Shanghai
An afternoon and a night in Shanghai
Shanghai From The Plane
Coming in to land
Mag-Lev Train!
Wow, the train wobbles a bit, but goes at 300km/h! It puts on quite a tilt for the bends.
Small Park
Flats
Century Park
Popular park!
Century Park 2
The cherry blossom area was particularly busy!
Century Square
The area by Century Square was quite impressive, with high rises around, impressive borders and some fire horses to celebrate the recent lunar new year!
By The River
I walked on, reaching the river after stopping at a greengrocers to buy an apple (I paid cash as I had some and wasn't sure AliPay would work for me). Lots of big buildings on the skyline!
Along The River
This is the East Bund area, by the financial district.
Apparently there are specific locations dedicated to line dancing!
East Bund
Heading Back To The Mag-Lev Train
I realised I was running out of time if walking back to Longyang Road station and the mag-lev train, but took a few snaps on the way. Fearing being late for my hotel pick-up at the airport I tried the metro, but couldn't pay for a ticket (AliPay restricted). I tried a second time at Century Square and the machine there was able to take cash 🙂
Hotel & Evening Meal
I was in plenty of time for my hotel pick-up in the end, and they didn't keep me waiting in the cold too long. The driver didn't speak much English and it was a surprise when I was bundled into a different minibus after about 30 mins, but then we arrived...at a hotel with an unexpected name...but it seemed okay-they had my details and let me pay using card!
Unfortunately there was no restaurant, so I went to the local shop and found the least meaty-looking pot noodle type thing I could (most were very meaty!), some red-bean bread which Madeleine has recommended and something a bit more crunchy.
This was my first ever pot noodle! Tasty, a bit messy to eat, and maybe not completely vegetarian - I think there may have been some meat flavourings 🫣
The other bits were both quite sweet...not the most nutritious meal perhaps!
The shower in the hotel room took about 5 minutes to warm up (I almost got out and went to ask if I was doing something wrong twice!), but was good when it got there!
Early Start
6:30am minibus back to the airport!
Seeing it in daylight explains the rough roads and winding route to the hotel night - there's quite a lot of scrubland and partly constructed flyovers to the south of the airport.
It was comfy and not too noisy at the hotel, but I still didn't manage to sleep that well.