China Travel Forum

[Paul]

We get to spend four days in Shanghai, in early December. would
anyone kindly advise me on how to best spend those days, sightseeing
etc.

[Rory]

Spend a night at the Bund, and you'd be amazed by the buildings along the Huangpu river at the pu-xi side. Spend some time along the Huaihai road, this's the place where you can see the prosper side of shanghai... people there descirbe that as the 5th avenue of shanghai. The museums near the Renmin guangchang (people's square) are worth visiting too... I recommend the art museum the most. And dont' forget to try out the foods there! Everything is so tasty. If you are afraid of eating dirty foods, it's still ok to go to the restuarants.. you won't be disappointed by having those delicate and delicious cuisine for such a low price! Usually I went to those restaurants recommended by locals or the travel books, I went with my frIiends.. about 5-6 people, and everyone just paid for RMB$40-60.
Pick a day to go to either Su-Zhou or Zhou-Zhuan, one of them is called the Venice of China. The local tour bus depot is at the stadium. Take the mag-lev train at least once. You can take it going in and coming back if you want. Not cheap though. There is a huge counterfeit market. Ask around where it is, bargain hard when you're in it. My wife spent two days there. Had a hair cut for $1, including shave. I was in China in August. Had three diarhreas in three weeks. I was too adventurous toward food and not mindful at all having been living in the western bubble for so long. I can take consolation that I didn't gain any weight in those three weeks, however.And no, I didn't drink from the tap. I wouldn't dare.