People's Square, theCenter of Modern Shanghai

Located in the center of Shanghai, People's Square is surrounded byMiddle Xizang Road in the east, Wusheng Road in the south, North Huangpi Road inthe west, and People's Park in the north. It covers an area of 12 hectares in asemicircular shape.

In 1862, the British colonists occupied approximately 35 hectares of landto build Shanghai Horse Racing Course. In addition to the annual spring andautumn horse racing carnivals, other types of sports activities and games were alsoheld at the race course. These activities attracted a great many spectators. Onthe race days, "audiences including scholars, officials, peddlers andlaborers were crowded so closely that late-comers could not even find a placeto stand".

During the Anti-Japanese War, it was used as barracks by the Japanesearmy. While in the Chinese Liberation War, it became a club for the UnitedStates troops.

The square was originally designed for rallies and parades. In the middleof the north section was a square building, in front of which was a rostrumwith six viewing stands on each side. In front of the stands was Renmin Avenue,which was paved with 579 meters of granite. The square could hold 10,000 peoplefor a rally in the past.

In 1951, the southern half of Shanghai Race Course was separated and changedinto People's Square. In the next year, the northern half was transformed intoPeople's Park. The buildings on the west are Shanghai Library (now Shnaghai ArtMuseum).

In 1985, to comply with the new city layout, the square was reconstructedto accommodate leisure, recreation and sightseeing. Its underground areas wasbuilt into urban public facilities. It was turned into a transportation hub,underground parking lots, and underground shopping malls.

In 1992, a large-scale reconstruction of People's Square was initiated.After the reconstruction, there are five main buildings in People's Square. Onthe north of the square is Shanghai Municipal People's Government Building. Themain part of the building is 75 meters high with 18 stories above ground andone story below ground, which can hold 2500 employees. The facade of thebuilding is simple and solemn, and features remarkable effect due to its concaveand convex forms.

On the south of the square is Shanghai Museum, which is well-known aroundthe world for its collection of ancient Chinese art. Its design is acombination of square base and giant dome with outward facing arches, meaning"round sky and square land".

Shanghai Grand Theater is situated to the west of Municipal GovernmentBuilding. It is built in the shape of the Chinese character for"art", like a smiling mouth to welcome friends from all over theworld.

Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center is located to the east ofMunicipal Government Building, which is the largest city exhibition hall of itskind in the world. The rooftop of the hall is decorated with four large shellsresembling a white magnolia, Shanghai's city flower. That is why the building isalso known as the "White Magnolia Building".

To the north of Shanghai Grand Theater is Shanghai Art Museum, a centerof modern art storage and collection, fine arts education, art exchange, andart data and information consulattion services.

Since its reconstruction, People's Square has become the traffic centerof Shanghai, and is the starting point or zero kilometer point of the city'straffic network. The Shanghai Highway Zero Kilometer Mark is located in theaxis of the square on the south side of Renmin Avenue. The mark is made ofbronze with the decorative dragon pattern popular in the Qin and Han Dynasties.In the middle, there is an abstract white magnolia pattern, as well as pointersfor the four directions: east, west, south and north. National Highways 312,318, 320 and 204 all start or end at this point.

After the square's reconstruction, the traffic flow around People'sSquare area has increased. On the northeast side of People's Square is theunderground People's Square Station. Metro Line 2, which started its operationin 1998, intersects with Metro Line 1 beneath People's Square and forms theShanghai underground railway hub. In 2007, the interchange hall for three lineswas completed, allowing the two older lines to interchange with Metro Line 8.The station has 17 entrances and exits, which allows it to handle trafficvolumes of  120,000 people per hour.

On Wusheng Road at the south side of the square are many bus terminals,which form an arched "crescent island". In 1995, North-South ElevatedRoad was completed. Later in 1996, Yan'an Elevated Road commenced operations.These two urban arteries intersect near People's Square. People's Square hasthe largest underground space in Shanghai. On the B2 floor in the southwest of thesquare is the largest underground parking lot in Asia, covering an area of25,000 square meters and holding 600 medium and small cars. On the northernside of the square is a 20,000-cubic-meter under-ground reservoir, which haseffectively solved the problem of low water pressure in the downtown area, andhelps with water storage and adjustment of water supply.

Under the southeast grasslands of the square is People's SquareSubstation, which was the first urban underground ultrahigh voltage and large capacitytransformer substation in China. Three 240,000kVA transformers were installedinside to guarantee the power supply in the downtown areas. Located to thesoutheast of the square is the mass transit mall, which covers an area of25,000 square meters and includes the well-known Hong Kong Shopping Center.

On the southern side of Renmin Avenue, there is an 80,000-square-metergreen space, covering 58.4 percent of the total square area. Together with the 120,000-square-meterPeople's Park and People’s Park, they are indeed the “green lungs” of the urbancenter.

People's Square is a public place for people to spend their leisure timein rest or recreation. The southwest part of the green space is popular withpigeons and bird watchers, forming a harmonious scene between human and nature.Pujiang Lights Fountain Square is round inside and square outside and has an areaof 3,844 square meters. In the middle of the square is the first large artificialfountain in China. Since its reconstruction, People's Square has opened a new phasein Shanghai's history, and has become a scenic spot reflecting Shanghai's newimage and new urban look.