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Shanghai (上海 Shànghǎi), 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 People's Republic of 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.
Districts
Shanghai is split in two by the Huangpu River (黄浦江 huángpǔ jiāng), with the older town on the west bank known as Puxi (浦西 pǔ xī) and the brash new development on the east side being Pudong (浦东 pǔdōng).
Areas within Puxi:
The Bund (外滩 wàitān) - the colonial riverside of old (and reborn) Shanghai, including the Yuyuan Gardens (豫园 yùyuán)
French Concession - the leafy district once known as the Paris of the East, including the refurbished shikumen houses of Xintiandi. The boutique shopping areas, restaurants and leafy lanes north of Hua Hai Lu are one of the highlights of Shanghai.
Xujiahui - Southwest part of Shanghai
Gubei - Close to the Hongqiao airport, a Carrefour, and with a large expat population
Nanjing Road - One of China's most famous shopping streets, it passes Jing'an (静安 jìng ān), leading to People's Park (人民公园 rénmín gōngyuán) and The Bund.
Hongkou (虹口 hóngkǒu) - home of Fudan and Tongji university, plus a park and museum for famed writer Lu Xun.
Yangpu (杨浦 yángpǔ) - contains the excellent and spacious gongqing forest park (共青森林公园 gòngqīng sēnlín gōngyuán)
and across the river:
Jing'An Temple - commercial area on nanjing Rd.
Pudong - the skyscraper-laden new financial and commercial district on the east bank of the river
Outlying districts:
嘉定 - Jiādìng
青浦 - Qīngpǔ
金山 - Jīnshān
南汇 - Nánhuì
松江 - Sōngjiāng
宝山 - Bǎoshān
Understand
Shanghai is a fascinating mix of East and West. It has historic shikumen (石库门） houses that blended the styles of Chinese houses with European design flair, and it has one of the richest collections of art deco buildings in the world. Because there were so many Concessions (designated districts) to Western powers during the turn of the 20th century, at times the city has the feel of Paris or Montreal, while Tudor style buildings give a German flair, and the 1930s buildings put you in New York or Chicago.
In the beginning of the 1990s, the Shanghai government launched a series of new strategies to attract foreign investments. The biggest move was to open up Pudong, once a rural area of Shanghai. The strategies succeeded, and now Pudong has become the financial district of Shanghai, with numerous skyscrapers.
Today Shanghai's goal is to develop into a world-class financial and economic center of China, and even Asia. In achieving this goal Shanghai faces competition from Hong Kong, which has the advantage of a stronger legal system and greater banking and service expertise. Shanghai has stronger links to the Chinese interior and to the central government in addition to a stronger manufacturing and technology base. Since the handover of Hong Kong to the PRC, Shanghai has increased its role in finance, banking, and as a major destination for corporate headquarters, fueling demand for a highly educated and westernized workforce.
Due to rapid industrial and economic development, as well as lax governmental environment policies, Shanghai has recently been ranked as one of the most polluted cities in the world. Individuals with asthma or respiratory issues should be prepared when visiting the city.
Get in
Shanghai is one of China's main travel hubs and getting in from pretty much anywhere is easy.
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.
Beijing - varying between 400,- to 1200,- Yuan per economy class ticket, depending on the season, where the peak is in the summer.
Pudong International Airport
Transrapid trains known locally as Shanghai MagLev Trains (SMT) at Longyang Station
Pudong (浦东机场, 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 ¥145 and up to an hour to get to the center of the city. Head for the official taxi line to the far right of the arrival terminal. Taxi drivers seldom speak any English, but you may want to check that they know where you would like to go and the estimated cost to get there. Ask an attendant at the info desk to write down the name of your destination in Chinese for you, to show the driver. It is not advisable to follow any person inside the terminal claiming to be a taxi driver, unless you are at least two persons and speak good mandarin. Use extreme caution and double check the charges as some will try to charge up to 10 times the normal fare. Never allow the driver to pick up a "friend" or any other second passenger.
