Experience the Best of Shanghai in Just Two Days

Recently, I was meeting up with friends and the conversation steered to my recent trip to China – specifically Shanghai. One of the girls was going there on work, and she wanted to know all that was there to see over a weekend, or a couple of evenings in town.

And all the while I was talking to her, this blog post was running in my head, and so this is the first post on my blog covering my visit to China – and it covers all that someone can expect or want to see in Shanghai over a quick couple of days.

Stay

If you are visiting as a tourist, the best location to stay would be the central business district area near the happening city spots such as the Bund, Nanjing Road, People’s Square, Xintiandi, and Yu Garden. This way, you don’t waste any precious time on commuting.

That said hotels in this area can be expensive. Or, you could be traveling on work, and in both these cases, you might find the Pudong Road area better suited. It’s on the east side of the river (the right side in the above map), located close to the huge office spaces. This area is comparatively cheaper, and it’s only about 30 mins away from the main tourist spots.

We stayed in Pudong new district area and our commute wasn’t too bad at all.

Tips

• Wherever you stay, get city and Metro maps from the hotel reception.
• Some hotels offer free transfers to the central business district. Inquire about these and use if available.
• Get a visiting card of your hotel printed in Chinese so you can show taxi cabs how to get back to your hotel.

Bund

Come here for the glitz and glamour. The Bund is the riverside area. It’s very pleasant to walk in, and you get good views of all the surrounding high-rise buildings. You can also book a spot for a ferry ride on the Huangpu river. Do this at night to watch all the buildings come alive in a Vegas-like transformation of the city’s skyline.

Be warned though that there are long queues to get tickets and the boats can be packed.

We have already seen the bright lights of Hong Kong harbor, Singapore, and Vegas, so while we enjoyed our one hour boat ride, it wasn’t as exciting as we hoped. If you haven’t done this anywhere else, go for the boat ride, otherwise just walk along the Bund and enjoy the atmosphere.

TIME TO TAKE

If you want to walk the length of the bund, with stopping for photographs, plan to spend an hour. The river cruise takes about 45 mins, but with the queues for the tickets (see if you can get the tickets beforehand), expect another 45 mins.

Visit the tallest buildings

Shanghai is home to some really tall buildings that offer fantastic views of the city. Some high-rises you can visit are the Jin Mao Tower, the Oriental Pearl Tower, and the Shanghai World Financial Center.

Our guide advised us to try the Jin Mao Tower for the following reasons:

• The Oriental Pearl Tower is a very pretty building, and it’s better to view the outside of it from another building instead of visiting it.
• The Shanghai Financial Center is the tallest building in Shanghai but you don’t actually get 360 degree views from the top because of its bottle opener shape.
• The Jin Mao Tower offers good views of Shanghai and the tower offers a fun skywalking experience. Basically, you are put in a harness and let out a window from the 88th floor of the building. You then walk a short portion around the building. It’s a fun experience. Snubnose tried it and loved it very much.

And here’s a click of Snubnose sky-walking at the top of Jin Mao Tower.

TIPS/TIME TO TAKE

• Go early in the morning (around 10-ish), and you will avoid the crowds.
• Go on a clear day so that you get the best views.
• You can decide once you get there whether you want to do the sky-walking experience. No need to buy sky-walking tickets beforehand.
• Keep about 40 mins for the tower experience. Another 30 mins or so if you want to do the sky-walking. The sky-walking itself is just for 15 mins, but it takes time putting on all the gear, and the safety briefing, and all that.

The Jade Buddha Temple

This temple is pretty from the outside, but inside it is stunning. And it’s easily my most favorite memory of Shanghai.

The architecture and the Buddha statues inside blew my mind, and I will devote a single post just for this place in the next couple of weeks.

For now, take my word for it, and just go. You”ll be mind-blown.

TIME TO TAKE

45 mins to an hour.

Xintiandi

Xintiandi and Tianzifang form the modern French Concession area. They are not sight-seeing places as such, but more of party and high-end shopping. Depending on your interest, you can spend as little or as much time as you wish.

If you want a change from Chinese cuisine, hit up Xintiandi. They have Italian dining options (Va Bene), pizza (Botega, Wolfgang Puck’s bar and grill), American casual (Shake Shack), and so much more.

Go at the end of the day when you have nothing further to do and stay for dinner. I hear the nightlife here is pretty good too.

We went in the middle of the day, and so it was a little sleepy looking place, without too many people.

