If you are visiting Shanghai this season, then there are a few things that you absolutely must do. Shanghai is a city that literally bristles with buildings and its joys are there on the street level. This is where you can see life unfolding everyday in a bewildering manner. Unlike cities like New York or Rome, there are no such must-see sights. The essence here remains in the everyday life.
There are certain things that you absolutely must do in Shanghai for they are exclusive and you would not really get it anywhere else. Find out what are those –
- Take a ride on the Shanghai Maglev train: There is the magnetic-levitation train ride which you can take exclusively to the city from the international airport. You should reach within 8 minutes for the train travels at a speed of 430 km per hour. Yes, you might be left feeling a bit whiplashed, but then this sense of disorientation drops a clear hint about the kind of fast-paced life you can expect in the city of Shanghai.
- Take a walk down Fuxing Park:Shanghai is one city that is meant for taking walks unlike most other Chinese cities. The colonial era French Concession along with the stuccoed villas and shady sycamore trees is a good place to start the walk. Around the corner is the former residence of Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of modern China at 7 Xiangshan Road. This house effectively contains books and period furniture.
- Drop in at Dongtai Road: You see, there is a store on Dongtai Road which is an entire stretch filled with antiques. There are also curio shops off Xizang Road which has on display a proud milk-bottle delivery box right from the 1920s. There are other treasures likewise which you can find here. All items are not for sale, but most are. These include the likes of lovely art-deco pieces plus lots of Cultural Revolution memorabilia.
- Get a green massage: Understand this for a fact that traditional Chinese acupressure is definitely not for the weak. It’s something that’s characteristic of China itself. Be prepared to blink back tears of pain, through ultimately it’s a rewarding experience altogether. You can indulge in this experience at Green Massage, located behind HuaihaiPark, offering an experience better than the usual massage parlors in Shanghai. Here you’d be greeted by soothing woodwind music, scented candles clean pajamas to change into and proper massage tables.
- Eat local at Jishi: True Shanghai food is nothing like what you get to taste at home in the paper take-out cartons. If you really wish to eat local, then make it a point to drop in at Jishi. This is a rather tiny place and mostly always crowded. However, you must taste the radish pickled in soy sauce (jiang luobo), tofu skin with mushrooms (fuzhu), sweet and sour spare ribs (tangcu paigu), etc.
Hence, get ready to fly business class to Shanghai at a special price and enjoy the best of Shanghainese.
