Metro Line 8 (Jiangyue Road Station) - Jiangwu Line/Jiangwu Line Section, after 18 stations, arrive at Qingcun
By Train: Take a high-speed train from ShangHai Hongqiao Railway Station to Kunshan South Railway Station. The journey takes about 20-30 minutes. From Kunshan, you can take a taxi or local bus to QingXi Ancient Water Town.
By Bus: There are direct buses from ShangHai to Kunshan. The bus journey takes around 1-1.5 hours.
By Car: If you prefer to drive, the trip from ShangHai to QingXi takes approximately 1-1.5 hours via the G2 Beijing-Shanghai Expressway.
Entrance and Tickets
Entrance Fee: Entrance to the water town is generally free, but certain attractions and museums within the town may charge a small fee.
Opening Hours: The town is open to visitors all day, but specific attractions and shops usually operate from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Attractions and Activities
Waterways and Bridges
Boating Tours: Take a traditional gondola ride along the scenic waterways. The boat tours offer a unique perspective of the town’s ancient bridges, historic buildings, and daily life along the canals.
Historic Bridges: QingXi boasts numerous ancient stone bridges, each with its own history and architectural style. Notable ones include the Taiping Bridge and Zhenfeng Bridge.
Historic Architecture
Traditional Houses: Stroll through the town's narrow lanes and admire the well-preserved Ming and Qing dynasty houses. Many of these houses have distinctive white walls, black tiles, and wooden carvings.
Old Town Square: The central square often hosts traditional performances, markets, and cultural events, giving you a taste of local life and traditions.
Cultural and Historical Sites
QingXi Ancient Academy: Visit this historic educational institution to learn about the town's academic heritage and traditional Chinese education.
Temples and Shrines: Explore local temples and shrines, such as the QingXi Temple, to experience the town's spiritual side and admire religious architecture.
Museums and Exhibitions
Folk Custom Museum: This museum showcases local crafts, traditional costumes, and cultural artifacts, providing insights into the daily lives and customs of the town’s residents.
Silk Museum: Learn about the region's rich history of silk production, including traditional silk weaving techniques and displays of exquisite silk products.
Dining and Local Specialties
Riverside Restaurants: Enjoy a meal at one of the many riverside restaurants offering local delicacies. Freshwater fish, shrimp, and crabs are popular choices.
Local Snacks: Try traditional snacks like Zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), Osmanthus cake, and hand-pulled noodles. Street vendors and small eateries throughout the town offer these treats.
Tea Houses: Relax in a traditional tea house, sipping on local teas and enjoying the serene water town atmosphere.
Shopping
Souvenir Shops: Browse the numerous shops selling local handicrafts, silk products, and traditional clothing. These make great souvenirs and gifts.
Antique Markets: Explore antique shops and markets where you can find unique items such as vintage coins, pottery, and old books.
Tips for Visitors
Best Time to Visit: The best times to visit QingXi are during the spring (March to May) and autumn (September to November) when the weather is pleasant, and the scenery is at its most beautiful.
Clothing: Wear comfortable walking shoes and dress in layers to adjust to changing temperatures. Bring an umbrella or raincoat if visiting during the rainy season.
Respect Local Customs: Be respectful of local customs and traditions, especially when visiting temples and historical sites.
Conclusion
QingXi Ancient Water Town offers a tranquil escape from the urban hustle of ShangHai, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in China's rich cultural heritage and natural beauty. With its picturesque canals, historic architecture, and vibrant local culture, QingXi is a destination that promises a memorable and enriching experience.
ShangHai can be considered a 'garden city' due to its extensive green spaces, parks, and efforts to integrate nature within its urban environment. Here are some key aspects that contribute to this :
### Extensive Green Spaces and Parks
1. **Large Urban Parks**: Shanghai is home to numerous large parks such as Century Park, Gongqing Forest Park, and Shanghai Botanical Garden. These parks provide significant green spaces within the city and offer residents and visitors places to relax and enjoy nature.
2. **Green Belt**: The city has developed green belts and corridors that integrate natural elements into the urban landscape, helping to connect different green spaces and providing continuous natural areas for walking, cycling, and leisure.
