Page 19 - 18 Day China Sample
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DAY 13 SHANGHAI (Breakfast, Lunch) At 9:00 AM be ready in the lobby of the Waldorf Astoria in preparation for a full day of exploring. Begin your morning with a visit to the Urban Planning Museum, one of the world’s largest museums dedicated to showcasing urban development. This modern five-story building is constructed of microlite and its u-shaped mezzanine is divided into exhibits of colonial and contemporary Shanghai. The exhibition on the second floor changes to the times, but in recent years has displayed a bilingual exhibition recapping 150 years of World Expositions focusing on the World Expo 2010, which Shanghai played host to. On the third floor, there is a vast scale model of urban Shanghai present day and future that is subjected to an hourly lightshow. The fourth floor contains dioramas of the master plan for Shanghai’s urban development. The fifth and final floor offers an art gallery and coffee bar. Visit the Bund, Yu Gardens, Shanghai Museum, Nanjing Road and the Xintiandi District. Explore the Shanghai Bund which has dozens of historical buildings from the 1920s and 1930s. The Bund is adjacent to the Huangpu River. The buildings once housed numerous banks and trading houses from all over the world. The Bund lies north of the old, walled city and was initially a British settlement. In this area you will find a maze of alleys and narrow streets, densely populated and always full of activity. The neighborhood evokes an earlier time in China’s history, a time before high- rises and high tech. Here specialty shops sell tea, trinkets, and everything in between. Afterwards stroll through Yu Yuan Gardens, which typify the traditional Chinese sense of beauty and symbolism. The gardens were created in the 16th century by a young Ming official in an attempt to please his father. Only five acres in size, it is a miniature wild landscape of unusual rocks, still pools, streams, pavilions, and winding footpaths.
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