Shanghai

October 15, 2006
36 Hours
Shanghai
By DAVID BARBOZA

ON a cool autumn night, Shanghai is drenched in light. Billboards are flashing, highway lights are pulsing, and tall buildings seem to have been converted into giant television screens. China’s showcase city appears to be showing off, decorating itself as though it’s Asia’s Las Vegas. This is China’s financial capital, its fashion center and, clearly, its coolest metropolis. Be prepared for a city on steroids, and one banking on long-term hyper-growth. In a country increasingly populated by grimy, characterless cities, Shanghai is also far and away China’s most attractive city, particularly after nightfall.

Friday

6 p.m.
1) A WALK ALONG THE BUND

The most spectacular view of Shanghai can be seen at night from the Bund, a historic waterfront area that sits on the west bank of the Huangpu River. Hulking stone structures built in the 1920’s and 30’s by the colonial powers that once dominated this city have been handsomely renovated and transformed into upscale bars, restaurants and retailers. Walk along the promenade and look out across the river toward the city’s booming financial district, Pudong, which is packed with futuristic skyscrapers and flashy neon-lit billboards. The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, now known as HSBC, once had headquarters on the Bund, and the building’s foyer at No. 12 is gorgeously restored with murals and carvings. Also notable are the Custom House and the Art Deco Peace Hotel (20 Nanjing Road East, 86-21-6321-6888). A building known as Three on the Bund, however, is in perhaps the city’s most impressive location (86-21-6321-7733). The interior was elegantly redesigned by Michael Graves. On the ground level is Giorgio Armani. On the third floor is the hip Shanghai Gallery of Art, where one gets a nice view of the building’s splendid atrium.

8 p.m.
2) RESTAURANT ON RESTAURANT

A nice way to start off a trip to Shanghai is with dinner at Laris, one of the superb restaurants at Three on the Bund. It is decorated in soothing colors and cool marble. From your table, you can often catch a glimpse of the river and Pudong’s space-age skyline. The chef, David Laris, who is Australian Greek, likes fresh ingredients and international flavors. He serves up some wonderful raw oysters; also try the sumptuous beef tenderloin with pancetta and the foie gras terrine with porcini mushrooms (dinner for two, about 790 yuan, or $100 at 8 yuan to $1). On the building’s fifth floor is the Whampoa Club, whose Art Deco entrance — with a touch of Asia — is exquisite. Another winner is Jean Georges Shanghai, the restaurant on the fourth floor named for its creator, the internationally recognized chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. You can also visit the top floor and New Heights, which has outdoor seating for dinner or simply drinks.

10:30 p.m.
3) A BAR NAMED GLAMOUR

You don’t have to leave the Bund to find a great bar and lounge. Across the street from Three on the Bund is No. 5 on the Bund (entrance on Guangdong Road), home to M on the Bund, a popular dining spot for foreign visitors and China’s nouveau riche. On the sixth floor, the Glamour Bar is one of the best places in the city to relax with a drink. The lounge (86-21-6350-9988) has a 1930’s style decoration with a hip, contemporary twist. Try the litchi martini for about 67 yuan. Just down the road, at No. 18 on the Bund, is Bar Rouge, another stylish fashion bar, often crowded with China’s equivalent of the Hollywood set.

