Yesterday evening, we arrived in Shanghai by train, as I already mentioned here. What we didn’t fully realise was that the Shanghai Hongqiao train station, where we arrived, was situated around 20 km away from the hotel we booked on trip.com, namely Jinjiang Metropolo Shanghai Xintiandi Hotel, situated at No. 120 Mengzi Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai, 200023, China.
This train station is near the Shanghai Airport, and in a way, I like it that both are located far from the city center, because that means less noise and pollution. The total cost for the taxi was 106 CNY, which is about 13 Euros.
We are impressed by how big and modern Shanghai looks, with lots of tall buildings, busy people, and the most amount of luxurious cars we ever saw in a city. If Chemnitz is a city where we saw the most amount of Dacia cars, Shanghai is the city where we saw the most amount of Porsche cars, as well as Bentleys and other brands such as BYD-Build Your Dreams, Xiaomi, Arcfox, Roewe, Tesla, etc.
When we arrived at our hotel, we received a room on the second floor with a view towards the street. From the window, we saw a group of people dancing at the entrance of the Liyuan park. After that, we wanted to go for dinner, and while going out from the hotel, we discovered that a very nice place selling vegetarian dumplings and other vegetarian food, such as soups, pasta, etc., is located only 10 meters away from our hotel here in Shanghai. What luck! We enjoyed some delicious vegetarian dumplings and other dishes there, and paid only 26 CNY for both of us (around 3 Euro).
After that, we walked a bit and admired Shanghai by night. At the corner of the street, we found a small corner shop where a lady sold fruits. We bought some lichies, a fruit that tastes like mulberries, black grapes, and cherries, and paid like 243 CNY (30 Euros). I was a bit surprised, thinking that Shanghai is more expensive than Beijing when it comes to buying fruits, because we bought an almost similar amount in Beijing and paid only around 160 CNY (20 Euros).
Today, the breakfast in this hotel was delicious, but the number of tables and the space in the restaurant were much smaller than what we had in the hotel while in Beijing. Also, the variety of dishes was smaller, but tasted as good, so all fine.
After that, we went for a walk in the Liyuan park situated in front of the hotel, which, btw., looks very clean and organised. Here, we saw again many people doing exercises, dancing, playing basketball, doing fitness in the open air, etc. People look comfortable and happy, which makes my heart contempt.
After that, because we saw many bikes of different colours, such as blue, green, and yellow, we decided to go for a ride with two blue ones after we activated them with the help of an AliPay scan. It was so much fun, especially because we hadn’t biked together for a few years. Note: The bike lanes in Beijing and Shanghai are very large, maybe 2 meters wide, at least double the width of the ones I saw in Germany.
We biked for almost two and a half km to see a place called Tianzifang. After buying some souvenirs and gifts there, we biked back to the hotel. Before reaching the hotel, we went to the same fruit shop we went to yesterday evening and bought some oranges instead. After asking if any of the fruits we bought yesterday had an unusually higher price than the others, the answer was yes. Guess which fruit? Not the lichies, not the mulberries. It was the pink cherries!… which are around four times more expensive than the other fruits we bought yesterday!
After some rest at the hotel and enjoying some fruits, we took a taxi and went to visit The Bund, which requires no ticket, entrance being free. We paid under 3 Euro for 4,5 km to the Bund from our hotel! See how cheap the taxi is here?! The view there was awesome, with so many high modern buildings, and we saw lots of people taking pictures. We did the same, after which we walked on the Bund promenade with thoughts about which city we like more, Beijing or Shanghai. I said I like Beijing more due to its classic charm. Dipty said she likes Shanghai more due to its modern look and a more international vibe, reminding her of the city she grew up in, New Delhi.
After that, because we saw some City Sightseeing buses parked down near the Bund, we decided to buy two tickets, which cost us 100 CNY (12 Euro). This way, we saw how Shanghai looks from the blue bus route. Tomorrow, we can use the same tickets for free and go on the red bus route as well. How cool. At the end of the bus ride, we saw an orange cat sitting with her two small kitties in a park, resting on a stone between flowers.
After that, we returned to the hotel with the taxi, and in the evening, we went for dinner at the same place near our hotel. Here, we enjoyed some very delicious dishes, such as 2 vegetarian steamed buns, 9 vegetarian dumplings, two types of soups, 1 sticky reis with bean paste, and a yoghurt dessert. In total, we paid 65 yen (8 Euro). The people in Asia know how to cook very delicious food, and they are also so hospitable!
After that, we went for a walk in the Liyuan park again, and this time, we saw around 5-6 groups of people, mainly in their 50s and older, playing music on their own “Marshall type of loudspeaker” and dancing, or doing tai chi, or stretching, etc. They were spread throughout the entire park. It was so nice to see them moving and having fun. At some point, a lady, maybe in her 60’s, came with her older mother, maybe in her 80’s, to join one of the groups and dance. Her mother could barely move, but she sat on a bench, watching her daughter and the others having fun dancing. I’m sure these kinds of activities help not just physically, but also mentally, as people keep themselves connected, listen to nice music daily, chat, etc. Finally, near the Liyuan park, we saw a small market selling tea leaves, so we went and bought some great-quality jasmine tea, and for around 1 kg, we paid 300 CNY (37 Euro).
Good night from Shanghai!
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