Airport buses are considerably cheaper (¥15-22), but take up to an hour and a half and stop running at 11 PM. There are a number of routes, but two particularly convenient ones connect to the Airport City Terminal on Nanjing West Road (#2, ¥19) and Shanghai train station (#5, ¥18). Budget travelers may also consider buses stopping at Longyang Road (1#/5#, ¥12) from where you may transfer to Subway Line No. 2.
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 7 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 ¥50 one way (¥40 if you have a same-day ticket) or ¥80 same-day return. You can also opt to pay double for "VIP Class", which gets you a soft drink and bragging rights.
Taxis around Longyang Road are notorious for overcharging newly arrived tourists. Keep in mind that a taxi ride into central Shanghai should rarely exceed ¥50.
Hongqiao Airport
Shanghai's older airport Hongqiao (虹桥机场 SHA) services domestic flights, the only exception being the city shuttle services to Tokyo-Haneda and Seoul-Gimpo. 12 km away from the city center, a taxi can manage the trip in 20 minutes on a good day but allow an extra 30 minutes for the taxi queue, especially when arriving after 7pm. There is a convenient bus going directly to Jing'an Temple approximately every 10 minutes, which is by far the quickest option, although the buses may be crowded. Public buses (numbers 925 and 505) run to Renmin Square regularly and cost only ¥4, but may take up to 45 minutes. All buses cost only ¥4. An extension of Metro Line 2 to Hongqiao Airport is under construction.
By train
Shanghai has several train stations.
Shanghai Railway Station (上海站). Shanghai's largest and oldest, located in Zhabei district, on the intersection of Metro Lines 1, 3 and 4. Practically all trains used to terminate here,including trains to Hong Kong. But southern services are being shifted out to the new South Station.
Shanghai South Railway Station (上海南站). A new, greatly expanded terminal opened in July 2006 and and is set to take over all services towards the south. On Metro lines 1 and 3.
Shanghai West Railway Station (上海西站). The smallest of the three, with limited services to Yantai, Zaozhuang, Hengyang, Ganzhou, Chengdu. Not reachable by metro.
Train tickets are also most conveniently booked in advance at one of the many travel service agencies. If urgent, they could also be directly booked at the train stations and the Shanghai Railway Station even has an English counter.
Beijing (北京)- there are a number of brand new night sleep trains running daily from Shanghai to Beijing, starting at 7pm in 10 minute intervals to 8pm and arriving at 7-8am in Beijing. Fare is around ¥500 for a softsleeper, but they are very clean and the four-person cabins very comfortable. In the same new train, normal hardseaters area available for around ¥250. Food is now served when traveling in both directions, and there is a drinks and snacks trolley that comes past occasionally that you can purchase smaller items from as well. For a regular normal sleeper in a standard train, which takes 13 hours from Shanghai to Beijing, expect to pay ¥200-300 with no food either.
Hong Kong (香港)- The T99/T100 train to and from Hong Kong runs every other day (Shanghai->Hong Kong on even days and Hong Kong->Shanghai on odd days) from Shanghai Railway Station (T99 leaves here at 3:30PM, T100 arrives here around noon), arriving at Hung Hom station in Kowloon(T99 arrives here around noon, T100 leaves here at 3:30PM). If traveling alone, expect to pay ¥800 each way for the soft sleeper, but discounts are given for group purchases (¥400 each way per person in a soft sleeper if purchased in a group of 4, for instance). Unless you are on a very tight budget, try to get the 'Delux Soft Sleeper' which fascilitates compartments of 2 beds and a private mainland-style mains socket (but with the introduction of new train cars, the regular soft sleeper also has a private mains socket for each room). Spaces are limited, so book well in advance. Keep in mind that you will still have to go through Customs and thus need a new visa for reentry into mainland China.
