shanghai China

Shanghai (?? Sh?ghai), with a population of more than 18 million (and over 5.8 million migrants), is one of the most populous and most developed cities in the China

Shanghai was the largest and most prosperous city in the Far East during the 1930s, and remained the most developed city in Communist China. In the 1990s Shanghai again became an attractive spot for tourists worldwide.

Shanghai is split in two by the Huangpu River (??? hu?gpu jiang), with the older town on the west bank known as Puxi (?? pu xi) and the brash new development on the east side being Pudong (?? pudong).

Get in

By plane
Shanghai has two main airports [1], with Pudong the main international gateway and Hongqiao serving most domestic flights. Be sure to check which one your flight is leaving from, and allow at least one hour, preferably 1.5 hours, to transfer if needed!

Domestic airplane tickets should be booked at least two days in advance at one of the many travel agencies. Fares are generally cheap, but vary depending on the season. When backpacking, it may often be better to book a flight along a big traffic line (Beijing-Shanghai, Beijing-Chongqing, Shanghai-Shenzhen, ...) and travel the rest by bus or train.

Although direct flights between Taiwan and China are prohibited, it is still possible to travel from Taipei, Taiwan to Shanghai within 4 hours (including layover time) by flying through Jeju, South Korea.

Pudong International Airport

Pudong (????, PVG, [2]) is Shanghai's new international airport, located 40 km to the east of the city. Arrivals on the first floor, departures on the third, and has all the features you'd expect - but head up to the 3rd if the sole ATM in the arrivals hall is out of order.

The most convenient but also the most expensive way to get to central Shanghai is by taxi, but figure on ?45 and up to an hour to get to the center of the city. You should always check with your taxi driver prior to entering a taxi. Check that they know where you would like to go and the estimated cost to get there. Often taxi drivers can not speak English. Some Taxi drivers also use finders to wander the airport and bring you to their cab (who often have a driver waiting - this means you ride with two drivers if you agree to this). Use caution and double check the charges as some will try to charge up to 10 times the normal fare

Airport buses are considerably cheaper (?5-22), but take up to an hour and a half and stop running at 9 PM. There are a number of routes, but two particularly convenient ones connect to the Airport City Terminal on Nanjing West Road (#2, ?9) and Shanghai train station (#5, ?8).

More a tourist attraction and prestige project than practical means of transport, the Transrapid maglev train is now open to the public and shuttles from the airport to the middle of Pudong in 8 minutes flat at a blazing speed of 430 km/hour. However, it's then another half hour by subway to get to Puxi, and it's a bit of a hike both in the airport (2nd floor) and to transfer to the subway. On both ends, there are two flights of escalators or stairs; if you need an elevator, you need to ask for assistance. That said, the maglev to Longyang and a taxi from there is the fastest way to get to places around Pudong, and the ride is definitely an experience in a rollercoasterish way. Services currently operate from 6:45 AM to 9:30 PM daily and cost ?0 one way (?0 if you have a same-day ticket) or ?0 same-day return. You can also opt to pay double for "VIP Class", which gets you a soft drink and bragging rights.

Hongqiao Airport

Shanghai's older airport Hongqiao (???? SHA) services domestic flights, the only exception being the city shuttle services to Tokyo-Haneda and Seoul-Gimpo. 18 km away from the center, a taxi can manage the trip in 20 minutes on a good day but allow an extra 30 minutes for the taxi queue. Public buses (numbers 925 and 505) run to Renmin Square regularly and cost only 4, but take around an hour. An extension of Metro Line 2 to Hongqiao Airport is under construction.

By metro

The fast-growing Shanghai Metro network now has 5 lines with another 4 under construction. The trains are fast, cheap and fairly user-friendly with most signs also in English, but the trains can get very packed at rush hour. Fares range from 3 to 9 depending on distance. Automatic ticket vending machines take 1 or 0.5 coins and notes, although most stations also have staff selling tickets. You can now transfer between lines freely with a single ticket. The metro can also use Shanghai's public transportation card (noncontact).

Where in Shanghai to go depends largely on your time period of interest. See Shanghai for the first-timer for a sample itinerary.

For a feel of the China of yesteryear, check out Yuyuan Gardens, which is loaded with classical Chinese architecture. Although Chinese in design, nearly every building in the area has been built within the last 10 years. Despite the Chinese flavor, it is a bit of a tourist trap.
For 1920s Shanghai, head for the stately old buildings of the Bund. Or pay a visit to The French Concession (close to Huai Hai Park). The best sections are Huai Hai Middle Road (????) and Heng Shan Road (???).
For 21st-century Shanghai, cross the river to gawk at the skyscrapers of Pudong. The area surrounding People's Square is also great for skyscrapers, as well as Nanjing West Road (????).
To find some peace, you should visit the Longhua Temple. It takes a while to get there but it's not as busy as the Jade Buddha Temple and the experience is fulfilling. You can also have a nice vegetarian Buddhist meal in both Temples.
Visit the Moganshan Road area for an insider's look into the hot contemporary Chinese art scene. Private tours available daily, contact ARTTOURSCHINA.

Shanghai is a huge city, so all individual listings should be moved to the appropriate district articles. Please help sort them out if you are familiar with this city.

