A Panoramic View of Scenic Spots and Cultural Sites in Shanghai

Shanghai, an international metropolis, is not only an economic, financial, trade, and shipping center, but also an illustrious city of modern history and culture of China. It boasts unique and rich resources for tourism.

The city of Shanghai was set up in 1291. Ever since then, people of Shanghai have been cultivating a sense of developing cultural and natural scenery. Some scenic spots once enjoyed a high reputation far and wide; therefore, they have witnessed the crowdedness of visitors at one time or another.

At all times, from the past to the present, scholars and specialists considered that the earliest scenic area of Shanghai was the Huating Gu or Gushui, i.e. south Songjiang at present, with a circumlocution of about 150 km. Later there appeared a notion of Sanliu Jiufeng, i.e. Sanliu is the general term for the three divisions of Lake Liu in Qingpu District, and Jiufeng refers to the nine hills in Songjiang District: Sheshan Hill, Tianma Hill, Hengyun Hill, Shegong Hill, Xueshan Hill, Chenshan Hill, Jishan Hill, and Xiaokun Hill. Once the reputation of the scenic spots was established, many men of letters and celebrities came and enjoyed themselves in these places. It is said that the footprints of such people could still be found in the nine hills.

Around the 6th century, Shanghai was named Zhaodian, and renamed Huatingqu in the 10th year of the Tianbao Period of the Tang Dynasty. The well-known Qinglong Town, which is today's Qingpu District, was already one of the major commercial ports of our country. According to relevant information, the Qinglong Town was equal to Hangzhou in scenery, having the landscaping of 3 pavilions, 7 pagodas, 13 temples, 22 bridges, and 36 lanes.

The introduction of Buddhism added splendor to Shanghai. The magnificent temples, the charming mysterious pagodas, continuous streams of visitors, and smoking incense burners tend to greatly enchant visitors. Taoism is an indigenous religion in China. At present, Baiyun Temple is a 100% Taoist temple open to the public. Islamism, a kind of imported culture, is said to have come to Shanghai during the Yuan Dynasty. Xiaotaoyuan Mosque, located at No.52, Xiaotaoyuan Street of Huangpu District, is characteristic of West European Islamic architecture. And, the Confucian Temple in Jiading, built in the Jiading Period (1219) of the South Song Dynasty, is comparatively a large architecture in the region south of the Changjiang River.

In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the tourist scenery in Shanghai enjoyed unprecedented development. The construction of gardens was all the rage at that time. Such well-known gardens as Yuyuan Garden, Guyi Garden, Qiuxia Garden, Zuibaichi Garden, Qushui Garden, etc. are still favorite places for tourists of today. In these gardens, the writings by people of letters are still shedding brilliance of the past, and some of them deserve further research. Besides, Shanghai once had quite a number of scenic spots and travel notes, including the ten spots of Tinglin, Hanxue, King Wu's Hunting Ground, etc. and the hundred spots of Xiaoyin Garden, Yuexie Garden, Bailong Pond, Yongbo Pavilion, etc. Among all the many scenic spots are the most famous Eight Scenic Spots of Shanghai: Haitian Xuri, meaning The Rising Sun at Sea; Huangpu Qiutao, meaning The Autumn Waves of the Huangpu River; Longhua Wanzhong, meaning Tolling the Evening Bell at Longhua Temple; Wusong Yanyu, meaning The Misty Rain at Wusong; Shiliang Yeyue, meaning the Night Moon at Shiliang; Yedu Jianjia, meaning Missing One's Lover at Yedu; Fenglou Yuantiao, meaning Enjoying the Distant View from the Phoenix Building; and Jianggao Jixue, meaning Snow at Jianggao.