The new fast (200+ km/hr) CRH trains go from Shanghai to Hangzhou in one direction and to Suzhou and Nanjing in the other. These are very comfortable and convenient. Look for the separate "CRH" ticket counters.
By car
In recent years many highways have been built, linking Shanghai to other cities in the region, including Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, etc. It only takes 2 hours to reach Shanghai from Hangzhou.
By bus
There are several long-distance bus stations in Shanghai, but most buses only go to small towns nearby the city. And you should try to get the tickets as early as possible.
By boat
There are ferry services from Shanghai to Kobe, Osaka (Japan) weekly and Hong Kong.
http://www.shanghai-ferry.co.jp/ The Shanghai Ferry Company has once a week service from Shanghai to Osaka and vice versa. Takes two nights.
The Japan-China International Ferry Company has similiar service as The Shanghai Ferry Company but alternates each week with Osaka and Kobe as the Japanese depart / arrival city.
Get around
If you intend to stay in Shanghai for a longer time the Shanghai Jiaotong Card (上海公共交通卡) can come in handy. You can load the card with money and use it in buses, the metro and even taxis. You can get these cards at any metro/subway station, as well as some convenience stores like Alldays and KeDi Marts. These come in regular and mini size, with various limited editions available for each. Only regular-sized cards can be loaded at machines; for the mini and other irregular sizes it is necessary to take it to a service counter for recharge.
By metro
The fast-growing Shanghai Metro network now has 8 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 (some of the machines at Xujiahui and People's Square will take a public transportation card so that you can buy multiple tickets with one card). Most stations on lines 1-3 will also have staff selling tickets, but on the newly-completed lines 6, 8, and 9 ticket puchasing is all done by machine with staff there only to assist if something goes wrong. You can now transfer between lines freely with a single ticket (except at Shanghai Railway Station where only line 3/4 transfer is free and at Yishan Rd where only line 3/9 transfer is free, but the latter case is because the Line 4 station for Yishan Rd is a separate location). The metro can use Shanghai's public transportation card (non-contact). But be careful, certain stations exist on both lines with the same name but are located in different places (Yishan Rd- Line 3/9 and line 4 are separate stations- go to Hongqiao Rd. for line 3/4 transfer and then back to Yishan Rd on line 3 to be able to transfer to line 9; Pudian Rd- line 4 and line 6; go to either Century Ave. or Lancun Rd. to transfer between these lines)
By taxi
Taxi is a good choice for transportation in the city, especially off-peak hours. It is affordable (¥11 for the first 3km) and saves you a lot of time, but try to get your destination in Chinese characters as communication can be an issue. As Shanghai is a huge city, try to get the nearest intersection to your destination as well since even addresses in Chinese are often useless. Drivers, while generally honest, are sometimes genuinely clueless and occasionally out to take you for a ride. Always insist on using the meter and, if your fare seems out of line, demand a printed receipt before paying. If you feel you have been cheated or mistreated by the driver, you (or a Chinese-speaking friend) can use the information on the printed receipt to raise a complaint to the taxi company about that particular driver. The printed receipt is also useful to contact the driver in case you have forgotten something in the taxi and need to get it back.
If you come across a row of parked taxis and have a choice of which one to get in to, you may wish to check the driver's taxi ID card that is posted next to or near the meter on the dash in front of the front passenger seat. The higher the number, the newer the driver, thus the likelihood that your driver will not know where he or she is going. Taxi driver ID numbers between 10XXXX and 12XXXX are likely to be the most experienced drivers (just make sure to match the picture on the ID card with that of the driver). A number of 27XXXX to 29XXXX is probably going to get you lost somewhere. Another way is to check the number of stars the driver has. These are displayed below the driver's photograph on the dashboard in front of the passenger seat. The amount of stars indicates the length of time the driver has been in the taxi business and the level of positive feedback received from customers, and range from zero stars to five. Drivers with one star or more should know all major locations in Shanghai, and those with three stars should be able to recognize even lesser-known addresses. Remember that it takes time to build up these stars, and so don't panic if you find yourself with a driver who doesn't have any - just have them assure you that they know where they are going and you should be fine.
