Shanghai

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Shanghai

As the trip through China was more spontaneous than we had planned, there were a few things that went well, because they had to 🙂 . Our initial idea was to have arrived in Shanghai on 20th August, but what happened? Well, we couldn’t find any sleeper train tickets from Luoyang or Zhengzhou for the 19th, except for one that was nearly a 24-hour journey – as if! In the end we made our schedule a bit more flexible and with a bit of luck we found one that left Zhengzou at 6:30pm on the 20th that lasted 12 hours.

Waiting for our train to Shanghai in Zhengzou

The journey was very pleasant seeing as we now had lots of things to write about for the blog and Noah made friends with two children we were sharing the compartment with.

Another journey in one of the cabins of train in China. This time to Shanghai

Arriving in Shanghai and having a pleasant afternoon among friends

When we arrived in Shanghai we caught the subway and walked to our hotel where we chilled out for a few hours.

At 2pm we met up with Grace and her family, an old work friend of Fábio’s, who kindly showed us the most important parts of the city. Firstly, we went to eat three types of dumplings in a traditional restaurant in the Bund. Of the many we ate in China, strangely, we failed to take a single picture 🙁

When we left, we walked toward the Bund. It is worth noting the ease with which Noah made friends with Grace’s son who could’ve been his Chinese twin. Their adventurousness instantly brought them together 🙂 🙂

Like best buddies in Shanghai...

An initial glance of the skyline in Shanghai

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At the Bund, there’s a panoramic view of the Sinkai river and the most famous skyscrapers in the city.

The skyscrapers in Shanghai are simply impressive

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Family Travel Secret
In 2016 they finished building the tallest building in the city, the Shanghai Tower, which is 2073ft tall (128 stories). Previously the Shanghai World Financial Center was the tallest with 80 stories. The Shanghai Tower is the tallest building in China and the second tallest in the world (2016).

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We walked through the area of buildings that have European influences and we saw some luxury stores that are very common in the city.

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We arrived at Gucheng Park which serves as the connection point between the old part of the city and Pudong (the skyscraper zone). Also the park has one of the best and least-crowded views of the skyscrapers.

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Family Travel Secret
The park was built in 2002, and it took 110 days to complete its 4 hectares with a variety of plants, arches, an old wall, etc.

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From the park we went for a small walk which brought us to Yu Yuan Old Street, which fully introduced us to a traditional market where you can find everything in the middle of temples, canals, bridges … and many people 🙂 The market connects to the Yuyuan Garden which makes the area a somewhat strange combination of the busy shopping area and the tranquility required of a park and even temples.

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We ate in a restaurant in the Pudong area and then went for a walk along the river, allowing us to admire the buildings in the old part of downtown Shanghai, until we arrived at the Oriental Pearl Tower.

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the views of the skyline of Shanghai at night are even better than at daylight

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When we returned from Xitang the next day, we went for a walk down Huahai Road Commercial Street leading to People’s Square. However, we wanted to go to the Bund as Fábio, Adrián and Mario were waiting there (who had just arrived in the city).

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We were with them longer than we should have been which meant not being able to catch the last subway to the airport, but it was worth it for the amount we laughed 🙂 🙂 At the hotel (where we were all staying) we caught an Uber taxi and our Chinese adventure came to a close – until next time, which I’m sure will be soon 🙂

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Next stop, Bali in Indonesia!

Important fact:
An individual subway ticket costs about 6 yuan.

 

Ruth

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