Shanghai
I purchased my Maglev ticket (RMB 80 for the return ticket in 'economic' class), excitedly boarded and had my camera at the ready as we sped into Shanghai at 431kph!! It was unbelievable to think that in the 8 minute journey we had covered 19 miles!
The taxi driver was not quite as speedy or efficient. I should have realised I was in for one of them trips when he spent 2 minutes reading the sheet that I gave to him that stated the name of the hotel I wanted to get to. It was not a small hotel (The Sofitel Shanghai Hyland) that I was staying at but this guy had clearly never heard of it. To be honest, it was only when I realised he didn’t have a clue that I said ‘Nanjing Road’ and began driving. To be fair to the guy, he did get us the People’s Square before he had to park (in the second lane on some roundabout!) to make a call to find out where the hotel was. Only a minute or two later, we arrived at the hotel.
I was quite impressed with the quality of the hotel. It looked much better than I was expecting for a £60 stay. Check-in was performed by some new recruit who apologised for his slowness and then it was straight up to the room to catch up on some sleep.
First off, I headed out of the hotel and turned left heading west down Nanjing Road. The rain was light but persistent. At People’s Square, I turned around and headed back to the hotel. What I found quite amazing was that people with umbrellas were walking in the 2 metre wide area alongside each building that was covered from the rain and just would not move out!
On my second sortie onto the streets of Shanghai, I headed east towards The Bund. The clouds were low, restricting the view of the Oriental Pearl Tower but I managed get a few pictures anyway.
I then paid my RMB 50 for a return ticket on the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel. I shared a small capsule with a couple and a young lady who evidently worked at the tunnel who was on her way home. She was nice and said hello and ‘Welcome to Shanghai’.
Once on the other side of the river I headed for the Oriental Pearl Tower following all of the other tourists getting off of their buses. I paid my RMB 100 and headed up the tower. Low clouds really spoilt what was, I am sure, a fantastic view of the city!
Not really wanting to either walk back to the hotel or go through the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel again, I thought I’d prepare myself for the trip back to the airport with my initiation of the Shanghai Metro system. The ticket machines had an English option and purchasing a ticket was relatively straight forward. Signs were also in English and soon enough I was back at the hotel.