Visiting Shanghai

[f1williams]

As Shmucky said, you should have some RMB already when you get to Shanghai! I didn't see any money changers open at that time too.

You can try your nearest Czarina Money Changer to see if they have some. Or you can just ask prEttyNdisTress for several hundred. Sabihin mo na lang pasalubong.

[Schmucky]

I already messaged the website that you gave me for resevation. The hotel looks nice naman and cheap kaya dun nalang din siguro kami magstay. Pano pala ginawa niyo? You paid online or just paid pagdating dun sa hotel?

Diba you managed to contact the hotel for pick-up at the airport? How much yung arrangement? Thanks.

We paid upon arriving at the hotel. That's the time that they will get your Credit Card. The charges will be billed upon checkout.

The website will require you to input your credit card number when you arrange the transfers with them. Don't worry coz that's pretty normal.

[prEttyNdisTress]

For those who doesn't have credit card. Apply na lang kayo ng BDO Savings account. They will issue an ATM Mastercard that is okay to use online. My friend was able to used her BDO MAstercard debit to book for flights and order stuff online.

[rap_sd6]

^^wow thanks for that tip pretty. hehe sabihin ko sa mga friends ko na they can use their BDO atm to pay for tickets and stuff online

me charges din yan siguro if used abroad like a credit card, right?

[kelio20]

I already booked the tickets. We'll be travelling to Shanghai on January 21-25. We decided to scrap the Hong Kong or Beijing sidetrips nalang.

We are soOo excited!

kelio20, that's my problem also. I don't have any idea about the distance between the hotel that we will be booking (Bund Area) with Pudong. And i am not familiar with any public transportation in Shanghai. 300 rmb for a taxi ride is way expensive for me.

What's the specific date of your trip pala? Baka magkasabay pa tayo. Hehe

quedo31: We'll be travelling Jan 25-30 pa. First time ko sa shanghai, I have been to Beijing and natiis ko ang lamig ng January, so im thinking kaya rin ang winter sa Shanghai. The Bund area is approximately 30 miles daw from Pudong intl airport (40 minutes to an hour travel). We're choosing between Jin Jiang New Asia hotel and Magnificent, cheap lang sila pareho (around 50 USD a night). May bus daw from the airport kahit midnight na (as per f1williams). Search na lang muna ako about that. I will post info kapag may nahanap na ako.

[kelio20]

Hi! The bus from Pudong Airport to Shanghai should be operational past midnight. I 've taken this one when I had to take a redeye flight. It was around Feb also if I remember and it was fre@king cold!

The bus was in front of door no. 9 (if I recall correctly) outside the arrival area. Better to confirm this with a guard there. Ask them how to get to Shanghai.

The bus will take you to People's Square (RenMin GuangChang 人民广场). There will be some cabs hanging around at the bus stop. From there you can take a taxi to your hotel; shouldn't take 5mins if your hotel is near the Bund. Don't worry, Chinese cab drivers are honest. Make sure to print out your hotel name and address in Chinese.

Thanks a lot for this information. Tipid trip kasi ito e. heheh. A 300 rmb cab fare is too much. By the way, can you suggest a 5 day itinerary? What dos and donts for a foreigner in shanghai? Madali lang ba inavigate ang Shanghai like HK?

[quedo31]

quedo31: We'll be travelling Jan 25-30 pa. First time ko sa shanghai, I have been to Beijing and natiis ko ang lamig ng January, so im thinking kaya rin ang winter sa Shanghai. The Bund area is approximately 30 miles daw from Pudong intl airport (40 minutes to an hour travel). We're choosing between Jin Jiang New Asia hotel and Magnificent, cheap lang sila pareho (around 50 USD a night). May bus daw from the airport kahit midnight na (as per f1williams). Search na lang muna ako about that. I will post info kapag may nahanap na ako.

Ok thanks a lot. I'll wait for it. Hehe. Send mo din sakin itinerary mo if meron na ha. Thanks.

[prEttyNdisTress]

^^wow thanks for that tip pretty. hehe sabihin ko sa mga friends ko na they can use their BDO atm to pay for tickets and stuff online

me charges din yan siguro if used abroad like a credit card, right?

