Shanghai Surprise

My few hours in the centre of Shanghai were the highlight of my trip. I went to the aquarium, which was very good, and the tower. Also dinner at M on the Bund was excellent.

Quick Tips:

If you are at a hotel, get the concierge to either give you a hotel card in Chinese, or get them to write the hotel name and address in Chinese, as most taxi drivers do not speak English. My hotel, the Renaissance Pudong gave out cards with the hotel details in Chinese, plus all the local landmarks, so you could just show this to the driver and get where you want to go.

Best Way To Get Around:

Taxis are available just about everywhere. Well, in the area I was in anyway. All the ones I used were metered, so you know you are being charged correctly. They also print a receipt for you.

Driving in Shanghai leaves a lot to be desired and you feel that you are taking your life in your hands every time you get in a cab. They drive very erratically and scarily, but they are cheap.

This hotel is located in the Pudong area of Shanghai, which is essentially the business area. It was ideally located for our exhibition as it was only a 5 minute taxi ride, however it is not a hotel for anyone wanting to do the tourist thing as it is too far from the tourist areas.

I was greeted from my limo at the hotel entrance and my bag was taken from me. After I had checked in, they told me my bag would be sent up to my room, and it duly about 5 minutes later.

The room was a good size, not huge, but reasonable. The furnishings were very nice, and the bedding looked expensive. There was a good size wardrobe, which housed a safe, iron, and ironing board. The bed was a king bed with lots of cushions, two bedside tables with a rather modern looking alarm clock. There was a lovely glass desk to work at with a fruit bowl, hotel brochures, and even pen, pencils, ruler, and erasers provided.

The bathroom was very nice, with separate bath and shower and a modern washbasin with lots of toiletries provided. Lots of fluffy white towels were also available, along with bathrobes, although these were of a thinner, cotton fabric.

I also had a kettle with coffee and tea making, a mini bar, and lots of bottled water in the main room and the bathroom, so plenty to brush teeth etc with. The TV had quite a few channels, although only five or six were English including CNN, National Geographic and two US movie channels.

My room was an executive room, which meant that I had access to the business lounge. This was located on the 26th floor and you could use the Internet free on the PC’s provided or bring your laptop and plug yourself in. There were only two computers, so sometimes people would have to wait to use them, also the laptop connectors were beside the installed PC’s so people ended up almost sitting on top of each other.

The business lounge is also where you take breakfast, as it is free with executive rooms. There was a small buffet provided which consisted of a small selection of fruit—usually just melon, some hot food such as scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, muffins, Danish and bread and bagels to toast. It was adequate, but if this does not appeal you can still get room service breakfast, to go down to the restaurant and have breakfast there, although you would have to pay separately for this.

The hotel has several restaurants; bars etc and all the staff were friendly and spoke good English. I would definitely recommend this hotel for the business traveller.

This restaurant is located on the second floor of the Renaissance Pudong hotel, and you can either have a buffet or order from the menu.

The buffet was extensive and consisted of both Chinese and western food. You have to order drinks separately, and sometimes the waiters were a little slow delivering.

If you order from the menu you get a good choice of food. Anything from sandwiches to pizza, Chinese to pasta, and other things in between. I had one of the nicest pizzas I have ever had at this restaurant.

The prices for both the menu and buffet were good and I would recommend this restaurant, as they seem capable of catering to most tastes.

This is a nice, relaxed lounge located in the lobby of the hotel. There is running water, piped music, and waitresses to serve drinks and snacks. It leads to a bar area which again is a cosy, relaxed area to chill out. Some nights whilst we were there were a couple of Chinese girls singing with an electric organ. We found it a little annoying, and the sound was quite loud. Also their singing was not the best I have ever heard.

But if all you want is a drink to wind down at the end of the day, then this is a good place.

I ended up in the aquarium in Shanghai simply because it was pouring rain. I was with a group of colleagues and we wanted to get out of the rain, and the aquarium was the first place we saw. We paid the equivalent of about $5 for entry.

The aquarium mapped out to start with the beginning of time, and moving onto the present day. So the first things you see are mudskipper type fish, that apparently were around at the start of life on earth. You follow the experience round and see all sorts of strange fish and mammals.

I have to say that having been to an aquarium in just about every place I have ever visited, this one is the best. It is incredibly clean and very easy to get around. They also boast the longest underwater tunnel, where you see sharks, rays, etc., swimming around you.

The viewing areas are themed, so you will see beaches and shipwrecks etc. This makes it very interesting. All the information points are in both Chinese and English, and it is obvious that the Chinese want to start conserving their wildlife.

If you go to Shanghai, I would strongly suggest you go to the aquarium, even if, like me you have been to many others.

There is the obligatory shop as you exit, which has a very strange way of handling purchases. My colleague was buying stuffed toys for his kids and he picked one up from a huge display to take to the till and the woman, who spoke no English grabbed it off him and gave him a ticket instead. The same happened with another person. You then take the ticket to the till and someone goes back to the display and picks up the item you wanted and brings it to the till for purchase—very odd indeed.

Located in the heart of Shanghai, this rather strangely designed tower offers an opportunity to view Shanghai from 468m. It is the tallest tower in Asia and the third tallest in the world.

There are several different types of ticket to buy which allow you to go to different levels. We bought the most expensive which sends you first to the round segment near the bottom of the tower. The second stop is s lift up to the top section. Here the views are much better. The third stop is to the bottom of the tower.

We went when the light was just starting to go down, so we saw the views in daylight and in the dark. Both have their bonuses, so if you can go when you will see both you get the best of both worlds.

I flew upper Class with Virgin Atlantic to get from London to Shanghai. The new Upper Class Suite they have is very different from other airlines I have flown with.

You get a seat, which is angled, away from the window into the aircraft. This makes it slightly awkward to look out of the window, if that is what you want to do. The seat reclines to various levels, but if you get off the seat and press a button, the whole seat rotates and transforms into a flat bed.

Virgin gives you a sleep suite, which is like a track suite you can sleep in. You also get a duvet and big pillow, making sleeping on the plane a pleasant experience.

The food they serve is very good quality and beautifully presented. They do offer food to order, so you can have your meal whenever you want. I found however, that they do try to get everyone to eat at the same time if possible.

Snacks are available throughout the flight at the bar area. Yes, there is a bar onboard. It is a small bar where drinks and snacks are served. You can sit at one of the bar stools and chat to other travellers.

They also have a masseuse onboard who offers various types of massage throughout the flight.

You also get an on-demand entertainment system, so you can watch the latest films, TV shows, and games, whenever you want. There were lots of choices and some had not even been released yet—well not in the UK anyway.

My only gripe would be that if you were travelling with a partner, the seats are very private, so you cannot hold a conversation with your neighbour as you would normally. You do get a stall with your seat, or ottoman as Virgin calls it, where guests can visit and sit to talk with you. It even has a seatbelt for safety. However, if you are travelling solo, the seats are very good as you never have to even look at someone else if you don’t want to.