The inaugural Chinese Grand Prix took place at Shanghai International Circuit in September 2004. The new facility with its massive main grandstands, amazing media facilities and unparalleled team facilities set a new standard that other race circuits must now aspire to.

The facility has enough room around the circuit to host 200,000 spectators, including more than 29,000 in the grandstand opposite the pits. The facilities reached new heights in Shanghai, even if the circuit itself is rather on the dull side.

The scale of the Shanghai International Circuit dwarfs any other venue in Formula One - and that means a lot of walking. Opened in 2004, the circuit took 18 months to build and is located on 5.3 square kilometres of marshland. Concrete piles - 40 to 80 metres deep - were driven into the ground, with a metre-thick coating of polystyrene and a layer of soil placed on top. The circuit was designed by German architect Hermann Tilke, the man behind the Bahrain, Istanbul and Sepang GP venues, among others.

It is difficult to calculate the driving time from the booming metropolis to the circuit. The journey has been completed in a little over 30 minutes, but it can take over three hours at busy times, depending on the location of your hotel.

The track comprises seven right and seven left-hand corners. The longest straight is not the start/finish straight, but the section between Turn 13 and 14, where the cars are flat-out for a good 1.3 kilometres

The layout is based on the Chinese character "Shang", which translates as "high" or "above", and the futuristic pits and grandstands emulate traditional Chinese design features. The circuit can accommodate 200,000 spectators.

Shanghai, a port city and free trade zone on the east coast of the country and near the Yangtze Delta, is China's boom town. The population of the administrative area of Shanghai stands at over 18 million, over half of whom live within the geographical city limits.