Shanghai and Hong Kong Disneyland March 17 – Day 7 Complete in Hong Kong Proper; 12/04

[Flossbolna]

@Aussie Wendy Thanks for the info you already posted!

 

[darrenf67]

Welcome home PIO!

Darrenf67 we found it cold much of the time especially when the wind blew. I know what you mean about eg 13 degrees feeling different in different places. We wore our hiking thermal tops, polar fleece, jeans, hiking shoes, scarf and often our coat, and added beany and gloves at night. It was approx 4-13 when we were there. We found in Beijing when the sun went down the temp dropped rapidly. In Shanghai it was cold even though rainy and felt colder than I expected for the given temp (though I see now the weather map says 6-10 on our very wet cold Monday which was colder than predicted). On our sunny day we left our outer gear (coat etc) in a locker but by mid afternoon when the wind blew it got cold and by dusk we were very glad to have our coat, beany and gloves with us and were cold waiting for the castle projection show. We also had some thermal underwear that we did wear that very wet Monday and one cold day in Beijing and did not feel too hot (but another day stripped off on the wall at Mutianyu as was so hot up there!)

Thanks for the info

 

[dolphingirl47]

I got home last night

Welcome back.

Corinna

 

[macraven]

I'm here reading and have to say you are cute as a button!

 

[zanzibar138]

Wendy has given some great info/tips on Shanghai. Just wanted to add a couple of things.

I bought my park tickets online too. When purchasing, I was required to enter my passport number, so make sure you have this with you at the time. It was quick and easy to swap the print out for a ticket at the entry turnstiles, just remember to take your passport with you. I didn't do any hotel reservations on this trip - my travel buddy took care of it all! However, on previous occasions I haven't had any trouble booking online as normal.

I noticed that our rooms at both Disney hotels seemed to have American style power points. Not having any American plugs myself, I didn't get a chance to try this out, but those of you heading there from the US may not have the same issue with power points that we did.

We all had a wonderful time exploring Shanghai Disneyland together!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Take your time! I can't wait to read it, but I have at least four other folks TRs to catch up on before I feel I can start my own and I've been home 10 days now!

I'm hoping to get to it tomorrow! We had a heck of a 36 last hours so perhaps my other half will be asleep most of tomorrow and I can catch up on the DIS!

I hope you're looking after yourself. No rush on catching up on this TR. I've just finished downloading the Shanghai (city proper) pictures and am only just starting to look at the Disney ones. So, it'll be a couple of days before I start on it.

Welcome home PIO!

Thanks. Hope you and DD are safely home as well.

Welcome home! Looking forward to reseda all about your adventures!

Thank you. I'm looking forward to documenting it.

Welcome back.

Corinna

Thanks Corinna. Not long to your next adventure!

I'm here reading and have to say you are cute as a button!

Aww, thanks for joining in!

(That would be....because I'm now a bona fide bottle-real auburn redhead. )

 

[dgbg100106]

Late to the party but here!

 

[cschaaf]

My mother speaks more than enough Mandarin....so we definitely got more value by doing things ourselves. We made it to Suzhou by train and found a local tour. In the end we spent about Aussie $75 each. Booking tours from here or at the hotel concierge would have cost us at least US$130 each.

Ohh, Suzhou is on our short list for side excursions. We'll have the bulk of one day as a 'free day' and are thinking either Suzhou (seems like it would be fun to take the high speed train there, but everything looks so spaced out there that it looks like you'd need help with transportation while there) or Zhujiajiao (considering taking a taxi there, but have heard that it's a challenge finding a taxi to take you back to Shanghai).

 

[PrincessInOz]

Late to the party but here!

Glad to see you here, Brandi!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Ohh, Suzhou is on our short list for side excursions. We'll have the bulk of one day as a 'free day' and are thinking either Suzhou (seems like it would be fun to take the high speed train there, but everything looks so spaced out there that it looks like you'd need help with transportation while there) or Zhujiajiao (considering taking a taxi there, but have heard that it's a challenge finding a taxi to take you back to Shanghai).