Walk Along the Fu Xing Rd (???) to see the old buildings and enjoy the neatness of the road
Take an elevator to the top of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower (????), the tallest TV tower in Asia with the height of 468 meters, and on a good day the sprawling views are spectacular!
Enter Shanghai Xintiandi (???), Lane 181, Taicang Road. A small pedestrianised area of the city featuring rebuilt traditional shikumen [stone gate] houses. Housing a cinema complex,mall, numerous bars, cafs and art galleries marketed towards foreign visitors and the more affluent locals. Close to where the communist party headquarters were located.
Enter Shanghai International Convention Center Shanghai International Convention Center was opened for business in August 1999. The '99 Fortune Global Forum was held here. It is located in the southwest of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower in Pudong. It covers an area of 45,000 square meters with a landscaped square of 30,000 square meters. It consists of several modernized halls including a 42,000-sq.m. Multi-functional hall, a 25,000-sq.m. Exhibition hall, an 11,000-sq.m. Underground exhibition hall and 20 meeting rooms of different sizes. There are 259 guest rooms, including presidential suites, executive suites, standard rooms, Chinese and Western restaurants, a coffee room, a nightclub, a show room, a gym, a swimming pool, a bowling room, a billiard room, a sauna bath and a shopping arcade.http://www.china-tour.cn/cityguides/Shanghai_Attracti ons2.htm
See the giant panda and many more exotic animals at the Shanghai Zoo. Located nearby Hongqiao airport, this is a spacious and modern zoo that's for the most part a far cry from the concrete animal prison in Beijing. Open daily from 6:30 to 17:00 (16:30 in winter), tickets are 30, or 40 including an elephant show. One kid not taller than 1.2m gets in for free together with one paying adult. Take bus 925 from Renmin Square (3) for about 45 minutes. Please follow the signs (even if the locals do not) and do not feed or tease the animals.
Walk along Nanjing Dong Lu (????) in the evening. Start at People Square (????) and enjoy the bright neons and lights of this pedestrian road. For a longer walk, continue your way to the Bund and enjoy the bright lights of Pudong. For Be careful of pick-pockets and and people that come up to you for a chat. Usually, they have something to sell or a service to offer that is not in your best interest.

Buy

Shop until you drop on China's premier shopping street Nanjing Road, or head for the Yuyuan Bazaar for Chinese crafts and jewelry not far from the Bund. Nanjing Road is a long street. The more famous part lies in the east near the Bund (Nanjing Road East), with a 1-km long pedestrian boulevard (Metro line 2 at Henan Road station) lined with busy shops. The wide boulevard is often packed with people on weekends and holidays. The shops are often targeted at domestic tourists, so the prices are surprisingly reasonable. Local people often look down on Nanjing Road and shop at Huaihai Road (another busy shopping boulevard with more upscale stores) instead. For the very high end, go to the west end of Nanjing Road West near Jing'an Temple. Several large shopping malls (Plaza 66 aka Henglong Plaza, Citic Plaza, Meilongzhen Plaza, and others being built) house boutiques bearing the most famous names in fashion. No. 3 on the Bund is another high-end shopping center featuring Giorgio Armani's flagship store in China.

The infamous Xiangyang Market was finally shut down for good in June 2006. There are a few other shopping malls which have sprouted up where you can also purchase knock-off products. The biggest "replacement" market is in the metro station (Line 2) at the Shanghai Science & Technology Museum (?????). The most common name for the market is "A.P. New XinYang Fashion Market." There are a number of variations, and the name really doesn't even matter. The easiest way to get there is by metro.

The horrendously crowded Qipu Lu clothing market is a mass of stalls jammed into a warehouse sized building which would take the casual stroller most of a day to look through. Another option is the Pearl Plaza located on Yan'an Xi Lu and Hongmei Lu as well as the unassuming shopping center located on the corner of Nanjing Xi Lu and Chongqing Lu. Haggling can be fun for those who are accustomed to it, but those sensitive to the pressure might want to steer clear. Not only can it be stressful to haggle, but just walking in to the buildings can bring a horde of people upon you trying to sell you bags, watches, DVDs and all assortment of goods.

But rather than pursuing knock-offs of Western brands, one of the more interesting things to do in Shanghai is to check out the small boutiques along Chang Le Lu and other streets in the French Concession area. Some of these are run by individual designers of clothing, jewelry etc and so the items on sale can truly be said to be unique. Visitors from overseas should expect the usual problem of finding larger sizes however...

Shanghai Foreign Languages Bookstore (Shanghai Book Traders) in 390 Fuzhou Road offers a lot of books in English and other major languages, especially for learning Chinese. Fuzhou Road is also a good street to wander around and find Chinese calligraphy related shops.

Those interested in DVDs of movies and television shows have a wide variety of options. Aside from the people selling DVDs out of boxes on street corners you can also find a good selection of movies at many local DVD shops in most neighborhoods. Perhaps the best way to score a deal with a shop is to be a regular. If you provide them repeat business they are usually quite happy to give you discounts for your loyal patronage. Typically DVDs can cost anywhere from 5 for standard disks to 10-12 for DVD-9 format disks.

However, if you are short on time in Shanghai and don't have the means to form a relationship with a shop, many people recommend the Ka De Club. An expat favorite for years, they have two shops: one in 483, Zhenning Road and the other one in 505, Da Gu Road (a small street between Weihai Road and Yan'an Road). While the selection at the Ka De Club isn't bad the downside of this store's popularity is that with so many foreigners giving them business, you tend to get somewhat higher prices than at local shops and haggling and repeat customer bargains are pretty much non-existent.

Antiques, jade and communist China memorabilia can be found in Dongtai Road Street Market, where you must bargain if you want to get a fair deal. Yuyuan Gardens is another good option for antiques. There are two basement markets. You will have to hunt for them, but they are worth the effort. As with any market in China, don't be afraid to bargain to get a fair price.

Sleep

Accommodation in Shanghai is generally on the expensive side, by both Chinese and Western standards. There are two kinds of hotels: Western-style luxury hotels catering to international business travelers, and smaller hotels for local Chinese travelers. A few backpacker style options have cropped up though, mostly in the older parts of town near The Bund.

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