Dating back ten centuries and formerly encircled by ramparts (the scant remains of which are still visible), the old city of Shanghai has the appearance of a huge network of alleyways. A distant echo of ancestral China, it lives according to the rhyt..

Construction of the Small Peach Garden Mosque, financed by donations from worshippers, was started in 1925 and completed two years later. At the centre of the inner courtyard, surrounded by the usual outbuildings, the prayer hall is crowned by green ..

With its quiet atmosphere and abundance of greenery, the park in which the temple stands acts as a barrier to the frenetic activity of the old city. Magnolia trees decorated with red ribbons attached by worshippers surround the Confucius Temple, foun..

The Museum of Popular Collections occupies the former headquarters of the Three Mountains Guild (1909), which brought together merchants originating from the south of Fujian. Built in accordance with the architectural style of the province, it incl..

Dedicated both to the city’s architectural heritage and future projects, the Urban Planning Exhibition Hall is a showcase for Shanghai’s grand ambitions: this modern building on four floors, opened in 2000 and crowned by a funnel-shaped pergola, high..

Away from the main centre of activity in the city and less visited by tourists, Fuxing Park offers the pleasant spectacle of the Chinese indulging in their favourite pastimes such as exercising and playing board games. Enjoy exotic walks between the ..

Part of the Okura Garden Hotel since 1989, the former French Sports Club (1924) has preserved its neo-Classical façade in the shadow of the hotel’s overwhelming tower. The main treasures of the building, the Art Deco grand staircase and ballroom..

The hand of Victor Sassoon, the owner of 1 900 buildings in Shanghai at the beginning of the 20C, including the Peace Hotel, is also evident at the Jinjiang Hotel (1929). With its noble Victorian façade, this hotel is a worthy contemporary of its mor..

Once a private estate for well-heeled families, in the 1950s and 1960s the Ruijin Hotel hosted heads of state in the main villa, the former Morris House, with its cosy cottage-like appearance. The other villas are hidden in the grounds, planted with ..

Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925), who fought in vain against the dynastic regime of the Qing, is one of the few universally respected figures in modern China. His wife, Song Qingling (1893-1981), herself a militant for the Chinese cause and the rights of Man,..

Created in 1974, this vast botanical garden extending across an area in excess of 80ha, contains hundreds of species occupying different sections (medicinal plants, bamboos, conifers, azaleas, roses etc). Its bonsai garden , one of the most famous i..

The new South station (2005), covered by a giant metal structure with a circular appearance, was designed by the French company AREP. The translucent roof above the railway lines and platforms provides light for the different floors inside the statio..

More than just a zoo, this vast leisure area popular with families is also home to a spectacular funfair on a grandiose Chinese scale. In terms of animals, the star attractions are the gentle giant pandas, whose existence is severely threatened in th..

The dynamism of Shanghai is expressed without limitation in Pudong. Nicknamed the “Chinese Manhattan”, the Pudong district has shot up in just a few decades, doubling the surface area of the city, bringing with it bold architectural designs worthy of..

Is this a UFO, a transgenic insect or a giant ball on a stick? The unusual silhouette of the Pearl of the Orient tower (1994, 468m) rises in three columns amid a mass of tubes and spheres, steel and concrete. At its summit, the revolving restaurant o..

This residential mansion (1917), the last-remaining vestige of old Pudong, is one of the rare examples of a traditional patrician house in Shanghai. Its three courtyards are home to the Lujiazui Museum . The first few rooms contain an eclectic mix: ..

The architect Paul Andreu was behind the design of this masterpiece (2005), the roof of which has the appearance of the petals of an orchid. The interior is an ode to nature with its black granite floors, beams arranged like a forest of steel, and li..

The superb Temple of the Jade Buddha (1924), an emblematic symbol of architecture from the Song dynasty, is one of the most active Buddhist temples in Shanghai. It houses two precious white jade statues of the Enlightened One which were brought from ..

The working-class districts which developed in this area at the beginning of the 20C ( Hongkou , Yangpu and Zhabei ) are home to the city’s poorer inhabitants. It was in this melting point and area of exile that the Jews brought to the Hongkou ghe..

Shan Yin Lu is one of the best preserved streets in Shanghai, with its rows of red-brick lilong and mature plane trees providing welcome shade from the fierce sun. For three years, from 1933 to his death, the left-wing essayist and short story writ..