Holiday Inn Express Shanghai Jinqiao

The street sellers

by a6rrw

I had read lots of tips about Shanghai and the abundance of street sellers - particularly along The Bund - before I went. One of the tips was to offer approx 1/3rd (and no more) of what the seller wanted (as a starting bid). Let me tell you that they have now got wise to this. So what you need to do is fix a price which you think is below fair. For example fake Rolexes will be offered to you for between 400 and 800 yuan depending on the confidence of the seller (as at Nov 2007) Should you want to purchase offer only 20 yuan and stick to it. Eventually the sellers will accept your offer of 20 for most models, the most expensive going for no more than 50. Clearly this is less than 1/3rd of the starting price but you will succeed. Many of the sellers will offer to take you to their shops for more stock etc - DON'T GO. Just tell them "No Shop" and eventually they will fetch more stock to wherever you are at the time.
If you dont want to buy just ignore them or say no. Once you have made an offer - even a daft one - they will expect you to honour it and if you don't you can expect lots of hassle. I cant say that I have any fond memories. I wont ever go there again unless I have to. If you like looking in lots of designer shops at the endless fashions etc then you will be in your element. If, like me, you would like to see places of interest then Shanghai doesnt make it.

In the middle of my stay there I decided to fly to Beijing for the weekend and see the Great Wall and the Forbidden City and that really is good value. In fact I didnt want to go back to Shanghai.

Watch out for the pirate taxis, the only way you can recognise them is to look for the drivers licence which should be displayed in the front of the cab. If it isn't there, then neither will there me a meter and you will be heading for trouble. The cabs look identical to the licensed cabs so make sure you check the license! If they do't have one DON'T GET IN THE CAB!

FASHIONABLE HUAIHAI ROAD

by ancient_traveler

Built in 1901, the six-kilometer-long Huai Hai Road commemorates the Huai Hai Battle during Liberation. Today, this road has become synonymous with what is trendy and fashionable in Shanghai. This is commercial street contains more than 400 shops, restaurants and businesses.

As a tourism and shopping street Huaihai Road shares a good reputation with the Nanjing Road. The constructions on both sides of the Huaihai Road are modern and lordly and the upholsteries of the stores are noble and elegant. In this street, the constructions with the occident classic style, the Chinese classic style, the Continental fashion style and the cross-century metropolitan architectural style demonstrate different characteristics, and the strong leisured cultural aura of city is emitting whether in construction appearance or in their interior layout. T he Huaihai Road has centralized the famous stores such as World Boutique, Printemps, Maisonmode and Huating Isetan.They display varieties of articles with world brand name in a lofty stance, which have made the shopping in Shanghai reach the world-class standard.

Cuisine Creative

by wwliu about Yingqi

It's a chain restaurant to Shintori what also with simple style. The interesting is the gate what you must find way to open it. It's also no waiter or signboard only two iron gate and a nine case. Putting your hand in right case will open gate. But which one is right? I can't tell you. Because it change everyday. =) Beef & Chinese broccoil
Spareribs in Plum sauce
spicy tofu in paper pot
sea cucumber with aloe

Xintiandi - Where Old Meets New

by MaosRedArmy

Xintiandi is a new shopping district in Shanghai that is comprised of recently renovated structures that includes the structure that housed the first meeting of the Chinese Comminist Party.

Before the development of Xintiandi, the area it encompasses had been a spread of aged lanes crowded with mid-19th century Shikumen buildings which were in pretty bad shape.

Restored to their original splendor, the buildings and walkways allows visitors to Xintiandi to simply stroll around and take in the sights, eat at a number of world-class retsuarants, or shop in the brand-name glass-walled shopping mall at one end of the complex.

1 day 2 nights self guided tour of shanghai

by stevenchow

"Day 1"

Weather: Average at 35 degrees Celsius with occasional rains on the evenings.

Hotel I’m staying at is quite a bit unusual. The Shanghai Regal East Asia Hotel, is located in Shanghai Indoor Stadium. Every morning, there will be groups of people doing exercise, doing their Tai Chi… And there was even a concert on Friday night. Very crowded… My breakfast every morning is at the Hong Rui Xing restaurant a few blocks from my hotel. I’ve tried their Steamed dumplings, Steamed buns, noodles etc. Very cheap!!! Cost less than $2. Can’t believe where I stay?

1st night : I wasted no time after my work. After dropping off my stuffs at the hotel, I decided I’d try out its Metro. Took the Metro to Xu Jia Hui (which is only 1 stop from my hotel). When I came out of the underground tunnel, I’m at a cross junction with shopping malls surrounding me. I only managed to explore a bit at The Grand Gateway before heading back to get some rest.

"Day 2"

2nd night : Took the Metro to Nanjing Road. Here the whole street is a pedestrian mall. I also dropped in Uniqlo to buy some clothes. Pretty cool. Got a bit annoyed when a few women approached me. I found out the trick is to walk together with another group. Bought some stuffs and headed to The Bund. I chose to take the visitors tunnel to the other side of the river. A bit disappointed cause in the tunnel, dun really see anything interested. It’s only lightings and audio effects in the tunnel. Cost me 40 yuan to and fro. At least I managed to take some pictures of The Bund and The Oriental Pearl.

"Day 3"

Last day : I decided to go to Yu Yuan. Here, you can find stalls selling antiques and soveniers. I even found one food court that’s so crowded. No, I did not try the food. But I went in and saw that it was indeed a lot of varieties of selections to choose from. Wow!

Next destination, I went to Super Brand Mall at LuJiaJui Metro station. Here I bought a handphone. Yup… the brand you can’t find in Singapore. Can check it out at 139shop basement 2. They also have Lenovo phone there already. Hehehe. I also shopped for some groceries at the Lotus Supermarket (something like Carrefour).

After shopping, there’s more shopping. This time, I’m headed to Huai Hai Road (Huang Pi Nan Road Metro Station). I checked out The Time Square where there was a sale on. Buy 300 yuan, deduct 100 yuan. Didn’t buy anything tho. I got too much to carry. Across Time Square is a building call Cybermart. It’s Singapore’s version of Sim Lim Square. Inside, they sell Lenovo notebooks to digital cameras to memory flash cards etc. Shiok for techno geeks. Really got no time to explore other shopping centres as I heard this road is 6km long… Orchard Road? It’s really nothing compared to Shanghai’s Huai Hai Road..



Places that I'd like to go but no time to try:

The Maglev train (from LongYang Metro, this train goes to Pudong airport by magnectic forces at great speeds of over 400km?)

Dong Jia Du antique market (Too tired and there's no Metro nearby)