Saturday

10 a.m.
4) PUDONG: THE NEW CHINA

Back in the 1980’s, Pudong was a muddy tract of farmland across the river from downtown Shanghai. But in 1990, it was declared a special economic zone. Today, it’s the fastest-growing part of the city and home to a dazzling new financial district. It also has the city’s most compelling and quirky skyline. Two of China’s tallest structures are here: the Oriental Pearl Tower — a tacky concrete pole that at more than 1,500 feet is the tallest TV tower in Asia — and the nearly 1,380-foot Jin Mao Tower, the tallest building in China and one of the most attractive skyscrapers in the world. Both are fine places for a scenic view of Shanghai’s awesome real estate building boom. Going up on the southeast side of the Jin Mao is Shanghai World Financial Center, which is to be completed in 2007 and expected to challenge Taipei 101 in Taiwan as the world’s tallest building. The new addition to the Shangri-La Hotel (33 Fucheng Road, 86-21-6882-8888) is also a good place for a scenic view, and it has a great bar and an elegant restaurant, Jade on 36, which features a deconstructed rice bowl entryway and glass snuff bottle decorations. The view after dark is just as spectacular. Also of note in Pudong is the new $125 million Shanghai Oriental Art Center, which was designed by the French architect Paul Andreu and, they say, is meant to look like a butterfly orchid blooming in a large glass bowl. The center has three large performance spaces, with the lobby, chamber music hall, concert hall, exhibition hall and opera hall each occupying one of the “petals” of the orchid.

Noon
5) THE FRENCH CONCESSION

Much of the charm of Shanghai lies in the old streets and neighborhoods that make up the former French Concession. While many of Shanghai’s old lane houses are being bulldozed to make way for often ugly high-rise apartment complexes, this district is filled with leafy lanes and Western-style mansions and gardens. Huaihai Road and Maoming Road are populated with trendy boutiques. Several good options for lunch include Shintori, an excellent Japanese restaurant (803 Julu Road by Fumin Road, 86-21-5404-5252) set in a warehouse with a shimmering gray interior, with lunch at 350 yuan weekdays, 70 prix fixe on weekends, or Yin, which offers Chinese on the first floor and Japanese upstairs (Old Jin Jiang Hotel Gate No. 2, No. 59 Maoming Road South, 86-21-5466-5070); 100 yuan for lunch. It’s part of the Old Jin Jiang Hotel, the Art Deco-style complex where Richard M. Nixon and Zhou Enlai signed the Shanghai Communiqué in 1972, an important document that helped re-establish diplomatic relations between the two countries.

4 p.m.
6) AN ART OF ITS OWN

Chinese contemporary art is booming. And while much of it is centered in Beijing, Shanghai is developing its own art district, fashioning cool studios and galleries out of old warehouses and textile mills. The new arts district here is called M50, or 50 Moganshan Road. The area is not easy to find, but M50 is definitely worth a visit. Some of Shanghai’s best-known artists work here, like Zhou Tiehai, Gu Wenda, Wang Xingwei and Ding Yi. The most interesting gallery shows are held at ShanghART’s H-Space (50 Moganshan Road, Building 18, 86-21-6359-3923). Also, take a peek inside Art Scene Warehouse (Building 4, 2/F, 86-21-6277-4940), which has a large and varied collection of works on display. Or simply wander into the open art studios. Shanghai’s two art museums, both in the People’s Square area, are also worth a visit: the Shanghai Art Museum (which this year is host of the Shanghai Biennale to Nov. 5) at 325 Nanjing Road West (86-21-6327-2829) and the Museum of Contemporary Art at 231 Nanjing Road West (86-21-6327-1282), tucked away in a park and housed in a remodeled greenhouse.

8 p.m.
7) NEW FROM OLD

Xintiandi means “new heaven and earth” and it’s the name of one of Shanghai’s most popular tourist spots. Pronounced shin-tyahn-DEE, this area of upscale restaurants, bars and boutiques is prized because it’s part Disney, part old Shanghai and part Faneuil Hall in Boston. An American architectural firm, Wood & Zapata, splendidly renovated and recreated a district of old Shikumen lane houses — the early-20th-century stone-and-brick edifices that were a blend of European and Chinese architectural styles. While the area is small, and often crowded, it’s now a must-see in Shanghai. Some of the city’s best dining spots are here. Try T8 (8 North Block, Xintiandi, Lane 181, Taicang Road, 86-21-6355-8999); meal for two, from 1,580 yuan. Or, for some of the best Chinese food in town, head to Shanghai Ye (338 Huang Pi Nan Lu, House 6 Xintiandi, by Taicang Road, 86-21-6311-2323); dinner for two, 600 yuan.