In contemporary Shanghai, because of the invasion and infiltration by the western colonialists, vast stretches of land were turned into a paradise for adventurers. Moreover, as a result of the corruption of the Qing Government and the incompetence of the KMT Government, a great many scenic spots became desolate and dilapidated and some were even devastated. Instead, a large number of gambling houses, opium parlors, and brothels emerged. A gay and material world of feasting and revelry replaced the ancient civilization. However, up to the 1920s, with the development of economy in Shanghai, celebrities, specialists, and people of letters flocked to Shanghai, thus Shanghai Culture coming into being. At the same time, a variety of contemporary western buildings mushroomed in Shanghai. These "foreign houses", which were of the western architectural style in terms of the back-to-the-old doctrine, were both individualistic and unique. Shanghai became an experimental field for the world architectural exposition.

Shanghai is a city rich not only in scenic spots but also in glorious revolutionary traditions. She holds an extremely important position in modern history. Many famous or great people in history pursued their careers in Shanghai, leaving behind memorable footprints. The former residences of Dr. Sun Yatsen, Mao Zedong, Song Qingling, Zhou Taofen, Lu Xun and others make up the indispensable components of our history and culture, and function as favorable sites for the education of revolutionary traditions.

After the founding of New China, the People's Government laid emphasis on the development and expansion of China's traditional culture; therefore, a variety of measures were taken to restore and exploit tourist resources, and to rescue a large number of gardens and cultural relics. Yuyuan Garden can serve as a good example in this respect. At present, there are a number of national protected units of important cultural relics, such as Site of the First Conference of the CPC, Former Residence of Dr. Sun Yatsen, Site of the Central Organization of the Chinese Socialist Youth League, Mausoleum of Song Qingling, Mausoleum of Lu Xun, Yuyuan Garden, Tomb of Xu Guangqi, Longhua Cemetery of Revolutionary Martyrs, Sutra Pillar of the Tang Dynasty in Songjiang, etc. The Shanghai municipal protected units of important cultural relics are as follows: Former Residence of Cai Yuanpei, General Zhou En-lai's Residence, Square Pagoda in Songjiang, Huzhu Pagoda, Confucian Temple at Jiading, Qiuxia Garden, etc. And the Shanghai municipal protected sites of ancient culture include Maqiao in the suburb of Shanghai, Songze Village in Qingpu District, Tinglin in Jinshan District, etc. Shanghai municipal memorial places are Site of May 30th Massacre, Huang Daopo's Tomb, etc. What’s worth mentioning is that some of the key projects in the infrastructure construction has become and will always be the inexhaustible resources for tourism, such as Nanpu Suspension Bridge, Yangpu Suspension Bridge, Oriental Pearl TV and Broadcast Tower and the old western-style classic houses that fully manifest the rich historical culture of Shanghai.

Ever since the adoption of the reform and open-up policy, Shanghai has developed tourism in terms of its resources and contents with unique characteristics and programs. The concept of "Metropolitan Scenery, Metropolitan Business and Metropolitan Culture" is a clear-cut reflection of city tourism. And Shanghai will make further efforts to develop metropolitan industrial tourism, such as industrial tourism, agricultural tourism, scientific and technological tourism, etc.; metropolitan aquatic tourism, such as the Huangpu River tourism, the Suzhou Creek tourism, etc.; metropolitan convention & exhibition tourism; metropolitan casual holiday tourism; metropolitan thematic park tourism; and the Changjiang Delta tourism in collaboration with Zhejiang Province and Jiangsu Province. To date, Shanghai has over 320 star hotels, over 40 international travel agencies, approximately 600 domestic travel agencies, with about 200,000 people involved in the tourist industry. Besides, there are 17 international companies for hotel management, and more than 30 overseas travel enterprises. Meanwhile, all the districts and counties of Shanghai have established tourist counseling service centers. And in 1998 was set up a large-scale tourist bus service center, located at Gate 5 of Shanghai Indoor Stadium, providing counseling service for the tourists.

All in all, you are welcome to Shanghai for sightseeing, which is sure to leave you a wonderful memory.