Romantica, Land of Smiles ex Singapore to Shanghai

15 Night Cruise sailing from Singapore to Shanghai aboard Costa Romantica.

The Costa Romantica cruise ship epitomizes Costa's devotion to Italian design. Richly embellished public rooms feature rare woods and Carrara marble, exquisitely detailed by the finest European artisans. Millions of dollars have been invested in original works of art including sculptures, paintings, murals, wall hangings and hand-crafted furnishings. Guests of the Costa Romantica cruise ship can refresh themselves in a fully contained spa which offers beauty treatments, therapies and personalized instruction or theyrelax in her generously proportioned and luxuriously appointed staterooms. The Costa Romantica is one of the most comfortable and elegant ships in the Costa fleet.

Singapore
Legend has it that a Sumatran prince ran into the path of a lion in Tamasek and founded the city of the lion "Singa Pura"literally from the Sanskrit "singa" meaning city and "pura" meaning lion. It was probably a tiger he saw given that in Asia there are no lions, but the fact that the prince got out of the encounter alive with the animal was seen as an omen so good as to merit the foundation of a new city.
Singapore was a small commercial centre in the powerful Srivijaya empire of Sumatra and later, towards the middle of the 13th century, a puppet state of the Majapahit empire in Java, while in the 15th and 16th century it became part of the sultanate of Johor. Singapore's more recent history is inextricablylinked to the figure of Sir Stamford Raffles, an official in the East India Company. With a treaty stipulated with the sultan of Johor in 1819, he established a British settlement in Singapore. He then made the city a resting point to restock the ships of the British Empire and to halt the Dutch expansionist policy.
This therefore required a greater English presence in the port, a move that not only met with British support but also led to the granting of free port status with the consequent exemptions from customs duties. From that moment on the city grew at a dizzying pace and from its population of 150 in 1819 it grew to 10,000 in just five years. In 1832 it became the governing centre of British colonial possessions. Invaded in 1941 by the Japanese, who remained until September 1945, Singapore joined the Malaysian Federation in 1963 and has been an independent republic since 1965.
The city-state extends over a main island surrounded by around fifty smaller islands and has almost four million inhabitants. Economic growth attracted thousands of people from nearby countries and today the population is a multiethnic mosaic: 77% are Chinese, 14% Malaysians and Indonesians, 8% Indians and Pakistanis, while Eurasians make up just 1%.
Singapore is situated just 127 km from the equator in a strategic position on the trade routes between the east and west and has undergone unrivalled economic growth: its main businesses are trade, oil refinement and distribution, finance, high technology and biotechnology, tourism, manufacturing, and electronics, and all are managed by an advanced telecommunications system. There are around 300 multinationals and 130 banks (almost all foreign banks) here, whilst its port is the busiest in the world and base for around 600 shipping companies. Its economic wealth is matched by its historical and artistic wealth. And this can be seen in every part of the city: the immigrant populations have integrated into Singapore's community while at the same time preserving their traditions and cultures. The city is divided into quarters each with its own specific identity. Chinatown, partly rebuilt over the last 30 years, is the cultural centre of Singapore, and houses one of the most interesting of the city's temples: the Temple of Thian Hock Keng. In Little India the most beautiful temples are the Veerama Kali Ammam, the Sri Srinivasa Perumal and the sumptuous Temple of a Thousand Lights; in this quarter fabrics and spices can also be found.
Arab Street is on the other hand the Islamic district, centre of the textile manufacturing industry: batik, silks, sarongs and fabrics. Here naturally we find the mosques: the Sultan's Mosque is the largest, although the Malabar Jama-ath mosque is more appealing. But we mustn't forget the buildings from Western religions such as St Andrew's Cathedral and the Catholic Cathedral of the Good Shepherd. Jurong Town, east of the city centre, is a huge industrial area, but there are some places of interest to tourists, such as the Haw Par Villa (a park devoted to Chinese mythology), Jurong Bird Park, the Chinese and Japanese Gardens and the Singapore Science Center.
Singapore also has plenty of museums such as the Singapore History Museum and the Asian Civilisations Museum, one of the most important in South East Asia, with some very precious collections. The Singapore Art Museum exhibits locally produced contemporary works of art and others from South East Asia.

