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The Best Full-Day 1 Tours

COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL 05_721131-ch01.qxp 1/29/09 8:15 PM Page 6

6 The Best in One Day

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7 The Best y whirlwind tour takes in the giddy highs and raucous Mlows at the elastic extremes of Shanghai society. From the cloud-bursting skyscrapers of Lujiazui, down to the colonial

grandeur of the Bund, and out onto the tiles of the trendy French in One Day

Lu i Concession, get ready for a breakneck race through this high- e B n a octane city. START: Metro to Longyang Lu. H sh u g t n a ho i Z L u 1 ★★ The Maglev. Only a city in observation deck. The Jin Mao Zhongsh u an Bei Lu L g thrall to fast cars, fast money, and Tower, next door, is arguably the u in u L ip L i S fast living would contemplate more beautiful of the two skyscrap- n e a B h n u s

a running a commercial magnetic levi- ers—an 88-story masterpiece that L o u n a i h

H c Shanghai (East) x i tation train, an operation that reput- appears to be bending outwards, like e e

n S g Railway Station h J g Shanghai i f a e n edly loses the government money windswept bamboo, tapering to a n n o Railway Station g g G n L i Tianmu Xi Lu g Lu almost as fast as it ferries passen- fine point, like a calligraphy quill. n W u ainin g H H L u u s e gers from Pudong International Air- However, it’s better to look at than o n n u a L g gzhi n n R ha port to the city’s eastern fringe. It be in, so opt to climb the SWFC. Sec- C i B Lu v S e e g h r i n Lu Da ing i m may be expensive to run, but the ond thoughts, I’d take the elevator. L o m u D e k) S (Suzhou Cree n n y @ a Maglev—with its 431kph top speed 1hr. 100 Shiji Da Dao. 021-5878- h F

H a L u h s n u j e i x g a n and steep bends—still takes the 0101. www.swfc-observatory.com. i ( n B N n a n o e o Z i h . h Z Admission 94th floor: RMB100 adults, 2 L Z breath away. I’d say this is one of

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1 n o u . L u g n g i L o n Shanghai’s top attractions, and yet senior citizens & students RMB 70,

g o X L D g N n u n l eiji People’s L n’a ne u a B u Y Tun you can experience it without need- child (<140cm) RMB50, 94th & 97th i L g X Park njin ng Lu Na anan Do ing to break stride on the journey Y N o The 88-storey Jinmao Tower has now hong Lu Renm .2 from airport to hotel. A word of Yanan Z in L g Lu u Z Zhon h been eclipsed by the 101-storey Shanghai ling X o warning though: before 8.30am in n J Lu i ong z g World Financial Centre. D a ihai s Hua n h and after 5pm, a snail-paced 301kph

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u a Xujiahui Lu Lujiabang Lu 7am–9pm (approx. Times vary h

S ng Lu Zhaojiaba slightly depending on direction of u N travel). Metro: Longyang Lu (Line 2). n L an qia pu an Br ezh idg ★★★ Ch e 2 Shanghai World n Nan Lu Financial Center. When dealing Zhongsha 1 with a city this big, it pays to get a panoramic overview. At 101 storys River Huangpu and 492m in stature, the Shanghai World Financial Center (SWFC) rises to the challenge. China’s latest ‘tallest building’ boasts a breath- taking multi-level sightseeing facility which takes advantage of the huge hole that lends the structure the look of a giant bottler opener. The glass- enclosed sky bridge on the 97th floor leads the way to a 100th floor 05_721131-ch01.qxp 1/29/09 8:15 PM Page 8

