Bear in mind that this was the last three days of a rather intensive two weeks and we were getting tired, so we may not have done quite as much as we would have if we had started in Shanghai, but I think this was the best way to do it. Starting in Beijing you jump in the deep end. You are immersed in the Eastern culture and there is very little familiar to you. And that is equal parts scary, alien, inspiring and incredibly humbling. Finishing with Shanghai was a good move because there is a more of a Western influence and you can pick up a coffee in a coffee shop, and more people speak English and you can find Italian restaurants and cocktail bars, and when you're feeling almost ready to return home, this is a nice sort of preparation for it.
So I'm going to give you my Top Ten things to do in Shanghai, in no particular order. We did all this in three days, but of course if you have less or longer, there are plenty of other attractions and sights to visit.
1. East Nanjing Road
The main thoroughfare of Shanghai, runs from the Huangpu River on The Bund to People's Square, where it meets West Nanjing Road. There is a lot of bustle here with department stores, shopping malls, Madame Tussauds - if you're into that sort of thing - and restaurants. The department stores are a great place to find tasty Chinese treats to take back for presents or souvenirs. Two subway stations span the East Nanjing Road making travel easy. And there is a vast network of underpasses to get you safely underneath the very busy and very large roads. This is a great starting point to immerse yourself in Shanghai.
2. People's Square and The Shanghai Museum
People's Square is huge and dissected by a main road - again please use the underpasses, it's what they're there for. Within the sprawling green of People's Square are People's Park, The Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA Shanghai), the Shanghai Art Museum and The Shanghai Museum.
Now if you only have a short time to explore, I suggest a walk through the park and a trip to the Shanghai Museum. It's UFO style, futuristic architecture will leave you thinking you're out of this world. And it is free to get in and explore. The Bronze exhibit on the ground floor is well worth a look, especially if, like us, you only have time for one exhibit, but of course if you have longer then knock yourself out - not literally - and go for it. http://www.shanghaimuseum.net/en/
Shanghai Museum
I must point out that the area around People's Square is rather seedy. There are lots of homeless people living in the park. They may approach you or try to clean your shoes - this happened to us - but you are more likely to be accosted by some young, English speaking locals who will try and persuade you to go to a tea ceremony. Don't do it! They will start by asking you to take a picture of them. There are likely to be three or more of them, and then they will tell you to follow them to a tea ceremony or a gallery, and expect you to pay extortionate prices for stuff. Again, a polite 'no thank you' might not be enough, so you may have to be persistent, but we found walking away and continuing to ignore them worked a treat.
3. The Bund/Riverside Walk
The impressive Bund is Shanghai's riverside masterpiece. Following the natural curve of the river, this is the place to catch your first glimpses of Pudong - the futuristic high rise centre on the opposite side of the river - as well as taking in the opulent dining and shopping the Bund has to offer. Consisting of many buildings you might think more at home in London, including a bell modelled on Big Ben, they hark back to the 1920s and 1930s when many affluent foreign residents had taken up here. Customs houses and bank buildings and the Fairmont Hotel; this is luxury from the Art Deco period and it's impressive.
Stroll along on the promenade and you're treated to views on both sides: The Bund and Pudong. Please make sure you do The Bund in the daytime and at night time. It's a different land when all lit up and deserves to be seen in all its guises.
Also, poke your head in The Fairmont Peace Hotel at the end of East Nanjing Road where it hits the Bund. It is a beautiful example of Art Deco. You can enter the downstairs and there are shops and cafes and often an exhibit or two that are open to the public. So you can feel five star even if you can't afford to stay there.
Looking over to Pudong.
Quite a few of the Bund buildings have shops on the lower floors which allow you to enter and at least experience the feel of the era they were built in. Some also have restaurants and bars. Check them out.
