Bund Tourist Tunnel

Like a rainbow in the underground world, the Bund Tourist Tunnel (or Bund Sightseeing Tunnel) transports people under the Huangpu River that separates Pudong from the older part of the city. In fact, it is more a recreation facility than a transportation vehicle. However, the tunnel train is well worth riding once for a marvelous underwater trip, especially if you have kids.

Opened to the public in October 2000, the tunnel is China's first cross-river artificial sightseeing tunnel with a total length of 646.7 meter, connecting the north side of Chen Yi Square at the Bund and the Oriental Pearl TV Tower in Pudong.

Modern high technologies are showcased in one way or another. Escalators are installed at its entrances and exits, and hydraulic pressure lifts are especially designed for the handicapped. The audiovisual show in the tunnel is part Disney and part psychedelic - pictures, patterns and views about people, history, culture, science, technology and natural scenery as well as background music in the five-minute ride with neon madness will have your head spinning. The environment-friendly non-driver traction compartments are all transparent, and the six-sound-track and hi-fi stereo system match the changes of the views, making you feel as if you were right at the scene.

Broadway Mansions

As a landmark in Shanghai, Broadway Mansions was the second highest building in Shanghai before 1949, only next to Park Hotel.

Its construction started in the summer of 1930 and it was finished in the spring of 1934. As the building is located on the bank of the Suzhou Creek, with soft and moist earth, it took months to finish piling and four years for the completion of the whole building.

The building's floor plan was modeled after the Chinese character for the number eight, which is a symbol of luck and prosperity. The first indoor parking lot of the city was in this building. Capable of holding 80 sedans, it was also the largest parking lot in East Asia when it was built. Located by the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek, the balcony on the 18th floor is the best place to take a bird-eye view of the scenery on either side of the Huangpu River.

It was named after the name of the road where it stands - Broadway Road (today's Daming Road). It was renamed Shanghai Mansions on May 1, 1951 but changed back to Broadway Mansions in the 1980s, though the Chinese name remains "Shanghai Mansions". It was renovated in 1999 and is now a four-star hotel.

Recently, a German company announced that they would build an annex building for Broadway Mansions. North of the hotel, a fourth-floor podium building will be constructed to connect the hotel and Pujiang Hotel (formerly the Astor House Hotel). Besides the podium buildings, a plaza and a sidewalk full of cafes, bars and ferry docks will also be built around the hotel. Different shops will also be constructed on this sidewalk. Then, what is the fate of Jinshan Building?

Floodgate

As a key part of the city's Suzhou Creek rehabilitation effort, a new floodgate near the confluence of Suzhou Creek and the Huangpu River was put into trial use to double as an aesthetic accompaniment to the Oriental Pearl Tower, the Jin Mao Tower and old banks or trading houses dating back to colonial times. Nighttime visitors to Shanghai's historic Bund could add a lighted waterfall, one of the city's most spectacular scenic attractions, to their list of sightseeing options, if the rare chance comes.

The 270 million yuan facility has three functions: blocking the river floodwater from entering the creek, controlling pollution in the creek and creating a landscaping attraction like a "tiny Niagara". The main job of the water control device is to protect the city from a 1,000-year flood. But at night, it could be used to create a 2-meter-high, 100-meter-long waterfall.

The blue metal floodgate, comprising two 50-meter-long components, is anchored at the bottom of the creek. The 6.2-meter-tall barrier is hinged and can be raised and lowered through a 180-degree arc. A waterfall about 2 meters high can be created by angling the gate and taking advantage of tide level differentials between the creek and the river.

At most other times, the gate will simply lay flat at the bottom of the creek, waiting for a flood, the call to block pollution or the chance to please tourists. It provided much needed support for the Wusong Bridge Floodgate, built in the late 1980s, which has been designed to withstand only a 500-year flood surge. Historically, the "old floodgate" was built in 1675, and the "new floodgate" was erected in 1735.

Shanghai has been very cautious about flooding from the Huangpu, which winds its way through the city from south to north with essential functions such as supplying water and transporting goods and services. In summer typhoons frequently cause the water in the Huangpu River to exceed the alert line. The city has completed 318 kilometers of flood walls along the river. And the height of the flood walls had to increase constantly due to the rising water levels of the waterway, which rose by between 200 and 300 millimeters in the 1990s. Today's flood walls along the Huangpu River have been built to 6.9 meters on average, compared with 4.8 meters in the late 1980s, to ensure good resistance against the largest flood in 200 years. The flood walls cannot grow any more as they may cause serious damage to the splendid scenery along the Huangpu River. To prevent potential flooding that the coastal metropolis faces owing to rising sea levels and subsiding land, the construction of a dam on the Huangpu River was considered. The dam, dubbed as Shanghai's "Three Gorges Project", was planned to be located at the lower reaches of the Huangpu River in the northern Baoshan District. To build a dam as a long-term solution is more advantageous compared with the proposal of further building up existing flood walls along the Huangpu River.