Holiday In Shanghai

light487
 April 20, 2008, 04:46 AM posted in General Discussion

Heyas! :)

 

I am so excited about learning mandarin that I want to go to Shanghai and check the place out. I can see the airfares are quite affordable but the next thing is to decide how long to go for and where to stay?

 

I don't really go in for the whole tourist attractions thing, so once I get there I will want to do a lot of wandering and do my own thing but would like to spend a little time checking out decent cultural highlights.. so not necessarily the main tourist attractions but more so the places where cultural things occur.. like at the Insect Markets that were the subject of a Dear Amber episode.

 

Also.. is 4 days too short? is 14 days too long? I don't want to get bored because I am there too long with not a lot to do, other than the normal things I can do in any city. I was thinking about 5 days should be enough but others might think I would want to stay longer..? The accommodation packages available seem to be quite cheap considering I am not much of high-roller and don't care for too many luxuries. Thought I don't like the idea of 36 hour hard-seat trains.. haha.. :)

I would think that with all the Olympic stuff happening in Beijing, I should be able to get some pretty good deals at the same time in Shanghai..

Anyway.. comments?

 

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Joachim
 April 21, 2008, 10:00 PM

Shanghai will host the football games of the Beijing olympics. Thus, it'll be affected as well. 4 days is definitely too short. You certainly can spend 14 days and lots more. It depends on what you're into. Wandering the city might get difficult as it is huge. You should take the subway and/ or taxis ;-) Go to the Shanghai museum and the Bund and Yuyuan. All are tourist attractions, but nevertheless a must. Even the pearl tower is an experience. Don't fear a train ride to Hangzhou.They are quite comfortable. The maglev is an interesting experience, but goes by to fast.

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light487
 April 22, 2008, 03:51 AM

so anything from a week to two weeks should be sufficient.. that's mainly what I waned to know.. I wish I could go for 3+ months.. may be once I get better Chinese skills I will be able to go over and work there.. but for now, I will have to be content with a short vacation.. :)

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sushan
 April 22, 2008, 05:19 AM

You can teach with zero Chinese actually. The culture shock is a bit more severe for people with little ability to communicate, but don't let language level stop you from coming to work/live here. In cities with a big expat population many have lived here for years and haven't found it necessary to learn the language.

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panda2 / Panda Beer
 July 25, 2008, 03:56 AM

You need at least 4 days to just settle in and see the major stuff!. I just had a re visit of 6 days and just covered what I wanted to do!(Missed out on Chinese pod as I ran out of weekday to get there)

 Get a good map( Shanghai official tourist map) from a large hotel desk for free! Then you can walk all over the city or jump the subway between areas, allow a day and evening to see Pudong side of the Bund. Use subway to get under river or the ferry across.

You must do Nanjing Lu, Yu Yuan Gardens and tourist shopping area, old Shanghai area, Bund both sides, Fuxing Park, Longhua Martyrs park and Longhua Temple, Xujiahua shopping complex for “all things electronic”Huahai Rd for all your fashion stores.

If time permits visit any of the water cities around shanghai, train and buses go on regular time table.Ningbo is worth a vist and you will see the new bridge at the same time you need to have a overnight to make the trip worthwhile.

Go to the Chinese acrobatic show it is well worth the visit.

Get the free mag at pubs, or go to web site “Whats on Shanghai” or “City weekend” to get all the clubs and pubs, also visit expat sites on web.

Bar prices are expensive in China, look for Happy hour deals and some cheap bars,

If you want a fake “LOLEX WATCH” the asking price of Y300 is very expensive as it will come down to better than 4 for Y100, this applies to all street sellers prices.

The subway is now very extensive with the new lines opened up, but it has become very packed, and not so pleasant all courtesy has gone, the Chinese tourist population has exploded in the past 2 years, a bit like the Japanese tourists were 10 years ago they are everywhere!!!