4. A Night on the Town: Pudong
You can't miss an opportunity to skip over the river - or under, in this case - and visit the modern metropolis of futuristic, often sci-fi looking buildings in Pudong. And when they're giving their own light show, it really would be rude not to head over there for dinner and a cocktail or two. Because if there's one thing Shanghai know all about, it's cocktails!
Head for the Jin Mao Tower to the 57th Floor and you get a choice of four restaurants. We chose the Italian, after 13 days of Chinese food, we felt ready for a pizza. The prices are relatively expensive if you compare them to other places in China, but you are on the 57th floor, with a real Italian chef with views over Pudong, and it's totally worth it. Prepare to splash out and enjoy yourself in the process. http://www.shanghai.grand.hyatt.com/en/hotel/dining/Cucina.html
Jin Mao Building - Grand Hyatt Shanghai
Then within the same building you can shoot up a few floors to Cloud 9 bar for cocktails. They will seat you and they have a great selection of drinks with English translations. Again, you will expect to pay around £10 for a cocktail, which may seem steep if you've been travelling around in China, but as someone who lives in London and enjoys a good cocktail, they were more than worth it. They had some really interesting ingredients too. http://www.shanghai.grand.hyatt.com/en/hotel/dining/Cloud9.html
Then if you're still up for more and you don't mind heights, hop over the road to The World Financial Centre and 100th Avenue Cocktail Bar on Floor 91. It's a bit tricky to find the entrance, so watch out for the signs and if in doubt, ask. Again drinks are around £9 to £10. This bar was much busier and had less seating, so we were seated at the bar. You may have to wait for a seat, especially if you want a table with a window view.
World Financial Centre
Old Town is a veritable maze of hutongs and traditional dwellings, along with streets of small shops and temples. The Yuyuan Gardens and the more modern bazaar pull big crowds with huge queues for some of the local crab entrail delicacies, and of course the dumplings. If you want a taste of traditional China in Shanghai, this is the place to get it. You can almost forget the dominating high rises and modernity of Pudong and East Nanjing Road. Here in the shaded back streets you'll find a slice of old Shanghai.
The Chenxiangge Nunnery is on the way to Yuyuan Gardens and is well worth a look. It is a welcome retreat from the crowds heading to the Bazaar, and offers a moment of thought and contemplation amidst the clamour of the streets surrounding it. There is a small charge to enter, and a further charge to climb up to the first floor, but we're talking 20p, so you won't put yourself out.
Chenxiangge Nunnery
Mid-lake Pavilion Tea House
This is a beautiful green getaway in the heart of the city. There are lots of small gardens to look around, that feed into the garden as a whole. There are lots of rocks and alcoves and small halls to explore, as well as many indigenous plants and trees.
6. M50 Art District
A little out of the centre, in the North of Shanghai, this collection of industrial buildings and warehouses, now hosts the M50 Art District. With a host of contemporary artists on display - mostly from China - you have your pick of styles and media to choose from. There are of course changing exhibitions and sculptures on display, as well as lots of interesting shops to pick up a print or arty present. There are design workshops and a couple of quirky cafes offering a variety of drinks and snacks. Depending on where you are coming from, it might be easier to get a taxi out there, as the nearest subway station is a good 15 minutes walk away, but if you are already around and exploring the area - Jing'an - which also boasts the Jade Buddha Temple and the Shanghai Centre Theatre, then you can easily walk and there are a ring of subway stations and bus stops around it.
7.The Bund by Night
Yes I have already urged you to spend a night amongst the giants in Pudong and to eat and drink up in the air, but if you have more than one night there, then you need to see the Bund by night too. Now again this gives you amazing views over Pudong and its veritable light show - which incidentally finishes around 10pm every night - as well as allowing you to see the Bund and all its remarkable buildings lit up and dazzling. A walk along the promenade is a great way to take it all in, but if you are cocktail mad such as myself, then the best way to see it all is by visiting New Heights - or one of the many other Bund watering holes - on the 7th floor of Number 3 The Bund. Wow. You may not be 91 floors up like you can be in Pudong, but the view is breathtaking, as well as their cocktail selection.