### Historical and Traditional Gardens
3. **Traditional Chinese Gardens**: Shanghai boasts several well-preserved traditional Chinese gardens, such as Yu Garden (YuYuan), which exemplify classical Chinese garden design with ponds, rockeries, pavilions, and intricate landscaping. These gardens reflect the city's historical commitment to integrating nature with urban living.
### Urban Greening Initiatives
4. **Street Landscaping**: Many of Shanghai's streets are lined with trees, flowers, and shrubs, contributing to a greener urban environment. The city has invested in extensive landscaping to enhance the aesthetic appeal and environmental quality of its streets and boulevards.
5. **Vertical Gardens and Green Roofs**: Shanghai has embraced innovative urban greening techniques such as vertical gardens and green roofs on buildings. These initiatives help to increase the amount of greenery in densely populated urban areas and contribute to better air quality and urban biodiversity.
### Green Urban Planning
6. **Sustainable Development**: Shanghai's urban planning policies emphasize sustainable development and the creation of eco-friendly urban spaces. This includes the development of eco-districts and the incorporation of green spaces into new residential and commercial developments.
7. **Waterfront Revitalization**: The revitalization of waterfront areas along the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek has included the creation of green promenades, parks, and recreational areas that provide residents with access to nature and enhance the city's overall green infrastructure.
### Community and Public Engagement
8. **Public Involvement**: The city encourages public participation in maintaining and developing green spaces through community gardens and public involvement initiatives. This engagement helps to foster a sense of ownership and responsibility for the city's natural environments.
### Environmental Conservation
9. **Biodiversity Conservation**: Efforts to preserve and enhance biodiversity within the city, such as the creation of urban wildlife habitats and conservation areas, contribute to Shanghai's identity as a garden city.
### Seasonal Flower Displays
10. **Flower Festivals and Displays**: Shanghai hosts various flower festivals and seasonal floral displays that enhance the city's visual appeal and celebrate its botanical diversity. These events attract tourists and residents alike, further emphasizing the city's green character.
### Conclusion
Shanghai's commitment to integrating green spaces and nature into its urban environment through parks, traditional gardens, innovative greening techniques, and sustainable urban planning practices helps to position it as a 'garden city.' These efforts not only enhance the city's aesthetic appeal but also contribute to the well-being of its residents and the sustainability of its urban ecosystem.
The French Concession in Shanghai is a place that condenses a century of history in modern Shanghai. It is the largest and most prosperous concession among the four concessions in old China. It was handed back to the Republic of China government in 1943, renamed the Eighth District.
The French Concession in Shanghai was opened in 1849, experienced a slight expansion in 1900, and began to expand significantly in 1914 to establish the New French Concession. The French Concession maintained a high degree of independence in old Shanghai. The entire French Concession in Shanghai was the most high-end residential area in old Shanghai, and the architectural style can be said to be uniform. The reason why the Indigo tree is called French plane tree in China is also because it was first introduced by the French and planted in the French Concession in Shanghai.
Shanghai's reputation as the "Paris of the East" is also named after the French Concession. Its architectural style is independent of the public concession and the Chinese border, and is almost the same as Paris thousands of miles away. The French had always maintained great control over the French Concession.
00:00 Highlights 精彩预览
01:40 ZIKAWEI Shopping Area 徐家汇商圈
04:22 Hengshan Lane 衡山坊
09:53 Xujiahui Park 徐家汇公园
22:07 EMI Building 百代小楼
25:10 Hengshan Boulevard 衡山路
27:29 Lipo Garden 丽波花园
31:08 Gaoan Garden 高安花园
33:57 Yongping Lane 永平里
38:52 No.8 Hengshan Avenue 衡山路8号园区
48:03 Hengshan Boulevard North Part 衡山路北段
50:32 Shanghai Symphony Orchestra 上海交响乐团
53:58 Clemen Apartment 克莱门公寓
58:31 Urumqi Middle Road 乌鲁木齐中路
01:07:58 Anfu Road 安福路
01:20:44 Wiggle Wiggle Flagship Store
01:29:36 Wukang Road 武康路
01:38:28 Ferguson Lane 武康庭
01:47:41 Wukang Building 武康大楼
01:52:03 CITE BOURGOGNE 步高里
01:54:57 Ruijin Hotel 瑞金宾馆
02:06:34 Yongkang Road 永康路
02:12:45 ICCF Garden 之禾卡纷花园
02:16:28 Shanghai Conservatory of Music 上海音乐学院
02:23:05 Old Downtown Highlights 梧桐街区精华
With FunFancie ...
