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“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”

– St. Augustine

China Travels - Shanghai

12/31/2015

1 Comment

 
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Shanghai Tower
The last leg of our trip was Shanghai for NYE 2015. #gottacelebrateinstyle #wanderlust #travelers   We had an early flight from Xi'an and arrived in Shanghai around 10/11am.  We took the subway to our hotel, the Marriott located near The Bund (neighborhood), and it only took an hour and a half ;)  For those who know my dad, the original Whittey world traveler, he has stayed in this hotel a few times - so kind of fun following my dad's footsteps :) #likefatherlikedaughter #lovethatdude
We had an amazing view from our room (check out the pic below).  But after we checked in, we were HUNGRY.  And I get #hangry when I'm hungry and tired - so Nate knew we had to find food immediately.  We didn't find much around the hotel that had English menus and we were craving some dumplings or soup.  Randomly, we walked by this tiny hole in the wall spot and people were eating delicious looking soup at tables on the street.  The menu had absolutely no English, but we pointed to some soup that one of the people had and held up two fingers.  #workedlikeacharm #weshouldorderthiswayeverytime (this seems to be my dad's strategy when he travels as well - works well!)

We found a tiny table in the restaurant where we got to watch them hand make the noodles while we waited for our food.  It did not disappoint and this was one of our top meals in China #neverknowwhereyoullfindem
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View from our room at the Marriott
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The menu we ordered from - what would you order? ;)
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This guy was hand making the delicious noodles #pleaseteachme
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Our delicious soup - rated in our top 3 meals of our trip!
Now that I was no longer #hangry, we were able to explore the neighborhood around our hotel a bit.  
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Old Street
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Old Street
So since it was NYE - we had to figure out our plans!  Unfortunately, the shut the metro down around 8pm on NYE and it's super hard to find a taxi #justlikeinAmerica!   Luckily, our hotel was having a NYE celebration at the lounge on top of the hotel #17thfloor  Even though we missed friends and family, we had fun celebrating half way across the world.  #NYE2015! #Bringon2016  And since it was at our hotel, we had an easy commute back to the room :)
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Picture count'n down til New Years 2016!
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View from the top of the hotel
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Can't have a NYE without champs!
The next morning, after face-timing with our buddies (Ryan, Steff, Mel, Jaime, and big D) for their NYE countdown back home, we were in desperate need for some healthy food to nurse our NYE hangovers.  I had read about an organic, healthy food place in one of the malls in the Pudong neighborhood.  The Shanghai Tower and Shanghai World Financial Center is also located here, so we got to do some site seeing as well
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Shanghai subway
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Shanghai subway
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Selfie in front of the Shanghai Tower #butfirstleftmetakeaselfie
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Shanghai World Financial Center
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View of Pudong area
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View of Pudong area
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Sproutworks! This made me miss all the healthy spots in San Diego
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Ready to drink our healthy smoothies, healthy sandwich, and healthy soup! #muchneeded #startnthenewyearoffright
So the plan was for us to go up the in the Shanghai Tower and take a boat cruise on the Huangpu River.  Unfortunately, apparently New Years is a huge holiday in China, and a lot of people vacation during this time, meaning Shanghai was PACKED.  Only a 4 hour wait to go up in the Tower and the boat cruise was booked for the next week.... #poorplanning Usually I'm a good planner but I did not anticipate the crowds :(

So we headed over the Science & Technology Museum metro stop where the AP Xinyang Fashion & Gifts Market is located.  It is Shanghai's largest collection of shopping stalls.  My dad has been talking about this place for years and I can remember him coming home with 'Ralph Lauren' polos and 'Rolex' watches.  #thanksdad  His advice: never pay more than 10-20% more of the starting bid/price.  Needless to say, I was excited to see this place and practice my bargaining skills :)  Nate and I cleaned up!  He did make me play the bad cop though during negotiations.... oh well - I stayed strong and got us some great deals!
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Underground market
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Who needs a watch?!
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Our loot - 'Tom's', 'Michael Kors' purse, 'Channel' purse, watches, a 'Northface' jacket, luggage tags, iPad case, iPhone case, 'Raybans', and an external battery charger
A good friend from my sorority at Berkeley lived in Shanghai for a couple years with her now husband.  She gave us a bunch of recommendations to try, one of them being Boxing Cat Brewery - the top rated brewery in China (located in the French Concession district).  Well, we had already hit up the number 2 spot in Beijing, so of course we had to go to the top spot.  We took a cab from our hotel over.  Fun lesson, the Chinese taxi drivers like to honk.  A LOT.  I think our driver honked 90% of our drive, even when other people weren't around us...
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Boxing Cat Brewery
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My beer sampler #ourloveforcraftbeerremainsstrong
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Cheers!
Next, we walked over to Yongkang Road Bar street.  It's a small strip of yongkang road that has a bunch of small, little bars on it - apparently it popped up and became hip overnight in 2013.  

