A New Direction - China

First of all buy a couple guidebooks. Since Shanghai is so huge there may be some that are specific to the city and area rather than all of China. I have not been to Shanghai but rather to Chengdu and Tibet. I don't think you will have a language problem especially in the downtown area. Shanghai is rebuiding and building. Lots of old neighborhoods have disappeared. You may be surprised at how modern the city is, and how large. Start with the guidebooks. Find out the tourist requirements. When I went there was a hefty visa fee and you have plenty of time to get it before next May.

For somebody that's never been there, Monte hit it pretty close. The darn place changes every year, sometimes every six months. Unless you have a pretty good understanding of Chinese history, you won't comprehend much of what you're seeing. If you're uncomfortable with the back alleys of Asia in general, you're not going to get far off the well-trodden path. Study a little and relax and you'll have a ball. In the central core, pick a language and somebody will speak it with English being the most prevalent. If you want a hint of what Shanghai used to be, wander the Bund - - it's pretty good now that the government has moved back out of the old tradings houses. Another area that's remained unchanged is the night markets - - you can stuff your gut for chump change. Eat anything you want, it's all good and there's no chance of getting a belly ache. A couple blocks in from the Huangpo is an area they're starting to call the North/New Bund. It's mostly tourist-oriented, but interesting for an afternoon. If you can swing it, get out into Jiangsu Province. Suchow (Suzhou), at least for the Tiger Hill area, rivals Kyoto for temples and gardens. Depending on your comfort level, you might prefer to book a short tour, but its easy enough to do on your own.

Have you checked on Frommers and TripAdvisor web site for China? Much more information there.

I have some friends who went to Shanghai last year and they loved the canal town of Suzhou that Ed mentioned. My guidebook says it is a 30 minute 'bullet' train ride from Shanghai. I bought two guidebooks to plan our trip and am happy with both purchases: 1) Eyewitness Travel Beijing and Shanghai--the diagrams of building interiors can help you decide if you want to visit them, and 2) Lonely Planet Discover China--it has more pictures than the average Lonely Planet book and just hits the highlights.
A quick read to help get you in the mood might be the book called Hong Konged by Paul Hanstedt. Obviously it's about Hong Kong, but his family travels to Shanghai and with three young kids hilarity ensues.

Another close-in city easily reached from Shanghai is Hangzhou, its West Lake area is like being in an old Chinese watercolor painting. There's an old Chinese expression--There's Heaven above and Hangzhou and Suzhou below" so if you aren't yet ready to sample Heaven, think about Hangzhou and Suzhou. I have to admit to not being a bit Shanghai fan, though the Bund area is charming. Are you planning any travel in China beyond the Shanghai area? Beijing is easily worth at least four or five days, and Xian has the incomparable Terracotta Warriors exhibit, and Hong Kong is also worth a few days...

Hi Jim, this is Jim from Dallas; you are going to love it. Let me review my notes this evening and I'll re-post. Suzhou is definitely worth going to, don't remember a bullet train, but just the train ride there is quiet an experience, you'll feel like you are a zoo animal, we were the only fair skinned people on the train, and we were a novelty to all passengers. Tiger Hill is worth a day trip. The "bullet train" mentioned in earlier post may be the electro-magnetic train from airport to Pudong area, a rather cool and interesting way to get to the Heart of Shanghi. A little pricey but worth the experience. I will have the name of the Hotel we stayed at; even if you can't stay there it's a perfect "jumping off spot" to some of the highlight things to do and see, plus a short cut to the Bund area. More later.

Been to Shanghai a few times. Ridden the world's fastest train (Maglev) from Pudong airport into Pudong which is across the river from Shanghai (268mph). Transportation by metro is very easy. The Maglev station in Pudong is one building over from the #2 Metro. From there, it's a breeze to get into central Shanghai. Signs in the metro are in Chinese (of course) and English. Cab can be $50 from the airport into central Shanghai but the Maglev and metro are very easy. The machines in the train stations have an English pick and after 1 time experimenting, very easy to use. Great places to tour.

