48 Hours in Shanghai

I was lucky enough to stop over in Shanghai on my way to SE Asia. If you are headed down there and you will likely have a layover or plane change in China, I recommend taking advantage of the not so talked about 144 or 24-hour visa that is offered at customs.

You need to make sure that you let the check-in agent in Canada (or wherever you are traveling from, make sure that your country qualifies here), know that you are going to be applying for an upon arrival visa and the customs agent in China on the other side will help with the rest. You'll have to fill in a form, and you'll have to have your departing flights, and corresponding visas if needed, locked down beforehand so that they can make sure you are actually leaving with country within the allotted time. It's a great way to see the country and within 5 days, you’ll have the opportunity to fit in a lot in one city. There are restrictions about moving around in the country, and you will have to stay in the area you touched down into to, but its worth it if it’s meant to be temporary and just a chance to see somewhere.

I was picked up at the PVG airport by a friend of mine and taken to the fast train into the city which was a great introduction to the area. If you want, you can pick up a few things at the airport before departing. There are currency exchange kiosks available and there are also places to get a Chinese SIM should you want to communicate with people while in China. I chose to rely on wifi and my friends ability to know the area and speak basic phrases. but I would recommend one if you know no one here.

One into the city I was both horrendously jet-lagged and hungry and we were able to find a Mexican place to eat (there are also a ton of authentic places EVERYWHERE, but I'm celiac, so I wanted to have something 100% safe on the first day before I'd had a chance to do research on the area). We spent the next hour wandering through the French Concession, an area once occupied by the French, and you can tell by the architecture that has been left there, and a great place with many restaurants, coffee shops, bars, everything you could possible imagine.

The area itself has so much to offer and a great mix of tranquility and the big city. I wasn’t sure what to expect since I’m celiac, and it’s truly difficult to get anything made that’s safe, but I managed to find a couple places that were just fine, and got to try a few new dishes!

We managed to cram so much into our days while still having a chance to walk around and absorb our surroundings. The French Concession has a host of interesting bars, restaurants and coffee shops. I recommend staying in that area and there are quite a few hotels or hostels in the area that are close to the action and the metro lines.

Day 1:

We started off by grabbing a coffee at one of the many coffee shops and making our way to Yu Gardens. The area is a great mix of current shops in an amongst the old structures, people can take photos and admire the beautiful garden. It’s a cool place to walk through and see the glass shops, the intricate fans, leather, everything you would expect. Another beautiful green space is Taiyuan Gardens and if you have time you should go there as well.

We then made our way to one of Shanghai’s many malls to check out the 7-10 story beautifully laid out shopping centers. The malls there often have a mix of high end and middle end shops, but also tend to have a grocery store in them. They are also often connected to, or close to the metro stations, so they are convenient stops along the way.

In the evening, there are many interesting areas and bars to go to, but the Found is a cool space that features many bars that open up to an sunken, but open to the air sprawl. They have French bars, live music, pizza joints, whisky bars, formal clubs, Mexican restaurants. They have everything and it's truly an experience to go see what they have to offer. I highly recommend this area if you’re going to go out for the evening. There are young people (aged 20-30) and it’s the place to be if you live in and around the French Concession.

Day 2:

We started off the morning slowly and grabbed a coffee enroute to our brunch place. I wanted to take in the streets and not rush past them to try and check off as many places as possible. We went to EGG, a great place that has both vegan and gluten free options. The zucchini fritters with candied bacon and egg was a perfect combination to start my morning and give me the western breakfast I was craving after a few drinks.

After brunch we headed for the Jing’an Temple. I have to say that Buddhist Temples are my favourite thing about Asia. When I walked into my first temple 3 years ago in Thailand, I could never describe the feeling that I got; a mixed of peace and calm that I got every other time I stepped into a temple. The beauty and effort that they put into their beliefs and way of living makes me happy and it makes the most sense to me. I paid my 1000 RMB to get into the Jing’an Temple with my friend and we stepped into a sense of calm in the busy city. That’s the amazing thing about Shanghai, that there is this busy city running around you and you get find these respites here and there that remind you of the beautiful history that is involved in the ancient city.

We spent the better part of 2 hours wandering through the temple and enjoying the peace and watching the monks do their laps around the structure. I quite love watching them and seeing how much love they have for this place and what they believe in. In my mind, it is well worth the RMB and well worth the tour through to spend time with Buddha and watch the monks.

From here, we grabbed a bubble tea with cheese. Now, I know it sounds weird, but its actually one of the best things that I have every tasted. It’s actually like a cheesecake top to your regular black milk tea and tapioca pearls. I loved them, and I encourage you to try them out next time you stumble across a bubble tea place.

We finished off our evening on the Bund. If you haven’t heard of the Bund, it’s the waterfront area in front of this beautiful view of the city lit up at night including the Pearl, the Shanghai Trade Centre, and the bottle opener. The walkway was filled with locals and tourists alike just watching and taking photos of the amazing view across the river. We stayed for a bit and watched the tourists and then headed back to our metro station.

A few tips around the city and for first timers in Shanghai or China:

• Make sure to bring small change for the metro. Once you’ve purchased your card, when walking in through the turnstiles, you tap and walk through, when walking out of the metro area, you have to feed your ticket into the slot.

• The Circle K’s will have great little snacks for when you need it.

• Use bottled water, not the tap water.

• WeChat is everything. If you are staying more than 48 hours, you may want to get a SIM card and get WeChat. From there, you can add funds and add apps like the bike rental. They’re great because it’s just another form of transport around the city and it’s rather cheap.

• If you’re celiac like me, bring bars from home or another grocery store. GF snacks are hard to come by sometimes and when you’re starving, it’s nice to have something you can eat to tide you over until when you can find something safe.

• Stay firm with your visa, you’ll be okay, but be prepared with the right forms and a pen when you arrive so you have a way of filling them out quickly while in line. There is nothing worse than stressing about getting a pen from another tourist while you’re there, but if you do forget it, just ask your neighbour in line to lend it to you when they’re done.

I hope this was a helpful recap for you all! I made sure to spend the time just going with the flow and seeing everything at my own pace. There is nothing worse than traveling somewhere and rushing around to check off all of the boxes instead of enjoying what you do visit. That’s just my personal travel style, and I know that some people enjoy the checklist! Remember, you can always go back should you miss anything, just because you’ve gone before doesn’t mean you can’t go again.

Anything else you would have added? Let me know in the comments below.

Love, E