8 floor: RMB110 adults, senior citizens to the scale models of famous French & students RMB80, child (<140cm) Concession buildings by the exit. In RMB55; 94th, 97th & 100th floors: contrast to the academic feel of the RMB150 adults, senior citizens & Shanghai Museum, this place tells students RMB100, child (<140cm) Shanghai’s unique story through RMB75; children under 80cm free. superbly rendered dioramas and Daily 8am–11pm. Metro: Lujiazui waxworks, working in tandem with Full-Day Tours Full-Day (Line 2). some surprisingly tasteful sound effects and textured surfaces. The galleries are divided into three: ★ 3 The Park Hyatt. For a more pre-revolution; colonial; and post- leisurely visit to the SWFC, I like to The Best colonial, the former giving lie to the dine out in style at one of the spec- popular myth that foreigners were tacular (albeit expensive) restaurants responsible for creating this city. I or bars of the Park Hyatt on the 87th, ignore the queue for the lifts and 91st, 92nd and 93rd storys. 100 Shiji head straight for the basement. y Da Dao. 021-6888-1234. $$$. @ 90min. Oriental Pearl TV Tower, 1 Shiji Da Dao. y 021-5879-8888. Admission RMB30. Daily 8am– 4 ★★ Shanghai Municipal His- 9.30pm. Metro: Lujiazui (Line 2). tory Museum. Lurking beneath another of Lujiazui’s world-famous 5 ★ Chinese Sex Culture landmarks—the Oriental Pearl TV Museum. It won’t take more than Tower—this superb museum paints 20 minutes to explore this small Shanghai history in vivid tones, from museum and is worth a quick visit the replica rickshaw by the entrance for the adventurous. A single underground room contains a series of A range of silk slippers on display at the small—and not so small—sculptural Shanghai Municipal History Museum. hymns to human sexuality. It’s diffi- cult to believe that prudish modern China spawned some of these achingly erotic pieces of art, and I try to be very grown-up not to find the deadpan descriptions (‘A boy and a big penis’) slightly humorous. The quickest and easiest way to get to our next destination, the Bund, is via the Tourist Tunnel ride (see p 39) just next door. This ludicrous ‘attraction’ nearly makes it into the ‘so-bad-it’s-good’ category but ends up coming full circle to being plain ridiculous. Step in to see what I mean. @ 20min. 2789 Binjiang Da Dao. y 021-5888-6000. Admission RMB20. Daily 8am–10.30pm. Metro: Lujiazui (Line 2). 6 ★★★ The Bund. Much like the opium that funded Shanghai’s colonial-era development, the word 05_721131-ch01.qxp 1/29/09 8:15 PM Page 9

9 The Best ‘Bund’ is an Indian import meaning ‘embankment’. It refers to the strip of 22 resplendent colonial buildings that line the eastern bank of the Huangpu River. This remarkable in One Day arrangement of neoclassical columns, domes, and clocktowers has somehow survived the wars and revolutions intact and, despite being an ever-present reminder of foreign exploitation, remains a lauded showcase for Shanghai’s cultural depth. It’s now home to several top bars, restaurants, and boutiques. Three on the Bund is the standout spot. This seven-story beauty, at the strip’s southern extremity, features Armani’s flagship store, the only Evian Spa outside France, the edgy Shanghai Gallery of Art, as well as four outstanding restaurants. Jean Three on the Bund. George, the best of a very fine bunch (and one of the best restaurants in Shanghai) has reasonably 7 ★ Bund 12 Café. A better priced lunch sets; I often stop here coffee (and certainly a better meal) for a bite to eat. Outside, the river- may be found at one of the adjacent side promenade runs from the restaurants but for a more casual mouth of the Suzhou Creek, all the caffeine hit in inspired surrounds, I way to the ferry piers south of always find that Bund 12 Café comes Yan’an Dong Lu. It’s an essential up trumps. If nothing else, it makes Shanghai stroll, but expect crowds. for a great excuse for poking around @ 90min. Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu. a building that’s largely off-limits. Metro: Nanjing Dong Lu (Line 2). Tucked up within the grandiose for- See Chapter 3, The Bund, also p 45, mer HSBC building, there’s a balcony bullet 8. that faces the building’s quadrant

The French Concession

Despite a salacious reputation as the home of ‘swinging Shang- hai’ during the 1930s, the French Concession was first founded as a missionary base in 1844, after the end of the First Opium War. It initially took the form of a small strip of land between the original ‘Chinese’ city and the new ‘British’ Bund. The Concession expanded at the turn of the 20th century to link the riverside with the Jesuit district of Xujiahui, turning from piety to hedonism as it went. 05_721131-ch01.qxp 1/29/09 8:15 PM Page 10

10 Full-Day Tours Full-Day The Best

A 1920s ‘shikumen’ (stone gate) house within the Xintiandi drinking, dining and shopping neighbourhood.