I debated between Suzhou, Zhujiajiao and Tongli. In the end, I figured the one to see was Suzhou.

Taking the train out to Suzhou is relatively straightforward. We bought ours at the train station; and there is one window out of the 15 or so counters that had a sign saying that the person there was "english speaking". It is a small sticker on the window; but if you know that it is there, you should be able to spot it. Having said that, I'd recommend that you consider booking your train ticket online, if that is possible. There were a lot of people wanting to purchase tickets and we did spend some time in the queue.

You will need transportation at the other end, which can also be relatively straightforward. There are any number of touters at the train station wanting to sell you a tour. We ignored all of them and headed towards the tuk-tuk and rickshaws. We thought we were safe on the tuk-tuk but the driver there 'sold' us a tour. It's a long'ish story and I'll save that for that particular edition in the TR.

If you have decided on Suzhou, I highly recommend that you consider hiring an individual/independent tour guide. There are a few of them on Viator and if I had my time again, I would definitely have arranged one before I left. I thought I could do it when in Shanghai and there just wasn't enough time to do so.

The independent tour guide should be able to help you with putting together the sights you want to see and arrange transportation.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Day 1 – Melbourne to Shanghai


Planes, Trains, Automobiles….and Scammers


For the first time in forever, I was on the graveyard flight out of Melbourne. I rarely – if never – fly out at night if I can help it. If you’ve skimmed through the front section of this report, you may have read that I was originally on a day flight out of Melbourne. However, fate and Cathay Pacific deemed that it was time for me to pull night shift duty on a flight.


I have to admit….Tullamarine Airport is a lot easier to negotiate for the flight out. It’s still busy’ish; but there are less people here than during the daytime.






The flight was blissfully uneventful and I spent much of it catching up on movie watching. I think I lost track of about 2 hours and aside from those 2 hours, as expected, I was awake for the majority of the flight.


The departure gate at Tulla was in an awkward location and that meant that I didn’t manage to grab a picture of our plane. I made sure I grabbed that shot in Hong Kong. I’d forgotten how mountainous Hong Kong is.





We had about 90 minutes transit time in Hong Kong. Thankfully, our arrival gate and departure gate were not that far apart and we didn’t have to clear customs or security or anything at Hong Kong airport. There was enough time for me to pop the China Telecom SIM cards into our phones and activate the service and take a walkabout the terminal.





I was up here when I realised that they were making boarding announcements for our flight.






Time to fly!






I was pretty impressed by Cathay Pacific. Look at how much leg room there was in the standard economy seat.






We also were treated to quite decent food on Cathay. On the way out, we were served dinner and a ‘snack’ in the morning. There was a choice of 3 main course meal for dinner (East, West and Vege) and the ‘snack’ was breakfast – either congee or bacon/eggs. My impression of Cathay was further enhanced when we were also served a ‘snack’ on the HK to Shanghai leg.





It's a 2-3’ish hour flight between HK and Shanghai and there was a thick cloud cover for most of the way. This was about the only gap on the flight where I could see some land.





All things considered, the ‘planes’ part of the journey was very smooth. Very smooth indeed.




Hello Shanghai Airport and the train part of the journey. More specifically, the Magnetic Levitation train!


I decided it was probably prudent to leave the camera in the bag whilst we cleared immigration, customs and worked out way out of the terminal. Afterall, nothing screams ‘t-o-u-r-i-s-t’ more than a big bazooka of a camera, right?


I have long considered myself a banana. Yellow on the outside but white inside. When we came out of the arrivals area, with bags in tow, it seemed that looking Asian meant that we weren’t harassed by any of the ‘taxi’ drivers waiting outside the hall. There weren't as many as I had imagined but there were a few around. I stopped counting after 6. We were also kinda left alone by the hotel and tour barkers as well. I figured, looking Asian, if we walked quick and looked like we knew where we were heading to, they would leave us alone. Turns out I was right.....