10 p.m.
8) DRINKS ON THE OPIUM BED

Finish up your last night in Shanghai by visiting another set of great night spots. Face is one of the most impressive (118 Rui Jin 2 Road, Building 4, Rui Jin Guest House, 86-21-6466-4328). Set in a colonial villa, Face has a bar stocked with cool designs, Asian antiques and even an opium bed where couples can relax with a drink. And if you don’t easily tire, take a taxi to South Beauty 881 (881 Central Yanan Road, 86-21-6247-1581), a spicy Sichuan and Cantonese restaurant with bar and lounge connected to an old French mansion. But one of my favorite spots is a little-known place called the Door (1468 Hongqiao Road, third floor; 86-21-6295-3737), which offers an hourlong musical performance beginning at 10 every night but Sunday. The nine-member band plays modern folk music fused with Western styles. They perform using Western and traditional Chinese instruments, like the erhu and the pipa. There’s also a short Beijing Opera performance. The interior design — which makes stylish use of antiques — is about as good as it gets in Shanghai.

Sunday

9 a.m.
9) THE WAY THEY WERE

A nice place to go to pick up some gifts and souvenirs in Shanghai is the Dongtai Road antiques lanes. Walking through the area will also offer a glimpse of the way some residents continue to live, in crowded apartments, often without indoor plumbing or cooking facilities. The items for sale might include jewelry boxes with Qing dynasty imprints on them, Mao watches, Cultural Revolution-era posters, old coins, books, statues and porcelain. Be prepared to bargain and assume that very little is authentic.

10:30 a.m.
10) BACK FOR BRUNCH

Finish your weekend off by going back to the old French Concession area for brunch at Azul, a tapas restaurant that offers one of the best Western breakfasts in town (18 Dongping Road, near Wulumuqi Road, 86-21-6433-1172). Try the 119-yuan brunch set menu, which will allow you to choose a fresh baby spinach salad, an omelet with basil, sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese and asparagus, or blueberry pancakes.

The Basics

Shanghai is served by two airports, Hongqiao, which is a 20-to-30-minute ride from downtown, and Pudong International Airport, which mainly caters to long-distance travelers, a little more than an hour’s ride from the city. Flights from New York begin at about $850. Cabs from Pudong generally cost 158 yuan, or $20 at 8 yuan to $1, and there is no tipping. Or you can take the ultrafast maglev train, for 50 yuan but you’ll still have to change to a taxi for 40 yuan to get all the way downtown.

The Grand Hyatt (Jin Mao Tower, 88 Century Boulevard, Pudong; 86-21-5049-1234), across the river from downtown, is the city’s most spectacular hotel; doubles are 1,850 to 3,400 yuan, or $234 to $430. But it’s in Pudong, and while the tunnel is close by, traffic can be a problem. Closer to the center are the Four Seasons Hotel (500 Weihai Road; 86-21-6256-8888; 3,105 yuan) and the JW Marriott Hotel (Tomorrow Square, 399 Nanjing Road West; 86-21-5359-4969; 2,875 yuan). Less expensive is the Donghu Hotel (70 Donghu Road; 86-21-6415-8158; 794 to 1,058 yuan) and the Old Jin Jiang Hotel (59 Mao Ming Road South; 86-21-6258-2582; 1,400 to 1,750 yuan).

New York Times

Saving the Great Wall From Being Loved to Death

Du Bin for The New York Times

A section of the Great Wall at Jinshanling in Hebei Province includes the damaged Yao Gou Lou tower, right. National regulations to protect the wall take effect on Dec. 1.

By JIM YARDLEY
Published: November 26, 2006

THE Great Wall of China was up there, above the treetops, hidden from view as our small group followed our guide, Yan Xinqiang, up a narrow, rutted trail toward a remote section of the wall known as Jiankou. At 61, Mr. Yan is old enough to be a grandfather but he practically skipped with excitement as we approached this relatively remote section — part of what is known as the Wild Wall.

We had driven almost three hours north of Beijing, parked in a small farming village and walked uphill for more than an hour until we finally clambered onto the spine of the Great Wall. The sky unfolded with green, jagged mountains in the foreground; the wall was draped over the ridges like a stone necklace.

