Shanghai's Architecture 2
Long Tang is another feature of Shanghai's architecture, which is somewhat similar to Beijing's Hu Tong. It can be translated in English into "lane".A Long Tang is a walled neighborhood lined with rows (ranging from only one row to three or four rows) of two or three-storied houses. The houses in Long Tang are generally of the same style: with a heavy black door as the entrance to the house and an enclosed courtyard. Some Long Tang Buildings were designed in a zigza way. Once you enter one of them, it will be not easy for you to find a way out. However, only few of this old type of Long Tang houses still exist today, which can only be found in relatively small streets in Xin Tian Di, Old French concession and Jing An.
The bund has been famous for the buildings around the Huangpu River. It is generally viewed as "the gallery of the world's architecture".
In the past 20 years, a lot of modern high-rises building have been springing up almost everywhere in Shanghai, some of which are designed by world-class architects and are clustered in Lujiazui, Nanjing Road and Xu Jia Hui Area.
