Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
as illustrated in the diorama of a study room, swarm with intricate detail; t hey
may look a little old-fashioned compared to, say, the bronzes downstairs, but
there is a similar aesthetic on display - everyday objects raised to high art.
Along Renmin Dadao
Head from the museum to the north side of
Renmin Dadao
, and you are
faced with some fine modern buildings, all worthy of exploration.
Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall
and Shanghai Grand Theatre
It's surely revealing that one of Shanghai's grandest museums is dedicated not to
the past but the future: the
Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall
(daily
9am-5pm; ¥40) is interesting for its insight into the grand ambitions and the
vision of the city planners, though if you're not keen on slick propaganda presen-
tations it can be safely skipped. Most worthy of note is the tennis court-sized
model on the second floor, showing what the city will (if all goes to plan) look
like in 2020. No room in this brave new world for shabby little alleyways: it's a
parade ground of skyscrapers and apartment blocks in which, according to this
model, the whole of the Old City (see p.63) is doomed. Look out for the giant
ferris wheel on the north Bund. O t her as yet unbuilt structures are shown in
transparent plastic. In a video room next door you can get taken on a virtual
helicopter trip around this plan, which is liable to make you giddy. B a c k on the
first floor, there's a collection of old photographs of Shanghai from colonial times
- most interesting if you've already grown somewhat familiar with the new look
of these streets. Avoid the tacky “olde-worlde” cafés in the basement.
Continue west, past the frumpy City Hall, a n d you come to the impressive
Shanghai Grand Theatre
, distinguished by its convex roof and transparent
walls and pillars - a different take on the same cosmological principles that
influenced the Shanghai Museum's designers. Created by the architects respon-
sible for the Bastille Opera House in Paris, it has ambitions of being a truly
world-class theatre (see p.130). If f you're just passing, there's a café on site and a
good shop sells reasonably priced DVDs and CDs (see p.146).
The Shanghai racecourse
The area of People's Square was originally the site of the Shanghai racecourse, built
by the British in 1862. The races became so popular among the foreign population
that most businesses closed for the ten-day periods of the twice-yearly meets. They
soon caught on with the Chinese too, so that by the 1920s the Shanghai Race Club
was the third wealthiest foreign corporation in China. When not used for racing the
course was the venue for polo and cricket matches. During World War II it served
as a holding camp for prisoners and as a temporary mortuary; afterwards most of
it was levelled, and while the north part was landscaped to create Renmin Park,
the rest was paved to form a dusty concrete parade ground for political rallies. The
former paved area has now been turned over to green grass, bamboo groves and
fountains, while the bomb shelters beneath have become shopping malls. Only the
racecourse's clubhouse survives, as the venue for the Shanghai Art Museum.
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