LittleSandyBeach

After landing in Shanghai we got our first ever Maglev train directly from the airport. It is the world’s first commercial high-speed maglev and has a cruising speed of 300km/h (186mph). The journey was 30km and took 8 minutes!

As it was already evening after checking into our hotel we went out on the hunt for dinner. We luckily came across Maji Yong Lanzhou Beef Noodles. It was so reasonably priced at 22RMB (£2.39) and very delicious, we went back a few more times across our stay.

Afterwards we found ourselves in a very European looking part of the city and really enjoyed the traditional looking roads. One particular road had lots of small independent bars so we of course had to sample some Chinese craft beer!

When we got back to our hotel we saw our first robot of Shanghai, waiting for the lift in our hotel. Most hotels have these and you can order takeaway food and it will bring it up to your room and even knock on your door. People will need Ozempic!

On our first full day we started off by heading into the clouds by going up the world’s third tallest skyscraper, The Shanghai Tower. It’s 632m tall with 128 floors. To get up first to the 118th floor you get into the world’s fastest lift which gets up to speeds of 20m/s or around 40mph!

Even though the weather wasn’t the best, the views across the city were spectacular. We had great fun admiring the window cleaners just hanging off the side of the building… That’s not a job for us!

We then went into another lift to get up to the 126th floor where there is a small information area about how the tower was constructed and how the extreme weather such as typhoons affected its design.

Then we were led into the room where the massive 1,000 tonne tuned mass damper hangs off 12 cables. This counteracts the forces from the wind and stabilises the whole building. Underneath the weight is 1,800 magnets which interact with a copper plate below to create an eddy current to stabilise the building further. In extreme winds the top of the building is designed to sway up to 1 metre. It was very impressive to see.

On top of the mass damper is the ‘Eye of Shanghai’ an art sculpture crafted from azure stone which sends “best wishes” to the prosperous development of Shanghai. It also functions as part of the weight for the mass damper and is the centrepiece for the light show.

On the way down the lift is limited to 10m/s as it’s more likely when descending that people will experience ear pain and ‘popping’. We really enjoyed the experience but were happy to be back on solid ground!

A short walk away was another couple of famous attractions to check out, starting with Mingzhu Roundabout. It has a massive circular pedestrian skybridge elevated 5m above ground and is a great place to see the whole of Lujiazui financial district.

Right next to the roundabout and probably the most iconic building in Shanghai is The Oriental Pearl Tower. Completed in 1994 it was the tallest structure in China until 2007 at 468m tall.

In the afternoon we crossed back over the river and went to check out The Bund, which is a world famous waterfront area that runs for one mile along the bank of the river Huangpu in the centre of Shanghai. At the northern end is the Shanghai People’s Heroes Memorial Tower. It’s designed to look like three rifles leaning against each other to show respect to those who fought for their homeland.

We then walked along The Bund and took in the amazing view. A lot of the buildings running along the road were built by British banks and trading houses so have a very European look and feel about them marking a striking difference from the modern skyline directly opposite.

Around the centre of The Bund is the ‘Bund Bull’ a bronze statue installed in 2010 and was designed by Arturo Di Modica, the same artist behind the iconic ‘Charging Bull’ on Wall Street in New York. It symbolises the energy of Shanghai’s economy with the bull representing a “bull market”. It’s got a reddish tint to pay tribute to China.

Walking around the city at night was very peaceful as it’s so quiet with the electric vehicles. A lot of roads were also lit up with fairy lights creating a relaxing atmosphere.

To start off the next day we went and tried China’s largest coffee chain, Luckin Coffee. It has 29,000 stores with most of them being in China. It wasn’t the best coffee we’ve ever had but luckily it only cost 9.9RMB (£1.07). Fun fact, Shanghai has over 9,500 coffee houses making it the city with the highest number of coffee shops in the world!

Afterwards we hopped on the metro and headed to the People’s Square which is where Shanghai Museum is located. Spread across 5 floors it had many different exhibitions from traditional clothing to very rare ivory cups made from Rhinoceros horns.

On the ground floor was a pop up exhibition called Modern Glamour which showcases how traditional Cheongsams (Chinese fitted dresses) became a global icon for Shanghai. There were many examples from designers such as Chanel and Gucci.

Just around the corner was the Shanghai History Museum. When we first went in we saw the famous HSBC Bronze Lions which guarded the HSBC building on The Bund from 1923.

The museum is located in the former Shanghai race club and covers 6,000 years of history with a primary focus from the opening of the port in 1843 to 1949. There was so much to read and see that you could spend a whole day looking around. It was very informative and we learnt a lot about Shanghai’s past.

For lunch we went to Auspicious Wonton. We had 10 delicious dumplings each that had pork and vegetables inside with a broth and it only cost 16RMB (£1.75)!

In the afternoon we went to Yuyuan Old Street, a historic 825m long pedestrian street. Most of the buildings that still stand were built around 1907 and were modelled off the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Part of this area includes Yu Garden which means ‘garden of peace and comfort’. Construction begun in the Ming dynasty in 1559. Due to damage from the Opium Wars the garden was renovated over 20 years and reopened to the public in 1961. It was very cool to look around however a little overcrowded for our liking!

In the evening we went back to The Bund to see the city skyline lit up as it’s known to be even more impressive at night… it didn’t disappoint!

A short walk away we found Nanjing Pedestrian Street. It’s known as China’s number one commercial street and shopping destination with all major brands on offer.

On our last full day we started off by going to see Jing’an Temple. It was first built in 247 AD during the Three Kingdoms period. It was moved in 1216 to its current site to avoid flooding.

The temple houses a 3.8m tall jade statue of Shakyamuni Buddha, the tallest of its kind in mainland China. Lots of people were also throwing coins into a large central incense burner in the courtyard to make wishes and bring good luck.

When walking to our next stop we came across a pretty insane Louis Vuitton store in the shape of a ship with the top made to resemble their classic luggage… crazy!

We then made it to the Natural History Museum. It was again insanely busy but had some very cool dinosaur fossils from all around the world which we enjoyed looking at.

Outside the museum was a lovely public park and of course stunning flowers that you see all around the city. Just look at those tulips!

One thing we noticed all around Shanghai was the amount of Corgis! After some research we found out that in the past few years they have become massively popular due to them going viral on social media.

We then went to People’s Park which is located also on the ground of the old race course. It’s become especially famous due to the Marriage Market held every weekend. Hundreds of parents and grandparents come and display their unmarried children and grandchildren’s resumes in the hope of finding potential partners. They display details such as age, height, education and income.

In the afternoon our last stop was Tianzifang which is an arts and crafts enclave located in the former French Concession area. It’s a maze of narrow alleyways where locals run boutique shops, cafes and bars and still live in apartments above. It was definitely one of our favourite areas in the city!

The next morning with an early 3.30am alarm we got a taxi to the airport to catch our flight to Taipei in Taiwan. Again we were surprised when a meal was included with the flight on Air China. Time to explore Taipei!