SHANGHAI 4 DAYS PROGRAM

It was once known as 'The Pearl of the Orient', dynamic and decadent. It was a rich foothold of foreign influence. Its gap between wealth and poverty was wider than its river. It set styles in music, fashion and décor. It was the great beating commercial heart of China. Now, after years of quiet, Shanghai is back with a bang.

Today it is a fast, fearless city again, growing by the hour with the highest living standard in the country. Shanghai proclaims variety and innovation, clearly demonstrated in its architecture. Buildings here are exciting. The most traditional are on the Bund, running along the river where the foreigners built their neo classical banks, consulates, hotels and gentlemen's clubs. The newest area of the city, Pudong, is dead opposite the Bund in contemporary, defiant contrast. Some structure try for the futuristic and some break height records. So does the city's economic growth. Even some Chinese officials consider Shanghai to be the 'secret capital'.

On arrival at Shanghai International Airport, guests will be welcomed by cheongsam clad hostesses who will present them with a Welcome Pack which will include map, city guide, hotel name cards and pre-stamped postcards. They will be transferred to the hotel by a luxury limousine/7-seater MPV or deluxe coach. On board, cold face towels and bottled water will be provided.

There will be a Welcome Dinner at the 'M on the Bund' restaurant. Located at the pinnacle of the historic Nissin Shipping Building, M's overlooks the Bund. Here, diners sample a creative menu in a warm, refined atmosphere - a modern take on an Art Deco interior. The roof terrace and stylish Glamour Room are favourite spots.

Day 2. The Bund, Jade Buddha Temple, Yu Garden, Shanghai Museum

Breakfast will be taken at the hotel

The Bund. The day will begin with a stroll along the Bund, originally part of the International Settlement. The Bund arose out of the boom at the turn of the 20th century when major international banks and trading companies built prestigious headquarters in Shanghai. There are 52 buildings covering a spread of architectural styles. We suggest a look at the beautiful ceiling mosaics in the entrance hall of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, once the headquarters of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation completed in 1925.

The Jade Buddha Temple, is the repository of two striking jade Buddha statues. In 1882, a monk from Putuo Mountain went on a pilgrimage to Burma where he obtained five jade Buddha statues. On his way back, he left behind two statues in Shanghai because they are too heavy to be carried to the island. A temple was built in 1918 to house the statues. The larger seated statue of Sakyamuni (the founder of Buddhism) is displayed on the second floor at the back of the complex. Measuring 1.92m tall and weighting 1,000kg, this magnificent, lustrous statue cloaked in a robe of precious gems, was carved out of a single piece of white jade. The smaller, reclining Buddha, sculpted from the same piece of jade, is housed in a ground-floor chamber.

Yu Garden. The first visit is to the past, to the Yu Garden, a completely classical Chinese garden. Covering over 2 hectares, it was built by a Ming dynasty official, Pan Yunduan. As a filial son in the best Confucian tradition, he built his private garden to please his elderly father, hence the name Yu which means peace and comfort in Chinese. It has exquisite pavilions and a famous zigzag bridge.

The Garden is located in the Old Chinese City of Shanghai and there is time to stroll around this area.

Lunch will be taken in the 'Green Wave Restaurant' nearby. It is appropriately named, lying on the shore of a jade green body of water crossed by a picturesque bridge. The restaurant is designated as one of the best in China by the Ministry of Internal Trade, and has been the venue for banquets in honor of visiting dignitaries including Queen Elizabeth II and former US President Bill Clinton. Its menu presents dishes to rival any in Shanghai including dumplings for which it is famed.

Shanghai Museum. After lunch the group moves on to People's Square, a spectacular space, formerly the city's race-course It is a huge green area surrounded by spectacular buildings on all sides. The party will visit the most impressive, the world-class Shanghai Museum. The museum is smooth and symmetrical in the shape of a 'ding', a prestigious bronze food vessel used by the nobility.

This is an audio tour of one of Asia's most impressive collections of Chinese antiquaries. The Museum has one of the best Chinese bronze collections in the world that dates back to the Shang and Zhou dynasties. Other highlights include the Sculpture Gallery which traces the evolution of Buddhist sculpture; the Ceramics Gallery which chronicles the history of Chinese pottery from Neolithic times and the Painting Gallery with its exquisite scrolls of Tang Dynasty landscape paintings. The gift shop sells particularly tasteful souvenirs and books.

