From the people who sweep the streets clean, to the cops who keep them safe, from those who toil in the sun, to those who snooze in the shade, one can get a feel of what makes a great city tick. This is a city that never sleeps, ever on the move, and at hyperspeed. Yet within this pulsating urban sprawl, exists a parallel universe going at an unhurried clip. Intriguing, engaging, enchanting. Experience this charming world on the streets of Shanghai. Micro-taxi, small but gets you there, rain or shine Petrol powered or pedal powered, two-wheeling is freedom A chance to light up while waiting for the green Delivering drinking water, safely parked away from heavy traffic Trusty transport, on business or on errand A traffic cop looking more benign than ticket happy

Like all cosmopolitan cities Shanghai is a gourmet’s paradise. Apart from the usual  western signature restaurants there is also a fine mix of places offering local fare from high cuisine to “small eats”. If you want to test the Chinese saying “east is sweet, south is salty, west is sour, north is spicy” without going all over China, Shanghai is the place.  While posh joints cater to the well heeled, the rest are well fed at myriad shops and stalls providing basic fare.  This small shop serves up a variety of tasty local dishes in a spartan white setting. The door under a little bowl and chopsticks sign opens onto a small sit-down area. In downtown Huai Hai Lu eager customers queue expectantly for takeaway delicacies and snacks to complement dishes prepared at home. Skewered cuttlefish and other small bites at a bustling street food corner. Nostalgia-themed restaurant feeds your longing for the good old days.

The Shanghai Auto Museum is located on the outskirts of the city in the Shanghai Anting International Automobile City. Covering a planned area of over 3 million sq m the auto township is an integrated “live, work, play” development offering manufacturing, R&D, education, expositions and trading for the automobile industry. This auto hub is also home to the Shanghai International Circuit which hosts the glamorous Shanghai F-1 Grand Prix. The Shanghai Auto Museum has a floor area of 28,000 sq m and boasts a prized collection of some of the most coveted cars in the world. Level 2 houses the Blackhawk Collection owned by American Don Williams. Major marques from both sides of the Atlantic are represented, a few with masterpieces going back to their founding days. Classics from the stables of Rolls-Royce, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Ferrari, Maserati and others are sure to set your heart racing. Some famous brands have passed into history but their creations live on in this wondrous coll

Fuxing Park is one of several scattered around Shanghai providing respite in this throbbing metropolis. Built by the French during the colonial era, it has the usual Parisian features like sycamore-lined walkways, placid ponds and colourful flower beds, augmented by typical Chinese garden features like rockeries and willows. Located in the Luwan District, it has several entrances, the main one on Fuxing Zhong Lu. Here’s a place to observe the locals in their natural habitat doing their recreation thing. Come weekends, there are more than the usual family strolling with children, joggers, or elderly folk swaying to tai qi. Throughout the day, young and old cha cha, tango and waltz, or hip-hop and pop to the blare of their boomboxes, while cultural groups belt out Chinese opera arias, recite Tang poetry or sing folk and classical numbers, accompanied by live ensemble. All in all a rewarding day for spectators and performers alike. Feeding carp in a pond while a crowd gathers in t

Shanghai is a city of contrasts. You see it in the way people make their living. For some it is a tough daily grind, for others, it is life on a roll. Whatever their circumstances, their day’s work helps keep this sprawling metropolis moving at a steady clip, making it one of the world’s most exciting places to be. A labourer pulls a heavy load of construction debris through the streets. Family teams of husband and wife or father and son, are quite common.  In a noodle house, a man kneads dough by bouncing on a bamboo pole, showcasing the hand-made quality of noodle served. A delivery man making the rounds on his trusty tricycle, a hand on his mobile, perhaps expecting a chaser or a reroute. Riding the streets of Shanghai is even more precarious with a ladder on your shoulder, but someone needs a quick fix. In the early evening a jazz player entertains from a balcony on Nanjing Lu, a prelude to a night of nostalgia in old Shanghai.

Founded in 1882, the Jade Buddha Temple on Anyuan Lu houses a 2 m tall seated Buddha statue, and a smaller reclining Buddha of under 1 m long, each carved out of a single block of white jade and brought in from Burma by monk Huigen. There is also a recent addition by Singapore Buddhists – a marble reclining statue of around 4 m long, sometimes mistaken for the jade one by the uninitiated. With several buildings in the temple complex, you can spend hours viewing the collection of Buddhist sculptures, paintings, scriptures and other artifacts, and soaking in the quiescence of the temple grounds. Devotees and tourists wander the halls and open squares, some with hands in supplication or on their knees at the foot of statues, others burning joss sticks or dropping donations into the collection boxes which help upkeep the temple and fund charity work.  A vegetarian restaurant takes care of your more worldly needs. The temple entrance is to the left of the saffron yellow walled facad

Shanghai 1933 Old Millfun, is an imposing building down 10 Shajing Lu, in the historic Hongkou district. Architecturally described as art deco, perhaps for its geometric-pattern grating and period motifs on its facade, it looks more brutalist with its intimidating down-tapered columns and monolithic slabs, all left unfinished in raw concrete. There is a menacing air about its appearance, something befitting its past role as a killing machine.  Opened for business in 1933 as the city slaughterhouse, this grand old building has shed its dark side to become the home to fashion boutiques, bridal studios, fine restaurants and creative shops. It even hosts the Ferrari Owners’ Club of China, with a F1 car on display in the adjoining souvenir shop cum cafe.  An open-air four storey high atrium curves round the central meat-processing facility separating it from the rest of the block. Bathed in natural lighting this unique space is crisscrossed by narrow “air bridges” linking a maze of ram

Book lovers will find nirvana at the Xinhua Bookstore located in the Shanghai Shu Cheng (literally Shanghai Book City) on Fuzhou Lu. Spread over 8 floors it has all types of books including many hard to find art books. Practically everything Chinese is here, and there’s still room for a wide selection of foreign books and periodicals. The upper floors are cloud nine for CDs and DVDs covering arts and culture in addition to the usual mainstream stuff. Computer books, software, games and language-learning kits complete the offerings. The gems are behind glass in the side rooms and you have to ask for assistance. For tired feet and eyes, relax in the in-shop cafes and lounge areas. Located on the same street are many shops selling musical instruments from bamboo flutes to grand pianos. Further up and you’re in the civic district with its famed Shanghai Museum and shopping malls. Shanghai Shu Cheng on a wintry day. All your daily news and more under one book-shaped roof.