Shanghai is the largest and most prosperous city in China, and it is even a fast and modern metropolis in the whole world. Located in the joint region of Yangtze River and the eastern coastline, Shanghai enjoys convenient land as well as water transportations. The transportation network in Shanghai consists of two international airports, two railway stations and several long distance bus stations and passenger terminals, which connects Shanghai with many cities in and out of China.

Getting to Shanghai by Air

There are two airports in Shanghai. Shanghai Pudong International Airport has more international flights while Shanghai Hongqiao Airport has more domestic flights. Before your arrival and departure of Shanghai, please make sure to go to the right airport.

Getting to Shanghai by Train

Shanghai Railway Station is an important transportation hub in China. As the most prosperous station in this city, there are more than 70 pairs of trains departing from or arriving at this station everyday. Thus the station connects Shanghai with almost every city in China, such as Qingdao, Beijing, and Chengdu etc.

The New Hongqiao Train Station is the terminal for bullet trains departing for most cities in China.

Getting around Shanghai Long Distance Bus

As a key metropolis in China, Shanghai has a well-developed highway network radiating to every direction of this nation. The North China and the South China are closely connected by highways to and from Shanghai City. There are lots of long distance passenger stations in Shanghai and most of them have regular destinations. Besides, some stations also offer regular tourist buses to scenic spots in other cities, such as Mount Huangshan and Mount Jiuhua. Visitors can buy tickets from the ticket halls in stations or book tickets on telephone. Usually, the stations begin to sell tickets three days in advance.

Getting around Shanghai by Subway

The Shanghai Metro rapid-transit system and elevated light rail has eight lines (numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9) at present and extends to every core urban district as well as neighbouring suburban districts such as Songjiang and Minhang. According to the development schedule of the municipal government, by the year 2010, another 4 lines (numbers 7, 10, 11 and 12) will be built. It is one of the fastest-growing systems in the world - the first line opened in just 1995.

Getting around Shanghai by Taxi

The taxis in Shanghai are dominated by Santana series; of course, there are some other kinds of cars like Passat series. They share the same price; however, if you have special requirement for taxis, please book in advance.

Shanghai has the typical semitropical oceanic monsoon climate featured by moist and moderate weather. It has plenty of sunshine and rainfall. Most of the rainfall concentrates on three rainy seasons: the spring rain period, the plum rain season and the autumn rain period. Shanghai has four distinct seasons. The hottest months are July and August, when there will be around 10 days with a temperature at above 35 ℃. The coldest time is from the late January to the beginning of February. Although it hardly snows, the weather is cold and damp. Generally speaking, spring and autumn are two nice seasons for traveling in Shanghai.

Shanghai, also named "Hu" or "Shen" in short, is situated at 31"14" north latitude and 121"29" east longitude, and in the middle of China‘s east coastline. It occupies a total area of 6,341sq.km. (of which Pudong new Area occupies 523sq.km.), with a total resident population of 16,000,000. It has a pleasant climate, with four distinct seasons. The average temperature is around 180C and the annual precipitation is 1240 mm.

Shanghai is a gate to the Yangtze River delta. It is a municipality under the direct jurisdiction of the Central Government, the largest economic and trade center, a comprehensive industrial base and the leading port in China.

Shanghai is well known in the world not only for its prosperous cosmopolitan feature but also for its rich humanistic resources. In recent years, a number of modem buildings have been added to the city, such as the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, Shanghai Museum, Shanghai Library, Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai Grand Theatre, Shanghai Circus City, Shanghai City-Planning Exhibition Hall and Jin Mao Tower, Shanghai Science & Technology Museum. They have become new scenic sights in Shanghai. Colorful festivities, like Shanghai Tourism Festival and Shanghai China International Art Festival, have attracted an increasing number of tourists from home and overseas.

Shanghai’s tourist infrastructure is getting more and more accomplished. Shanghai is an ideal "paradise for shoppers". There are commercial streets and shopping areas like the famous Nanjing Road Pedestrian Mall, Huaihai Road, Sichuan Bei Road, Yuyuan Commercial and Tourist Area, the Ever Bright Commercial City, Xujiahui Commercial City and Zhangyang Road Commercial City in Pudong. There, shops stand rows upon rows with large collections of beautiful commodities, meeting the needs of tourists of different levels. Shanghai is also the paradise for gourmets. There are over a thousand restaurants serving the 16 different styles of food in China, such as the Beijing, Sichuan, Guangdong, Yangzhou, Fujian, etc. There are Western restaurants serving French, Russian, Italian, English, German, Japanese and Indian food and also Muslim and vegetarian food. In Shanghai, one can have a taste of all the delicacies in the world. Shanghai is well developed in communications by land, water and air. There are over 40 Chinese and foreign air companies opening about 300 air routes dispatching from Shanghai. Shanghai Railway Station dispatches everyday 80 pairs of trains back and forth from Shanghai. The Pudong International Airport’s annual passenger transport volume will be 20,000,000 person/times. Plus that of the Hongqiao International Airport, it will be 30,000,000 person/times. Subways No.1 and 2 and the light-rail first phase project are in operation. Together with the 10 special tour bus lines connecting Shanghai with neighboring tourist areas, they will render faster service and more convenience in urban communications to tourists. Recently, the Maglev Train from Pudong International Airport to the city has been opened to the public. It offers travelers a zero height of flight at 430 km/hr.

