Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mayorgc]

I'm not into clubbing, so drinking and other types of night spots are out of the question.

Any suggestions?

[Chris_Dixon]

take a trip on one of the old school chinese junks, along the river...pretty wicked imo.

[bbb0777]

In retrospect, the top sights to me (copying & pasting from the file we planned with)

Walking The Bund (外滩)
Walking Nanjing Road (南京路)
Shanghai Museum (上海博物館) (Nanjing road goes roughly between Shangai Museum and The Bund)
Going to top of Shanghai World Financial Center (上海环球金融中心)
Going to top of Oriental Pearl TV Tower (东方明珠塔)
Bund Sightseeing Tunnel (上海外滩观光隧道) - crazy, hokey carnival-style ride that toges under the river
Taking a ferry across the main river
Yuyuan Gardens (豫园)
Walking the French Concession (上海法租界)
Talking the Maglev train (if you arrive/leave via the new Pudong International Airport). Though...surprise - they alternate the top speed of the train every few hours between the max 431km/hour, and a lower one very similar to the KTX. We were surprised by this, and hit it during a lower speed period (damn commies)

I went with a friend to lots of other places...but those were the closest to highlights for me (and I think for her as well, if I recall correctly).

[mayorgc]

[bbb0777]

Bund = super famous park/walking area across the river from the skyscrapers district (Pudong)

Nanjing Road = main shopping street. A quite crowded, colorful pedestrian street.

Shanghai World Financial Center is just the 3rd tallest building in the world (by the most common measure), that gives a great view of Pudong, The Bund, the river, etc.

Oriental Pearl TV Tower is near the Shanghai World Financial Center and is just...famous, nothing in particular at top other than the view. I'm sure you know the building, just maybe not the name: http://www.etravelphotos.com/photos/1999hk/1999hk-006-22s-w.jpg

I'd recommend doing one of the buildings at night, and one during the day. If they interest you that is.

French Concession is the old part of town that use to be controlled by the French - tree lined streets (French style), old French architecture, etc. Just fun to walk around. There are some particular streets to visit as more famous ones...but I really wasn't all that impressed by them as really being highlights above and byeond the French Concession as a whole.

Yuyuan Gardens is very famous (as far as Shanghai sites go), maybe one of the top 3 sites, and is a very pretty/fairly large garden area.

Shanghai doesn't really have any must-see sites like some cities, just a lot of mid-level sites. Many are clustered near each other though. There's People's Square/Shanghai Museum...you can walk from there down Nanjing Road, which ends at The Bund. Walk the Bund, take the crazy carnival tunnel under the river. See Pudong. Go up one of the skyscrapers. Come back across the river via ferry.

If you don't use Wikitravel already, it's a really great site for planning:
http://wikitravel.org/en/Shanghai

[thoreau]

I'd suggest a tour of the Bund including a boat ride down and back. There are short and long trips. The contrast of the two banks of the river is startling (old and new Shanghai.)

At the top of the TV Tower there is a rotating restaurant that serves food buffet style. Nice for a relaxing lunch as you watch the city spin underneath you.

Shanghai is famous for its gardens. These are public spaces that often are large and contain a variety of things to see. If the weather is good you can see Chinese out playing cards, badminton, and even playing musical instruments. Some parks have public lakes that include paddle boats and such.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lu_Xun_Park_%28Shanghai%29

There is a cloth district not far from the People's Square where you can buy fabric pretty cheap. If you're going to be in Shanghai for a while you can take the fabric to a tailor and have a suit made.

I personally like the Shanghai Museum which is also close to the Bund area.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Museum

Try to eat at a Chinese Hot Pot restaurant at least once.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lzn7kOnqN1A

For breakfast try some street food that is called a Dan Bing (egg pancake.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYcXcKG7Ud8

and for lunch try some hand pulled noodles (la mian) that are found in small diners usually ran by Uyghurs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uyghur_people

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohriMWXD9EQ

[waynehead]

All good suggestions, just fyi last time I was there (january) a lot of the bund was under construction which kind of ruined the views. I'm not sure if it's finished yet or not.

If the sex museum is still open I'd also recommend that, but last I heard it was closed.

If you're staying for a while day trips out of the city to hangzhou or nanjing are also recommended.

[mayorgc]

How's shanghai in the winter time? are the outdoor sights do-able?

[bbb0777]

http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/CHXX0116?from=tenDay_bottomnav_business

If that link will consistently work...

High of 7, low of 1 (Celsius) average. Significantly warmer than Seoul (1, -6).

[cruisemonkey]

[Mr. Pink]

[Mr. Pink]

[bbb0777]

[mayorgc]

Ok, so I'm really looking forward to Cantonese food. Will it be easy to find?

And about buffet/AYCE restaurants, how prevalent are they and what type of food do they serve?

[Mr. Pink]