The DCs in Shanghai

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City Shanghai, China
Language Mandarin
Currency Chinese Yuan
Climate high 34c - low 27c - fine but a little smoggy

After another great night’s sleep we awoke early in order to get to the airport for 7.30am. Kerrie and David dropped us off - about a 15 minute drive from their house. It was an easy check-in and we were all boarded and ready to depart at 9.25am as scheduled. We did depart a little later due to a lot of unexpected extra luggage being loaded (no, not ours!). The flight to Shanghai took about 11 hours. We both stayed awake for most of the journey being a day flight. We did catch a few ZZZs as we probably needed to still catch up on sleep from the late nights in Sydney and the time zone differences. The flight was great - good food - a good selection of movies and virtually no turbulence.
On arrival into Shanghai we realised that the lack of Mandarin was going to be a little challenging for us. We decided to catch a cab into the city as it was estimated to be between 140Y and 170Y - approx $30. We thought this was a good investment rather than trying to read the metro and Maglev timetables and arrive into the city in the dark with no real idea how to find our hotel. Money well spent - the driver took just half an hour to get us right to the door of the correct hotel and under the estimated maximum fare told to us at the airport.
We were off at a super efficient pace through traffic mostly on a motorway to our accommodation at the New Harbour Serviced Apartments, 88 Yongshou Road. www.newharbour.com.cn We had booked it through Expedia at a rate of approx NZ$120 per night. Not bad during Expo. We booked standard one bedroom suite but they do have up to 3 bedroom executive suites for families and groups. Delighted with check-in and the apartment we decided to have a look around the immediate vicinity. Still sitting at around 28 degrees, we wandered around in light clothing - enjoying the balmy climate. What a great location the hotel is in. It’s just near the People’s Square, the number 8 Metro line (that goes directly into Expo) and surrounded by many small restaurants and supermarkets - we were pleased with our selection. We decided to find a restaurant but eventually ended up buying some microwave noodles at the local supermarket instead - very impressive pricing. We had no idea what we were eating (flavours or ingredients) but it was good and all we needed before having an early night - a big day of exploration awaits for tomorrow.

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