nations.
Most of the inhabitants of the aquarium, including rare species, are “representatives” of Chinese reservoirs. The aquarium is located in the already familiar Pudong area. The ticket costs 160 yuan (25 dollars), for children the price is 20% lower. You can get to the fish by bus No. 81, 85, 82 and 774.
Shanghai is a big box of attractions that you have a chance to open.