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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.
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Shanghai has two main airports, 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 at Longyang StationPudong (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. 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 (￥15-22), 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, ￥19) and Shanghai train station (#5, ￥18).
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 Pudong to Longyang 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. That said, the maglev to Longyang and a taxi from there is the fastest way to get to the city, and the ride is definitely an experience in a rollercoasterish way. Services currently operate from 7 AM to 9 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.
Hongqiao Airport
Shanghai's older airport Hongqiao (虹桥机场 SHA) now services only domestic flights. 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.
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. For these trains, food is only served in the direction from Shanghai to Beijing, but on the same connection from Beijing to Shanghai, no food is served yet, so prepare yourself with some instant noodles or snacks. For a regular normal sleeper in a standard train, which takes 18 hours from Shanghai to Beijing, expect to pay ￥200-300 with no food either.
[edit] 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.
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.
Get around
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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.
By metro
Shanghai metro mapThe 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 ￥2 to ￥9 depending on distance and you’ll need plenty of ￥1 or ￥0.5 coins or cash for the ticket vending machines, 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).
By taxi
Taxi is generally a good choice for transportation in the city. It is affordable (only 11 yuan 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. Drivers, while generally honest, are sometimes genuinely clueless and sometimes out to take you for a ride. Insist on using the meter and, if your fare seems out of line, demand a printed receipt before paying.
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 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 recognise 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.
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. Watch out for dark red taxis, since this is the 'default' color of small taxi companies and includes more than its fair share of bad apples; bright red taxis, on the other hand, are unionized and quite OK.
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.
See >>
Where in Shanghai to go depends largely on your time period of interest. See Shanghai for the first-timer for a sample itinerary.
For Imperial China, check out the Yuyuan Gardens with interesting buildings but a bit too much tourist oriented.
For 1930s Shanghai, head for the stately old buildings of the Bund. Or pay a visit to The French Concession (close Huai Hai Park).
For 21st-century Shanghai, cross the river to gawk at the skyscrapers of Pudong.
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.
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Walk Along the Fu Xing Rd (复兴路) to see the old buildings and enjoy the neatness of the road
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Take an elevator to the top of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower (东方明珠), the tallest TV tower in Asia with the height of 468 meters, and on a good day the sprawling views are spectacular!
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Enter Shanghai Xintiandi (新天地), 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, cafés and art galleries marketed towards foreign visitors and the more affluent locals. Close to where the communist party headquarters were located.
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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_Attractions2.htm
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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.
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Walk along Nanjing Dong Lu (南京东路) in the evening. Start at People Square (人民广场) 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.
Learn
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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.
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