#Shanghai Travel
You must go here if you’re coming to China! Paris of the Orient, rich in culture and tri-lingual!
I highly recommend the “city” free walking tour of Shanghai by freetourasia.com, the highlight for me was the People’s Park where overbearing parents sit over umbrellas that have information listed of their single children they would like to match-make, mentioning their wage among other details! Secondly, the ‘Culture Shock’ bicycle tours were amazing value for money (I did Shanghai by night). If you can manage a hotel near Nanjing East Road or the bund you will always have a lovely stroll at your door step. I stayed at the Sofitel and recommend this location.
The Bund: the most European architecture you’ll see on a street in the orient!
Old town, Yayue Garden & Temple of God: a beautiful insight into traditional life. Original architecture but heavily renovated.
The Propaganda Museum: see how a dictator brainwashed a highly illiterate population
Xiahui & Tizifang districts for a lovely stroll through
Extra activities that were not really highlights: Peace Hotel Jazz bar is a bit of fun – a fusion of Chinese music and jazz. I also visited M20 (art district) with great hopes of finding street art alleys but as graffiti is heavily penalised here, I only found spicks & specks. The only reason to visit M20 is if you like local art galleries. The French concession has a few original buildings left but the area was highly damaged in the war and I felt that it was hard to feel the atmosphere it once had. I had a drink on the rooftop bar of the Roosevelt Hotel and it was a nice view to take in but pricey.
Snooping out a cocktail bar in the area, Speak low and Soap Box are the best.
There is no longer a limit on children per family in China. Interestingly, the “one child’ policy avoided an estimated 400,000 births but now has some negative consequences. There are not enough youth to pay the pension of the aging population. Secondly, for China to maintain control over its perpetually growing population, it has invested in security cameras for every metre of the country. The primary reason is to reduce crime, which it has been successful in doing. Secondly, in 2020 China will begin a social credit score based on facial recognition. What will be rewarded: walking instead of driving, having an electric car/scooter, buying items that indicate you are responsible etc. What will be punished: paying bills late, traffic offences and crossing the road on a red light etc. Good scores will give you benefits, like smaller deposits needed to buy property or discounts on accommodation. Bad scores will affect your ability to purchase train/plane tickets and even what kind of school your children go to. Well, I guess that is one way to make people do what you want: punishments and reward and the ever-present big brother.
Let me know if you are planning to visit Shanghai & have any questions!
