Shanghai is our penultimate destination in China. It is China’s largest city and an important economic center. There are 3 most famous parts in Shanghai – the Bund, Pudong and People’s square. The Bund is a street along a river lined with large historic buildings of banks, trading companies and hotels. There are also plenty of bars, restaurants and designer shops. From the promenade in this part is the best view of Pudong, which is a modern part full of skyscrapers (by the way you will find there the 2nd tallest building in the world Shanghai Tower). People Square’s is a park with museums, art galleries, merry-go-rounds and lakes.
Quick breakdown of the itinerary of what we did
We started our day at 8 am with a tour of the Bund so we were able to overtake most tourists. This allowed us to enjoy the great view of Pudong, which was slightly in the fog (or smog? Who knows …), but still the buildings in this part were breathtaking. In the Bund we found the Deloitte building, which was one of the most beautiful. Tom was very pleased and was rightly proud of his business. Then we went to People Square´s and had a lunch.
Our next stop is Pudong which is a business district with skyscrapers. We went there by subway which costs 3 yuan or you can take a city ferry which costs 2 yuan. We did not go to anywhere to see the city from top because of the price of lookouts, but the view from below was also worth it! Unfortunately, we didn’t make it, but the next time we were in Shanghai, we would definitely go to the roof of the Edison Hotel (Editionhotels.com). On the 29th floor is a restaurant that offers amazing views of Pudong (you need to make a reservation in advance!).
Maglev train – how to travel with Maglev in Shanghai
Maglev is the world’s fastest commercial train and its maximum speed is 431 km/h. The train runs regularly (every 20 minutes) from the airport to the center of Shanghai and back. It works on the principle of magnetic levitation, and a system of superconducting magnets is built into the track and train.
We arrived at the airport with a public subway (it took about half an hour to get there, statition Shanghai International airport) and then we bought tickets for Maglev. One ticket costs 50 RMB, it is about 6,5 EUR. The Maglev interior was modern and the train was half-empty, probably because of the price. At the start we felt the train lift slightly and then rushed so fast that we were back in the center in 8 minutes!
