Shanghai | Jing An Park | China | tai chi

Jing An Park. You’ll miss China, too, once you’ve witnessed the wonderful morning festivities at Jing An Park. Locals assemble daily — and early — for group tai chi, ballroom dancing, and calisthenics. Keep an eye out for the people walking backward; they’re trying to reverse the clock.

Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center, 011-86-21-6372-2077. You’ll gain an instant appreciation for Shanghai’s obsession with grand scale when you visit this vast (6,400 square feet) model of Shanghai as city planners envision it in 2020.