Three days in Shanghai

[supergraeme]

Hello all.

Going to Shanghai over Easter for the long weekend (on Virgin Upper using a couple of vouchers). I was there fifteen years ago and frankly can’t remember a single thing I did with my mate, so I’m curious what the good (and vastly experienced) people of HfP would recommend for me and my partner.

We currently have a day tour of Shanghai booked for one day, then I’m thinking about getting the train to Suzhou for a day, then getting the train Zhujiajiao Water Town for a day. The latter two would be self-guided, which I’m sure will be fine (I’ve only glanced but I think they’re both wanderable). We might do a river cruise on one of the evenings. We’re staying near Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street for what it’s worth.

What do you lot recommend? A rooftop bar with views would be nice, but it can’t be very high up as my partner is annoying isn’t keen on heights 😉

Thanks all!

[masaccio]

Bar Rouge on the Bund is a bar that’s only a couple stories up, but I thought drinks at the Bund Hyatt were better. That’s pretty high up but I recall it’s not your glass wall type of place.

If you are going to Suzhou and the weather is nice, Taihu Lake Wetland Park has pandas and is a nice place for a stroll.

My usual China tip: get AliPay all signed up and working before you go as cash is worthless.

[JDB]

@supergraeme – Suzhou is a great day trip from Shanghai, but you must book your trains in both directions (and take your passport) you can’t just turn up. The trains get incredibly busy and although it’s expensive it really is worth booking business class (which is above first) as you get your own entrance to the station, security and check in and are then escorted to your seat on the train. Suzhou is a very big place so you need to plan your trip to get from a to b. In Shanghai most things Chinese have been bulldozed to make way for the modern city you see today, so Suzhou is very different for having kept more Chinese places.

If you like gardens (one of the key things in Suzhou) the Yu Yuan garden in Shanghai (not the shopping area of the same name behind it) is very impressive.

I really wouldn’t visit the Water Town – they have built many of those all over the country in recent years, it’s all fake for (Chinese) tourists.

I also wouldn’t do the dinner cruise – it’s expensive, bad food, you’ll be queuing and wondering if it’s time to get off yet. You can see the same views from the banks and enjoy all the different colourful dinner boats go past. The key to getting the best views of Pudong and/or the Bund is location. The height definitely isn’t the be all and end all. I would say that going up the Pearl Tower might be scary for anyone who fears heights because it has some glass floors and walls but say the bar at the Park Hyatt at around 100F is fine. My wife doesn’t really like heights and that didn’t worry her. A lower and fantastic option is the rooftop bar at the Peninsula on 15F but actually, more or less opposite there, at street level (and easy, free access!) the People’s Monument offers extraordinary views of Pudong and the full sweep of the Bund. They turn off the lights relatively early, but after an early dinner that’s a spectacular spot and great walk from there.

It is nice to go on the river but the 2 RMB ferries are more fun and authentic than the dinner but they don’t operate at night or on the central area. Try the Taigong line crossing or Dongchang Road ones. They are linked on the Pudong side by a fantastic new riverside walkway.

The key historical areas are really the French Concession, very busy, lots of instagram stops, bars and restaurants and Hongkou (the former International Concession) which is much less discovered.