Shanghai is one of China's largest metropolis with a rapidly growing middle-class. It is also a commercial and business hub, as well as technology and research center of China.

The bund(a muddy foreshore) along the Huangpu River, was once the center of trade with the Western world . Today, the remains of the western influence brings out the exotic atmosphere of Shanghai as a modern city where east and west coexist. Across the Huangpu River rises the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, the tallest of its kind in Asia, which symbolizes the dynamism of recent China. The bund is best viewed from the tower observatory at night or from the Nanpu Bridge.

Yuyuan Garden, or "Garden of Leisurely Repose" was constrcted during the Ming Dynasty in the sixteenth century, and it is one of the few well-restored old sites left in Shanghai. The Garden is divided into six parts, each separated with a white brick wall with undulating dragons at the top. With pavilions, halls, chambers, towers, ponds and rockeries, it presents more than 40 scenic spots. After the visit to the Garden, drop in for a tea at Huxinting (Heart of Lake Pavillion)where you can enjoy endless refills while listening to the traditional music of the venearble Chinesse orchestra.

Yu Fu Si or Jade Buddha Temple houses two remarkable white jade buddhas which had been brought from Burma, one in a sitting posture and the other, reclining. There are five main halls each filled with buddhas, statues, frightening guardian gods of the temple, collection of Buddhist scriptures and paintings. At the entrance of the temple stands the "mountain gate (San Men)" consisting of three doors symbolizing the three extrications.

Shanghai, also called in short in Chinese "Hu" or "Shen", situated at 31.14 degrees north latitude and 121.29 degrees east longitude, in the middle of China's east coastline, is a gate to the Changjiang River valley. Shanghai is a municipality under the direct jurisdiction of the central government. It is the largest economic and trade centre in the country and a comprehensive industrial base. Shanghai Port is the leading port in China. It is an open city along the coast, as well as a famous historical and cultural city. Its total area is 6,341 sq.km., of which the Pudong New Area occupies 523 sq.km. Its total population is over 13 million.