PUDONG New Area boasts not only towering skyscrapers, but also historic relics. Such antiquities are often hidden amidst the high-rises.

Among its historic sites are the former residences of Soong Ching Ling, known as Madame Sun Yat-sen (forerunner of China's democratic revolution), Huang Yanpei, chairman of the First and Second Central Committee of the China National Democratic Construction Association, Hu Shi, the famous philosopher, diplomat and promoter of the Chinese renaissance, and Zhang Wentian, the Chinese revolutionary. All spent their adolescent years in Pudong.

What's more, the New Area is famed for a number of interesting museums and exhibition halls. Crisscrossed by rivers and canals, Pudong boasts picturesque ancient water towns.

Here are a few suggestions on where to go and look back onto Pudong's magnificent history in the New Year.

Singing a wonderful tune - Shanghai Music Box Museum



The museum is the country's only themed museum displaying the craftsmanship and the history of this automatic musical instrument invented in the 19th and 20th centuries.

It has a collection of more than 200 music boxes of all sizes and shapes - from antiques, coin-operated music boxes, to ones with or without automatons. Some are as large as a round table, while others are so tiny that they can be installed into watches, mirrors and snuff bottles.

The museum features the world's oldest music box, which dates back almost 200 years. Other highlights include bird-shaped music boxes that were made from the birds that once flew in the Paris sky during the 19th century.

The museum is not big, but each art piece on display is so intricate and delicate that visitors easily get absorbed in its pleasures. In the center of the hall, there is a wooden antique piano that can generate beautiful melodies automatically even without a player.

The owner of the museum is a Japanese citizen, who has collected almost 4,500 music boxes. This museum is only a tip of the iceberg of his collection.

The puppet music boxes can give a series of performances, such as painting, writing, blowing bubbles and doing magic.

Visitors can also buy music boxes made by Reuge, one of the last surviving Swiss music box manufacturers.

Venue: 4F, Zone 2, Shanghai Oriental Art Center

Address: 425 Dingxiang Rd

Admission: 50 yuan for adults, 30 yuan for students

(Half price on the first and third Saturday every month)

Opening: 10:30am–5pm

Tel: 6854-7647

How to get there: Shanghai Science and Technology Museum Station, Metro Line 2

Chinese Communist Party Leader lived in an ordinary house - Zhang Wentian's former residence

The residence of Zhang Wentian (1900-1976), a leader in the Chinese Communist Party, was built during the Qing Dynasty. Covering an area of 686 square meters, the north-facing, brick-and-wood complex has five principal rooms, two wing rooms and four storage rooms.

Situated near a creek with jade-green bamboos in the back courtyard and a small vegetable plot in the front, the Pudong native's home looks just like an ordinary village house, as those which can be seen everywhere in the remote countryside of China.

It was opened to the public on 30 August, 1989, Zhang's 90th birthday.

To date it has received more than 600,000 visitors. In 2001, the house was listed as a national cultural heritage and its preservation prioritized.

In 2002, the Pudong New Area Planning and Development Bureau invested more than 4.8 million yuan (US$761,760) to restore the residence.

In addition to the old house's face-lift, the six-year project also included a 1,000-square-meter exhibition hall.

The exhibition hall displays more than 240 old photos and about 120 items that were once used by Zhang, giving visitors a quick glimpse into his life.

Born in Nanhui District - today's Pudong New Area - he attended engineering school in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, and also spent a year at the University of California.

He later joined the Chinese Communist Party and was sent to study at Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow from 1926 to 1930. He was one of the groups known as the 28 Bolsheviks, but switched to supporting Mao Zedong during the Long March (1934-1936).

Zhang was first Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China from 1954 to 1960. He was a participant of the Long March, and later served as an ambassador to the Soviet Union from April 1951 to January 1955.

Address: 50 Wenju Rd, Chuansha Town

Opening: 8:30am–4:30pm

Tel: 6896-1738, 6896-0317

Free entry

Showing everyone the money - Bank Museum

This museum is China's first themed on banking and finance. Sponsored by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the 1,500-square-meter exhibition space displays more than 2,000 items, making it an epitome of the city's 150-year-old banking history. Its collection reaches almost 30,000, including ancient coins, coupons, abacus, all kinds of tickets and securities, as well as precious documents.

One interesting item is a set of paper notes issued by the Bank of Guangdong one century ago. On one side of the note, it contains the Shanghai Bund scenery, while on the other side, it has a bird's eye view of Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor - suggesting the close financial ties between the two cities.

Address: 9 Pudong Avenue

Opening: Sunday to Thursday, Wednesday is reserved for group visitors. Booking in advance is essential.

Tel: 5878-8743

Soong Ching Ling born in this home in 1893 - Huang Yanpei's former residence

This two-story house in Chuansha Town was built in 1859 by Shen Shuyong (1832-1873), a court secretary and an antiques collector during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

The high-ranking official collected hundreds of priceless Chinese paintings and calligraphies. These include inscriptions from the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), stones from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and sculptures from six different dynasties.

In 1878, Huang, an educator and chairman of the China National Democratic Construction Association, was born here. He opened schools, constructed railways and built factories.

This house was also the birthplace of Soong Ching Ling and her two sisters. Research shows that Soong was born in a western room in the first courtyard in 1893. She spent her childhood here. The residence is said to have had three courtyards, but after the city's renovation, only one is left.

What remains is under careful preservation. Zhu qi, a special type of paint, has been applied to the floor to protect its original look. Wooden walls and porcelain vases are displayed with great care.

Stepping on the brittle floor and smelling the fragrance of the orchids, one gets the feeling of being transported back to the days of yore.

Currently the preparation of a retrospective exhibition of Huang's life is underway. It will open to the public later this year.

Address: 1-8, Lane 74, Lanfentang, Chuansha Town

Tel: 5892-1106

Free entry

Loads of books, odd vessels and herbs -- Shanghai Museum of Traditional Chinese Medicine

The 4,000-square-meter exhibition space displays a number of ancient TCM books, specimen of numerous medical herbs, famous time-honored prescriptions and various weird-shaped vessels and containers, among many others.

In its Hall of TCM History, more than 14,000 volumes of TCM books are on display, the oldest dating back to the New Stone Age.

The collection includes the TCM bibles like "Huang Di Nei Jing" ("Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor"), "Ben Cao Gang Mu" ("Compendium of Materia Medica") and "Shang Han Lun" ("Treatise on Exogenous Febrile Disease").

In the Hall of Acupuncture and Tuina (Massage), visitors can get closer to the real ancient prescriptions written by famous TCM masters in various dynasties, as well as a bronze model of the human body built in 1744 that was used to study acupoints.

In addition, relics discovered in tombs are real eye-openers. These include the pepper, mao xiang (hierochloe odorata used to treat blood diseases) and gui pi (Chinese cinnamon) found in the Mawangdui Han Tomb (25-220), pills discovered in the tomb of a relative of the painter Wang Xizhi during the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420) and agarwood found in a Song Dynasty (960-1279) shipwreck.

In the interactive zone, visitors can learn to diagnose themselves by feeling their pulse and inspecting their tongues with the help of multi-media software. They can also enjoy acupuncture and tuina services controlled by computers. In the specimen hall, more than 150 precious TCM herbs can be found such as wild ginseng, musk and dong chong xia cao (a Chinese caterpillar fungus, which is a worm in winter and turns into herbs in summer).

Address: 1200 Cailun Rd

Opening: Tuesday to Saturday

Tel: 5132-2721