The view was breathtaking, but there is one notable problem: The Great Wall is falling apart. For the next few hours, Mr. Yan, a wall enthusiast, showed us where vandals have pilfered bricks or stones. In many stretches, small trees and bushes had pushed through the wall’s stone flooring. In another spot, the flooring had simply vanished: a rusted metal ladder, installed to help navigate one potentially fatal descent, hung precariously in the air.

“When I was here a few years ago, it was in pretty good shape,” said Mr. Yan, as he stood in the collapsed archway of an ancient watchtower. “I have a picture of myself standing here in the doorway. But now it has all crumbled.”

And Jiankou is just one of many places suffering; at the Jinshanling section, some watchtowers, including one named Yao Gou Lou, are falling apart.

But the Great Wall is not just crumbling. It is disappearing. Roughly half of the estimated 4,000 miles of the wall built during the Ming Dynasty no longer exists, according to a recent report.

It is also regularly being abused. Recently, a company was fined about $50,000 for building a road through a section of the Ming-era wall in Inner Mongolia. Last year, the police broke up a huge dance party of Chinese ravers atop the wall a few hours’ drive outside Beijing.

The Chinese government is now alarmed enough that the first national regulations to protect the wall go into effect on Dec. 1. Anyone who defaces the wall with graffiti, removes bricks or organizes events atop sections not open to tourists would face stiff fines and possible criminal penalties.

The wall’s most inescapable problem is the burden caused by its growing popularity. Nationally, an estimated 13 million tourists visited the wall last year, more than double the six million of a decade ago, according to the Great Wall Society, a nonprofit group of wall enthusiasts.

The biggest attractions outside Beijing continue to be Badaling and Mutianyu, each with long sections of restored wall. Badaling, a favorite photo op for visiting presidents, had 4.5 million tourists last year. The views are dazzling and, other than traffic, the trip is easy enough that you can buy an “I Climbed the Great Wall” T-shirt and barely break a sweat.

But a growing number of Chinese tourists are looking for a different experience on the Wild Wall. This appetite for new destinations and outdoor experiences is transforming the mountainous northern outskirts of Beijing, which, according to one survey, has about 400 miles of the wall.

Weekenders are pouring out of the city to escape noise and pollution. In the city, outdoor shops are selling hiking and camping gear, while the great leap in car ownership means that people can more easily visit remote areas. The Great Wall, built to keep out Mongols and other marauders, is now under siege from yuppies.

“Now that people are more affluent, they are not satisfied with just the tourist spots,” said Dong Yaohui, head of the Great Wall Society. “They want to go out and camp near the Wild Wall.”

A decade or so ago, few people knew much about Jiankou, our destination, other than local farmers. We rented a van and edged along in brutal Saturday traffic through the suburban city of Huairou before turning onto a narrow mountain road. The road was a revelation, given that many farmers still ride on carts behind mules: a few stylish hotels and restaurants were tucked into a wooden canyon; a cluster of small, rental chalets rose on a green hillside; and, everywhere, people zipped around in shiny cars, some headed to or from weekend homes.

We drove several more miles to Xijia, a village that is the entry, of sorts, for Jiankou. A farmer in a peasant’s jacket stood at a metal gate and collected the equivalent of a few dollars in admission fees. No restaurants here: farmers sold nuts, crackers and drinks out of a flatbed truck.

On the trail and atop the wall, we kept running into people. A few dozen employees from a local company were walking the Wild Wall on a group retreat. Couples stepped gingerly on the stone flooring.

At one point, we met a local woman, Yang Xiuming, 50, working as guide for a small group of tourists. Her village, Hejia, was nestled below the wall and she said tourism had allowed local farmers to sell tickets. Other villagers earned money as guides while some had converted their homes into small restaurants. Yet she agreed that the wall had suffered since her childhood.

“Now, it is broken,” she said before walking off with her group. “It didn’t use to be like this.”