I made the mistake of saying I was tired and we should make it an early night.... #famouslastwords #neverworksoutthatwayonceisayit  We ended up meeting some Marines who were stationed at the Chinese Embassy (two dudes and a girl).  The two guys were dressed up quite classy - and for those of you who watch Netflix Peaky Blinders, you would have recognized them instantly #peakyblinders #watchitnow #oldenglishcharm  Basically, dressed up as old school, English around the 1920s.  After drinking with them for a while, we met some other fun Americans who were vacationing from Seoul.  We had quite the crew and didn't want to end the night when the bars shut down around 2.  So our American Embassy Marine buddies called their driver (yes, their driver) - who drove us all to another spot they knew of where we played pool, darts, and took tequila shots til about 4:30 in the morning..... not an early night (unless you count early morning..?)  Totally worth it and we had a blast!  #memorieslastalifetime #woulddoitagain
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We took it easy the next day after our wild night #cantpartylikewere21anymore... We tried to see an acrobat show - but alas, it was also sold out.  :(

We didn't get to do as much as we wanted to do in Shanghai due to the crowds, but we still had fun, and it was great getting to connect with my dad over a city he loves from across the world, and make new travel memories with my amazing hubby.

Our last morning in Shanghai, we walked along The Bund and grabbed one more dumpling lunch before our flight back to Okinawa.  

Things we learned in China:
  •    driving here is crazy (sidewalks are not off limits, pass on both sides of the road, two lanes easily becomes 4-5 lanes)
  •    people love to honk their horns 
  •    the food is amazing.  Our top 3 meals: Peking Duck (Beijing), Dumpling Meal (Xi'an), yummy Soup (Shanghai)
  •    the people weren't overly friendly to Americans/foreigners #wewerenteasytospotwerewe? #blondehairblueeyes, but hey, it was an experience.  Maybe if we lived here and had time to interact more with the locals...
  •    amazing sites - Great Wall, Terra Cotta Warriors - can't beat it
  •    great public transportation - the Beijing and Shanghai metros were so easy to use and great at getting around and exploring the cities

We plan on coming back to China to visit Zhangjiajie (floating mountains that inspired Avatar) and put our Chinese Visas to good use.  Thanks China!

Until next time folks!
​Megan
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The Bund
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The Bund
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The Bund
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The Bund
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The Bund
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The Bund
Follow in our Footsteps:

Renaissance by Marriott Shanghai Yu Garden Hotel
159 Henan S Rd., Huangpu Qu, Shanghai Shi, China 200010
+86 21 2321 8888
Website
Estimated noodle shop spot:  around this address
162 Fuyou Rd, Huangpu Qu, Shanghai Shi, China, 200010  (Also looks like this restaurant does something similar Masses Stretched Noodles)
Shanghai Old Street 
Baodai Long, Huangpu Qu, Shanghai Shi, China, 200010

Shanghai Tower
501 Yincheng Middle Rd, LuJiaZui, Lujiazui Residential District,
Pudong Xinqu, Shanghai Shi, China, 200120
Price:  
¥160

Oriental Pearl TV Tower
1 Century Ave, LuJiaZui, Pudong Xinqu, Shanghai Shi, China, 200120
Price:  
¥160-220
8am-10pm, revolving restaurant 11am-2pm & 5-9pm

Sproutworks
(in Super Brand Mall)
B2-06-07  168 Lu Jia Zui Xi Lu, Pudong Xinqu, Shanghai Shi, China
Hours:  10am - 10pm


AP Xinyang Fashion & Gifts Market 
Metro stop 
Science & Technology Museum
Hours:  10am - 10pm

Boxing Cat Brewery

82 Fu Xing Road West (near Yong Fu Road)
徐汇区复兴西路82号
+86 21 6431 2091
Hours:  Monday – Thursday 5pm – 2am,  Friday 3pm – 2am, Saturday – Sunday 10am – 2am

Yongkang Bar Street
located on Yongkang Rd between South Xiangyang Rd and Jiashan Rd.

The Bund (neighborhood)
 Zhongshan East 1st Rd, WaiTan, Huangpu Qu, Shanghai Shi, China, 200002

Other things to do that we didn't have time for (too crowded with New Years crowds)
  • River cruise
  • Dumpling making
1 Comment
Kim Whittey
5/26/2016 08:31:38 am

Always good. Always funny. Always informative! Thanks Megan! love u

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    Megan Bond - AUTHOR

    Just a girl raised in California and loved exploring Southeast Asia with my husband!  We're back in the States but still exploring the world as much as we can!

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