So, if I go to Shanghai for two weeks this summer . . . ?

In My Humble Opinion
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First of all, which of the Chinese languages should I brush up on? Are there phrase books that transliterate the Chinese or will I actually have to know how to read Chinese characters in order to use the phrase book?

How well will I do if I am only able to stutter through a little bit of Chinese? Am I doomed?

What’s to do in the City in the middle of the summer? Music? Theatre? Museums? What is the coast like? Beaches? Swamps? Cliffs?

If I go out of Shanghai for a day trip where would I go? If I go out of Shanghai for a few nights where would I go? Should I rent a car and go driving around? Can I rent a car?

How expensive will random daily stuff be?

Dining as a vegetarian: How easy/ difficult?

Feel free to give your own opinions about things. There’s a reason I’m in IMHO and not GQ.

As my above line of questioning may have lead to to assume, I know absolutely NOTHING about Shanghai. A friend is living there for six months for work and his company is putting him up in a two bedroom suite- free hotel stay for bienville! Even though Shanghai had never been in my travel plans before I figure I just got to take advantage of this opportunity.

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I think China Guy lives in Shanghai, see if you can lure him over here.

The Lonely Planet Mandarin Phrasebook has words and phrases in English, pinyin characters, and Chinese characters. If really hooped, you can just show the underlined phrase to someone and they can read it in Chinese (like, “I don’t eat meat”) Also, a page of cusswords!

3

Shanghai is pretty hot and humid in the summer (think New Orleans but a little warmer).

Shanghai does not have much in the way of historic/tourist sites, but it’s a great city to wander around in. Even better if you can ride a bicycle.

For trips outside the city, I highly recommend Shaoxing as an overnight/weekend kinda place. I really liked it and recently went there for the first time. Train is probably easier than driving. Actually, I wouldn’t recommend driving as the “rules of the road” here are probably pretty different and it takes a while to feel comfortable.

I also recomend visiting one of the river towns. Zhujiajiao is the closest one, and frankly after having been to half a dozen, they all look about the same.

Brush up on Mandarin. You need a phrasebook with the pinyin (romanization so you can take a stab at it), English and Chinese characters altogether. You’re not doomed if you don’t speak Chinese but of course it’s better if you do. You could also just speak Shanghaiese in this area.

Definately go see the Shanghai museum. There is also the city planning building that’s pretty cool.

Vegetarianism. I was one for many years in China. The trick is to say that you’re buddhist (are you)? and do not eat meat. Most Chinese just can’t comprehend vegetarianism, but buddhism and not eating meat does the trick. There are famous buddhist vegetarian restaurants, and you can probably google them. Gongdelin is one. Also check out www.thatsshanghai.com for restaurant listings, bars, things to do, features, etc.

If you are a buddhist, then I would definately recommend Putuoshan, which is where Guanyin came to earth. Monastaries there have some pretty rocking veggie food (as most do throughout China). Putuoshan is actually an island with some decent white sand beaches. The beaches around Shanghai are lame - don’t bother as it is just a big stinky lake with all the drudge that comes from the Yangzi River (think mississippi outlet).

Shanghai can be real cheap if you’ve got a place to stay and go pretty local, or you can spend a lotta money. Just some reference, the subway costs about 50 cents depending on how far you go. Taxi’s cost $1.25 for the first 3 km, and if you’re in the city center area it’s hard to go much over that. McD’s basic fries, big mac and coke costs $2. Maglev costs $6. Big bottle of Tsingtao beer is 40 cents.

When you planning on visiting?

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Hooray! China Guy stopped by! :slight_smile:

At the earliest it would be mid-July, at the latest mid-August. I did live in New Orleans for five summers, so I’m at least somewhat prepared for the weather.

This sounds really cool- will probably put this very high on my to-do list. Thanks!

Then I guess I’ll have to buy you one! Thanks for all the info. Right now I’d say it’s just about a 60% chance that I’ll be able to make this trip happen (but when I started this Thread I probably would have said 40% so the likelihood is growing!). I’ll post again if I have any new info. Thanks for the help!

Anyone else?

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I see your email is hidden, as is mine. That’s a pickle. No worries just bump the thread, I tend to search “china” at least 1-2 times a week and will respond.

Make the trip happen, you’ll love it. The heat, humidity and debauchery of New Orleans but in China : :wink:

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Hey, China Guy
When I am able to make final plans I’ll “unhide” the e-mail for a window of time and I’ll bump this to let you know.

In the meantime, since this is IMHO and not MPSIMS, if anyone else has any opinions they’d like to share I’d love to hear them! :slight_smile:

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If you have a death wish. It takes a couple days to even learn to walk around in Shanghai without getting run over. If you don’t like cabs you can probably rent a driver for pretty cheap. My wife’s family rented a bus for I beleive less then $100 dollars a day.

If you can’t read characters learn pinyin, all the place names on street signs are usually written in it so it helps to know how to say where you are.

Cokes and Sprites are around 2 or 3 yuan but can be up to 20 depending on where you buy them. Sadly, you can’t find Dr. Pepper there.

Shaving cream is hard to find and actually costs more than in the US.

Most pirated DVD’s (DVD 5’s) cost around 8 yuan, but they can be a lot more expensive for high quality ones like DVD 9.

Bring toilet paper especially in you are a women.

For some reason if you you are buying something in Shanghai and you’re white the first price you get quoted at is always 280 yuan no matter what the thing is. I have no idea why, its a lot like how everything is $30 in Juarez for some reason. Don’t pay 280.

Watchout for loogies on the ground, they are everywhere. Fortunately some lady is always cleaning them up.

Get use to ignoring people. Being foreign is magnet for sellers and beggers, especially if you are carring a bag. If you give money to anyone besides a vender with an actual booth or store you will be surrounded soon enough by other people trying to sell you things. The best responce if they won’t go away is to either continue to ignore them, prenetnd not to speak english and babble on in european sounding gibberish if they keep pestering you in english (this is kind of fun) , or try your luck in chinese. One phrase than worked the best for me was “Yi jing mai le” or “I already bought one”.

If you start to miss the trendy shopping malls and overpriceds coffee places of the US or just want to hang out with other westerners go to xin tiandi shopping area.

All this information comes from a guy who knows absolutely nothing about shanghai and and only spent a week there (last week actually). Its a wonderful city though, I did nothing but hang around the whole time and I was always entertained. Supposedly the bar scene is really cool but i never had the chance to go.

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Yi jing mai le.

:slight_smile: