Shanghai Daily News

As the city's former major industrial zone, Yangpu has undergone big changes over the past decade, transforming from an industrial district to a vibrant knowledge and innovation community.

This week's District Special tours through the southwest area's past and present to reveal a host of surprising attractions that will be of interest to locals and visitors alike.

Yangpu Urban Planning Exhibition Center

For new arrivals to Shanghai, one of the most efficient ways to learn about the city's history and development in a short time is at this urban planning exhibition hall.

Located in the southwest part of the district, this steel frame light steel roof structure houses bold plans for Yangpu's future. The 1,400-square-meter hall has two floors and the room-sized model of the district in 2020 on the ground floor is worth seeing.

The ground floor is divided into seven parts and includes an exhibit of photography documenting the district over the past century. The second floor features a digital cinema where 3D images are screened through four high-definition digital projectors. An eight-minute film outlines the future urban plans for the Huangpu riverside, the Jiangwan-Wujiaochang Center and New Jiangwan Town.

Address: 1111 Changyang Road

Tel: 6535-1111, 5508-0391

Ticket: Five yuan (62 US cents). Free on the 20th of each month.

Jiangpu Park

At almost any time of day, the pace of life here always feels a few beats slower than in the urban center. Designed with a strong emphasis on natural harmony, the 38.5-hectare park is located just next to the district's urban planning exhibition center.

The park, which features a 25,887-square-meter green belt, contains about 8,000 types of flowers and is canopied by a number of different trees, including pomegranates, cymbidiums and camphor.

Here, visitors can quietly experience typical Shanghainese "park culture." Passionate people gather in the park at 6am daily, jogging and practicing Tai Chi, while local amateur singers and dancers perform during most sunny afternoons.

Various sporting and exercise apparatus is set up in the park and is especially popular with children and pensioners alike.

Address: 78 Jiangpu Road

Entrance: Free

Creative Shanghai

Two years ago, Yangshupu took its rightful place among the city's artistic community with the opening of Creative Shanghai. After a lengthy renovation, the former industrial center, which features 15.5 kilometers of waterfront along the Huangpu River, was transformed for the better with the opening of the 80,000-square-meter Creative Shanghai compound. The renovation rejuvenated about 30 dilapidated warehouses and workshops which dated back to the city's most intensive industrial era in the first half of the 20th century.

Taiwan architect Teng Kun-yen designed the place to meet the needs of environmental art design, photo software design and modern art exhibitions.

Machinery noise, the passing of trucks and discharge from the various smokestacks are long gone. Now, the place smells faintly of a wondrous mixture of dampness, chemicals and flowers.

Walking around the grounds that are stylishly paved in a black tile motif, the first thing to strike visitors' senses is a carving of an enormous monkey head that adorns the entrance. Surrounded by trees and a lily pond, nature is everywhere here, making people feel as if they are in an oasis of tranquility.

Creative Shanghai has deliberately kept the warehouses' exterior appearances that seem unfinished and preserves their shabby look.

Walking through the warehouses, elements of the typical Jiangnan architectural style are evident in the spaces that are conceptually divided into several pavilions. In addition, several large lotus water tanks are beautifully arranged around the structures.

It also preserves its historical past when it was the home of the first General Electric factory in the city in 1923. An old GE logo is still prominent on the building's outside wall.

Visitors can also relax at the Cafe Workshop which features bamboo chairs with bird cages hanging overhead in a sublime garden. The two-story cafe- bar thoughtfully provides free ice water to visitors.

This architecturally-diverse space is now home to two design companies, bars and galleries.

Address: 2218, Yangshupu Road

Transport: No public transport goes directly to Creative Shanghai. However, get off Metro Line No. 4 at Yangshupu Station and take a taxi about 10 minutes away.

Website: www.creativeshanghai.com