Xuanwu Lake, Xuanwu Lake Guide, Xuanwu Lake Travel Tips, Xuanwu Lake Travel Information.

Introducing Linggu Temple, Linggu Temple Guide, Linggu Temple Travel Guide
Article from Nanjing Municipal Commission of Tourism

Linggu Temple is a Buddhist temple in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. Linggu Temple was described as 'the best Buddhist temple in the world'.

Linggu Temple was now surrounded by a large park. Linggu Temple was first built in 515 under the reign of the Liang Dynasty (502-557). Linggu Temple used to lie at the northeast foot of Mount Zhongshan, i.e. where Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum now locates, since Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang chose the place to be his mausoleum and then the temple was moved to the present place. Linggu Temple was named by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang himself. Linggu Temple used to be large and covered an area of over 300,000 square metres. Later Linggu Temple was destroyed in warfare under the reign of Emperor Xianfeng and rebuilt under the reign of Emperor Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911).

In Linggu Temple, except for Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, Monk Xuanzang and his relic were enshrined and worshiped. Wuliang Hall, or Beamless Hall, was constructed in 1381, and is 22 metres high and 53.8 metres wide. The hall enjoys high reputation for its special architectural techniques. It has three archways on the front and rear sides respectively. The structure was built with bricks from the bottom to the top entirely, without a piece of wood or a single nail. Thus it was called Wuliang Hall, since Wuliang means beamless. It happens that the hall originally enshrined Amitayus (Buddha of Infinite Life) whose Chinese name pronounces the same with Wuliang. Later in 1928, the hall was turned into the memorial hall of soldiers who lost their lives in the War of Northern Expedition (1926–1927). More than 30,000 soldiers were enshrined. Linggu Pagoda was built in 1929 as a sign of remembrance for those soldiers. The 9 stories pagoda stands 60.5 metres high. Speeches made by Dr. Sun Yat-Sen and epigraphs of Chiang Kai-Shek were inscribed on the tower.

There is also a Three Superb Tablet in Lingu Temple, on which a painting of Monk Baozhi painted by Wu Daozi, a famous painter; a memorial poem written by Li Bai, a Tang dynasty poet; and calligraphy written by Yan Zhenqing, a well-known calligrapher in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) were inscribed. Since the three were all masters in their own field in the Tang dynasty, the tablet was considered Three Superb Tablet. Unfortunately, the original tablet was broken in warfare, the present one is a duplicate under the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing dynasty.

Quick Facts on Linggu Temple

Name: Linggu Temple 
Location: Xuanwu District, Nanjing
Phone: +86-025-84446111
Best Time to Visit: March to May; September to October
Recommended Time for a Visit: 1 Hour
Opening Hours: All Day
Admission Fee: CNY 35

Presidential Palace lies in the No.292 Nanjing Changjiang Road. With a history of more than 600 years, it has been the largest modern history museum in China. The buildings in the palace as well as the precious culture relics are well preserved. Additionally, the beautiful landscapes here are inviting.

Currently, the museum covers an area of 90,000 square meters and has three major components: the central part, the western part and the eastern part. The Presidential Palace is located on the central part of the museum. The palace is featured by a lot of well preserved building complex, unique and profound cultural environment, precious relics and documents as well as beautiful natural environment. Besides, there is also a 30,000-square-meter service area.

Introducing Qinhuai River, Qinhuai River Guide, Qinhuai River Travel Guide
Article from Nanjing Municipal Commission of Tourism

As the Mother River of Nanjing, Qinhuai River is the cradle giving birth to ancient culture of Nanjing. If one wished to consider the Yangtze as the ego of Nanjing, and the city wall as its superego, there is only one element that could be called its id: the Qinhuai River. 
While its source lies more than one hundred kilometers away, Qinhuai River is the section that passes through Nanjing which is the most significant, as for centuries it was here that the women of the flower boats were found.

