Nanjing Road in Shanghai, the so-called No 1 shopping street on the Chinese mainland, is being groomed over the next 10 years into a world-class commercial destination. About 18 billion yuan (US$ 2.17 billion) of Shanghai investnent will be fed into the an ambitious project to build the century-old Nanjing Road into a first-class commercial destination in the next ten years. The remodelling of Nanjing Road has aroused interest from many world-famous enterprises. Executive officers from 28 top multinationals such as AOL Time Warner, Louis Vuitton and Nike, gathered at a two-day Nanjing Road International Forum that started on November 21, 2001 to seek investment opportunities and to share each other's experiences. The project will be completed by 2010. The Nanjing Road will be built into a leading world-class commercial destination, like the Champs Elysees in Paris and Fifth Avenue in New York. Mckinsey & Co, one of the world's largest consulting companies, is participating in the current project to design the street's new image. The company has spent three months investigating such world-famous streets, including London's Oxford Street and Tokyo's Ginza. Based on the success of those streets and an indepth study on the strengths and insufficiencies of Nanjing Road, Mckinsey presented a plan to divide the street into three sections. The first section, from the Bund to Henan Zhonglu, will be known as Heritage Shanghai . The section is mainly for sightseeing and quality goods shopping. The second section, from Henan Zhonglu to Xizang Zhonglu, will be called as Cosmopolitan Shanghai . The section will house China's largest street mall. Apart from dozens of flagship fashion boutiques, an 8,000-square-metre market selling sedans will also be included in this section. The third section, running from Xizang Zhonglu to Chengdu Beilu, will be known as A Taste of Tomorrow . The section will be designed mainly for recreation and entertainment. Of the 18 billion yuan (US $ 2. 17' billion) to be invested, only a small section of the infrastructure is being paid by the government. The rest will be generated from outside investment. Nanjing Road won't be turned into an expensive consumption district like Ginza in Tokyo. It will maintain its character: to serve the people.

Yu Garden (Garden of Leisurely Repose)

First established in 1559 by a Mandarin named Pan Yunduan who used governor of Sichuan and was expanded in 1577, the Yu Garden (also called as "Chenghuang Miao" -Town God Temple by the local people, it got two names because of two ancient architectural structures in the

area: Yu Garden and Town God Temple) is located on the northeast side of

the old Chinese Town. The garden encompasses 5 hectares (12.5 acres).

Laid out by a landscape artist, Zhang Nanyang, it has become one of the most renowned gardens in South China. As the Pan family fortunes declined, the garden was neglected and overgrows until the local gentry restored it in 1760.

It became the headquarters of the Dagger Society or Small-Sword Society Uprising (an uprising led in 1853 by the Small-Sword Society, a secret society, against the foreign imperialists in Shanghai and Xiamen, Fujian Province) in 1853, during the early part of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution (1851-1864), and was badly damaged. Part of the garden became

the bazaar and local guildhalls, but over 20,000 square metres remain of tall rockeries, halls, ponds and pavilions linked by zigzag corridors. The Spring

Hall , used by the Dagger Society , houses exhibits of coins

and weapons from that period. The five-ton porous Exquisite Jade Rock is one

of the attractions. Beautifully shaped, it is about 4 metres in height. It is a

piece of grotesque rock from Lake Tai in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, characterized by its wrinkled appearance, slender shape, translucent nature,

and numerous holes eroded by water. that if incense is burned underneath, smoke will float out of each crevice, drifting away with the wind, and when water is poured from the top of the rock, it will trickle out through its crevices. Legend relates that it was discovered some 1,000. years ago in the

Song Dynasty (960-1279), and it joined Emperor Huizong's collection of weird and grotesque rocks before finding a resting place in Yu Garden.

The Moon Palace, a brick carving on the wall of the eastern corridor of the Chamber for Enjoying the Moon, is considered a rare piece of treasure among all the brick carvings south of Yangtze River. It is exquisitely carved and has approximately 7 or 8 layers, producing a strong three-dimensional effect.

Jade Buddha Temple

It was first built in 1882. After the 1911 Revolution, it was neglected and rebuilt in the period 1918 to 1928 on the present site. Its two jade Buddhas (out of five brought back from Burma (now Myanmar) in 1882 by the monk Huigen from Mount Putuo were first kept in a suburb of Shanghai. The three halls make up the temple complex. These three halls are the Laughing Buddha or Maitreya Hall, Daxiongbaodian or the Precious Hall of the Great Hero (the main hall of a Buddhist temple, in which Sakyamuni is the central figure of a triad enthroned upon lotus pedestals, the two others being usuallyAnanda and Kasyapa, his two favourite disciples) and Sanshengdian or the Buddhist Abbot Hall. In the Jade Buddha Hall is the tranquil 1. 9-metre-high seated statue of Sakyamuni, founder of Buddhism, while downstairs in the Reclining Buddha Hall is the white image (96 centimetres in length) of Sakyamuni in repose. Precious statues of the Northern Wei and Tang dynasties are on display in the temple's exhibition hall, along with hand-copied Tang-dynasty Buddhist scriptures and paintings. More than 70 monks hold daily services. The temple runs a vegetarian restaurant whose menu boasts 'meat' dishes such as pickled duck, sliced eel and chicken, all made of bean curd and vegetables. Sizzling ( Crackling) rice and mushroom soup is strongly recommended.

