Shanghai Library

Shanghai Library is a modern, multi-functional Library. Situated at 1525 Huaihai Road (M), the library buildings involve a total construction space of 83,000 square metres. The library is composed of a main building and an annex building. The main building consists of two towers and auxiliary complexes. The 11 storey and 24 storey towers, 55.6 metres and 106 metres in height respectively, are divided into A, B, C and D areas. The A area is reading rooms and libraries for contemporary books, periodicals, ancient books and microfilm documents; the B area is lobby and multifunctional halls; the C area is reading rooms for Chinese and foreign language books, stack room, a computer centre, book purchasing and editing departments; and the D area is warehouse, exhibition halls, an academic centre, audio and video rooms, an auditorium and stack rooms for lending.
Total collection of the library is 13.2 million books. Reading seats number 3,036 in 38 common reading rooms, 24 research reading rooms and eight audio and video research rooms. Also included in the library is a 842 seat auditorium, a 500 square metre exhibition hall, a 300 plus seat multi-functional hall and a 320 seat academic centre equipped with simultaneous translation facilities.

Shanghai Museum

Shanghai Museum is situated at the southern side of the People's Square. Total construction space is 38,000 square metres. The museum structure, 29.5 metres in height, includes five floors aboveground and two floors underground. Total investment of the museum is 432.69 million yuan. The museum opened to visitors at the end of 1995. The design of the museum, a square foundation supporting a circular roof, incorporates ancient Chinese philosophy that the sky is round and the earth is square. The museum has 10 showrooms featuring bronze wares, ceramics, ancient Chinese paintings, calligraphy works, sculptures, seals, coins, jade wares, furniture and handicrafts of Chinese minorities. The museum now collects some 120,000 pieces of precious antiques, accounting for almost half of the total such collections in the country. The museum is highly acclaimed internationally.

Oriental Pearl TV Tower

Oriental Pearl TV Tower is situated within the Pudong Park in Lujiazui, Pudong New Area. Total height of the tower is 468 metres, making it the tallest in Asia and the third tallest in the world, The tower has a unique design composed of balls and columns. Total construction space of the tower is nearly 10,000 square metres. Inside the tower are rotating teahouse, restaurants, shops, viewing halls, deluxe guestrooms, television and FM broadcasting equipment rooms. At the top of the tower is a 110-meter transmitting aerial, the longest of its kind in the world. The aerial is able to transmit nine TV programs and 10 FM broadcasting programs, covering Shanghai and neighbouring provinces in a radius of 80 kilometres

Shanghai Grand Theatre

Shanghai Grand Theatre is at the northern part of the People's Square, at the intersection of the square's Central Boulevard and Huangpi Road. The theatre covers a floor space of 11,528 square metres. The east-west length of the theatre is about 120 metres and the south-north length is about 1,378 metres. The modern and grandiose theatre has 10 floors. Total construction space is 62,803 square metres. The theatre has a 2,000-seat audience hall and a 760-square-meter hall for VIPs. (The backstage is 420 square metres and the two side-stages each has around 280 square metres of space). The theatre will play host to performances of top-notch ballet troupes, opera troupes and symphony orchestras. Near the arch-like ceiling of the theatre is a 500-plus-seat multi-functional ballroom where banquets, fashion shows and exhibitions can be held.

Shanghai History Museum

Located at 1286 Hongqiao Road, Shanghai History Museum is a museum about Shanghai's history. The predecessor of the museum is Shanghai Historical Antiques Showroom which was opened in 1983. In 1994, the showroom was renovated and put on its first permanent show - the Exhibition of Contemporary Urban Developments in Shanghai. The show takes over more than 1,400 square metres of exhibition space. More than 1,000 antiques, documents and historical pictures, complemented by advanced audio and video systems and hi-tech multi-media facilities, are exhibited. This exhibition vividly represents Shanghai's one-hundred-year development from 1843 to 1949.

