Big model in Big Shanghai

Location:
China

architecture, Shanghai, models

By Kim Orendor

Usually when I travel, I’m looking to visit the big things.

When in Arizona, visit the Grand Canyon.

When in Colorado, visit the Rockies.

When in Beijing, visit the Great Wall.

When in Shanghai, visit the Urban Planning Exhibition Center.

No, really. It the biggest scale model I’ve ever seen. Ok, so it’s the first scale model of a city that I’ve seen, but it’s no less impressive.

The center, located in People’s Park, is easily skipped as visitors take in the Grand Theatre or the Shanghai Museum in People’s Square. I went by it the first day.

Let’s face it; with the words “Urban Planning” in the title, it doesn’t seem very inviting.

The promotion material doesn’t help much either. Most descriptions make it appear as exciting as watching tai chi. However, I dropped my 60 RMB (less than $10US) and took a chance.

The first floor made me think the brochures were right. My first thought was this is the cheesiest scale model of a city that I’ve ever seen. It wasn’t even the whole city. The bottom floor has a slice of the city, call the Bund, which fronts the Huangpu River. It reminded me of something that you might see in a high school science fair. Nice, but not worth more than a C.

I decided to get my money’s worth and went up stairs. The second floor is an interactive historical museum of the city. There are before and after pictures of various streets and buildings. Shanghai, which is one of China’s oldest cities, was “founded” by the British in 1842. A lot of changes have happened since then.

Looking at the old pictures with the two and three story buildings to seeing the newest pictures of super structures touching the clouds, it was awe inspiring to think how much the city had changed. There are also video presentations which alternate between Chinese and English performances.

Following the before and after, it was time to head to the third floor. This is where the real modeling takes place. A scale model of the city is sprawled out before you in all its splendor. After finding my mini-hotel near the mini-Bund, the size of Shanghai hit me. The scope of the model is so big it wouldn’t even fit in my camera frame.

There are several viewing platforms to see different angles of the model, which goes through a cycle of day and night. The lights go down in the viewing area and the lights come on in the models.

It was crazy to think that a city could be this large, until you remember that Shanghai has more than 18 million people. Some sources list it at more than 20 million. But what’s a couple million more or less?

In alcoves away from the model are interactive points for tourists. One section has information on everything from dining to hotels to attractions. Other sections show the evolution of Shanghai housing, from early traditional Chinese homes to modern condos sprouting up everywhere.

The floor above is open in the middle so you can look down on the model. This bird’s-eye view is also amazing and makes you realize how inadequate a word like “big” is to describe this metropolis.

There is a café and viewing area on the top floor. You can have a nice view of the Shanghai Museum across the street.

There is so much to see and do on the middle floors that seeing it all would take quite awhile. I wandered the halls for about an hour and a half. The amount of time you spend will depend on your love and/or fascination with architecture and models.

Further Information

Other helpful information: Bring a small notebook. There is a lot of useful information about things to do and see in the city.

Must see/do at this place: You must not judge by the first floor, and you must see the scale model at eye level and from a bird's-eye view.

You should avoid here: Buying souvenirs. There are some reasonably priced photo books, but the other "gifts" are available elsewhere for much less.