People's Square
As Shanghai's administrative and cultural center, the People's Square (人民广场) is situated in the very center of Shanghai. It is the largest square in this city, with a total area of 140,000 sq. m. On the north side there stand Shanghai Grand Theater, the City Hall and Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center. The famous Shanghai Museum sits on the south side. The world-famed Nanjing Road lies to its north and Huaihai Road to its south. Around the square there are a great number of big shops, time-honored and Boutique shops, restaurants, recreational centers and modern hotels.
In the central area is People's Park. It used to be the well-known Race Course, opened by foreigners in Shanghai. Race Course Club, which Shanghai people generally called "Pao Ma Ting" ("Pao Ma" means "horse racing," and "Ting" means "Hall"), was in fact a four-story building with a big clock at its northwest corner. This used to be a landmark of old Shanghai, and today it has been turned into the Shanghai Art Gallery. In the early 1950s, the whole area was turned into the People's Square, which used to be place for large mass gatherings and important activities. The 1990s saw a major facelift of the square. With the City Hall completed, the municipal government moved its offices from an old building on the Bund to this spot.
The square is covered with large tracts of green lawns and planted with trees and flowers. Amidst the lawns and flowerbeds is a 320 sq. m. round-shaped fountain. Hundreds of lovely pigeons perch on the lawn, pecking grains strewn by tourists or local children. Shanghai people affectionately call them "Square Pigeons."
