Brand-new Scenic Attraction to Be Blueprinted

The city government of Shanghai will spend more than 3 billion yuan (US$ 360 million) over the next four years to upgrade the scenes in the Shiliupu Wharf area on the west side of the Huangpu River.

According to a plan, a number of new parks, stores, restaurants and a yacht club will be built at the 222,800 square meter wharf area, which will constitute a brand-new scenic attraction that will be favorably compared with Sydney's Darling Harbor, or San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, by tourists.

Foreign Firms Work for the Design

Plans for the new riverside have already been drawn up by three foreign design firms, including the companies that drafted the JinMao Tower and Darling Harbor, Shanghai Daily reports.

While the companies all worked separately on their designs, local urban planners will combine the best parts of all the three plans to create one final blueprint, which is expected to be completed next year, the paper quotes Zhang Chuxiong, an official with Shanghai Port Authorities, as saying.

All the three plans call for the new wharf to fit in harmoniously with nearby Yuyuan Garden, a symbol of Shanghai's past, the paper says.

Huangpu River

Huangpu River is the symbol of Shanghai. Cruising on the Huangpu River is a must on the tourist itinerary in Shanghai. The Huangpu River offers some remarkable views of the Bund and river front activity. Huangpu tour boats depart from the dock on the Bund, slightly north of the Peace hotel. The total tour distance is 60 kilometers from the Bund to Wusong Kou, and the tour takes 3 hours. On the boat tourists can have a pleasant view of the scenes on both sides of the river, the new Nanpu Bridge, the new Yangpu Bridge, the Bund, the docks and the site of the ancient Wusong Fort at the mouth of the Huangpu River.

Cruising on the Huangpu River, one can enjoy a sight of rows of magnificent buildings on the banks and ships of different sizes briskly playing Huangpu River, originating in Dianshan Lake in Shanghai, runs its way for about 114 meters and finally flows into the East China Sea in Wusongkou. With a width of 400 meters, the river is an important transporting route.

Boating along the Huangpu River, visitors could take a glimpse of the yesterday and today of Shanghai. On one side of the river is the bund, which is regarded a landmark as well as the birthplace of Shanghai. With a length of 1 km, the bund is dotted with various grandiose solid buildings of western style dating back to the early this century in its west. Due to these imposing buildings, the bund is also reputed as "an international exhibition of architecture".

( People's Daily November 27, 2001)