Yes...I was so frustrated with the old Equitable Visa. It just won't work. I called BDO before I leave Manila and they told me that it should work. Yes, it works but after 3 million tries. grr.... I think BDO card will work better because they bought Equitable and I beleive that Equitable card are not user friendly anymore.

My advise here is that you just use the BDO Mastercard Debit for purchasing online airfare and booking online hotel/hostels. Other than that just bring cash with you when you're doing a short travel. It's wise to open your BDO account with the BDO bank that has HK dollars services.Coz not all BDO banks can sell you HK dollars if you plan to visit Hong Kong. For China naman, just open your account where you can buy US dollars with them. They only sell US dollars to you IF you have a flight already. Meaning their required documents is that you have to have a airline ticket with you in order to buy US dollars. With Cebu Pacific, the online printout of their electronis ticket is okay with BDO.

Have Fun with your travel.

[mong_cute]

oy gusto ko rin pumunta ng shanghai, 21-25 jan!

[f1williams]

Thanks a lot for this information. Tipid trip kasi ito e. heheh. A 300 rmb cab fare is too much. By the way, can you suggest a 5 day itinerary? What dos and donts for a foreigner in shanghai? Madali lang ba inavigate ang Shanghai like HK?

Yeah, a 300RMB cab fare is enough for a night's hotel stay with some money left over for lunch. Btw, I have to add that the midnight airport bus has several other stops so you have to inform the conductor that you want to get off at People's Square.

Re the itinerary, it depends on the things that you like to do. Personally, 5 days seems a long time to be in Shanghai unless you're on a shopping trip. Shanghai isn't as 'cultural' as Beijiing and the major attractions are quite close to each other. Perhaps, you can take side trips to Hangzhou or Suzhou to maximize your site seeing.

Not much dos and dont's in Shanghai. It's a cosmopolitan city, very very much Western compared to the other Chinese cities. It would be easy to get around, a lot of English signs to complement the Chinese signs.

[kelio20]

Yeah, a 300RMB cab fare is enough for a night's hotel stay with some money left over for lunch. Btw, I have to add that the midnight airport bus has several other stops so you have to inform the conductor that you want to get off at People's Square.

Re the itinerary, it depends on the things that you like to do. Personally, 5 days seems a long time to be in Shanghai unless you're on a shopping trip. Shanghai isn't as 'cultural' as Beijiing and the major attractions are quite close to each other. Perhaps, you can take side trips to Hangzhou or Suzhou to maximize your site seeing.

Not much dos and dont's in Shanghai. It's a cosmopolitan city, very very much Western compared to the other Chinese cities. It would be easy to get around, a lot of English signs to complement the Chinese signs.

Thanks a lot! Im thinking about going to Hangzhou. How do i go there? Do we need to be in a tour group? Or ok lang to go there na mag commute by ourselves? Frozen ba ang lake dun pag january? hehe. How much is the estimated gastos (return fare, admissions, etc) when i go to hangzhou? How about the ERA circus in Shanghai? How do i go there?

Btw, here's a link for a website about shanghai (including buses from the aiport). I found this very helpful. Quedo, i suggest you visit this site also.

http://www.wangjianshuo.com/personal...pudongairport/
And www.shanghaiexpat.com is worth visiting too.

[kelio20]

I have another question. Do the Airport construction fee still in effect? I read from somewhere na international passengers for departure need to pay the 90 rmb Airport construction fee.

[Schmucky]

I have another question. Do the Airport construction fee still in effect? I read from somewhere na international passengers for departure need to pay the 90 rmb Airport construction fee.

We were there during the last week of September and I don't remember paying for anything like this

I'm talking about Pudong Airport BTW.

[f1williams]

Thanks a lot! Im thinking about going to Hangzhou. How do i go there? Do we need to be in a tour group? Or ok lang to go there na mag commute by ourselves? Frozen ba ang lake dun pag january? hehe. How much is the estimated gastos (return fare, admissions, etc) when i go to hangzhou? How about the ERA circus in Shanghai? How do i go there?

Sorry for the late reply.

No, the lake doesn't freeze. Hehe. It's going to be very cold and windy though if you opt to take a lake boat trip. On the up side, there isn't much business for the boatmen and you can probably haggle cost of the boat trip down to 20RMB.

No need to take a tour group. Buses and trains leave for Hangzhou frequently so there's no need to book ahead. I don't think you're trip falls on a Chinese holiday.