The Bund

The Bund, which extends from Jinling Road in the south to the Waibaidu Bridge over the Suzhou Creek (the whole project of the cleanup of the Suzhou Creek is estimated to cost 20 billion yuan or US $ 2.42 billion and by 2010 hopefully the river will once again be clean enough to encourage marine life back to the area) in the north, is on the western bank of the 114-kilometre-Iong Huangpu River, a tributary of the Yangtze River. It is a 1. 5- kilometre boulevard and used to be called the Huangpu Shoal. Walking along Zhongshan Road, visitors can enjoy the fade grandeur of old Shanghai, for this was the Bund, where the great trading houses and banks had their headquarters. On one side is a line of imposing 1930s European buildings, while the other is the Huangpu River. The Bund underwent a face-lift several years ago, which included raising the level of the breakwater to prevent flooding. The raised pedestrian promenade gives a wonderful view of the Huangpu River with the futuristic-looking buildings of the New Pudong Area rising on the other side. Across the Waibaidu Bridge is the Shanghai Mansions. On the 22nd Floor of the Mansions, you will find yourself above the tree line, and unfurling below you, a marvellous view of the bustling city of Shanghai with a sea of buildings in all their majesty. The architecture, along the Bund is unanimously honoured as a "World Architectural Fair. "

Shanghai Concert Hall

In 2003, the 73-year-old Shanghai Concert Hall was moved from its original position to a new location just 66.46 metres away. The first phase of the project, to cut the building from its base and elevate it by 1.7 metres, ended on April 30, 2003 and it started moving in May. The building reached its destination in August. The new concert hall opened to the public by January 1, 2004. The plan was the largest and most difficult building relocation project ever attempted in China. Experts from Tongji University unanimously believed that no known methods from home or abroad could have offered assistance for the groundbreaking push. The moving project cost over 70 million yuan (US$ 8.45 million), far exceeding the budget of 50 million yuan (US $ 6.04 million). Some people argued the expense of moving the building already substantially surpassed that of erecting a brand-new concert hall. Plus, as the risk of moving such an old building such a long distance was extremely high, they said, it should not have been moved at all. The city was persuaded to launch the project because the building was one of the hallmarks of the city's architectural and cultural heritage. The Shanghai Concert Hall sits in the city's downtown area. As early as 1996, there was a plan to build the Yan'an Donglu Viaduct on the concert hall's original location. However, considering its long history, city planners only took 8 square metres from the concert halls' grounds for the bridge. Then, even those 8 square-metres were removed from the blueprint for the bridge, keeping the premises intact. After a massive renovation plan of the city's downtown area was launched in 2001, the concert hall turned out to be smack bang in the middle of a new subway station, on paper at least. It left two options for the concert hall-it would either be pulled down or moved somewhere else. In survey, however, experts and the majority of Shanghai residents aired the opinion that it would be an incorrigible mistake to lose the building. The concert hall is one of the few fine examples of Chinese architecture in the classical Baroque style of Western design. It holds a special place in the history of modern Chinese architecture. Zhao Shen (18981978) and Fan Wenzhao (1893-1979), two Chinese architects, originally designed the building as the Nanjing Grand Theatre (now Shanghai Concert Hall) in 1929. It features elegant ionic pillars with beautiful relief in the facade, marble interior walls and many other meticulous details. When the concert hall was completed in 1930, it was regarded as the best theatre in Shanghai. The New York Times wrote a story comparing it with the then best theatres in the United States. The theatre was used to screen the premiers of many Hollywood movies and was changed into a concert hall in 1959, thanks to its quality acoustics. Although moving it was not the best way to preserve the historical building, when compared with the fate of destruction, the moving option was the only way out. For the experts, how to preserve the original acoustics of the concert hall posed the biggest challenge. In 1962, a survey of acoustics of all the theatres in Shanghai showed that of the concert hall was No 1. The reverberation time of low frequencies is more than 1. 8 seconds in the concert hall. While the reverberation time of midrange frequencies is 1.5 seconds, showing its first-class standard. Thus the Shanghai Concert Hall is a good place not only for ensemble performances but for solos as well .

Under the plan chosen, the concert hall was separated from its base and then jacks were put under the building to hoist it in the air. Once pushed to its new home, it was set down. Actuant China Ltd provided the machinery and technical support for the project. A total of 59 hydraulic cylinders were carefully laid under the building, which worked as jacks in the lifting process. This operation was the result of months of meticulous calculation and examination of the building's structure. The cylinders were controlled by one computer terminal and the movement error in between the 59 points was designed to be within 0.2 millimetres. It was an unprecedented project for Actuant. Most of the technology and software used in the project were brand new and unique, so while working on the project, they applied patents for them. Every time the building was lifted 100 millimetres, the experts from Tongji University checked the whole structure to guarantee even the slightest bit of damage was not done. After the entire undertaking was completed, the concert hall was the only building inside an expansive lawn area in downtown Shanghai. Listening to classical music in a Baroque-style building surrounded by lush trees and a vast stretch of grassland will give everyone who visits the Shanghai Concert Hall unforgettable memories.

