The Jade Buddha Temple (Yufo Si) was built during the troubled reign of the Qing Emperor Guangxu (1875-1908) and burned down after having been occupied during the 1911 revolution. The temple takes its name from the original two white jade Buddha statues that abbot Hui Gen brought with him from Burma—a sitting statue about 1.95 meters (almost 6 1/2 feet) in height and a smaller reclining Buddha.

 

Today's temple also contains a third, even larger Buddha from Singapore. During the 1911 upheaval, the original jade Buddha statues were removed for safety. Between 1918 and 1928, the Jade Buddha Temple we see today was constructed on Anyuan Lu in the architectural style of the Song Dynasty. Composed of several separate buildings—the Hall of Heavenly Kings, the Main Hall, the Hall of the Sleeping Buddha and the Hall of the Jade Buddha—it is a working temple in which monks live, study and perform rites.

 

In addition to serving the faithful on a daily basis, the temple houses the Shanghai Buddhist Institute, in which many ancient statues, paintings, a complete set of Qing-era Buddhist scriptures and over 7,000 other rare scriptures are kept.

 

 

Jing'an Temple's golden four-faced lion sits high atop its massive pillar, a marvelous sight amidst the clutter of modern high rises and billboards dominating Shanghai's central Jing'an Temple (Jing'an Si) area. Beneath the pillar, one of the city's most interesting—and busiest—Buddhist temples is being reconstructed in stages, without ever ceasing to serve the faithful who come to make offerings, pray, burn incense and otherwise seek spiritual respite from the bustling metropolis outside the temple walls.

 

Records show that the site of today's Shingon Buddhist temple was first built upon in 1216 AD, during the Southern Song Dynasty, though a previous temple had existed nearby since 247 AD. The temple was badly damaged during the Taiping uprising in the mid-19th century, with only the Great Hall of the Buddha surviing. Three additional halls were completed by 1921, and, in 1999, large-scale renovations were initiated that continue to this day. The temple is home to several ancient artifacts of note, including the Shingon Altar a stele with inscribed by Song Dynasty Emperor Guangzong, as well as an enormous bell dating to 1340, the second year of the Ming Dynasty.

 

Part of the pleasure of visiting the temple today is seeing the ongoing construction taking place while worshipers and monks go about their business—it's all somehow a perfect picture of contemporary China, with the traditional and thoroughly modern mixing it up as if it were the most natural thing in the world for a giant advertisement for designer jeans to loom over the courtyard of an ancient temple full of modern Chinese, some of them wearing those same designer jeans (or at least decent knockoffs) as they burn incense and genuflect to the sound of Shanghai traffic, chanting monks and chiming bells.

 

On lunar April 8th every year, a three-day temple fair takes place, featuring street food, music, dancing and acrobatics.

 

 

When people mention Shanghai's Nanjing Road, they're probably talking about Nanjing Dong Lu (East Nanjing Road), a pedestrian shopping street running for blocks between the northeast corner of People's Square and the Bund. If you spend more than a couple days in Shanghai, you'll likely end up pushing your way through the crowds beneath the neon signs and signature Shanghai mix of brand-new high rises and late colonial-period architecture. The shopping is varied and good, though lacking the upscale brand-name cachet of Huaihai Zhong Lu or Xintiandi on one hand or the bargain-basement prices of "fakes" markets like the one at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum subway station on the other.

 

Though it's a shopping street first and foremost, the real attraction is the parade of people: hustlers looking for easy tourist marks, Chinese families on holiday, foreign tour groups wandering past in matching outfits, kids playing, Shanghainese office workers, migrant kebab vendors, Chinese pixies pushing cosmetics—you'll see them all on Nanjing Dong Lu if you have a little patience. If you're not in a shopping mood, just grab a snack and a drink (the smaller streets to the north of the main drag offer the best—and cheapest—street foods) and watch the world go by.

 

This stretch of Nanjing Lu was the first modern commercial street in Shanghai, home to the city's first big department stores, including the No. 1 Department Store, which still sells a little bit of everything at the western end of the pedestrian zone. On weekends, holidays and in the evenings, the crowds spill east onto the Bund's Huangpu River promenade and east onto Xizang Lu and into the People's Square metro station, which is home to its own underground commercial strip. It's a great area to spend part of a day getting a feel for the city's energy. 

 

After a few hours, however, many will be ready for a relaxing meal or drink in People's Square (try Barbarossa or Kathleen's 5 if the weather's nice) or a Bund spot such as the Glamour Bar (expensive) or the Captain's Bar (cheap) when you've had enough of the Shanghai shopping scrum. A number of historic buildings, including the Peace Hotel are scattered about the area.

 

Note that the above reference to hustlers should be taken seriously, but not as a reason to avoid Nanjing Dong Lu. You should, of course, watch your valuables and refrain from accepting the first friendly invitation to buy a charming group of young Chinese "students" a round of tea, but the chances of any aggressive or even violent behavior is exceedingly low.