(relatively) laid-back ambience. and views of the Custom’s House There are few better ways of getting clocktower next door. The coffee is a feel for Shanghai’s unique archi- cheap, and a simple Chinese-style tectural mix than taking a ramble menu includes spaghetti bolognese down the tree-lined avenues and whipped up in a wok by an elderly across parkland estates. The Ruijin Shanghainese ayi. The Pudong Guesthouse is a favorite of mine— Development Bank is the building’s not least because it boasts some of current tenant downstairs and it’s Shanghai’s best bars and restau- well worth peeking in at the gor- rants (Face and Lan Na Thai in Build- geous lobby, famed for its mosaic ing 4 are both superb). Shoppers domed roof (see p 66, bullet 9). who find Huaihai Lu itself all a bit Room 226, 2F, Bund 12, 12 Zhong- mainstream should head up to shan Dong Yi Lu (nr. Hankou Lu). Changle Lu, Xinle Lu, and Julu Lu— No phone. Daily 8am–7pm. $ three parallel streets that contain loads of cool indie stores. With its 8 ★★★ The French Conces- panoply of stylish bars and restaurants—the French Concession is sion. I love to head into the heart Shanghai’s trendiest area, so be of ‘swinging Shanghai’ for an after- sure to return after dark. @ 3hr. noon stroll around the ‘French Metro: Jing’an Temple, Nan Shanxi Concession’. This leafy swathe of Rd (S), Changshu Rd, Hengshan Rd. western Shanghai spans three offi- See Chapter 3, French Concession. cial districts and includes several attractions—including Xintiandi and 9 ★★★ Xintiandi. Everything you the city’s premier shopping street, need to know about how modern Huaihai Lu (east of Shanxi Nan Lu). China works is right here. In one However, the real appeal is in the besieged corner of this renovated 05_721131-ch01.qxp 1/29/09 8:15 PM Page 11

11 The Best two-block complex is the Site of the www.xintiandi.com. Metro: Huangpi 1st National Congress of the Chi- Nan Lu (Line 1). nese Communist Party. It serves 0 ★★★ ERA: Intersection of up socialist epithets with a straight

Time. In a country of clichéd acro- in One Day face to hordes of schoolchildren batics shows or overblown dance while, outside, Armani-wearing busi- extravaganzas, ERA stands out as a nessmen do million-dollar lunch world-class stage spectacle. This is deals in one of the many trendy bars a jaw-dropping showcase of Chi- and restaurants. Communism and nese—and Shanghainese—culture, capitalism are not the only unlikely with the bravura skill of its perform- bedfellows. The Shikumen (stone ers finessed into an elegant package gate) houses of this formerly work- by Cirque du Soleil choreography. ing-class neighborhood have kept Even the more predictable of their original 1920s’ facades, though tricks—contortion, hoop-jumping, the bars and lifestyle boutiques that and balancing acts—are given beau- have taken up within the brand new tiful, balletic arrangements. The interiors are as modern as they icing on the cake is a pair of quite come. Part old, part new; part mass- staggering, death-defying acts that market tourist sight, part dining have to be seen to be believed. It’s Mecca—Xintiandi caters to every possible to get a sense of the wow- taste. Those with cash should dine factor elements from any seat in the at T8 (see p 100)—one of the three circular auditorium but to properly or four best restaurants in Shang- appreciate the highly crafted blend hai—but I also rate Crystal Jade (see of music, sets, and performance, I’d p 94), which does much cheaper try to book a seat that faces the (but scarcely less delicious) Can- stage head on. @ 1hr 45min. Shang- tonese food. Shoppers should note hai Circus World, 2266 Gonghexin Shanghai Tang (see p 75), and the Lu (nr. Guangzhong Lu). Performed flagship store of Simply Life. @ 1hr. nightly at 7.30pm. y 021-6630-0000. 181 Taicang Lu (nr. Madang Lu). www.era-shanghai.com. Admission Information Center: Daily 11am–11pm RMB80–580. Metro: Shanghai Circus (individual attractions, bars, and World (Line 1). restaurants vary). y 021-6311-2288.