Qinhuai River had long since been famous as a trading center, first developed during the Southern Dynasties period that preceded the arrival of the Sui, and once the city recovered from the disaster wrought by Emperor Wendi, the riverbank properties, including the flower boats, grew ever more lucrative. For a price, one could choose songs for the women to sing as old men poled the boats downstream; for a significantly higher price, the old men could be left on the bank.
According to Ye Zhaoyan’s Old Nanjing: Reflections of Scenes on the Qinhuai River, after wilting under the strictures of the Taiping, the flower boats flourished again for a time in the late Qing, but in the years of the Republic, growing pollution and heavy construction led the women to move from the banks of Qinhuai River to the 'song-and-tea houses' located in and around Gongyuan Street. Such was the situation in 1949 when the Communist armies took Nanjing, and did their best to stamp out the industry altogether.

It must also be said that the Qinhuai has not always been the city's erotic core; it was once simply a river known as Huaishui, and its current course has little in common with its original one. Beginning in 221 B.C., Qin Shihuang united most of present-day China under the banner of his Xian-based Qin empire. Brilliant and ruthless, he is credited with a number of extraordinary achievements: he began construction on what would one day be the Great Wall, and oversaw both the introduction of an efficient weights and measurement system and the standardization of written Chinese; to this day his place in history is defended by the extraordinary army of terracotta warriors discovered in one section of his mausoleum. Unfortunately, he was also somewhat paranoid, and became obsessed with the notion that somewhere in his vast holdings there were corners with such impeccable feng shui that other leaders would invariably rise there to challenge him. In the course of his imperial surveys, he searched for such corners, and found one here in Nanjing. He brought in hundreds of thousands of workers and ordered them quite literally to move mountains---Fangshan in particular---to destroy the area's topographico-spiritual balance.

Outside the city walls, Qinhuai River can be visited via boats that leave from Stone City Harbor. The riverbanks here, now lined with willows and oleander, were first settled some 2500 years ago. in one place the barest remains of Yue City can be seen on the west bank; there's a rectangular stone foundation that still stands intact and solid at the waterline. There is also a bronze statue of Fan Li, the Yue general who oversaw the city's construction.

Quick Facts on Qinhuai River

Name: Qinhuai River 
Location: Qinhuai District Nanjing
Phone: +86-025-52209788
Best Time to Visit: March to November
Recommended Time for a Visit: 2 Hours
Opening Hours: All Day
Admission Fee: Free
Qinhuai River Cruise: CNY 55 ( Daytime ); CNY 80 ( Night 18:00 - 22:00 )

Introducing Nanjing City Wall, Nanjing City Wall Guide, Nanjing City Wall Travel Guide
Article from Nanjing Municipal Commission of Tourism

Nanjing City Wall is one of the key historical and cultural remains of Ming Dynasty(1386) under state protection. Nanjing City Wal is a masterpiece of China's ancient architecture.

With an original perimeter of about 35 kilometers (22miles), Nanjing City Wal has a height 14-21 meters (46-67 feet). The footing has a width of 14 meters (about 46 feet). The present remains have a length of about 21 kilometers (13 miles). Nanjing is one of the few cities in China that still have old city walls, and its City Wall is better preserved with most part still remained. Even though Nanjing City Walhas a history of about 600 years Nanjing City Wal is still spectacular and of great value in terms of cultural relics protection.

Each brick weighs about 10 kilograms with a length of 40-50 centimeters, a width of 20 centimeters and a height of 10 centimeters. The bricks are inscribed with the names of officials who were responsible for the quality of the bricks. Up to 350 million bricks were used to build the wall.
Nanjing City Wal is made up of four parts. From the outside first there is Outer City, Inner City, Imperial City and Palace City. In 1390, Outer City was built with a length of 180 kilometers (112 miles) in a diamond shape to strengthen defenses though it does not exist any more and only the names of the 18 gates are still used now. Nanjing City Wal we can see today is mainly the relic of the Inner City.The Imperial City was built to protect the Palace City, which is nicknamed 'Forbidden City' as it is the centre of the four walls.

Nanjing City Wal is an important cultural relic for the inscriptions on the bricks. The inscriptions come in two forms. One is from scholars and officials, the other from the artisan or folk people. The characters of the former is beautiful and elegant and contains the major calligraphic styles, the origin of one of the characters styles even cannot be traced. From here, you can see how Chinese characters developed and understand the multiculturalism of the Ming Dynasty. These inscriptions act like a historical scroll, recording the changes of the wall over dynasties. It provides an indispensable record for the study of Nanjing history.