If you need to cross from one side of the Huangpu River to the other by taxi, especially from Pudong (浦东) to Puxi (浦西), you may want to make sure your driver will make the trip, and knows where he or she is going. Some drivers only know their side of the town and will be as lost as you are once they leave their side of town. Taxi's are notoriously difficult to get on rainy days and during peak traffic hours, so plan your journeys accordingly.
Taxi colors in Shanghai are strictly controlled and indicate the company the taxi belongs to. Turquoise taxis operated by Dazhong (大众), the largest group, are often judged the best of the bunch. Another good taxi company, "Qiangsheng" (强生), uses gold-colored taxis. Watch out for dark red/maroon taxis, since this is the 'default' color of small taxi companies and includes more than its fair share of bad apples. Also private owned taxis (You can recognize them easily as they have an 'x' in their number plate and may not be the standard Volkswagen Santana used by most taxi companies) are among them. The dark red/maroon taxis will also go "off the meter" at times and charge rates 4x-5x the normal rate - especially around the tourist areas of the Yuyuan Gardens. Bright red taxis, on the other hand, are unionized and quite OK, furthermore there are more 3-star and above taxi drivers working for this company. The dark-green taxis cover suburban areas only and are limited to the district they are called in, but their meters start at ¥9 so they're somewhat cheaper if you're not trying to get downtown.
If possible, try to avoid using ¥100-bills to pay for short rides. Taxi drivers are not keen on giving away their change, and it is not uncommon to get counterfeit smaller notes for change.
By sightseeing bus
There are several different companies offering sightseeing buses with various routes and packages covering the main sights such as the Shanghai Zoo, Oriental Pearl TV Tower, and Baoyang Road Harbor. Most of the sightseeing buses leave from the Shanghai stadium's east bus
On foot
Shanghai is a good city for walking, especially in the older parts of the city across the Huangpu from Pudong. Of course, given the large population, you should expect heavy concentrations of pedestrians and vehicles, but that is part of the excitement. Crossing large roads, in particular, can get hairy and it's advisable to follow the locals.
By car
Driving is definitely not recommended in Shanghai, especially in downtown areas. Not only do you have to cope with seemingly perpetual traffic jams, but also Chinese driving habits which can be described as atrocious at best. Bicycles and pedestrians are also all over the place and with every driver swerving left and right to avoid them, especially at junctions, the traffic situation is very chaotic. It is also not unheard of for cyclists, motorcyclists or pedestrians to suddenly dash in front of a car without any warning. Driving anywhere in China is not for the faint hearted and even more so in Shanghai. In short, do not drive if you can help it and make use of public transport instead.
Learn
Shanghai urban development is all about the 'five year plan'. Visit the Urban Planning Museum in People's Square for a fascinating look into Shanghai's colourful past, and learn about development strategies for the future. There is a heavy focus on eco-friendly satellite cities with spacious public centres and loads of greenery. The trip is worth it just for the scale model of Shanghai in ten years, located on the fourth floor, and the virtual tour of up-and-coming large scale public projects, including the World Expo 2010 site.
Work
There is lots of work for expatriates in Shanghai today. Construction is proceeding at an incredible pace and the economy is booming.
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.
For those interested in boutique shopping, head to the French Concession Streets Xin Le Road (新乐路), Chang Le Lu (长乐路）and An Fu Lu (安福路） starting from east of Shan Xi Road (陕西路) (nearest metro station is South Shan Xi Road on line 1). This section of low rise building and tree-lined streets bustles with small boutiques of clothing and accessories, young Shanghainese looking for the latest fashions and coffee shops.
The infamous Xiangyang Market was finally shut down for good in June 2006. The biggest "replacement" market is in the metro station (Line 2) at the Shanghai Science & Technology Museum (上海科技馆). 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 and there you can purchase all your knock-off products.
