One thing visitors like you want to visit when you arrive in Shanghai is the old and historical monuments of Shanghai. This is what distinguishes Shanghai from any other metropole city in the world; it kept a big part of history with it. There are a couple of different places to visit and to help you maximise your time in Shanghai, I've come up with a top 5 of those places. Feel free to visit more if you have time!

Jade Buddha Temple

Also known as the Yu Fo Temple, this is the most famous buddhist temple in Shanghai. Located on An Yuan Road, this temple was rebuilt in 1928 and his a great place to go whether you are a buddhist or not, the peaceful and transcendent atmosphere adds a kind of richness to our busy modern society. It may look old and not attractive from the outside but don't let that fool you, inside you will find two gorgeous white jade Buddha statues. One of the statue is a fascinating 2 meters high, 1,000 kilograms seated Buddha while the other one is a 1 meter long reclined Buddha.

Yu Yuan Garden & Bazaar

The most beautiful place in all of Shanghai is located at the heart of the city. If you were looking for old arechitectural buildings in Shanghai this is probably where you will find it. The garden itself has over 40 beautiful scenic spots for you to see. Since it's a popular tourist attraction, you will find that there are a lot of restaurants and small shops nearby. You should take a look when you have time, the best dumpling restaurant is in that area.

Long Hua Pagoda & Long Hua Temple

Both of them are located in the Long Hua park on Long Hua road. The Long Hua temple is the biggest temple in Shanghai so if you want to see what's a big temple like you should visit there. A pagoda is an octagonal shaped tower and the Long Hua Pagoda is the only one left in Shanghai. This seven stories pagoda is going to amaze you when you see it. Unfortunately, it's not open to the public because of security purposes.

Qi Bao Ancient Town

Ever wondered what a water town looked like? Qi Bao is the only place left in the city of Shanghai. This small and peaceful town is really great because unlike most water towns in china, this one is not long in distance and there's no rush of crowds. What will you find? Most of it of course are magnificent old Chinese style buildings and the Qi Bao temple. Others activities such as the Qi Bao crickets, shadow play and snacks will tempt you even more.

Former Residence of Sun Yat-Sen

This is the residence of a deceased politician. Seems boring? Not exactly as this is the residence of one of the most important politicians in Chinese history. Sun Yat-Sen was the founder of the Republic of China and the main contributor to Chinese modern history. If you like to learn about historic events, by walking through his doors, you will see how this great man led his life as nothing was touched in his house after his death.