I had never been to China before this summer. I was very fortunate to have been awarded a full scholarship for Tongji’s summer program on sustainability and green practices and got the chance to visit Shanghai for the first time. I was deeply impressed by their culture, their philosophy and their construction methods. I had time to discover the best places in the city. Anything interesting in terms of architecture is here. If you find any mistakes, or have any suggestions please let me know. My intention is to keep it useful. Hope you enjoy!
Download pdf here: Shanghai Architecture Guide 2020 (PDF)
Download map here: Shanghai Architecture Guide 2020
Virginia Duran 
Me encantan tus guías!!! Siempre se las paso a gente cuando sé que se van a algunas de las ciudades que tienes!! 🙂
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Martaaa muchas gracias. ¿Has visitado ya Shanghai por cierto? Ah y ya te pediré ayuda con la de Münich 🙂
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¡Que va! De china solo vi Xi’an y Pekin.
Por supuesto 🙂 Yo tengo una entrada semi en el horno de arquitectura, pero vamos…desde hace meses jajaja no consigo acabarla!!
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Pekín me pareció alucinante, el palacio de verano es una pasada. Y la torre de TV de Koolhas me encantó. ¿Me recomiendas Xian? Anímate a publicarla pronto 🙂
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Xi’an me gustó mucho a nivel, ver la China más profunda. Así que ahí tuve el mayor choque cultural, se conserva más auténtica que Shanghai o Pekin.
Y los soldados de terracota, ¡impresionantes!
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Congratulations on the award and its perks of China’s architecture, culture and history.
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Thanks Sally 🙂 Have you ever been to China?
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A mi también me gustan!
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¿También te gusta la cultura China? ¿Has estado en Shanghai alguna vez?
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In general I’ve found Asian architecture to be very cutting edge..Kuala Lumpur has some particularly interesting examples..congrats on the scholarship, sweet!
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Thanks for stopping by! Have you ever been in Shanghai? I have never visited Kuala Lumpur but is definitely on my list! What did you like most?
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Well, I was there before the Petronas Towers were built, and I was captivated by the DayaBumi complex, which looks as if it’s veiled in panels of lace. No I haven’t been to Shanghai but I adore Asian cities for the street food and open restaurants. Like you stuff and your site, architecture fascinates me as does design. Made a lot of furniture from recycled material before it was a trendy thing but now I build boats. 🙂
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So cool, just googled all these- very impressive. I loved street food and didn’t get sick at all. You enjoy building furniture? That is so interesting. But what really impressed me is the boat design. It must be fascinating to combine art and engineering!
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About recycled material and objects I used to say “the design is already in the material..my job is to let it out” 🙂
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As for the boats they, they are the best..I love playing with the curves..I think the French architect Le Corbusier must have been brought up on marine architecture, follow this and scroll down
http://kikiwenjingtan.com/ArchitectureWebsite/
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I quite like Le Corbusier and actually I’ve been on the building you recommend 🙂 http://duranvirginia.wordpress.com/2012/11/22/photography-le-corbusiers-notre-dame-du-haut/
Have you ever been to Ronchamp?
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It’s not actually the building I had in mind when I make the connection between him and marine architecture..but looking for an example the other day to close the dialogue, it was the best one. I saw one once which resembled an upturned ark and really loved it. How funny that I send you a link to that..classic – if I’d taken more time to look at your stuff I would’ve found it! 🙂 And no, I haven’t been there. Did you see Eiffel’s steel church I just posted the other day? A church built like a ship! 🙂
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Oh, that post was from ages ago, almost 50 posts ago 😉 I just saw the building by Eiffel, it’s a very interesting concept and it’s still standing. I was very surprised when I visited Santiago de Chile, that he also had designed the main train station! Are you from France?
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No, I’m from Nz but I live in Quebec. I Studied in Mexico and travelled a lot in Sth America..I love it dearly. I see you speak Spanish very well. What are your roots?
