3 Best Sights in Shanghai, China

Originally built about AD 300, this temple has had a tumultuous history of destruction and rebuilding, with a brief stint as a plastics factory during the Cultural Revolution. What you see today dates from the 1980s. The temple's main draw is its copper Hongwu bell, cast in 1183 and weighing 3½ tons. The gilded temple, on one of Shanghai's busiest thoroughfares, is an interesting contrast to the surrounding skyscrapers, shopping malls, and luxury boutiques.

Built by Swedish shipping magnate Eric Moller in 1936, this massive villa resembles a fairy-tale castle. It's a surprising sight when you come down from the pedestrian bridge that leads from Jing'an into the Former French Concession. Inside is a rather gaudy hotel.

Built in 1933, the Paramount was considered the finest dance hall in Asia. Until 1949, the so-called "Gate of 100 Pleasures" was the place for very late, very wild nights. After the Communist Revolution, Paramount closed and reopened as Red Capitol Cinema, showing propaganda films. In the past two decades, it underwent a series of renovations, openings, and closings before re-opening yet again in 2017 as a glitzy, retro, multistory nightclub, with a fourth-floor ballroom and plenty of private karaoke rooms.