Your Reliable Gateway Travel to Shanghai China

Shanghai’s history can be traced back to 751AD, known as Huating County at that time. In 991 AD, Shanghai Town was set up in the county. During the 1260-1274 periods, the town evolved into an important trading port and in 1292, the then central government approved the establishment of Shanghai County in this area, which has been widely deemed as the official beginning of the city of Shanghai.

In the 16th century (or the middle period of the Ming Dynasty), Shanghai became the national center of textile & handicraft industry. In 1685, Shanghai set up its first customs office. After the Opium War in the mid-19th century, Shanghai served as a major trading port and gateway to inland China. With invasion of the big powers from across the world, Shanghai was then turned into a semi-feudal and semi-colonial city for about 100 year. On May 27, 1949, Shanghai was liberated by the People's Liberation Army of the Communist Party of China from the Kuomingtang rule and began to write its chapter in the history of the development of New China. Since the Chinese government adopted the reform and opening policy in 1978, Shanghai has witnessed marked progresses in its social and economic development.

Today, Shanghai is the largest economic and transportation center in China. It also enjoys a reputation as a famed historical city in the country. Now, the city is striving to turn itself into one of the economic, financial, trade and transportation centers in the world. It also aims to lead the country in building a well-off society and in achieving the initial modernization.

Except for a few hills lying in the southwest corner, most parts of the Shanghai area are flat and belong to the alluvial plain of the Yangtze River Delta.

Dotted with many rivers and lakes, the Shanghai area is known for its rich water resources. Most of the rivers, including the Suzhou Creek, Chuanyang River and Diangpu River are tributaries of the Huangpu River. Originated from the Taihu Lake, the 113-kilometer-long Huangpu River winds through the downtown area of the city. The ice-free Huangpu River is the main waterway in the Shanghai area.

The city had a total area of 6,340.5 square kilometers at the end of 2004, 0.06% of China's total territory. In early years after the Liberation, Shanghai was divided into 20 urban districts and 10 suburban districts. By the end of 2005 Shanghai had 18 districts and 1 county. The city's 19 districts cover a total area of 5,299.29 square kilometers and its only county has an area of 1,041.21 square kilometers.

Due to constant inflow of people from other parts of the country, the size of population in Shanghai keeps growing. By the time Shanghai was liberated in 1949, the city had a population of only 5.2 million. By the end of 2005, however, Shanghai's population of residents with permanent resident papers had grown to 13.6026 million, representing 1% of China's total.

Shanghai is the first area in China to report a negative population growth rate. The city has registered a negative population growth rate for 13 consecutive years since 1993.

A sample survey of 1% of the city population in 2005 reveals that 8.88% of the city’s permanent residents, or 1.58 million, are aged 0-14; 79.17%, or 14.08 million are aged 15-64; 11.94%, or 2.12 million aged 65 and above.

The overall education level of Shanghai's population has been steadily improving. According to the sample survey of the 1% of the city population in 2005, 18.1% of the city's population aged six and above had a college-equivalent education and above.

Meanwhile,106,700 professionals, 2,800 of them from overseas, had received the special ``Shanghai Residence Card.'' Among the them, 73.3% hold a university degree and 8.2% hold a master or doctoral degree.

The city has been continuously improving the business environment and creating new job opportunities. By the end of 2005, Shanghai employed 8.6183 million people.

Five Metro lines operate in Shanghai. Reaching almost every corner of the city, covering all the prosperous areas, the Metro is the fastest and most convenient way to move about in the downtown area.It is much cheaper than taxis.
However, the Metro has its disadvantages. It is extremely crowded in rush hours and Line 1 is crowded in whatever hours. Be wary of thieves, both on the train and on the platform, especially when it is extremely crowded.
Shanghai is going to build 10 new Metro lines from 2005 to 2012, stretching 389 kilometers. Taking a taxi is a fast and convenient way to get around Shanghai. The city has the best-managed taxi service in China.
Real taxis have a logo light on the top of the car. Around the driver's seat is a transparent shield protecting the driver from robbery. A meter and an illuminated vacancy disk on the dashboard are also necessities for a cab. Without all these things, the taxi is probably unlicensed and you should avoid it, even if the driver solicits you. You have no rights if injured in an unlicensed taxi.
Taking a taxi is much more expensive than taking a bus, but it is far from a luxury.The minimum fare is 11 yuan (US$1.38), which covers the first 3 kilometers, and then 2 yuan is charged for every additional kilometer. After 10 kilometers, the fare jumps 50 percent - to 3 yuan for every additional kilometer. Being stuck in a traffic jam bumps up the bill. Five minutes of waiting time costs the same as a kilometer. Shanghai is the only city in China with two civilian airports – Pudong International Airport and Hongqiao International Airport. You can fly direct from Shanghai to many of the major cities in the world. It is most important to check your ticket to be sure from which airport your flight departs.
Pudong airport is the new and the bigger airport in Shanghai. It's an international hub, but also handles many domestic flights.
Hongqiao airport is the domestic hub for Shanghai, via which you can fly to most Chinese cities. Shanghai buses can be extremely crowded in rush hours and some of them are not totally clean. But buses on busy shopping streets or connecting major attractions are in excellent condition and during off-peak hours it is a pleasure to ride in them. Plus, the bigger windows of a bus will give you a better view of the city than taking taxis or subways As is known to all, China is the kingdom of bicycles. Free from traffic jams and crowded buses, cycling is a good choice for you to get around the city.Mopeds and electric cycles also use bike lanes, but they are more expensive than bikes.
Many streets have no bike lane, and cycling on pavements is not wise. One-way streets can also be a problem, so before you hit the road, work out a suitable route.
Be careful while crossing a road. Local drivers are aggressive enough to turn right regardless of pedestrians and cyclists, even if the red traffic light is on. Walking is great for sightseeing, but it's easy to get lost. Embrace the crowd. Don't expect smiles because Chinese don't often look into others' eyes and smile to each other, even though most people are very friendly to foreigners.
You will find that Shanghai is a city much more than hustle and bustle. When you decide to go out on foot, remember to take paper and a pen along. Once you are confused by the labyrinth-like streets, you may write down your destination and ask a passersby for help. Generally, youngsters in Shanghai can more or less speak some English. Turning to the traffic policemen is another way when you need help. Be patient with them, for their English is not perfect, yet.