That strategy worked until we got around the corner. I had to stop to take a look at the signs. I was specifically looking for the MagLev train signs and working out where we needed to go. At this point, a very well-dressed young man walked up to us and introduced himself as working for Shanghai Airport Security. He was wearing a navy blazer with khaki pants, complete with security badge and a red lanyard with Shanghai Airport. I figured I would need to stop to talk to him (being security and all that).

He wanted to know if we were going to Shanghai and if we were catching the MagLev train in. After my affirmative response, he told me that there was a disturbance at the Longyang Road Station and that it was not safe for us to travel by the train.

At this point, I knew I being was scammed. Afterall, if there was such a disturbance, you would expect that there would announcements being broadcasted by the airport and POLICE everywhere. Plus, we didn’t see anyone coming the opposite way from the train platform.

I politely thanked him and said that we would head to the platform anyway and get off at an earlier stop. He then wanted to know which hotel we were going to stay at.

“I’m not telling you that!”

I grabbed my mother and walked very quickly away.


The train station? Business as usual!

We headed to the ticket counter and showed our boarding pass. The one-way passage ended up being 40 Yuan each instead of 50 Yuan. The official that sold us our ticket made no mention of any disturbance of any sort.


Yeah. Scammer! A well-dressed scammer! Grrrr!!!





One of the benefits of Cathay cancelling our daytime flight and putting us on the night flight out was that we could take the Maglev train into the downtown area. If we had stuck with our original flight plan, we would have gotten into Shanghai late at night and I would have caught a taxi into the downtown area. Instead, I would now have the pleasure of travelling by Maglev.





Maglev is a form of transport that uses magnetic levitation to move a vehicle without contact with the ground. The vehicle travels on a guideway using magnets to create lift and propulsion. This process reduces friction and allows for faster speeds. Maglev transport systems are in operation in only 3 countries – China, Korea and Japan.





We got on the train and I was immediately impressed. I would come to realise (very quickly) that the mass transport system in Shanghai is amazing! Aside from being on time, it’s incredibly clean. The MagLev certainly set the standard of expectation right off the bat.





The Shanghai Maglev Train service was opened in 2002. Trains run every 15 – 20 minutes. The 19 mile/30 km track can be covered by the Maglev at it’s top speed of 267 mph (or 430 km/h) in 8 minutes.

We were on the ‘slow’ Maglev. Top speed on our journey was around 310 km/h.






It was an incredibly smooth and quiet journey on the Maglev. We made it to our destination in less than no time!




Hello Longyang Road Station and the automotive part of the journey.


I decided it was probably prudent to leave the camera in the bag whilst we cleared immigration, customs and worked out way out of the terminal. Afterall, nothing screams ‘t-o-u-r-i-s-t’ more than a big bazooka of a camera, right?



Okay. It’s 2 out of 2 for the scammers. I must have had t-o-u-r-i-s-t tattooed on me that day!


We barely got out of the platform gates when two guys spotted us from clear the other side of the hall. They sprinted across that hall faster than Usain Bolt and made a bee-line for us. It’s about a 100 – 200 m walk from the platform to the official taxi rank. For that entire duration, these two guys were in our face trying to get us to take their ‘taxi’. They spoke Mandarin and my mother told me that they were asking where we were going and that we didn’t need to be afraid of them.

And they didn’t take ‘no’ for an answer, either. I guess they considered us fair game in their sport.


They finally left us alone when we got to the top of the ‘official’ taxi rank and where the taxi wrangler was. Once we got there, it was plain sailing! We got into a proper taxi and at this point in time, I really didn’t care what colour the taxi was! As long as the taxi wrangler was prepared to put us in it, I was happy to get in.