One of the spectacular arcobatic setpieces of the ERA: Intersection of Time show. 05_721131-ch01.qxp 1/29/09 8:15 PM Page 12

12 The Best in Two Days

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13 The Best hether looking for it or not, most will already have experi- Wenced Shanghai’s brash side by now. On day two I’m going

L to expose the city’s soft, artsy underbelly. From breakfast in the H g e n t i o a charming lanes of Taikang Lu to avant-garde art at MOCA in People’s in Two Days t a n

D L u u Park, this tour will show Shanghai at its most thoughtful. We also L n i x pass the city’s best museum along the way. It’s only a short tour, e h g Shanghai n but each of the attractions could easily consume several hours. o Railway Station G Jiaotong u Park ning L START: Taxi to Taikang Lu. ai Z H T h ia u e n L j m g i n a u Zho H n e g n

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L Attica Building 5, Lane 210, has heaps of u Weihai Lu H u N a galleries and studios while, across o . n 2 Lu g the street, is local photography leg- ong Renmin Z p ng D Lu h Jinli o u g Lu n end, Deke Erh, who sells a range of i Don g R Jinl aiha s i ing X Hu h v i Lu Yuyuan a excellent (if expensive) picture books. X n e i Garden r z D a o Peer down Lane 248 for a look at Huaihai n n g g Zhong Lu g Fangban Park N L u what a genuine lilong looks like. The

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L u for China, items are thematically Lujiabang Lu 2 Kommune Taikang Lu is full Xujiahui Lu arranged and displayed in spot-lit of restaurants and cafés though, for and sound-proofed galleries with rea- D brunch, I’d head to the courtyard off a p sonable English-language signage. u Lane 210 home to the Australian- o g Nan Lu q Tangban There are separate exhibitions on i

a run Kommune café-cum-pub. It’s the

L bronze, ceramics, sculpture, paint- u most popular meal-stop in this part ings, seals, jade, calligraphy, coins, of town. The Courtyard, No.7, Lane and furniture. In a city where Han 210, Taikang Lu. y 021-6466-2416. Chinese dominate, the Minority Sun–Thu 8am–midnight, Fri–Sat Nationalities Art Gallery is especially 8am–1am. interesting for its depiction of China’s multicultural make-up. Allow some 3 ★★★ Shanghai Museum. time at the end of the visit to look Dedicate several hours to this around the excellent Museum cauldron-shaped museum in the Shop, downstairs. @ 2–3hr. 201 Renmin Da Dao (nr. Xizang Nan Lu). 05_721131-ch01.qxp 1/29/09 8:15 PM Page 14

14 Full-Day Tours Full-Day The Best

A polychrome glazed pottery statue of a Heavenly Guardian on display at the Shang- hai Museum. The figurine dates to the Tang dynasty and is upwards of a millenia old.

