CanuckFlyHigh

I am headed to Shanghai Sept 28 - October 5, 2009, and looking for tips, hints, suggestions and all the other stuff to make my trip better. I also bought a book, but I know first hand that suggestions from Flyertalkers is better than a lonely planet anyday. My brother and his wife are having a wedding celebration (unsure of how it all works, but excited to see it) there. They will be married in Canada, but also doing whatever is tradition in Shanghai.

I have been looking at places to stay, and my thoughts are:

The Swissotel has a great deal right now, and would be very cheap to stay for my Monday - Thursday stay. Location: (This multiple award-winning hotel is located in Jing An, the leading business district of Shanghai, near to the famous Nanjing West Road)

How would this work? We want to explore shanghai as much as possible. Not afraid to take the metro or taxi's, but still care about location.

After this, I have a free night at a Hyatt, and 3 free weekend nights at an SPG. We are thinking that we will stay at the Park Hyatt Shanghai for a night on Thursday, and then either Royal Meridian or St. Regis for Fri- Sun of that weekend.

My one other issue, is that the wedding celebration is the last weekend, and is in the Qingpu district, which is WAY west from the looks of a map. Will this be a LONG, HUGE pain to stay in the centre and commute out to Qingpu via metro/taxi? If so, I could potentially find an ICHG hotel and use points to stay at one of those.


Now that I have my logisticals out of the way, any other suggestions? Any day trips we should do? We have 5 days to explore. Is the fabric market worth it? Must do's? Over-hyped?

Thanks so much!

azepine00

ICHG has a three day asia on sale deal going on with IC Pudong going for $88 and various CPs for $73. Not sure what swissotel offers but I would most likely take IC or CP over it on weekdays (assuming the weekend is with SPG).

7 days in Shanghai is too much so head to Suzhou for a day or two - there is a very interesting Sheraton which as a plat you'll definitely enjoy.

sniles

While Swissotel's location is great, i've had one of my worst Shanghai dining experience there and won't go back. I can't speak for the rooms though. Don't know whether the other hotels in that area have deals (Hilton, Ritz Carlton, JC Mandarin, etc) but worth checking out.

Park Hyatt is a good choice. You'll get to experience the Pudong Lujiazui financial district for a night. If you want to be closer to the Bund action, then Hyatt on the Bund is good too. Their Xindalu restaurant is one of the best!

For the Fri-Sun, i'd suggest staying downtown, so from your two choices i'd go with the Meridien. Perfectly located in People's Square. Very easy to take a cab or subway anywhere.

I don't consider Qingpu a long commute personally. From my place it's about 1.5 hours by car. Of course it depends where in Qingpu you are going, it's quite large. I don't think the subway goes all the way there (i think Sheshan/Songjiang is as far as it goes, but i may be wrong on this). Cab will be 100-200 RMB.

Recommended Day Trips:
Nanjing (doable in 1 day)
Suzhou or Hangzhou (I wouldn't do both)
Water towns (several to choose from)

Fabric market is worth checking out. I'd read through the forum to find out other must-do's and don'ts.

Enjoy your time here!

CanuckFlyHigh

Thank you guys very much. I am sure I will have many more questions as I continue to plan. Appreciate it!

allset2travel

Just returned from Shanghai. I stayed near Jing'An Temple area. It's not Tomorrow Square, but I like the area. Line 2 subway has a station at Jing'An Temple. Plenty of road works, new buildings under construction, including part of the temple itself.
Taxi and subway in combination will solve your transportation issue. Buses are tough.
Dos and don'td (just MHO):
Do go to Nanjing East Road for shopping (check out #1 Food Store)
Do visit Shanghai museum
Do view The Bund at night from Pudong waterfront. (I'd skip it entirely during the day due to construction)
Do go to People's Park & People Square
Do go to the French Concession
Do have xiao long boa (sp??)

Don't bother with Yu Yuan
Don't bother with Xintiandi

Shanghai is good for 2 full days and nights. Extra days reserved for day trips. Some had been suggested (Suzhou). Suzhou is good if you carefully pick your sight seeing targets (or you'll be templed/gardened out); Consider Lushi or Tongli (not both) also. Plan to stay at Sheraton Suzhou hotel & Towers if you can. As plat, I got an upgrade to a room facing the garden. Simply stunning. Breakfast in restaurant.. Exec Lounge is now located in the Tower Lounge. Super ambience and service. The place is unlike a palace!

mosburger

Suzhou and Nanjing are easy to combine to make for a couple of days trip as both are on the highspeed rail line from Shanghai. Nanjing is the more interesting of the two cities but Suzhou has the gardens and a certain resort character.

The newish Kempinski Hotel in Suzhou could also be considered for accomodation. Very nice location and reputedly good breakfast and brunch.

moondog

FWIW, the Jing'an District is my favorite part of town. My affinity towards it traces back to the mid-90s (when I first started visiting SH); back then, Jing'an was the most developed area, anchored by the Portman, Hilton, and other Western comforts (IIRC, it was the most desirable real estate that foreign investors were permitted to take on). Meanwhile, People's Square was a mess and there was little reason to venture east of there (with the possible exception of New York, New York on Suzhou Creek in the --named after it closed-- "North Bund" neighborhood).

CanuckFlyHigh

Thank you everyone. I have to do more research, but I am thinking that we arrive Monday morning. We will need to probably have a nap, and then expore Shanghai Monday evening, and all day Tuesday. Wednesday morning we plan to do a trip (possibly an overnight somewhere), returning thursday evening.

We will spend thursday evening in Shanghai. We will then spend Friday day/night out in the Quingpu district for the wedding, and head back to Shanghai downtown for Saturday and Sunday night.

I feel like you guys are saying that more than 2 days is plenty for Shanghai. Should we do 2 outside trips?

CanuckFlyHigh

Also, is there going to be celebrations in Shanghai for National Day? It seems like we will be there right during that time. Is there a night there is fireworks? I am thinking this is a good night to spend in the Park Hyatt. Additionally, anything interesting about the Shanghai Tourism Festival?

moondog

IMO, you don't want to be stuck on the wrong side of the river during National Day.

CanuckFlyHigh

Thanks. We are actually thinking we might be out of town on National Day (not sure where yet). Is it worth it to stick around for celebrations? If so, which is the "right" side of the river?

moondog

I would definitely advise leaving SH on National Day, but if you must stay, then stay in Puxi (because the Yan'an Tunnel and subway both tend to get slammed).

jkof

For side trips I highly recommend Hangzhou. Only 90 minutes by train from SH and much more peaceful. Autumn in HZ will be great and you can rent bikes to ride around West Lake (xi hu) and take in the scene. Its a great diversion from SH. Not sure of the chain hotel scene in HZ as we stay at local places. I've been living in SH for over a year and in terms of stuff to do and not do in SH I agree with Allset2travel's list above. If you have specific questions on SH feel free to PM me, but know that I'm a total laowai.

CanuckFlyHigh

Thank you. Holiday Inn HANGZHOU THOUSAND ISLAND LAKE is currently a pointbreaks hotel that I can get for 5000 points! Might even spend both nights here. Unless you guys can reccomend somewhere else that we can go fromm Hangzhou (Either Shanghai to Hangzhou to _______ back to Shanghai, OR, Shanghai to ________ to Hangzhou back to Shanghai)

rdchen

FYI, Holiday Inn HANGZHOU THOUSAND ISLAND LAKE is about 100 miles away from Hangzhou, so most likely it's not a practical choice.