Shanghai is the largest city of the Peoples Republic of China and the seventh largest in the world. The Huangpu River separates the old and new Shanghai, with the historic Bund promenade on one side and the futuristic Pudong New Area on the other. The Old Town contains some cultural delights, such as the Yuyuan Gardens and Bazaar, while Renmin Square is the focus of the cities Communist tradition, the site of many a protest and home to the Shanghai Government.

Originally, Shanghai was a seaside fishing village and in time its gradual development led to it being granted County status in 1291. Todays Shanghai is a multi cultural metropolis with both modern and traditional Chinese features. Bubbling Shanghai shows off every aspect of her unique glamour. Widely regarded as the citadel of China modern economy, the city also serves as one of the nations most important cultural, commercial, financial, industrial and communications centres.

A city government that has not been too narrowly focused on commerce to neglect wider urban planning issues and the result is one of China most elegant cities and certainly its most sophisticated and cosmopolitan. The annual Shanghai Tourist Festival offers a huge amount of traditional and not so traditional entertainment at venues across the city, and also incorporates the Shanghai shopping festival. Theres much hype around town at the time and plenty of opportunity to pick up details of all the events.

Shanghai is not only a large and rapidly developing city but also has a long and majestic history. You should not miss visiting the exhilarating skyscrapers and modern parks of Pudong, taking a walk along the historical Bund or shopping for bargains on Nanjing road or in the many markets such as Huaihai road market. Yuyuan gardens is also considered as a cultural heart of Shanghai, with wonderful architecture and the entire snack food and bar atmosphere you could want.

Shanghai has an extremely wide range of accommodation available to visitors. Shanghai people have a sweet tooth and more sugar is used than in any other part of China. The winters can be very cold and temperatures often drop well below zero. In contrast, the summers tend to be hot and humid. The best time to visit is autumn or spring. Whether you’re in Shanghai for business or pleasure, make sure you visit a few of the charming places the Pearl of the East has to offer.

Shanghai has an extensive public transportation system, largely based on buses, and a rapidly expanding metro system. For a city of Shanghai’s size, road traffic is still fairly smooth and convenient but getting more congested as the number of cars increases rapidly.

Shanghai is the only city having two international airports in China– Pudong Airport and Hongqiao Airport, the former is the main international gateway while the latter serves most of the domestic flights. From Shanghai, people can fly to all the main cities in the country (excluding Taiwan), and to the important cities of more than 20 countries and regions in the world.

Pudong International Airport is situated in Pudong New Area, it is 30 km away from the downtown area and 40 km away from the Hongqiao International Airport. Pudong International Airport is becoming one of the aviation centers in the world. Hongqiao International Airport is located in the western part of the city and is 13 km away from the downtown area, as the old airport in Shanghai, it now mainly services domestic flights.

Shanghai connects with all artery railways through Beijing-Shanghai and Shanghai-Hangzhou railway lines, and many parts of the country can be reached by direct train from here. Every day some 80 pairs of trains depart from or arrive at the city. Shanghai has several railway stations, with Shanghai Railway Station as the largest and oldest, the other two are Shanghai South Railway Station which was opened in July 2006 and is set to take over all services towards the south of China, and Shanghai West Railway Station as well.

Shanghai Harbor is an important transportation port for entering and exiting the city as well as a water passenger transport hub in east China, and it is also China’s only sea, river and inland river passenger transportation port. Shanghai Harbor now consists of the Shiliupu, Gongpinglu, Waihongqiao, Luchaogang, Jinshan, Wusong, Baoyanglu and Shidongkou passenger stations, from which passengers can go to Putuoshan, Dalian in Liaoning province, cities along the Yangtze River such as Nanjing, Wuhu, Jiujiang and Wuhan, and Japan.

The subway is an excellent way to get around the city quickly and conveniently. Shanghai now has 5 lines with another 4 under construction. The trains are fast, cheap and fairly user-friendly with most signs both in Chinese and English, but the trains can get very packed during rush hour.

Taxi is generally a good choice for transportation in the city, though Shanghai now is an over- congested metropolis. Taxi colors in Shanghai are strictly controlled and indicate the company the taxi belongs to. Turquoise taxis operated by Dazhong, the largest taxi company in Shanghai, are often judged as the best of the bunch. Yellow taxis belong to QiangSheng taxi company, while white taxis belong to JinJiang taxi company, and blue taxis and red taxis belong to those small taxi companies that they don’t have an identified color. Taxis are required to switch on the meter for all journeys, so always insist that the meter is used, unless taking a long trip out of town.

More a tourist attraction and prestige project than practical means of transport, the Maglev Train runs from Pudong airport to its teminal Longyang in Pudong in 8 minutes, from where you can transfer to the metro to get to your destination. The Maglev Trains run every 20 minutes from 7 am to 9 pm daily at a blazing speed of 430 km/h, and the ride is definitely an experience in a rollercoasterish way.