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I didn’t know about the train station, thanks! I was just showing someone his tram station in Budapest..it’s gorgeous!
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Wow! You’re from one side of the world and live in the other. That’s the travelers spirit! I’m from Spain 🙂 and I had the chance to travel to South America quite a lot. However, Iived in Chicago these past years.
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Shanghai is absolutely one of my favorite places to visit. The food, the shopping, the fashion! Hope to see more of your travel posts in the near future 🙂 – Lena
Felinecreatures.com
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Fashion and retail architecture is fascinating you’re right! I’ve included so many of those in my map! I will publish a few articles on that 🙂 What did you like most of the city? Favorite food?
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I think the food really!! Crab shell pie and xiaolongbao! There’s a good one sold at a stall by yunnan nan lu and jinling dong lu 🙂
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I absolutely loved xiaolongbaos! And street food was surprisingly good. Can’t wait to be back 😀
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I’m really impressed, such a great city !
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Shanghai is amazing! Have you visited it recently?
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I loved Shanghai! Amazing history, beauty, and art
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It’s amazing isn’t it? Which was the thing you liked most?
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The Yuyan Garden!!! There were so many, many people on the walkways and bridge that it was hard to press through. Even so, there was a wonderful feeling of tranquility when you stepped into the garden. I think of that day often – brilliant sunshine, laughter & chatter. Perfect.
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Ooohhh that was my favorite place too. I went there on a sunny day and surprisingly it wasn’t too packed. I regret not having discovered this spot before, because I would have visited it once a week 😀 I have wonderful pictures of the pavilions and the ponds 🙂
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Would love to see your photos!!! 🙂
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Hi Virginia ,its always a pleasure to see your awesome posts about architect..Warm regards.Jalal
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Thanks for stopping by Jalal, always appreciated. Have you ever been to Shanghai?
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No ,but my wife and l are planning to visit China ,hopefully Shanghai will be part of the trip.Also,visiting Taj Mahal is another wish for me to fulfill.Best regards.Jalal
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Hope you include Shanghai on the list, it’s an amazing city! I have never been to the Taj Mahal so will enjoy reading about that on your blog! Thanks for stopping by, Virginia.
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Very generous of you to share that. Hoping to go to Shanghai next year and prepared to be overwhelmed!
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Hello Colin, are you planning a trip to Shanghai? be ready to be amazed. It’s one of the greatest cities I’ve ever traveled to. Have you ever been in Asia?
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Hi Virginia
I haven’t seen much of Asia, despite it being our nearest neighbour (some say Australia is in Asia…) but going to Japan next month, and have been in Singapore often. China is the next frontier. Thanks for stopping by my blog – as you will have seen, my special interest is Le Corbusier so I tend to look at everything through a Modernist’s eyes…which can be a good and a bad thing!
Really struck by the generosity of your blog and looking forward to using it when I visit particular cities.
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heheh that comment of Australia being in Asia made me laugh. Wow Singapore and Japan are definitely on my list for next year (looking forward to finishing this architecture thesis I’m doing), so I’ll definitely enjoy reading your posts about it. Have you visited Ronchamp?
Thanks for your kind words, it’s a way for me to discover the world’s architecture and share what I’ve found interesting with others 🙂
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Ronchamp is astonishing. I did a piece on it for Radio National here in Australia – this link is to the script of it: http://colinbisset.com/other-writing/ronchamp-the-spirit-of-place/ or the podcast: http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2011/12/bdn_20111214_1518.mp3
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Loved your post, and agree with you that every building surprises us in very different ways. I remember when I first saw it from the car, up in the mountain. I didn’t expect that. I spent a few hours wandering around and discovering every curve of the building, definitely one of my most favorite buildings of the 50s’.
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Thanks. I think I’d go further and say it’s one of my all-time favourites (except those kinds of lists tend to change all the time).