Shanghai Book City

Shanghai Book City, at Fuzhou Road in downtown, covers 4,900 metres of land. The Book City building has a construction space of 36,000 square metres and is 99.8 metres in height. The Book City retails and wholesales books using modern technologies. The Book City markets Shanghai-published books, books published outside Shanghai as well as overseas books. Within the Book City there are an information centre, a science and research centre, an entertainment centre and representative offices leased by book publication and distribution companies

Shanghai Longhua Martyr's Cemetery

Shanghai Longhua Martyr's Cemetery is at the southwestern Longhua Town. After a major renovation, the cemetery was re-opened to the public on July 1, 1995. The cemetery is divided into eight function areas: visiting area, tombs area, historical relics area, underground passage and execution ground, stele area, youth education place, cadres' ash depositary place and resting area. Facing the cemetery's front gate is a 3,000-square-meter square. At the two sides of the square is red stone platforms where eight square and round granite floor beds sit. A giant stone with two red characters "Hong Yan" (red rock) inscribed on it is standing at the right side of the gate.
A monument is erected at the central part of the cemetery, where the south-north axis meets the east-west axis. The monument square is a major visiting and mourning place. The main part of the monument is 24 metres in length, 13 metres in width and 7.5 metres in height. Four pieces of granite walls make up the monument. At the side facing the south, the monument is inscribed with President Jiang Zeming's calligraphy and at the side facing the north, the inscription is contributed by the Shanghai Party Committee and Shanghai Municipal Government. At the western and eastern sides of the monument are two groups of statues entitled "Independence and Democracy" and "Liberation and Development." A 10,000-square-meter memorial hall with some 5,000 square metres of exhibition space is situated at the back part of the cemetery.

Shanghai Stadium

Shanghai Stadium is a giant sports facility boasts unique designing. Covering a floor area of 190,000 square metres, the stadium is a sphere in an radium of 300 metres. The saddle-shaped stadium has a total construction space of 150,000 square metres Above audiences' stands there are awnings that could be spread out in case of raining and big sun. The stadium can seat 80,000 audiences. In addition to playing host to sports games and performances, the stadium also has facilities for dining, accommodation, conferences and exhibitions. The exhibition hall at the southern part of the stadium can play host to various seminars and press conferences.

Publishing houses

In 1997, 36 publishing houses in Shanghai published 9,928 kinds of books, including 4,844 new books and 5,084 re-printed books. More than 270 million copies of books with 1.8 billion printed sheets were printed. The book distribution income was 2.1 billion yuan. In 1997, 587 kinds of periodicals were published in Shanghai with an impression of 170 million copies that worth 580 million yuan. By the end of 1997, Shanghai had registered 87 newspapers with a combined impression of 1.93 billion copies. In 1997, Shanghai had 22 audio and visual publishing houses. Four CD assembly lines were completed at the Xinhui Optic Disc Group Company. In 1997, Shanghai published 1,965 kinds of cassettes with a circulation of 46 million tapes, 503 kinds of compact discs with a circulation of 1.65 million copies, 34 kinds of visual compact discs with a circulation of 549,3000 copies and 251 kinds of multimedia reading materials with a circulation of 500,000 copies. The combined circulation income of the Shanghai Yingxiang Publishing House, the Shanghai Shengxiang Publishing House and China Record Shanghai Corp exceeded 100 million yuan in 1997.
Of Shanghai's 36 publishing houses, Shanghai People's Publishing House, Shanghai Art and Culture Publishing House, Shanghai Juvenile and Children's Publishing House, Shanghai Dictionary Publishing House, Shanghai Education Publishing House, Shanghai Classical Books Publishing House and the Shanghai Calligraphy and Painting Publishing House are the highly-acclaimed book publishers in the country with wide influence.

Newspapers

Jiefang Daily, Wenhui Daily, Xinmin Evening News, Xinwen Morning News, Xinwen Afternoon News, Xinwen Evening News, Shanghai Star, Business News, The Youth Journal and Labourer Newspaper are leading newspapers published in Shanghai.

