Shanghai
Acrobats The famous Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe has performed around the globe and is a wonderful night out for visitors to Shanghai. Their movement is art - tightly choreographed and rehearsed endlessly. You can find them at the Shanghai Center Theatre, 1376 Nanjing Xi Lu, Shanghai, China and they generally perform 7 night a week.

Grand Mansions These mansions of grandeur and splendour are a record of the fame and fortunes that have been made in more recent times, but now the colours of their walls have faded somewhat but their architectural beauty still remains.

Huangpu River and the Bund Boating along the Huangpu River, visitors can glimpse back into China’s past as well as see Shanghai as it is today. On one side of the river is the bund, which is regarded as a landmark as well as the birthplace of Shanghai. Now, a 646.7-meter-long sightseeing tunnel, connecting the bund to Oriental Pearl TV Tower, was completed and opened to public in October 2000, through which visitors can experience a marvellous trip under water.

Jade Buddha Temple the most famous Buddhist temple in Shanghai, is located in the west part of the city. In 1882, a monk named Huigen left two of five jade Buddha statues brought from Burma in Shanghai and built a temple there to keep them. In 1918, the old temple was burned down and a new one was built in present site and named Jade Buddha Temple.

Longhua Temple was first built in 242 A.D during the Three Kingdoms Period, is the biggest and oldest temple in Shanghai. The temple was destroyed and rebuilt many times. The present temple was constructed during the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing dynasty. In the temple, Buddhist scriptures, gold seals and Buddhist statues of Tang, Ming and Qing dynasties are kept.

The Oriental Pearl Tower consists of three big columns, which are 9 meters in diameter, the space module, the upper sphere, the lower sphere, five small spheres, tower base and the square. In the tower, there is a double-decked elevator, which can hold fifty people at a time, and two-speed elevator that can run at a speed of 7 meters per second. Oriental Pearl TV Tower, with a height of 468 meters, is the world's third tallest TV tower after the 553-meter CN Tower in Toronto and the 535-meter Moscow TV Tower.

People's Plaza is the center of the city of Shanghai. Dotted with flower beds the plaza is very picturesque and is where the Shanghai Museum is located. Surrounded by greenery the plaza attracts thousands of visitors daily.

Shanghai Museum Discover Shanhi's past as well as the history of China in general at this excellent museum which has a superb display of porcelain, sculptures and bronze ware. All items are beautifully displayed and have descriptions in English. The museum gets very crowded at weekends. If you take your Chinese green card, you can pay local prices. The museum can be found at 201 Renmin Da Dao (People's Square) Tel: 6372-3500 for more information. Opening hours: 9 -5 pm and Saturdays 9 - 8 pm

Shanghai Nature History Museum 260 Yan'an East Road Telephone 6321-3548, Hours: 8:30 -10:30 am and 1:30 - 4 pm, Closed mondays. This museum has an excellent collection of ancient and modern exhibits and an interesting collection of prehistoric creatures and a nice aquarium.

Yuyuan Bazaar, formerly the old Chenghuangmiao Market, lies to the west of Yu Yuan Garden. Yu Yuan Bazaar is the largest Ming-and-Qing style architectural complex in downtown Shanghai. In the bazaar, the narrow lanes are dotted with more than 120 snack bistros and shops of all kinds.

Yuyuan Garden, maybe the most celebrated classical Chinese garden in Shanghai, is located in the northeast of the old town with an area of fives acres. In 1559, a Ming official named Pan Yunduan launched the construction of this private garden for his father's pleasure. Built in a style that Suzhou gardens often take, Yuyuan garden is characterized by exquisite layout, beautiful scenery and the artistic architecture. Each pavilion, hall, stone and stream in the garden expresses the feeling of a Southern Chinese landscape design from Ming and Qing dynasties. Well worth taking your camera along when visiting.