Shanghai Cruise Guide

The name Shanghai still conjures images of romance, mystery and adventure, but for four decades it was an austere backwater. After the success of Mao Zedong's communist revolution in 1949, the authorities clamped down hard on Shanghai, calling it a playground of gangsters and colonial adventurers.

And so it was. In its heyday, the 1920s and '30s, cosmopolitan Shanghai was a dynamic melting pot for people, ideas and money from all over the planet. Business boomed, fortunes were made, and everything seemed possible. It was a time of breakneck industrial progress, swaggering confidence and smoky jazz venues.

Thanks to economic reforms implemented in the 1980s by Deng Xiaoping, Shanghai's commercial potential has emerged again. Stand today on the historic Bund and look across the Huangpu River. The Oriental Pearl TV Tower looms like a space rocket over the ambitious skyline of the Pudong financial district. Alongside the glittering, 88-story Jinmao Building and the futuristic Shanghai Stock Exchange, the 1,377-ft/420-m tower is a symbol of this modern city.

Shanghai is rushing headlong to make up for lost time. Glass-and-steel skyscrapers reach for the clouds, Mercedes sedans cruise the neon-lit streets, modern department stores stock all the stylish trappings available in New York, and the restaurant and clubbing scene pulsates with an energy all its own. Perhaps more than any other city in Asia, Shanghai has the confidence and sheer determination to forge a glittering future as one of the world's most important commercial centers.

During the city's decadent era of the 1920s and '30s, cruise ships sailed frequently into port along the Huangpu River. Today, although Shanghai is a stopping-off point for some Asian cruises, there is less oceangoing passenger traffic. However, the Shanghai International Cruise Port, scheduled to begin operations in 2008, will change things. The 1.41-sq-mi/3.66-sq-km purpose-built passenger terminal is located on the North Bund development area. The berthing dock, at 2,887 ft/880 m, will be able to accommodate three passenger liners of up to 80,000 tons, and it will also feature hotels, shopping and dining.

Consider signing up for the excursions offered by your ship. They may not be the least expensive way to see the city, but you won't have to waste your limited time making arrangements—and you won't have to worry about missing the ship. Shore excursions, and their prices, vary from cruise line to cruise line. Typical Shanghai tours include the Bund, Yu Garden, People's Square, Jade Buddha Temple, and dinner in Xintiandi. Check with your ship's shore-excursion staff or your travel agent for additional information.