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Unusual things to do in Shanghai

June 5, 2011 By Guest Blogger

It may be a surprise to learn that in Shanghai, the world’s most populous city, there can be found both a lake and a mountain.

Silver Shovel Lake and Iron Arm Mountain are man-made features of the parkland to the west of the city, and have been designed to transplant nature into the cityscape. They are part of Changfeng Park. Designed in 1958, it boasts a tranquil cherry blossom garden, ornate lily ponds, a fragrant Chinese Rose Garden and examples of significant contemporary sculpture. The Changfeng Ocean Aquarium, a fairly recent addition in 1999 homes over 10,000 species in its sapphire waters. Beluga Whales from the icy oceans of the Arctic and sleek river otters from mainland Asia are just a couple of its vast variety of species. Most notable, however, is its shark tank.

Changfeng is home to the largest collection of sharks in the world, with over 100 animals in total, including huge razor-jawed tiger sharks and aggressive white-tip reef sharks that look as though they’ve mistakenly dipped the very top edge of their dorsal fins in emulsion. If viewing the sharks isn’t a sufficient thrill, it’s possible to participate in the toe-curling Changfeng shark diving program. It must be booked two days in advance, and includes a tour of the aquarium, shark feeding, an exhilarating scuba dive among the giant predators with a qualified instructor, and even the opportunity to find and keep natural shark teeth from the habitat as fearsome mementos. (Editors note: too adventurous or right up your alley?)

The psychedelic tunnel in Shanghai is another experience which can’t easily be replicated. At least, not without the special effects team from an 80’s film and a fistful of hallucinogens. A glass car transports you through an underwater tunnel from Bund in Puxi to the base of the Oriental Pearl Tower in Pudong. The walls of the tunnel are illuminated by strobing lasers, rainbow phosphorescence and shadow projections, all accompanied by an ambient soundtrack and quirky audio commentary. It costs around 50Rmb ($7.50) , but as a one-off is essential.

Jinjiang Amusement Park opens its gates in late July and runs to September, from 8am until 9pm, daily Admission is a humble 70Rmb ($10.50), and travel links to Xuhui in the southwest of Shanghai are exemplary, after all, it is the transportation hub of the city, served by the expressway, railway and over 20 main bus routes. The park has many traditional rides such as bumper cars and a rollercoaster, along with a 108 metre high Ferris wheel with giant colourful lamps illuminating its colossal spokes to resemble a spinning star of glow sticks at night. More modern attractions include the thrilling Space Shot, the Spinning Coaster and Log Flume. For smaller children, rides such as the magical Joyland and the charming ornamental merry-go-round are sure to make them feel spoiled. The stunning parkland includes cafés and restaurants serving refreshing cups of tea or cooling drinks around which to wrap your whitened knuckles at the end of the day.

So, what unusual things would you do in Shanghai?

Author: Thanks to Iain Miller for today’s post. If you’re an adventurous traveler interested in writing for IShouldLogOff, contact us at info [at] ishouldlogoff.com or check our submission guidelines.

Photo Credits: Diving picture from Expat Shanghai, Neon signs from Netflights.

Country Guide: China

November 8, 2010 By Jillian

Traveling overland through mainland China offers a great combination of comfort and value for money. Our two greatest challenges were choosing where to go and how to communicate with people. First we’ll talk about some of the hurdles to traveling in China and then try to help you out a bit on destination planning.

Essentials

VISA: We were told we could only get this in our home country but once on the road we learned it was also possible to receive the visa from a handful of Chinese embassies and consulates within Asia. It is an expensive visa but there are several options available for tourist visas and finding a suitable one shouldn’t be too difficult. Rush processing was available in DC, but the visa is apparently difficult to get in Kazakhstan.

TRANSPORTATION: Other than actually buying the ticket, this was usually quite simple and comfortable. Internal flights for trans-continental routes are usually quite reasonable and we recommend the website travelchinaguide.com for English train schedules and travel planning. Take the train overnight is quite comfortable so long as you are in a sleeper compartment. We usually went hard sleeper (cheaper) for our overnight trips but would have preferred a soft sleeper for any trip where we were spending significant waking hours aboard the train.