Broadcasting Stations

In 1997, broadcasting stations in Shanghai broadcasted programs for a total of 94,989 hours and local television stations broadcasted TV programs for 130,039 hours. During the year, 827 episodes of TV series and 729 episodes of radio series were produced in Shanghai. TV series "Family Affinity" and radio series "Ardent Youth" and "Club for Laid-off Workers" have won awards from the Central Party Committee. Radio series "Coherence" and one-episode play "Respect" won the first prizes from a national radio series competition in the year. "The Palm and the Back of a Hand" was awarded the second prize in the same competition. In 1997, Shanghai produced 11 feature films and dubbed more than 20 imported films. Included was the award-winning film "Red River Valley." The Shanghai Animated Film Studio produced 2,338 minutes of animated films.
In the 1996 Huabian Award, one of the most prestigious film awards in China, the outstanding feature film award, the outstanding film technology award and the outstanding director award all went to "Red River Valley." The outstanding children's film award went to "I have Dad, too," which was also awarded a special prize at the Berlin Film Festival. The outstanding documentary award went to "The De-taming of North China Tiger." The outstanding science and education film award went to "The Harmfulness of Drugs." The outstanding animated film award went to "Cloth Making From A Hundred Birds' Feathers" and "A Small Storey In A Big Forest."
Shanghai now has two film distribution corporations - Yongle Film Distribution Corporation and Oriental Film Distribution Corporation. Shanghai last year projected 260,000 film shows that were attended by 36 million audiences.
Statistics made at the end of 1997 showed there are a total 418 film projection units in Shanghai, including 316 profit-making ones. There are about 104 stereo film screens in Shanghai, about 10 per cent are complemented with stereo component systems.

Broadcasting Stations

There are two broadcasting stations in Shanghai : Shanghai People's Broadcasting Station and Shanghai Oriental Broadcasting Station.

Shanghai People's Radio Station

Shanghai People's Radio Station was founded on May 27, 1949, the day Shanghai was Liberated. In October 1996, the station moved to a new building at the Hongqiao Development Zone.
The station now has 13 channels, including eight medium wave channels, two FM channels and three shortwave channels. Backed with world advanced technologies, the station produces and broadcasts a wide spectrum of programs, including news programs, economy programs, variety radio shows, music programs, traffic information and programs for Taiwan and overseas Chinese. With more than 120 programs, the station broadcasts for 117 hours and 10 minutes a week on average. The station's broadcast covers Shanghai and entire Yangtze River Delta region. In addition, the station has opened a TV channel specialised in traditional operas at Shanghai Cable TV, Channel 5. Total broadcasting time is 16 hours and 30 minutes.

Shanghai East Radio Station

Established on October 28, 1992, the Shanghai East Radio Station has four channels, including one medium wave channel and three FM channels. In addition, a TV program featuring music have been launched by the station at the Shanghai Cable TV, Channel 4. The station has a total of 71 broadcasting programs and 16 television programs. Total broadcasting time is 92 hours. The station boasts the world advanced digital technology. The program production and management have been computerised.
The station can reach Shanghai and neighbouring provinces including Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui. The station has a number of high-acclaimed programs including "Oriental Morning News,""Today's New Topic,""With you to Dawn" and "Daily Finance."
There are two broadcasting stations in Shanghai: Shanghai People's Broadcasting Station and Shanghai Oriental Broadcasting Station.

Television Stations

There are three major TV stations in Shanghai: Shanghai TV Station, Oriental TV Station and Shanghai Cable TV Station.
Shanghai TV Station
Shanghai TV Station started to broadcast on a trial basis on October 1, 1958 and the official broadcasting began on October 1, 1959. It is one of the foremost TV stations in China. The station now broadcasts its full-colour programs through Channel 8 and Channel 14. In 1997, the station broadcasted 34.4 hours a day on average. Of the total, 10.2 hours of program were made by the station itself.
At the beginning of 1996, the station took over the 40-year-old Shanghai Animated Film Studio, becoming the only TV station in the country that is able to produce cartoon films.
The TV station not only reaches audiences in the entire Yangtze River Delta region, but also sends its programs to nearly 50 countries and regions. The station has established relationships with TV stations in more than 40 countries and regions.
Shanghai Orient TV Station
Shanghai Oriental TV Station started to broadcast on January 18, 1993. After several years' development, it has established itself as a TV station with great influence.
In December 1995, the station strengthen itself by merging with the Shanghai Science and Educational Film Studio. The station now broadcasts programs on Channel 20 and Channel 33. Daily broadcasting time is 37 hours, including 5.5 hours of self-produced programs. The station reaches audiences in Shanghai and part of areas in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces. More than 50 programs featuring news,documents, variety shows, education, children's program, sports program and TV series are broadcasted. The station produces around 10 science and educational films and documents and some 10,000 minutes of cartoon films a year.