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 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. Just around the corner at 36 South Shanxi Road you will also find a small but well stocked second-hand foreign-language bookshop. 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.
Xujiahui metro station is the place to go if you're after game consoles (the Wii is available here in relative abundance and is sold modded to play copied games), computers, computer accessories, or the like. You'll find pretty much everything electronic there, but the cellphone selection is a bit lacking.
If you're after a new cellphone, go to the Shanghai Railway Station. You can find good deals on secondhand phones as well as new phones (the selection is a mixed bag; you'll find Chinese off-brands mixed with reliable big-name brands like Samsung and Nokia as well as cutting-edge Japanese phones; if you live in North or South America be careful about buying the off-brand phones as most do not support the necessary frequencies for use there).
Eat
Shanghainese cuisine is one of the lesser-known types of Chinese food, generally characterized as sweet and oily. The name "Shanghai" means "upper harbour"/"above the sea", so unsurprisingly seafood predominates, the usual style of preparation being steaming. Some Shanghainese dishes to look out for:
xiao long baozi (小籠包子, lit. buns from the little steaming cage, or little dragon buns), probably the most famous Shanghai dish: small steamed dumplings full of tasty (and boiling hot!) broth and a dab of meat. The connoisseur bites a little hole into them first, sips the broth, then dips them in rice vinegar (醋 cu) to season the meat inside.
dazha xie (hairy crabs), best eaten in the winter months (Oct-Dec) and paired with Shaoxing wine to balance out your yin and yang
xiefen shizitou (蟹粉狮子头, lit. crab powder lion heads), actually pork meatballs containing crab meat
zui ji (醉鸡, lit. drunken chicken), chicken steamed then marinated in rice wine, usually served cold
"You Tiao" (油条, lit. oil stick) , are a long, deep-fried donut one kind of breakfast that is very popular in Shanghai. typically consumed in the morning with soy milk (dou jiang 豆浆)
For cheap Chinese eats, head for the alley known as Wujiang Road. For fancier food in nicer surroundings, try the upmarket restaurants of Xintiandi.
Vegetarians should not miss Vegetarian Life Style (258, Fengxian Road and 77, Songshan Road) where you can experience nice, affordable and organic vegetarian food resembling real meat or fish dishes in a fancy atmosphere. Link
Drink
Tap water is not drinkable, but generally OK if boiled, though you may not like the taste. Tap water is also said to contain a high amount of heavy metals. Bottled water (and beer) are widely available.
The prices of drinks in cafes and bars in Shanghai vary depending on the location and target customers. They can be cheap or be real budget-busters, with a basic coffee or beer costing anything from ¥10 to ¥40 and up if ordered in the "wrong" place.
When buying bottled water you will come along a whole range of mineral water. Of course you could go for the "Evian", "Volvic", but you could also get yourself a bottle of the locally produced Nestle, Coca Cola, or Pepsi varieties. They will cost you about 1.5 RMB, 1 RMB, and 0.8 RMB respectively and are available nearly everywhere. Convenience stores have inundated Shanghai and there seems to be a few on every street corner. If you intend to stay for a longer period, you may want to buy yourself one of those plastic water dispensers. Those you can mount with those 8-10 l water tanks, which can be ordered via phone. Clean those units with a bottle of white vinegar. That way you can keep your machine free of any germs.
Tsingtao Beer and Snow Beer are widely available, and both are considered to be China's best all-around options. Brands like Budweiser, Heineken, and Carlsberg are brewed either locally or somewhere else in China and are also relatively inexpensive. There is also a local brew known as REEB (beer spelled backwards). A large bottle of any of these (640 ml) anywhere from 1.95 to 6 RMB.
Shanghai is filled with amazing nightlife, complete with both affordable bars and nightclubs that are jam-packed with beautiful people.
