From Wikitravel

Nanjing Road (南京路 Nánjīnglù) is Shanghai's main shopping street, famously named one of the World's Seven Great Roads in the 1930s and now making a rapid comeback after decades of Maoist austerity. The road stretches from The Bund east towards Hongqiao, with Shanghai's centerpoint People's Square (人民广场) in the middle.

[edit] Get in

Metro Line 2 runs under Nanjing Road for much of the way, intersecting with Line 1 and line 8 at People's Square.

At time of writing, the new Shanghai City Air Terminal (near Metro Jing'an Temple) remains under construction, but express buses shuttle regularly to and from here to both Pudong (45 min; Y19) and Hongqiao airports.

[edit][add listing] See

• People's Square (人民广场 Rénmín Guǎngchǎng) - located at the heart of the city, it is the political and cultural center of this city. A racecourse in the colonial era and the place where one million Red Guards gathered in 1966, today's park is a comfortable place to spend an afternoon with many pigeons and lots of fresh air. Entry into People's Park on the north half of the square is free, but all attractions listed below are on the edges of the park, not inside. People's Square can be easily reached with metro lines no. 1 and 2.
• The Shanghai Museum is the premiere museum of Chinese art and artifacts in China. It is located in People's Square and is beautiful inside and out. The exterior evokes a bronze urn, which is appropriate since the museum holds the world's greatest collection of Chinese bronzes. The collection is well-presented and state-of-the-art. Directions and information are presented in Chinese and English, and the facilities are world-class. The museum is open daily 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (last admission at 4 p.m.), Saturday to 7 p.m. Admission is 20 RMB (5 RMB for students), plus 40 RMB for the excellent audio guide. Admission is free Saturday 5-7 p.m. Address: 201 Renmin Dadao. Phone: 86-21-6372-3500. The audio guide is highly recommended, especially if you do not know much about Chinese art.
  

  

  Jing An Temple (Feb. 2007)
• Shanghai Art Gallery - Bordering the People's Square on the north-west corner, this is a large international gallery with frequently changing program.
• Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall (100 Renmin Dadao, on the road across People's Park) – more interesting than you'd expect given its name, this museum documents the history of Shanghai and attempts to chart its future, with changing exhibits on the first two floors and a permanent exhibition on the rest. Particularly worthwhile is the massive scale model of what Shanghai should look like in 2020. Entry ¥25.
• Jing'an Temple (静安寺) - not to be mistaken for the "Temple of the Jade Buddha" (玉佛寺) - is an old temple that is said to have been built in the year 247 AD, making it 1761 years old this year (2008).

[edit][add listing] Do

• Shanghai Grand Opera Palace - Situated on the west side of People's Park, the Opera Palace is often listed as one of the ten best opera houses in the world. Performances are normally "classic" opera.
• Beijing Opera or jīngjù (京剧) can be seen in the opera house on Fuzhou Lu 710, on the first big corner on your right if you walk down Fuzhou Lu coming from Renmin Square. Chinese opera is very different from its Western counterpart, and you may want to listen to a sample to decide if you'll survive for three hours. Some operas include acrobatic stunts, other focus more on singing, and sometimes a tourist-oriented mash-up is performed that includes "the best bits" from various works. Interest for this art-form is low from tourists and Shanghainese alike, so getting a ticket is not a problem. Show listings and staff are Mandarin-only though. Price is around 80 yuan.
• The Shanghai Acrobatics Show features all the impressive acts of Chinese circus packed into one 90 minute show. The location is easy to walk by as the theater is hidden inside the Ritz-Carlton hotel building, on West Nanjing Lu 1376. Tickets are best bought in advance, especially in the weekend, and go for about 150 yuan. The good acts are up right from the start, so don't be late!

[edit][add listing] Buy

Nanjing Road is the most important commercial street in Shanghai, with hundreds of shops, many with a rich history. As a rough generalization, Nanjing East Road (南京东路 Nanjing Donglu) is more historical but these days a little downmarket, while Nanjing West Road (南京西路 Nanjing Xilu) is brash, modern and caters more to the status-conscious luxury shopper.

• Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street, the car-free central section between People's Park and Henan Zhonglu, is known for its stationery and book stores. One of the largest is the Shanghai Book City which is all Chinese language, or the the Foreign Book Store just down the street which caters to Western tastes.

• Foreign Language Bookstore - South of Nanjing East Road, located in Fuzhou Road, between the intersection with Fujian Road and Henan Road on the northern side. Offers the largest variety of language learning books in Shanghai and is the best place to shop for Chinese learning books. Its also popular with foreign language students.

[edit][add listing] Eat

[edit] Budget

Wujiang Road (吴江路 Wujianglu, near Metro Nanjing West Rd Station(Formerly, Shimen No.1 Rd Station) is a short, twisty alleyway packed with fiercely competitive shops selling snacks and small meals. Very cheap (most everything less than Y10) but very Chinese, with English menus basically unknown.

