Though no longer China's tallest building (having recently been eclipsed by the neighboring World Financial Center), the Jin Mao Tower (Jīn Mào Dàshà, 金茂大厦) remains Shanghai's most elegant and distinctive skyscraper. It also still proudly houses the world's highest hotel, post office and bar. Situated in the heart of the Lujiazui financial district, the Jin Mao's design is based on the lucky number eight: 88 floors soar upward, divided into 16 segments, each 1/8 smaller than the preceding one. Architecturally a blend of the monumental Art Deco of the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings and the balanced composition of the traditional Chinese pagoda, the Jin Mao renews the long-standing Shanghai tradition of blending Western and Chinese styles, resulting in a dynamic hybrid that beautifully compliments the Bund's colonial-era façades across the Huangpu ... more >>

Rising above the Huangpu River and Pudong skyline like something out of an old science fiction flick, the Oriental Pearl Tower (Dōngfāng Míngzhū Tǎ, 东方明珠塔) holds a special place in Shanghai's recent history. Before the early 1990s, the east bank of the Huangpu was a low-rise jumble of warehouses and muddy settlements. The erection of the tower, completed in 1995, served as a symbolic declaration of Shanghai's future-forward orientation and grand ambition. Its quintessential Shanghai retro-futurist architectural kitsch set the tone for much of the high-rise hijinks that have since come to define Shanghai's active skyline (lots of flashing lights, rooftop ornamentation running from the sublime to the ridiculous). As Pudong's more recent giants—the Jin Mao Tower and World Financial Center—show, Shanghai's architecture is maturing, favoring cool international grays ... more >>

For many, the Bund (Wàitān, 外滩) is the face of Shanghai. Even as the city transforms itself, growing upwards and outwards at a tremendous rate, the Bund's Art Deco and Neoclassical facades appear much as they did during Shanghai's previous heyday as China's most international city, way back in the 1920s and '30s. Of course, the surroundings have changed radically since then. There's no better place to take in the spectacular Lujiazui skyline on the east bank of the Huangpu River than from the Bund's river promenade or through a picture window in one of a growing number of luxury bars, restaurants and clubs occupying the upper floors of classic Bund buildings. At the north end of the Bund, Nanjing Dong Lu cuts west, a neon-lit paradise for shoppers and gawkers, flanked by a mix of colonial-era edifices and contemporary high rises. The south end of the Bund terminates near S... more >>

The Yu Gardens (Yùyuán, 豫园) are a classical oasis—albeit a generally crowded one—in Shanghai's relentlessly modernizing cityscape. The gardens, completed in 1577 by the aristocratic Ming Dynasty Pan family, retain their original grace and elegance even in the face of throngs of tourists and the commercial hubbub of Yu Bazaar just on the other side of the garden walls. Situated in the midst of the Old City near the Temple of the City God, the gardens make an excellent and restful stop in a walking tour of the area. The famous Mid-Lake Pavilion Teahouse (Húxīn Tíng, 湖心亭) sits right next to the garden's main entrance, reached by way of the zigzag bridge across a large carp pond. An excellent example of Ming-era garden design, Yuyuan's paths, corridors, rock formations and carefully arranged greenery lead visitors through a space that is much ... more >>

Cité Bourgogne (Bùgāolǐ, 步高里) is a unique example of the shikumen style lane house dwelling constructed across the city during its early-twentieth-century heyday. Located in the former French Concession, one can stroll through the narrow lanes of this block-sized complex completed in 1930 and get a bit of a sense of yesterday's Shanghai. A blend of European and Chinese architectural features, the shikumen (which translates as "stone gate") neatly balanced the demands of density with those of privacy, creating tightly knit communities with shared common space that still allowed residents considerable separation. Designed to accommodate 78 families, and currently occupied by some 450 households, Cité Bourgogne provides a glimpse of a way of life that is fast disappearing as old housing stock falls before the wrecking ball to make way for high-rise de... more >>

