Shanghai destinationsThe BundSince 100 years, The Bund has been a symbol of Shanghai . The area begins at the Waibaidu Bridge at the estuary of Suzhou Creek in the north, and ends at Jinling Dong Lu in the south, with a total length of 1.5km. The Bund is located by the Huangpu River . On The Bund you can find a group of buildings known as "a gallery of world architecture". These buildings were built during 1920s-1940s respectively with different architectural styles representing Shanghai 's history of international settlers. Even though the buildings have different architectural styles they are well harmonized. Most of the buildings were owned by banks and the Bund was the financial center of old Shanghai . |
Oriental Pearl TV Tower
Opposite the Bund by the Huangpu River can be found ‘Lu Jia Zui', the new financial center of Shanghai . The Oriental Pearl TV Tower is on the top-side of Lu Jia Zui, facing the buildings in the Bund.
The tower was completed on Oct. 1st 1994 . With it's 468 meters in height it is the highest of such kind of tower in Asia and the third highest in the world. Only the TV towers in Toronto and Moscow are higher. The architectural modeling of the tower is unique, expressing the artistic concept of "pearl, big and small, dropping on a jade plate" - a famous sentence in a famous Chinese old poem. The tower is all in one, combines sightseeing, catering, shopping, recreation, accommodation, broadcasting and TV transmission.
Sightseeing around Shanghai
Shanghai is surrounded by two provinces, namely; Zhejiang and Jiangsu . This area is called "Jiang Nan", meaning south of the Yangtse River . The area is considered one of the most peaceful, beautiful, and historically richest areas of China . ‘Water' is one of the main landscape characters of this region. You will find many beautiful cities or small towns around Jiang Nan. Here we name a few;
Suzhou
Suzhou is in the Jiangsu Province located by the Yangtse River and Taihu Lake . Suzhou is located approximately 100km West of Shanghai. It's a beautiful small city with a history of about 3,000 years. The total area is 8488 sq.km, with the city taking up about 70 sq.km. The population counts over 6 million people. A must see in Suzhou are the gardens, as they are well known for their elegancy and simplicity, delicacy and exquisiteness. During the Ming and Qing Dynasty there were 200 private gardens in Suzhou .
Zhouzhuang
Zhouzhuang is located 38 km away from Suzhou . It's a beautiful and historical town which is more than 900 years old. Zhouzhaung was ever the fief of King Wu's younger son Yao and was therefore also named Yao City .
During the Song Dynasty (1086) the residence of Zhou Digong was made into a temple and the small city was then renamed into “Zhouzhuang” (meaning Zhou's village). In the middle of the Yuan Dynasty, Shen Wansan, linked Zhouzhuang to the Grand Canal to make transportation over water possible. Since then Shen Wansan started to trade with foreign countries and became a very wealthy man. Zhouzhuang was thus an important town for collecting and distributing grain, silk, porcelain and handicrafts in the South of the Yangtse River . Residents built their homes by the rivers and streets were formed alongside. Spanning over the river are 14 ancient bridges built in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Tongli
This thousand-year-old town, Tongli, is located at the Grand Canal, 20 km from Suzhou . It is a typical ancient town of water regions. Tongli is surrounded by 5 lakes and crisscrossed by 15 small rivers with a total length of 6km, partitioned by 7 small dykes. Spanning the river are 49 stone bridges, 29 of them are built during the period of the Song Dynasty and Qing Dynasty. The town itself is a gallery of ancient architecture reflecting the cultural ant literary past of this antique town.
Hangzhou
Hangzhou is the capital of the Zhejiang Province . It conquers a total area of 6,596 sq.km. (683 sq.km in the urban area) and has a population of 6 million (1.64 m in the city). Hangzhou is one of China 's ancient capitals. It was the capital of the Wu Yue State as the late Song Dynasty moved here and made it as a capital. It's one of the leading commercial ports in the country. Historical great litterateurs (Baijuyi of the Tang Dynasty and Sudongbo of Song Dynasty) were senior officials in Hangzhou and contributed much effort in dredging the West Lake . In the 13th century, the world famous Italian explorer Marco Polo visited Hangzhou several times and praised it as "a heaven city".
The West Lake is the pearl of this city, and famous all over the world. The Grand Canal ends at the south of this city.
Shaoxing
Shaoxing, is a small historical cultural city of 2,400 years old. Water is the typical landscape character of this city, it could be called " Eastern Venice ". Lakes and ponds are found everywhere. Crisscrossing rivers are dotted by lack awning-boats sailing in them and spanned by stone bridges. It is a typical scene of a watery region city with much cultural scene in Jiang Nan. Lu Xun, a great Chinese litterateur was born and grew up in this city.
