Editor's note

This year is the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Shanghai metro. The subway has facilitated more than 13 billion journeys during its 20 years, and half of Shanghai citizens cite the metro as their favored mode of transport. To commemorate the anniversary, each week the Global Times will take an in-depth look at one metro station and its surroundings. In the case of downtown stations, we will focus on points of interest within walking distance; while for suburban areas, we will cast our net a little wider.

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Pudong Avenue Station sits across the Huangpu River from Yangpu district on metro Line 4, a loop line that travels through most of Shanghai's downtown districts, including Xuhui, Changning, Huangpu, Putuo, Zhabei, Hongkou and Pudong New Area.

Just a few blocks east of the Lujiazui financial district, the area is mostly residential but is also home to a decent number of dining, drinking and cultural options. Here are some that are only a stone's throw from Pudong Avenue Station.

The interior of Super Bowl Express Restaurant

Super Bowl Express Restaurant

Emerge from Exit 1 and cross Dongfang Road to find Super Bowl Express Restaurant on the first floor of the five-star Eton Hotel (535 Pudong Avenue, 3878-9888 Ext 6312).

This award-winning restaurant is decorated in bright and warm hues to exude a cozy ambience. A spiral staircase at the restaurant's entrance leads to a lovely upstairs dining space.

It serves both Asian and Western dishes. The menu ranges from Japanese and Korean style noodles and rice with a choice of pork ribs, beef brisket, barbequed chicken or smoked fish to Western classics like hamburgers and fish and chips. Healthy drinks and light snacks are also available.

As its name suggests, this hotel restaurant offers set lunches and dinners for those wanting a quick bite. Set meals are priced from 60 yuan ($9.88) and above, plus a 15 percent service fee.

A bonus for diners here is the beautiful scenery the hotel's gardens offer outside. The charming patio features exuberant greenery, artistic sculptures and an oval-shaped pavilion.

A wooden door of a pub on Changyi Road Photos: Yang Zhenqi/GT

Changyi Road Bar Street

Walk through Eton Hotel's garden and you will get to Changyi Road, a small street that intersects with the major thoroughfare, Dongfang Road. In stark contrast to the street's daytime quietness, Changyi Road becomes very lively at night when a dozen bars and pubs open for business.

Unlike downtown Puxi, where several famous bar streets can be found, there aren't many hot spots accommodating partygoers and night owls in Pudong. That makes Changyi Road one of the area's most well-known - if not notorious - bar streets.

Catering predominantly to traveling businessmen, most establishments are open until the early hours. In addition to a number of seedier options, there are also a few sports bars where patrons can catch a live game on TV.

Lujiazui Library

Lujiazui Library

Heading north from the station, you will find Shanghai Pudong New Area Lujiazui Library (38 Dongfang Road, 5882-8788). Covering a total area of over 3,500 square meters, this three-story building was funded by a Hong Kong entrepreneur and was opened to the public in October 1986.

The library boasts a collection of more than 360,000 publications, including books, magazines, newspapers and periodicals. On the first floor are a loan and reading room, a digital reading room, and a study hall, while the second and third floors house a children's reading room and a financial library, respectively.

Borrowers can return books themselves by scanning them on a reading machine and then leave the books to the librarians. There is even a mini self-service library at the entrance of Lujiazui Library.

The self-service library machine contains a moderate number of titles and allows members to borrow up to six books at one time. Users can apply for a library card by simply scanning their ID cards and paying a 100 yuan deposit.

The help-yourself library machine operates 24 hours a day, while the brick-and-mortar library opens from 9 am to 8 pm throughout the week, except for Monday mornings.

Dongchang Cinema

A 10-minute walk west from the station's Exit 4 will take you to Dongchang Cinema (150 Nanquan Road North, 5878-1056), a privately funded movie theater built in the 1950s. As one of the few entertainment venues accessible to local residents in Pudong at the time, this theater was a cultural landmark in the area and was extremely popular with movie buffs. It grew to become the most bustling area in Pudong in the 1980s.

However, the attraction of the cinema gradually dimmed with the booming development of the adjacent Lujiazui area, where a slew of new entertainment choices sprung up. The cinema temporarily closed to make way for the expansion of the Shanghai Metro in the mid-2000s, but after a couple of years of renovation, Dongchang Cinema was reopened to the public with better amenities, including multimedia screening rooms, a teahouse and café.

Today, the cinema screens not only Hollywood blockbusters but also classic Chinese movies at wallet-friendly prices.