The maglev train to or from the airport is expensive but there's nothing like it here, or likely to be for a long time if ever. Equally impressive is riding a bus on the parallel highway and seeing the train streak by like, well, a bullet. The main art museum is big, comprehensive, and easy to visit. Could easily take all day. When we were there five years ago they had a special exhibit of art from the Prado in Madrid (where we've never been) so we got Velasquez and El Greco bonuses. I remember all the Chinese students making careful notes about the European paintings. You'll find most signage is translated into English and many people, especially the young speak it. You may also find yourself an object of staring, especially if you're tall. I remember a woman on a Beijing street corner exclaiming about my height (just over 6 feet). Ditto what others said about Beijing and Xian. I've heard about the gardens near Shanghai but didn't visit. Shanghai is a great place to feel the dynamism of this amazing country. My wife thought it felt to us the way the US must have felt to European visitors a century ago, full of energy and a boundless future. Maybe not to much optimism now after these years of economic and political trouble, but you have the sense that these people have the capacity to handle their enormous problems. You'll be seeing the future, hopefully more for the better than the worse.

Our trip was in 2007, so things may have changed. I will bring up the name of the Hotel solely for the use of future tourists going to Shanghai. Looking back, I would like to give credit to my self but I think I just was extremely lucky. The Oriental Riverside Hotel Shanghai is located at 2727 Riverside Avenue Pudong ( the Financial district); it's in close proximity to EVERYTHING makes an ideal choice, plus it was very affordable. Your room faces the Huangpu River with The Bund directly across the river, a beautiful promenade with numerous Bars and Rest. along the way. By the way, Shanghai MAY be one of the most beautiful cities in the World when lit up at night! Also, once you exit the Hotel , you almost trip over it, is a sign stating .....Bund Tourist Tunnel, also leads to Bund Sightseeing Tunnel, quite amazing, guidebooks consider it "corny" but very worth while seeing and going tHrough, simply cause it goes underneath the river to the Bund side. This is a cost saving measure if you are in the Pudong area, because taxis can not get to Bund side economically, even though taxis are very affordable everywhere. The Oriental Pearl TV Tower is also very close by, well worth going up and into. From here you can see all the massive amounts of construction.(to be cont)

There is also a multi-level Mall nearby; as well as Shanghai Aquarium. If your spouses spending acct. allows, have dinner atop Jin Mao Tower, considered at the time to be tallest Bld. In China, 3rd tallest in the world. I believe that was surpassed a few months later with a nearby bld., and of course Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Using the pedestrian tunnel you'll get to Bund side of river; a casual walk down the Bund is enlightening, go into the Peace Hotel( lots of history, was being renovated while there).The famous Yu Yuan Gardens were a little boring to me, and......Huxin Ting Teahouse....very over-rated and VERY pricey. Shanghai Museum, worthwhile. The Temples didn't do much for me either, guess I needed a guide to explain it to me. We enjoyed the river cruise, especially if you can catch it near sunset, with Shanghai lit up. I could recommend New Heights restuarant(3 on the Bund). Pollution may be an issue to some. We didn't seem to be affected by it, didn't really notice it til we looked at photos following the trip. We also felt SAFE; a little ironic, after all, we were in a Communist nation. Make sure you keep several business cards with Hotels name and address for Taxi drivers. (TBC)

Unlike what other posters have previously stated we found that very few spoke English, even the concierge in our Hotel struggled with the English language; she would write message in Chinese Characters to location we wanted, we presented card to Taxi driver. taxis very affordable but most drivers knew no English and if you stray too far out, most didn't seem to know their city. Metro signs were not well marked; actually we used metro so little due to affordability of taxi, keep in mind there were 3 sometimes 4 of us. Regarding food, our 30 year old daughter was stressed out about possibility of being served dog meat. We were only offered one menu with dog meat on it, most of the time we were pansies and ate in "western" type establishments. The one time we went to an "authentic" restuarant, it was a disaster, just a tourist trap with sterile authentic food. An interesting side note. Go 2 blocks on the other side of Bund, and you feel you are in the real China. My Son-in-law wanted to eat at a soup kitchen....so we did. It was a little scary, we just pointed and they ladled it out. The secret is to not look at it, just savor the good soup. I saw several items that looked like eye balls but I resisted eating them, still wonder what they were.

Suzhou was worth the day trip. We trained to the City and had someone hire a taxi for our return to Shanghai. The population of Suzhou is or was 9.2 million several years ago, so it's not a small suburb. This is where we were offered dog meat on menu. This was a good restuarant , it had pictures of what you were being offered, all you had to do is point. Sidewalk food was fabulous and dirt cheap.Tiger Hill was fantastic, it would take to much print to describe it, just go, you'll be glad you did. As stated we ate in mostly "westernized" places, therefore cost was more. If you have someone with you as a guide you can eat very well for a few US dollars. I'm unaccustomed to typing this much.......good luck. May, should be a good month to travel, we were there in earl April, and weather was comfortable with no rain.

