Shanghai: Exploring Modern Day China

Stepping off the overnight train in Shanghai I was greeted by another well labeled metro system, but when I finally arrived at my stop and made it to the street level it was incredible. There were skyscrapers all over, shops with names I recognized, and lots of architectural interest. I made my way down to my hostel which was located just off of East Nanjing Road, one of the main pedestrian streets. It was easy to find and pretty delightful, especially compared to my hostel in Beijing. That afternoon I set out to explore part of the city nearby.

Exploring Shanghai

First stop was walking down East Nanjing Road enjoying all of the shops, food stands, and food malls around which feature a number of different food specialty stands in one area. While I had no idea what most of it was, I really enjoyed checking it out. From there I wandered into People’s Square and People’s Park. It is well-known and nice to walk around, but it’s really nothing too special. I continued my trek to where the Shanghai Museum was and enjoyed the sights of all of the crazy buildings nearby.

Attempted Scam on the Streets of Shanghai

On my way back to my hostel, I ran into three Chinese people who took a picture with me, and started chatting. Two were visiting their friend who lived there, and they were headed to a traditional tea ceremony, if I cared to join since we were new friends.

In case you aren’t familiar, this is a common scam in China. The tea ends up being ridiculously overpriced to rip off unsuspecting tourists. I politely declined saying I was heading somewhere. But they pushed and pushed, which of course is a bad sign as well. Eventually I made my way out and back to my hostel.

Experiencing Shanghai at Night

There I met a British and South African girl and set out to see the Bund at night. The Bund is the riverfront area which lights up at night, including the famous Oriental Pearl building. We stopped for a drink at a rooftop bar to take in the view and then headed back to the hostel.

It was quite lively when we returned and started up conversations with a group of Germans, an Aussie, a Chinese, a Belgian, and more. Eventually the British and South African headed out for a club, and I headed to find a late dinner with the Aussie who was originally from Hong Kong and can read and speak Cantonese and Mandarin. We found a small dumpling shop and ate to our hearts content for under $1.50 each – amazing. By the time we got back I was exhausted and headed to bed.

Finding the Must Eat Breakfast Foods

The next morning I awoke bright and early with zero desire to do anything, but I headed out to find breakfast. While the hostel did have options available, they were not exciting and were very overpriced. Meanwhile, on the street, there are these giant steamed buns (baozi) they sell for breakfast. They generally run between 1 or 2 yuan. I stopped and picked up a couple of veggie ones costing me a total of 3 yuan (under $.50), and they were delicious! As it was cold, overcast, and had been raining, I took a short walk and then returned for nap time. Oh the luxury of a mid-day nap!

Tea House Scam Attempt 2 in Shanghai

Post nap I set back out for more food and another short walk, not feeling very ambitious in the cold. I made my way to the Bund. Here a group of three Chinese stopped me to take a photo of them. They started chatting with me, their new “friend”, because I had taken their photo.  Two were visiting and one lived there… I knew where this is going.

In any case, a Dutch lady taking photos nearby heard us speaking English and chimed in creating a more lively conversation, and she had questions for them about China. At this point they changed their focus to her and I was able to excuse myself. I really hope the Dutch lady is aware of the tea house scam! At that point I returned again to my hostel with a lazy evening in mind.

Fun Evening with New Friends

Back at the hostel, I researched what to do in my last day in Shanghai, what to do in my time in Kuala Lumpur in my 11 hour layover, and how to get to my Melbourne hostel before switching to more fun things like reading the news. Fun fact: In the hostel guest book I found an inscription from some of my sister’s friends from her study abroad program – the world is small!

Eventually the hostel started playing the movie Everest, and I ended up watching part of it out of the corner of my eye. Most of the way through one of the Germans from the day before asked if I’d eaten dinner, which I had not. We gathered an Indian living in New Zealand and another American from Jacksonville, FL who was living in China and went out for dinner.

It was a fascinating meal discussing everything under the sun, especially the Americans aspiration to be a novelist. After dinner, we returned to the hostel and an Aussie remembered me from our hostel in Manila. I of course felt bad as I had no recollection, but he was pretty cool, and one of the better stories was how he got robbed two times in four days in Manila – yikes!

Evening Walk around Shanghai

After hanging out and gathering a couple of more people, including a Russian living in Germany (no one apparently lives where they are from), we headed out for a walk up to the Bund. Unfortunately, it was later than the day before and all of the buildings were no longer lit up. But it was a nice night for a walk and the company was top-notch and full of laughter.

By the time we were headed back to the hostel, I was ready for bed, and some others were ready for more food and drink. We parted ways, which come to find out was a good thing as they found rice whiskey which apparently tastes like rubbing alcohol. Only one last day in China!

Takeaways from Shanghai

Overall, the city of Shanghai is modern and beautiful. It’s not as big of a “tourist” spot as Beijing was, but finding people to hang out with and explore with made it a special experience for me.