4 Nights in Shanghai – things to do

This article was written by Ross Fraser; a customer of Netflights.com. If you would like to write about a travel experience on the Netflights blog, please get in touch.

If you are planning on touring China a city you can’t miss off your itinerary is Shanghai. Easy to reach from Hong Kong and Beijing by air, this is the jewel in modern China’s crown and a fantastic place to visit.

Shanghai is found on the east coast of China sitting on the Huangpu River. One thing I can safely say is Shanghai is more than just a city, it’s a growing metropolis! I heard that there are more construction cranes in Shanghai than any other place in the world and I can believe it. Shanghai isn’t just big, it’s gigantic!

So what is there to see and do in this metropolis? We spent 4 days there and were not bored and certainly didn’t see everything, so give yourself at least a few days in the city and you will not be disappointed.

Here is what we did -

1. Took the MAGLEV – The Maglev runs from Pudong International airport to Longyang Road Station in Pudong. The ticket price is approx £5 for a single journey and takes 8mins to cover the 30km of track, going at a top speed of 431kmph. We travelled on it because we arrived at Pudong airport but it is a truly amazing journey so you may want to ride it even if you are not intentionally going to the airport.

2. Visit Pudong – Pudong is a new area of the city and has only been around for about 10 years. It is a mix of skyscrapers and luxury shopping malls. We went up the Park Hyatt Building, which is the tallest building in Shanghai (nicknamed the bottle opener). If you go to the hotels cocktail bar you can get a drink and an amazing view over the Bund and including the drink this ends up costing less than going up the buildings observation deck!

3. Visit Yu Yuan gardens – Shanghai is all about new so you won’t see anything particularly old, if you do chances are it will be demolished to make way for more skyscrapers. One place that has remained intact is Yu Yuan gardens. It is found in the heart of Shanghai and costs around £4 to enter. It is a little piece of tranquillity in what is a very busy city so well worth a visit. There is a metro stop to the area so it is easy to find.

4. Eat at a Dim sum restaurant – eating seems to be a family affair with everyone sharing food and telling each other stories and laughing. One of the best places to eat great food and see this in action is a Dim sum restaurant. We went to one just outside Yu Yuan gardens, they are cheap, the food is amazing and you leave feeling stuffed!

5. Ride the Bund the sightseeing tunnel – The Bund sightseeing tunnel is a tunnel under the river which you travel through in little metro cars. It is a cross between an acid trip and something from Austin Powers. It’s around £5 and takes about 4 mins to cross. You can however get across the river using the metro for 20p so whether the sightseeing tunnel is value for money is up to you, but one thing is for sure it is unique!

6. Visit the French Concession – At one point Shanghai was split into different ‘concessions’ one of which being the French Concession. This area is now home to art studios, coffee shops, trendy bars and restaurants and tree lined streets. Def worth going to and for a minute you may forget you are in China.

You can get deals on flights to Shanghai from the following UK airports
Heathrow to Shanghai
Gatwick to Shanghai
Manchester to Shanghai

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Category: Asia & Middle East, China, China