The architecture here is nice too, so maybe a daytime visit would also be good. We had a leisurely stroll through Xintiandi. We both picked up an ice cream each and just lounged around the place people-watching and enjoying its cosmopolitan vibe.

We didn’t actually lunch here (though it was lunch-time) because we were quite full up with gelato, and we had already booked our table at another restaurant near Nanjing Road. Also, I wasn’t up to the energy of trying to cancel a table reservation with my non-existent Chinese.

But we did walk around looking at the menus and the prices, and the food was surprisingly reasonably priced. For example, our ice creams were Rs.500/-, which is not exorbitant considering it is a Godiva ice cream.

Time to take

It depends on you. If you enjoy the European vibe of this place, you can spend more time around this area. If you don’t, it’s just a quick walk-through of the place. Or you could also consider skipping it.

AP Plaza

Going from the high-end (Xintiandi) to the low-end (AP Plaza). This shopping place is famous for good-quality dupes of high-end brands. So, if you want a fake Michael Kors, Hermes, or other designer bag or shoe, this is the place to visit.

We did a fair bit of shopping here. I got a suitcase (unbranded one), and Snubnose got a dupe of these Alexander McQueen sneakers for a shockingly low price (Rs. 1200/17 USD). Of course, this was after about 10-15 mins of haggling.

Her sneakers came with box, dust bag everything, just like the real deal.

I originally felt a bit uncomfortable buying a fake like that, but seeing the real price on the website (620 USD) just makes me angry. Why should a pair of sneakers cost this much? It’s absolutely senseless.

AP Plaza is also a great place for shopping for souvenirs, silks, and plenty of other knick-knacks. Overall a pretty cool place. And this is coming from me – someone who hates shopping.

SHOPPING TIPS

• Bargain heavily. Go down 75% of the proposed price and do not budge. Be prepared to walk away if needed.
• Some shopkeepers can be nasty. Develop a thick skin and keep walking.
• Always pay in cash. Our guide told us it’s not safe to use credit cards in these shops.
• Ask for specific pieces. If you are on the hunt for designer fakes, have photos of the items saved on your phone. Even if you don’t see it on the shelves, ask, and the shopkeepers will take you to an inner room where they have the stuff. I saw lots of Europeans/Americans doing this, and it seems to work.

TIME TO TAKE

Approximately 2 hours? It’s a big place, and it depends on your appetite for shopping.

Shanghai Museum

Shanghai Museum is famous for its rare cultural relics with amazing Chinese bronze, ceramics, paintings and calligraphy. Snubnose and I didn’t expect to love it as much as we did.

If you are interested in art and history, you will find their displays amazing. Snubnose was in total awe of the quality of their work, and she’s come back home inspired to try out calligraphy.

I will be doing a detailed post on Shanghai Museum with photos soon. Watch this space for more details. But in my mind, this is a definite must-visit.

TIME TO TAKE

We took about an hour going through the display. Depending on your interest, you could take longer.

YuYuan Gardens

YuYuan or Yu Gardens is the old part of the city. It’s an old garden built in 1559 during the rule of the Ming dynasty. The highlight is a porous boulder called Exquisite Jade Rock.

While this place is pretty, it was also pretty crowded, and it felt a bit like a tourist trap to me. If there were a little less people, I might have enjoyed the gardens more.

There is a shopping market in front of the gardens, and the shops are pretty decent – a mix of really high-quality, high-end items and cheap souvenirs.

TIME TO TAKE

The gardens itself is about a 30 min stroll, and you could also spend some time in the market. Overall, about an hour, I’d say.

Our itinerary in a nutshell

DAY 1

• Got an early start and reached Jin Mao Tower around 10-ish.
• Then headed out to the Bund where we strolled a bit, took some photos, and visited a Pearl Factory (just a shop where they sell pearls)
• Break for lunch
• Visited the Jade Buddha temple
• Headed out to AP Plaza for shopping

DAY 2

• Went to Yuyuan Garden
• Then visited Xintiandi
• Break for lunch
• Then visited Shanghai Museum
• And ended with shopping at Nanjing road

And that’s what we were able to cover in two days. Was two days enough? Absolutely not. Do I think we made efficient use of our limited time? Absolutely yes! Hence, my sharing of this itinerary.

Hope you find it useful. More posts on Shanghai to come. If you have any questions, leave a comment and I”ll be happy to clarify.