Shanghai Cable TV Station

Shanghai Cable TV Station, responsible for the planning, construction, operation, management and broadcasting of Shanghai cable networks, was founded on December 26, 1992. At the moment, the station broadcasts a total of 18 programs, including 13 relayed programs and five self-produced programs. The comprehensive channel broadcasts children's programs, social and educational programs, variety shows, films and TV series. The information channel broadcasts news and information and hundreds of sports games. The music channel, a co-production between the station and Shanghai Oriental Broadcasting Station, broadcasts traditional and pop music. The traditional opera channel, a co-production between the station and the Shanghai People's Broadcasting Station, is the first of its kind in the country. Five channels broadcast more than 60 programs for nearly 100 hours. By the end of 1997, the subscribers of Shanghai Cable TV had reached 2.23 million, making the station the world's largest city cable TV network

Film Studios

Shanghai is the cradle of China's film industry. Since the production of China's first film completed in Shanghai early this century, Shanghai is always an important production base for the country's film industry. Major film studios include Shanghai Film Studio, Shanghai Animated Film Studio and Shanghai Science and Educational Film Studio.

Shanghai Film Studio

Shanghai Film Studio is the birthplace of China's film industry while Shanghai is always China's major film making place. The city is home to Shanghai Film Studio, Shanghai Animated Film Studio. The Shanghai Film Studio was established on November 16, 1949. In almost 50 years of development, Shanghai Film Studio always excels in its film technology and production. A galaxy of film stars have worked for the studio. So far, the studio has shot more than 600 feature films, including a number of award-winning films. In than 200 episodes of TV series.

Shanghai Animated Film Studio

Established in April 1957, the Shanghai Animated Film Studio specialised in the production of cartoons, puppet films, paper clipping and paper folding films. Its award-winning production, including puppet film "Magic Brushpen," ink and brush painting film "Little Tadpole Looks For Mother" and cartoon film "Monkey King Turns A Heavenly Palace Upside Down", have won much reputation for the station.
In 1996, the studio is merged with the Shanghai TV Station. In 1997, the studio produced six animated films, including cartoon film "The Legend of Crane" and TV series "Happy Family Car."

Shanghai Science and Educational Film Studio

Shanghai Science and Educational Film Studio was established on February 2, 1953. In the past 40 years, the studio has churned out a number of award-winning films including "A Toad Without Grandfather","Knowledgeable Old Men","Matchmaker With A Wing" and "Tibet-Tibet".
In 1997, the studio was merged with the Shanghai Oriental TV Station and produced many document films including "China's Yangtze River","Miracle Algology","Protect Your Urban Family" and "Major Urban Constructions in Shanghai in 1997".

Shanghai Film Dubbing Studio

Shanghai Film Dubbing Studio was established in 1957 and translated more than 1,000 feature films imported form more than 50 countries, including "Hamlet","Jane Eyre", "The Sound of Music", and "Bridge of Madison County." In 1997, the studio translated and dubbed for 27 imported films and 209 episode of imported TV series.

