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Make it a day for discovery
November 10, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
TO many, Shanghai is a fusion woman, wearing modern trends with traditional qipao, mixed with the historical ambience of China and the exotic smell from the West. The various kinds of cultures and styles are so deeply interweaved with each other, it is hard to make out the city's original colors.
And it is impossible to understand this sophisticated city without experiencing each of the different styles.
Shanghai Daily recommends a route in downtown Shanghai, which allows a newcomer to grasp the essence of this fused beauty in one day.
The route includes the morning and breakfast at the Yuyuan Garden and City God's Temple, lunch and an afternoon walk in the former French concession area and the Tian Zi Fang art street, evening and dinner at the Cool Docks in the north Bund and nightlife on the Bund.
City God's Temple (or Chenghuang Temple) and Yuyuan Garden inside are among the most attractive tourist spots in Shanghai, often crowded with thousands of visitors. Yet, it is still worth visiting since it is one of the few historical and almost purely Chinese sites in this port city.
Many small eateries in the area provide breakfast with a variety of dim sum and Chinese tea. And visiting in the early morning can also help avoid the rush-hour crowds.
Cheng means city walls and huang is the moat surrounding the wall, both constructed to protect the city in ancient Chinese times. So in ancient, the Chinese refer to the patron god of a city, Chenghuang, and temples praying to Chenghuang are seen all over the country.
City God's Temple in Shanghai was first built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and was gradually turned into a large outdoor shopping center along with the surrounding old buildings, which are mostly in the style of Ming and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.
Like a large open shopping center, the area includes hundreds of shops selling goods from the traditional fans, combs and qipao to modern jewelry.
It is one of those typical Chinese-style markets - colorful, crowded, loud, complicated and requiring a lot of bargaining skills for shopping.
After breakfast, it is fun to tour the Yuyuan Garden, a typical southern Chinese-style garden in the City God's Temple that was built in 1559, late Ming Dynasty, by a government official for his father.
While Beijing is famous for hutong (alleyway), Shanghai has always been known for the longtang, the small lanes typical of the city. It is impossible to grasp the authenticity of Shanghai without having walked those small lanes and wandering streets.
Shanghai Daily has chosen two distinct ones for this tour - Wukang Road in the former French concession area for its numerous well-preserved Western-style houses of celebrities in the 1930s or even earlier, the quiet street and the trees on both sides, and Tian Zi Fang art street for the modern art galleries, clubs and innovative shops in the local-style longtang.
Wukang Road is one of the small and wandering streets hidden behind the crowded and busy roads of Huaihai Road W. and Xingguo Road. Huaihai Road W. is prosperous and loud with a lot of shops, while Wukang Road makes one feel like they are entering a different world.
The short street is filled with Western-style buildings, some with a church-style roof, some with large semicircular balconies, and some with baroque structure, most of which have walls covered with ivy.
Almost every building on the street has a long history and touching story behind it, and a lot of them are city-recognized historic buildings. A few are shops, but most are private residential areas not open to tourists.
But the 1.71-kilometer street is worth visiting just for the ambience of the old Shanghai that can be felt at each step, calm, graceful and low-key. And one can still get a glimpse of the structure of most buildings through the surrounding walls.
In the 1920s and 1930s, it was once filled with many celebrities - the business elite, politicians, intellectuals and the like.
No. 40 on the street, with a typical Spanish-style garden, once hosted Tang Shaoyi, the first prime minister of Republic of China (1912-1949). He was murdered in the building in 1938, one of the most significant political scandals at the time.
No. 113, a typical British country house with dark red bricks and a flat roof, was the last home of Chinese writer Ba Jin (1904-2005), born as Li Yaotang, one of the most recognized Chinese writers of the 20th century. He lived in the building for more than 40 years since 1955, during which he finished many important works.
And the Spanish garden at the corner of Wukang and Hunan roads was once home to He Zizhen, former wife of Chairman Mao. Now it has become part of a hotel.
Other residents of the street include Soong Ching Ling, Italian consulate general and famous foreign architects.
While Wukang Road is where the influence of the West remains, Tian Zi Fang art street illustrates how the old local elements have been modernized. The typical old houses in the longtang have been renovated into exotic restaurants, innovative shops selling unique goods, contemporary art galleries and trendy clubs.
Shanghai is also a city famous for its nightlife, and the Bund is perhaps one of the most charming spots to have an overview of the city that never sleeps. Many old buildings on the Bund have been renovated into modern restaurants, with balconies or windows overlooking the river.
And party animals can stay late in the clubs on the Bund, or simply take a walk along the grand street.
