Surefire way to visit Peoples Square and not get pickpocketed

Maybe you have never been to Shanghai. Or maybe you've been here before and miss the place. Or perhaps, like Shanghaiist, you live in Shanghai but rarely have the need/desire to go to Peoples Square. Well, this website offers a virtual way to transport yourself to the big mass of concrete and grass -- all humans and dogs please stay on the concrete! -- in the center of Shanghai (but not that real center of the city ... more on that soon). panoramas.dk offers a scrollable fullscreen 360-degree night image of Peoples Square taken in 2002. The site has hundreds of similar images from all over the world -- a neat way to truly be a virtual tourist (and save on airfare).

You can climb Mount Everest, gaze upon the pyramids in Egypt, stand atop the Taj Mahal, even fly to the moon. Our favorite, however, might be New Year's Eve in New York City's Times Square, which comes complete with sound and a blimpy Mariah Carey.