The sight of the Buddhist Longhua Temple (Lónghúa Sì, 龙华寺) pagoda rising into the sky against the backdrop of Shanghai's 21st century high-rise skyline can be both jarring and sublime. As the city's largest remaining pagoda, the 40 m (130 ft) tower stands as a monument to China's traditional culture, which so often seems lost in the thicket of Shanghai's metastasizing glass-and-steel high-rise developments and freeway flyovers. At the same time, the pagoda and the busy temple grounds surrounding it illustrate a deep and vibrant continuity between China's past and present. The location is reputed to have been a temple site since 242 AD; Longhua Temple itself goes back to 977 AD and the Song Dynasty. Many of the complex's buildings are more recent still, dating from the rule of Qing Dynasty Emperor Guangxu (1871-1908), and the entire site was renovated in 1954... more >>

The Taoist Temple of the City God (Lǎo Chénghuángmiào, 老城隍庙), tucked away within the Old City alongside the Yu Gardens and Yuyuan Bazaar, is the home of the local deities (there are actually three, all derived from actual historical personages) responsible for the well being and wealth of Shanghai residents. Going by Shanghai's booming economy, they've done quite a good job in recent years, and you can see citizens making offerings of incense, candies, fruit and other goodies fit for a City God in order to keep the good times rolling. The temple and city haven't always been so lucky. Since its founding during the Ming Dynasty in 1403, the City God's Temple has been destroyed several times; the current temple was built in 1926. During the Japanese occupation of Shanghai during World War II, local merchants, cut off from the original temple, were forced to bui... more >>

Tucked away in the basement level of a nondescript apartment building, the Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Center (Shànghǎi Xuānchuánhuà Yìshù Zhōngxīn, 上海宣传画艺术中心) is a remarkable private museum dedicated to documenting the collective spirit of Chinese communism as depicted on thousands upon thousands of striking posters in the years since the 1949 establishment of the People's Republic. A labor of love, the museum was founded by Yang Pei Ming, who grew concerned that both the art of the posters and the complicated history that they document were in danger of disappearing in a China that has increasingly embraced consumer capitalist culture since the death of Mao Zedong in 1976. Most visitors will recognize the basic style: Bold images of stolid young Chinese holding up copies of Mao's Little Red Book or of soldiers fiercely staring down cartoonis... more >>

Some good shops to check out are: InSH (specialty T-shirts), the Pottery Workshop, Jooi Design (cool bags), Casa Pagoda (arty interior design), Nuzi (art, books, knickknacks) and La Vie (Hong Kong designer clothes).   Shanghai's trendiest fashionistas, hippies, hipsters and artists are flocking to Tianzifang (Tiánzǐfāng, 田子坊), one of Shanghai's youngest art districts, to browse the boutiques and lounge about in the many stylish hole-in-the wall cafés. A decade ago, Tianzifang's art scene began with a single four-story former candy factory being renovated into an artist's factory and art quarter. Today, it's a bustle of locally owned art shops, interior design stores, jewelry and clothing boutiques, bag shops, cozy cafés and restaurants—all tucked into a tiny bohemian oasis. Though Xintiandi and Moganshan Lu must be mentioned for sake of compa... more >>

China's art scene has been booming in recent years, and though Beijing remains the undisputed center of the Chinese art world, Shanghai is showing signs of catching up. Along with its growing complement of museums (the Shanghai MOCA, Shanghai Museum, Zendai Museum and Doland Museum all stage major contemporary shows, including the Shanghai Biennale) and the new ShContemporary Art Fair, Shanghai's galleries are beginning to make a name for the city, not only in China, but internationally. And the art district off Moganshan Lu has had a lot to do with it. Housed in a fascinating assortment of old industrial buildings within spitting distance of Suzhou Creek, the Moganshan galleries, often referred to as 50 Moganshan Lu (Mògānshān Lù wǔshí hào, 莫干山路50号) or M50, can give a first-time visitor a good idea of where China's art scene is at. There's bl... more >>