Shanghai Literature and Art Award

1997 was a booming year for Shanghai's literature and art circle. A number of literary and artistic creations came out, including traditional dancing "Su Wu,"ballet "Butterfly Lover,"song and dance drama "Sun Bird," and symphony chorus "Bell." Besides, a number of literary and artistic works won awards in many domestic competitions, including symphony "One Hundred Year Vicissitude," piano concerto "Oriental Pearl," dancing "The Soul of Terra Cotta" and the magic "Different Faces." Shanghai's musical and theatrical troupes performed for more than 1,000 shows last year.
Newly created Chinese operas in the year include Hu Opera "Love Story of Fong Bridge," Huai Opera "Twelve Windows on the West Battleground," Peking Opera "Shi Wu Gui " and "Lotus Lantern," farce "One Family," storytelling and ballad singing in Suzhou dialect "We Zuo Lost His Arm " and puppet play "Huashan Genius."
The contributions of local musical and theatrical troupes to the '98 Shanghai International Art Festival include modern drama "Pop Star and Chimpanzee," puppet show"Looking for Sun," Peking Opera "Lotus Lantern" and Hu Opera "My Heart, Your Hand."
In 1997, 12 dramas were staged in Shanghai to mark the 90th anniversary of introduction of modern drama.
Other major cultural events held in the year included the 17th Shanghai Spring, '97 Shanghai International Magic Competition, '97 Shanghai International Fashion Festival,grand chorus performance on the Bund to celebrate the returning of Hong Kong ,the opening ceremony of the 8th National Games and the 6th Shanghai International Music Festival.
The award is the highest honour for Shanghai's literature and art circle. Beginning in 1989, the award is held every two years to honour outstanding art creations and artists for their contribution to Shanghai's literature and art. The award winners in 1997 were Ba Jing, China's most respected novelist, musician He Luting, scholar Wang Yuanhua and film director Xie Jin. A total of 12 literal and artistic works in 10 categories also won the award. They are drama "Shang Yang," film "Red River Valley," novel "Chinese Painting," history book "A Comprehensive History of Chinese Literal Critics," symphony poem "One Hundred Year Vicissitude," seal art "A Collection of Han Tianheng's Seals," novel "A Long Sad Song," TV series "Extramarital Children" and "Family Lave," Peking Opera "A Leopardcat and Prince" and theory of literature and art "Art.Human.Honesty."

Shanghai Magnolia Theatrical Performance

The award is another very authoritative award in Shanghai's literature and art circle. The award was set up in March 1990 by the municipal government and is granted every year. The major aim of the award is to carry forward the spirit of Chinese theatrical tradition, boost its development and promote exchanges both at home and abroad. The award also helps attract more good

