Shanghai, China
Stand on the Bund at night and you can see the whole argument of the city in one view. Behind you is a row of 1920s banks and trading houses built when Shanghai was carved up between foreign powers. In front of you, across the river, is Pudong: a skyline of towers that was farmland and warehouses as recently as 1990.
The French Concession
This is where to stay if you can. Low buildings, plane trees planted a century ago meeting overhead, and small streets full of coffee places, bookshops and old villas. It is the least Chinese looking part of China and the most pleasant place in the city to do nothing.
Things worth doing:
- Yu Garden, a Ming dynasty garden in the old town. Busy, and still worth it. The bazaar around it is a tourist market, so eat elsewhere.
- Shanghai Museum, free, and one of the best collections of bronzes and ceramics anywhere.
- Shanghai Tower for the view, or the Bund at dusk for free.
- Xiaolongbao, the soup dumplings. Bite a small hole first and drink the soup, or you will burn your mouth. Everyone does this once.
- Tianzifang, a warren of alleys turned into small shops. Touristy, and fun for an hour.
Getting in from the airport
The maglev from Pudong airport hits 430 km/h and covers 30 km in about seven and a half minutes. It does not go all the way into the centre, so you change to the subway, and it is still worth doing once.
Practical:
- Suzhou is thirty minutes away by high speed train, and Hangzhou about an hour. Both work as day trips.
- Shanghai is humid in summer in a way that is difficult to overstate.