y 021-6372-3500. www.shanghai fancy main meals. @ 90min. 325 museum.net. Daily 9am–5pm. Free Nanjing Xi Lu (inside People’s Park). admission. Metro: People’s Square y 021-6327-2829. www.sh-art (Lines 1, 2, and 8). museum.org.cn. Admission RMB20. Daily 9am–5pm Metro: People’s 4 ★ People’s Park. Round off Square (Lines 1, 2 and 8). the afternoon with a stroll around one of Shanghai’s nicest parks, and a visit to the two excellent galleries 5 ★★ Barbarossa. Tucked away that call it home. Purists will like the within the greenery of People’s Shanghai Museum of Art, which dis- Park, Barbarossa is three storys of plays both traditional and contem- maharajah chic filled with North porary painting in a classical setting, African antiques and the latest trip the British-built Race Club. With its hop beats. The seductively lit drink- high vaulted ceiling, wide arched ing dens upstairs make it one of the gateways, and marble flooring, the nicest spots in Shanghai for a sun- open-plan ground-floor gallery feels set drink and—with a half-price like a European national gallery. happy hour between 5.30 and Don’t miss the period photographs 7.30pm—I love to chill out here and stunning colonial fittings in the after a long afternoon in the nearby stairwell (by the entrance to the museums. The food is less memo- Kathleen’s 5 restaurant, a worth- rable, so dine at one of the two while lunch stop. Hipsters might restaurants mentioned above, or prefer the Museum of Contem- wait until you reach the Bund. 231 porary Arts (MOCA), planted in Nanjing Xi Lu (inside People’s Park). People’s Park former greenhouse, a y 021-6318-0220. www.barbarossa. few steps away. It’s fun, youthful, com.cn. Sun–Thu 5pm–2am. Fri–Sat and exuberant. The excellent Art 5pm–3am. $. Lab restaurant is hidden upstairs. The views across the tree-line are wonderful, and a choice of coffee 6 ★★ Nanjing Dong Lu. Slid- and cocktail options, as well as ing by People’s Park northern edge 05_721131-ch01.qxp 1/29/09 8:15 PM Page 15

15 The Best Pinyin & Navigation

Pinyin, literally ‘spell sound’, is the name of China’s official sys- in Two Days tem of Romanizing Chinese characters. Having learnt a few basic rules, pinyin produces words that can be pronounced by English speakers pretty much as they appear. These familiar forms appear alongside more intimidating Chinese script on all road signs, and a grasp of the basics will prove invaluable in navigating the city. Note that many Shanghai thoroughfares are divided up in northern, southern, eastern, western, or central sections, and may be further subdivided by numbers. For more on pronunciation, see p 164. Road Lu East Dong Avenue Da Dao West Xi Street Jie One Yi Lane Long Two Er North Bei Three San South Nan Four Si

is Shanghai’s most famous street, 7 ★★★ Bund Nightlife. Con- formerly the central thoroughfare tinue onto the Bund and round off of the International Settlement. your day on Shanghai’s most upmar- East of the park is Nanjing Dong Lu, ket dining and drinking strip. If you a visually stunning fusion of neon- didn’t visit yesterday, head for Jean washed advertising hoardings and Georges (p 99). Otherwise try Sun elegant colonial architecture. It’s an with Aqua (p 101), my pick of the essential after-dark stroll, though be Asian food options. Follow this up aware that this is a favorite spot for with Shanghai’s most essential party- loitering scam artists. Ignore all ing experience at the Glamour Bar approaches. @ 1hr. Metro: People’s (p 112). See Dining and Nightlife Square and Nanjing Dong Lu (Line 2). chapters for details.

Throngs of shoppers on Nanjing Dong (East) Lu, Shanghai. 05_721131-ch01.qxp 1/29/09 8:15 PM Page 16

16 The Best in Three Days

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1 Yuyuan Garden 32 Huxinting Teahouse 3 Dongtai Lu Antiques Market 4 1933 5 M50 6 Jade Buddha Temple 7 Propaganda Poster Art Museum 8 Amokka 9 Zhujiajiao 05_721131-ch01.qxp 1/29/09 8:16 PM Page 17

17 The Best aving admired Shanghai’s dazzlingly modern visage, day Hthree touches on the traditionally Chinese side of the city. The day begins at Yuyuan, a Ming-era garden at the heart of the Old City, u L i