INTERNET: This is slow and unreliable outside of major cities, but there is widespread access. It has been estimated that as much as 10% of the Internet is blocked from within China including the most popular website in the world, Facebook. If you want to use the Internet freely while in China try to sign up with a VPN service, such as Witopia, Astrill or Hotspot Shield BEFORE traveling. Internet clubs and access is quite common but don’t plan to upload any photos while there. Speeds vary greatly. In some areas (like Xinjiang) foreigners aren’t allowed to use Internet cafes, but if you have your own computer you’ll have no problem getting online in your hotel.
COMMUNICATION: Surprisingly difficult almost everywhere outside of the major cities. We created a guide to communication which you should probably read over before traveling in China. Many hotels we walked into didn’t have a single employee who could speak English. Obviously, this is less of a problem in larger cities but you should be prepared for communication challenges.

FOOD: If eating meat and you’re weary of trying strange things then you might want to consider switching to vegetarianism…otherwise just try everything. Szechuan cooking is what you’re likely most familiar with from home but the rest of the Chinese cuisine is far more varied. When visiting city markets you should be prepared to see snakes, frogs, turtles, insects, organs and plenty of other animals you would not normally think to eat.

HEALTH: Public toilets are readily available in China, but outside of the main tourist attractions in major cities they are “squatters” and there is never toilet paper or soap. Smog is a major health concern, try to vary your itinerary between cities and countryside, your lungs with thank you. Pharmacies abound, but always be vigilant and inspect the product before you purchase it- there are a lot of counterfeit pharmaceuticals and toiletries in Asia.

HOLIDAYS: We were traveling in China during the National Holiday which begins at the start of October. We would strongly advise against EVER going to China at this time or over any other holiday as these are the periods when domestic tourism completely takes over. We found it extremely difficult to find transportation and lodging at times and many sites we wanted to visit were so over crowded that it just wasn’t worth paying admission.

MONEY: We had few problems using ATM’s in China, but some require a 6 digit pin. Bank of China and ICBC always allowed us to access our accounts. There are ATMS in all major cities, but it’s a good idea to keep cash on hand for rural areas.

Sights

BEIJING: Within Beijing, taking the brand new subway system is cheap and efficient so long as you avoid riding at peak times. The system will take you to almost any site you might like to visit with the exception of the Great Wall and for that local tours abound for selection in the Hutong just south of Tienanmen square. When entering or leaving the city be sure to triple check the train station you’re using as there are several. It is also advised never to enter or leave Beijing by bus as traffic can be horrendous.

BEIJING TO XI’AN: This can be done as an easy overnight train or with several interim stops enroute. There are a variety of sites accessible in the region from the ancient town of Pingyao and the caves of Grottoes Datong, both easy targets from Beijing or Xi’an. There are several other sites to the east of Xi’an that might be of interest to those interested in the Silk Road.

XI’AN: No need for a tour. You can take the city bus from in front of the train station right to the Terracotta Army without much trouble. There are some other sites in the area but are of much lesser significance and excitement in comparison and can also be more difficult to reach. If you want to ‘see it all’ there are plenty of day trips that most hotels in town can book for you. Also be sure take a walk on the city’s wall and take in the sights of the park on the outer side of the wall. If you’re not going any further west Xi’an’s market is a great place to pick up Silk Road paraphernalia and try some Central Asian foods like shashlik or plov.

SZECHUAN: From Chengdu itself you can visit with Pandas, watch Opera, see the world’s tallest Buddha, and pick tea. This is a great region to travel in if you want to try an experience different ‘types’ of China without covering too much distance. The array of options is plentiful and Chengdu itself offers up a large amount of culture on its own. Most independent travelers focus on this region and those to the south, which we do recommend, but on account of National Holiday we were unable to travel south, from Sichuan to Yunnan, as planned.

TIBET: If you want to go to Tibet you will need to obtain permission when booking your trip once inside China, and this can be denied. The situation is always changing, seemingly day to day. You will need to travel with a licensed guide and unless flying to Lhasa, the train ride from Lanzhou is usually two nights. The whole trip can be quite difficult and expensive. Instead, we traveled overland via bus from Lanzhou, Gansu to Chengdu, Sichuan through some of the Tibetan borderlands, focusing on our visit to Xiahe. If you do want to see Tibetan culture it might be easiest and most rewarding to focus on these borderland regions, from Lanzhou south, across Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, as this can be done with far less hassle.

