Shanghai

gggareth

Any tips, ideas for a first visit to Shanghai.

Staying in Central Shangai. not far from the Peoples Garden,
Nanjing road area

GGG

Tabasco

I visited like over a decade ago so I really don't quite remember the names and the exact location of these places but these are what I remember:

1) YuYuan Garden - lot of restaurants selling dumplings, noodles and little shops in a beautiful old style walking bridge setting. In the middle there was a tea house/tower which served dimsums and of course a variety of teas! Very traditional. I remember it was slightly crowded but it was a beautiful place - well, back then anyway. So worth going there.

2) I think I stayed close to where you are staying (Nanjing Road rings a bell) and if that is the case, there is a big temple that has thousands and thousands of buddha statues - it could be called ten thousand buddha temple or something......if you can't find it, there are many temples that are historic and worth visiting. Just don't shout or keep flashing with your camera whilst others worshiping!!

3) I can't remember the name of the road by the rivier where you can see the TV Tower on the other side. There are quite a few old style western buildings with roof converted to clubs and restaurants. It's very nice to have a drink or a meal at night overseeing the river view. Very colourful.

Sorry for not being able to give you the exact locations and names - try tripadvisor or fodor, should give you a bit of ideas.

pandora205

I've never visited but just read 'The Other Wife' by Tony Parsons which is set in Shanghai and gives a real flavour of the city, with (apparently) much accurate detail.

Pollycat

Just returned from Shanghai, we thought the Museum was really great.

The road that Tabasco is (I think) talking about is The Bund.

On the Pudong side of the river, you can go up the Pearl of the Orient TV tower, and The World Financial Center Observatory in the tallest building in Shanghai has recently opened - I think it's open to visitors at night.

Xin Tian Di is a pedestrian area with shops and eating places, lots of little alleyways, in the French Quarter.

You can take a trip on the Huangpu river on a number of different boats.

Do be aware that Shanghai is hosting the 2010 Exposition and currently seems to be one big building site.

Shanghai is a relatively new city and as such doesn't have a lot of cultural sights.