We left Seoul on Sunday morning and had a layover in Shanghai for nearly 12 hours. What to do? Explore the city, of course! Luckily for us, because we were staying in China for less than 24 hours and had onward tickets to Vietnam, we could just go through immigration and get a special stamp which allowed us into the city for free. Amazing!!!
John and I had visited China before in 2010, but our travels only took us to Beijing, Xian, Yangshuo, and Hong Kong. Visiting Shanghai was a new experience for us, and also for Greg who had never been to China before. I knew Shanghai was going to be a big city, but I was surprised at how clean and nice all the buildings were.
From Pudong International Airport, we took the Maglev (magnetic levitation) high speed train into the city. It cost 80 Yuan (around $13 USD) for round trip tickets. We went 30 km in 8 minutes, and the train reached a speed of 301 km/h while we were on it!
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| The Maglev train |
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| So fast! |
The train brought us to a subway line, where we hopped on and rode
towards the People's Square, a nice open square with beautiful flowers.
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| People's Square |
The People's Square was in the heart of Shanghai, surrounded by skyscrapers and buildings that looked more European than Asian. We wandered around the area by foot and stumbled upon the famous Nanjing Road... a pedestrian road lined with tons of shops. We ate Shanghai-style duck and some kind of crispy battered beef dish for lunch. The beef was ok, but I didn't enjoy the duck too much. I definitely liked the famous "Peking Duck" we ate in Bejing a few years ago much better!
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| Nanjing Road |
Our jaunt down Nanjing Road eventually led us to the waterfront area known as The Bund, where we could see a great view of the futuristic looking skyscrapers that make Shanghai's skyline famous. We ended up taking the ferry across the water (only 4 Yuan, or around $0.65 round trip), which gave us an even closer view of the buildings before we had to head back to the airport on the Maglev.
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| The Bund |
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| Hanging out at the waterfront |
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| Shanghai by day |
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| Shanghai by night! |
It was a great day in Shanghai! I would definitely enjoy having a layover there again!
Once again, AMAZING pics and more tales of great adventures...these are moments which you will always remember and cherish!
ReplyDeleteThat bullet train seems pretty cool, but not as relaxing as the Via Train.( I bet!)
ReplyDeleteWOW!! Amazing! I am visiting all these places vicariously with you. Thanks for all the great details, and fabulous pictures. <3
ReplyDeleteZia Alba
No problem... thanks for reading and commenting! :)
ReplyDelete