Team A
ENGR 2367
Team A
City God Temple
City God Temple or Chenghuang Temple is a Taoist Temple located in Huangpu area near the Yuyuan Market. The original temple, constructed in Ming Dynasty, was destroyed and the present temple was rebuilt in 1926. After renovation, it was opened to the public in 1995. The City God Temple not only refers to the temple complex but also the traditional commercial district around the temple. There are more than 100 shops in the area and most buildings of these shops are about 100 years old. The temple is composed of several halls. The Main Hall shrines the statue of Huo Guang (a great general of Han Dynasty (202BC-220AD)). Yuanchen Hall shrines the Yuanchen God who blesses the god luck in the whole year. Yuanchen in Chinese means auspicious time. Cihang Hall enshrines three Goddesses including Yanmu Goddess (help to cure eye disease), Cihang Goddess (bless the safeness) and Mazu (bless the safe sailing). As its name suggests, Wealth Hall is a hall where people pray for fortune and happiness. Parents Hall enshrines the parents of City God. With the history of 600 years, the City God Temple originated as the Jianshan God Temple, dedicated to the spirit of Jianshan (Gold Mountain). In 1403, it changed into City God Temple. From 1821 to 1850, the temple was gradually enlarged and more constructions were added. During the Daoguang era of Qing Dynasty, the temple reached 33,000 square meters to its largest extent. In the period of Culture Revolution, the temple was badly damaged and the statues in the temple were destroyed. In 1994, the temple was restored to its former use as a temple. Because of its popularity, businesses were set up nearby and the surrounding streets became a busy marketplace. Therefore, the marketplace surrounding the temple is the good place to buy Shanghai local products and small wares and taste local famous snacks.
<Travel Tips>
Admission Fee: 10RMB
Open Time: 8:30-16:30
Phone: 021-63842346
How to Get to: Take Bus No. 11, 26, 64, 929, 932, 980
Jade Buddha Temple
Jade Buddha Temple is a Buddhist temple in Shanghai. Hui Gen founded it in 1882, from an abbot from Mount Putuo. Hui Gen had a pilgrimage to Tibet via Mount Emei and Mount Wutai, two famous Buddhist mountains. Then, he arrived at Burma where he got five jade statues of Buddha donated by an oversea Chinese resident. Passing through Shanghai, Hui Gen left two jade statues and had a temple built for keeping them. In 1911, the temple was ruined in uprising. In 1918, the Temple was reconstructed at a new site. During 10 years of Culture Revolution, the temple was destroyed again. Fortunately, the two jade statues were well protected. The temple contains Hall of Four Heavenly King, Grand Hall, abbot room, Jade Buddha Chamber and public restaurant. The Hall of Four Heavenly King has three scarlet gates which mean freeing yourself from worldly affairs in Buddhism. The hall enshrines Maitreya and Four Heavenly King who represent favorable circumstance. The Grand Hall contains the statues of Three Golden Buddha. In the central is the statue of Sakyamuni, the right Bhaisajyaguru and the left Amitabha. At the north entrance to the Grand Hall stands the statue of Avalokitevara with her two disciples on both sides. Jade Buddha Chamber enshrines sitting jade Buddha left by Hui Gen on the second floor. This jade Buddha is 1.92 high and 1 ton. On the both side of jade Buddha are cabinets which hold over 7,000 volumes of precious Buddhist scriptures. On the first floor is abbot room where a Sakyamuni portrait is hanged on the wall. Another jade Buddha, a reclined Buddha, is in the west section of the temple. In 1989, a Singapore believer donated a reclined Buddha enshrined on the opposite side of the jade reclined Buddha. The Jade Buddha Temple is famous for its two jade statues of Buddha. The temple attracts a numbers of visitors at home and abroad and also a must-see for tourists to Shanghai.
<Travel Tips>
Admission Fee: 20RMB per person
Open Time: 6:30 – 15:30
Phone: 021-62663668
Oriental Pearl Tower
The Oriental Pearl Tower is a TV tower which is located at the tip of Lujiazui of Pudong District, adjacent to Shanghai International Convention Center, opposite of the Bund. With the height of 468 meters, the Oriental Pearl Tower is the highest tower in Asia and the third highest in the world. The TV tower is composed of pedestal, three gigantic columns, upper sphere, middle sphere, lower sphere, five small spheres and a moving capsule, etc. The whole tower is supported by three huge columns that start from the underground. The lower sphere is 50 meters in diameter at a height of 60 meters above the ground. The middle sphere is 45 meters in diameter and the upper one is 14 meters in diameter at a height of 335 meters. The tower features 11 spheres, large and small. It is said that the designer was inspired by a verse of Tang Dynasty poem Pipa Xing by Bai Juyi. The verse describes a sprinkling sound of pipa (a Chinese instrument), just like pearls falling on the jade plate. The upper sphere contains restaurant, shops and observation floor. The world-renowned revolving restaurant is at 267 meters in the upper sphere. With an area of 1,500 square meters, the revolving restaurant accommodating 350 persons offers near a hundred kinds of cuisines, western and Chinese. It is wonderful for tourists to enjoy a panoramic view of Shanghai while eating delicious food. On the first floor locates Shanghai's Urban History and Development Museum, occupying an area of 10,000 square meters, which gives vivid perspective and introduction of development of Shanghai. The Oriental Pearl Tower receives more than 28 millions tourists at home and abroad every year. The Oriental Pearl has become a comprehensive tourist attraction combining other functions like sightseeing, dining, shopping, entertainment, radio and TV transmitter, exhibition. As one of landmark of Shanghai, the Oriental Pearl Tower was designated as the 4a tourist attraction.
