Shanghai has continued improving the tourist environment and reorganizing the tourist resources and updating the tourist services.

Shanghai has a rich collection of buildings and structures of various architectural styles. The Bund, located by the bank of the Huangpu River, contains a rich collection of early 20th century architecture, ranging in style from neoclassical HSBC Building to the art deco Sassoon House.

1. Yuyuan Garden

A number of areas in the former foreign concessions are also well preserved, most notably the French Concession. Despite rampant redevelopment, the old city still retains some buildings of a traditional style, such as the Yuyuan Garden, an elaborate traditional garden in the Jiangnan style.

2. Shanghai Oriental Arts Center

In recent years, a large number of architecturally distinctive, even eccentric, skyscrapers have sprung up throughout Shanghai. Notable examples of contemporary architecture include the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai Grand Theatre in the People's Square precinct and Shanghai Oriental Arts Center.

One uniquely Shanghainese cultural element is the shikumen (石库门) residences, which are two or three-story townhouses, with the front yard protected by a high brick wall. Each residence is connected and arranged in straight alleys, known as a nòngtang (弄堂). The entrance to each alley is usually surmounted by a stylistic stone arch.

3. Shanghai International Exhibition Center

The city also has some beautiful examples of Soviet neoclassical architecture. These buildings were mostly erected during the period from the founding of the People's Republic in 1949 until the Sino-Soviet Split in the late 1960s. Examples of Soviet neoclassical architecture in Shanghai include what is today the Shanghai International Exhibition Center.

4. Jin Mao Tower & Shanghai World Financial Center

The Pudong district of Shanghai displays a wide range of super-tall skyscrapers. The most prominent examples include the Jin Mao Tower and the taller Shanghai World Financial Center, which at 492 meters tall is the tallest skyscraper in Chinese mainland and ranks second in the world.

5. Oriental Pearl Tower

The distinctive Oriental Pearl Tower, at 468 meters, is located nearby toward downtown Shanghai. Its lower sphere is now available for living quarters, at very high prices. Another tall high-rise in the Pudong area of Shanghai is the newly finished Development Tower. It stands at 269 meters.

6. Shanghai Tower

Also in Pudong, a third super-tall skyscraper topping the other Shanghai buildings called the Shanghai Tower is under construction. With a height of 632 meters (2,074 feet), the building will have 127 floors upon planned completion in 2014.