Shanghai - China's gateway to the Western world - Plus a summary of China

Shanghai, which translates to 'Above the Sea', is a really cool city. We spent three days there before continuing to Vietnam. Through information and reports from fellow travelers, we had learned that Shanghai has practically everything. It is said to be a city like Tokyo with many possibilities and Western adaptation. After our previous experiences in China and the noticeable lack of interest in adapting to 'Western customs', we were somewhat skeptical. Nevertheless, we were excited to visit the city, which is considered the Chinese economic center. And indeed, we were not disappointed: Shanghai bridges the gap between tradition and modernity, with modernity (in contrast to China's capital) feeling like it will soon prevail.
After our flight from Zhangjiajie, we arrived at our centrally located accommodation at around 03:30 in the morning. We took a taxi as there were no metros or buses running at that time. Even at this time, there were many supposed taxi drivers at the airport who wanted to take you to the city for 'little money'. Therefore, the choice should fall on an actual taxi company. The taxis usually wait in front of the airport and you should not let yourself be persuaded on the way there.

After getting some rest, we started our day with breakfast - Nadine finally got a whole grain bun from the bakery. Right on the way there, we noticed: Nobody had spit on the floor yet. Wow.
First, we wanted to see the most famous sight in Shanghai: The Bund, a long waterfront promenade on the Huangpu River with impressive skyscrapers. This included, among others, the Shanghai Tower, the Jin Mao Tower, and the World Financial Center.

We spent the rest of the day in this area, as it was huge! We also indulged in one of our favorite activities: searching for unknown foods in supermarkets and trying them out.
The next day, we took a trip to one of the four remaining water towns around Shanghai. We chose Zhujiajiao, the 1700-year-old 'Venice of Shanghai', because it was easily accessible by metro within an hour (fortunately, Shanghai has 3-day metro tickets). It was really nice to walk along the river and sit in one of the many cafes with a river view at lunchtime.

On the third day, we visited the Yu Garden (Yuan Garden), and we agreed that the Japanese gardens, in general, were more beautiful, cleaner, and above all, more precise than the Chinese gardens we had seen.

Before treating ourselves to a coffee in the afternoon, we had planned to visit the People's Park because the pictures of it on the internet looked so great. However, it is true that some things look cooler from a bird's-eye view than from a frog's-eye view - which is how we felt among the tall trees and even taller skyscrapers.
Instead of going to an observation deck, we decided to spontaneously visit the former French concession area from the colonial period. It was really nice and we decided to try out the delicacies in a bakery (Nadine's Wonderworld) over a coffee.

Shanghai has become our favorite city in China. Usually, at the end of a stay, we ask each other if we could imagine living there. In Shanghai, we could definitely live well for one to four years.



China Review

It was time: our time in China was over. In retrospect, this ending came at just the right time and yet suddenly. Just in time because we now felt that we knew China well enough and after about three weeks, we were ready for something new. Suddenly is probably more applicable to the following realization: we had planned China for a very long time in advance. For the visa, we had to provide detailed information about where we would be and for how long. For such a large country with many worth seeing places, we had to carefully consider and inform ourselves. So, we had put a lot of thought into it, watched documentaries, and read blog posts from China travelers. And now, it's all over. Just like that. And it was very different from what we had imagined. Admittedly, the internet often only shows the beautiful sides of a country and its culture. We had let ourselves be guided by one-sided ideas. China is not just about Zen masters with their wisdom, Kung Fu, and the Great Wall. Traveling in China also means dealing with the still very clear traces of a former developing country and enduring not so pleasant traditional habits of the Chinese as well as crowds of people. Furthermore, you feel somewhat cut off from the rest of the world, as all the everyday apps don't work there. At the same time, it was also a relief to not be reachable via Whatsapp, Facebook, and Instagram for a longer period of time. However, when it came to search engines, for example, we had to rely on apps of lower quality. So, during our time in China, 'Googling' became 'Binging'.
All in all, the 'Middle Kingdom' or 'the Dawn' is an adventurous travel destination and you can enjoy beautiful places - but you shouldn't set your expectations too high.