China/Shanghai

[louisiana]

Trip to Shanghai coming up. Any advice from old China hands?

(and no jokes about T'Pau B))

Corrected for punctuation.

[Huguenot]

Sure thang, what do you need to know?

[louisiana]

I probably don't need to know anything. I could sit in the hotel for nine days and scoff in the executive lounge morning and night... :-$

But I'd welcome any comments or advice about interesting things of any kind, especially stuff you don't find in the books. And I love my food, so anything interesting food-wise. And music (clubs) too. :)

[snorky]

chinese cities are awful, busy, souless, business orientated dumps

*A Snorky broad sweeping statements inc.production*

[Sherwick]

Try a club called Babyface - quite an experience. Also lots of (rooftop) bars and clubs along the bund (I think that's what it's called..).

[ratty]

dunno, but my sister is going tomorrow

[ontheedge]

are you staying in shanghai the whole time as funnily enough it's a very east country to travel in.

[louisiana]

Not sure yet. I'm see how the mood takes me. Might be up to a bit of travel but nothing too crazy; the idea is R&R.

Maybe some train travel?

You know I know so little about the place and I normally research places to death...

[candj]

Louisiana,

My family and I currently live in Shanghai, but are leaving at the end of May and coming back to London. I'd say that it's no city for R&R (if that's rest and relaxation). Shanghai is a bustling, vibrant, manic city full of people (is more densely populated than Beijing), cars, bicycles, fabulous architecture (Chinese, French Art Deco, ugly modern, fabulous modern), dirt (city is under huge construction because of the push to get it ready for the World Expo in 2010), even more fantastic restaurants (French, Chinese, Shanghainese, Cantonese, Japanese, etc), bars, etc. You name it and it's in Shanghai (or China for that matter). The Bund is the best skyline in the world and we have so many trees in the city it makes me weep (with hayfever, if anything else). It has a great contemporary art scene, if you like that. People spit, people shove, people stare at foreigners like they were from Mars, but they couldn't be nicer and it is a thrilling city to say the least.

We are 2 hours to Beijing, 2 hours to Hong Kong and from Shanghai, you can take the train to Hangzhou (capital of the Song Dynasty) or Suzhou (China's version of Venice)....

You can be uber upscale in terms of living accommodations or you can rough-it if that's your thing. Shanghai is a glamorous city covered in dust.

Let me know if you have any questions or need any recommendations and I'd be happy to help.

Have such a fabulous time. You will love it!

Best,

-C

[Huguenot]

Candj's probably more up-to-date than me, but I would recommend spending a few quid on one of the 'speaking' phrasebooks. They're about the size of pocket calculators, and made it very easy for me to get on.

Shanghainese have their own dialect, but Mandarin is pretty widely spoken. Most shops and upscale bars have a bit of English spoken.

I think you'll find plenty nearby for Shanghai to fill ten days without flying again, but do bear in mind it's a city, and manic is a great description. It's not a place for sitting by the pool.

Bejing flights are at least hourly, and seats can be bought at short notice. I used to do business trips (the opposite direction) in the same day, so if you've never been there it might be worth earmarking two days there for the Forbidden City and the Great Wall.

You need a whole day for the Great Wall and an early morning start. You could do morning flight to BJ, Forbidden City afternoon & night market, stay overnight, private rental to Great Wall am next day, and flight late 7pm back to SH.

Suzhou is worth seeing, lots of pretty gardens.

Take some history books, as the communist party was born in SH, and you can walk around all the original buildings.

[dulwichmum]

Oh candj, do please tell us more. I hear that their toilets are vile.

[candj]

Yes, Huguenot is quite right, if you don't know any Mandarin, it's best to have a pocket phrase book as the Chinese do not speak much English. At the very least, your hotel will provide you with a card to show the taxi drivers where to take you and where to bring you back.

Many of the 'cool' bars are on the Bund (the waterfront, called Wei-tan in Mandarin) in the two imposing 1920's buildings on Guangdong Lu. The buildings have great views, but there is much construction in this area and you can't really walk along the river now. You can take a river cruise along the Huangpu river which is nice, but takes about 3 hours (it goes to the mouth of the river on the edge of Shanghai). The old French Concession, where we live, is very lush and full of trees, coffee shops, bars, cafes, bookshops, etc. and of course, Fuxing Park, the sight of the first communist meeting in Shanghai (I think a statue of Karl Marx commemorates the spot). It's a great area to just hang out and people watch. Shanghai's metro is very good and quite extensive and you should have no problem using it.

A good website is smart shanghai for up to date info on the city.

Again, I'd be happy to make restaurant recommendations, or whatever other info you might need. Also, I can pm you with some Shanghainese swear words which occasionally comes in handy!

Best,

-C

Dulwichmum - Shanghai has many public toilets that are manned by staff who regularly clean them. They are cleaner than ones I've seen in the UK. Alas!

[louisiana]

Thanks C and Huguenot for all the useful info. I hadn't heard of Suzhou, and the speaking phrasebook sounds like fun. My other half had mentioned galleries so thanks for reminding me of that.

We'll be at Le Royal Meridien, umpteenth floor, so there will be some R&R between all the other stuff. And they do say a change is as good as a rest.

DM you may be thinking of some of the old style street urinals in India. ::o

[Tony.London Suburbs]

Try not to get Shanghai'd in Shanghai.

'nuff said Louisiana.

[louisiana]

C

Looks like my other half has booked us into Hangzhou for next weekend (big national holiday)... ;-)

Thanks for the heads up.

[candj]

Louisiana,

It's the May day holiday (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) in China. Enjoy the lotus blossoms on the West Lake in Hangzhou, truly magical and the weather is absolutely perfect now. Have a lovely time.

Best,

-C

[????]

if the swine flue don't get ya the bird flue will

[Nero]

You lucky thing! I used to live there back in the 80s. It has changed a lot. I'd recommend taking out 'Empire of the Sun' to read on the plane and to watch on DVD before you go, then have a cycle around the French concession area, near the Jin Jiang hotel, when you get there. Also, take a look at the Peace Hotel, which is very touristy, I know, but which does have a certain gin-fizz charm. The urban planning museum sounds like a nerd nirvana, but it is a very interesting exhibition of how the city planners want the city on the sea to look like.