NEW year, new atmosphere! What can Shanghai expect in 2017? More world-class performances, international sporting competitions and renewed commitments to promoting livability will make the city even greater in the year ahead. In this special year-end edition, Shanghai Daily editors pick the most exciting things on the horizon.

City life

Dashijie

Shanghai’s Dashijie, a once popular downtown entertainment venue, will officially reopen to the public in March 2017 to showcase China’s intangible cultural heritage.

The building, also known as the Great World Amusement Center, is located on Xizang Road S. in Huangpu District.

Many examples of Chinese culture will be exhibited or performed in the revamped center. Visitors can also look forward to tasting traditional foods.

The performances will mainly include Chinese operas, folk music and handicraft shows. Training sessions will also be held at the center on traditional skills and etiquette.

The over 16,000-square-meter Dashijie was built in 1917 and used to stage Chinese operas, singing performances and acrobatic shows. It also had film screening rooms, stores, snack bars and restaurants offering food from around the world. Its 12 distorting mirrors in the lobby also became a popular attraction.

The center was once known as one of the top entertainment venues in Asia. It has been closed since 2003.

The new and improved building will be able to receive a maximum of 3,300 visitors simultaneously after the reopening.

Crowds will be limited during holidays and other peak periods.

Huangpu riverside

The government is constructing uninterrupted pedestrian paths along both side of Huangpu River by the end of next year. Using a series of skybridges and tunnels, the path will take pedestrians from Waibaidu Bridge, the North Bund in Hongkou, the Xuhui Riverside in Puxi and the former Expo Site in Lujiazui, among other places.

Construction is set to finish on the project by the end of 2017. When the city’s plans come to fruition, officials hope the riverside will be on a par with the Left Bank in Paris and London’s Thames walkways.

Smoking controls

Smoking will be banned in all indoor public venues and workplaces in Shanghai from March 2017.

The ban will cover hotels, restaurants, offices, airports, railway stations and entertainment venues.

Under the new regulation, hotels cannot have rooms designated for smoking, and restaurants and entertainment venues will not be allowed to have smoking areas.

Smoking will also be banned in government agencies’ offices, meeting rooms and canteens. Airports, railway stations, ferry ports and bus stations will have to shut down smoking rooms currently in use.

The new regulation also extends the smoking ban in outdoor areas to public venues for minors, such as primary schools, kindergartens and training institutes, children’s hospitals, historic venues, stadiums and public transport waiting areas. Performance stages and audience areas will also be smoke-free.

Fines for breaches of the new rule are at 50-200 yuan (US$7.20-28.85) for individuals and up to 30,000 yuan for companies.

Law enforcement officers can fine individuals and companies on the spot if anyone is caught smoking in no-smoking areas. The new rule also encourages the public to send pictures of offending behavior to the 12345 hotline.

Transportation

Bike sharing

Since the first bike sharing scheme Mobike was officially launched in Shanghai in April, it’s been hard to miss the rise of the city’s colorful shared bicycles. And more are expected to hit local roads next year.

It is estimated that there will be some 500,000 shared bikes in Shanghai by the first half of 2017, according to the Shanghai Bike Industry Association. This compares with the 250,000 on the roads now.

In addition to currently dominant players like the orange-and-silver branded Mobikes and yellow ofo, green and blue operators also plan to expand their fleets.

The sky-rocketing number of shared bikes is offering a greener lifestyle to the city and making short-distance travel easier for urbanites. However, issues including illegal parking and lack of road space for two-wheel transportation also loom with the sudden expansion.

Regulations on car-hailing

Car-hailing services are set for tighter regulation in 2017, as only qualified drivers and vehicles are allowed to operate in this new market. The city’s first car-hailing regulations took effect on December 21 and placed high standards on both drivers and vehicles.

While this may limit the availability of car-hailing services, the raised criteria are expected to make rides safer and the industry more orderly.

New Metro Lines, later service

By the end of 2017, new sections of Metro Lines 8, 9 and 17 are slated to start operation.

More night trains are also expected to be seen on additional Metro Lines next year.

Metro Lines 1, 2 and 8 have already extended their operating hours at night by 30 minutes on Fridays, Saturdays and the days before national holidays since December.

The Metro operator is also set to expand extended service to other working days in one to two years.

Cinema

In 2017, China’s film industry will continue to attract the world’s attention, despite the recent slowdown in growth. Box office receipts were up only about 3 percent last year, the smallest rate of increase in a decade. Insiders attribute this to the poor performance of homegrown movies with uncreative scripts and weak storylines.

Stephen Chow’s fantasy comedy film “The Mermaid,” which reaped around 3.4 billion yuan at the box office, became the highest-grossing Chinese movie of all time last year.

Looking ahead, the fantasy film “Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons,” directed by Tsui Hark and produced by Chow will be released on January 28. It is expected to be another box office sensation.

