A Shanghai Travel Guide to Save You MoneyShanghai travel can be incredible with the city lined with delicious food, fascinating cultural sites and a people filled with hope at growing prosperity. I loved this city despite the fact that it was also one of the most expensive cities I have visited in Asia. The newest buildings are massive skyscrapers packed into the city like monstrosities of steel. They are impressive in scale but it's the old parts of Shanghai that hold the history. Luckily, new construction isn't permitted to encroach upon historical buildings or sites. Even the 'unhistorical' Shanghai seems to have set up shop in the back alleys. It's not uncommon to find an Armani Shop on the main road with a steaming soup kitchen and pirated cd vendors in the alleyway behind. The noodle / soup kitchens are filled with cheap and delicious food but be careful of the salt in the glass jar on every table. It isn't salt at all but purified MSG, a chemical banned in the West because it was proven to cause certain forms of Cancer. Then there are the fascinating sites to see, such as Ji'ang Temple and Nanjing Road and the Infamous Shanghai Bund. I loved Shanghai because of these things. But before I went to Shanghai, I had a hard time finding any good budget information on local tours, budget hotels, good Dinners and well...just about everything. So I went out and bought the Lonely Planet Best of Shanghai It seems everyone has a stake in promoting $50USD a night rooms when many can be had for under $20USD. Some of the best deals on budget Hotels and Guesthouses can be found at Hostelbookers.com / Shanghai, China.
How to Get Into The City From The AirportIt was the middle of the night when my plane landed at Pudong airport in early January 2008. We did the Shanghai travel thing and remained in the city there until late that same year. Shanghai has two airports: Hongqiao Airport (Domestic flights) and Pudong Airport (International flights). It was cold as hell outside and the reception from the immigration officers was no less frigid. I started my Shanghai travel adventure by getting into a cab outside the front doors. The 430 kph (270 mph) Maglev train shuts service at 10pm and it was way past that time.
I highly recommend getting on that 430kph Rocket Train if you can. It speeds directly into the city and connects you with Shanghai's vast underground Metro system. You can do any Shanghai travel you want, to anywhere in the city once you get yourself into the arteries of the underground Metro system. But that Maglev is special and should not be missed. It is how the Maglev gets you into the city center that makes it so special. The train doesn't actually touch the track. It floats over a bed of magnets without touching the track. This allows it to go so fast that you will pass trees, houses and buildings that are literally a blur. The Maglev costs 50RMB ($7USD) one-way and departs from either the Pudong International airport or the city center every 15 to 20 minutes on an 8:30am to 5:30pm schedule. The MagLev will get you from the airport to the Longyang Road MagLev/Metro station on the Pudong side of downtown Shanghai in as little as seven minutes. A taxi would take about 30 minutes for the same trip. And cost you 200RMB or $30USD. A one-way arrival transfer on the MagLev train from Pudong International Airport to your hotel in Shanghai can be purchased. Anyone who would like to save time, stress and uncertainty after a long flight should look into it. All you have to do is book your Maglev Tickets online. With this deal, someone will be waiting at the arrivals gate with a sign with your name on it. Just grab them and they will get you to the Maglev without fuss and get you directly to your hotel. Find out more about the Maglev Airport Transfer here. Or, if you can't handle the speed, then there is also a shuttle service. Sometimes the flight is a long one and I may be arriving late at night. The last thing I need is the hassle and worry of where I'm going to get a cab and if they know where my hotel is and if they are going to rip me off or not (The cab driver). That is where I spend the money and get one of these airport transfers. I may scrounge every penny from that day forward but it can be money well spent to have someone waiting at the airport, help you into a warm and comfortable car and driven directly to the doorstep of your hotel. It can be expensive to us budget travelers but money well spent. The best budget One-way and return transfers from Pudong International Airport to your hotel can be booked online here before you even go. Find out more about the private transfer airport shuttle service here. I Took a CabWhat a mistake. It cost me nearly as much as the airport transfer shuttle. The driver went for a good old fashined drive through the city and he dropped me off on the side of the road. Compare that with the Maglev or Shuttle service to your door. Shanghai travel at its best! Few cab drivers speak English so if you intend to do some Shanghai travel then have a map and a written address to your destination handy. The driver will want to check it 18-40 times during the long ride. Anyway, once underway we headed for a hostel I had picked out in my 'Budget' Shanghai Travel Guidebook. It's was called the Captain Hostel and seemed very nice inside until they told me the price. $60USD for a single room and $10USD a night for a bed in a dorm filled with snoring, hacking bodies (And that's only if you book weeks in advance. When I got there I was told there was no vacancy). I was shocked and only then realized how expensive accommodation was going to be. The other prices at The Captain Hostel go like a menu at the Hilton hotel with Paris as your housemaid. Shanghai travel at its best! I left there as soon as I could. I'd seen another hostel along the road on the taxi ride in. It was a heck of a long walk but I was enjoying my Midnight Shanghai travel Excursion nonetheless. I decided to start this website during that long walk. I was just so miffed. I thought I was getting good information from my Guidebook about Budget Accommodation in Shanghai when in fact, it was just herding me to the highest commission. People still laugh at me today for putting so much work into a website that counts Expedia.com, Travelocity and Yahoo Travel among its competitors. I could never compete with the travelocity's and Expedias on the web because they have so many thousands of pages and dollars. But those 'Huge' web sites with all those pages offer little information about any of the destinations besides a few power words and a box to fill in your credit card details. Then I found Site Build It! and they made it easy to build a website. They do all the maintenence on the site and get me on all the search engines. All I have to do is write the words and click 'upload'. It's the answer that I'd been looking for. I wanted to pass along what I'd learned about living and traveling to these cities on a budget and a web site was the way to go. Where to stay in ShanghaiI hiked along to the other hostel I'd seen on the taxi ride in. It was a hell of a long walk and got a lot of Shanghai travel done on that first night. My bag was heavy and everyone wanted to have a borrow out of my wallet. I finally made it to the Mingtown Hiker Youth Hostel. It was a great little place with dorm beds at $6USD a night and single rooms for $14USD a night. There is wireless internet access in the rooms and it's a 5 minute walk to The Bund on the Yangze river overlooking the Oriental Pearl Tower. I wanted to be as close to The Bund during my Shanghai travel adventure. There are many other areas in Shanghai but The Bund really is at the heart of it all. The Bund is the best place in Shanghai to stay while you do your Shanghai travel. It is where most things are happening and with the Yangze river nearby and the Museums and Shopping on Nanjing road, it is the closest place to Shanghai's best amenities. Also, the Bund is well dotted with Subway access stations and the subway can get you to anywhere in the city. I'll never forget our evening walks along Nanjing road and our strolls along the Riverfront with the famous Oriental Pearl Tower as our backdrop. The highlight of our Shanghai travel. Have a look at the map below.
