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Shanghai (上海) literally means 'above the sea' in Chinese and this name could date back to the Song Dynasty in the 11th century when there was a river confluence and a town with this name in the area. Once a fishing village, now Shanghai is the most populous city in China and third largest in the world. It also ranks sixth in the list of cities with most skyscrapers.
Leisure trip at a glance
Country / Region: People's Republic of China (Shanghai)
Period: 06 Nov to 10 Nov 2019
Flight timings:
06 Nov: SQ 830, SIN–PVG, ETD 0920 ETA 1435
10 Nov: SQ 831, PVG-SIN, ETD 1350 ETA 1940
Air tickets:
Return tickets at SGD 439.80 (inclusive of airport taxes)
Accommodations:
Holiday Inn Express Shanghai Tangzhen – 上海唐镇智选假日酒店 (06 Nov to 10 Nov)
Currency exchange rate:
CNY 100 = SGD 19.34 (Nov '19 period)
Here's the overview of the trip itinerary:
Day 1 – Breakfast in Changi Airport then boarded flight SQ 830. Checked in to Holiday Inn Express hotel. Visited Nanjing Road.
Day 2 – Visited Shanghai Disneyland and Disneytown. Had dinner in the mall near the hotel.
Day 3 – Explored Shanghai Museum and visited Yu Garden. Went to The Bund for some night photos and walked along Nanjing Road.
Day 4 – Visited Shanghai Natural History Museum. Went to Lujiazui for some shopping.
Day 5 – Took taxi to airport and boarded flight SQ 831 back to Singapore.
Shanghai Pudong International Airport (上海浦东国际机场)
The Shanghai Pudong International Airport is an international airport serving Shanghai and a major aviation hub of East Asia. It is located 30-km east of the city center. The IATA code for this airport is PVG.
The Singapore Airlines uses Terminal 2 of Pudong Airport. Opened on Mar 2008, the building has a roomy waiting hall of spacious and bright atmosphere (left photo below). As it was during the 'China International Import Expo' (CIIE) period, a display of traditional Chinese garden was found in the departure hall to promote the trade fair (right photo below).
Transportation
Getting in/out of the Airport
- Airport Shuttle buses
Eight airport bus lines serve the airport, providing rapid links to Shanghai various destinations, including Shanghai Hongqiao Airport. - Airport Taxi
Taxi is convenient and fast, but also the most expensive way to get to or leave Shanghai Pudong Airport. - Maglev Train
Maglev Train links Shanghai Pudong Airport with Longyang Road Metro Station, where transfer to Line 2, Line 7, and Line 16 is possible. The 30-km takes less than eight minutes. This was the transport mode I took when I first visited Shanghai in 2008 where there was no metro system linking to the airport. - Metro Line 2
Metro Line 2 connects Shanghai Pudong Airport with downtown of Shanghai, including Lujiazui, The bund, People's Square, and Hongqiao Airport. It is the cheapest and most convenient way among the four modes.
The Shanghai Pudong Airport Metro Station (浦东国际机场站) is located at the basement of the airport terminal (photos below).
This was the transport mode I took because the Tangzhen metro station (唐镇站) near my hotel is just seven stations away from this airport station.
Shanghai Metro (上海地铁)
The Shanghai Metro is a rapid transit system operating urban and suburban transit services to 14 of its 16 municipal districts and to neighboring township of Huaqiao in Kunshan Jiangsu Province.
Shanghai Metro system is the world's second longest metro system by route length (totaling 826-meters) and second largest system by number of stations (508 stations across 20 lines). Following is the map of Shanghai Metro Network (photo below).
The interior train cars are modern and user-friendly where announcements are made in Mandarin, English and Shanghainese (right photo below).
Their train stations, either underground (left photo below) or elevated platform (right photo below), looked very much like the MRT train stations in Singapore.
Holiday Inn Express Shanghai Tangzhen (上海唐镇智选假日酒店)
The Holiday Inn Express Shanghai Tangzhen is a 4-star hotel located within 10-mins walk from Tangzhen metro station of Line 2 (left photo below). Booked this hotel online at CNY 1,509.78 for four nights per standard room with daily breakfast. The restaurant is located on the ground floor and the hotel provides complimentary beverages to all guests (right photo below).
The room design was fashionable and had multifunctional furniture (photos below).
Bathroom was clean and what I liked was their instant supply of hot water during shower (photos below). This is definitely a plus point where most hotels I stayed required some time for the water to reach the desired temperature.
The hotel offered a variety of Western and Chinese style breakfast. It even served a bowl of wanton soup which was the most popular food among guests.
Following were my selections on my second day of stay (photos below).
Similar choices were made on my third day of stay (photos below).
Breakfast selections were typical and almost the same throughout on the fourth day (left photo below) and fifth (last) day of stay (right photo below).
Interesting Observations
- Shanghai also has its own version of yogurt (left photo below). Each bottle cost CNY 15 and its weighty ceramic jar can be used as flower-pot or stationaries holder.
- Temperature could reach as low as 14 °C in the evening during Nov period (right photo below). What caught my attention was the political slogans on the electronic flash board which reminded me that I was in a socialist country.
- Lively alpaca was found inside a shopping mall (left photo below). Recently this cute animal is gaining popularity among the Chinese as pets.
- Another interesting animal is the "Singapore Blue" that I saw in Shanghai Natural History Museum (right photo below). Although sounds like name of a cocktail or some porcelain pieces when first heard, this animal is a huge tarantula (spider) common in Singapore and Malaysia, and commonly kept as pets. Click here for its description in the Wikipedia.
- Huge floral decorations seem to be common in Shanghai where they can be found in large public area such as the People's Square (left photo below) and Lujiazui roundabout (right photo below). These floral decorations definitely require huge efforts to maintain them.
Food souvenirs are the most common and easiest to find. In addition, they are good for sharing among friends and can strike a conversation with anyone easily.
- Bought three flavors of my childhood 'White Rabbit' candies from a supermarket at Nanjing Road (left photo below). Each bottle cost around CNY 20 and contains about 26 pieces of candy. Its plastic container is sturdy enough to be used as food storage.
- Hand-made nougats were also popular item in Yuyuan commercial city (right photo below). Each pack cost about CNY 25 and had the nutty crunch in it.
Some useful links:
- National Geographic - Shanghai Travel Guide:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destination/shanghai - Shanghai Travel Guide:
https://www.meet-in-shanghai.net/ - Shanghai - Wikivoyage:
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Shanghai - Shanghai - Wikitravel:
https://wikitravel.org/en/Shanghai