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u a Xujiahui Lu Lujiabang Lu from the Yuyuan Bazaar outside. h Bibliotheca Zikawei and ng Lu S 257 Yuyuan Lu (inside Yuyuan Zhaojiaba St Ignatius Cathedral Na u np Bazaar). y 021-6373-6950. Daily n L u B Stone rooftop detailing inside the Yuyuan qia rid an ge 8.30am–9.30pm. $. ezh Gardens. Ch Nan Lu ongshan u 1 Zh L ★★★ i 1 Yuyuan Garden. x ★ o 3 Dongtai Lu Antiques a C Thanks to its huge popularity among gpu River Market. West of the Old City is the Huan u L domestic visitors, Shanghai’s pound- an closest thing Shanghai has left to a N ng for-pound tourist champion is do proper outdoor market. More than Pu Yuyuan Garden. This delightful 100 stalls line both Dongtai Lu and Ming-era estate is a world in minia- Liuhe Lu, though much of what they ture, rendered from beautiful pavil- Lu ua sell is sourced from factories rather oh ions, delicate rock pools and sturdy Ya than the musty store cupboards of Yanggaozhi Lu old trees. The garden was created in collectors. This is nevertheless still a 1577 by Mandarin Pan Yunduan fun place to wander, and great for who spent 18 years nurturing the curios and souvenirs. @ 1hr. Dong- two-hectare site to a state of perfec- tai Lu (nr. Zizhong Lu). Daily 9am– tion. It was ransacked by the British 6pm. Metro: Huangpi Nan Lu (Line 1). during the First Opium War but has been well restored. Yuyuan is liable 4 ★★ 1933. The daddy of Shang- to be busy but, thanks to the many hai’s crop of restoration projects stone causeways, gnarled tunnels, has taken the International Settle- and rock staircases, it’s still possible ment’s former slaughterhouse, a to snatch moments of tranquility. pallid slab of UK-imported concrete, @ 1hr. 218 Anren Jie (inside Yuyuan and turned it into a trendy epicenter 05_721131-ch01.qxp 1/29/09 8:16 PM Page 18

18 Full-Day Tours Full-Day The Best

Looking out from 1933, the former slaughterhouse of the International Settlement

of high culture. Design studios, Creek. With its exposed brickwork, galleries, and restaurants are setting wheezing air-conditioning units, and up shop amid a complex system of unswept cobwebs, M50 is deli- interlocking concrete ramps and ciously raw and grimy. There’s an bridges, high-ceiling chambers, and outstanding cross-section of mod- geometric concrete artistry. Anyone ern Chinese art and a handful of with the remotest interest in art great shops (check out Art Deco, in deco can get their kicks from the particular [p 76]). There are also two building alone. @ 30 min. 29 Shajing nice coffee stops: Timezone sells Lu (nr. Haining Lu). y 021-6514- heaps of English-language art 7439. www.1933-shanghai.com. books, but with its cozy ambiance, Metro: Hailun Lu (Line 4). Travelled Coffee and Tea is the pick. Even if art isn’t top of the agenda, 5 ★ M50. Hop in a cab to M50, a this general neighborhood offers an cultural zone that’s been created interesting perspective into what from a former warehouse district on Shanghai looked like before the the banks of the murky Suzhou

The Metro

In 1999, Shanghai had one solitary—and short—metro line. By December 2007, it had become the seventh largest underground transport network in the world, with eight lines covering the major parts of the city—and the promise of more to come. The downside is the mind-boggling crowds. Wrestling techniques are routinely employed as passengers grapple with each other in a bid to get on or off trains. Morning rush hour is unbearable, but things can also be hectic on weekend evenings. 05_721131-ch01.qxp 1/29/09 8:16 PM Page 19

19 The Best Xujiahui

Aside from mega-malls, Xujiahui is also home to a couple of in Three Days interesting sites linked to the area’s former status as a Jesuit settlement. However, they’re only worth the trip if you happen to be here on the weekend. Housed in a beautiful open-veranda building, the Bibliotheca Zikawei (80 Caoxi Bei Lu (nr. Puxi Lu). y 021-6487- 4095 (ext. 208). Tours Sat 2–4pm. Metro: Xujiahui (Line 1)) is home to more than half a million tomes, including 16th-century Latin texts. It’s part of the city library, but non-members can only enter the wonderfully musty main vault on Saturday afternoons, when free tours are conducted. Next door is the grand, twin-belfry redbrick St. Ignatius Cathedral (158 Puxi Lu. y 021-6438-4632. Free admission. Metro: Xujiahui (Line 1)) There are services throughout the week (four on Sunday) but the gothic interior is generally only open to tourists between 1pm and 4pm on weekends.

