Chinese Tourism: Discovering Shanghai’s Leisure, Cultural Landmarks

Apart from being a major financial and trade centre, the city also has much to offer to revelers.

Located on the mouth of Yangtze River in southeastern China, the municipality of Shanghai covers 6,340.5 square km, with a population of over 24 million. The city aims to become an “extraordinary metropolis, international economic, financial, trade and shipping centre, and innovative cultural city by 2040,” says a handbook published by municipal authorities. Shanghai is already China’s financial and trade hub, but there is the other side of city life, especially for revelers.

The Bund or East Zhongshan 1^st Road is a famous waterfront leisure spot regarded as the symbol of Shanghai for hundreds of years. Some 1,500 metres long, the Bund is located on the west bank of Huangpu River between Waibaidu and Nanpu bridges. The site is referred to as the “museum of international architecture.” The most famous attractions on the west side of the Bund are the 26 buildings of different architectural styles including Gothic, Baroque, Romanesque, Classicism and the Renaissance. There are also renowned monuments and sculptures, most visited by frolicking couples.

Shanghai Tower on the other hand is in Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone of Pudong, with Shanghai World Financial Centre to the east and Jin Mao Tower to the north. It is 632 metres high (128 floors) and is China's tallest building - second in the world only to the Burj Khalifa Tower (828 metres high, 163 floors)  in the United Arab Emirates. Visitors take the express elevator to the sightseeing deck on the 119^th floor, a whole ride lasting only 55 seconds! Shanghai Tower is subdivided into five main functional areas. They...