<Travel Tips>
Admission Fee: 100RMB (visit Sightseeing Hall)
135RMB (the second ball plus Shanghai City History Hall)
150RMB (the third ball)
Open Time: 8:00-21:30
Phone: 021-58791888
How to get to: Bus No.81, 82,85,785,870,985 or Metro Line 2
Shanghai Museum
Located on the People's Square of Huangpu District, Shanghai Museum is a museum of ancient Chinese art. It was founded in 1952 on Nanjing Road. In 1959, it was moved into former Zhonghui Building at 16s, Henan Road. In 1992, Shanghai government allocated a piece of land on People's Square to build new museum and it became one of four famous museums in China. The new building has a round top and square base, which symbolize the ancient Chinese perception towards the world, that is, "the sky is round and the earth square". Overlooking from a distance, it looks like a Chinese ancient bronze ware. With an area of 2,800 square meters, the museum is arranged by theme rather than by dynasties.
The museum has five floors. A large souvenir shop on the ground floor sells museum replicas, books, postcards, paintings, calligraphy and so on.
The main exhibition halls on the first floor include Ancient Chinese Bronze Hall and Ancient Chinese Sculpture Hall. Occupying an area of 1,200 square meters, Ancient Chinese Bronze Hall displays more than 400 bronze wares from the 18th to 3rd century B.C. which best reflect the history of ancient Chinese bronze art. The hall contains two outstanding wine vessels, one taking the shape of ox and the other a pot carved with pictures of tiger, ox, leopard and Chinese dragon, which was used by the king of State Wu during Spring and Autumn period. The atmosphere in Ancient Chinese Sculpture Hall is enthusiastic and solemn. There are over 120 Buddha sculptures spanning from period of Warring States (403 B.C- 221B.C) to Ming Dynasty (1271 A.D-1368 A.D).
The second floor has only one hall, Ancient Chinese Ceramic Hall. This hall collects about 500 ceramic articles including painted potteries and grey potteries in Neolithic Age, primitive celadon during the period of Spring and Autumn and Warring States, mature celadon in the East Han Dynasty (25 A.D – 220 A.D), tricolor figurines from Tang Dynasty and so on. The third floor contains Ancient Chinese Calligraphy Hall, Ancient Chinese Seal Hall and Ancient Chinese Painting Hall. The calligraphy hall collects typical masterpieces of calligraphy of different dynasties which explain the history of ancient Chinese calligraphy art. In Ancient Chinese Seal Hall, you can see more than 500 seals from the West Zhou Dynasty (11 B.C-770 B.C) to Qing Dynasty (1636-1912). These seals were used by emperors and their court to notarize documents in ancient China. Ancient Chinese Painting Hall displays the basic elements of calligraphy and Chinese paintings which explain the relationship between Chinese calligraphy and paintings.
The forth floor has splendid Ancient Chinese Jade Hall where jades articles of all shapes, sizes and functions can be found. Ming and Qing Furniture Hall on the forth floor exhibits elaborately carved screens inlaid with jade from Qing Dynasty, a canopy bed and a folding wooden armchair from Ming Dynasty. The forth floor also contains the Ancient Chinese Coin Hall which displays coins that can predate the reign of the First Emperor in China (221-207 B.C), as well as the gold coin from Persia excavated on the Silk Road.
<Travel Tips>
Admission Fee: Free of Charge
Phone: 021-63723500
Open Time:9:00-17:00 (M-F, and visitors are prohibited to enter at 16:00)
9:00-20:00 (Saturday, and visitors are prohibited to enter at 19:00)
The Bund
The Bund is an area of Huangpu District which runs along the west bank of Huangpu River. With length of 1,700 meters, the Bund extending from Waibaidu Bridge (Garden Bridge in English) in the north to East-2 Zhongshan Road in the south is world-known destination and landmark of Shanghai. The Bund usually refers to the building and wharves on this section of road. Facing Huangpu River, the Bund houses 52 buildings of various architectural styles including Gothic, Romanesque, Renaissance, Neo-Classical and Art Deco so that it is nicknamed the world expo of architectures.
Before 1842, the Bund was a desolate area and there weren't any protective facilities along the bank. According to Treaty of Nanjing which was signed after the First Opium War, Shanghai was forced to open as treaty port and the Bund began its development. In November of 1843, a British captain was sent to Shanghai and he asked for a piece of land on the bank of Huangpu River as the British settlement. Later, French and American settlements were combined. Since then, the Bund had gradually come into being. At the end of 19th century and beginning of 20th century, a building boom led to Shanghai becoming a financial center of East Asia, which helped Shanghai step into its modern times. By 1940s, many buildings served as the headquarters of financial institutions running in China. After founding of People's Republic of China, these institutions were moved out and buildings were converted to other uses. The Bund experienced renovation in 1990s. A great change took place in Shanghai after a visit by Deng Xiaoping in 1992. In the next year, the plan for renewal and renovation of the Bund was finalized. The Bund resumed its role as financial hub.
Chen Yi Square is a famous spot on the Bund. The only bronze statue of Chen Yi (the first communist mayor of Shanghai) standing on the square. On weekends, the concert is held in the front of the statue of Chen Yi. A pedestrian transit tunnel between East Nanjing Road and Oriental Pearl TV Tower crosses the Huangpu River. It only takes about 2.5 to 5 minutes to reach the other bank of the river. The spare space in the tunnel is also fully used to demonstrate various kinds of pictures related with history, culture, technology and scenery of Shanghai. The Bund is a must-see destination in Shanghai for tourists.
<Travel Tips>
How to get there:
1. Line #2 ( only 5-10 minutes walk west of the Bund)
2. Line #20 (from Zhongnan Park, following W. Nanjing Road to People's Sq., then JiuJIang Road to the Bund)
3. Line #37
4. Ferry terminal at the sounthern end of the Bund.
