The Yuyuan Garden area is located a few blocks south of the Bund.Before the concessions were established in Shanghai in the mid-19th century,this area had been the downtown for several hundred years.

In the 1990s,a part of this former walled city was restored.The restored area is a bit of a Disneyland version of historical Shanghai.It is a world of cobbled paths,small shops and old gabled houses.The Yuyuan Garden area includes the City God Temple,the Yuyuan Garden,the Huxingting Teahouse and the Bridge of Nine Turnings and hundreds of shops and restaurants.

The major portion of this area is taken by more than 100 specialty shops and restaurants .The Shanghai Old Street ,a great stop for souvenir shopping ,stretches about 825 meters  from west to east.It displays the architectural and cultural evolution of Shanghai from the Ming Dynasty through the Qing Dynasty into Chinese Republican era.

Standing on the Shanghai Old Street is the City Gold Temple, a Taoist house of worship of several hundred years.Two gods are housed in the temple with Huoguang in the front hall and Qin Yubo in the back hall.

North of the temple lies the Yuyuan Garden ,the largest and best known one in Shanghai.The private garden was built between 1559 and 1587.The owner,Pan Yunduan,planned it as a retreat for his father.Covering some four hectares of land at that time,it was rated one of the best gardens south of the Yangtze River.In 1760,the garden was offered for sale by the heir.The transport merchant bought the garden and donated it to the City Temple.The former garden was open to the public and a number of guilds were settled in the garden.In that period,the garden was massively renovated with new pavilions and halls added.Since the 1950s,the garden has been renovated a couple of times and it is enlisted in the National Heritage.Occupying an area of 2 hectares,the restored garden is a pastoral world.It is a remarkable maze of pavilions,rockeries,bridges and ponds encircled by a white-washed wall.The traditional lyout of the estate has produced over a dozen gardens with gardens.

South of the entrace of the Yuyuan Garden is a lotus pond spanned by a zigzag bridge.The building in the pond is one of the most famous teahouses in China,called Huxingting ,or Mid-Lake Pavilion.

The Yuyuan Garden tops the list of traditional attractions in Shanghai.A trip to Shanghai is never complete without a visit to the Yuyuan Garden area.

 Jade Buddha Temple is located in the northwest of the city proper.It has been famous for its outstanding jade Buddhas since there were enshrined over 100 years ago,hence the temple’s name.

 China is a multi-religious country and the people enjoy the freedom of religious life.All people,religious or not,have equal political rights and social status.

 Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama in ancient India in the 6th century BC and was introduced into China in 68 AD when the White Horse Temple was built in Henan Province.Buddhism developed quickly in China and many new sects were formed.Today the popular Buddhist sects in China are Chan and Jing Tu.It is estimated that there are about 13.000 temples and monasteries with 200,000 monks and nuns in China.Lay Buddhists are more numerous ,especially among the Han people,the largest ethnic groups in China.

 Jade Buddha Temple belongs to Chan sect.Among the 85 Buddha temples in Shanghai,it is one of the most illustrious ,distinguished by its two jade Buddha statues.History has it that in the late Qing Dynasty,a Chinese monk Huigen from a monastery in Mount. Putuo,Zhejiang Province went on a pilgrimage.His journey extended to Myanmar,where he had 5 jade Buddha statues carved with the donations from oversea Chinese.On his return voyage through Shanghai,he left two statues,one in the sitting position and the other reclining.A temple was completed in 1900 to enshrine the two jade Buddhas.Later,the temple was destroyed in a civil war.A new temple was built on the present site in 1918.

 Jade Buddha Temple covers an area of 1.3 hectares with over 200 rooms for different purposes.It follows the typical monastic architecture with golden yellow walls,black tiles and red lacquered doors.The main buildings along the north-south axis are the Heavenly King Hall,the Grand Hall and the abbot’s room with the jade Buddha chamber above it.In both wings are accessory buildings including the Reclining Buddha Hall and Shanghai Buddhist institute offering 3-year undergraduate and 2-year post-graduate programs.

 Just as Christians go to churches on Sundays,Buddhist believers go to temples on the 1st and 15th of every Chinese lunar month.Jade Buddha Temple receives more than one million visitors annually including a large number of pilgrims.

In the Shanghai area, Xinchang is a comparatively complete historical town. It is the last ancient Watertown around Shanghai, still with the original lifestyle and architecture. More than 55% of the architecture from the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties and the era of the Republic of China (1912-1949) have been preserved.

The Xinchang ancient town is in Naihui district of Shanghai, between the heart of the city and the airport. It is 36 kilometres from the People’s Square and only 25 kilometres from the Pudong International Airport. With this location, Xichang is a perfect place to visit when you have a longer stopover at Pudong International airport of Shanghai.

Originally Xichang was the place of the Xiasha salt farm, where salt was captured from seawater. As the beach grew out, the salt farm became a place for salt people to live and exchange goods. When Xinchang became a town, Xiasha salt farm was in its heyday, with more salt production and cooking stoves than the salt farms in western Zhejiang. Today, the ancient town is known as "A small new town in Suzhou". It has accumulated a profound history and culture and is favoured by more people for its tranquillity, beauty and appearance. Xichang ancient town is very similar to towns like Zhouzhuang and Zhujiajiao in that it has narrow river channels through the town, exquisitely carved stone arch Bridges, houses built alongside the water, high stone revetments, the horse-shaped water Bridges along the river and monumental "stalagmite lane" archway built back in 1986. Xinchang town is noted for being "small, but as beautiful as Suzhou city."

If you wander in Xinchang Watertown for a day, you will have a lot to see: the small temples with big Buddha statues, the ancient musical instrument museum, the oil-painting studio and the ordinary residents’ house. In December 2008, the town was named "Famous Historic Culture Town of China" by the State Construction Administration and State Cultural Relic Bureau.

Recommended places to visit in Xichang: Ceremonial Arch, Ancient Gingko, 10 Bamboo Root Scenic Spots, First Tea House.

From all the Watertowns in the Shanghai area, Xichang is by far the quietest one.  It is not a place where you will see a lot of other tourists.

How to get there:
From Shanghai Longyuang station you can travel by Metro and bus in 45 minutes. From Pudong airport, you can travel by Maglev super fast train and metro or travel by taxi.