We woke up and showered before heading down for breakfast. It was pretty disappointing. No fruit, breads, or decent looking eggs. No tea, or even juice. So we ate little and then headed to People's Square. I had read about a free walking tour and was hoping it was on, though I'd also read that it was only on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Once we got there, we waited but there was no one who showed up with a yellow umbrella at 10 am.
Check out this awesome shop name:
We went back down to the subway to find a bathroom and discovered a cool area which talked about some of Shanghai's history.
We walked around the area before going back and buying tickets for the double decker, hop on hop off bus. We got on the bus when it pulled up and decided to take it around the circle route one time before deciding where to get off.
It ended up being well over an hour with a lot of stop and go. There was a lot of traffic, in some parts a lot of people and at one point we even needed to get off and switch buses. The second bus was covered on the top but had no windows. It was FREEZING! We got off at the river (called the Bund). We wanted to take some pictures across the water of the downtown.
We walked for a tiny bit, we had seen a sign for a tourist office, but it didn't end up existing so we headed over to catch a bus to our next stop.We rode that bus to an area called Yuyuan Old street. It looked like a really cool, old area. It was packed. We were pretty hungry by this point, so headed towards a sign that said Shanghai snacks. We walked into a huge area which looked like a food court. There was a line that passed by foods and you could lift the plates you wanted onto your tray and then paid. It sort of seemed like a hospital style cafeteria, but all different Chinese dishes. We decided to share a few dishes. We grabbed fried dumplings, asparagus (adventurous right, we missed veggies), spring rolls, and a noodle dish. When we rang it in at the cashier, it was so expensive! It was 149 yeun, which is only about $30. But this is pretty crazy for food court food. The place was packed, so the guy at the cash told us to go downstairs. We did, and it was way less busy. It was crazy to see what other people were eating. They had all sorts of different foods. Everything was really good, except the spring rolls were not stuffed with sprouts and other veggies, but were sort of empty and mushy inside, not the greatest consistency. After we finished eating, we decided to walk around the area. The buildings were just amazing.
We were still shocked to see so many people as no where else had been so crowded. After walking around for a bit, it started to rain. We were both still freezing, so we walked back towards the bus stop. On the way, we passed a tourist office so we went in to ask about a tour for the next day. We really wanted to see a water town and the mountains around Shanghai. They told us there were no tours in English, only Chinese tours and to ask at a hotel. We had asked at our hotel and they told us they didn't do tours. They told us that we could go to Zhujiajiao on the metro and told us to take line 17, a new line. (When we got back to the hotel later, we looked online and line 17 wasn't on the new metro map, however it did end up existing).
We had to wait in the cold and rain for 10 minutes or so before a bus arrived. When it did, we headed up to the top where, thankfully, it had windows. I should mention that it was about 14 degrees out. Which is pretty chilly when the rest of China had been over 20 degrees. Usually it was high 20's or low 30's. Needless to say, it was quite a shock to arrive in Shanghai and have it be so cold! We decided to get off next at Nanjing Road which is a pedestrian street. It was packed and we had been shocked by the amount of people each time we had passed it on the bus.
We stopped at a cafe to drink some hot tea, hoping to warm up. Unfortunately, it didn't work. It was raining by then, not just sprinkling, so we headed into a department store. It had 5 floors and it was fun to walk around and see all the clothes they sell, plus it was so warm! It was still early evening but we were cold and tired so we decided to grab an early dinner and head back to the hotel. Don't judge but we went to Pizza Hut. The pizza at the airport had been so good and we were too tired to try to find something else. We shared a pizza, which ended up being tiny. It wasn't that warm since they had seated us near the door. When I went upstairs to use the bathroom, it was so nice and cozy, I wanted to move up there! When we got back to the bus stop, we didn't need to wait long until one of the tour buses arrived. We sat on the bottom since it was so cold. We were lucky to have caught the last bus of the night! They let us off near the Shanghai Times square. We stopped in at the bakery on our way back and each got ourselves a treat. We also stopped at convenience store for some snacks since we had had a small dinner, early. We cranked the room thermostat up to 27 degrees and tried to warm up. The heat wasn't pumping out but I felt much better once I had a hot shower. I caught up on my blog before heading to bed.