WESTERN CHINA: We entered China from Kazakhstan and traveled overland from Urumqi to Lanzhou without much of a headache. On this route we saw the beginning of the Great Wall and accompanying fortresses as well as the Magao Grottoes at Dunhuang. Although we enjoyed all of this immensely, I’m not sure I would recommend that everyone head out this far west when the rest of the country has so much to offer.

Foodie Friday: Green Tea

November 5, 2010 By Jillian

It’s hard to be in China and not drink tea. Every train station, bus station and public building has a hot water machine for public use and it feels like 90% of Chinese people carry a thermos around with them every day. On some trains the conductors even provide a piping hot thermos of hot water to each cabin and refill it for the morning. It’s impossible to escape it so we caved and bought ourself a small thermos ($1.30) and some loose tea and joined the addiction.

Drinking tea in China is an activity. You go to a tea house, which functions more like a public living room than a restaurant, and are presented with a long menu of tea. Usually this is in Chinese so we’re totally lost and just point to the cheapest one available. The glass, not a mug or teacup, arrives filled about ¼ with tea leaves and a large thermos of water is placed by the table. You simply fill the glass with the hot water, drink and repeat. We sat at one tea house for five full hours in Chengdu drinking hot water from the same tea leaves. No one bothered us at all except to provide more hot water. Although that tea house was rather mundane, some tea houses provide snacks, card tables, mahjong sets, music and all sorts of entertainment. People come around the tables offering table-side massage and even ear cleaning.

Tea growing is no small industry in China. Thousands of acres of tea plantations thrive across the country and the different varieties span the price bracket. It’s not unheard of for a nice tea to go for $10 a glass in Beijing. Some of the most expensive green tea’s come from the south of China and are believed to hold significant medicinal benefits. Puor tea, from southern China was so sought after in Tibet that the Chinese successfully traded the tea for horses.

Tea is so ingrained in the culture that stores sell tea flavored snacks. I mistakenly picked up a pack of Oreos, labeled only in Chinese, that had a dish of ice cream on the front. Green with a sprig of leaf on the side, the picture looked to me like mint. Excited I thought I had found mint Oreos, but after the first bite it was clear that either they had gone bad or it wasn’t mint. After a few bites (or one: the number of bites Danny needs to consume the creamy half of an oreo) the flavor finally dawned on us– they were tea flavored. Needless to say we didn’t buy those again!

China Through a Child’s Eyes

November 4, 2010 By Danny

To My Kindergarten Class –

Hello from China. I came here for vacation and lots of things here are different.

When the traffic light is red you are supposed to go because it it’s more fun than waiting, but when it is green you have to go slow because all the people that have red go too. I was confused and didn’t know that red and green both mean go and so when I went across there were lots of cars going on both sides of the street and some were even on the wrong side! I think that they don’t know how to play red light green light in the schools here.

Then there were bikes and one carrying 3 people hit a dog. We had to stop in the middle road 6 times to let the cars go ahead of us and then when we finally got across, a car was driving on the sidewalk. I think the car thought the sidewalk was the street because of how many people were in the street. They should make a video game out of it – it would be fun!

Then I saw a special pet shop that sold lots of dead animals, but like snakes and insects and stuff, but someone said it was a medicine store so it must be a special place to take your pet for help if it’s sick and then they just keep it there for you in case it dies. People were coming and paying lots of money for little baggies filled with bugs and snake skin so maybe it was a wizard shop and not a medicine shop…like in Harry Potter.

Lots of people must have pets though because everywhere where we went we saw turtles and frogs and lots of other things that you could buy. I tried to get a pet frog but the tour leader said the one I picked out wouldn’t taste good and that I should pick out another one later. Then he said that once we got to the south I could pick out my own dog…I’m going to get a Lassie dog if my mom lets me.

They are something called communist here and that means that everyone shares everything, just like we’re supposed to do with the glue in school, so that there aren’t any poor people. It is very nice that all the people take care of all the other people but I think it only works if you’re a communist too. Some people drive around in really fancy James Bond cars while other people ride bikes with their entire family on them. Maybe they aren’t communist or they’d have a car too! The train even has different areas, there’s the nice part where you sleep in a room with 3 other people or a not nice one where the whole train car is packed like a can of sardines (that’s what my grandpa would say) with a hundred people, animals and bags. It looked like they couldn’t even breathe!

