China - Shanghai

faceman

Im likely to be heading to shanghai for work purposes around May time this year so im probably going to bolt on an additional week for leisure purposes.

Anyone ever been to Shanghai or anywhere else in China? Any tips advise? PLaces to see etc?

BuffyBot

Worth a read for not what to see

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055218822

mathias

I did a tour of china in 2006 , Shanghai was the last 5 days of the tour , there is so much to see , Nanjing road for shopping , M on the Bund for a Fantastic meal ( bit pricey though ) with a fantastic view of the pudong new area while your eating.

The pearl TV tower , Jinmao tower , and basically the whole Pudong new area , Tomorrow Square , the French concession , and of course old Shanghai , Some excellent Temples ....really the list is endless , Im a big fan of innovative architecture , and there is no shortage of that in Shanghai , good luck with the trip and enjoy! I'd go back in a heartbeat , brilliant place.

However , watch out for street sellers and whatever you do , do not go with anyone who offers to take you to a tea room , and art exhibition , a jade factory , a silk factory or any of that bull , they are all rip off merchants who will take you off the beaten track and con you.

Physically the place is as safe as it gets , but the locals are not above pulling a financial fast one on the odd westerner!

RMB or Yuan is about 8 to the euro , and is government regulated so there are no deals to be had while changing money , the rate is the same everywhere.

faceman

How bad and frequent are the scammers? There seems to be 2 types of stories floating about. Those who got stung and have nothing to say but terrible things about the place etc and those who say its no different than any other country but to be vigilient.

I believe there is an irish bar called o'malleys in shanghai! jaysus, is there anywhere that doesnt have an irish bar in the world???

jackbhoy

faceman wrote: »

How bad and frequent are the scammers? There seems to be 2 types of stories floating about. Those who got stung and have nothing to say but terrible things about the place etc and those who say its no different than any other country but to be vigilient.

You are more likely to be target if alone and western but most of the techniques they employ are well-known, you'd need to be pretty naive to fall for them, just use common sense and you'll be ok. I wouldn't let this deter you in the least from visiting, its an amazing city and we travelled to various parts of it at all hours of day and night without incident.

Glowing

Mostly, the Chinese are really friendly, but they're quite shy and won't usually approach a foreigner. So if a well dressed (usually overly-friendly) person approaches you and has excellent english, just be wary. There are a few scams around which involve going to see overpriced Art Exhibitions, getting your name written in chinese, going to tea ceremonies - all of which are just there to extract as much dough as possible from you!

Apart from that, China is great. Don't be afraid to try the local food etc, its dirt cheap and really good!