One Night In Shanghai...

[aroberts42]

Hi everyone,

My husband and I are flying from Orlando to Guilin in August for our first teaching assignment. The really cool thing about the flight is there is a 22 hour layover in Shanghai. We have never been to China before so while we are excited to spend the night in Shanghai, we are a little aprehensive too. We want to have fun, but are not sure what to do. We will arrive in Shanghai around 5 pm and our flight out leaves the next day around 3 pm. So if you had one night/morning in Shanghai what would you do? Also, should we exchange our USD for Yuan at customs in LA before we leave the states or change it once we get to Pudong Airport? Also, what is a nice, reasonably priced hotel near the airport?

Thanks!!

[Xiwang]

Congratulations on finally making it to China!

I would recommend definitely going on a night walk along The Bund. If you have time, you can also turn onto Nanjing Lu and head up to the pedestrian-only part of the street. (Just watch out for scammers who will invite you to tea or coffee or who claim to want to practice their English.)

[Meng Lelan]

I'm in a similar situation, just 48 hours in Shanghai. At first I was thinking to go to the Expo but I haven't heard a lot of good things about it. So I'm going to walk around the Bund, Nanjing Lu, maybe Fuzhou Lu, evening cruise on the Huangpu. Maybe Yuyuan Gardens in the morning if there's time, I don't know.

Also I plan to avoid people who want to practice English, like Xiwang says.

[jbradfor]

Also, should we exchange our USD for Yuan at customs in LA before we leave the states or change it once we get to Pudong Airport?

I have never seen a good rate for exchanging foreign currency in the USA. I would assume this is especially true for RMB, given that it is not a freely exchangeable currently. [if others have other experience, please post.] Also, the international terminal at LAX is lacking, to put it politely. ["A total embarrassment for the USA" would be closer.] I wouldn't rely on anything at LAX. [Oh yeah, unless they changed it in the last 18 months, you need to go outside to change from the domestic terminals to the international terminal.]

Personally, I would go to the expo. Even if it is a waste of time and money, as Meng Lelan says, it's your only chance to see it, and you can easily go back to Shanghai some other time.

[anonymoose]

The airport is quite far away from any of the action in the city. I'm sure the airport has hotels nearby, but probably the only people staying there are connecting passengers.

The good news is that the Shanghai metro has recently been extended all the way to Pudong Airport, making access to downtown Shanghai very convenient. (Of course there are other transport options also, but for a first-time visitor, the metro is one of the more certain options).

As others have said, you may want to take a walk along the Bund and Nanjing Road at night. Also, if you have time Yu Gardens is a good option as it is also in the region.

Anyway, I'm sure you'll have an excellent time in Guilin. Guangxi is an interesting province.

[Andy-Zhang]

Hi ,I'm a Chinese in Shanghai ,hope I could help you a little .

*There is a hotel near the airport, JIN-JIANG HOTEL,stand room is 400RMB.

*If only for one day , you can go to Yu-Garden (YU-YUAN) ,where is nearby BUND , and there are so manys foreign bank then you also can exchange money there.

Special food recommendation:小笼包（XIAO-LONG-BAO),

After that , you can walk to South Nan-jing Road（pedestrian street ） ,through this street ,it's People Square.

If you are interest Chinese culture ,you also can go to Shanghai Museum of Art and History（上海博物馆） where is nearby People Square.

Hope it could help you !

[skylee]

400 RMB for stand room!! And how could the OP get to downtown foreign banks without having some RMB?

The Shanghai Museum is an excellent suggestion. But you might want to see the city instead of a museum with your limited time.

[mr.demoman]

Hi ,I'm a Chinese in Shanghai ,hope I could help you a little .

*There is a hotel near the airport, JIN-JIANG HOTEL,stand room is 400RMB.

*If only for one day , you can go to Yu-Garden (YU-YUAN) ,where is nearby BUND , and there are so manys foreign bank then you also can exchange money there.

Special food recommendation:小笼包（XIAO-LONG-BAO),

After that , you can walk to South Nan-jing Road（pedestrian street ） ,through this street ,it's People Square.

If you are interest Chinese culture ,you also can go to Shanghai Museum of Art and History（上海博物馆） where is nearby People Square.

Hope it could help you !

it is EAST Nanjing.rd

.....南京东路诶，朋友侬不要瞎来来啊。东西向的南京路何里来南啊

Hi ,I'm a Chinese in Shanghai ,hope I could help you a little .

*There is a hotel near the airport, JIN-JIANG HOTEL,stand room is 400RMB.

*If only for one day , you can go to Yu-Garden (YU-YUAN) ,where is nearby BUND , and there are so manys foreign bank then you also can exchange money there.

Special food recommendation:小笼包（XIAO-LONG-BAO),

After that , you can walk to South Nan-jing Road（pedestrian street ） ,through this street ,it's People Square.

If you are interest Chinese culture ,you also can go to Shanghai Museum of Art and History（上海博物馆） where is nearby People Square.

Hope it could help you !

it is EAST Nanjing.rd

.....南京东路诶，朋友侬不要瞎来来啊。东西向的南京路何里来南啊

[aroberts42]

The Bund, garden, and museum all sound great! But yeah, where to exchange currenly worries me. Can I exchange it at the Pudong airport?

[anonymoose]

where to exchange currenly worries me. Can I exchange it at the Pudong airport?

Yes, you can, but I think you won't get as good a rate as in a bank downtown. If you're only intending to change a small amount, then it won't make much difference, but otherwise just change as much as you need at the airport, and change the rest at a bank downtown.

