 Yu Garden is located at the heart of Old Town, a few blocks southwest of the Bund in downtown Shanghai. It is one of China's loveliest private classical gardens. Its name means Garden of Contentment, and it is indeed a pastoral world apart from modern and hectic Shanghai. Its construction was completed in 1577 by an official, Pan Yunduan, as the private estate for his father, who served in the Ming Dynasty as the Minister of Punishments. The portion known as the Inner Garden (Nei Yuan) was added in 1709. It is a remarkable maze of gorgeous Ming Dynasty pavilions and elaborate rockeries, arched bridges, and goldfish ponds, encircled by a massive, undulating dragon wall. Occupying just 2 hectares (5 acres), it nevertheless seems as expansive as a small town, with room for 30 pavilions.
The Bund
 The Bund (which means the Embankment) refers to Shanghai's famous waterfront running along the west shore of the Huangpu River, forming the eastern boundary of old downtown Shanghai. Today it consists of a marvelous promenade, stretching from Suzhou Creek in the north to Jinling Lu in the south, the perfect platform for strolling along the busy river. Just across the wide avenue (Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu) that parallels the promenade is Shanghai's signature cityscape, a long wall of colonial-era European buildings erected by foreign governments, trading houses, and expatriate millionaires mostly during the prosperous and notorious 1920s and 1930s. On the other side of the river, casting the shadow of Shanghai's future over its colonial past, are the modern towers of the city's remarkable economic boom: the skyscrapers of the Pudong New Area that include some of Asia's and the world's tallest structures, the high-tech pagodas of the 21st century.
Shanghai Museum
 Newly relocated from west Shanghai, this modern museum tells the story of Shanghai, with special attention to the colonial period from 1860 to 1949, when Shanghai was under European dominance. Over 1,000 relics, mostly from the past 200 years, are housed here. Exhibits include a vehicle collection with trolley cars (the city line opened in 1908), 1920s sedans, a U.S. Jeep (popular after World War II), and cars manufactured recently by VW and Buick in Shanghai; dioramas of the Huangpu River, Bund, and foreign concessions, evoking the street life of the 19th and early 20th centuries; and dozens of models of Shanghai's classic avenues and famous buildings. The museum tour takes about an hour; it ends at an unremarkable gift shop.
Jade Buddha Temple
 Shanghai's most popular temple with visitors, the Jade Buddha complex has an exceedingly short history, having been completed in 1918, but it exudes a powerful potion of thick incense, flashy decorations, and a dark, seedy atmosphere that makes it seem centuries older. The architectural style comes from the Song Dynasty (A.D. 960-1279), when swirling eaves were the style; the brilliant yellow walls are of recent origin. The chief attractions are the painted religious statues, which are stacked high in the three main halls. The Treasure Hall of the Great Hero contains golden images of the Buddhas of the past, present, and future, flanked by their 18 followers. The White Jade Buddha, located up a narrow set of old stairs on the second floor of Wentang Hall, is the true treasure. Carved in Burma and brought to Shanghai in 1881 by Huigeng, a Chinese pilgrim, it is twice life-size (weighing 205kg/455 lb. and measuring 2m/6 ft. 7 in. tall in seated position). In another special pavilion there is a Sleeping Buddha, also carved from a single slab of Burmese jade and brought to Shanghai by the same benefactor.
Huangpu River Cruise
 The Huangpu River, the undulating, muddy dragon that divides the two Shanghais, east and west, past and future, serves as the city's shipping artery both to the East China Sea and the mouth of the Yangzi River, which the Huangpu joins 29km (18 miles) north of downtown Shanghai. The Bund and its promenade are landmarks of Shanghai's 19th-century struggle to reclaim a waterfront from the bogs of this river (which originates in nearby Tai Lake) and the streams that feed it. The Pudong New Area on the river's opposite shore (east) is evidence in glass and steel of the financial power of the river.
The Huangpu's wharves are the most fascinating in China. The port handles the cargo coming out of the interior from Nanjing, Wuhan, and other Yangzi River ports, including Chongqing, 2,415km (1,500 miles) deep into Sichuan Province, the rice bowl of China. From Shanghai, which produces plenty of industrial and commercial products in its own right, as much as a third of China's trade with the rest of the world is conducted each year--a substantial part of it flowing up and down the Huangpu River.
Convenient tour boats can make the voyage up the Huangpu to the Yangzi River delta. From the river, there are unrivaled views of Shanghai's port facilities, the ships of the world that dock there, and the junks and Chinese barges that clot the narrow river avenue. Unrivaled, too, are the postcard views of Shanghai's celebrated European skyline to the west and the booming cityscape of Pudong to the east.
City God Temple (Cheng Huang Miao)
Every Chinese city once had its Temple of the City God, the central shrine for Daoist worship. Shanghai's version dates from the Ming Dynasty, when it was a private garden estate, becoming the main area temple in 1726. Today, it has been extensively restored to serve as a kind of religious amusement park for tourists in the Old Town Bazaar. Its stone arch marks the southeast entrance to this shopping district. Old statues of Lao Zi (founder of Daoism) and Huo Guang (a local military hero) remain, but the altar, with its gold-painted figures, is new. The courtyard was the local setting for lively fairs and markets, a tradition that has recently been reinstituted on Sunday mornings. The main courtyard is usually jammed with worshippers lighting incense.
Oriental Pearl Tower
At the eastern bank of Huangpu River visible from the Bund is the Special Economic Zone of Shanghai called Pudong. A soaring 468 meters high (1,536 feet) tower can easily attract the attention of everyone. It is widely accepted as the symbol of Shanghai thanks to its spectacular structure. In 1995 it began broadcasting nine television channels and 10 FM radio channels. Standing halfway up on it, you will be rewarded a splendid and unparalleled view of the Bund and new shanghai. Along with the Nanpu Bridge and the Yangpu Bridge, it forms a picture of two dragons playing with a pearl, which Chinese believe it implies a favorable auspice to the region.
Zhujiajiao
 Located 30 km southwest of Shanghai, Zhujiajiao is an ancient water town with a history of more than 1700 years. Covering an area of 47 square kilometers, the little fan-shaped town glimmers like a bright pearl in the landscape of lakes and mountains.
Endowed with another elegant name - "Pearl Stream" - the little town is the best-preserved among the four ancient towns in Shanghai. Unique old bridges across bubbling streams, small rivers shaded by willow trees, and houses with courtyards attached all transport people who have been living amidst the bustle and hustle of the modern big city to a brand-new world full of antiquity, leisure and tranquility.
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