Shanghai in One Day

May 26, 2024

Shanghai in One Day

En route to India we had an overnight layover in Shanghai. The perfect opportunity to discover a new place!

This is one of our favourite ways to discover places. In fact we will often book flights according to layovers (if the price is right, of course).

We had around 18 hours to "experience" Shanghai. Of course you need longer than that to truly see and get to know a place. But we did get a little sample... and we LOVED it.

Canadian's do not need to get a VISA if the layover is less than 72 hours. You will need to show the border officials your ticket to leave China, and your accommodations for your stay in China. It was very straightforward and was a fast process.

For more information see https://www.visaforchina.cn

Booking accommodation was very simple, and there were many accommodations to choose from.

Prices ranged from around $6 CAD to several hundreds of dollars for the night. With the majority of hotels being around the $30-$50CAD range.

We chose to stay in a hotel near Harbour Ring Huangpu Centre, which cost us $43CAD. And it was fabulous!

Marble floors, beautiful fresh orchids in reception, comfortable bed - and we got a free upgrade to a suite.

Hotel Reception

Getting into downtown Shanghai was super simple. From the airport you can board the high speed train - the Maglev - which will take about 10 minutes. There aren't many places in the world you can experience a maglev train.

The Maglev reached 301kph

Apparently it can get quite crowded, but we didn't have that experience. And there are areas to store your luggage, so you aren't holding onto it the whole time.

Navigating downtown is very simple too - all the road signs also indication direction (N,S,E,W).

Please note that a lot of apps that we use in Canada cannot be accessed in China. They are completely blocked. Just keep that in mind when planning - you won't be able to use whatsapp or Facebook. So any details that you need, have them written down somewhere.

Once we had checked into our hotel and dropped off all our stuff it was time to explore.

Shanghai at night is incredible. It's buzzing with activity everywhere you turn.

The food was incredible. We opted to grab something from a market stall, and were not disappointed.

The ladies who served us did not know any English, and we don't know any Chinese... so pointing and hand gestures is how we ordered. It was fun.

Our fave: some sort of meat on a stick.

We loved the views and experience along the foreshore of Chen Yi Square to Waitan. Especially at night with the skyline and boats all lit up.

After a wonderful night's rest, we woke up to a beautiful morning in Shanghai.

View from our hotel suite

For breakfast we decided to try Chinese McDonalds. Somehow we didn't take photos of what we ate. It was a different menu than what we are used to in Canada. But it was still really yummy.

Walking around the park was so peaceful. People were quietly doing exercises, and the birds were chirping.

Actually it was the bird sounds that really caught our attention. They were so beautiful singing their songs, the feeling was paradisiacal.

When we looked a little closer, in every other tree there are birds in cages. So the beautiful birdsong is by design.