You can catch the train at the old Shanghai Station or the new (really nice) Shanghai South Station. Both are accessible by subway. Trains to Hangzhou are plentiful but make sure to get the fast trains which will take less than 2 hours. Train schedule is here (http://www.chinahighlights.com/china-trains/). Try to get the train which arrives at the main Hangzhou train station (Hangzhou Huo Che Zhan 杭州火车站) rather than the Hangzhou East train station（Hangzhou Huo Che Dong Zhan 杭州火车东站). When you arrive, you can take a cab or city bus (No. 101) to the city center (Yan'an Lu).

If going by bus, you have to go to the Shanghai long distance bus terminal. It will take about 2.5-3 hours to get from Shanghai to Hangzhou. I think buses leave every 15 mins. You'll arrive at the Hangzhou East Bus Station. The East Bus Station is a bit chaotic and depending on luck, there might be a long or very long line at the taxi stand. Watch your bags at the stations.

Important to note that you should get the tickets at the ticket booth, not from just anybody offering you tickets. They'll just buy it from the ticket booth and charge you more.

I would really suggest that you just stay overnight in Hangzhou as there are really a lot of places to see aside from just West Lake (XiHu 西湖).

[thedarkside]

I agree with f1williams, 5 days in Shanghai is way too long for just sightseeing. There's really not much to see in Shanghai unless you're into shopping and clubbing. Or as suggested, you can go to nearby cities like Hangzhou.

And if you decide to go to Hangzhou I suggest you take the bullet train. The travel time will take approximately 1.5 hours. The schedule can be found here(http://hangzhouexpat.com/Article_Show.asp?ArticleID=156 or http://www.travelchinaguide.com/chin...ubmit32=SUBMIT). The bullet train starts with the letter 'D' followed by the number. A round trip ticket will cost you 100rmb.

I also find this link useful: (http://www.morehangzhou.com/)

[thedarkside]

I have another question. Do the Airport construction fee still in effect? I read from somewhere na international passengers for departure need to pay the 90 rmb Airport construction fee.

If you're talking about Pudong International Airport, I was there last week and I didn't pay any construction fee...

[thedarkside]

If you are not bringing a lot of baggage, I suggest you try the Maglev train once you arrive in Pudong. It will only take 8 minutes? to go to Shanghai Metro Line 2(Longyang Rd. Station). From there, you can take a cab or subway going to your hotel. The Maglev train operates only until 21:30 though.

[kelio20]

Thanks for all the input guys.
Mukhang konti lang ang pupunta ng Shanghai a, hehe. It will be my first time there, ive been to Beijing and i really enjoyed it. Im looking forward to my Shanghai trip talaga (shopping, its mala european architecture, and winter na rin). Ill be staying sa Magnificent Intl Hotel and i have to apply for a chinese visa yet.
Payo ni prettyindistress, december daw ako mag apply since sa late January pa naman ang travel ko.
Any tips and suggestions will be greatly appreciated sa mga nakapunta na sa Shanghai.

[brucewayne]

im also going to shanghai this jan6 to jan 11. ano kaya ang winter nila don?

so bale i have jan7 morning til jan11 morning to enjoy the trip.
my dad have been to shanghai and he stayed at Bailemen hotel. check the internet. i think its around $60 +/-.

any other places i could visit in shanghai? i think they have factory outlet there. pero hindi ko lang alam kung san hahanapin.

[kelio20]

im also going to shanghai this jan6 to jan 11. ano kaya ang winter nila don?

so bale i have jan7 morning til jan11 morning to enjoy the trip.
my dad have been to shanghai and he stayed at Bailemen hotel. check the internet. i think its around $60 +/-.

any other places i could visit in shanghai? i think they have factory outlet there. pero hindi ko lang alam kung san hahanapin.

Nice. Yung Cebu Pac promo rin ba yung binili mo? Diba ang departure for Manila 1 AM? We should be at the aiport ng mga 11 PM. Travel dates ko from January 25-30. Konti pa lang alam ko about Shanghai, so im searching for information sa net. Basa dito basa doon. Have you applied for a chinese visa yet?
Regarding winter, quote ko na lang "In winter, January is the coldest month, with a temperature average of 3 degrees centigrade." Near freezing na. hehe.
Try mo visit *** www.shanghaiexpat.com