Shanghai A Place I Would Like To See

Shanghai is the biggest city and most important port in China. For me, it is a magical place where tradition and modernity intermingle in a way that you do not see anywhere else, Shanghai has an almost mythical quality. This is a city that I would definitely like to visit.

I love travelling, seeing new places, tasting new foods and making new friends. I am lucky enough to say that I have travelled extensively but one place I have not yet seen and I would definitely like to visit is Shanghai.

A financial centre during the 19th and 20th centuries fell dormant for decades until 1992 when Deng Xiaoping started to promote the growth of the city. Now Shanghai has recovered its place in Asia’s financial market and is rapidly being established as the main financial centre in Asia so if you are in business or just looking for a different type of holiday, Shanghai is a place worth visiting.

• Cruise on Huangpu River. A symbol of Shanghai, the river that divides Shanghai into two areas, the old town on the Western bank of the river, and the new town on the Eastern banks of the river. I have read that the two suspension bridges, Nanpu Bridge and Yangpu Bridge, appear to arch over the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, resembling 'Two dragons playing with a ball', I am sure it would be a spectacular view.
• Go golfing, only 33 minutes drive away from the city in the beautiful site of DianShan Lake you will find one of the most exclusive Golf courses with swimming pool, restaurants and accommodation.
• See the Shanghai Acrobatics School & Troupe. Hula hoops, clowns, umbrella handling, gravity-defying contortionism and plate-spinning are among some of the amazing performances to keep you amazed during two hours.
• Cross the longest bridge in the world -opened to the public on May 2008- and, of course stop at the Land between the Sea and the Sky station service to go on its lookout tower to watch the tide.
• Buy a traditional Chinese dress.
• Search for bargains in The Xiangyang Road Bazaar.
• Shop until I drop on Nanjing Road, the busiest commercial centre in the city where everyday more than 1 million people eat, shop, walk and entertain themselves.
• Have a traditional Chinese massage –after all that walking and shopping!
• Ski. Yes this is possible in the Shanghai’s indoor 380m ski slope
• Have lunch in the rotating PearlTower restaurant.
• Have a night out on the Xin Tian Di district, which it is supposed to have one of the most stylish nights out in Asia.
• Spend the day in the nearby town of Su Zhou. A very traditional town which escaped the rigours of the communism. I would like to walk along its streets, sail along its canals and eat traditional Chinese food with the locals.
• Have a walk along the Bund for a sight of some of the most spectacular buildings in the world.
• Learn a few phrases on Mandarin
• Learn how to cook one or two traditional Chinese dishes.
• Fly a kite in Yu Gardens. Because flying a kite reminds me of my happy childhood and Yu Garden literally means Garden of Happiness, I would like to visit Yu gardens not only for its well-known beautiful spaces but also to recover part of my inner child.
• Attend the Shanghai’s fashion week held two times every year in Shanghai. This year Shanghai Fashion Week will be held in Taiping Park from 7th-15th, April 2015
• Go to some of the numerous night clubs and bars which are open until the sun comes up.

• Chinese people automatically refuse food or drinks several times — even if they really feel hungry or thirsty. Never take the first "No, thank you" literally.
• The Chinese don't feel very comfortable calling each other by their first names. So if you make any friends while you are touring China, make sure you always address your friend by his family name.
• If you want to make friends bear in mind that there are two topics that you should avoid talking about: Taiwan and Tibet. They are very sensitive subjects.

The temperature in Shanghai fluctuates between 40 degrees F/ 4 degrees C in winter and 83 degrees F/ 28 degrees C in summer.

I like travelling and I think that to fully enjoy the travelling experience you must at least attempt to speak the language of the place you visit. Having said that, Chinese is not really the easiest of languages and to acquire some minimal language survival skills you would need at least a few months. But I always recommend to at least make an effort to say a few words in the language of the place you visit and the Chinese are especially appreciative whenever foreigners attempt to speak their language that just a few words can go a very long way.

So here we go, the most common ways to greet someone is to simply say hello: nĭ hăo! .

My name is : wŏ jiào ...

What's your name? nĭ jiào shénme míngzi?

Good luck and enjoy your trip!