After Beijing and the Great Wall, I arrived at China’s most Western-style city, Shanghai. And indeed, it felt like I had stepped into a completely different world…
Table of Contents
Travel by train
When booking my flight tickets, I had already decided to travel from Beijing by high-speed train. It covers the approximately 1,300 km distance in 4.5 hours, traveling at a constant speed of 350 km/h. It’s impressive, but you absolutely cannot feel this speed on the train.
I wrote about ticket purchasing and railway station procedures in detail in part 1 (read more useful advice)!
Sunday
The train arrived at Hongqiao Railway Station, from where I took Metro Line 2 to the city center to reach my accommodation. The hotel was next to the main railway station, and I could easily get everywhere by metro.
On this day, my program included the pedestrian street Nanjing Road and the skyscraper area across the Huangpu River. I left the hotel around 5:30 PM and walked from People’s Square along Nanjing Road to the riverbank.
Since the early May holiday was in full swing, there were crowds everywhere. But this had a good side: the skyscrapers had special illumination, and the „show” was much more impressive than on weekdays. It’s worth walking along the entire length of the riverfront. I managed to take excellent photos, videos, and timelapses from several spots.
Timelapse:
Monday
Monday turned out to be only a „half” day, as it rained quite heavily until early afternoon. Rain is common here due to the ocean, but fortunately, precipitation didn’t hinder me again during my trip.
I left the hotel around 3 PM for the Jade Buddha Temple. This is a temple with a very pleasant atmosphere, where I happened to witness a ceremony. Afterward, I could view the main sanctuary.
I then stopped at a small eatery. I usually look for places that don’t cater to tourists but are frequented by locals. I found this place in a side street, and they were quite surprised to see a tourist there. 🙂
After my beef noodle soup, I visited the nearby Huaihai Road, which is a somewhat European-style district. Its outstanding building is the Wukang Mansion, which is a smaller version of the Flatiron Building (which can be seen in New York). Several other buildings also give this area a European feel.
I waited for dusk in the Qibao district on the outskirts of Shanghai, which is far from being a touristy area (I only met two non-Chinese families in total). Yet most visitors would surely love this area of a few streets. It’s especially beautiful when they start illuminating it as darkness falls. There are many shops and eateries, though it’s true you can explore it quickly. But it was definitely worth traveling an hour each way for this sight!
I took the metro back to the city center, where I walked through the elegant Xintiandi area. This is a shopping street with many stores and bars. It’s worth coming here in the evening.
The last attraction of the day was the skyscraper area. Get off Metro Line 2 at Lujiazui station, and you’ll emerge right next to the iconic Oriental Pearl Tower. You can take great pictures here, but the Shanghai Tower and other skyscrapers are also impressive…
Tuesday
On this day, I made a trip to Hangzhou, a city one hour away by train, which is considered one of China’s most beautiful cities. I’ll write about this in detail in the next part!
Wednesday
My last full day in China fortunately had perfect weather, and I visited the remaining sights. And to crown it all, I had an evening appointment at the Shanghai Tower.
First, I took a walk in People’s Park and had a coffee in the pleasant environment. From there, I went to the Shanghai Museum, where I had an entry slot for 10:15-11:00 (entry is free, but you need to register in advance via WeChat or in person). I also passed by the modern theater, which is truly beautiful.
The Shanghai Museum is a multi-level, also modern building, but it was a big disappointment. Only a few halls were open, and although they had good exhibitions, I finished seeing everything in about 30 minutes. They could have arranged it so that only one or two halls were closed at a time, but anyway…
From the museum, I took the metro to the Longhua Pagoda, where entry is free. This is also a significant temple in the city, but fewer tourists visit. It’s no coincidence that the majority were locals, holding incense sticks asking for blessings. It was interesting to see people continuously walking around the huge pagoda and praying.
From there, I went to the Tianzifang district, which is an area of alleys, mainly intended for tourists. It’s worth a walk, but I didn’t spend much time here.
Next came the Yuyuan district with its famous garden. There are many tourists here, thanks not only to the garden but also to the architecture of the surrounding streets. We can see wonderful buildings, especially the small inner streets are very atmospheric. Next to it is the Yuyuan Garden, which is also worth visiting. It was one of the most famous gardens of the Ming Dynasty, where emperors also rested. The entrance fee is 40 yuan, and it covers quite a large area.
The Bund riverfront area is about a 5-minute walk away, so I took one last look at the skyscrapers on the opposite bank.
I took the metro to the other side and next was the city’s highest observation deck, the Shanghai Tower. I bought tickets on trip.com ($25), but you can also buy them on-site depending on availability. Although you can buy tickets for a two-hour time slot (I chose the 18:30-20:20 slot), they will let you up anytime if it’s not full. I was already in the elevator at 6 PM, half an hour early, so I managed to reach the 118th floor while it was still light.
Fortunately, the humidity wasn’t high, so I was greeted with a particularly good view. And as it began to get dark, the whole city lit up:
Since the Yuyuan district looked so beautiful illuminated from above, as a final stop I went back by metro to admire the sight:
Thursday
The plane to Shenzhen was departing at 1:30 PM, so I had plenty of time for breakfast. I needed to go to Pudong Airport, which is directly accessible via Metro Line 2. However, at Longyang Road, you can transfer to the Maglev magnetic train. Of course, that’s what I traveled with!
Getting off the metro, the Maglev station is clearly signposted (a few minutes’ walk), where I bought a ticket for 50 yuan. The magnetic train departed a few minutes later. Unfortunately, it now runs at „only” 300 km/h, although it was tested to go faster. Well, anyway, at least I tried this too. 🙂
