Once a sleepy fishing village, Shanghai is now home to 16 million people and is the epicenter of China’s rip-roaring economy. Today, it’s one of China’s most important cultural, commercial, financial, and industrial centers, and usually first on the list of must-see cities, according to old China hands.
Located on the east coast of China at the mouth of the Yangze River, Shanghai offers a unique mix of chic European-style buildings, traditional Chinese tea houses and soaring towers that look like they came straight out of a futurist’s drawing of the city of tomorrow.
Recent projects include new underground train stations, the Donghai Bridge--one of the longest cross-sea bridges in the world--and the extreme makeover of the Pudong District, Shanghai’s business center. Across the city, both in the architecture and the pace of business, the only direction to go is up: According to the Beijing Municipal Tourism Administration, Shanghai hosted 3.26 million inbound tourists in the first 10 months of 2006, a 7.2 percent increase from the previous year.
As one of the primary Chinese air hubs, Shanghai offers numerous daily flights from both coasts of the U.S. The city has two international air hubs, Pudong International Airport and Hongqiao International Airport. Both enjoy convenient transportation links to the center of Shanghai.
Meeting planners can choose from six exhibition centers, including Shanghaimart, China's first and Asia's largest permanent international trade mart, and the Shanghai New International Expo Center, one of the country’s leading expo centers, situated in Pudong District.
For a unique meeting venue overlooking the Shanghai Huangpu River, send your delegates to the rotating restaurant on top of the Oriental Pearl Tower, a symbol of Shanghai’s taste for futuristic architecture. Standing at 1,536 feet, it’s the third-highest tower in the world. The tower, with the Yangpu Bridge to the northeast and the Nanpu Bridge to the southwest, is known in the popular imagination as the centerpiece of the “twin dragons playing with pearls” tableau. The iconic landmark features exhibits of Shanghai’s urban history and plenty of shopping and entertainment opportunities.
After a meeting, attendees can take a leisurely walk along the Pudong Riverside Promenade from Dongchang Road Wharf in the south to Taitongzhan Wharf in the north. Visitors shouldn’t miss Century Boulevard, which runs three miles from the Oriental Pearl TV Tower to the Pudong Administrative and Cultural Center. Here, urban hikers can visit eight Chinese botanical gardens, including the Willow Garden, the Cherry Garden and the Yulan Magnolia Garden.
If all this walking whets the appetite, your attendees are in luck, as Shanghai has plenty of tasty treats. Shanghai specialties include "Beggar's Chicken," a dish wrapped in lotus leaves, covered in clay and baked; lime-and-ginger-flavored "1,000-year-old" eggs; and braised meat balls. Seafood lovers are also in for a gastronomical special event. Facing the East China Sea, crabs, oysters and freshwater fish are plentiful.
To sample these dishes, head to Huanghe Road. Although it’s less than a few hundred feet long, it’s home to 60 restaurants. For even more choices, try Yunnan Road and Zhapu Road.
Ready for some serious shopping? Head to Nanjing Road also known as "10 Li Shopping Paradise." Here shopaholics can peruse hundreds of shops until late at night when they can end the evening with a Huangpu River cruise—if they can tear themselves away from the silk, Chinese art, paper fans, and other specialties of Shanghai.
Whether in its architecture, cuisine or culture, Shanghai personifies the best that China has to offer and is truly the star of China’s revival.
