>> More on Live in Shanghai

Public Health
The city has speeded up construction of public health network and healthcare program, and the city's medical care services have improved. By the end of 2006, the city had 2,519 medical and public health organizations, including 505 hospitals and 22 disease prevention and control centers. The city had 109,000 medical workers, including 45,000 licensed medicine practitioners. There were altogether 928,000 hospital beds. The community medical services also improved steadily. By the year end,the city had set up 228 urban community medical centersand 300 standard village clinics.

Cultural Facilities
Since the 1990s, the city has speeded up construction of cultural facilities. Such new facilities include the Shanghai Museum's new gallery, Shanghai Library, Shanghai Grand Theater, Shanghai Book City, Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center, the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, the Oriental Arts Center and the Oriental Green Land juvenile education and recreational center. By the end of 2006, the city had 32 cultural palaces and mass artistic activities centers, 96 art troupes, 28 public libraries, 41 archive halls, and 106 museums

Shanghai Library
Shanghai Library is a large, modern and multi-functional public library, covering a combined floor space of 83,000 square meters. The 3,036-seat library boasts a collection of 13.2 million volumes of publications, 38 reading rooms, 24 research rooms, and eight audio-video rooms. The library has a lecture hall, an
exhibition hall, a multifunctional hall and a seminar room where advanced computer management facilitates international academic exchanges.

Shanghai Museum
Shanghai Museum, with a total floor area of 38,000 square meters, opened in late 1995. The upper part of the building is round and the lower part square, reflecting the ancient Chinese belief in the "hemispherical
dome cosmology." The square shape indicates all directions on earth and the round shape implies the cycle
of cultural evolution. There are 10 galleries, including the Ancient Chinese Bronze Gallery, the Ancient Chinese Pottery and Ceramics Gallery, the Ancient Chinese Paintings Gallery and the Ancient Chinese Calligraphy Gallery. It houses special rooms for repairing cultural relics, mounting Chinese paintings and calligraphy works and doing academic research. Boasting a collection of more than 126,900 rare cultural relics, Shanghai Museum enjoys a high reputation both at home and abroad.

Shanghai Grand Theater
Shanghai Grand Theater is a world class arena. With a total floor area of 62,800 square meters, the theater has a main theater seating 2,000 and a stage of nearly 760 square meters. Its three theaters feature ballet, opera and symphony respectively. In its huge arc-shape dome, there is a 500-seat multi-functional hall, suitable for holding banquets, fashion shows and exhibitions.

Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center
The largest of its kind throughout the world, the facility covers a total floor space of 18,400 square meters. The roof is a grid in the shape of four portals of a white magnolia, the city flower. It offers exhibitions, data searching, study and exchange, education and leisure and sightseeing services.
The center features the theme of "City, Human, Environment and Development." It has a 1:200 giant model of the city center, covering 800 square meters. In the basement is a 45-meter-long mock scene of an old Shanghai street.

Shanghai Science and Technology Museum
Promoting the theme of "Nature, Man and Science and Technology," the museum serves as a center for exhibition, education, scientific study and exchange, exhibits collection and production, and leisure and tourism. With a total floor space of 98,000 square meters, the museum has seven exhibition areas for the Earth's Crust, Life, Light of Wisdom, Audio-Video Paradise, Cradle of Designers, Children's Garden, and Natural Science. It also has a large 3-D screen cinema, a 360 degree circular screen cinema and a 4-D screen cinema. It receives about 3 million visitors a year.

Oriental Art Center
The butterfly orchid-shaped architecture has a total floor area of nearly 40,000 square meters. It has a 1,953-seat concert hall, a 1,020-seat opera hall and a 333-seat music hall. It boasts the top-class
acoustic and lighting facilities in the world, geared for symphony, ballet, musical, opera and other performances.

Oriental Green Land
Located by the Dianshan Lake in Qingpu District, it is one of the top sites in the country for juvenile extracurricular education and enter-tainment. Covering more than 3,700 hectares, the center is divided into eight areas, including the Bravery and Wisdom District, the Knowledge Boulevard, the National
Defense Education, the Wildness Surviving, the Creation Activities, the Aquatic Sports, the Daily Life Practice, and the Sport Training zone. It has a lawn extending 170,000 square meters, 110,000 trees and more than 400 types of flowers, which blends perfectly with buildings of a variety of foreign styles.

Cultural and Art Festivals
The year 2006 saw a series of large-scale cultural and art festivals in Shanghai, including the St Petersburg
Week as part of the Year of Russia celebrations, the 8th China Shanghai Art Festival, the 9th Shanghai Film Art Festival, and Shanghai Fashion Festival. During the year, Shanghai won 133 national and international art awards, including a Peking Opera that was named a national stage art masterpiece. The museums across the city received 11.145 million visits.

Creative Industry Parks
Shanghai has seen a boom of creative industry parks. A batch of creative parks have taken initial shape at some old factory buildings and warehouses thanks to the city's intensifying efforts at preserving and developing historic industrial structures. The historic heritage and convenient geological locations along the banks of Suzhou Creek gave birth to the creative industries. By the end of 2006, the city had 75 creative industry parks, with a total floor area of 2.25 million squares. The parks are now home to more than 2,500 creative industry companies from more than 30 countries and regions, involving 20,000 art workers. The businesses in these parks feature industrial design, interior design, construction design, ad design, clothing design, game software, manga art, Internet media, fashion, studios, brand promotion and artistic articles. The creek is lined with famous creative industry parks like Creativity Warehouse, Zhoujiaqiao Center, E Cang on Yichang Road, M50 Park on Moganshan Road, and Jing'an Creative Art Park on Changhua Road.