8. Tianzifang and The French Concession
My favourite part of The French Concession area had to be the incredible shopping experience of Tianzifang. If you like to shop - especially on your last day of holiday so you know exactly how much you can cram in your case - then this is the place. Consisting of a network of alleyways and longtangs, this is a labyrinth of retail and culinary fun. Think home made, think quirky, think original and think variety. This place really does have it all, as well as restaurants, cafes and bars boasting fare from all over the world. There are fresh juice stations the likes of which you'd never believe. I don't think I'd ever had freshly pressed apple juice done before my very eyes. Yum!
With all this colour and imagination you can't fail to enjoy this rather unique shopping experience. And if you're up for a novelty lunch, then look no further than the toilet themed restaurant: More Than Toilet. Sit on a throne - the less royal kind - and eat starters from a bath tub. Drink from a urinal and be pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food and drink on offer. The menu boasts some real oddities too, such as these hollowed out loaves of bread, with all sorts of sweet stuff inside. I still don't fully understand what I saw. Definitely worth a visit, and you can purchase some toilet themed souvenirs too.
Fuxing Park
Xintiandi
9. Pudong by day
Okay, so you've seen Pudong in the day and night from The Bund. You've visited during the night for a meal and a cocktail up one of its many towers, but what about having an explore during the day? See those giants up close in daylight and maybe take a trip up to an observation deck or take a cruise along the river to see Shanghai by boat.
The Aquarium at Shanghai is a good stopping point if you have the money and the time. It boasts the longest underwater tunnel at around 150 metres, which has its own travelator that you can hop on and hop off. We went towards the end of the day with only a couple of hours to explore and found we had just enough time to see everything. By the time we emerged Pudong was lit up once again. http://www.sh-aquarium.com/en/html/index.aspx
10. A Couple of Other Notables
Finally, to finish off the top ten of Shanghai there are a couple of notable things we did or saw that are definitely worth mentioning:
- The Rockbund Art Museum off East Beijing Road is a private collection of Asian contemporary artists. Pay a small fee to enter and you'll see a mixture of media and installations encompassing a whole range of new and well known Asian artists. They are also very nice people as my partner left his iPhone in there and only realised a few minutes after we'd left. When we went back they had kept it to one side for him. Thank you. http://www.rockbundartmuseum.org/en/
- A culinary experience like no other I've ever had. If you like futuristic dining experiences, then one where you order everything from a touch screen at your booth will be right up your street. It's almost like a fondue, you have to order three different dipping stocks and then loads of stuff to dip in and cook yourself. It's quite bizarre especially as we didn't really fully understand what was happening and the restaurant itself was very new at the time. It was in the Hongyi Plaza Mall on East Nanjing Road, but I can't give you an English name and I can't seem to find it online. Hopefully it's still there.
My partner completely overwhelmed.
You are likely to spend more money here, but not in a bad way. This is definitely a place to come and splash out and treat yourself. It's different to any other places we visited in China and believe me, that's a good thing. Everywhere you step in China is different than the last place and offers something unique and special to its visitors. Shanghai is no exception to this. And whilst some people may see it as a watered down version of the East, or a place being slowly eaten away by its Western influences, I'd have to disagree. It is a mixture of both and it is precisely this mixture that casts a spell over its visitors.
Thank you Shanghai. Maybe one day we'll be back.
And thank you readers for sticking with me through this extremely long back log of annals from our trip. I let a lot of other things get in the way, but can't wait to get started on last year's trip to The American Mid West. Oh yes. The Sarky Traveller will be back, and hopefully on a more reliable schedule.
Conclusions are: Visit China, it's ace! And also if you are on a budget this is a great chance to get far away from home without bankrupting yourself. Oh and you will eat some amazing food and see some incredible sights!
Until next time.
The Sarky Traveller
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