aDayinShanghai | 4everdiscovering

A Day or Two in Shanghai

Shanghai was the end of our trip, so we were getting a little relaxed. Waking up a little later, and walking a little slower. We were there for around 5 days, and you could definitely do this city in 3 days including Disney. We took our time to discover and explore the city at a very slow pace.

First, I’ll talk about one of Shanghai’s major attraction; The Bund. Shanghai has an amazing city skyline. The Bund is an area along the waterfront where you can see the whole view from the review to the amazing buildings. We arrived to The Bund in the afternoon and it wasn’t quite dark yet. You got some nice pictures and the smog was not that bad that day. After taking some pictures, we decided to go grab a bite to eat. We walked back and it was darker and that’s when the site became magical, all lit up.

When you standing along the waterfront and look across the river, you see all a modern city skyline, but on the side side, you have buildings that look more “old fashioned”. The buildings are described to be more Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance Revival. (I took one art class in Grade 8 but research helped me remember the names of the styles) There is a clock tower, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank building, the Peace Hotel and other buildings. The main attractions of The Bund is the Oriental Pearl Tower. You can get an amazing view of the landmark from across the river. You can opt to cross the river and explore that side of the river and go up the Pearl Tower. The Bund is a nice area to walk when it’s not too crowded or too smoggy out. If you had to pick, I would definitely go at night!

We got the chance to check out a temple in Shanghai- there are a few popular ones- there is the Jing’an Temple, the Longhua Temple, and the Jade Buddha Temple. We walked by the Jing’an Temple, and we were told the price of the temple depends on the day of the year, and changes daily. Since, it was right after Chinese New Years many people were coming to the temple to pray for a healthy and prosperous new year, I guess they raised the price to about 100CNY- which is about 20 Canadian dollars

The Bund

Jade Buddha Temple

So, Danielle got to step in and take a quick picture and we got to enjoy the view for a good 30 seconds before leaving. From there we walked to the Jade Buddha Temple, luckily our friend had an app that could work offline. Then we arrived to the Jade Buddha Temple and paid nothing to go in. This temple is in the middle of the modern part of Shanghai. It was made in 1882 to hold two jade Buddha statues which came from Burma. One of the Buddhas is sitting and the other is laying on their side. Another large Buddha donated by Singapore has joined the temple, it is often mistaken for one of the originals, but it is made of marble! Whenever I enter a temple, there is peaceful and tranquil vibe that just slows your heart rate down and makes you relax. It’s a great place to go to get your head out of the city life and relax while enjoying amazing statues and sculptures.

The next spot was the Yuyuan Market, originally we were planning to go to the Yuyuan Garden, but because of the Chinese New Years the garden was closed and a huge set up of lights, and lanterns was set up. It is known as the Shanghai Old Street. The buildings in the Old Street range have a wide range of architectural style, from Qing Dynasty, early Republican period, Ming Dynasty. The Old Street is a perfect place to buy souvenirs and try new food. Danielle and I got to pick up gifts for our family. We got a pearl necklace with “The World’s Best Mother” engraved for our Moms (one for us too- saying World’s best people).... Bad joke….. We got some art of our Chinese Zodiacs. There were so many cool things to buy, if I had more money I would have definitely spent it all! Totally go at the end of your day/trip so you don’t have to carry your stuff everywhere you go.

Honestly, you do not need a lot of time in Shanghai… I think we stayed for a little too long. It is the financial hub of China and is pretty cool to explore but there isn’t much to do. (in my opinion.) Top things: the Bund, Yu Garden, Yuyuan Market, M&M World, and Disney are the top attractions of this city.

Enjoyed the impressive city skyline and delicious dumplings in Shanghai!