Shanghai Daily News

The ATP Tour season-ending Tennis Masters Cup will return to Shanghai between November 13 and November 20 in Qizhong Center Court Stadium, Minhang District, three years on from the first Shanghai Masters.

The world's top players including Roger Federer, Lleyton Hewitt and Marat Safin will all be participating.

More than 2,000 tickets have already been booked mostly by foreign visitors and it is expected that over 100 media and 500 reporters from different countries and regions will broadcast the matches live.

The Minhang District government has already worked out a plan to make sure the audience thoroughly enjoy themselves during the Masters Cup and there will be more than 100 volunteers on hand to help look after the audiences.

The government has also arranged special visits and sightseeing trips for the reporters to help them relax between the matches.

The government will organize a special bus line to take the media to an old town called Qibao, which is just 20 minutes from the stadium.

The buses are available everyday and will take the reporters from the stadium to the town directly for free.

Qibao Town lies in the western part of Minhang District. It is an old town and dates back to the period of the Five Dynasties and the Ten Kingdoms (907-979 AD).

Tourists can find many stone-paved streets and wooden houses from the architectural styles of the Ming (1368-1644) and the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912).

Most of the houses are two-storied with brick roofs. There are some small showrooms featuring fabrics that show the history of the town.

Local culinary specialties include braised mutton and glutinous rice cakes.

The trip to visit a musical instrument museum will prove interesting. Traditonal Chinese musical instruments, including the erhu (a two-stringed bowed instrument with a lower register than Jinghu) and the pipa (a plucked string instrument with a fretted fingerboard) are part of the attractions.

The golf course next to the Qizhong Center Court Stadium will be free for members of the media.

The government hopes that people from all over the world coming to see the tennis masters will leave with a better understanding about the city and the culture of the district.