What to do with an evening in Shanghai?

[ajd]

A friend and I are going on an award trip through Asia in a few months, starting in Singapore/Malaysia and heading up to Japan via Hong Kong. On our way back home from Osaka, because of J availability we chose to route via PVG.

Our NH flight from KIX is scheduled to arrive around 4pm on Friday, and our SQ flight to SIN departs 8am the following day.

Any suggestions for stuff to do with a single evening in Shanghai? And any gotchas we should be aware of? (Neither of us have ever been to Shanghai before...)

 

[Hvr]

Ride the Maglev from the airport into town.

A night on the Bund will yield spectacular sights and see that photography can be a sport.

 

[Deleted member]

Try M Bar, all of the local the “beautiful” people are there. The ashtrays are for you to souvenir

 

[MEL_Traveller]

The Maglev is an excellent idea... but do NOT take a taxi from the Maglev terminus into the city. The taxi touts are ruthless at the maglev station, demanding RMB400+ for the ride to the city (where the fare should be around RMB50).

The subway is an easy connection and costs a few RMB.

It's going to be dark and cold, so rug up. But I would recommend making reservations at Lost Heaven restaurant on the Bund (actually about 20 yards off the bund) for dinner. Follow this by a walk along the bund. Stop at either the Waldorf Astoria or Peace Hotel for drinks (I much prefer the Long Bar at the Waldorf). Both of these are classic heritage hotels.

If you're staying in the city you'll probably want to be getting a taxi back to the airport around 5am, arriving at 6. It should be in the RMB200 range.

 

[ajd]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I'm quite excited about the prospect of going on a maglev... it's just a shame that our flight times mean only get to use it during 300km/h hours rather than 430km/h hours! Sounds like we'll be spending most of our evening on the Bund.

Point taken on avoiding taxi scams - the subway should be fine for us though, last time I was in Beijing I don't think I used a single taxi in the whole week I was there.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I'm quite excited about the prospect of going on a maglev... it's just a shame that our flight times mean only get to use it during 300km/h hours rather than 430km/h hours! Sounds like we'll be spending most of our evening on the Bund.

Point taken on avoiding taxi scams - the subway should be fine for us though, last time I was in Beijing I don't think I used a single taxi in the whole week I was there.

Normally I would recommend taxis for all travel in shanghai... the subway is crowded and there can be very long walks at interchange stations (like half a kilometre). Taxis are easy (if you can find one) and almost as cheap as the subway if there are two of you (maybe $1 more than the subway).

It's just the taxis at the maglev that are the problem (a taxi to the maglev is fine, but I think you're too late for the first train of the day).

The Waldorf usually has a jazz singer in the evenings. A great place to relax and a piece of history in the restored 1920s Long Bar. The Peace Hotel also has jazz... but it's a band, get noisy, and is usually crowded with people. Worth a look, but maybe not to stay.

I recommend Lost Heaven for something Chinese, as opposed to M on the Bund which is Aussie cuisine. Not much point! and Lost Heaven is about 1/10th the cost.

I think with the available time you have the Bund is about as good as you can get for Shanghai.

 

[Denali]

Food, just enjoy the food, because it will ruin you for when you get home and someone says, 'lets get Chinese for dinner'. It will never be as good.