downtown varnish was added. 7 ★★ Propaganda Poster Art @ 2hr. 50 Moganshan Lu (nr. Museum. Despite the slightly sinis- Changhua Lu). Metro: Zhongtan Lu ter location in the basement of an (Line 3). apartment block, there are few bet- 6 ★ Jade Buddha Temple. The ter places to get a handle on Mao- nearby Jade Buddha Temple is only era China than at this superb private small but its easily navigable size is exhibition. China’s turbulent recent part of the reason why this remains past comes to life in a series of the most enjoyable temple stop in highly stylized propaganda posters town. The smoky furnaces, moon drawn from the 1949–79 period. gates, gilded statuettes, mumbled The tiny gallery is divided into seven mantras, and kneeling devotees sections, reflecting distinct historical make for a fascinating spectacle, but what makes the temple unique The eye-catching yellow facade of the is the pair of jade Buddhas brought Jade Buddha Temple, Jing’an district. from Burma more than a century ago. The first, a small white jade carving, is oddly installed below the teahouse to the left of the complex. The highlight is the impressive 1.9m- seated Buddha, though the additional RMB10 charge required to see it is, frankly, annoying. @ 30min. 170 Anyuan Lu (nr. Shanxi Bei Lu). y 021-6266-3668. Admission RMB20 (additional RMB10 to see Jade Buddha). Daily 8am–4.30pm. Metro: Nanjing Xi Lu, then taxi. 05_721131-ch01.qxp 1/29/09 8:16 PM Page 20

20 Full-Day Tours Full-Day The Best

Boatmen ferry tourist under a particularly crowded bridge in the Shanghai water town of Zhujiajiao.

stages of communist rule in China, 9 ★★ Zhujiajiao. Head down with excellent English-language to Xujiahui and take the tourist bus signs explaining the slogans, and out to Zhujiajiao, one of several seismic events like the Great Leap canal towns scattered around the Forward and the Cultural Revolution. outer fringes of Shanghai. It’s not Look out for the now-revered late as big as the major tourist resorts leader, Deng Xiaoping, being of Zhouzhuang or Tongli (see chap- crushed under the heels of the Red ter 10) but is easily accessible from Guard. A separate room has prints the city center and can just about and original posters for sale. @ 30 be visited in an afternoon. Like min. Block B, 868 Huashan Lu (nr. every water town, Zhujiajiao is a Zhenning Lu). y 021-6211-1845. charming matrix of burbling brooks, www.shanghaipropagandaart.com. arched bridges, and whitewashed Admission RMB20. Daily 10am– houses—seasoned with lots of 4.30pm. Metro: Jiangsu Lu (Line 2), tourists. The best way to enjoy the then taxi. experience is to while away an hour in one of the waterside teahouses, and stroll among the narrow alleys. 8 ★★ Amokka. A short walk Extra charges are levied for the mul- from the Propaganda Poster Art titude of fairly lifeless museums. The Museum, Amokka is a simple home- through ticket is sufficient. @ 4hr. style European café (think muffins Qipu District (50km from downtown kept under plastic wrap next to the Shanghai). y 021-5924-0077. till), which also does some top- Through Ticket RMB10. Tour Bus Line notch main dishes. I have a particu- 4 from Shanghai Sightseeing Bus lar soft spot for their risottos and Center (inside the Shanghai Stadium, crêpes. 201 Anfu Lu. y 021-5404- Xujiahui). Last bus returns from 0998. Daily 7.30am–midnight. $$. Zhujiajiao at 4pm.