Broadly, central Shanghai is divided into two areas: Pudong (east of the Huangpu River) and Puxi (west of the Huangpu River). For visitors, the attractions of Shanghai are in Puxi. Street names are given in Pinyin, which makes navigating easy, and many of the streets are named after cities and provinces.

The Shanghai Music Festival is in May and the Shanghai International Tea Culture Festival is usually at the end of April. The Shanghai Marathon Cup is in March and is one of the top sporting events in China. The Shanghai Beer Festival staggers into town around the end of July, while the Shanghai Tourism Festival kicks off in late September. It's worth bearing these dates in mind as hotel accommodation can become scarce - during the Chinese New Year, usually in February, Shanghai is packed out.

Golf courses have invaded the suburbs of Shanghai. As elsewhere, it's a sport of the well-to-do. The Chinese can take credit for developing many of the best massage techniques which are employed today. You'll need a Chinese person to direct you to a legitimate, small specialist massage clinic. Alternatively, look for the blind masseuses that work on the streets in Shanghai.

While there are some fascinating places to stroll through in Shanghai, new road developments, building sites, jam-packed walkways and shocking traffic conditions conspire to make walking in most areas an exhausting experience. Local buses are hard work too. The subway system, on the other hand, is a dream - but so far it only does a north-south sprint through central Shanghai. Travellers with money to spare can at least hop into a taxi. A number of hotels also offer free shuttle buses to and from the Bund area.

Although it's possible to hire a car in Shanghai, it's really not worth the hassle unless you're familiar with the nightmare of Shanghai's one-way system and the appalling conditions on the roads.