Shanghai 2-8 August
2017
Day 1 – Thursday, 3
August
We arrived in Shanghai early on the morning of Thursday 3 August. A driver met us at Pudong
Airport, and drove us to our hotel - the SSAW Boutique Hotel, in Renmin Road, near the Yu
Garden metro station.
After unpacking we headed into town on foot. First stop was
the Yu Gardens markets. At the entrance we were befriended by a nice older man,
who told us that he was planning to head to New Zealand in a few weeks. He then
offered to show us where a good restaurant was. We didn’t follow him too far,
thankfully, as unbeknown to us at the time, he was trying to scam us (most
probably by leading us to a restaurant where we would have been ripped off). Once we’d parted ways with the scammer, we went into the markets
and looked around for a while. We went to a local food court and ordered
noodles and deep fried chicken.
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| First stop - Yu Gardens Market - the Zig Zag Bridge and Teahouse in the background |
From the markets we headed towards the Bund,
and found ourselves in the Old City, which is comprised of lots of tiny little
residential laneways with small retail shops at street level, and apartments
above and behind.
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| The Old city |
From the Old City we navigated down to the Bund. It was
getting very hot (I estimate approximately 37,000 degrees Celsius), and we walked about 2k along the promenade by the river.
There wasn’t anything really to see, except some amazing views of the financial
district of the City.
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| View of the city from the Bund |
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| Shanghai Tower |
We walked back along the Bund past the old colonial
buildings, which were big and colonial, but not that interesting. Then we headed
back towards Yu Gardens and the Old City looking for an open bar. After
circling the markets and Carole asking some locals, we found a tiny laneway
shop behind the gardens on Wangyima Alley which sold Tsing Tao. We bought a
couple of beers, and sat down next to an old lady, who Carole chatted to. Then
we were joined by 3 older men, who bought eskimo pies, and were also happy to
stop and chat. After that we headed back to the hotel.
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| Cold beer at the corner store |
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| Mmmm, more cold beer |
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| Seating at the corner store |
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| The corner store |
That evening we started with a drink on the roof terrace at
the hotel. As it got dark the buildings in the City lit up, and we enjoyed
watching an amazing light show. Carole thought one of the other customers at
the bar was a staff member, and was trying to tell him the number of our hotel
room (haha).
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| The view from the hotel terrace |
We then left the hotel and caught the metro from Yu Garden
to Xintiandi. We walked from the metro looking for the bar/restaurant area, but
couldn’t find it. We ended up at a Thai Restaurant, called Simply Thai, and had
a nice, but boring dinner (the dinner, not the company!). Then caught the metro
back to Yu Garden, and the hotel, feeling tired after a long day.
Day 2 – Friday, 4
August
After a sleep in, we decided to check out a place called
Tianfizang. We caught the metro about half way and grabbed a couple of Ofo
shared bikes. We rode only a couple of hundred metres before stopping at a
Starbucks for some brunch.
After brunch we rode our bikes to Taikang Road and found the
entrance to Tianfizang (210 Taikang Lu). We spent 2-3 hours exploring the
laneways of Tianfizang and it was amazing. Hundreds of little shops selling
mainly Chinese gifts. Carole bought a red teapot and some fragrances, and I
bought a stuffed toy Panda. We then found a bar called the Panda Bar, and had a
couple of Tsing Taos and some sweet and sour chicken, while Carole chatted with
the bar owner, then his wife Annie. They were so friendly and welcoming. We
then wondered around the laneways for a while longer before stopping at another
bar just across from the Panda Bar (we'll call it Panda 2), where we shared a large Margarita (drink
not pizza). We then explored the laneways a bit more, before stopping at a
bar/restaurant called Bohemia, where we sat outside, had a couple more margaritas,
some vegetarian fettucine, and thai chicken and rice.
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| Laneways of Tianfizang |
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| Traditional Chinese artwork ;-) |
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| A photo of me with Sponge Bob for the kids |
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| More laneways |
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| First sneaky Margarita at Panda 2 |
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| Trying to keep cool next to the airconditioner |
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| Bohemia |
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| One of my favourite shots |
After dinner we decided to go looking for some nightlife.
The Rough Guide recommended a bar called The Apartment, so we decided to try to
find that. We tried flagging a taxi down on Taikang Lu, but that proved
impossible (as there were f-all and no-one would stop), so we walked to the
closest metro, and caught a strain to the Shanghai Library station. We got off
there, and went walking in search of The Apartment. It seemed weird as it was
in a residential area, and there weren’t many people around. Google maps took
us down a dead end residential lane. Realising we were wrong, we headed back to
the main road, and around the corner, and next thing we knew we were walking
past armed guards and huge gates outside the German Consulate. We walked a bit
further and eventually found the building where The Apartment was supposed to
be. The door was open and we walked in and up several flights of stairs, only
to find that it was closed. Bugger. Note to self: don't rely on 4 year old guidebook for nightlife recommendations!
We then walked back to the main street, and tried flagging a
taxi down. For ages no one stopped, but eventually we manged to flag one down,
and thank god Carole bought a card from the hotel with the address in Chinese
script. The driver took us back to the hotel which was miles and miles away.
Hit the sack feeling very exhausted.
