People's Square

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see People's Square (disambiguation).
People's Square viewed from the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center.
The location of the fountain in People's Square.

The People's Square (simplified Chinese: 人民广场; traditional Chinese: 人民廣場; pinyin: Rénmín Guǎngchǎng) is a large public square in the Huangpu District of Shanghai, China.[1] It is south of Nanjing Road (West) and north of Huaihai Road (East). People's Square is the site of Shanghai's municipal government headquarters building, and is used as the standard reference point for measurement of distance in the Shanghai municipality.[citation needed]

The Shanghai Racecourse in 1912.
In this 1933 map of Shanghai, the race course is shown on the left in green.

History

Prior to 1949 and the establishment of the People's Republic of China, what is now People's Square was a course for horse racing owned by the Shanghai Race Club. After gambling and horse racing were banned by the new Communist government, a part of the race course became the People's Square, which included a large avenue and spectator stands for use during parades.

In the 1990s, major changes were made to the square.[citation needed] The Shanghai Municipal Government was moved here from the former HSBC Building on the Bund, also the Shanghai Museum was moved here from its previous site in a former office building. More recent additions include the Shanghai Grand Theatre and the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall.

Other parts of the race course still remain. The clubhouse buildings became the Shanghai Art Museum, while part of the race track became People's Park, a public park to the north of People's Square.

Landmarks

Well-known landmarks and tourist attractions in and close to the square include:

The Shanghai Museum is in a prominent central position in the square, with large fountains immediately to the north.

Transportation

People's Square may be reached by taking Shanghai Metro Line 1, Line 2 or Line 8 to People's Square station.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Pitts, Christopher (April 2013). "The Bund & People's Square". Pocket Shanghai (3rd ed.). Lonely Planet. pp. 22–43. ISBN 978-1-74179-963-7. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to People's Square.

Coordinates: 31°13′46″N 121°28′28″E / 31.229564°N 121.47438°E / 31.229564; 121.47438

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