Those new to Shanghai, feel like the city will swallow them whole with the vast variety of activities and the plethora of places to see. Luckily, they can make sense of it all at the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center (SUPEC), a museum dedicated to profiling the infrastructure of the city, not only as it stands today but its interesting past and the future form it will take. A small-scale replica of the city, the museum is stacked 5 floors high with 2 basement levels with fascinating information about Shanghai presented in multimedia to captivate all the senses and truly captivate visitors.
With a central location in the heart of Shanghai, SUPEC’s place in People Square makes it easily accessible through public transport. Metro lines 1, 2 and 8 all stop at the Peoples Square subway stop and exit 3 brings tourists face to face with the museum. Entry is charged at RMB30. Timings are from 09:00 to 17:00 and the place is closed on Mondays. Audio guides are available at RMB20 but the exhibits are labelled well enough. Special exhibitions are charged separately. Make sure to check before going, as the museum sometimes closes for renovations and updating with no re-opening date announced.
The façade of the building is a work of contemporary art itself with the roof designed to imitate a magnolia in bloom and the glimmering white textured casing of the building looking glorious against the blue sky. The design won national awards for its brilliance.
To get the most out of a visit to the Urban Planning Museum, visitors should start at the 1st floor where they happen upon the buildings that form the iconic skyline of China’s largest city at the entrance. Onwards, in the mezzanine there is the LED display which tells tales of the different periods in Shanghai’s life that shaped the city in HD and with simulation of all senses for a more vivid experience. Floor 3 of the museum displays a mini-downtown and what the planners have in store in more general terms. The 4th floor elaborates on this by delving more into each field of planning, from greenery, to art, to commercial areas and residences. The trip rounds up at the 1st basement where street scenes from old Shanghai unfold and buildings from whence different powers ruled the land are exhibited alongside typical Shanghainese Shikumen.
Floor 2 is a space set aside for diverse exhibitions that take place on the premises from time to time and for which a separate entry fee may be charged. This temporary exhibit space has held over 50 shows from about a dozen countries around the globe.
However, even though the meticulous displays and multimedia presentations come to an end, the beauty of Shanghai remains to be seen; this time from the 5th floor. There is a café at the top level and the windows around give a panoramic view of the People’s Square below which can be consumed with a delicious cup of coffee.