Shanghai, also called in short in Chinese "Hu" or "Shen", situated in the middle of China's east coastline, is a gate to the Changjiang River valley. Shanghai has a delightful climate with four distinct seasons. The average temperature of the year is 15.7 ℃ and the yearly precipitation is 1,200 mm. It is the largest economic and trade centre in the country and a comprehensive industrial base. Shanghai Port is the leading port in China. It is an open city along the coast, as well as a famous historical and cultural city. Its total area is 6,341 sq. km., of which the Pudong New Area occupies 523 sq. km. Its total population is over 13 million. 
 
Shanghai is well-known both at home and abroad not only for its prosperous metropolitan feature and rich humanistic resources but also for a number of tourist attractions with modern flavor that have been developed in recent years. Varied and colorful tourist festivities, like the Shanghai Tourism Festival, the New Year Eve Longhua Temple Bell Striking, the Longhua Temple Fair, the Nanhui County Peach Blossom Festival, the International Tea Culture Festival, the Sweet Osmanthus Festival and the Orange Festival are attracting an ever increasing number of domestic and foreign tourists.  

Shanghai is an ideal "shopping paradise"; Nanjing Road, known as "China's No.1 Street", the reconstructed Huaihai Road, Jinling Road, East, North Sichuan Road, the Yuyuan Garden shopping and tourist area, the Ever Bright City Commercial Centre, Xujiahui Commercial Centre, and Zhangyang Road Commercial Centre in Pudong are packed with rows of shops arrayed with large collections of merchandise that are a feast to the eyes and meet the demands of different classes of domestic and foreign customers. 
 
Shanghai is also a paradise for gourmets. There are over a thousand restaurants serving the famous 16 styles of Chinese food, such as Beijing, Sichuan, Guangdong, Yangzhou, Fujian, etc. There are also French, Russian, Italian, English, German, Japanese, Indian and other kinds of foreign flavored cuisines, genuine Muslim food and vegetarian food. In Shanghai you can have a taste of all the different kinds of food in the world. Shanghai is well developed in communications in air, land and sea, which render tourists with fast, efficient and quality service.

The Bund
The Bund, which extends from Jinling Road in the south to the Waibaidu Bridge over the Suzhou Creek in the north, is on the western bank of the Huangpu River. It is a 1.5-kilometer boulevard and used to be called the Huangpu Shoal. It used to be a 10-meter-wide boulevard lined with canopy-like sycamores. Cedars, cassias, and camphor trees made the street green all the year round.  
Flower beds were always in blossoms. Now it becomes the favored place for the tourists to tarry and enjoy the river scene and cultural activities going on along the Bund. Walking up to the dam, you will be fascinated by the sight of forest of masts, the glittering waves, the impressive skyline, and shadowy trees interlacing with beautiful flowers. It is just like a magnificent scroll. The Bund---known as a miniature museum of international architecture with dozens of high buildings standing along the shore and overlooking the shuttling sailing vessels on the Huangpu River amid the whistle blasts here and there.