Shanghai Excellent Novel Awards

Shanghai Excellent Novel Award was founded in October 1990 by the Shanghai Writers' Association, Shanghai Culture Development Foundation and Shanghai Art Publishing House. The major aim of the award is to attract novelists to publish their works in Shanghai. The award has been held for three times. A total of 29 novels won the award. Many of them have a national influence, including "September Fable," "Four Decorated Archgates," "Drunken in Peace," "Heaven," "Xusanguan Sells His Blood," "Approaches to Unlimited Transparency" and "The Story of My Uncle."
Major art troupes in Shanghai are Shanghai Philharmonic, Shanghai Ballet Troupe, Shanghai National Music Troupe, Shanghai Opera House, Shanghai Peking Opera House, Shanghai Kun Opera House, Shanghai Huai Opera House, Shanghai Hu Opera House, Shanghai Drama Centre and Shanghai Pingtan Troupe.
As China's earliest symphony orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic was established in 1956. In the past 40 years, the orchestra has stage more than 3,000 performances and recorded a large number of cassettes and compact discs. The orchestra now has nearly 100 musicians that always co-operate with musicians form home and abroad for performance. In 1990, the orchestra was invited to the concert in commemoration of the 100year history of Carnage Musical Hall in the United States. In December 1997, the orchestra, together with China Philharmonic and Beijing Philharmonic, performed for the "98 New Year Concert" at the Great People's Hall.
Shanghai Ballet Troupe was officially set up in 1979. "The White-Haired Girl" the troupe staged in the 1960s established its place as China's leading ballet troupe.
In the past years, the troupe has not only staged world famous ballet drama including"Swan Lake" and "Walnut Cracker" but also performed many Chinese ballets like"Thunder Storm" and "The Butterfly Lovers." The troupe is the cradle for a number of ballet stars.
Established in 1952, Shanghai National Music Troupe is China's famous national music troupe. In more than 40 years' performance, the troupe has staged many grand works of national music.
The troupe has several well-known traditional music instrument performers, such as Min Huifeng and Yu Xunfa. The troupe also nurtures a number of budding stars.
The predecessors of Shanghai Opera House were Shanghai Opera and Dancing Drama Troupe and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, both of which were established in 1950s.
The opera house, including its two predecessors, has created and staged many operas, dancing dramas and concerts that have tremendous influence. Included are dancing drama "Small Dagger Society," and operas "Jiang Jie," "Toranto," "Carmen," "Bat" and "China, My Dear Motherland."
The opera house has a crew of outstanding actors and actresses, many of them are international award winners. The opera house seeks overseas co-operation by organising theatrical troupes to perform in nearly 30 countries and regions and inviting world-famous artists to take part in its performances.
Established in 1979, Shanghai Singing and Dancing Troupe is engaged in the creation and performance of national dancing drama, music and instrumental music works. The well-known dramas staged by the troupe include "Golden Dance, Silver Fashion," "Yue Fei," "Painted Skin" and "Su Wu." The troupe boasts a team of talented dancing artist like Huang Doudou. In the last several years, the troupe has visited more than 30 countries and regions for performances.
Established in 1951, Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe is one of the most famous acrobatic troupes in China. In the past years, the troupe has renewed continuously its performances and won many awards both at home and abroad.
Shanghai Peking Opera House was founded in 1955 by the great Peking Opera master Zhou Xingfang. The opera house has staged more than 500 operas. Some are created on the basis of traditional operas and some are the works of contemporary playwrights. The repertoire include many award-winning works like "Emperor Gao Cao and Scholar Yang Xiu," "The Legend of Pan Yueqiao," "Tang Seng and the Seven Witches in Pansi Cave," "Song of the Dragon River," and "White Snake."
The opera house has dozens of well-known artists. Some of them are winners of China's top awards for Chinese opera performers such as "Plum Blossom Award" and "Mei Lanfang Golden Award."
The predecessor of Shanghai Kunju Opera House was Shanghai Youth Peking and Kunju Opera House, which was established in 1978 and headed by the Kun Opera master Yu Zhengfei. The opera house boasts a number of leading artists in the country. Seven of them have won "Plum Blossom Award," the most prestigious award for China's opera actors and actresses. Six of them won "Magnolia Award" form the Shanghai municipal government. The opera house also were awarded by the Culture Ministry for its efforts of reinvigorating Kun Opera.
In the past 20 years, the opera house has developed a large repertoire, including more than 250 highlights and 30 full operas, such as "Peony Pavilion" and "Sima Xiangru." In addition to regular performances in the country, the opera house often travelled abroad for performances.
The opera house was established in March 1955. In more than 40years of development, the opera house has created and revised more than 300 traditional operas, including "Butterfly Lovers," "Dream of Red Mansions" and "Sister Xianglin."
The opera house boasts a galaxy of leading and award-winning artists including Yuan Xuefeng, Fan Ruijuan, Fu Quanxiang, Xu Yulan and Wang Wenjuan. The opera house also has a number of talented directors, playwrights and musicians. Two performance companies under the opera house- Women's Red Mansion Opera Troupe and Bright Moon Opera Troupe-Have also won many titles for the records they have released.
The opera house has performed in many countries including Germany, Vietnam, South Korea, Japan, France, Thailand, Singapore, the United States and Belgium.
Shanghai Huaiju Opera House was established in May 1953. The opera house has sorted out and created more than 300 operas, including influential operas like "White Snake Legend," " A Strange Marriage" and "A wife's Revenge." Winning the greatest honour for the opera house is "Golden Dragon and May fly,": which won 43 awards in the country. The opera house has nearly 60 outstanding artists including Xiao Wenyan and He Jiaotian.
Shanghai Huju Opera House was established on the basis of Shanghai Huju Opera Troupe in 1982. The opera house has many outstanding artists including Ding Shi'er, Shi Xiaoying, Jie Hongyuan and Shao Bingsun. The opera house's repertoire include "Reed Marshes" and "A Luohan Coin." The operas staged in recent years include "The Adventure of A Star," and "Mother's Heart." They have attracted a great number of audiences.
Shanghai Farce Troupe was established in 1978. In the past 16years, the troupe has created and staged 45 farces and shot many films and TV series. The farces including "New Story of Ah Hun," "Abnormal GPT," "Miraculous World" and "Special Love" have won high reputation for the troupe.
The troupe's box office income is always in the top rank in Shanghai's opera houses.
Shanghai Drama Art Centre was established in January 23, 1995 by combing Shanghai People's Art Theatre and Shanghai Youth Drama Troupe, which were founded by famous dramatists Xia Yan, Huang Zuolin and Xiong Fuoxi, respectively. The centre has staged more than 300 dramas, including many famous pieces of Shakespeare and other famous Chinese and foreign playwrights. The centre has also nurtured a number of famous directors, playwrights, actors and actresses and stage artists. The centre has created and staged many excellent dramas including "Joy Luck Club," "Family," "Tokyo's Moon" and "OK, Stocks." The centre has performed in many countries and regions including Japan, Singapore, Germany, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Shanghai Puppet troupe was established in June 1,1960 and has more than 120 playwrights, directors, actors and actresses, stage designers, musicians and puppet manufacturers.
The troupe mainly uses wooden puppets. Sometimes glove puppets and shadow puppets are also used according to the scenario. The troupe has created and staged more than 170 shows including "Ruby" and "Snow White." The troupe has staged more than 12,000 performances, attracting over 7 million audiences. Many shows have won awards.
The troupe has performed in many countries including the United States, Japan, France, Switzerland, Russia, Finland, Norway, Belgium and Australia and introduced China's puppet shows to audiences worldwide.
Pingtan is a traditional art of storytelling and ballad singing in Suzhou dialect. Shanghai Pingtan Troupe was founded in November 1951 and gathered many excellent Pingtan performers. The troupe has adapted many novels including "The Romance of Three Kingdom," "Sui and Tang Dynasties" "Jade Dragonfly" and "Pearl Pavilion" into Pingtan shows. In addition to traditional works, the troupe has also created many contemporary works which have attracted many audiences. The troupe has also recorded many video tapes, cassettes and gramophone record.