As an international city, Shanghai offers all kinds of cuisines from around the world. Of course, the majority of restaurants offer Chinese food at reasonable prices. Not surprisingly, Shanghai Cuisine, also known as Ben Bang, is not one of China Eight Major Cuisines (Sichuan, Zhejiang, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Fujian, Cantonese and Anhui). Give it a try, you may enjoy it but Westerners often complain that it's too sweet and oily. There are certainly many better gastric options available.

Unlike some other international metropolises, Shanghai is a mixed bag of the trendy and the traditional.

Nightlife here is varied and extensive, with different entertainment facilities to suit the tastes of residents of all ages and interests. Acrobatic displays and circus acts are popular. The incredible strength and flexibility of these performers enthralls and entertains their audiences, even the most doubting.

Instead of just watching DVD's at home you can go to a cinema and afterwards enjoy a walk under the moonlight and enjoy being outdoors in the beautiful surroundings.

As an international metropolis, Shanghai is ready to greet hundreds of thousands of guests from afar every day. It is, therefore, extremely important that the city provides the guests an excellent quality of accommodation and first-class lodging service.

Shanghai provides hotels of various types and levels--hotels for heads of state, heads of government, leaders of political party, and state guest delegations, which guarantee the guests a safe and ideal environment of accommodation; hotels for different classifications of travelers from wealthy business people down to budget travelers which satisfy requirements of various types; five-star hotels equipped with every luxury; clean and comfortable holiday inns for traveling families and youth hostels for young travelers;

Shanghai tries to offer all guests from afar a warm "home away from home" at any time all year round.

Shanghai may be one of the safest cities around the world. Most people in the city seldom worry about to be robbed when they walk on the streets while burglaries are also not easy to be heard, watched or read from media reports, say nothing of being killed by guns or pistols.

But, you should still pay enough attention on your wallet, briefcase or knapsack when you wandering among people on main streets, shopping malls or markets in the city.

Foreigners may be attracted by the nightlife of the city, especially parties, nightclubs and pubs. Temptations will surround you. But drugs, gambling or commercial sex are banned here. Though policemen won't check your room unless they get your permission or have a search warranty, it will be wise enough for you to fence out from those troubles

The city has an advanced telecom infrastructure. Public telephones can be found on most downtown streets. Mobile operators support GSM and CDMA cell phones.

Most office buildings have Internet connections and Internet cafes are almost everywhere. It's also easy and inexpensive to install broadband in apartments that you rent, given the permission of your landlord.

China Telecom is the biggest fixed-line telecom operator, including public telephones, fixed phones in the office and broadband connection at home and work.

China Mobile and China Unicom are the two mobile operators. China Mobile has an extensive GSM network while China Unicom supports both GSM and CDMA cell phones.

Shanghai as one of the largest centers of economy in China has witnessed the development of the modern history of China. It is now on its way to become an international metropolis. Only having a good knowledge of these important features and backgrounds of the city, tourists can take a journey to Shanghai with an object in their mind.

Shanghai has made an effort to develop the city tourism mainly featuring "city scenery", "city culture", and "city commerce". The municipal government has gradually mapped out three tourism itineraries. The itinerary for city tours, business, and shopping is organized around the People's Square and both sides of the Huang Pu River. The itinerary for cultural tours around the city is organized in the public entertainment places and communities. The itinerary for recreation and holiday in the outer suburbs is organized around Mount She, Dian Shan Lake, the deepwater port and the Chong Ming Island.

The architecture of Shanghai has its own characters. The Bund, the Stone-gate buildings, the different kinds of Shanghai style constructions, the modern installations which make an assemblage of different styles of architecture, ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign are worth visiting.