Stay safe
Shanghai is a fairly safe city, and violent crimes are very rare even in the poorest neighborhoods. However, the ever-increasing divide between the haves and have-nots has created its fair share of problems and petty crimes like pickpocketing are on the rise, and sexual harassment is common on crowded subway trains and buses.
Various tourist-oriented scams, long practiced in Beijing, are unfortunately spreading to Shanghai as well. Be cautious if you meet a group of overly friendly students or attractive women who insist on dragging you along to an art gallery, tea shop or karaoke parlor - you're unlikely to be physically harmed, but the bill may well be more than you bargained for. Police can help to recover some part of your money. If you start to fall for this scam, just remember the last time some cute stranger asked you out... that's right... never!!!
Foreign males often attract unsolicited attention from female sex workers at many nightspots.
Cope
For visitors unused to travel in China the language barrier is likely to be the biggest obstacle, as English ability tends to be very limited in all but the largest tourist draws. Mandarin-learners need to be aware that Shanghainese, a Wu dialect, is the language of the streets and very different from Mandarin, although most Shanghainese under the age of 50 speak fluent Mandarin and use of Shanghainese as the de facto 'first' language of the city has been discouraged by the government and is decreasing both due to the effect of the paramount use of Mandarin in mass media and by the large-scale influx of people moving to Shanghai from outside of the city to seek work in recent years. Rudimentary Chinese and/or pattern matching ability for character recognition will help, as will getting your destination written in Chinese characters particularly when traveling by taxi. All is not lost, with the approach of the Olympic Games in Beijing, all taxi drivers in Shanghai are mandated to learn some English. This bit of information was learned from a taxi driver practicing his English.
Get out
Jiading, an historic town about an hour NW of Shanghai by bus from Nanjing Xi Lu and Cheng Du Lu. The sites are Shanghai's F1 track, a Confucian garden, and pagoda.
Qibao, an small ancient town, about 15km from Shanghai city, just in between the city and Minhang district. It resembles the more famous water town, Zhouzhuang.
Songjiang 松江, a county in Shanghai province, some 30km southwest of Shanghai city. It is less crowded than Shanghai and is a good one day trip target. It is also now much more accessible with the opening of the new Metro line 9.
Xitang, an historic town SW of Shanghai. A few scenes from Mission Impossible 3 were filmed here. An old picturesque canal town with old bridges and houses lining the canal lit up at night with red lanterns. You can even stay a night in one of the old houses and sleep in an old bed.
Zhujiajiao, a historic town an hour by car west of Shanghai. Another of those picturesque canal towns dating from the Ming dynasty (14th to 17th centuries). The first modern post office in China was established here. Worth a look in spite of the abundance of souvenir stores, although not overrun with tourists.
Nantong, north of Shanghai, a newly developing city. The city has natural and open atmosphere. Nantong is a modern as well as historic city.
Nearby cities
Several other major Chinese cities are near Shanghai and conveniently reachable on the new high speed (over 200 km/hr) trains. These are comfortable and reasonably priced and, except at holidays, not generally too crowded since other trains are cheaper. Look for the separate ticket windows with "CRH" on the signs.
Hangzhou 杭州, about two hours away, is China's number one domestic tourist attraction featuring the famous Xihu Lake.
Suzhou 苏州, a historic town under an hour away from Shanghai by train. The city has long been lauded by emperors, ancient poets, and scholars alike for its beauty and vitality. Due to its many canals and bridges, Suzhou has also sometimes been referred to as the "Venice of the East". Suzhou has many gardens that are worth visiting. The "Venice of the East" parts of Suzhou have all been over run with agressive beggars and pan handlers. Reserve Suzhou if it can be combined with a tour of other historic areas.
Nanjing, about two hours away, is a great city for a couple of days away from the city. Its also a great place to get a Chinese history lesson. From the city walls to the Presidental Palace, its a walkable, friendly place with abundance hotels for all budgets. Well worth the effort.
Shaoxing 绍兴, about three hours away, is traditional Chinese tourist attraction featuring the famous fish and rice hometown.
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