Creativity Warehouse
The facility at 181 Guangfu Rd on the north bank of Suzhou Creek, with a floor area of more than 20,000 square meters, is the first ever creative industry park in Shanghai. More than 10 creative design companies and 40 enterprises have moved into the park, most of them overseas-related design studios featuring urban planning, construction design and environment art. In addition, Many companies prefer to hold cultural and commercial activities in the park.

M50 Park
At 50 Moganshan Rd, the 41,000-squaremeter facility is housed in the best-preserved textile industry factory along Suzhou Creek. The park features visual art and fashion design. Its good service and beautiful environment have prompted more than 80 enterprises from 14 countries and regions and more than 10 provincial areas in China to move onto its creative industry center.

Total Rich Fun
Located at the crossing of Xikang and Yuyao roads in Jing'an District, the park has a floor area of more than 20,000 square meters. The area was famous for its large collection of "lane factories" in the 20th
century. It features "culture, leisure and creative" venues. The park comprises 22 sections where fashion promotions, Chinese and Western-style restaurants and specialized retail shops.

Bridge 8
The complex in Luwan District has a floor area of 120,000 squares, 80% of which features office buildings. It features bridges, which joins up the office buildings and blends the fashion and creative ideas from home and abroad. More than 40 companies devoted to creative industry, art and fashion have moved into Bridge 8, turning it into a source of creative ideas and a showcase of fashion.

Tian Zi Fang Park
The complex at Lane 210 Taikang Rd has a floor area of more than 70,000. It was refurbished from old factory buildings and residences built in the 1950s. It is now home to many galleries and art studios, including Song Yun Ge, Dada Gallery, Jing Gu Ge, Yi Shi Zhai, and Deke Erh Art Center, as well as cafes, bars, smithies, silk shops and teahouses, becoming a creatively industry park smacking of historic heritage and modern elegance.

Xin Shi Gang Park
The creatively industry park on Huaihai Rd W in Changning District is converted from old warehouses of the former Shanghai No. 10 Steelworks. The Shanghai Urban Sculpture Art Center in the park has become a landmark for its artist aura and spacious rooms. Its exhibition area totals 20,000 square meters. The park is expected to introduce design studies and workshops and launch a multimedia workshop area.

Radio, Film and Television
The city's radio and television stations have offered,more-defined, more-varied and more-attractive programs. By the end of 2006, the city had 21 radio channels and 26 TV channels. The penetration of radio and TV broadcasting services was 100%. The "village-to-village" cable TV network is spreading in the rural areas at a faster pace. In 2006, the network has reached 1,486 villages, accounting for 87% of the total. The city produced 9 movies in the year.

Press and Publication
In 2006, the city had successfully hosted a series of publication exchange activities, including a book fair themed "I like books, and life." In the year, the city published 102 types of newspapers, including 20 daily news- papers. The city published a total of 1.789 billion copies of newspapers, 183 million copies of magazines, and 254 million copies of books.

Sports Achievements
With advanced sport facilities, Shanghai hosts a series of important national and international sports events every year. In 2006, the city witnesses 37 international sports events and 55 domestic ones, including Shanghai leg of F1, Special Olympics Invitational and Master's Cup. The city's sportsmen also won credits for Shanghai. They won 34.5 golds at national events, placing Shanghai second among Chinese cities in the terms of gold numbers. At the 15th Asian Games in Doha, they brought home 23.5 golds, equalized one world record and broke two Asia records two Asian Games records.

National Fitness Drive
The mass sports activities thrive in the city. In 2006, the city hosted more than 26 major mass sports events, including the 11th National All-Fitness Festival and the 13th Shanghai Games. The city also improved community fitness facilities. By the end of 2006, the city had built 130 community-level sports venues and 80 community health test centers. There are 201 fitness parks and 4,537 fitness stations. More than 82,000 pieces of equipment have been installed at those fitness sites and parks.

Sports Facilities
Since the 1990s, Shanghai has speeded up construction of sports facilities to meet the need of domestic and international sports events. The multifunctional sports venues completed in the city include Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai International Circuit, Hongkou Soccer Stadium, China Disabled People's Sports and Art Training Center,and Qizhong Tennis Center.

Shanghai Stadium
Covering a floor area of 150,000 square meters, Shanghai Stadium is a comprehensive sports center with a unique architectural style. It seats 80,000. The open circular space within the saddle-shaped stadium has a diameter of 300 meters. The stadium has facilities not only for sports events, but also for cultural performances, fitness and recreation, boarding and catering offices, shopping and exhibitions.

Shanghai International Circuit
Located in Anting Town of Jiading District, the circuit occupies an area of 5.3 square kilometers. The circuit, in the shape of the Chinese character for the first word of Shanghai, extends 5.45 kilometers and has 14 different bends. The racing section has a width ranging from 13 to 20 meters. The highest up-going slope stands at 3% and the down slope 8%. Its highest speed limit is 327 kilometers per hour. It can hold nearly 200,000 spectators, including 50,000 seats.

Hongkou Soccer Stadium
Besides being the first specialized soccer stadium in China and Asia, Hongkou Soccer Stadium is an actually multi-functional sport complex. Covering a total floor area of 72,900 square meters, the stadium boasts 35,000 seats and 47 boxes. The soccer field has lawn heating and large-capacity drainage equipment, the first of its kind in China. The stadium also fea-tures facilities for table tennis, fitness, roller-skating, cliffclimbing and other leisure and recreational activities.