To cater to young Chinese who currently make up the majority of cinema-goers in the country, more films adapted from popular online novels will be released, including “Wukong” and “The Three-body Problem.”

Many commercially successful movies will release sequels in 2017, such as “Monster Hunt,” “Young Detective Dee” and “Cell Phone.”

Certain domestic movies are expected to receive special funds and awards from the government.

Despite the decline in box office growth, the ancillary film market in China is expected to flourish in 2017. Both Alibaba Pictures and Wanda Cinema Line Co Ltd have announced plans to dabble in the spin-off business.

Spin-off products from veteran designers will also enter the market.

Classssical music and theater

Both Shanghai Concert Hall and Shanghai Symphony Hall will continue presenting ensembles of world-renowned musicians.

Kicking off a year of music will be pianist and four-time Echo Klassik winner Martin Stadtfeld, who will give an all-Bach recital on January 22 at Shanghai Concert Hall. Also featured in the season-opening series is Russian violinist Sergei Krylov, who was lauded as “one of the top five contemporary violinists” by the late Mstislav Rostropovich.

For piano enthusiasts, highlights of the season’s lineup include Polish pianist Piotr Anderszewski, who was hailed by Anthony Tommasini for his “prodigious” technique and “poetic sensibility.”

Another soloist worth anticipating is Russian-born British pianist Nikolai Demidenko, who is acclaimed for his interpretations of Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky.

In 2017, the stage at Shanghai Symphony Hall will be graced by 70-year-old Austrian pianist Rudolf Buchbinder’s recital of Beethoven’s sonatas in March.

Charles Dutoit, the Grammy awarded Swiss conductor, together with Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, will present Richard Strauss’s opera “Salome.”

Shanghai Grand Theater will host top ballet and opera works. Freiburger Barockorchester will present a semi-staged version of Mozart’s “Cosi Fan Tutte” on April 30. The Royal Ballet will stage a show based on the life of Queen Elizabeth on June 21-22.

Musical fans can also look forward to two stellar productions at SAIC Shanghai Culture Square in the coming year. The song “I Will Always Love You” will hit audiences again as a musical production of “The Bodyguard” takes the stage from June 28-July 16. The classic Musical “West Side Story,” created by Leonard Bernstein, will land in Shanghai for the first time from November 20-December 7.

Sports

Shanghai will continue to host world class events for the city’s sports lovers in 2017, as well as regular games in the Chinese Super League and other sporting associations.

The New Year will kick off with a collection of running activities including “Run the Track” to be held at Shanghai International circuit, as well as the return of the stair-climbing contest at Oriental Pearl TV Tower.

Running, jogging and speed-walking have surpassed badminton to become the most participated sports activity among Shanghai citizens. For long-distance runners, the Shanghai International Half Marathon (to be scheduled in the first half of the year) and the Shanghai International Marathon (coming in October or November) are events they won’t want to miss.

For winter sports fans, the ISU Shanghai Trophy ­— a tournament featuring speedskating, figure skating and synchronized skating ­— will return from March 17 to 19.

The inaugural Shanghai Trophy was staged at Pudong’s Oriental Sports Center last year. This was also the first time the International Skating Union named a tournament after a host city. Synchronized skating was a new discipline for Shanghai audiences, and was very well received at last year’s tournament.

Other major annual sports events to be held in the city include the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix (in April), the equestrian Longines Global Champions Tour (May), the IAAF Diamond League (May), Shanghai Masters snooker contest (September), and the ATP Shanghai Rolex Masters (October).

The Chinese Super League, set to kick off in March, will be more appealing than ever for both domestic and foreign fans in 2017 with the arrival of another batch of star players — including Shanghai SIPG’s Brazilian midfielder Oscar and Shanghai Greenland Shenhua’s Argentine striker Carlos Tevez.

After replacing Sven-Goran Erikson with young manager Andre Villas-Boas, SIPG announced ambitions of clinching at least one title from the three major competitions in 2017 ­— CSL, China FA Cup and Asian Champions League. Oscar will be partnering his Brazilian compatriots Hulk and Elkeson to form one of the most power attacking lines in the CSL.

Greenland Shenhua is also looking forward to a better finish in the 2017 CSL season, after placing fourth in last year’s standing. It recently named former Uruguay international star Gus Poyet as its new manager.

Before the start of the domestic league, SIPG and Shenhua will showcase their new squads on the Asian stage first, playing ACL qualifiers on February 7 and 8 respectively.

Shanghai’s basketball fans will also have much to cheer for at the beginning of 2017. Yao Ming’s Sharks have been notching solid results, winning 20 matches out of 22 to lead the 20-team standing. Under the lead of core player James Taft “Jimmer” Fredette, they could make it into the playoffs of the 2016-17 season after two years of absence.