Check out this awesome shop name:
We went back down to the subway to find a bathroom and discovered a cool area which talked about some of Shanghai's history.
We walked around the area before going back and buying tickets for the double decker, hop on hop off bus. We got on the bus when it pulled up and decided to take it around the circle route one time before deciding where to get off.
It ended up being well over an hour with a lot of stop and go. There was a lot of traffic, in some parts a lot of people and at one point we even needed to get off and switch buses. The second bus was covered on the top but had no windows. It was FREEZING! We got off at the river (called the Bund). We wanted to take some pictures across the water of the downtown.
We walked for a tiny bit, we had seen a sign for a tourist office, but it didn't end up existing so we headed over to catch a bus to our next stop.We rode that bus to an area called Yuyuan Old street. It looked like a really cool, old area. It was packed. We were pretty hungry by this point, so headed towards a sign that said Shanghai snacks. We walked into a huge area which looked like a food court. There was a line that passed by foods and you could lift the plates you wanted onto your tray and then paid. It sort of seemed like a hospital style cafeteria, but all different Chinese dishes. We decided to share a few dishes. We grabbed fried dumplings, asparagus (adventurous right, we missed veggies), spring rolls, and a noodle dish. When we rang it in at the cashier, it was so expensive! It was 149 yeun, which is only about $30. But this is pretty crazy for food court food. The place was packed, so the guy at the cash told us to go downstairs. We did, and it was way less busy. It was crazy to see what other people were eating. They had all sorts of different foods. Everything was really good, except the spring rolls were not stuffed with sprouts and other veggies, but were sort of empty and mushy inside, not the greatest consistency. After we finished eating, we decided to walk around the area. The buildings were just amazing.
We were still shocked to see so many people as no where else had been so crowded. After walking around for a bit, it started to rain. We were both still freezing, so we walked back towards the bus stop. On the way, we passed a tourist office so we went in to ask about a tour for the next day. We really wanted to see a water town and the mountains around Shanghai. They told us there were no tours in English, only Chinese tours and to ask at a hotel. We had asked at our hotel and they told us they didn't do tours. They told us that we could go to Zhujiajiao on the metro and told us to take line 17, a new line. (When we got back to the hotel later, we looked online and line 17 wasn't on the new metro map, however it did end up existing).
We had to wait in the cold and rain for 10 minutes or so before a bus arrived. When it did, we headed up to the top where, thankfully, it had windows. I should mention that it was about 14 degrees out. Which is pretty chilly when the rest of China had been over 20 degrees. Usually it was high 20's or low 30's. Needless to say, it was quite a shock to arrive in Shanghai and have it be so cold! We decided to get off next at Nanjing Road which is a pedestrian street. It was packed and we had been shocked by the amount of people each time we had passed it on the bus.
We stopped at a cafe to drink some hot tea, hoping to warm up. Unfortunately, it didn't work. It was raining by then, not just sprinkling, so we headed into a department store. It had 5 floors and it was fun to walk around and see all the clothes they sell, plus it was so warm! It was still early evening but we were cold and tired so we decided to grab an early dinner and head back to the hotel. Don't judge but we went to Pizza Hut. The pizza at the airport had been so good and we were too tired to try to find something else. We shared a pizza, which ended up being tiny. It wasn't that warm since they had seated us near the door. When I went upstairs to use the bathroom, it was so nice and cozy, I wanted to move up there! When we got back to the bus stop, we didn't need to wait long until one of the tour buses arrived. We sat on the bottom since it was so cold. We were lucky to have caught the last bus of the night! They let us off near the Shanghai Times square. We stopped in at the bakery on our way back and each got ourselves a treat. We also stopped at convenience store for some snacks since we had had a small dinner, early. We cranked the room thermostat up to 27 degrees and tried to warm up. The heat wasn't pumping out but I felt much better once I had a hot shower. I caught up on my blog before heading to bed.
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