Quick Facts on Nanjing City Wall

Name: Nanjing City Wall 
Location: Downtown Nanjing
Dates: Yuan Dynasty
Phone: +86-025-83217200
Best Time to Visit: March to May; September to October
Recommended Time for a Visit: 1 Hour
Opening Hours: 08:00 - 18:00 (Summer); 08:30 - 17:00 (Spring, Autumn, Winter)
Admission Fee: Free
CNY 30 (Shence Gate to Taiping Gate, including the City Wall Museum)
CNY 20 (Taiping Gate to Guanghua East Street)
CNY 50 (East Water Pass to West Water Pass, including the barbican of Zhonghua Gate)
Pedicab is also available on the wall. There are three routes. 
Barbican of Zhonghua Gate–Yuhua Gate–Wuding Gate–East Water Pass: CNY 30
Barbican of Zhonghua Gate–Changgan Gate: CNY 15
Changgan Gate–Jiqing Gate: CNY 15

Nanjing Confucius Temple is for consecrating and worshipping Confucius, the great thinker and educator in ancient China. Nanjing Confucius temple was built in Song Dynasty (A.D.1034) and expanded in East Jin Dynasty. This architecture complex was ruined and rebuilt for several times. The Confucius Temple once was rebuilt in Qing Dynasty (A.D.1869) but was seriously destroyed by the Japanese aggressor troops in 1937. In order to protect the old city, the Chinese Government appropriated funds to rebuild and fix the ConfuciusTemple. Nowadays it has re-expressed its splendid civilization to the world and has been regarded as the special scenery of Nanjing.

Introducing Xiaoling Mausoleum of Ming Dynasty, Xiaoling Mausoleum of Ming Dynasty Travel Guide
Article from Nanjing Municipal Commission of Tourism

The Xiaoling Mausoleum of Ming Dynasty is the tomb of the first Emperor of Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang（1328-1398）and his queen. Although today only parts of the tomb remain, namely, leading area, Dajinmen and stele tower area, sacred way and burial area, Xiaoling Mausoleum of Ming Dynasty is still magnificent. And Xiaoling Mausoleum of Ming Dynasty is listed in the World Cultural Heritage Record. The south of the burial area is Meihua Hill, where the tomb of Sun Ouan locates. The Xiaoling Mausoleum of Ming Dynasty lies on Dulongbu Hill below the western peak (Wanzhu Peak) of the purple Mountain. The Xiaoling Mausoleum of Ming Dynasty was built in 1391-1393. Its site and structure were chosen by Zhu Yuanzhang himself. The tomb is characteristic of the wonderful arrangement of the winding tomb passage in combination with the topography.

The tomb passage of Xiaoling Mausoleum of Ming Dynasty starts from the Dismounting-from-Horse Archway in Weigang where there are two stone tablets (moved to the side of the highway). Hundreds of steps to the northwest is the Big Golden Gate, where the imperial wall of the tomb area starts and extends as long as 22.5 kilometers, reaching the city wall on the west and Linggu Temple on the east. The Big Golden Gate has three archways with single eaves and gable and hip roofs. To the north of the gate is the Monument Pavilion, commonly called the Squared Citadel, in which is a 8.87 meter-high monument, one of the huge ancient monuments of China. It was erected in 1413 by Zhu Di for his father Zhu Yuanzhang in memory of his great achievements. To the north of the pavilion is the Yuqiao Bridge where the tomb passage turns west. The hillock is flat and wide. On either side of the passage stand large stone animals. Then the passage turns north. One can see a pair of ornamental columns followed by four pairs of statues: two pairs of generals and two pairs of civil officials. Then it is Lingxing Gate. The passage turns northeast and extends to the back of the Plum Flower Hill which is just in front of the tomb and where the emperor of the Three Kingdoms Sun Quan was buried. Then the passage comes to the Gold Water Bridge, north of which is the tomb axis. Here is the end of the leading part.

Over 100 steps across the bridge is a gate and after that is Xiangdian Hall Gate. Xiangdian Hall is also called "Xiaoling Hall" and has 9 bays. On both sides are small houses. Outside the gate are the Pavilion for killing animals as sacrifices, Jufu Hall, etc. At the back of Xiaoling Hall there are three varied archways. The body of the tomb is called "the Precious Citadel", and surrounded by high walls of huge rocks in the shape of a rough circle. Before the Xiaoling Mausoleum of Ming Dynasty is the memorial shrine on a high square-walled bastion made of rectangular rocks. Underneath the bastion is a tunnel with stone steps leading first to the back of the bastion and then to the shrine. At the mouth the tunnel is a huge stone bridge, called the Immortal-Turning Bridge. The bridge face is wide and flat like a square, which can also be used as a place for a memorial ceremony.

Quick Facts on Xiaoling Mausoleum of Ming Dynasty

• Name: Xiaoling Mausoleum of Ming Dynasty
• Location: Zhongshan Scenic Area, Xuanwu District
• Phone: +86-25-84446111
• Date: Ming Dynasty (1368–1644)
• Best Time to Visit: March to May; September to November
• Recommended Time for a Visit: 2-3 Hour
• Opening Hours: 8:30-17:00
• Admission Fee: CNY 70