Shanghai Museum

Established in 1952, the Shanghai Museum has a collection of more than 120,000 rare cultural pieces including bronze artifacts, ceramics, calligraphy, paintings, lacquer wares, oracle bone inscriptions and coins. The museum is especially famous for its collection of bronze pieces. The 1,200-square-metre showroom has housed more than 400 beautifully decorated bronze artifacts, which reflect the development of the Chinese society from the 1'8'h century BC to the 3rd century BC. With its dark green colour, the showroom conveys an artistic atmosphere of history and culture. The ancient statue showroom has over 120 statues on display, including the simple and coloured wood statues from the Warring States period (475-221 BC), Buddha statues from the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534) and the pottery figures (including horses and soldiers) of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Visitors can also get a clear picture of what the ancient seals looked like in the past in the Seal Showroom. The room, consists of four parts, has over 500 seals on display, which date from the Western Zhou Dynasty(1046-256 BC). Entering the showroom of furniture of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties the visitor almost feels slhe is in a Chinese-style garden and mansion. In a 700square· metre showroom, more than 100 pieces of furniture are on show. In the Coin Gallery, the visitor can find nearly 7,000 coins made from a variety of metals including bronze, gold, iron and copper, which chart the development of coinage in China.

The museum also has a library collection of more than 200,000 books on Chinese art and history. It also has an Archaeological Department, which takes charge of archaeological fieldwork. To date, the department has successfully discovered 27 cultural heritage sites over the past decade.

Longhua Temple

Situated in the southwest part of the city, Longhua Temple is a major attraction of Shanghai. Though its popularity spread only after 1949, for foreigners living here in early 1900s, this biggest and oldest temple in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River Delta is very familiar indeed. Legend has it that it was first built in 242 during the Three Kingdoms period when Sun Quan (182-252, ruled 229-252), king of Kingdom W u, had it built to show filial love to his mother.

Oriental Pearl TV Tower

Three nine-metre-in-diameter cylinders, which are supported by three tilted standings seven-metre-in-diameter with an oblique angle of 60, tower to the sky. With eleven steel spheres in various sizes inscribed, the body of the Tower creates an admirable image, which is described in an ancient Chinese verse as: Large and small pearls dropping on a plate of jade .

The 468-metre-high Tower, which is the highest in Asia, and the third highest trailing 553. 33-metre-high Toronto Tower Canada, and 533 metres high TV Tower in Moscow, Russia in the world, was put into construction in 1991 and completed in 1993. On May 1, 1994, the 118-metre-high antenna pole was successfully connected with the Tower body in the first attempt sitting between Nanpu Bridge in the south and Yangpu Bridge in the north of the Huangpu River, the Tower is made up of 11 balls, the lowest of which is 118 metres high and the tallest being 295 metres. There is a revolving teahouse and a scenery-viewing platform, which can accommodate 1,600 people in the tallest ball. Here visitors can enjoy a panoramic view of the Bund and the Pudong New Area.

The colour-changeable luminary system of the Tower consists of 438 emitting lamps, 2 revolving lamps, 2 light belts, 2 projectors, 576 lighting points and other accessory equipments. Automatically controlled by computers, the lamps give the Tower body thousands of ch,mgeable colours.

The antenna at the top of the Tower can be used for multiple purposes of data transfer and telecommunications. It accommodates the transmission of 10 radio frequencies and 9 TV channels. The power covering the whole area of Shanghai, the operation of the Tower largely improves the receiving of radio and TV programmes for Shanghai residents.

There are 6 elevators in the tower-five installed in the three columns, one between the height of 250 metres and 341 metres. One of the five elevators is double-decked. With a capacity of accommodating 50 persons at a speed of 4 metres per second, it is the only one of its kind in China. Two medium-sized elevators, accommodating 30 persons each and running at a speed of 7 metres per second, cover the distance from the bottom of the Tower to the higher sphere within 40 seconds.

The Tower is 120,000 tons in weight, compared with the 7,000 tons of the Eiffel Tower in Paris of France. The steel structure of the lower sphere weights 624 tons, the higher sphere being S73 tons, the space cabin 50 tons and the antenna 450 tons.

Tallest building gets new security

Starting late March 2002, people entering the office area of the Chinese mainland's tallest Building (the US $ 540 million, 88-storey)Jinmao Tower in Shanghai, have to wear a special security tag to get through a new security system. The Tower has become the first office building with a total floor space of 290,000 square metres in the mainland to use a system controlling access to its doors. The building has become a new icon for Shanghai's Pudong area.