Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
to Pudong from Puxi can be done via ferry, metro, 12 bridges including Nanpu, Yangpu and
Lupu, or 13 tunnels.
Street signs are written in pinyin romanisation (or in some cases, in English) and Chinese
characters, but most locals and taxi drivers know streets only by their Chinese names. Public
transport is modern, clean, efficient and wide-reaching. It's also fairly accessible for foreign-
ers in that most signage and announcements are in both Chinese and English (bus stop
signs are the one exception). However, very little English is spoken by drivers and other
transport workers.
HISTORY AND ARCHITECTURE
Shanghai's history stretches back to the year 751, when Huating County was officially recog-
nised. By 1292, the central government had established Shanghai County, acknowledged as
a direct ancestor of contemporary Shanghai. The character of Shanghai as we know it today,
however, was most profoundly shaped in the aftermath of the first Opium War in 1842. The
treaty that ended that war divided the city into international concessions and brought in a
cosmopolitan mix of traders, adventurers and people from around the world fleeing from
poverty, revolution and war. Fortunes were made (and lost), and Shanghai began to develop
the glamorous sheen and business acumen that it retains today. For key dates for more in-
formation,
click here
.
Soaring skyline
This influx also exerted a profound influence on the city's built environment. Architects from
China and around the world created buildings in international styles. Neoclassical, Tudor
Revival, Mediterranean, Italianate and most notably Art Deco all feature in Shanghai's land-
scape. Even the city's domestic
longtang
lanes and
shikumen
houses are an East-West hy-
brid, unique to Shanghai (for more information,
click here
)
.
Shanghai's economic rise since the mid-1990s echoes the 1930s boom with a brand-new
skyline and a particular fondness for skyscrapers. The city has thousands of high-rises, with
thousands more planned, and three of the world's 12 tallest buildings rise up proudly (the
Shanghai Tower, World Financial Centre and Jinmao Tower).