 

West of Xizang Lu, Nanjing Xi Lu (West Nanjing Road) picks up, heading into the heart of the old international concession and offering more shops, restaurants and fascinating side alleys full of life, commerce and sights.

 

 

Rising above the Huangpu River and Pudong skyline like something out of an old science fiction flick, the Oriental Pearl Tower 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 and sophisticated glass and metal claddings, but the pink glass orbs and rocket-ship base of the Oriental Pearl Tower will always remain dear to the hearts of true fans of Shanghai style.

 

Besides admiring the tower from afar, whether from the Bund across the Huangpu or from the observation deck of a nearby skyscraper, most tourists find that they simply must view the cityscape from inside one of the Oriental Pearls—there are 11 glass spheres, all told, threading the 468 m (1,535.5 ft) spire. Three of the orbs house observation decks served by six high-speed elevators. The highest, known as the Space Module, sits 350 m (1,148 ft) above ground, with a second, lower "Sightseeing Floor" at 263 m (863 ft) and "Space City" sphere hanging at 90 m (295 ft). With all this, you might expect a revolving restaurant—and you'd be in luck: you can dine in rotating high style 267 m (876 ft) above ground. Finally, if you're really lucky and call way ahead, you can stay in the 20-room Space Hotel, lodged between the tower's two largest spheres.

 

Be ready for long lines and big crowds on weekends and holidays.

 

 

Shanghai Museum is one of the four big museums in China, with an exhibition area of 12,000 square meters, including 12 special exhibition rooms and 120,000 pieces of treasures such as bronze ware, chinaware, calligraphy, painting and various other types, among which bronze ware, chinaware, calligraphy and painting are the most characteristic of all. The building of Shanghai Museum is round on the top and square in the foundation, symbolizing the ancient Chinese saying that "the sky is round and the earth is square". Seen from afar, the whole building resembles an ancient bronze ware.

 

 

Yuyuan (Yu Garden) is 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 City God's Temple, the gardens make an excellent and restful stop in a walking tour of the area. The famous Mid-Lake Pavilion Teahouse 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 smaller than it appears, past limpid carp ponds, up atop cleverly scaled "mountains," into shady pavilions and through miniature groves of bamboo, ornamental pines, willows, cherry trees and gingko.

 

Seasonal changes in flora are a delight to track for return visitors, with various flowers blooming from early spring well into the fall. Today's garden is actually a recreation of the original Ming-era garden; the British and Taiping rebels did great damage to the grounds during the first Opium War and Taiping Rebellion, respectively. Be sure to spend some time viewing the Exquisite Jadestone, the Hall of Heralding Spring, the Chamber of Ten Thousand Flowers and the Grand Rockery, among other specific garden spots (maps in English are available upon admission).

 

 

When people mention Shanghai's Nanjing Road, they're probably talking about Nanjing Dong Lu (East Nanjing Road), a pedestrian shopping street running for blocks between the northeast corner of People's Square and the Bund. If you spend more than a couple days in Shanghai, you'll likely end up pushing your way through the crowds beneath the neon signs and signature Shanghai mix of brand-new high rises and late colonial-period architecture. The shopping is varied and good, though lacking the upscale brand-name cachet of Huaihai Zhong Lu or Xintiandi on one hand or the bargain-basement prices of "fakes" markets like the one at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum subway station on the other.

 

Though it's a shopping street first and foremost, the real attraction is the parade of people: hustlers looking for easy tourist marks, Chinese families on holiday, foreign tour groups wandering past in matching outfits, kids playing, Shanghainese office workers, migrant kebab vendors, Chinese pixies pushing cosmetics—you'll see them all on Nanjing Dong Lu if you have a little patience. If you're not in a shopping mood, just grab a snack and a drink (the smaller streets to the north of the main drag offer the best—and cheapest—street foods) and watch the world go by.

 

This stretch of Nanjing Lu was the first modern commercial street in Shanghai, home to the city's first big department stores, including the No. 1 Department Store, which still sells a little bit of everything at the western end of the pedestrian zone. On weekends, holidays and in the evenings, the crowds spill east onto the Bund's Huangpu River promenade and east onto Xizang Lu and into the People's Square metro station, which is home to its own underground commercial strip. It's a great area to spend part of a day getting a feel for the city's energy. 

 

After a few hours, however, many will be ready for a relaxing meal or drink in People's Square (try Barbarossa or Kathleen's 5 if the weather's nice) or a Bund spot such as the Glamour Bar (expensive) or the Captain's Bar (cheap) when you've had enough of the Shanghai shopping scrum. A number of historic buildings, including the Peace Hotel are scattered about the area.

 

Note that the above reference to hustlers should be taken seriously, but not as a reason to avoid Nanjing Dong Lu. You should, of course, watch your valuables and refrain from accepting the first friendly invitation to buy a charming group of young Chinese "students" a round of tea, but the chances of any aggressive or even violent behavior is exceedingly low.

 

West of Xizang Lu, Nanjing Xi Lu (West Nanjing Road) picks up, heading into the heart of the old international concession and offering more shops, restaurants and fascinating side alleys full of life, commerce and sights.