It also has a new museum whose collections of ceramics, bronzes and Buddhist sculptures are of an exceptionally high quality. Antique shops and markets as well as art auction houses have mushroomed. Shanghai is reputed to have more than 100,000 art collectors of various standing. Its seafront promenade, better known as the Bund, is the place to view grand old colonial buildings lining the waterfront. Shanghai is perhaps the best place to sample cuisines from all parts of China.
Food prices are generally very low by Singapore standards, except in upmarket restaurants.
One should not leave Shanghai without partaking of its nightlife. The age-old habit of spitting in public has been almost eradicated and the public toilets are much cleaner than they were a decade ago. And onto Suzhou, a city of about half a million inhabitants and situated 80 km from Shanghai, provides a welcome contrast to the latter. With a history dating back 2,500 years, it is one of the most fascinating cities in China. Known as the Venice of the East, it so impressed Marco Polo in the 13th century, with its refined culture and sophisticated way of life, that he called it Paradise on Earth.