Most Yangtze River cruises can include a visit to Shanghai. You should surely take advantage of an opportunity to visit China’s largest city. During the 1800s and 1900s the city was filled with Chinese and foreign residents. The blend of cultures produced a fantastic and memorable mix of architecture and art. Walk on the Bund, the famous waterfront promenade and revel in the stunning colonial buildings. Look across the Huangpu River to the skyline featuring skyscrapers and futuristic buildings. Shanghai, considered China’s “showpiece” city, is a fabulous mix of historic and futuristic buildings. A river cruise and some time either before or after in Shanghai — GetAway Travel can make that happen!

A City with historic charm…

 Although Shanghai is considered the birthplace of all things modern in China, it still retains its colonial history. Yes, you can take the magnetic levitation train (traveling at 267 mph) from the airport to get to Shanghai, but there are temples, gardens and historic areas that offer an oasis of peace and tranquility for residents and travelers. There may be sports cars zipping around, but you’ll find them during the lunch hour parked in front of traditional noodle restaurants.

The juxtaposition of old and new is evident walking on the Bund Promenade. The mile or so long stretch along the Huangpu River, lets you enjoy European buildings, including the Art Deco style Peace Hotel.

You may have traveled over the Yangpu Bridge to get to the Bund. The cable bridge is one of the longest cable bridges in the world. As a point of comparison, the Golden Gate Bridge is about 1.7 miles long; the Yangpu is a little more than five miles long. It is quite an architecture feat.

The Yu Gardens are a short distance from the Bund. Stroll in beautifully tended 400-year-old classic gardens including carvings, halls, pavilions, pools, bridges, pagodas, archways, sculptures and rockeries. You can’t miss the Exquisite Jade Rock. The 5-ton rockery was constructed with tons of rock and is nearly 50 feet high. There are tiny sculptures and carvings throughout the gardens.

Walk across the Jiu Qu Bridge to bring yourself luck as well as to the entrance of the Mid-Lake Pavilion Teahouse, the oldest teahouse in Shanghai.

The bazaar adjacent to the gardens is prime spot to shop for souvenirs. You can find different types of crafts, decorations including traditional lanterns, silks, artwork and jewels. You can get a snack of stuffed, steamed buns or noodles here, or on the grounds of the adjacent City God Temple.

The City God temple commemorates Shanghai being elevated to municipal status. There are nine palaces visitors can go through and you can enjoy calligraphy demonstrations as well as acrobatic performances. Vendors sell crab soup buns, barbecued pork buns and vegetable steamed buns. If you are in the mood for a sweet, try cakes flavored with plum flower, date mash or rice.

The largest place of worship in the city is the Longhua Temple. The property has five buildings including a 7-story pagoda with a carved wooden staircase. One of the halls in the complex, Daxiong Baodian has a large golden statue of Buddha surrounded by 500 miniature statues arranged in rows.

One of the most beautiful temples in the city is the Jade Buddha Temple. The traditional exterior design has spectacular detailing and the interior is gorgeous with dazzling golden statues displayed on the walls. There are three stunning Buddha statues, two are carved from one large piece of white jade and they seem to glow.

… and modern, futuristic buildings

 At 120 plus stories tall, the views from the Shanghai Tower, the tallest building in the city, are breathtaking. There are observation decks on the 118 to the 120th floor. The Shanghai World Financial Center, nicknamed the bottle opener because of its shape, also offers great views.

The pink Oriental Pearl Tower was once the tallest building in China. It is THE spot for epic views of the city, especially at sunset. The tower has three large spheres, five smaller and three decorative spheres as part of its construction. There are lots of things to do inside the spheres as well as the support columns. There is a fantastic, futuristic space city set up, the municipal history museum, shops, restaurants and, of course, the observation deck.

The Shanghai Museum is a circular building with 11 galleries. The exterior design of the round dome and square base symbolizes the idea of round heaven and square land. The galleries and three exhibition halls have collections of sculptures, bronzes, calligraphy, coins, official state seals, pottery and metal, lacquer and bamboo ware. It gives an overview of the history of the city, and for a different take, visit the People’s Republic of China through a collection of Party-issued art.

The Shanghai Ocean Aquarium has the longest underwater submarine viewing tunnel in the world. There are 15,000 species represented including sea dragons, poison dart frogs, empire penguins, giant salamander, Yangtze alligator and Chinese sturgeon.

A word or two about the cuisine

 Specific regions of China have specific variations on food found throughout the country. Not everything is spiced like Szechuan or bland like a soggy bamboo shoot.

There are steamed buns with a variety of tasty fillings and sometimes the buns show up in smaller form as tasty dumplings in fabulous soup. Chinese cuisine also means a variety of textures, buns or rice cakes with crispy fried bottoms and a soft, steamy or juicy top.

Dou Fu Hua is tofu pudding. It can be sweet, but most often the silky tofu is topped with a variety of savory options including soy sauce, scallions, fried dough and sea weed. Hong Shao Rou is red-braised pork belly. It gets it color from being stewed in soy sauce and sugar. Yellow Croaker is a mild, flaky fish, similar to cod, with a slightly sweeter taste, that is fabulous in Yellow Croaker Noodle Soup.

Beggers Chicken is chicken stuffed and then slow roasted wrapped in dough or lotus leaves.

If you’re in the travel mood to visit a “new” kind of Paris, GetAway Travel can craft you a China adventure. We can be reached at:  (262) 538-2140, e-mail: sue@getaway.travel or paul@getaway.travel