THE same pattern is being repeated elsewhere along the wall as the right to sell entrance fees and make other profits has become something for which villages are willing to fight. Earlier this year, officials in adjacent counties in Beijing and neighboring Hebei Province broke into a brawl over which side had caretaker rights over a 1,000-meter section — a little more than a half-mile — of the wall. Neither was fighting to restore the contested section of the wall, but rather for the right to sell tickets.

The incident became such an embarrassment that newspapers editorialized about the need to eliminate local profiteering and promote preservation.

Deterioration, to a degree, was inevitable, given that construction of the wall ended with the end of the Ming Dynasty in 1644. The Ming wall was the last of 16 built by different dynasties — a reminder that there is no such thing as a single Great Wall but rather a succession of walls. By one estimate, these walls collectively would stretch 31,000 miles were they all still standing.

In the first half of the last century, the wall suffered during a protracted war against Japan, as well as during the Chinese civil war. But the ascension to power of the Communist Party in 1949 marked a period of serious decline.

Mao regarded the wall and many other historical relics as remnants of China’s feudal past and saw little justification for preservation. Farmers were encouraged to use bricks to build homes. An entire reservoir outside Beijing was built from bricks and stones taken from the wall.

“The worst destruction came during the 1950s through the 1970s,” said Mr. Dong, the Great Wall Society official. “There was absolutely no protection. And the government encouraged people to take bricks. They didn’t know about tourism. They thought the Great Wall was absolutely useless.”

Today, the new national regulations are part of a government effort to improve protection. Officials concede they still do not truly know how much of the wall remains intact from its western origins in Gansu Province to its eastern terminus at the city of Shanhaiguan, where it touches the Bohai Sea. This year, researchers have launched a long-term project to determine the length and location of the wall by using satellites and other technology.

For now, though, the most passionate protectors of the wall are people like Mr. Yan. He worked for years in Beijing at a publishing house and began visiting the wall outside the city in 1984 as part of an effort to cheer up his 6-year-old son.

“My wife went to America to study, and I needed a way to make my son happy, so we went to the wall and walked,” he said. “There was no one up there, not even villagers. We would sleep in the watchtowers.”

His son lost interest after high school, but Mr. Yan had found his passion. He now makes regular trips to different parts of the wall photographing crumbling watchtowers for evidence that he can use to prod local officials into action.

“They say there is only so much they can do because they don’t have enough money,” Mr. Yan said. “Their attitude is that as long as we have a few tourist sections on the Great Wall that we can protect, that is enough.”

We followed Mr. Yan for hours as he navigated the uncertain footing atop the wall with the agility of a mountain goat. At one point, we stumbled upon three young men in full camping regalia who greeted him like a favorite uncle. They were among about 100 people who had connected via the Internet because of their shared interest in the wall. They were camping out together to celebrate the group’s sixth anniversary.

“Our motto is, ‘Love the Great Wall, Protect the Great Wall,’ ” said Lian Da, who had come from the coastal city of Dalian. “The Great Wall is being ruined. The purpose of our group is to photograph it before it falls apart.”

Mr. Yan planned to join the campers the next day for their celebration. But first he led our small group off the wall and onto another trail through the woods. This trail led us to a clearing with the weekend getaway house of William Lindesay, an excitable Briton who is a leading foreign expert on the wall and the director general of the International Friends of the Great Wall.

As a boy, Mr. Lindesay opened an atlas to a map of China and saw with awe and puzzlement that the mapmaker had included a jagged line to indicate the route of the wall. Mr. Lindesay has never shaken his boyish wonder over the wall: he has walked its entire length and written a book about it.

But like Mr. Yan, he now spends much of his time trying to focus attention on the wall’s fragile condition. He is staging a Dec. 6 exhibition at Beijing’s Capital Museum that compares historic and contemporary photographs of different locations of the wall to show how much has been lost.

He is still confident that much of the wall can be saved, but he notes with sadness that many current maps of China no longer include the wall, presumably because so much of it has disappeared.

“There is great hope from people who live near the wall, and from experts who study it, that the Great Wall can be recovered,” Mr. Lindesay said. “It had a bad century in the 20th century.”

New York Times