Art Exhibitions

The leading art exhibition organisations in Shanghai are Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy, Shanghai Oil Painting and Sculpture Academy, Shanghai Art Museum, Liu Haisu Art Museum and the Shanghai Branch of China Artists' Association. The Shanghai Branch of China Artists' Association has more than 1,100 members. Of the total, 70 members are engaged in Chinese painting, oil painting, sculpture, watercolour painting and etched painting creation full-time.
In recent years, many new art museums have been constructed in town so that local artists have more places to display their works. The municipal government in recent years has invested in the construction of more than 10,000 square metres of art exhibition places while the city's district governments have also invested to build almost 1,000 square metres of art exhibition venues.
In 1997, nearly 200 art exhibitions have been held in Shanghai, including more than 20 exhibitions featuring foreign artists and their works. The major ones included "China Art Exhibition - China Contemporary Oil Paintings Show," "Qi Baishi, Liu Haisu and Lin Fengmian Works Exhibition" "Shanghai Art Exposition" and "'97 Shanghai Art Bi-annual Exhibition."

Sculptures in Shanghai

The city has more than 500 public sculptures. With the 8th National Games being held in Shanghai in 1997, some 10 giant sculptures were created in public places around the Shanghai Stadium.

Shanghai Art Museums

Established in 1950s, Shanghai Art Museum is an important facility that promotes culture exchanges between Shanghai and overseas countries. The museum will move to a new place in 1999, where the old Shanghai Library was located. The complex, constructed in the 1930s following British style, is now under a major renovation. The complex, including a bell tower and two annex buildings, has more than 20,000 square metres of construction space.The museum aims to become a leading art museum not only in the country, but also in the world.

