Shanghai Shi (Shanghai Municipality) covers a huge area of approximately two thousand square kilometres, comprising ten counties and extending far beyond the limits of the city itself. To the north it includes three islands in the Yangzi River delta, the largest of which, Chongming Island, is nearly 100km long. To the northwest and southwest are the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang respectively, while to the east the municipality abuts the East China Sea. Surprisingly, very little of this area is ever visited by foreign tourists, though there are a couple of interesting sights.

 

The most obvious of these is She Shan (She Hill), about 30km southwest of the city. The hill only rises about 100m, but such is the flatness of the surrounding land that it is visible for miles around - and it is unexpectedly crowned by a huge and thoroughly impressive basilica , a rare legacy of the missionary work undertaken by Europeans in the last century. The hill has been under the ownership of a Catholic community since the 1850s, though the present church was not built until 1925. Services take place only on Christian festivals; nevertheless, it is a pleasant walk up the hill at any time of year (or you can take the cable car if you prefer), past bamboo groves and the occasional ancient pagoda. Most of the peasants in this area are fervent Catholics and highly welcoming towards any Westerners they come across. Also on the hill is a meteorological station and an old observatory, which contains a small exhibition room displaying an ancient earthquake-detecting device - a dragon with steel balls in its mouth which is so firmly set in the ground that only movement of the earth itself, from the vibrations of distant earthquakes, can cause the balls to drop out. The more balls drop, the more serious is the earthquake.

To reach She Shan, take a bus from the Wenhua Guangchang bus stop, or the Xiqu bus station. If there are no direct buses, you can catch any bus to Songjiang and get off a few stops before the terminus - you'll have to ask. You then need to take a motor-rickshaw (¥15) the remaining distance to She Shan (daily 7.30am-4pm; ¥5).

Another twenty or so kilometres to the west of here, in Qingpu County, is Dianshan Hu and the Grand View Garden . For local tourists, the area around the southeastern shore of Dianshan Hu is being turned into a real holiday resort, with opportunities for boating, swimming, fishing and even golf. The Grand View Garden is unashamedly intended for tourists, having been modelled on the famous garden from the eighteenth-century Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber. To get here, take a bus to Qingpu, and then hire a motor-rickshaw (¥5) for the short ride to the lake.

Another 20km west, just across the border in Jiangsu Province, is the huddle of Ming architecture that comprises the small canal town of ZHOUZHUANG . Lying astride the large Jinghang Canal connecting Suzhou and Shanghai, Zhouzhuang grew prosperous from the area's brisk grain, silk and pottery trade during the Ming Dynasty. Many rich government officials, scholars and artisans moved here and constructed beautiful villas, while investing money into developing the stately stone bridges and tree-lined canals that now provide the city's main attractions. Chinese tour groups invade Zhouzhuang in droves on weekends, but if you come on a weekday you should be able to appreciate the town in its serene, original splendour. Minibuses make the three-hour run from Shanghai Beizhan bus station twice daily (6.20am & 3.30pm), from Hongkou Gongyuan once daily (2pm) and from the Xinzhuang metro station twice daily (9.30am & 10.30am). There is also the intriguing possibility of travelling by speedboat from here to another canal town farther in Jiangsu, Tongli , from where frequent buses complete the journey to Suzhou.