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Fantastic! Congratulations on your selection for this amazing opportunity. I’ve never been to Asia, but my husband has had brief visits in years past and was impressed and amazed at every turn.
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Ooh, that’s exciting! Next time you have to plan a trip to Asia together 😀 hope this list inspires you! Glad to see you again Kathryn!
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Enhorabuena por la guía de Shanghai, los arquitectos que vivimos aquí te lo agradecemos y ¡los que están de visita más aún!
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Hola Irene, genial que os vaya a ser útil. Si ves cualquier errata o algún sitio que añadir, dime 🙂
¿Qué tal Shanghai? ¿Cómo va la construcción de la torre de Gensler?
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Qué práctico y desinteresado blog. ¡Enhorabuena por tus ideas!
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Muchas gracias. Espero que alguna de estas guías pueda serte útil en algún momento 🙂
¡Feliz lunes!
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Wow, your list is so perfect 😍😍😍 I’ve spent one year study language in Shanghai, and yet i think i didn’t have the chance to visit all of them, definitely gonna visit them on my next visit! Thank you for the list, so useful!
Just a little bit of idea, maybe if you could include pics of the buildings on your list, it would be better 😉😉😉
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Wow, your list is so perfect 😍😍😍 I’ve spent one year study language in Shanghai, and yet i think i didn’t have the chance to visit all of them, definitely gonna visit them on my next visit! Thank you for the list, so useful!
Just a little bit of idea, if you could include pics of the buildings, it would be better 😉😉😉
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Thanks so much for your feedback! You’re not the first person to tell me the picture thing, and you’re completely right 😉 Did you see the Google Map?
I’m so jealous that you’re going to visit it soon. Chinese is so difficult, I tried learning it and didn’t achieve much 😦 Are you going there soon?
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Ah, i just saw the map, sorry, my bad… Well then, if you could include the pics not just in the map but also in your list too, it’d be so much easier for the readers i guess 😉 unfortunately no, i haven’t had plan to go back there yet, since i just got back from shanghai last year and think want to visit other places first before going back, but i’ll go back there someday, just for holiday or maybe if i’m lucky enough, work. And yes, chinese is so difficult. The tone, the pronunciation and especially the characters, are hell, combine that with the crazy speed they have when they speak, it’s really really hard to be good in chinese. One year and i think my chinese still very bad, to be honest…
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I’m sure is not so bad 😉 I really liked Shanghai but you’re right, there are so many places in Asia to visit. I’m planning a trip to Japan this summer, have you been there? Any other cities in Asia you’d recommend for future trips?
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Not yet, but Japan is next on my list, for sure, i hope it’ll be next year. Really envy you right now 😮 😮 😮 Have you been to seoul or busan in south korea? My university went there for study tour once and they have many great buildings there. Or singapore and hongkong, their architecture are also great, i think. Dubai, i heard they’re nice, but never been there yet. But if you like beach and resort thing i recommend you to go to Bali, of course 🙂 so many beautiful beaches and there are many famous architects from round the world’s creation too.
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I haven’t been to Korea, but its architecture is quite amazing from what I’ve researched! Singapore is definitely on my list, although it’s very expensive! Aw, travelling is such a good hobby 🙂
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Do you really recommend 15 days to get through the entire Shanghai guide?
Are the amount of days for all of your guides accurate?
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Hi Cody, I think you can cover almost everything in 2 weeks but of course that depends on your pace and your interests. You can probably cover the top highlights in a week for sure. Are you planning a trip to Shanghai?
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Yes! I am planning on using your guide to visit shanghai, Ho chi Minh, India and tokyo!
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Yes! I want to use your guides to visit Shanghai, Ho Chi Minh, India and Tokyo!
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That’s great! I’d say the biggest are Tokyo and Shanghai and then in India there are many experiences but perhaps not so much architecture in each city (so you could do a city per day) and then Ho Chi Minh a bit smaller. Long trip?
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