With so many influences on its form, old and new, East and West, understanding the fabric of Shanghai requires close examination. Yao Minji takes a day downtown to uncover the various layers that make this city like no other place on Earth.
And it is impossible to understand this sophisticated city without experiencing each of the different styles.
Shanghai Daily recommends a route in downtown Shanghai, which allows a newcomer to grasp the essence of this fused beauty in one day.
The route includes the morning and breakfast at the Yuyuan Garden and City God's Temple, lunch and an afternoon walk in the former French concession area and the Tian Zi Fang art street, evening and dinner at the Cool Docks in the north Bund and nightlife on the Bund.
City God's Temple (or Chenghuang Temple) and Yuyuan Garden inside are among the most attractive tourist spots in Shanghai, often crowded with thousands of visitors. Yet, it is still worth visiting since it is one of the few historical and almost purely Chinese sites in this port city.
Many small eateries in the area provide breakfast with a variety of dim sum and Chinese tea. And visiting in the early morning can also help avoid the rush-hour crowds.
Cheng means city walls and huang is the moat surrounding the wall, both constructed to protect the city in ancient Chinese times. So in ancient, the Chinese refer to the patron god of a city, Chenghuang, and temples praying to Chenghuang are seen all over the country.
City God's Temple in Shanghai was first built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and was gradually turned into a large outdoor shopping center along with the surrounding old buildings, which are mostly in the style of Ming and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.
Like a large open shopping center, the area includes hundreds of shops selling goods from the traditional fans, combs and qipao to modern jewelry.
It is one of those typical Chinese-style markets - colorful, crowded, loud, complicated and requiring a lot of bargaining skills for shopping.
After breakfast, it is fun to tour the Yuyuan Garden, a typical southern Chinese-style garden in the City God's Temple that was built in 1559, late Ming Dynasty, by a government official for his father.
While Beijing is famous for hutong (alleyway), Shanghai has always been known for the longtang, the small lanes typical of the city. It is impossible to grasp the authenticity of Shanghai without having walked those small lanes and wandering streets.
Shanghai Daily has chosen two distinct ones for this tour - Wukang Road in the former French concession area for its numerous well-preserved Western-style houses of celebrities in the 1930s or even earlier, the quiet street and the trees on both sides, and Tian Zi Fang art street for the modern art galleries, clubs and innovative shops in the local-style longtang.
Wukang Road is one of the small and wandering streets hidden behind the crowded and busy roads of Huaihai Road W. and Xingguo Road. Huaihai Road W. is prosperous and loud with a lot of shops, while Wukang Road makes one feel like they are entering a different world.
The short street is filled with Western-style buildings, some with a church-style roof, some with large semicircular balconies, and some with baroque structure, most of which have walls covered with ivy.
Almost every building on the street has a long history and touching story behind it, and a lot of them are city-recognized historic buildings. A few are shops, but most are private residential areas not open to tourists.
But the 1.71-kilometer street is worth visiting just for the ambience of the old Shanghai that can be felt at each step, calm, graceful and low-key. And one can still get a glimpse of the structure of most buildings through the surrounding walls.
In the 1920s and 1930s, it was once filled with many celebrities - the business elite, politicians, intellectuals and the like.
No. 40 on the street, with a typical Spanish-style garden, once hosted Tang Shaoyi, the first prime minister of Republic of China (1912-1949). He was murdered in the building in 1938, one of the most significant political scandals at the time.
No. 113, a typical British country house with dark red bricks and a flat roof, was the last home of Chinese writer Ba Jin (1904-2005), born as Li Yaotang, one of the most recognized Chinese writers of the 20th century. He lived in the building for more than 40 years since 1955, during which he finished many important works.
And the Spanish garden at the corner of Wukang and Hunan roads was once home to He Zizhen, former wife of Chairman Mao. Now it has become part of a hotel.
Other residents of the street include Soong Ching Ling, Italian consulate general and famous foreign architects.
While Wukang Road is where the influence of the West remains, Tian Zi Fang art street illustrates how the old local elements have been modernized. The typical old houses in the longtang have been renovated into exotic restaurants, innovative shops selling unique goods, contemporary art galleries and trendy clubs.
Shanghai is also a city famous for its nightlife, and the Bund is perhaps one of the most charming spots to have an overview of the city that never sleeps. Many old buildings on the Bund have been renovated into modern restaurants, with balconies or windows overlooking the river.
And party animals can stay late in the clubs on the Bund, or simply take a walk along the grand street.
With so many influences on its form, old and new, East and West, understanding the fabric of Shanghai requires close examination. Yao Minji takes a day downtown to uncover the various layers that make this city like no other place on Earth.
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