In the early evening, the group will attend a Chinese acrobatics show. China is world famous for these extraordinary performances which are beautiful, powerful and often barely credible even with the evidence of the eyes.

Dinner. There are two proposed venues:

	Club Jin Mao, a top class Shanghainese restaurant in the Grand Hyatt Hotel on the 86th floor of the landmark Jin Mao Building where authentic Shanghainese dishes are served within the ambience of an exclusive private club and floor-to-ceiling windows overlook the sweep of the city.
The Yongfoo Elite is a 1930s-villa that used to house the British consulate, it is located in the old French Concession. You make your way up the long driveway to a rambling old house with a Buddhist statue and magnolia tree in its gleaming garden. Antique Chinese furniture, vintage European artifacts and a bright green Gucci leather sofa create a merging of interior styles that is effortlessly matched by exquisite Euro-Asian fusion cuisine.

Day 3. Zhouzhuang or Zhujiajiao, faevel dinner

Breakfast will be taken at the hotel

One of two morning tours can be made available

Zhouzhang We will travel 30kms to the south of Suzhou city to Zhouzhang, a contrast to the pace of Shanghai and a very traditional and typical town of the Yangtze delta. The town was built up from the fourteenth century and most of the houses in the centre are from the Ching dynasty. They have been astonishingly well preserved and renovated. Guests will have an opportunity to stroll around the town and over any of the 14 ancient stone bridges which span its river. They can look into the elaborate and preserved homes of the town's eighteenth century millionaires. There will be a boat ride along the canals that lead through the settlement.

Zhujiajiao
Forty kilometres west of Shanghai is Zhujiajiao an ancient river town with a 1,700 year history. It became a flourishing community during the Ming Dynasty and has survived, very much in that form to become known as Shanghai's Venice. It has kept its rustic atmosphere and riparian elegance especially in the northwestern section of the town where 36 ancient bridges in a variety of styles span the gently flowing canals which are lined with stone houses. A boat ride is included to get a sense of daily life here. Guests will wander Mingqing Street, an alleyway lined with Ming and Qing Dynasty dynasty-style wooden shop houses. They will see the Temple of the Town God and Zhujiajiao's most famous landmark, Fangshen Bridge, the biggest ancient stone-arch bridge in the Shanghai region.

Lunch will be taken at Ye Shanghai restaurant in the Xintandi neighbourhood of Shanghai. Xintiandi is an impressive example of Shanghai restoring its historical facades. The area's 1920s stone shikumen houses and its original walls have all been restored. The result is an up market commercial area, filled with first class restaurants, boutiques and cafés. A good example is Ye Shanghai and is good choice for inventive Shanghainese cooking. The upstairs dining enjoys plenty of light and a glass staircase. Downstairs, comfortable booths overlook a cobbled street, and crimson Chinese lamps hang over dark wood furniture.

This is a time for leisure and shopping.

The Farewell Dinner can be held in one of a choice of stylish and novel venues. Possibilities are:

Club Shanghai Lily Ho, a retired actress from Hong Kong, owns this lavish restaurant inside Shanghai Concert Hall. She designed the interior full of chandeliers and velvet drapes herself. As well as a restaurant, there is a bar, a ballroom and live jazz. Club Shanghai's food comes from Stefan Stiller, a Michelin-starred German chef, whose menu is inventive and entertaining. He offers several variations of an ingredient in one dish such as foie gras which arrives prepared in five different ways on the same plate.

Promenade Garden facing the Huangpu River. A Chinese banquet dinner preceded by cocktails will be served in white marquees in a specially reserved section of the Bund's promenade with its illuminated buildings as a backdrop. Diners will look across the Huang river and its traffic to the lit up skyscrapers of Pudong.

The Shanghai Museum, a spectacular building and an unusual, artistic surrounding for a dinner. It has already been described above and includes a dining room with a capacity of 200 dinners.

Day 4. Departure

Breakfast will be taken at the hotel

There will be time for shopping or independent sightseeing until transport to the airport for the return flight. The journey from downtown Shanghai to Pudong airport will be by the record breaking Maglev train which runs on magnetic levitation on an elevated track at a speed of 430km an hour. The spectacularly rapid trip takes just 8 minutes - with acceleration up to 300km an hour in just 2 minutes.