Shanghai Travel Information

Guided China Tour Shanghai Travel Information Among the big cities in China, Shanghai maintains the look of the Western metropolis. It is fascinating and sophisticated. The city started out in the 4th century. After the Opium War, Shanghai was gradually opened as a ‘treaty port’ in the mid year of the 19th century when it has been opened to the foreign trade and led to its partition into British, French and later Japanese concessions. From that time on, foreigners began to flood into this paradise for adventurers. Covering out their own sphere of influence, England, France, the US and Japan settled here by seizing their respective concessions which was known as the territory of each country. It was considered as the colonial period with number of the featured buildings and architectures of cosmopolitan by those owners of the concessions which made Shanghai as a fascinating mixture of East and the West. Take a train journey from Shanghai to Suzhou, founded in 514 BC, Suzhou is one of the oldest towns in Yangtze Basin. Bordering Shanghai on the east, Wuxi City on the west and the Yangtze River on the north, Suzhou enjoys great geography and excellent land, water and air transportation. Suzhou achieved its fame 1,000 years later when the Grand Canal was constructed. And the city remains one of the most beautiful cities in China with its blue web of interlocking canal and classical gardens as well as famous silk industry. It is well known as the capital of silk. The streets and lanes in its downtown area are the Song dynasty style. Lingering Garden is one of the great four gardens in China. It was first built in Wanli reign of Ming Dynasty in 1593 as Xu Taishi private garden. The garden was originally called East Garden, and the middle pond and overlapped yellow stone rockeries on the west of the pond are built at that time. After his death, Liu Su became the owner of the garden. By rebuilding it, Liu plated many bamboos and had many stones inscribed out of his hobby. The fourth owner is Sheny Xuanhuai, who named the Garden ‘Lingering’. The word has the same pronunciation with ‘Liu’ in Chinese, the surname of its former owner. Covering 23,330 square meters, the Lingering is a typical one of gardens in Qing Dynasty. It boasts its fine gardening, luxurious and spacious hall, and collection of stones from Taihu Lake by which people can be freshened up without going out the city. In 1997, Lingering Garden was inscribed into UNESCO World Heritage List. The Grand Canal is the world’s longest manmade waterway, being 1,800 km long. The canal connects the present cities Beijing in the north and Hangzhou in the south, which served as dynastic capitals in the past, and contains 24 locks and 60 bridges. Since most of China’s major rivers flow from west to east, the fact that the Grand Canal runs north and south provides it as an important connector between the Yangtze River valley and the Yellow River valley, and other minor river systems. It is being restored as a water diversion conduit. The building of the canal began in 506 BC during the Wu State in Spring and Autumn period. It was extended during the Qin Dynasty, and later by Emperor Yangdi of the Sui Dynasty during six years of furious construction from 605 – 610 AD. Today there’s program offering cruise of the Grand Canal. The area was nicely designed and had a nice atmosphere. The boat was fairly small and only held about fifteen people. The boat cruised down the canal at a leisurely pace and passed many ancient houses built along the banks. It was really nice. Each house had stairs leading down to the water for washing their laundry and vegetables and the local people relaxing outside their house waved and smiled at travellers who are cruising along this Grand Canal in Suzhou. Standing at Pudong New Area at the east side of Huangpu River, Shanghai; Oriental TV Tower was completed on 1st October 1994. The tower has a height of 468 meters. With multi functions of sightseeing, catering, shopping, amusement and accommodations, this tower has become the symbol of the city and a popular tourist attraction in Shanghai. The Bund has been a symbol of Shanghai since a hundred years. It begins with the Waibaidu bridge at the estuary of Suzhou Creek in the north and ends at Jinling Road in the south, with a total length of 1,500 m. The vast Huagpu River and the beautiful new embankment are on the east of the Bund. Here tourists can enjoy the beauty of Shanghai mother river – the Huangpu River – and the new looks of Lujiazui (one of the most prosper part in Shanghai) in Pudong district on the opposite bank. Here visitors can take a walk amidst luxuriant plants and blooming flowers, appreciate the landscaping of a garden in a bustling metropolis and enjoy the fresh air and bright sunshine rarely found amidst the hustle and bustle of a city. The section extending from the new Bund to Nanpu Bridge is called the Southern Bund, which will be into a new financial and business zone. Visiting Shanghai you must try the famous Acrobatic show and the Dumpling and music show.