TeamLab is an interdisciplinary art collective and creative studio based in Japan that is renowned for its innovative and immersive digital art installations. It has expanded its presence globally.
In Shanghai, TeamLab has created several immersive art experiences that blend digital technology, interactive elements, and traditional art forms to create breathtaking environments that engage the senses and encourage visitor participation. These exhibitions often feature a combination of projection mapping, interactive projections, LED lights, soundscapes, and sensor-based technology to create dynamic and interactive environments.
One of the most notable exhibitions is TeamLab Borderless Shanghai, which is featured here. It is characterized by its seamless integration of digital art into physical spaces, creating a sense of boundless, dreamlike environments where visitors can explore and interact with the artwork freely.
In these exhibitions, visitors are invited to walk through rooms filled with mesmerizing digital art installations that respond to their movements and interactions. For example, visitors may find themselves surrounded by vibrant, blooming flowers that change color as they move, or immersed in a digital ocean where schools of fish swim around them in response to their presence.
The exhibition aims to create immersive experiences that evoke wonder, curiosity, and a sense of inter-connectedness with the world around us, unforgettable experiences that blur the boundaries between art, technology and the imagination.
50 Moganshan Road, or simply M50, is a contemporary art district in ShangHai that houses a community of more than a hundred artists whose studios are open to the public. It is similar to BeiJing's 798 Art Zone.
With Flow Food Tea Repeat ...
With Middle Kingdom Productions ...
Bonus film - with Sly's Life ...
Bonus film with Willene Business & Lifestyle ...
Bonus film - with Ben Coleman ...
The Shanghai World Expo Opening Ceremony (May 1st, 2010).
A beautiful song from the concert, with Sun ZuYing and featuring Jackie Chan, and the awesome fireworks finale to the music of Puccini's Turandot ...
Don't panic that the thumbnails look bad - that's just because these videos are from waaaaaay back - but still play
: )
Into the way-back machine - two great videos from 2010 - 2012 (not HD, but feel the vibe) ...
ShangHai and FuZhou (capital of FuJian province) ...
Bad Romance, Jai Ho, Rolling on the River, and more ...
The world's largest.
This is what one can do if invest in one's own country rather than trying to plunder the world.
A look at the ShangHai metro system, with Barrett ...
惊人的太湖古镇旅游城！中国湖州.
TaiHu Ancient Town is located in HuZhou City, ZheJiang Province, China. It is the core area of TaiHu Lake Dragon Dream Paradise, with a total construction area of about 660,000 square meters. Theater, 10 small theaters, with a total of about 20,000 performing arts seats; an old street with a total length of 9,000 meters that integrates intangible cultural heritage exhibitions, shopping, street performances, etc.; an area of 50,000 square meters, including more than 100 restaurants, about LiYuMen dining area with 20,000 seats; a bar street with 20,000 seats; a large water dancing fountain show with a water area of 35,000 square meters; and 62 inns with different styles, with a total of 4,266 rooms. The three temples and one pagoda (Dao Temple, Confucian Temple, Ten Thousand Buddha Pagoda) will become the most popular area of TaiHu Dragon Dream Park after they all open.
太湖古镇位于中国浙江省湖州市，是太湖龙之梦乐园的核心区域，总建筑面积约66万平方米，分东西两个片区，东侧叫童家村、西侧叫江夏村，包含10个大型剧院，10个小剧场，合计约20000个演艺席位；集非遗展示、购物、街艺表演等功能于一体，总长度达9000米的老街；面积达50000平方米，包含100余家、约2万个餐位的鲤鱼门餐饮区；包含20000个座位的酒吧一条街；水域面积达35000平方米的大型水舞喷泉秀；以及62家风格各异的客栈，合计4266间客房。三庙一塔（道庙、寺庙、孔庙、万佛塔），全部开业后将成为太湖龙之梦乐园最聚人气的区域。
With Wei's Travel ...
