City's urban planning center to reopen on Tuesday
A visitor takes a photo at the inaugural exhibition during the trial operation at the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center.
Shanghai's landmark urban planning exhibition hall will reopen with a photo exhibition from Tuesday after a two-year major renovation.
The Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center near People's Square will open between 9am and 5pm every day except Wednesdays.
Entry is free. but visitors must make a reservation online and have a clear PCR test result from within the previous 72 hours.
The center has been closed since December 1, 2019 for its biggest facelift.
It was scheduled to reopen in March, but that was delayed by the COVID-19 resurgence.
The center, which opened in February 2000 on People's Avenue, is the first exhibition center in China dedicated to urban planning and construction achievements.
It has been popular with tourists and professionals from around the world with its exhibitions and various public activities.
The inaugural exhibition – Beijing-Shanghai Urban Culture Image Studies – was launched on the B1 floor of the reopened center on Monday.
Enjoying the trial operation
Over 40 photos taken by 30 architects and urban planners in the two cities are on display through September 10.
China's rapid urban development over the past three decades has made great achievements and addressed many key problems such as the convergence of urban styles and lack of characteristics, according to the organizer of the exhibition.
Most of the photography by urban planners and architects focuses on people's daily life and aims to promote public awareness of urban culture and characteristics.
Two group photos, for instance, compare hutong (traditional Beijing courtyard residences) with lilong (Shanghai's lane-style neighborhoods).
"Cities are alive rather than the abstract numbers," said Wu Jiang, a renowned professor of architecture and former executive vice president of Tongji University.
"They are the largest cultural containers."
An interactive exhibition at the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center
Visitors can make a reservation for the following seven days by scanning the code on WeChat.