They have lots of candy here. Some is really yummy, but there isn’t any chocolate. Most of the candy has strange flavors like corn, tea, shrimp, milk and stuff like that. I miss chocolate candy. I think all the people are on diets all the time because they wear masks over their faces so that they don’t eat the candy, even though it tastes bad.

One morning we got up early to see where the communism got started. It was a place called Tienanmen Square and is famous because sometimes they bring in tanks and park them in the road so that people can stop and look at them, I guess we don’t do that back home because I never saw it before. They also have big picture of Chairman Moe on the wall. Everyone here likes Moe, but my dad always said Curly was the best. I think it is fake-like though (sorta like when you get a bad birthday present) because it is just a picture and not a statue and if they really liked him then they would have made a statue.

I like it here but I want to come home soon, everywhere I go people try to take pictures of me. It is weird because they take my picture and then the tour leader yells at them for doing it and then later when the tour leader isn’t looking they come and ask me if they can take my picture because I look like a movie star, even though I’m not that old yet. I say yes but then they have two pictures but only asked for one. I think when they take two pictures instead of just one they call that ‘saving face’ because all the grown up people complain about how they always try to save face and getting two pictures of my face must be doing that.

See you soon!
Danny

Beijing!

November 3, 2010 By Jillian

It’s official, we’ve made it around the world; or at least in my opinion. Beijing is just about as far east as we could go overland from Istanbul. Although Xi’an was technically the end of the silk road, Beijing was always the end in my head, so when we arrived I was elated.

There’s so much to do in Beijing, more than we had the time or desire for, but you have to start somewhere. Arriving into the station at 4am, we caught the raising of the flag in Tienanmen Square at dawn. Quite literally we were the only westerner’s there, but the Chinese tourists were going crazy with excitement when the color guard showed up, waving their flags and shoving their camera’s into the air. We were tempted to wave an American flag in that crowd…just to see what the response might have been. Didn’t have one with us though, and with the show over at 6:30am we were left with nothing to do for a few hours. This didn’t bother the crowd of Chinese tour groups, they promptly walked across the square to stand in line for two hours to view the preserved body of Chairman Mao.

Not interesting in standing in line for two hours to see the Chairman, we walked down to the Temple of Heaven, an ancient site for imperial worship and low and behold we found the place abuzz with activity. The park was full of Chinese participating in Tai Chi classes, music classes, aerobics classes, dance classes, playing cards, bands and even a few practicing martial arts with swords and sticks. It might have been 7am?

We stumbled into a group tango lesson practicing to a tango version of happy birthday- in English, and a few harmonica players, one who was practicing Yankee Doodle and My Darlin’ Clemantine over and over again. Our experience in the park was one of numerous moments that left us thinking “what?” Standing in the shadow of the one of the holiest sites for the Chinese Royal family, watching dance classes, listening to traditional Chinese music and an old man attempt ‘scarf’ dancing to the enjoyment of his friends, was a travel memory I’ll never forget.

Besides sightseeing we did do some rather “Chinese” things that hadn’t yet been attempted on our trip. Although moto-bikes and cars are more common than they used to be, the bicycle is still a main mode of transportation; and often with passengers hanging on the back as well. A true Chinese experience, we got the opportunity to try it our first night in Beijing. I rode on the back rack of our couchsurfing host’s bike to dinner. Jostling around in the back on her rickety second hand Chinese bike I thought I was going to die, fall off, or at best end up with a broken bone or two. My legs were too long to straddle the bike properly but sitting side-saddle left the bike precariously unbalanced, so I resorted to straddling the rack and awkwardly lifting my legs at weird angles to keep them off the ground. It was a work-out just trying to stay balanced, keep my legs up off the ground and close enough to the bike not to knock into something all while riding down a pot holed alley. Our couchsurfing host knew the road however, and as we bounced along the worst injuries I got were bruises to my butt and pride. Dinner was delicious and tucked into a small Sichuan restaurant in a huotong, or alley, surrounded by a mix of young Chinese and expats. Although I was just happy to have made it to Beijing, don’t expect me to willingly ride on the back of a bicycle again. I’m going to leave that one to the Chinese.