The first destination of our great adventure was Shanghai. However, we had a layover in Beijing first. That flight was overall less expensive than flying directly to Beijing, and only the miracle price calculation machine of Hainan Airlines might know why. We were especially excited for Shanghai, because this was the city where we would meet David, a friend we had already travelled with once before.
Day 1 – Arrival : 15th May
Lanny and I had our flight from Berlin starting at 2 PM. So we left Dresden by Flixbus at 9 AM and had plenty of time for check-in. Even before our great trip really started, we already met familiar faces: Henny and Thuong, who just happened to arrive from their trip to Rome.
We arrived in Shanghai around noon and were supposed to meet David, our local guide for the next few days. But first things first: we wanted to check in and get rid of our luggage.
After unloading our luggage and taking a short nap, we met David at Jing’an Temple. Because it was called a temple, I expected the meetup point to have a slightly more traditional vibe. But surprisingly, it was smack dab in the middle of a busy city, surrounded by high buildings and shopping malls.
Before we actually entered the temple, which would also have been David’s first time even though he had already lived in Shanghai for a couple of months, we had our first proper meal at a restaurant he recommended. It felt like a sacred ritual where David onboarded us into China, both in terms of our mouth palette and app navigation.
For sunset, we went to see The Bund, which was packed with people who apparently had the exact same idea. Luckily for us, David knew a slightly less crowded spot.
At that point, we were not completely sure yet, but we decided to go to the club David had suggested. It happened to be at Yu Yuan Garden, and that evening was the only time we saw it. It looked beautiful, with traditional-looking buildings surrounded by modern skyscrapers. However, most of it seemed to have been renewed recently, and it felt more like a touristy, Instagrammable spot with lots of souvenir shops. The club music was interesting, but not really my cup of tea. Nonetheless, it had a terrace from where we were fairly high up, able to enjoy the warm summer wind and slowly let it sink in that we had actually arrived in China.
Day 2 – Jetlag kicking in: 16th May
Yesterday was exciting, and today our bodies had to pay the price. The jetlag really kicked in, so we decided to take this day slowly and just wander around the city without too much of a plan.
One thing we learned very quickly was that Shanghai is actually surprisingly easy to explore by foot. And thanks to David’s onboarding from the day before, we had also unlocked the next level of local transportation: rental bikes. They were super practical and quickly became one of the most comfortable ways to get around.
At some point, nature called. And smart as we were, we knew that mall bathrooms are usually the safest bet in such cases. So we entered one and, while looking for the toilet, accidentally found a few other interesting things.
In the evening, we met up with David and his partner Tulio for a massage. The massage place was inside one of those high-rise buildings where you would probably expect apartments instead of a massage studio. We booked a 60-minute session, and although we arrived almost at closing time, around 10 PM, the masseurs were still happy to open the shop for us. You could really feel how much effort they put into pressing the pressure points. At the end, they also included a head massage, where I apparently relaxed so hard, I unknowingly fell asleep.
Day 3 – Food and Thought: 17th May
Yesterday got really late, so from today onwards we swore that we would not start anything new past 10 PM anymore. That being said, we woke up just in time to get to a famous Michelin crab noodle restaurant that Lanny had suggested. They don’t take reservations, only ticket numbers and waiting queues. But we arrived at just the right time and only had to wait around 30 minutes.
After that, we did something cultural for a change of pace. We went to the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, which we had seen on Instagram, and boy was that exciting. It was super interactive, very children-friendly, but also interesting for adults, with loads of things to explore.
I think I liked the AI Pioneers exhibition the most. Luckily, despite the name sounding a bit like an AI buzzword collection, the first part of the exhibition actually showcased historic technology. Interestingly enough, things like the Xbox 360 and the iPhone 4 were already included there as historic tech. After that, there was a bigger section about how modern technology works, and surprisingly, they also paid quite a lot of attention to sustainability and recycling. Unfortunately, the museum already closed at 5 PM, and there was not enough time left, so we had to any% speedrun the remaining exhibitions. One particular exhibition was so interactive that it reminded me more of an arcade than a museum, but still with educational value.