• Xiaoyang Shengjian (小杨生煎), 60 Wujiang Rd. Shanghai's most famous purveyor of shengjian (生煎), basically fried xiao long bao, and easily spotted thanks to the yellow signs and never-ending (but fast-moving) queue outside, with over 10,000 served daily. Pay at the cashier (a steal at ¥2.50 for 4), then join the queue, get your buns either on a plate to eat in, or packed in a box for take away. For those eating indoors, three types of soup are also available.
• Da Niang Shui Jiao(大娘水饺), East Nanjing Rd. (南京东路 "nanjing dong lu") Part of a chain of dumpling （饺子 "jiaozi") restaurants around the country. Think of it like the McDonalds of Chinese dumplings. Some of the cheapest food on the Nanjing Rd. pedestrian mall, but be prepared with either a phrase book or a Chinese friend. Dumplings are ordered in "fen". "san fen" (三分) = three fen = a normal sized plate. To order dumplings: number + "fen" + filling (pork, vegetable, etc.) Soup is also available.
• Saizeriya, Jing An Temple station- One of a Japanese chain of Italian restaurants where a decently-sized plate of pasta can be had for less than 20RMB. Menus are available in English.

[edit] Mid-range

• Bali Laguana (巴厘岛), No.3 Jinan Park, 189 Huashan Road (near West Nanjing Road, 静安区华山路189号静安公园3号门 近南京西路), tel. 62486970. Indonesian food.
• CoCo Ichibanya(CoCo壱番屋), in B1 of Jiuguang department store, exit 2 from Jing An Temple metro station. One of a Japanese chain of curry restaurants, with seafood, meat, and vegetarian curries available and variable levels of spiciness. There will be seasonal items on the menu that change depending on time of year. Prices average 30-50RMB for a meal for one person.

[edit] Splurge

• Huanghe Rd (黄河路, next to Park Hotel) has an assembly of good but fairly expensive seafood restaurants in the Chinese style, geared more for larger groups and featuring fish tanks, meters of red plush and golden dragons encrusted on all available surfaces.
• K5 , or Kathleen's 5, is located on top of the old Shanghai Horse Racing Club(the bullseye of Shanghai capital), that has now been restored as the Shanghai Art Museum. The menu offers gastronomical global cuisine with French influence. The views from the glass-encased rooftop and garden terrace are spectacular. Located at 325 Nanjing Xi (West) Road, 5th floor.

[edit][add listing] Sleep

[edit] Budget

• Shanghai YMCA, near People's Park, [1]. Comfortable rooms. Prices start at US$15 for a dormitory and US$55 for a single room.
• Mingtown Shanghai Easytour Youth Hostel, People's Square, Jiangyin Rd. No. 57, Tel. 021-63277766 (ca. 50 RMB)
• Jinjiang Inn "South Fujian". An excellent address for small budgets, in the city center of Shanghai. It is about a 15 minute walk from People's square. The hotel is entirely renovated, and offers very clean rooms with TV and internet connection. Room rates range from CNY 200 (single room) to CNY 320 (family room) per night. Address: 33 Fujian Nanlu. Phone: +86 (021) 6326 0505. [2]

[edit] Mid-range

• Radisson Shanghai New World, 88 Nanjing Rd (next to New World and right on top of metro line 1/2/8 People's Square station). This newly-built hotel is connected to the New World department store and has easy access to most of Shanghai through the metro. Rooms start at about 1100RMB. Recommended if you plan to use the metro or shop along Nanjing Rd. a lot.

[edit] Splurge

• Salvo Hotel Shanghai, 339 Guangdong Road [3]. It is the first all-steel high-rise in the area covering The Bund, Huangpu River and Nanjing Road. This 5-star hotel features Spanish-style furnishings and diverse cuisines in each of its three restaurants. Room rates start at around 700 yuan.

• Park Hotel (国际饭店 Guoji Fandian), 170 Nanjing West Rd (Metro People's Park), tel. 6327 5225. Another Art Deco masterpiece, was once the tallest building in the Far East with 22 soaring stories, but in today's Shanghai it looks like a refugee from Gotham City among the surrounding glass and steel skyscrapers. Convenient location, but the rooms with good views facing Nanjing Xilu and the Park also have to deal with the road's traffic noise. Doubles around US$100.

• Four Seasons, 500 Weihai Road, ☎ +86 (21) 6256-8888, [4]. A favorite with business travelers, the Four Seasons is a luxury hotel with excellent amenities and several in-hotel dining options. The breakfast buffet is lavish, though typical of high-end Shanghai hotels. Given the cost (225 RMB) consider upgrading to the Executive Club Lounge (not to be confused with the "Executive Suite") where you get free cooked breakfast on the 37th floor. 2,400 - 65,000 RMB.  edit

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