Oh, and by the way, you need your passport if you want to change money.

[Meng Lelan]

The Shanghai Museum is an excellent suggestion. But you might want to see the city instead of a museum with your limited time.

Yes, I agree.

Another thing, don't know if this is about right, best to visit Yuyuan Gardens as early morning as possible, as it gets crowded in the afternoon I think.

[jbradfor]

But yeah, where to exchange currenly worries me. Can I exchange it at the Pudong airport?

ATMs at the airport work as well.

[simonlaing]

Since you're coming at night I would go see a Circus acrobat show . It is pretty stupendous. The tickets are not that pricey and you can often get them for cheaper from scalpers infront of the main gate of the circus. It is like cirque du soleil but more extreme. (They seem to have copied some of the music and story line idea from cirque, though the 7 motorcycles driving around in a ball is pretty sweet that i don't remember in Cirque.

The is a metro stop called circus world on line one. (Line 2 is the Airport line though if you arrive after 5 you may take a shuttle bus or the maglev to line 2)

Change at people's square metro stop. It's really a stupendous show I think it runs 7:30-9:30 daily, and you can always walk along the bund board walk after the show.

If you want to hit a cheap local bar , the only one with cheapish drinks are windows, there's one near Jin shan temple. Good luck. If you like more expensive music bar then the House of Blues near the bund has pricey Guiness. I think it's on Fuzhou lu.

There's also a water town but it's an hour out of Shanghai and so you probably don't have time for it.

On walking down Nanjing road with a friend (aka tourist neon light street) at night you can place bets at how many people come up to you and offer you fake rolex, DVDs, knock of bags or "ladies". (asian foreigners it won't be as fun for you.)

have fun,

Simon:)

ATMs at the airport work as well.

[aroberts42]

Since you're coming at night I would go see a Circus acrobat show .

That sounds awesome. I have seen several chinese acrobat shows over the years here in the states, I have been wondering if they were actually as popular in China and if they are similar. THat sounds like a great idea.

[adrianlondon]

I spent 4 days in Shanghai around a year ago to attend a conference - personal, not a business trip. I used my visa debit card (UK issued) in an ATM at the airport to withdraw money. Then I took the maglev train just for the experience but had to transfer to the metro anyway, so if the metro really does go all the way to the airport I'd take that next time. However, doing the maglev trip once is fun, but do time it right as it only runs at full speed during certain times of the day.

I'm a foodie, so spent most of my spare time eating. Xiao long tang bao (小笼汤包) aka soup-filled meat dumplings are a speciality in Shanghai (from Nanxiang) and I'm addicted. Despite the queue, I went to Nanxiang Mantou Dian in the old town. Other evenings I ate in small stalls near my hotel (just south of Nanjing East Road) including twice in a "la mian" (pulled noodles) cafe.

I also went to the M50 art district, as I'm into contemporary art (however, although fun for the buildings now hosting the galleries I found the art dull - Chinese contemporary art doesn't seem to have moved on in the last 5 years or so).

Oh, and the obligatory walk along the Bund. Part of this was being dug up (aka renovated) whilst I was there, but that should have all been completed by now.

I've got no comment on the Expo apart from saying you'll need to weigh up the fact it dosn't seem to be worth visiting against the fact that it's there. And you're there.

[aroberts42]

Hi everyone,

thanks for the amazing replies. I have made reservations with a hostel that we just have to take the metro to and then walk like two blocks. I like the idea of just using an ATM at the airport for cash. We are with Bank of America here in the states, so I am hoping we can find ATMs at the airport that there isn't an exorbant fee to use. My only other question will be about using the metro itself. Do we have to buy a ticket? Or just walk on with cash? About how much is it to use the metro? We will be taking the metro from Pudong airport to stop #2 (just incase anyone is familiar enough with the area that it means something, lol). I think we are just going to drop our stuff at the hostel (we have a private room) and then just walk and take in the atmosphere of the city. Hopefully we can make it down to the bund, but I'm not usre where that is in relation to the hostel. The hostel we are staying in is Blue Mountain. Has anyone stayed there before?

[jbradfor]

I like the idea of just using an ATM at the airport for cash. We are with Bank of America here in the states, so I am hoping we can find ATMs at the airport that there isn't an exorbitant fee to use.

There's a good chance BoA will charge you, since you're using a non-BoA ATM. But I haven't noticed a big charge from the ATM company itself. Look on the back of your ATM card to see which systems they use (Plus and Cirrus are common), and just make sure the ATM you want to use supports that system.

Also, BoA has an agreement with some big bank in China; I forgot the name of it, I'm sure someone here knows, but if you use that bank odds are the fees will be lower.

[gato]

Bank of America has a mutual ATM fee waiver arrangement with China Construction Bank.

[adrianlondon]

The metro (like every other metro in the world?) requires you to buy a ticket at the station - from a machine or person - which you then use to get access to the platforms. Cost varies on distance; ticket machines are easy to use. They also do an 18y day ticket, but you'd need to make quite a few journeys for that to be worthwhile.

The metro Line 2 now runs all the way to the airport, but I believe you have to change (from one train to another, still on Line 2).

Your hostel is quite a trek from the Bund, but the metro works well.

[jbradfor]

We will be taking the metro from Pudong airport to stop #2 (just incase anyone is familiar enough with the area that it means something, lol). I think we are just going to drop our stuff at the hostel (we have a private room) and then just walk and take in the atmosphere of the city

Take a taxi.

I admit I don't know your financial situation. But this is your first time in China, you'll be jet-lagged, have all your luggage, etc. Do you really want to fight your way on the metro?