Posted on Sun, Jul. 22, 2007

Shanghai isn't a visitors city in the classic sense. No Forbidden City or Great Wall or Temple of Heaven here.

But if you want to see contemporary Chinese culture in action, to see China in transition, there's no place more vibrant or telling than Shanghai.

Bicycles and motorscooters share the road with gleaming new Audis; occasionally you still see a bicycle-powered work cart hauling recyclables or plants or construction rebar.

A man barbecues from a basket on his bicycle; another grills pancake-like pastries on a flat griddle next to a stand where ducks are drying, part of the preparation before cooking. Laundry flutters from low-rise wooden row houses flanked by glassy towers, and you know these traditional areas can't last long.

The light-speed social shift is one of the most common themes in art seen in the warehouse district of Suzhou Creek, home to dozens of galleries. Overtly sexual messages are here, too -- quite a change in a society that two decades ago judged public affection as a punishable crime. Some artwork even criticizes social policy. ''The anxiety produced by consumerism,'' decries a placard describing one artist's work.

And such themes aren't just in the most cutting-edge galleries. You can see them as well at the venerable Shanghai Art Museum and Shanghai MOCA.

Both are located in the Peoples Park, Shanghai's distinctly Chinese version of Central Park, an island of green flanked by an endless forest of towers topped with domes, spires, industrial pyramids, even swirled roofs.

To get a sense of Shanghai's Chinese heritage, go to the impressive Shanghai Museum. Stop in at the Dontai antiques market (don't count on finding genuine antiques), then wander through the old city to Yu Garden. The surrounds are touristy and filled with souvenir shops (haggle hard) but it's fun.

Any Shanghai visit should end on The Bund, the historic district rimmed with French Art Deco and stately neo-Classical buildings dating from the early 1900s. A wide promenade flanks the river, looking toward the Jetsonesque district of Pudong.

On a Saturday night, it seems as if all of China's billion are here: Young couples (yes, canoodling), families with the beloved One Child, girls on a night out, guys snapping photos with their cellphones and loudly calling buddies. Many head out on a one-hour sightseeing cruise, $10 per ticket. A barge stops right in front of the crowd, flashing advertisements for Dior and Vogue magazine.

Chairman Mao stands nearby -- or at least his likeness, imposing in his oversize bronze figure. Is he rolling in his grave, or smiling at the Great Leap Forward?

LODGING TIP

World Union Service Apartments, near the JingAn Temple, offer well-priced studios (about $50) with a sleek design. (011-86-21) 6248-0615, www.cosmosh.com.

-- JANE WOOLDRIDGE