Shànghǎi

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Tai chi exercise, Shànghai

Introducing Shànghǎi

The most dynamic city in the world’s fastest- changing nation, Shanghai is an exhilarating, ever-morphing metropolis that isn’t just living China’s dream, but is setting the pace for the rest of the world.

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Once a playground for foreign adventurers and socialites, the one-time whore of the Orient is now where home-grown tycoons build soaring monuments to capitalism and the locals party all night. But despite a past as evocative as it is notorious, Shanghai has dispensed with the rear-view mirror, pushed the pedal to the floor and is roaring towards its imagined future so fast that keeping up is almost impossible. New developments spring up weekly, while the rapidly growing middle classes work seven days a week in the hope of graduating to the big-time.

Shanghai is much more Hong Kong than Běijīng; there are no dusty imperial palaces here. Instead, European-style cityscapes and tempting, tree-lined neighbourhoods rub shoulders with the sci-fi skyline of Pǔdōng. Shanghai was where China first met the West and it’s still a frontier town, obsessed with the latest fads, fashions and technology.

But tucked between the shopping malls and the eye-popping modern architecture is the old Shanghai, where temples nestle down alleys, along with street markets and classical Chinese gardens. Shanghai is a city of stunning contrasts, where visitors can go from sipping a cocktail in a designer bar overlooking the Bund, to eating dumplings at a street stall, or gazing at a 10th-century Buddhist monastery, in the space of a few hours. Summer is hot and humid, winter can get cold, but Shanghai never stops.

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Last updated: Jan 20, 2012

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Thorn Tree forum discussion

Recent posts

  1. DemyrZ avatar
    Long term stay in shanghai, looking for cheap accomodation

    by DemyrZ 14 September 2011

    Hi I'm looking to go to shanghai for the long term, perhaps three or four months. I'm still a student so budget would be nice. I've looked…
  2. pknielsen avatar
    RE: Which summer month is best travel to China?

    by pknielsen 14 September 2011

    Like Drumbrake says, Tibet requires carefull planning (including omitting any mentioning when filling out the visa form).. Shanghai is…
  3. gearsau avatar
    RE: Need Itinerary advice for travel in China !!

    by gearsau 14 September 2011

    You need to sit down, and make up an excel spreadsheet of the travel. Its the only way to plan where you will be, and how long you need…

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