The largest European-style building complex in the city center

The Shanghai Exhibition Center, also known as the Sino-Soviet Friendship Building, is located between Nanjing West Road and Yan'an Middle Road in the city center. It was designed by the former Soviet architectural artist Andreyev in the Russian classical architectural style and was completed in 1955. It is not easy to have such a large scale in the city center where every inch of land is valuable. The building faces south and there is a large square to the south, close to Yan'an Middle Road, with a musical fountain. The decorative flowers on the fountain do not seem to be made of metal, but look a bit like glass or colored glaze. The main building stands in the middle, with the iconic gilded steel tower on top, shining brightly. The building's exhibition hall and ancillary buildings extend backwards layer by layer. The whole building has a majestic and magnificent spirit. There are gardens on both the east and west sides, and the escalators leading up to the gardens are very reminiscent of similar buildings in Europe. The fountain background relief "Deer and Crane in Spring" in the West Garden is the work of the artist. The site here was originally the private garden of British Jew Sir Alex Foster, called Aili Garden, commonly known as Sir Alex Foster Garden. So there is a unique building called Xiaohuang Building, which was completely rebuilt according to the original building in the Hao Garden. Its style is obviously different from other buildings and it is worth a special visit.