I’m back with the second part of my shanghai trip. This times it’s all about the places we went, the things we saw and where we stayed. Unfortunately it’s probably not as long as my food post about shanghai because let’s face it, this was high key a foodcation as any good vacation is, but I still have some things to say about my adventures as well.
WHERE WE STAYED
So first things first, we stayed at The Phoenix, otherwise known as LaoShan hostel. For $14 a night, it was pretty decent accommodations. My friends and I shared a 6 bedroom dorm, ensuite. In theory, having your own bathroom that you share with only 5 other people is nice, but in reality 6 girls sharing a single bathroom is not a very smart idea. With that aside, the ensuite wasn’t bad; a cleaner came in everyday to clean up the bathroom, which was really nice. One of the biggest surprise was that they had real mattresses on the bottom bed, which personally I think is a rarity for China (I barely have a real mattress in my apartment). It was nice and soft and called for a good night sleep.
The hostel also has a rooftop bar that you can probably read all about on tripadvisor. Everyone talked about the guy who works there, Dexter, and how amazing he is. And you know what they were right. He has a knack for remembering people and information about them after only speaking to someone once.
Overall, the hostel was a nice place to stay, just thirty minutes by subway to most touristy spots. I definitely recommend if you’re looking for a cheap place to stay and also want to meet people because hostels are a good way to meet people.
THE BARS
During our time in Shanghai, my friends and I went to a few bars and some of them were pretty cool, if not a little overpriced.
We went to a hidden bar called Speak Low and when I say hidden, I really mean hidden. When we first showed up we thought there was nothing there until someone came out and told us to go in. I won’t ruin the secret of where the bar is hidden because you should check it out for yourselves. The drinks were fine but overpriced and the place is kind of small but I think its all about the hidden bar experience.
The next bar we went to was called The Captain. It was a bar inside of a hostel and this one was much bigger than the first one and had a nice view of the city. When it’s warm you can sit outside and enjoy your drink and take in the city.
Another place we went to was called The Parrot. It was pretty small, with only a few tables. In my opinion nothing really special.
My favorite spot was Zapatas, a Mexican food and bar. I didn’t get food but I heard they have taco Tuesdays with all you can eat tacos. I was there on a Friday and they have free tequila shots every hour on the hour. You can dance on the bars and there are really fun quotes all over the place. What I loved the most about the place was the music. They did not play the EDM or bad music that they usually play in China. There were songs that you could dance to and I danced the night away.
JUST TOURIST THINGS
The last part I’ll talk about was the touristy things we did while in Shanghai. Being a tourist is not my favorite thing to do because it tends to be crowded and can get annoying but nonetheless there were some tourist attractions we went to see.
First off, you must see The Bund. It’s a beautiful skyline of the city and totally worth getting a picture of it.
My favorite tourist thing to see was the French Concession. The neighborhood is the best in Shanghai in my opinion. We ended up there everyday. Also if you read my last post that’s where a lot of the food places are located. It’s such a beautiful neighborhood, you can wander around for hours going into the shops and just hang out. I found a couple of bookstores there, which was great.
We also went to Nanjing Road which is a big shopping street and we wandered into a few stores. A few blocks away was Shanghai Foreign Language bookstore and for me personally, bookstores are always a good time.
Yu garden is a nice place to go to wander. You can literally spend hours getting lost in the place, I know we did. It’s very big and has lots of greenery and you can take a lot of pictures. Similar to that, is Zhongshan Park, also a good to place to wander on a nice summer day.
People’s Square was right near our hostel and on the list of places to check out. So we went there and saw a marriage market where people put up umbrellas to sell their kids off to marriage, which was a pretty interesting thing to see.
That about wraps up how I spent my time in Shanghai. It’s was long overdue but I’m glad we finally got through this and I hope this gives you guys some ideas of things to do if you ever find yourself in Shanghai!
fawning over life 