It may take you months to visit all scenic spots in Shanghai. You should choose some of them if your time, energy, or money is limited.

Located in the former French Concession District, Cité Bourgogne (Bugaoli to the locals) is a unique example of the Shikumen style lane house dwelling constructed across the city by the French in the French Concession (colonial section). You can stroll through the narrow lanes of this block-sized complex completed in 1930 and get a bit of a sense of yesterday's Shanghai.

As a member of the World Waterpark Association, the popular water park Dino Beach in the Minhang District in Shanghai successfully passed the ISO9001:2000 and ISO1400:1996 Quality and Safety Accreditations in 2000. Each year, more than 300,000 travellors from China and oversea enjoy the entertainment and facilities at Dino Beach. With a capacity of over 8,000 daily patrons, Dino Beach is one of Shanghai's premiere family fun and entertainment destinations. Well-known to the locals in Shanghai as the only large waterpark, Dino Beach is one of city's top summer destinations.

Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art is a multi-functional and non-profit institution of culture and art, providing services to the development of Chinese contemporary art and a platform for the international exchange of contemporary art. It takes “originality, academic and internationalism” as its guideline, and “inheriting historical culture, renovating contemporary art” as its aim. Being the first professional modern museum of contemporary art in China, Duolun Museum of Modern Art seeks to exhibit the creative achievements of modern art, promote the culture and art exchange between China and foreign countries, go in for the academic research on contemporary art, popularize the education of modern art and thus to fulfill the five major functions of exhibition, research, education, collection and communication.

Located in the Luwan and Xuhui Districts, the French Concession District in Shanghai was the oldest, largest, and most prosperous among the four French Concession Districts establised in China. It was launched in 1849 and recovered by China government in 1943. A lot of French style buildings were among plentiful trees, making the areas romantic especially in the evenings.

Hengshan Road was Petain Road in the famous French Concession District. Xujiahui Commercial Center is in its south. Fashionable Huaihai Road shopping street is in its North. Hengshan Road is a quiet channel between the two prosperous regions and demonstrats the elegance and calmly side of Shanghai. Booths on both sides are covered by a layer of green for its hazy veil. Walking in Hengshan Road, you can see quiet buildings with greens from time to time so that you forget the noise from the city and have a good rest.

Jade Buddha Temple or Yufo Temple, a venerable and famous Buddhist temple, is located in the western part of Shanghai. In 1882, an old temple was built to keep two jade Buddha statues which Huigen, a monk, brought from Burma. The temple was destroyed during the revolution that overthrew the Qing Dynasty. Fortunately the jade Buddha statues were saved and a new temple was built on the present site in 1928. It was named Jade Buddha Temple.

With 88 stories reaching a height of 420.5 meters and 290,000 square meter construction area, Jin Mao Tower, which literally means "Gold Luxuriance Building" in Chinese, is a perfect combination of traditional Chinese architectural style and the world's modern architectural technology.

The Shanghai Longhua Temple is located next to the Longhua Pagoda at the southeast corner of the city. It was reported that both the temple and the pagoda were built sometime between the Five Dynasties and the Northern Song Dynasty (907-1126). The Temple is complete in terms of buildings, and on the same axis are located the Maitreya Hall (Miledian), the Hall of Heavenly Kings (Tianwangdian), the Grand Hall (Daxiongbaodian), and the Hall of Three Sages (Sanshengdian). On each side of the halls is a three-storied building containing bells and drums. The sound of “evening bells from the Longhua Temple” has been hailed as one of the eight great attractions of Shanghai.

Always lively and crowded, Jing An Temple or Jing'an Temple, a garishly decorated temple, has the longest history of any shrine in Shanghai, about 17 centuries (though the shopping annex is considerably more recent). Its chief antiquities are a Ming Dynasty copper bell (the Hongwu Bell) that weighs in at 3,175 kilograms (3.5 tons) and stone Buddhas from the Northern and Southern States period (A.D. 420-589). Although its name means "Temple of Tranquillity," it is hardly the place for quiet meditation these days, nor was it in the past. Before 1949, this was Shanghai's richest Buddhist monastery, presided over by the Abbott of Bubbling Well Road (Nanjing Xi Lu, as it was known in colonial times because of a well that was located in front of the temple), an imposing figure who kept seven mistresses and a White Russian bodyguard. Today's Southern-style main halls are all recent renovations using Burmese teakwood (youmu). The temple is also the headquarters and repository for the Mi Sect, a Chinese-originated Buddhist discipline that was all but extinct until it was reintroduced from Japan in 1953.

Moganshan Road

Almost all visitors to Shanghai go to the most popular street full of both modern shopping malls and old stores of centuries. Nanjing Road is the miniature of the history and culture of Shanghai for a century. Nanjing Road is divided into two, the east and west roads. Generally, products in Nanjing East Road are more expensive than those in Nanjing West Road. A dinning street, Wujiang Road, is nearby.

