Planning a short trip to the Shanghai area

[novemberfog]

I am planning a short trip to China, perhaps around four days, and of all of the places in China I could visit I have always been interested in 乌镇. From the pictures that I have seen it looks so beautiful. So that is my primary purpose of the visit, and I will be flying into Shanghai.

I had a few questions though I was hoping someone might be able to answer.

1) Has anyone ever been to 乌镇? If so, how far is it from Shanghai? Is it accessible by train or do I have to use a bus?

2) What are some interesting cities or sites around or near Shanghai? I am not interested in seeing modern development and fancy buildings (I'm trying to escpae the concrete jungle also known as Tokyo). I'd prefer cultural or more sceneic places.

3) Anything interesting inside of Shanghai? I once saw a picture of an old area that looked like the Chinese version of Venice with canals and what not. Is that in or near Shanghai? What is the name of the place?

4) Are there any good websites or guides that I could reference for looking up trains and buses?

5) What about for hotels? Are there lots of youth hostels I could stay in? Or are there affordable places?

6) How far will money go in China? For example, how much for dinner at a small local restaurant? How much for a bottle of beer?

[Koneko]

Sorry, I can't answer all of your questions but I think I know the place you mentioned in Question 3.

It's Zhouzhuang 周庄 and it's located not far away from Shanghai but it has become rather touristic these days. Their pigs trotters are really yummy but fatty too!

For Question 2, I would also recommend you to see 苏州 where you can see claasic examples of Chinese gardens. 拙政园 is worth a visit if you're into cultural and scenic places.

And for you last question, you can get quite a lot with your Japanese Yen in China. I remember £1 was sufficient enough for me to get a bowl of noodles, plus drinks!

K.

[myann23]

Hi, are you originally from Tokyo? I was just there for two months for a short term job before Christmas. Wonderful place...I love Asia.

Suzhou is a nice place, maybe not now since it is the winter time. That's the place with the canals.

As far as expenses go, you can really save if you keep yourself to local dishes of rice, meat, and veggies. Go to any place where expats frequent and the expenses will be what you're similar to at home.

[skylee]

There are several towns around Shanghai which would make nice day trips. 周莊 (Zhouzhuang) is one but it is very crowded. You could also consider 朱家角 (Zhujiajiao) and 同里 (Tongli). These places are just a bus trip away and you can even go to both 周莊 and 同里 on the same day. Bus tickets are available at the 旅游集散中心 next to the Shanghai Stadium subway statoin.

My personal favourite, though, is Suzhou, which is only half an hour away if you take the fastest train. Lots to see and I just like it.

PS - if you can go a bit further, Nanjing is also worth a few days. I have very nice memory of that place. On the other hand, Wuxi is, IMHO, very disappointing.

[novemberfog]

So Zhouzhang is crowded, eh? Perhaps I will save that for later only if there is time. Suzhou, Tongli, and Zhujiajiao are all looking really interesting. Thanks for the suggestings.

Suzhou is looking really great though, and I think I will definately visit there. In fact, I have a nice little triangle on my map now: Shanghai, Wuzhen, and Suzhou. That should fill up the time quite nicely actually. I wonder if it is possible to get a bus from Wuzhen to Suzhou directly (or vice-versa)? Well, at least avoiding having to go all the way back to Shanghai to catch another bus.

Regarding the greater Shanghai area, what types of food would be good to try in Shanghai? I really like spicy foods--my favorite is Mapo Dofu, but I understand that it is a Sichuan dish. Are there any dishes that are classic "Shanghai"?

myann23: No, I am not from Tokyo originally. I am trying to escape from it actually. :-) When I first came here I enjoyed Tokyo, but as time passed I grew very tired of it being crowded every where I went. I prefer the smaller cities and countryside myself these days.

[Koneko]

Ha ha... I actually went to 同里 not 周庄.

But I think they both do the famous pig's trotters! Can't remember what they call it... Was it 万山蹄?

My Chinese friends even taught me how to suck the marrow out of the bones.

I had something like dimsum in 南京, they had lots of courses though.

My China trip was all about eating!!

If you're really planning to see 苏州, you should also try to make it to 杭州 (Hangzhou) because you can then compare the classical gardens in China.

无锡 is not really a nice place to see but their spareribs 无锡排骨 are really yummy!

[gougou]

I have stayed in a youth hostel I was very happy with in Shanghai, called the Mingtown Etour Youth Hostel aka Easy Tour Hostel (see link here). However, what made it very attractive for me - its location - might be a turnoff for you, as it's a stone's throw from the people's square, the center of Shanghai.

[Koneko]

Ha ha... I forgot to recommend Shanghai food to you.

I am afraid their food is not spicy.

Try

小笼包 Xiao long bao

生煎包 Sheng ji bao

鍋貼 Fried gyoza

You can find out more about Shanghai food at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_cuisine

If you want to try spicy food in China, you'll have to take a ferry from Nanjing all the up up to Sichuan area. Ha ha.. I did this trip to Yichang 宜昌 and it took me like 3 days and 2 nights on the ferry! Yichang food is quite food though.

K.

[Luobot]

Beware of the 臭豆腐

[Koneko]

I had 臭豆腐 too!

The actual taste was not too bad but the smell of it was horrible!

It's just like the blue cheese.

I am not into blue cheese but I love broccoli and stilton soup!

[novemberfog]

Luobot,

It's okay, I already discovered it in a Taipei night market.

[Crivens200]

If you are going to go to Suzhou and stay there for a night, I would recommend using that as a base for visiting one of the canal towns. Zhou zhuang and tong li are within taxi rides of suzhou (30-40 minutes, 80-100 rmb).

My personal recommendation would be to visit tong li from suzhou as it's so close. A lot of these canal towns are very similar and once you've seen one you'll have a great idea of how charming the rest are. Zhouzhuang is very touristy. Suzhou has canals as well but tucked away amongst the modern development now. I wouldn't recommend staying for a night in one of the canal towns as there's not much to do - 4-5 hours is enough to see all you want, and then back to Suzhou for a night out on the beers ;-)

[novemberfog]

Thanks again for all of the comments.

It looks like I will be doing a Shanghai, Wuzhen, Suzhou circuit with a stop in Tongli if time permits.

I have prepared a list of food to try as well. I remember youtiao (油条) from my first Chinese textbook, so I will try that for breakfast with some rice congee. All of the Japanese tourbooks say to try Shanghai Hairy Crab as it tastes quite different from Hokkaido King and Snow crabs. I will try the 小笼包 so I can compare it with what I tried in Taipei. I hope to try the Sheng jian bao and pot stickers as well. I hope to find a Sichuan style shop in Shanghai because I really want to try Chinese hot pot.

I'm really getting excited about this trip. I can't wait to go! I better get a larger memory card for my camera now. Thanks for all of your advice.

[johnd]

I wouldn't recommend staying for a night in one of the canal towns as there's not much to do

Depends what you're into. In Zhouzhuang we stayed in an old courtyard house, in a traditional four-poster style bed. Price was reasonable, but can't remember exactly, maybe RMB100 to 150 (plus if you stay in the old streets then you don't need to pay the entry fee the following morning). We spent the evening enjoying the atmosphere and drinking cheap beers beside the water.

To get a room in one on the old streets just go with one of the touts (mostly oldish ladies) that will accost you if you're carrying luggage. If you're not satisfied with the first place they show you, just say so - I'm sure you'll be taken from cousin to cousin to view a range to properties.

Edit: even though you're not planning to go to Zhouzhuang, this would be the way to get a room in any of the old touristy canal streets.