It’s taken me a little while but finally a blog on the next part of my travels, a fabulous five days spent in and around Shanghai (上海). After my wee trip up to Harbin I had one full day back in Dalian to fully pack up my stuff and then I was off to the airport, destination – China’s largest city.

Two of my Edinburgh friends live together there so I was lucky enough to be able to crash with them – thanks again to Jack and Conlan for putting up with me. The day I arrived Conlan was actually still travelling himself but got back the day after. Jack and I hung around for a few hours, catching up on what has been an eventful few months for both of us and then we headed out into the Shanghai night.

Our first stop was a bookshop that is what dreams are made of. Tucked away in a corner of Fudan university (复旦大学), it was crammed to bursting point with second hand books. Obviously the majority were in Chinese which is still a bit more aspirational than practical for me but we did find a little corner of foreign language. I succumbed to temptation and bought a bilingual English-Chinese book called ‘About Women’ (关于女人) about Bing Xin, a Chinese writer from last century who covered topics like social injustice, family conflicts and feminism.

We went just across the road for dinner to a sushi restaurant. It was something different and delicious, but let me tell you the wasabi is made of a completely different stuff to at home, it almost blew my top off!

We ended our evening in Tianzifang (田子坊) on a little bar hop. Tianzifang is a network of traditional alleyways housing charming bars, cafes and boutique shops. We started at a bar in the street where we had some very tense games of Connect-4 and mini Jenga. Next up was a Tibetan bar and finally a bar that gave me the largest mojito I’ve ever seen. I ordered a large and it was no joke as big as my head! Safe to say that was not what I was expecting, not that I wasn’t happy about it.

For day 2, I actually headed out of Shanghai to visit Hangzhou (杭州) for the day. I met up with a friend from Dalian who was visiting his sister who lives there. We spent most of the day wandering around the West Lake, Hangzhou’s main attraction. It was first created by the governor of the city in the 8th century and has been developed and cultivated over the years. The beauty of the lake has been inspiring Chinese poets for generations. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t amazing so I think I missed out on some of the beauty of the place.

When I got back in to Shanghai that evening I went out for some drinks with Jack and Conlan to a bar with one of the best views possible across to the the Pudong area of Shanghai, including the famous Oriental Pearl Tower, on the left of the photo.

On day 3 I met up with another friend from Edinburgh who happens to be working in Shanghai this year. Kim and I were both part of the water polo club but she graduated in the summer and has been teaching French here. We met up in Tianzifang and had lunch and then wondered around some more of the French concession area.

To finish the day, I met up worth Conlan and we went to Yuyuan Gardens (豫园). Originally built in the Ming dynasty, the gardens have been restored after sustaining damage in several 20th century conflicts. It was absolutely packed to bursting point and was the first time that I’d seen the Spring Festival crowds I’d been warned about. The year of the rat is fast approaching so there were a lot of lantern around featuring next years zodiac animals. The whole place was lit up beautifully and worth braving the crowds to see.

The following day was another day trip, this time out to Suzhou (苏州). Suzhou is is known as the ‘Venice of the East because of its many canals and is also famous for its harmonious gardens. Definitely one of the most beautiful places I’ve been so far in China, Suzhou somehow managed to be serene and tranquil even while filled with tourists. We spent the whole day visiting gardens and just walking around the old town.

My last day in Shanghai was just about filling in some gaps of things I wanted to see. I met up with Kim again at the Bund. Dominated by art deco and neoclassical buildings, the Bund housed the cities banks during the concession era. From there we walked down Nanjing Road (南京路) to People’s Park (人民公园). Finally we went for coffee in a cafe housed in a very inconspicuous office building which (if it weren’t for the fog/pollution haze) gives incredible views across Shanghai.

For my last meal Jack, Conlan and I went for hot pot which is a sensational Chinese speciality. There is no photo because I hadn’t eaten all day so fell on the food as soon as it came. For hot pot you get a big bowl of broth, usually spicy, in the middle of the table on a heater to keep it warm and then you order all the sides of meat, veggies, tofu, noodles as you want to cook in the broth. It’s both a meal and an activity and great fun.

My overall thoughts on Shanghai are overwhelmingly positive. It’s one of those cities that I wasn’t sure if I was going to like, much like New York, but then ended up loving! I had so much fun exploring and it was nice to be in a city that has a very different feel to it than Dalian, which is obviously much smaller, but also from Beijing. Where Beijing has all of its history behind it, Shanghai very much leans on its modernity. A big part of why I loved Shanghai so much was getting to meet up with and hang out with some great friends that I haven’t seen in a while. I loved my visit but it has also been great in once again reaffirming my choice of Dalian for this year – I would struggle to see myself living in Shanghai, at least while trying to study Chinese. Overall a great city, a great visit, a great time.