Just wanted to say thanks to OP Jim for asking this and for all the great responses. We too are planning a trip for April or May to meet friends from London who are living in shanghai for a bit. I know we will be able to rely on them for much of our traveling but it's great to get ideas now of what might interest us. Like Jim, this is an unexpected destination for us, one that would not have been at the top of our list, but we are excited now about seeing Shanghai and maybe one other stop, probably Beijing, though open to other suggestions!

China, nor any Asian country was on our to-do list, but our trip definitely changed our minds. You should consider Bejing and Xian. If I go again, shanghai/Suzhou and Xian will be a portion of the trip. My S-I-L wants us to go to Vietnam; although I didn't serve our Country, I just have a hang-up about going there.

Thanks for the stellar follow up Jim but wonder about the Vietnam hang up? Have you visited Germany? Mexico? American blood shed in those wars as well.

Funny Jim about Vietnam-that is one place I really do want to go to and thought I'd make that part of our Asia trip-until I got out the atlas and actually looked at how far away it was from Shangha...Asia travel is not at all like Europe travel in terms of distances. Good thing I figured that out before arriving in china! We are skyping with our friends on Friday to start the actual trip planning process so we'll see what all they suggest too.

I'm from China and while I've only been to Shanghai 2x, I can offer a few general tips to make your trip easier: 1. There are a lot of tourists in Shanghai! You will inevitably look like one since you are not Chinese, but many foreigners live there permanently, and you'll be able to understand the culture by talking to locals as well as foreigners who live there. 2. A lot of people will try to speak English to you just to practice or "for fun." If they do, you can learn a few Chinese words from them as well. 3. Lots of history to see in Shanghai - if you start planning now I suggest that you read some Chinese history articles. Have fun!

There's nothing much to see in China. It's all about the Pandas. Go to Thailand.

Very funny John. We're putting together a China trip too, so thank you OP.

For those planning a trip to China and don't mind very cold weather, consider a trip to Harbin. It's where the annual Snow and Ice festivals are located. As an added bonus the city also has a Jewish legacy, with a newly restored Synagogue with a Jewish heritage museum. If you want to warm up after a couple of days, you can be in tropical Hong Kong in just a few hours;) See my photos here: http://tinyurl.com/6kzu7dh http://tinyurl.com/6aol495

For a good history, try Jonathan Spence, "The Search for Modern China." It's a big fat book by a renowned historian, quite readable as these things go, and makes a convenient doorstop after your trip. As for people wanting to practice their English on you, I encountered that twice in Beijing, both times with attractive young women who apparently wanted to practice more than English. Perhaps they're more strait-laced in Shanghai ;)

I was in Vietnam briefly (cruise stops) with a Nam vet, helicopter pilot who did 2 tours (4 years) during the worst of the war. He was very interested to see what had changed (Danang and Saigon) and what was familiar. There are many vets who visit, and the Vietnamese people were all very friendly and welcoming - of course we were only in the south. The country is beautiful and everyone in our group loved it. We did visit the American War Museum in Saigon (yeah, it's officially Ho Chi Minh City, but everyone except the government officials still call it Saigon) and had a look at history from the other side.

I've been watching this thread for awhile and not posting just because I don't have anything specific to say about planning. Anyway, I thought I'd share that my husband and I are in love with Europe and couldn't have imagined going anywhere else. Then we booked a tour of China (first ever tour!) because the price was so right (less than the same length of time in Europe!). We got back October 8th and both agree it was our best trip ever. We learned so much and had so much fun. It amazed me how friendly the Chinese were. They just loved all of us, especially the older ladies on the tour. People call my trips a "trip of a lifetime" but this one truly was, more than any other. You will love it!

Jim, I realized that I didn't mention one of the best things in Shanghai, the food! Great seafood, jade-green veggies, and dumplings. My favourite, a speciality of Shanghai but seen elsewhere as well, is xiao long bao. They are like raviolis, steamed and served with a light soy and vinegar dip. You can get crab filling, pork filling, pork and vegetable filling, and so on. The best part is that when you pop one in your mouth, you get a blast of unctuous soup broth, too. They make them by sticking a gelatinized bit of broth into each dumpling, and when steamed the bit melts into soup. I could really go for a bowlful right now!!