TianZiFang is a busy neighbourhood full of restaurants, bars, local designers' shops and art/photo galleries. It is located in the former French concession, a fun place with lots of choices. The neighbourhood is not huge but still expanding, as more and more owners try to move in and share the soho atmosphere. If you want a break and slow down the speed of life, nice coffee shops can be found in the area.

The new Shanghai-Beijing high speed train has been put into use since June 30th. Although it is still in trial and timetable adjustment, you can feel the potential. People can commute between the political centre Beijing and the financial centre Shanghai within 5 hours on the train. The top speed is around 300km/h, similar to the Japanese bullet train. One negative point, the railway stations are mostly outside the city centres.

Summer in Shanghai is hot and humid. A cool place to visit at this season is the Shanghai Urban Planning Centre. Not only is it air-conditioned to cool you down, the exhibition holds a very cool urban model. The model is the biggest of its type in the world. The urban planning centre is a good place to know about city planning and developments in various aspects.

The ponds in private Chinese gardens are pretty in summer. Lotus, water lily and coy fish have created a peaceful yet flowing image. Gardens of this type exist mainly in southern China around the Yangtze delta area. Some pretty gardens include Master-of-Nets Garden in Suzhou, TuiSi Garden in TongLi water town and YuYuan Garden in Shanghai.

The skyscrapers in Shanghai are in various styles. Each single one wants to stand out and be differentiated from others. It is interesting to view skyscrapers when driving along the YanAn elevated road. From the Peoples Square to Hongqiao/Gubei area, you can see modern city buildings on Nanjing West Road, HuaiHai Road, Hongqiao development zone, and Gubei residential area. An alternative is to check out the virtual tour in Shanghai Urban Planning Centre.