If this tiny map isn't good enough then Click here for an extremely detailed map of Shanghai. You will need Adobe Reader installed on your computer in order to open and see this detailed map of Shanghai Travel. You can download the free Adobe Reader here. If you just want to see the map before you do any Shanghai travel, just click on the link. However, if you want to download the Map and print it out to view later, then right-click on the link and choose "Save Target As" or "Save File As." Then select where you want to save the file on your hard drive. Once you have saved the file, locate where you saved it, and double click to open. In order to print, open the downloaded Shanghai travel Map, and select the "Print" option from the menu. Here are the nine Districts referred to as the Shanghai city core. Learn more about them by clicking the link and decide for yourself where you would like to stay: The Nine Districts That Make Up The Shanghai City Core
Things to do in ShanghaiFor a good look at the best attractions in Shanghai and how to get there, have a look here. Come back and watch the movie below. It's not satellite TV but it gives you a nice look at Nanjing Road so you can do some Shanghai travel of your own: Is There Any Work in Shanghai?Shanghai now is a place of opportunity and growth. It is the Rat Race defined and glorified with such a massive population that the people lack space or have the courtesy to give it to you. Spoiled foreigners we are. I worked in Shanghai while I was there. Jobs and opportunity are amazingly abundant. It's a place to work and shop with quite a few scams for foreigners to watch for and few places to visit other than the places listed here. I did enjoy living there for 8 months but it got stressful and I was glad to leave in the end. If you have to work that 9am - 5pm job, taking the Shanghai Subway the entire time, then it can be a grind. Living in Shanghai can be quite easy as long as you can get a decent job. And jobs are everywhere but unfortunately the wages are very poor. Teaching English is an easy choice with such an abundance of schools to choose from.
Typical Shanghai WeatherIt gets pretty cold in the winter months. My last Shanghai travel adventure began in the first week of November. It snowed while I was there but it was light snow and didn't stay long. A one year Shanghai travel stint will fully reveal all four seasons to you. The temperatures are freezing (0°F) during the winter season and a 32°C (90°Fahrenheit) average high during the hottest months of July and August. Temperatures extremes have been recorded as low as -10°C (-14°F) and +41°C (+105°F). This is not uncommon. Despite the weather extremes, I recommend taking nothing but the clothes on your back! Please don't load your suitcases with warm cloths. Clothing is the one thing that is of good quality, abundant and cheap. I mean cheap like 25% of what you'd pay at home. Many of the clothes are slightly flawed original brand-name clothing so check the seams and try them on before buying. Sometimes the flaw is so small that it is insignificant. if that's the case, you've got a pair of original Gucci Jeans for $20USD! The best place to find those flawed Items is at the:
This market is THE place for finding everything from art to clothing and golf clubs. Most of what you'll find are high quality copies or flawed name-brand products. The day after a landed in Shanghai I went through this market and bought pretty much everything I needed but soon became tired of bartering. The shopkeepers really do attempt to get every penny they can. It's as if they figure they've won the lottery the minute the rich foreigner enters their shop. T-shirts can start at $30USD and eventually coming down to $3USD. Most items were double what they eventually accepted from us so barter here or else the market will quickly become the most expensive place you've ever shopped. The market is located opposite Xiangyang Park, along Huai Hai Zhong Road. The nearest Metro station is called the 'Shanxi Nan Road' Station. The fresh produce markets in this video are along Nanjing road, but typical of others around the city. Links to Websites of Interest
cheapoair.com is designed to find discounted fares not posted on individual airline websites; additionally, they will search fares from hundreds of airlines, saving you the time and trouble. I have yet to find a better site that delivers cheap air tickets on a regular basis. Always be wary of a fare posted on a site that seems too good to be true. There are some online travel sites that do not display the total cost of the ticket in the search. Some will only show you the base fare for the ticket and tack on the fees and taxes in the checkout process. Additionally, always double-check what the travel service charges for booking fees before filling out your credit card information.
I'm often amazed at how people make money selling on Ebay.com. The prices are so low compared to retail stores that it seems off. If you don't like the idea of bidding against people and sitting around for hours, waiting to see if you won, click on the "Buy it Now" button if the price is right. There is simply no place with more selection and better prices on those things you'll need for your shanghai travel adventure. Heck, you might even find a cheaper flight ticket.
The Lonely Planet Best of Shanghai
These are the 2 best hotel booking websites on the Web, bar none.   Leave Shanghai Travel Page for Vietnam Travel Page
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