SHANGHAI

SHANGHAI

Asia
March 2nd 2019

Published: March 10th 2019

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John and Gloria Travels

SHANGHAI BY NIGHT

Our fabulous view from Vue Bar 32nd floor of the Hyatt Shanghai

Well 26th February was a long day, leaving Melbourne at 8.50am to Sydney and then onto to Shanghai, over 10hr flight. Flight was good though, as we walked onto the plane we were greated by my old school friend Maree who was the cabin manager....great to catch up with her and have a chat! Arrived in Shanghai around 6.30 local time and exit was swift and we got a taxi into our hotel the SSAW Boutique Hotel which we were pleasantly surprised how nice it was...but we did get an upgrade to a bigger room....very comfortable and loads of space with a huge living area and huge bathroom. Wednesday we did loads of walking as well as getting the Hop On Hop Off bus to orientate ourselves with Shanghai....weather was pretty good only showers in the late afternoon so saw a lot before that happened. Pretty amazing city Shanghai....thought it was very clean! Had booked Lost Plate Food tour for my birthay as we had done one in Beijing and it was terrific......so prior to tour found a great craft beer joint Liquid Laundry and had a few beers on their happy hour before joining our Lost Plate tour at 6.30pm....was

SHANGHAI BY DAY

Our view from the river walk of the corkscrew, Bottle opener an the spire of the oriental pearl tv tower

a fabulous tour once again but just not as good as Beijing....food was a little less remarkable....though we did go to three sit down restaurants as well as two snack stops and a dessert stop. We experienced soup dumplings, normal steamed dumplings, noodles (cooked in someones house), pork belly cooked for hours with a vege dish of lotus root and snow peas.....then along the way some round pizza base like bread and sweet potato chips, mango and coconut custard and our last stop was the Boxing Cat craft brewery....beers all round and chat with all the others we had joined....total of 7 of us....4 Americans with us! So back to hotel and fall into bed around 12.30am after walking nearly 19klms. Thursday did a bit more on the bus and walked a lot as well.....taking our cocktail hour on the 32nd Floor of the Hyatt Hotel....Vue Bar.....the most magnificent view of the city all lit up...we arrived before dark and watched in awe as all the buildings lit up. Then onto dinner at Bella Napoli....a fun Italian restaurant with great food....then walked back to hotel after doing 23klm for the day. Shanghai has it all the old buildings and state

SHANGHAI BY NIGHT

Amazing light shows on so many buildings

of the art modern buildings....you can see bits of London, Paris....it has a bit of everything! Then you see the mum and pop shops all around as well. We have decided that Shanghai is quite an expensive city though you can find cheap meals and beers....most things are the same or more expensive than home....forget latte fixes everyday...$6.50 plus a pop....some as high as $9. Public transport is cheap and your mum and pop restaurants are quite cheap. Friday pack up and head out by train to the Sun Island Resort near Zhujiajiao, the Ancient Water Town, the train took us about an hour and half and then a taxi to the resort....well Sun Island.....no sun, cold, wet and grey and the resort is about 22 years old and the government have shut down the golf course so it is not attracting a lot of golfers.....290 units....huge place with horse riding, go carting, water sports (when weather permits) only here til Tuesday as very hard to fill in the time here other than the water town nearby which is really gorgeous. Have had a fantastic experience here though busing it into the village of Zhujiajiao for two of the days

SHANGHAI BY NIGHT

Were totally mesmerised by all the lights

we stayed here, just sitting back watching the daily life of the people that live in this area bumping along in the bus sitting beside these lovely, friendly people....we were a bit of an attraction for them...waving at us...etc etc. The resort we were at was a bit defunct....a lot shut down for winter....so restaurants expensive in resort....so we caught bus to main gatee (1.55km) then 300mt walk to the little village, had a couple of magic meals here....so welcoming....no ENGLISH whatsoeveer so Johns Google translation was very helpful. The Zhujiiajiao Ancient Water town was something else....cant believe this was built 1700 years ago...a very magical spot walking around the windy lanes and alleys of this beautiful place...we just loved it! Street food like you would not believe....and loads of canal side restaurants....gift shops, silversmiths and crafty places. A couple of purchases here in town. Nowhere we have been has been super crowded....thought it would have been manic! Back to Shanghaii on Tuesday....we are mastering the bus and train system here....well we thought we had....while in Zhujiajiao....we wanted to catch the No 3 back to our resort....so flew out the entrance to No 3 and hopped on a bus...only to

PARAMOUNT THEATRE

built in 1932

find it was heading direct express to Shanghai....whoaah....yelling....wrong bus....got off in the middle of the road and walked back to bus station......got on the right bus!!! Shanghai too,we think we are are pretty savvy but got on a few going the wrong way. Now staying the Holiday Inn near Shanghai Station...so another great spot...easily accesible to all parts of Shanghai. After way too much Asian food, we all felt like a normal meal....found Zeitgeist...an Austrian guy with a great restaurant in the Jing!an district..Tues night Snitzel and Wed Steak night with happy hours 3-7pm....perfect!! Wednesday spent some time down in the business district in Pudong...AP Plaza...Super Brand Mall (with a wonderful lunch at Din Tai Fung (no 1 on Trip Advisor for best dumplings in Shanghai) loved it!! Train back to Nanjing Road West Station to walk to Jing'an Temple...magnificent....in the middle of the high end shopping street....then we saw the Paramount Theatre...a gorgeous art deco theatre built in 1932....just beautiful...Charlie Chaplin visited here on his honeymoon..

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