After the museum, we went to 1933 Old Millfun, a place promoted to us through the Instagram algorithm. Tulio and David, who had already lived in Shanghai for several months, had apparently never heard of it though. The building was very picturesque, and I’m grateful Lanny let me take my time wandering around and taking photos. It’s actually not that big, but it definitely has some nice angles.
In the evening, we went for dinner at Haidilao, a famous Chinese hotpot chain. We actually missed our reservation by 20 minutes, and there was already a long queue. However, this was also one of the first times I noticed how top-notch Chinese customer service can be. They seated us in the waiting area, and not even 10 minutes later, they had already prepared a table for us. And indeed, it was a huge surprise, because David had arranged for the table to be decorated for my birthday. Even more surprising was that shortly after we sat down, the staff came to our table and sang for me. And it was not just a quick five-second birthday sentence song. It must have been a full three minutes. On top of that, two other guests, who probably had no idea what was going on, also stood around our table and clapped along with the Haidilao staff members. It was surreal and also an amazing experience.
Day 4 – Hanfu cosplay in a water town: 18th May
We also wanted to explore a little bit outside of the big city. Maybe something cute, a bit more open, less crowded and something refreshing … maybe something related to water. Fortunately, there are literally a handful of water towns within an hour of Shanghai. Even more fortunate for us, we had a local guide who already had a spot in mind that was not yet filled to the brim with tourists just like us.
To get to our water town, Nanxun, we first had to make our way to Shanghai South Railway Station, one of the high-speed railway stations in the city. This was already around 40 minutes away from our accommodation, so the journey started slightly more bothersome than expected. The station itself was massive, so we only had a brief moment to be flabbergasted by it before we already had to catch our train. After arriving in Nanxun, we still had to take a Didi to actually reach the old water town. The train station was located in a much more modern-looking area, so at first it felt like we had simply arrived in yet another normal city.
Once we reached the actual old town, everything made much more sense. The water town was small, calm and really cute. There were not even that many people around, which made it feel even more pleasant. We wandered through the narrow streets for a bit and then took an extensive tea break from the midday sun.
In the afternoon, we wanted to do a quick Chinese-style photoshoot before heading back. Finding fitting outfits turned out to be surprisingly difficult, especially for David and me, but after some searching we finally settled on one of the outfit rental shops. At first, we were still a bit cautious and even haggled a little about the price. What we did not know at that point was that, in the end, we had basically paid around 25 euros per person for makeup, four locations, twenty shots and some retouching. Looking back, that was actually quite impressive.
The experience itself was amazing. It felt a bit like being in a movie. The owner of the dressing store also became our photographer, and man, he was thorough. If there was even a single strand of hair in your face, he would patiently take his time to move it out of the way. He also showed us the poses himself and gave us little tips and tricks along the way.
What was supposed to be a quick photoshoot turned into one hour of preparation, two hours of shooting and another hour of offboarding. In the end, even I started wondering when we would finally finish shooting. What I found especially interesting was that they specifically highlighted the five selected retouched pictures as something very special. However, after seeing how they edited our faces, I would say it was not really to our standards. But apparently, it matched the Chinese beauty standard more.
Originally, we wanted to go to The Bund again in the evening, but we would not have made it in time anymore. So instead, we spent a little more time in Nanxun before heading home. Back at the accommodation, we happily sank into our beds, preparing for tomorrow’s departure.
Day 5 – Departure from Shanghai: 19th May
One might think that on the day of leaving for the next city, we would take it slow, sleep in until checkout time and calmly pack our things. We thought so as well.
But there was still so much unfinished business. So we woke up at 7 AM, which already felt crazy enough, although we had even briefly considered waking up at 6. The plan was to grab breakfast at a street allegedly famous for its different breakfast stalls, found by Lanny. Looking back, this was totally worth it, because this was where I found my favourite snack in China: jianbing.
After breakfast, we walked along East Nanjing Road and accidentally discovered a huge shopping mall. Once inside, we came across those curved escalators that apparently sometimes go viral on social media. Somewhere inside the mall, I also managed to forget my GoPro for a moment, but luckily we got it back.
From there, we made our way back to The Bund and put some effort into getting a few last-minute photos. Last things last, we went souvenir shopping at the Aldi next to our accommodation before heading to Shanghai Railway Station.
We arrived just in time for the security and ID checks, and around 1 PM, we boarded our train to Beijing.
