Korean Job Discussion Forums

[blade]

I'm planning on going to Shanghai in two weeks time for seven days. Not sure what to expect when I get there so any info about interesting things to do and see during my stay in Shanghai would be really appreciated.

Thanks,

Blade.

[waynehead]

The museum's pretty good. The shopping can be good. The food can be great, the night life too.

But honestly, 7 days in Shanghai? You might want to look into day or two long excursions. Nanjing's not that far away.

Also, expect to be hounded by touts/scammers beyond belief. Have fun.

[CPT]

I second that.

You could probably even do Beijing and Shanghai in 7 days. Would be tough on a budget, but in terms of time, it wouldn't be too hard.

If you do stay for 7 days, one thing I'd recommend is checking out the Communist Propaganda Museum. Interesting stuff, with some cool things you can buy. I got a North Korean magazine from the 70s there, though 95% of the stuff is Mao related. It's kind of hard to find, but if you look it up in advance, you should be able to.

There's a few big towers now, like the Jinmao building, whatever that one is beside it that is bigger, and the Oriental Pearl TV tower. Check out at least one of those.

As mentioned, the big museum is pretty good, and there are some interesting smaller ones, like the Communist Propaganda one and the Chinese Sex Culture one.

I didn't see what the fuss is about the night life. City seemed kind of dead past 11 or 12 to be honest, but maybe I didn't hit the right spots. Seemed to be some popular clubs along The Bund.

[tomwaits]

For a side trip I'd go to Suzhou, an hour away. For my money the best town in China. It's a gorgeous "canal town" with good night life to boot. Nanjing has good stuff too.

As for Shanghai the scammers are around the walk street and the Bund. But the Bund is must-see. Also can walk through the French Concession to the trendy ex-pat street.

[blade]

[blade]

[CPT]

I took a train once, and it wasn't what I'd hoped, especially when I found out how cheap domestic flights are in China. Check out elong.net. Flights between Shanghai and Beijing either way can be found for about 600 RMB. That should work out to about 100,000W.

I just remember it being a similar price to the train, and obviously much faster. It's worth it to not chew up a whole day (or more) with train travel.

Unfortunately, the scammers/sellers are really that bad. For a while it's kind of funny, but it gets old quick. I just put on my headphones and ignored them after a while.

I actually fell for the tea festival scam in Shanghai though.

I didn't get it too badly though. Actually had a pretty good time, lol. I was only out like $20-30 bucks in the end, which isn't really a big deal to me, considering there was some kind of tea ceremony and they bought me a meal afterward, but it's a fine day's work for them, so whatever.

[dragon777]

Three days in Shanghai and then head out to other cities and places. Just check out the local tourist office in Shanghai for 2 hours then make your decisions.

[joeyjoejoe]

shanghai is a bit rubbish at the moment due to massive construction for the 2010 expo. it seems every road has work being done on it.
the entire bund area looks like a bomb site. the pudong side of the river is nice though.

for fake bags, watches, clothes etc. go to qi pu market. bargain hard. i got some shirts for 1/4 of the original "discount" asking price and i still think i overpaid.

nanjing, suzhou and hangzhou are interesting nearby places. of the three, i like hangzhou the most.

check www.ctrip.com for domestic flights. getting to beijing may not be that expensive.
there is one fast day train (leaves about 11am), and 5 night trains (leave between 9 and 10pm) between shanghai and beijing. roughly 8 or 9 hours.

if you want a bed, book a few days in advance. if you're ok with a seat you can usually just show up.

i also suggest xian if you are going to fly there and back.

with regard to scammers, "li wo yuan dian" means leave me alone. headphones up loud also works, but they will still grab at your shirt to get your attention. they are only in the heavily touristed shopping areas. most of the city you can walk through in peace.