Nanjing Street is the center of the commercial life in Shanghai, where an incredible number of people invade the sidewalks every day: on both sides there is a large number of shops and restaurants where you can taste the specialties of the whole the Chinese and international cuisine. All the roads that cross Nanjing street are rich of picturesque music shops and bookshops.
Harbour: a very busy place on the wusong river, where cargos loaded with all kinds of goods arrive at all time: the touristic boats offer an interesting tour to the the Blue River.
Renmin Gongyuan: originally called “People’s park” was used as a racetrack for British and Americans traders of opium: the park now houses a small historical museum and the town library. To the west of the park is what once was the night entertainment area, with the local red light district,and Fumerie of opium.
The museum recently moved into a huge (10,000 square meters of exhibition) modern building and hosts one of the richest and most interesting collections of art in the country,starting from the Neolithic to the Qing dynasty. The museum houses bronzes, Buddhist sculptures, ceramics, porcelain, paintings, calligraphies, seals, objects in jade, coins, furniture and traditional costumes.
Old Town: between Renmin Lu and Zhonghua Lu extends the a dense network of narrow and intricate streets , where the daily life of the inhabitants is still the same of one hundred years ago.
At the heart of the old city finally there is a pond full of red fishes..Not too far from here, just outside the Temple of the Gods of the city (Chenghuangmiao), there is the oldest tea house in Shanghai, one of the favorite meeting places of young and old people.
Yu Yuan: the Mandarin Yu Garden, built in 1577 by a senior official of the city in honor of the beloved father.
The gardens represent a Southern landscape with streams, lakes, cliffs and gorges, vegetation (trees, flowers, groves of bamboo)
Itis surrounded by a wall decorated with a huge dragon with its mouth wide open. Around the pond many pawn passers fly around in the hope of getting something to eat
Temple of Jade Buddha: easily recognizable to the saffron-colored walls, is the destination of many believers;the temple takes its name from a statue of the Buddha carved from a single block of jade (the most precious quality, called “mutton fat” for its brightness); the block was brought from Burma in 1882 by a Chinese monk.
The statue, adorned with jewels, representsthe Buddha in the act of entering into Nirvana.
Longhua Pagoda is a very popular temple, built thousand years ago and restored in 1954, from which you can enjoy a nice view of the Huangpu River.
House of Sun Yat-sen: close to Fuxing Park is the residence of the first President of the Republic of China, who lived in this place for five years until his death in 1925. The house, with original furniture of the twenties, is now a museum.
Other places of interest:
Yan’andong street(Yan’an Dong Lu) where there are:
1. the Museum of Art and History;
2. the Dashijie (Palace of the Great World)
