Acrobatics is an interactive art form. Everyone, young or old, educated or not, can easily appreciate it while watching or seeing the acrobats perform. There is no language barrier and borders of culture do not limit it.

Chinese Acrobatics is one of the oldest performing arts. Its history can be traced  to Neolithic times. It is believed that acrobatics grew out of labor and self-defense skills, which people practiced and demonstrated during their leisure time. The early performance is "walking on three-meter-high stilts while juggling seven gaggers". Then it developed into an entire art form.

Together with the developing economy, acrobatics is also evolving into a kind of performing art. It became well known worldwide while performances are presented along the Silk Road. In Europe and North America, Chinese acrobatic performances always attract large audiences.
The acrobatic performers were trained strictly the basic skills starting from the early age of six or seven years old. Because the required techniques are extremely difficult and risky, the training is long, hard and intense. Examples of basic skills are handsprings, somersaults, waist and leg flexibility, and headstands. The performers must endure great deal of unexpected pains in order to become excellent.

As what the pictures show, performers illustrate the harmonious beauty of human body when performing to the public.

Acrobatic art has its own peculiarity. As the performance itself is very depictive, it has high requirements and interdependent to light effects, costumes or clothing and music. The theme music perfectly coincided with the performance, which could make the atmosphere even livelier. A successful acrobatic show also requires appropriate clothing. Costumes further enhance the beauty of the performance and increase its visual effects.

In Portman Acrobatic Show, you will enjoy juggling (one of the traditional elements of Chinese acrobatics, as well as of western circus arts), diabolo or Chinese yo-yo, feast of equilibrium (the frequently part of circus and acrobatic performances during which the performer grips one straight apparatus (for example: stick) in his teeth and balances a second one (with a glass and flower balanced precariously atop it) on its tip. And the performer gradually shifts position so that the sticks meet end-to-end in a full vertical, then slowly returns them to a perpendicular arrangement.), body contortionism (sometimes called "barrel squeeze play") and the "unique bowl flip". In contortionism performance, the performer maneuvers his doubled-over body into and out of a narrow hoop and a tight barrel. The "unique bowl flip" demands the mastery of several skills all at the same time: riding a unicycle with one foot, balance an ever-taller, increasingly-wobbly stack of bowl on his/her head, kicking and catching on his/her head several bowls at one time. Each successive flip is done with a greater number of bowls, and the bowls already caught are stacked high upon her head. As the stack of bowls on her head grows taller (and thus less stable), the performer should exercise with great care to keep them from falling. At a certain point, the performer must catch the flipped bowls behind, since she/he cannot look up without dropping those already perched on her/his head.
Besides these wonderful performances, you can also enjoy the plates spinning, leg and foot juggle, rolling cups & contortion, poles climb, bungee jump, rolling hoops dives, trapeze, bicycle feasts, and so many more.

Watching a Chinese Acrobatics Show, strongly impacts you both mentally and physically. You will truly have an unforgettable experience of your life.

The core member of the Portman Acrobatic troop has been professionally trained in China from as young as six years old and each had a minimum of twenty-year experience. They have performed for many foreigners from all over the world, and gained good reputation and travelers’ popularity.

In the western part of Shanghai, a very modern and flourishing city, there is a venerable and famous Buddhist temple, Jade Buddha Temple. In 1882, an old temple was built to keep two jade Buddha statues which had been brought from Burma by a monk named Huigen. The temple was destroyed during the revolution that overthrew the Qing Dynasty. Fortunately the jade Buddha statues were saved and a new temple was built on the present site in 1928. It was named the Jade Buddha Temple.

The two precious jade Buddhist statues are not only rare cultural relics but also porcelain artworks. Both the Sitting Buddha and the Recumbent Buddha are carved with whole white jade. The sparkling and crystal-clear white jade gives the Buddhas the beauty of sanctity and make them more vivid. The Sitting Buddha is 190 centimeters high and encrusted by the agate and the emerald, portraying the Buddha at the moment of his meditation and enlightenment. The Recumbent Buddha is 96 centimeters long, lying on the right side with the right hand supporting the head and the left hand placing on the left leg, this shape is called the "lucky repose". The sedate face shows the peaceful mood of Sakyamuni when he left this world. In the temple there is also another

Recumbent Buddha which is four meters long and was brought from Singapore by the tenth abbot of the temple in 1989. Furthermore there are many other ancient paintings and Buddhist scriptures distributed in the different halls of the temple.

Although the history of the Jade Buddha Temple is not very long, the old-time and classical architectural style makes the temple unique and inimitable in this modern city. Devajara Hall, Mahavira Hall and the Jade Buddha Tower make up the main structure of the temple and at sides are the Kwan-yin Dian Hall, the Amitabha Dian Hall, the Zen Tang Hall, the Dining-Room and the Recumbent Buddha Hall. The Sitting Buddha is in the Jade Buddha Tower and the Recumbent Buddhas are in the Recumbent Buddha Hall. More than 7,000 Dazang sutras are kept in the Jade Buddha Tower; these are all the inestimable culture relics.

The Jade Buddha Temple is a good place to go whether you are a Buddhist or not, the peaceful and transcendent atmosphere adds a kind of richness to our busy modern society.

China's premier shopping street, 3.4-mile-long Nanjing Road, starts at the Bund in the east and ends in the west at the junction of Jingan Temple and Yan'an West Street. Today Nanjing Road is a must-see metropolitan destination attracting thousands of fashion-seeking shoppers from all over the world.

After the Opium War (1839-1842), Shanghai became a treaty port. Nanjing Road was first the British Concession, then the International Settlement. Importing large quantities of foreign goods, it became the earliest shopping street in Shanghai.

Over time, Nanjing Road has been restructured, undergoing significant change. For shopping convenience, its eastern end has an all-weather pedestrian arcade. Big traditional stores no longer dominate the market since modern shopping malls, specialty stores, theatres, and international hotels have mushroomed on both sides of the street.

Today over 600 businesses on Nanjing road offer countless famous brands, superior quality, and new fashions. KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, and other world-famous food vendors line both sides of the street. Upscale stores include Tiffany, Mont Blanc, and Dunhill. In addition, approximately a hundred traditional stores and specialty shops still provide choice silk goods, jade, embroidery, wool, and clocks.

Open-air bars, abstract sculptures, and lingering sounds from street musicians enhance evening strolls. A trackless sightseeing train provides a comfortable tour of the night-transformed pedestrian street. Flashing neon signs illuminate the magnificent buildings and spangle the night skyline of this lively city.

An ancient town in Shanghai municipality about 15km south of Shanghai city.

Qibao is a small town about two square kilometers in size which is crossed by two canals. Around the canals, a large number of traditional houses, shops and restaurants are found. Recently tourism has been actively encouraged and it makes a good daytrip from Shanghai city. Although Qibao can be touristy, prices are comparatively cheap.

The city is a closed area and you have to buy a ticket (10,- Yuan). The ticket includes ten special copper coins which you could either keep as memory or spend at special shops inside the city.

The city is very small and you can conveniently walk everywhere.