The Golden Triangle's time to shine

Visitors at Shanghai's Bund on a rainy night. Photos provided to China Daily

The Yangtze River Delta's six-day visa-free policy that started Saturday will lure more visitors to enjoy lengthier sojourns through the 'land of fish and rice'. Erik Nilsson explores one city per day.

The Yangtze River Delta's Golden Triangle is set to sparkle brighter and linger in foreign travelers' imaginations.

Starting last Saturday, transit visitors from 51 countries can spend six days in Shanghai, and Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces without a visa.

Unlike under the old 72-hour visa-free scheme, the 144-hour arrangement allows visitors to take trains, making it possible to roughly cover a city a day among the trio of administrative regions.

Traveling at about that pace in the order listed below－or in reverse－high-octane tourists can speed through at least most of the main destinations between Shanghai and Zhejiang's provincial capital, Hangzhou. (Two of the three cities from which visitors without visas are allowed to enter and exit the country.)

Or they could take shortcuts to spend longer relishing specific spots.

After all, the point of the policy is that you command more time to do as you wish－rush or relax.

Either way, visitors without visas can chew through more of the "land of fish and rice"－at whatever pace.

Shanghai

The "Paris of the East" is the delta's easiest port of entry, given the international flight volume.

Many visitors step off the plane and hop aboard the Huangpu River night cruise. The bright lights of the big city are reflected in the ripples as mirror images of such icons as the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, the Bund's 52 Gothic and Baroque buildings, and Pudong's sparkling skyscrapers.

A relative newcomer to Shanghai's cityscape is ancient Xintiandi, where old edifices have been retrofitted into hip hangouts－galleries, cafes and theme restaurants.

Kids enjoy prowling the Shanghai Wild Animal Park, which hosts 10,000 critters, including 200 rare species like golden takin and golden snub-nosed monkeys.

And Shanghai is poised to become even more popular among family types when Disneyland opens on June 16.