Dumplings, Temples and Smog

Fourteen hours after leaving the US, we arrived in Shanghai, China. We grabbed our bags and made our way to the Maglev (bullet train). Even though this option is more expensive than taking the metro into the city, we wanted the experience of the very fast train. During our eight minute ride, the train speed reached 430 kilometers per hour. Surprisingly the ride was very smooth. It felt as though we were gliding past the traffic outside.

Finding our hotel proved to be a bit of a challenge as Siri pin-pointed the hotel in the wrong location, google maps is a blocked website in China and we could not locate a phone number to call the hotel. After more than one hour wandering around in the rain with our bags, we were relived to find the Fish Inn tucked beside a bridge. We were so happy to relax in a warm, dry place.

The next morning we woke up extremely early as we hadn’t quite adjusted to the tremendous time difference. We set out to explore the Bund area. It was still rainy and so the views along the Bund and Pudong across the Huangpu River were not crisp. We enjoyed taking in the sights and beautiful architecture.

The next few days were dry but very smoggy. The air quality index reached 286, which is considered very bad. We could see the smog everywhere we went. We didn’t let it stop us from enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of Shanghai. One of our highlights was walking down the famous “shopping street” of Nanjing Road.

The metro in Shanghai is very easy to use and an extremely cheap way of getting around the city. Each ride is 3 RMB (approx. $0.50). We took the metro out to a different area of the city so we could visit the Jade Buddha Temple. It is a large complex that seems to kept going deeper and deeper as you explore.

The most photographed part is the jade reclining Buddha in the back right corner pavilion.

On the south end of the Bund are several sites including the City God Temple. We walked the full length of the Bund and arrived at the temple.  The cost of entrance is only 10 RMB. We were thrilled we made the stop to see this beautiful place. The incense was burning creating a smoke outside the main pavilion.

Another wonderful place to visit is the Yu Garden in the Old City which contains a Chinese garden dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644). The Old City is fully decorated for Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) which will begin on February 15th. We walked the zig-zag bridge and started in the Yu Garden. Snow is still on the roof tops and flowers are just starting bud. The garden is beautiful even in the winter. It covers a large area with several different pavilions that were once used by Chinese poets to gather their thoughts and get inspiration.

Eating some of the local food is a must. We opted for a very famous steamed bun restaurant. Nanxiang is located outside the Yu Garden on the opposite side of the zig-zag bridge. It has three floors. Street level is the take out window, that has a line of people 30+ deep at all times. The second floor offers only one type of steamed bun – Pork and crab mixed. We chose the third floor which offers a full service dining experience with a large menu. The cost is more for each floor you go up, but we were excited to try a few different items. An order of six buns will cost approximately 35 RMB on the top floor compared to 15 RMB at the take out window. We started with a cold beef appetizer and one order of pork steamed buns. We loved them so much we ordered the vegetable ones too!

On our last night we tried our best to get a picture of the beautiful lit up skyline along the Bund. Unfortunately the smog never let up and this is the best shot we could get…

Our last morning in Shanghai we joined another Freetour.com walking tour. There was a small group that joined our guide, Kylie, for the four-hour walking tour. We started at People’s Square and walked down Nanjiang Road, to the Bund and all the way to the Yu Garden.

During our tour we stopped at a Michelin recommend restaurant and local hotspot, Da Hun Chun. They are well known for their fried dumplings. We paid for one order (4 dumplings for 7 RMB), they gave us a meal ticket and then we collected the dumplings from the food window. Wow.. they were amazing and even better than the steamed dumplings.

It was a wonderful tour that taught us many things about Shanghai’s history, the customs of the area, how to order food in the food halls and some little known facts about the city. Thanks Kylie for an awesome tour!

At the conclusion of the tour we went straight for the metro and then to the Railway Station. The 25 minute train ride with take us to the water town of Suzhou.