Liu Haisu Art Museum

Open to visitors on March 16, 1995, Liu Haisu Art Museum is a state-of-the-art museum collects and researches Liu's works and collections, mainly traditional Chinese paintings dated back to Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.
The 5,000-square-meter museum has five exhibition halls, one research room, a library, a studio, a ware house and conference rooms equipped with simultaneous translation equipment.

Zhu Qizhan Art Museum

Established by the Hongkou District Government in commemoration of Zhu Qizhan, a famous Chinese painting artist lived in Shanghai, Zhu Qizhan Art Museum was open to visitors in May 1995. The museum collects, displays and researches the artistic achievements of Zhu.
With 1,600 square metres of construction space, the museum has two exhibition halls, including one that display Zhu's personal belongings.
The museum has won many acclaims by arranging nearly 100 exhibitions featuring traditional Chinese painting, calligraphy, oil painting,photography, ceramics, wooden sculpture, architecture designing and industrial art since its opening.
Shanghai has launched many culture events and festival activities in recent years to enrich people's life and boost the city's tourism industry. The festivals include Shanghai Tourism Festival, Xuhui Osmanthus Festival, Nanshi Folk Arts & Temple Fair, Jiang'an Cultural Festival, Nanhui Peach Flower Festival, Fengxian International Kite Festival, Jiangding Chrysanthemum Festival, International Tea Culture Festival, The Root of Shanghai Tourism Festival, Baoshan Dragon Boat Festival.
The past year saw varied and colourful festival activities in Shanghai. The bell ring on the New Year's Day at Longhua Temple unveiled a prosperous year. Followed was the Nanhui Peach Flower Festival. Guests from all around the country rushed to Nanhui to Appreciate peach blossoms in the early spring. Then was the International Tea Culture Festival. An array of tea-related activities were arranged to boost China's long-time tea culture. The southwestern Xuhui District last year hosted Longhua Temple Fair, Peony Exhibition and Osmanthus Festival. People in and out of the town have participated in these activities and took delight in them. The National Flower Expo held in Changfeng Park in Putuo District was another highlight. Precious flowers from all around the country vie each other with their blossoms, making the spring of Shanghai Particularly colourful. The shanghai Tourism Festival is a gathering of many activities designed to display China's 5000-year cultural tradition.

Shanghai Tourism Festival

The festival features more than 40 activities, including the grand opening and closing ceremonies, the open-air symphony concert, the breathtaking acrobatic show, the dazzling fashion show, the food festival, a tour to Shanghai's international architectures, a night cruise on the Huangpu River, a float parade and a theatrical festival.

Xuhui Osmanthus Festival

The Guilin Park in Xuhui District is renowned for its luxuriant osmanthus plants. Every year when osmanthus begin to burst forth its sweet-scented flowers, the Osmanthus Festival begins.
The jovial festival at the park and neighbouring areas include open-air variety shows and open market that sells various snaps made with osmanthus.

Nanshi Folk Arts and Temple Fair

Temple fair is China's traditional way of marketing goods in a particular place, often with entertainments. Nanshi District is the area where the city of Shanghai began to take form some 700 years ago. The City God Temple and the Confucius Temple in the area are the places for these temple fair for a long time. Since the Nanshi Folk Arts and Temple Fair was introduced, tens of thousands of visitors rushed to Nanshi to participate. The entertainments provided in the fair include unique skills show, acrobatic show, qigong show, quyi show, folk arts show, lantern show, traditional wedding ceremony show and traditional snack exhibition. The fair also introduces to guests traditional Chinese festivals including Lantern Festival, Middle Autumn Festival and the Double Ninth Festival.

Nanhui Peach Flower Festival

Every year in early April, numerous peach plants in the city's Nanhui County begin to blossom. The,sea of pink flowers make the 600 square kilometre Nanhui County a piece of picturesque land.

Square Cultural Activities

With great support from the government, culture and entertainment activities held on squares every weekends have blossomed in Shanghai since four years ago. In 1997, more than 70 squares in Shanghai have hosted more than 4,000 shows. Over 250,000 people participated in the shows, attracting almost 8 million in audiences.