The People's Square, which was refurbished and expanded in 1994, is the political and cultural center of Shanghai. The Shanghai Municipal Government Building or Shanghai City Hall is just next to the People's Square. It is often used as the standard reference point for measurement of distance to a certain location.

Shanghai Botanic Gardens

Shanghai Grand View Garden

As a museum of ancient Chinese art, Shanghai Museum possesses a collection of 120,000 precious works of art. Its rich and high-quality collection of ancient Chinese bronze, ceramics, painting and calligraphy is specially celebrated in the world. Its unique architectural form of a round top with a square base, symbolizing the ancient Chinese philosophy that the square earth is under the round sky, is a distinguished architectural combination of traditional feature and modern spirit.

Shanghai Old City

Shanghai Propaganda Poster Center

Shanghai Science and Technology Museum

Shanghai Urban Planning Museum

Sheshan National Tourism Park

Shikumen Wulixiang

Less than 10 years ago, Taikang Road was a typical Shanghai lane community, full of the noise and smells of families living within whispering distance of each other. Today new galleries, cafes and boutiques are opening like clockwork, and a massive expansion program is under way to fully exploit the thousands of visitors seeking to experience the earthy atmosphere of old Shanghai. There are many shops and cafes to go through and it’s a lot of fun just to wander and stop in where you like.

Traditionally, there was a city god temple in each city in China, which used to be dedicated to some immortal or god as protectors of the city. The Temple of the City God, City God Temple or Cheng Huang Temple, in Shanghai is the most famous in China. It was built in the fifteenth century during the Ming Dynasty. It is located in the old town area and next to the Yuyuan Garden.

The Bund (Waitan to the locals) is a trademark of Shanghai. Almost everyone traveling to Shanghai goes there. There are dozens of historical Western-style buildings, lining the Huangpu River, most of which were built before 1937. “The Bund” was derived from the Anglo-Indian term that literally means “a muddy embankment.” At the beginning of the 19th century, the area was a mere shallow waterfront covered with reeds. However, in the 1930s, the string of buildings hosted the city's financial and commercial centers, and the world's greatest banks and trading empires established a base here.

Opposite to the Bund of Shanghai, the Oriental Pearl Radio and Television Tower stands in Pudong, the Eastern side of the Huangpu River. The Tower was once the highest building in Shanghai, but it has been replaced by Shanghai World Financial Center. It has become one of symbolic buildings in Shanghai, just like the Statue of Liberty in New York, Sydney Opera House and Eiffel Tower in Paris. The Oriental Pearl Tower in combination with Jinmao Tower and World Financial Center add beauty to each other, reflecting the spectacular scenery of the international metropolis. With the service function of sightseeing, catering, shopping, entertainment, the River tour, the exhibition business, historical display, travel agents, and so on, the Oriental Pearl Tower has become one of tourism resorts in Shanghai.

Wujiang Road is famous for its cheap and nice eatery, and the most popular snack street in Shanghai. Located in the southeast of Jing'an District and near the People's Square, just at the exit of Metro Line #2, Nanjing West Road Station (formerly Shimen Yi Road Station), it is a good and convenient dining place for you to rest and relax after your tired shopping in Nanjing Road.

As a re-creation born out of the sprawls of Shikumen housing, which is the architectural symbol of Shanghai in the 20th century, Shanghai Xintiandi, “The City’s Living-Room" is a place to unwind and relax after a long day. With its signature mix of east and west, old and new, Shanghai Xintiandi is like a window through which Shanghai views itself and the world. Since 2001, Shanghai Xintiandi has developed in step with this burgeoning metropolis, sharing its dynamic pulse and becoming a local landmark of old-Shanghai architecture.

Yuyuan Gardens or Yu Yuan or Yu Garden, which was built in Ming Dynasty and with a history of more than 400 years, is an important traditional tourist resort in Shanghai, which enjoys the reputation of “the crown of beauty in Southeast China”.The garden is located in the center of the Old City next to the Temple of the City God. Compared to the noisy markets and streets outside of the garden, it is very quiet inside, easing your emotion induced by the busy life in the large city.

Zendai Museum of Modern Art

Zhujiajiao is an ancient town located at the bank of the Dianshan Lake in Qingpu District. The town, with a history of over 1,000 years, is the most well reserved ancient town in Shanghai and has been known as “Venice of Shanghai” for its simple but attractive appearance typical of towns in the south part of China. In 1991, it was designated by the State Council as the “Well-Known Chinese Cultural Town”. The ancient town is simple and tranquil, refined and elegant.

If you need a personal tour guide in Shanghai, please check these personal tour guides.

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Do not forget these important websites on Shanghai and blogs talking about Shanghai.  You may want to check these bars and hotels in Shanghai.