Space Age Shanghai
Hong Kong. Tokyo. Seoul.
Shanghai is unlike these glistening cities. It is, however, a sight to behold.
We came up from the subway into Blade Runner. It looks like whoever is in charge of building the city upon the sea has had every whim recognised from hotels built on stilts to holes cut out of elephantine concrete galleries. Then there is the train that goes 268 mph to take us from the airport to the city (19 miles) that serves no other purpose than getting us there seven minutes. It is unsurprising to have to put our cases put through security to get on this, the fastest train on earth. I am taken aback to learn that this happens before every train and yet there were no hold-ups or fuss. Imagine everyone on the London Tube having to put their bags through the security machine before going through the ticket barriers?
Like other mega-cities, Shanghai has a mix of old and new although the dominance of the bright glass towers jostling for space in the made-for-Insta skyline dwarf the pockets of traditional areas. We stayed close to the Yuyuan Garden District with its old streets that house the Old City Temple. Although the area should be on the to-do list it’s more touristy than Oxford Street and Times Square put together so best avoided at the weekends. We happened to be only there for a 4 day weekend on our way to the beloved’s big birthday celebration in New Zealand so made do through the crush and the heavy pick-pocket warnings.
It’s also worth walking through the French Concession although I needed to look up to spot the references. The neighbourhood does have a branch of the excellent SeeSaw coffee though which lead to the first of many visits. The cafe in the Muji store nextdoor was unlike any we’ve encountered in any other branch on our Asian travels.
By the time of the second stopover on the way back, I’d learned about an original HSBC branch (now the Municipal Government Building) where spectacular mosaic murals were discovered during renovations in the 1990s. The lions outside were the original British-made lions (miraculously saved during the war) and were replicated for the Hong Kong HQ in 1935 and more recently for the new UK HQ in Birmingham.
It’s situated along the Bund which while impressive in the day comes alive after sundown with the mix of gleaming towers advertising their wares and the toy-town like old buildings that are lit to look like gold jewels. We were beyond delighted we could see this view from our window during our second stay at the luxurious-as-you’d expect Kempinski.
Contesting for the most unusual sighting is the fume-filled four-minute boat ride where we were a handful of pedestrians amongst a ferry full of mopeds with motors running and cyclists with barely a helmet among any of them. The other is the sighting of a number of dark ships that went past amongst those brightly lit up like the proverbial Christmas tree. I thought they may have been pirate ships and stayed dark for a reason as I can’t imagine how a large ship would see them on a busy river.
The neon skyline reflects onto the river with one building just slightly taller than the next one and the next one slightly taller still in the never-ending game of who has the biggest tower.
With amazing views from every tall building, I didn’t bother paying to go up either the world’s second tallest building or the much prettier one that sits at number eight at the time of writing. This, the Shanghai World Financial Financial Centre earned the nickname the handbag from me (see above).
There are so many facilities and services for everyone from brolly rental to and the enormously long fit-for-purpose trains and the brilliant pedestrian crossings with the increasing and decreasing red & green lights indicating time left to wait or cross.
One thing’s for sure; the city is bright with ambition and they are delivering on the objective of becoming one of the world’s shiniest super cities.
Coffee Apart from branches of SeeSaw, we enjoyed Rumours and the casualness of Wonder Coffee plus Waga. There’s no way I can resist the latest in the international Tim Hortons empire either.
Food After a 13-hour China Eastern flight where every meal was only rice or noodles, we were a little bored of Chinese food before we’d even boarded the Maglev. I’ve never been a fan of Chinese food although love tonnes of Asian especially Thai, Vietnamese and Indian plus welcome any number of fusions across the flavoursome continent. One of the reasons I consider Hong Kong to be one of the best cities to eat is the sheer number of options in food courts that sit most often at the top of each high-rise shopping centre. Shanghai has this but to a less international degree so it’s great if you love Chinese food and/or meat. I’m especially fussy with the latter and will generally take a vegetarian option unless I know what the meat is which only some restaurants offered (if you looked at the menu hard enough). I especially avoid eating any animal’s head and China, as you probably know, has expertise in utilising every bit of an animal and sticking it on the menu.
This is probably why we took a shine to the new Shake Shack next to a newish Tim Hortons. Eating here immediately took us back to our last night of amazing (and life-changing) trip to Tokyo and so decided this is where our last dinner would be on the return stopover. It was as good as Tokyo with an extra dose of aspiration. Burgers are generally my last choice for a meal, maybe just before pizza. I have come away with a wonderful memory of the last night at Shake Shack when two (I think, Japanese) ladies shared our table with us and loved The Smiley Dudes that we travel with. They were using a translator (app, not human) to understand the menu whereas we’d kindly been offered English versions and were full of smiles for the cute dudes. I’m not sure if it’s the Japanese or South Koreans) who love cute more.
One of my favourite meals, Afternoon Tea proved a little tricky to decide upon as hotel websites are lacking menus. By the time we’d trekked to our third choice in the afternoon heat, we’d spent the best of an hour on our feet. It was fun to wander into the grand hotels, to begin with, but what looks close because you can see it from where you are standing could be a 20-minute walk away as the stomachs we’d kept empty for the big occasion began to grumble. The Shangri-la was a perfectly acceptable choice though it couldn’t possibly begin to compete with those we’ve adored in Hong Kong or Tokyo.
Shop
Shanghai is ambitious - like many cities I’ve visited - and has its fair share of wealthy inhabitants and similarly to Hong Kong, there are shops and shopping centres on every main street. Once inside, the international retail names mean you could be anywhere in the world although unlike Hong Kong they don’t have as many tall and slim shopping centres with 17 floors.
The only recommendation I had before I left from an acquaintance who described the city as the greatest place on earth is The Bund for coffee & views. It turns out we were staying close to anyway and at the second hotel coming back, we could see it from our hotel room. I don’t think my friend has travelled much. I’d put Vancouver, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Toronto and Seoul above it, not to mention Montreal and pretty much everywhere I’ve visited in Canada.
Like many evolving cities, Shanghai uses space well, for example, the excellent use of the former cow abattoir that’s now called 1933 Shanghai and used creatively for shops, offices and cafes. Especially as one was a dog cafe which we spent so much time outside we may as well have gone in. We went to the other Wonder Coffee which gave me a few ideas for how I’d like the lounge (we moved 6 months ago).
People are generally polite and genuinely welcoming except on the subway when they turn into Londoner’s on speed, especially during Friday’s commuter hour which is when we landed in Shanghai. Although I find it doesn’t tend to be Londoners who barge past knocking the bag of my shoulder without an apology; rather it’s people who have made it their home. We alighted the Maglev, the world’s fastest train that moved us the 19 miles from Pudong airport into Shanghai in less than 10 minutes, with two suitcases, hand luggage and several items of discarded clothing as we’d descended from winter into summer. Add in the fogginess that comes from a long-haul flight, we were ill-prepared for the crush of people that would shame America’s prisons.
Are other Chinese cities like Shanghai? I guess not. Shanghai is a space-age city built for the 21st city from the remains of a port village and it works incredibly well. In the space age, there is no cash, except if you are a tourist without a Chinese payment app or credit card. Luckily most places accepted the Monzo card we use for travels although we unexpectedly had to withdraw extra cash. We learned the long, hard way that cashpoints are often found in metro stations.
Shanghai is a city that promises much and delivers more.