Day 3 – Saturday, 5
August
We started off the day by buying a day pass on the metro,
and catching a train to East Nangjing Road, which is a massive pedestrian
shopping street, with big well known European brands. First stop was Starbucks
for a coffee and breakfast, then a walk up and down the mall. Half way up we
went into a massive food department stall where Chinese buy all sorts of boxed
food gifts. Carole bought a Spiderman lollipop for James. Then back out on to
the mall, when it started bucketing down. We explored a couple of side streets,
but nothing was really very interesting, so we decided to head off.
We then caught the train towards Peoples Park. We entered
the park, and stumbled upon the Marriage Market, where parents of single 30
somethings advertise their children for marriage. They all had A4 sheets laid
out on umbrellas specifying their child’s age, height and income, and phone
number.
In the middle of the park there is a bar/restaurant called
Barbarossa, where we stopped for a beer and some lunch. Had yummy Caesar salad
and fries. Then went exploring in the park, through some pathways, and
eventually on to the main road (in search of Peoples Square). From there we
grabbed a couple of Ofo bikes and rode around to Peoples Square. We rode past
this massive building with military guards standing completely still on plinths
each side of the entrance – then worked out it was the government building in
Peoples Square.
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| Carole on her Ofo Bike in Peoples Square |
From there, we rode back around to the metro and caught a
train to The Science and Technology Museum, where there is Shanghai’s largest
“fake market”. It was heinous. Shop after shop of fake crap, and shop keepers
hassling us to buy watches, handbags, etc. After about 10 minutes we decided to
high tail it out of there, back to the hotel, for some R & R.
That evening we decided to go out and try Xintiandi. We
caught the metro to a station called Huangpai Rd, and walked from there to Xintiandi.
Along the way there were massive big brand fashion and sports stores. It was a
very smoggy night and hard to breathe. Eventually, after 20-30mins of walking
we found Xintiandi. It is a block or two of restaurants and bars, with a very
Western feel about it – all the lanes were manicured, and the bars full of
European as well as Asian customers. A big let down after the previous night at
Tianfizang. We ordered a couple of drinks in desperation, but then decided to
gap it to Tianfizang for some more atmosphere.
Luckily, we caught a taxi easily, but the smell of smoke in
the taxi was so strong it was hard to breathe. Soon enough though the driver
dropped us off outside the entrance on Taikang Lu.
We wondered back down the lanes we had walked through
yesterday looking for a bar, and Carole spotted a sign leading up some stairs.
We went up and found a cool character filled bar owned by a chap called Johhny.
They made amazing margaritas and we chatted to the owner and some locals. After
about an hour we left Johnnys and went to an Indian restaurant a few metres
away. We had a nice Indian meal, served by slightly unfriendly Indian waiter,
who seemed offended that we tried to speak Chinese to him! After that, feeling
tired, and slightly full, we decided to head home.
Day 4, Sunday 6
August
Our last full day in Shanghai.
After that we decided to do some more exploring around the
Old City. We stopped off at another little corner shop for a cold Tsing Tao,
and Carole chatted to the locals. There was a big notice board opposite the
shop with houses or shops (we couldn’t work out which) to rent. From there we
walked around to Guanghou Park and took a couple of bikes towards another
shopping road called Darjing Lu. Unfortunately, when we got there, we found
that it had been completely bowled and was basically a construction site.
By then it was lunch time and we went exploring down one of
the local roads off Renmin Rd, and found a local Chinese Restaurant. I had a
Harbin Beer, which was in a blue bottle (not recommended), and Carole had a big
bottle of Tsing Tao. We ordered chicken and bok choy, and the chicken came out
in little deep fried clumps, bones and all. Very authentic, and tasty.
After lunch we did a bit more exploring on our bikes until
we came across a shop offering foot massages. We decided to take a break, and
both had foot massages for about 30-40 minutes. It was amazingly relaxing.
After that we headed back to the hotel for a rest before dinner.
That evening we went to The Captain Bar down near the bund.
It was about 10 minutes there by bike. The bar is on the 6
th floor
of an old building down near the Bund, and had the most amazing views of the
City skyline, with all the buildings lit up. We had a couple of drinks and a
couple of yummy margarita pizzas, and decided to call it a night. We then
headed back towards the hotel – Carole by bike and me on foot (as we couldn’t
seem to find a free shared bike for me).
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| The view from the terrace of the Captain Bar - the Oriental Pearl Tower lit up in purple on the left, the Shanghai World Financial Centre (looking like a massive bottle opener) and Shangai Tower on the right |
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| A video of the lightshow - doesn't do it justice |
About ¾ of the way back we stumbled upon a square where at
first we noticed about 20-30 people doing this sort-of line dance to music from
a PA. We watched for a minute before noticing another group of couples ballroom
dancing next to them. We decided to join them (and they were very encouraging)
and danced a couple of songs. It was amazing, spontaneous, romantic and fun.
From there we walked back to the hotel and called It a
night.
Day 5, Monday 7
August
Our last day. We woke up, packed up, and checked out by 11.
We caught the metro to Longyang Rd, and then transferred to
the Maglev, which is a fast train to the airport (which travelled at
300km/hr!).
At the airport, Carole almost didn’t get on the place as she
was travelling on her British passport and didn’t have a visa to enter NZ! It
was a stressful few minutes on the phone to some nameless faceless NZ
immigration person, who told Carole off, but said she would let her into the
country this time!
From there we spent a half hour or so in the China Airlines
lounge, before buying a couple of last minute presents and hopping on the plane
home.
It was an amazing trip.
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