When Shanghai first began from its humble beginnings, it was far from obvious that the world would one hear its roar. Since then, Shanghai has seen dramatic changes, spinning between the far extremes of Fortune's.

The financial go-go capital of China, Shanghai, which means "go to the sea"in Chinese, is a city of 16 million that rememberes its hallucinating history. Divided in half by the Huangpu River into Puxi(west of the Huangpu) and Pudong(east of the Huangpu), Shanghai's story is one of millions made and mirages lost. Pried open by British guns in the First Opium War, this once sleepy fishing and weaving village gained notoriety as the "Paris of the East" as a colonial city of commerce, vice, money and political intrigue. More recently, Shanghai has benefited the most from China's economic reforms, rapidly rising as the shining "Pearl of the Orient."

Dynamic is the best word to describe today's Shanghai. Since the 1990 opening of the Pudong Special Economic Zone(SEZ), the city has found itself with more building cranes than all of North America, towers of glass and steel sprout up amidst ivy covered colonial villas and old Chinese homes. Displaying all the contrasts of modern China, teeming neighborhoods and birch trees are woven together by elevated highways and modern skyscrapers. Wordly travelers brush elbows with migrant workers; students and artists mingle as they pursue their dreams of wealth.

There are much to see around the former French concession . Both its heady history and glamorous present promise to woo. The easiest way to reach the classical arteries of it is from People's Square. Xintiandi is the trendiest place in town. Follow the sign on Xingye Road to the 1st National Congresss of the Chinese Communist Party, a Marxist exhibit of heroic red and gold proportions. To enter the main nerve of Old Town and visit the Ming era Yuyuan Garden, look for one of the many small entrances that lead into the central garden area. The dark narrow lanes are towered over with a mish-mash of Chinese architecture and modern styling. Just behind the Yu Garden is the Chenghuang Temple, the temple to Shanghai's city god. Of all the sights evocative of the splendor and decadence of old Shanghai, none is sigularly more impressive than the Bund. The Bund rolls down a million dollar mile along the west bank of Shanghai's most essential waterway, the Huangpu River. It's on this swampy riverbank where Shanghai's previous heads of trading houses erected these monuments of wealth. Shanghai's most famous thoroughfare, Nanjing Road spills from its eastern terminus on the Bund and past the People's Square to its western extreme by the newly remodeled Jing'an Temple. Shanghai's People's Square occupies a large portion of the geographic city center and is home to Shanghai's city hall. Underearth the square is the city's largest metro station and the only and two. Linking the two lines are elongated shopping arcades while above ground is the ground is the People's Park, the Shanghai Museum, the Shanghai Art Museum, the Grand Theatre and the Urban Planning Hall. To appreciate Lujiazui's rapid ascent into the upper regions of advanced capitalism, one should start under the sea at the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium. The Oriental Pearl TV Tower, a sci-fi architectural exploration, most visitors will rush towards the elevators to see the city in all its expanse, chaos and splendor. Jin Mao Tower, rising 420.5m off the ground, it's the tallest building in China and hard to miss. Located in the northwest part of Shanghai and tucked away amidst a jumble of charming turn of the century two-storey cottages and small glass office buildings, the Jade Buddha Temple is a spiritual oasis in the midst of a booming city. An hour and half drive to the village of Zhouzhuang, 'the Venice of China', unspoiled for hundreds of years. There you have the opportunity to take winding through the village whilst being serenaded.