DAY 1
JINSHAN CITY SAND BEACH – (50RMB)
Two hours from the famous city of Shanghai is their fake beach, Jinshan. Although Shanghai is on the coast, they imported extra yellow sand and artificially coloured the sea to create their ‘ideal’ beach. Many tourists have negative reviews about their visit here, perhaps because it’s not your classic beautiful beach, however it’s a very unique experience- one, just for the Chinese beach culture and two because you can’t find such an artificial coast anywhere else!
It was incredible, as you look out onto the horizon, a long bridge ran all the way across the ocean with cars speeding by and the sand was so yellow that as we swam under the sea and opened our eyes, all we could see was bright yellow.
As well as this, there were extremely detailed sand sculptures, an aqua park and peddle boats to enjoy. In fact, Ben and I went cycling on the sea, which again, was an unusual experience.
Overall, you cannot miss visiting Jinshan, it’s totally worth the journey and the entrance fee!
(Sadly, Ben and I both damaged our phones on this day, so there’s minimal and low quality pictures!)
Spot the long stretch of road in the background!
DAY 2
PROPAGANDA POSTER ART CENTRE
This museum is located in the basement of an apartment building in Huashan Road, in the former French concession area. It consists of only two rooms, however with a rich collection of rare last-piece posters.
If you want to be in a room with millions of Mao heads and communist posters then this is the place for you! Joking aside, I found the museum educational and would certainly recommend it.
YU GARDEN
If you’ve been to the Cambridge Botanical Gardens, these gardens are pretty much the same but with dragon statues and hundreds of tourists blocking your view. It was nice but in hindsight I wouldn’t go all the way to Shanghai just to look at some plants.
Just outside the gardens!
NANJING ROAD
On a positive, near to the gardens is the world’s busiest shopping street. You can literally find anything here and there’s lots of quirky shops as well as unique food stands. We tried Chinese ice cream, which is nothing like the western version! It’s so cold that you can see thick steam around it and you’re not meant to keep it in your mouth long otherwise it can blister your tongue! It’s like a shell ball of waffle that has nothing inside and little flavour. It’s so bizarre but fun to try!
Fun round the shops!
Interesting shops.
ICE CREAM?!
VUE BAR (200RMB) AND THE BUND
To finish off a busy day, why not relax in a rooftop bar in a hot tub with a drink and the view of The Bund? Sounds perfect, right?
This bar is part of a very fancy hotel and so once you get to top you may feel a little uncomfortable in your backpacking gear, surrounded by lots of well-dressed business people, however the hotel is used to backpackers like us going in, so just own it!
Despite the fanciness, it only costs around £15pp to enter, plus you get one free drink on arrival. This was my favourite evening in Shanghai as the atmosphere was so calm and romantic.
Although we had already seen the bund from the rooftop, it was also nice to walk along. You should definitely visit at night time as its lit up and looks beautiful.
THE BUND!
Thank you for reading. I’d love it if you’d leave a comment and let me know what you think!
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