The Bund waterfront area is a sweeping area along the Huangpu River that became the center of Shanghai’s foreign business establishment and the symbol of Shanghai’s identity as a modern city.  The name “bund” is derived from an Anglo-Indian term meaning “muddy embankment,” but after the 1920’s the area became a showcase for foreign enterprises, with impressive Western-style banks, trading houses, hotels, consulates, and clubs filling the shore, with promenade along the river. British, French, American, German, Japanese, and Russian facilities were built here, in styles ranging from Neo-Classical to Art Deco, giving the area a pronounced European flavor.

Yu Yuan

The Mandarin's Garden, as it is translated, was originally designed in the 16th century by the provincial governor, Pan Yunduan, in honor of his father, Pan En, who was himself a government minister. Construction took over 30 years. It is ingeniously laid out to imitate the style of imperial gardens in Beijing, and to create the feeling of spaciousness within a small area. 

Yu Yuan is a garden within a garden. Although relatively small, they are impressive thanks to their intricate design. Divided into two parts, the outer garden contains pavilions, rock gardens, ponds and a complete traditional theatre, and leads to the inner garden, which is a smaller version of the outer one, consisting of many closely packed pavilions. It suffered extensive damage over the years, but was restored in 1956.

Nanjing Road

The famous Nanjing Road is the best known shopping street in China. Flanked on both sides by famed with department stores, specialty shops, exotic restaurants, theaters and cinemas lining up the street. The 5-km-long Nanjing Road is the most sophisticated shopping and tourist complex in Shanghai. Everyday More than 1 million visitors walking throng it.

Pudong New Area

Located east of the Huangpu River in an area that was devoted to farms and rice paddies little more than a decade ago, the Pudong Special Economic Zone occupies an area larger than old Shanghai itself , designed to be the Wall Street of Asia. Pudong is the finance and business center of Shanghai, and headquarters for most of the multinational corporations and international banks active in Shanghai. Linked to the older Puxi part of the city by two cable bridges, the Yangpu and Nanpu, supposedly the 2nd and 3rd longest in the world; a new pedestrian tunnel; and the city’s second metro line, Pudong houses dozens of new skyscrapers.

The new Pudong International Airport opened in 1999. An eight-lane Century Boulevard provides a main ground transportation artery, and large expatriate housing developments are built or planned for outlying areas. The art deco buildings in this dynamic Pudong New Area and the Oriental Pearl Tower can be viewed across the water from the Bund.

Cheng Huang Miao (Temple to the Town Gods)

The temple, or Cheng Huang Miao, is only a short distance from Yu Yuan. It is a touristy but impressive warren of lanes and stalls. Once every city and large town possessed a temple to the town gods, but few have survived.