Ho Chi Minh
Located close to the delta of the Mekong River, or on the western shore of the Saigon River to be even more precise, Ho Chi Minh City was previously known as Prey Nokor and was Cambodia's principal port before being conquered by the Vietnamese in the 17th century. Prey Nokor means "city of the forest" in the Khmer language, a name still used today in Cambodia and by the Khmer Krom minorities that live in the Mekong delta. Under the name Saigon it was the capital of the French colony of Cochin China from 1859. In 1946 Ho Chi Minh, "the Bringer of Light", pseudonym of Nguyen Ai Quoc, founder of the Vietnamese League for Independence (Vietminh), established the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi. However the French continued to occupy the southern part of the country up until 1954 (the Indochina War 1946-54) when they were defeated in the battle of Dien Bien Phu.
Despite the loss the French preferred to restore Emperor Bao Dai to the throne rather than recognise the Communist government, whilst at the same time guerrilla activity spread across the country with the Vietminh receiving both Soviet and Chinese support. Following the Geneva agreements in 1954 the country was divided into two separate states: Marxist North Vietnam (the Democratic Republic of Vietnam), backed by the USSR and governed by Ho Chi Minh, with Hanoi as its capital city, and South Vietnam (the Republic of Vietnam), governed by dictator Ngo Dinh Diem, Prime Minister during the empire of Bao Dai, with capital city of Saigon.
Ngo Dinh Diem's governance was both puritanical and nepotistic: his brother was made head of his political party (pro-Diem), and his sister-in-law, Madame Nhu, was made responsible for social reform. Divorce and abortion were made illegal, laws against adultery were tightened and the harassment of the Buddhist faith was so severe that it led to mass demonstrations and even self-immolation.
In the meantime the Vietnam War (1955-75) broke out; the regular North Vietnamese military forces, along with the Vietcong and the backing of the USSR and China were intent on extending their Communist dominion into South Vietnam. Despite the dictatorial politics of Ngo Dinh Diem and his international unpopularity, the US backed South Vietnam and for twenty years Vietnam was the scene of one of the most controversial wars in contemporary history. In 1975 North Vietnamese troops took occupation of Saigon: in the US people talked of the "fall of Saigon", in North Vietnam the "Liberation of Saigon". The city was re-christened Ho Chi Minh City and the country was reunified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Despite the fact that the name of city was changed, it is still referred to "Saigon" in spoken language although this only refers the city centre, or rather "district 1".
Ho Chi Minh City is the largest city in Vietnam with the most recent estimates putting its population at approximately 6 million. The most populated neighbourhood of the city is Cholon, the Chinese district, with its fascinating market and interesting architecture notable for its numerous pagodas. The most famous pagodas in HCMC are Giac Lam and Thien Hau: the latter is consecrated to Buddha but also to the Chinese Goddess of the Sea and Protector of Sailors, Thien Hau Thanh Mau. Of the colonial architecture, particularly noteworthy are the extremely well-conserved City Hall, the Municipal Theatre, constructed during French rule and recently restored, and the neo-Roman Notre Dame Cathedral built between 1877 and 1880. The former presidential palace was built in 1868 as the palace of the French Governor and was later the residence of Ngo Dinh Diem: bombarded and completely destroyed during the war it was rebuilt from scratch and re-named the Hall of Reunification. Finally, also worth a visit are the commemorative museums such as the Museum of the Revolution and the War Remnants Museum, and the Cu Chi Tunnels.
Located around 40km north-west of Ho Chi Minh City, this 500km network of tunnels was used by the Vietcong during the Indochina and Vietnam wars.

Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city in the People's Republic of China. At the beginning of 2006 the administrative district had over 18 million inhabitants, the city proper 9,327,199. It is built on the Huangpu river, on the Chang Jiang delta.
In the last few decades, like the rest of the country in fact, Shanghai has seen incredible growth, becoming an economic, financial, commercial and communications centre of enormous importance. The port is one of the busiest in the world, together with those of Shanghai and Hamburg. But Shanghai is also a peerless cultural and university centre.
The city and its hinterland forms one of the four municipalities of China and has provincial status. In the Chinese language Shanghai is abbreviated to Hù and Shen, and literally means "by the sea" or even "in the sea". It is known throughout the world by various colourful nicknames, which highlight a variety of different features, for example "Paris of the East", "Queen of the East" or "Pearl of the Orient". Its origins are uncertain, but by the 11th century, Shanghai was already one of the Chinese Empire's commercial centres.
However, it only really began to grow after 1842 with the Opium War, specifically with the Treaty of Nanking under which the western powers effectively imposed the opening of the city and the port to international trade and introduced the system of concessions, according to which the English, French and Americans especially operated in the commercial and financial sector. Concessions were abolished during the Japanese occupation (1937-1945) and business activity started again at the end of the Second World War. In 1949 Mao's communists took control of the city (and of the whole country, except Taiwan) and Shanghai became one of only two municipalities not to be immediately annexed to the neighbouring provinces.
You can retrace the stages of this history in the Shanghai Museum (founded in 1952). From the fifties the Communist regime forced many foreign companies to transfer their business from Shanghai to Hong Kong and the city became an industrial centre of the communist revolution. During the Cultural Revolution, Shanghai was able to maintain its traditionally high productivity and relative social stability, even if the first liberalisation only occurred in 1991.
The race for the future of this chaotic megalopolis really took off at the beginning of the nineties and in little more than a decade, its rapid economic development, based on financial and banking services, manufacturing companies and high technology, has attracted substantial investment from many foreign companies. Shanghai is now an international metropolis which is expected to overtake the great western centres. The economic liveliness and growing modernisation are clearly shown by the skyscrapers in the Pudong financial district.
You could imagine yourself here in one of the major American or European financial centres. Jinmao Tower is the highest skyscraper, standing 420 metres tall with 88 floors, whereas the highest building overall is the Television Tower (Oriental Pearl Tower, 467 metres). Today, Shanghai vies above all with Hong Kong, which has, however, the advantage of a more modern and stable legal system and greater experience in the banking and financial sector. On the other hand, Shanghai has closer links with the central government in Beijing.
Nevertheless, the handing back of Hong Kong to China by the English in 1997 has increased Shanghai's opportunities for economic development and in the last few years it has focused a great deal on sport (Formula 1) but also and above all on the last summer Olympics in 2008 as a means of international promotion. Beijing has naturally been the main host city, but other Chinese cities have hosted some Olympic events. Apart from Shanghai, events were held in Hong Kong, Qingdao, Tianjin, Shenyang and Qinhuangdao.

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