Foodstuff at Yu Bazaar

Yu Yuan Garden

Tian Zi Fang

Model of Shanghai at the city's Urban Planning Museum

Oriental Pearl TV Tower

China's largest and fastest growing city, Shanghai, is filled with the type of charm that even Ebenezer Scrooge would fall victim to. 

Continued development has transformed the city - from what was originally just a humble fishing village - into a budding metropolis eager to show the world its capabilities. Home to over 20 million people, the city is divided into the East and West by the Huangpu River. 

On the East of the river lies the financial district, a hub of foreign and local activity and the source of Shanghai's ever-changing skyline, with landmark buildings sprouting up every few months. 

A must-see is the Shanghai World Financial Centre which contains the world's highest observation deck and is China's tallest building, stretching 492 metres.  

Known affectionately by the locals as the 'bottle-opener' (for its 'holey' structure), the Japanese-Chinese owned SWFC Observatory allows visitors to zoom up 474 metres of the building at 10 metres per second. 

The view from the top overlooks the whole of Shanghai and gives a breathtaking introduction to the more than 4,800 high rises in the city - all on just three transparent glass-walled walkways. 

When you've seen enough from the top, take a 3km ride through the colourful and kid-friendly Bund Sightseeing Tunnel to the West side where Shanghai's famous Bund sprawls along the side of the river.

At the Bund, you can admire the contrasts between the different buildings, from the new age Oriental Pearl TV Tower to the historic Peace Hotel, and understand how the influences of the British and the French have helped the city gain its reputation as the world's living museum of modern architecture.  

Move further along the West bank and you will find enthralling bits and pieces of the old town and inevitably some of the best food in Shanghai.  

One place which oozes both of these elements is the Yu Bazaar where tourists go to visit the Yu Yuan Garden while the locals go to get a taste of popular foodstuff such as smelly tofu or the delicious soup-filled xiao long bao (dumplings). 

Locals believe a 400-year-old male Gingko tree, which sits in the Yu Yuan garden is the oldest tree in Shanghai, and just outside the garden is the city's oldest structure - a traditional Chinese teahouse. 

But perhaps the most charming mix of old, new and tasty is found in Shanghai's Tian Zi Fang, the city's renowned art district where promising new local artists and designers proudly showcase their work within a backdrop of narrow cobblestone paths and dilapidated European style buildings. 

Here, visitors can find an array of stores selling contemporary photography art, fashion, international products and local handicrafts as well as dabbles of modern fusion cafes with a funky edge. Tian Zi Fang is definitely a place you wouldn't mind getting lost in.

The same could be said for Shanghai - on the outside it seems as simple as a concrete jungle, but go off the track, take a closer look into its winding streets and alleyways and you'll discover pockets of life bursting with history, culture, creativity, flavour and progress.

The journalist was a guest of Helen Wong's Tours who is the Official Ticket Sales Agent for World Expo 2010. 

For more information visit www.helenwongstours.com

The Bund	SWFC:  The 'bottle-opener'