Based on reports on the internet, I gather that 'two' taxi scammers means that we got off lightly. This station has picked up the reputation of having rather pushy and aggressive not official taxi drivers operating here. It's the reason that I was not really prepared to take the MagLev at night. However, having been there now and knowing where I would need to go from the platform to the official taxi rank, I would have no hesitation in catching the MagLev again no matter what time of day. I would just stick to the strategy of ignoring the scammers.



Welcome to Shanghai traffic!





And modern architecture.




The journey from Longyang Road Station to our hotel near Nanjing Road was about 25 miles. It ended up costing about 40 Yuan for the trip.


Planes, trains, automobiles....and scammers. I guess its part of the rite of passage to Shanghai.
At the end of the day, we were safely in Shanghai. And that's what counts!

 

[PrincessInOz]

It’s a Central Hotel Indeed


Our first home away from home for 2 nights was the Central Hotel, 555 Jiujiang Road. It currently ranks as #39 out of 4969 hotels in Shanghai on Trip Advisor.






I will confirm that it really is a Central hotel. This is the view out of our hotel room. If you look down, you will see Nanjing Road a block away, with the little tourist train chugging down the street. Come to think of it....I think that's about the spot I was standing at to take the picture of the hotel posted above.





The Sofitel is rated as #60 on Trip Advisor; and it’s the one that is deemed the most centrally located to Nanjing Road (one of the shopping mecca streets of the world). By comparison, I think the Central Hotel is just as well placed as the Sofitel.


Our room?

We had space.





And the facilities were clean.





We had a rainshowerhead and it was totally amazing!





The toiletries were very nice.










We also got 2 free bottles of water for each day we were there.






The reviews on TA come down to 2 complaints. Overly firm beds, which I completely agree with. However, the firm beds is an Asian thing. They do like them that way.






And the air conditioning being too hot. I figured it was centrally controlled, and again, I agree with this complaint as well. We couldn’t get the temperature below 23 C in our room. I do understand that it was still winter in Shanghai and that the hotel may have kept their setting on ‘heating’. But still…..it was too warm for me.


I wonder how soft the beds are at the Sofitel?

 

[darrenf67]

Good start to the trip! We are flying Cathay - glad you gave them a good review!

 

[Flossbolna]

The Maglev in Shanghai is the only train ever built with the German Transrapid system (a joint venture between Siemens and TyssenKrupp). The whole Transrapid thing was a huge thing in German politics as there were quite a bit of subsidies flowing into the development of the technology and there were several projects planned to happen in Germany (a link between Berlin and Hamburg and an airport link from Munich airport to city center). Both were under huge criticism as being far too expensive compared to normal rail without any additional benefits. Especially for the airport link the distance was far too short to actually benefit from the technology. I think the advantage in Shanghai was that the Chinese just pulled down any houses that were in the way of the best track. In Munich they would not have done that and the Maglev ideally wants a straight track. The general opinion is that the Transrapid Maglev system is dead now. So, for me the Shanghai Maglev is really up there as a major attraction. It was in the news so much in the 90s and early 2000s.

 

[franandaj]

After reading your report I am dubious about visiting Shanghai unless we can arrange transportation where there is a guy at baggage claim (or customs) with a little sign with our name on it. Or I guess they use iPads now.

I do not do well with scammers and certainly not in a foreign language!

I'm glad you and your mom made it safely to your hotel, sounds like it was quite an adventure to get there. The train sounds interesting. I also enjoyed Magdalene's commentary on the subject.

 

[dolphingirl47]

My impression of Cathay was further enhanced when we were also served a ‘snack’ on the HK to Shanghai leg.

I think this is the most substantial snack I have ever seen.

I figured, looking Asian, if we walked quick and looked like we knew where we were heading to, they would leave us alone. Turns out I was right.....

That sounds like a definite bonus.

That strategy worked until we got around the corner. I had to stop to take a look at the signs. I was specifically looking for the MagLev train signs and working out where we needed to go. At this point, a very well-dressed young man walked up to us and introduced himself as working for Shanghai Airport Security. He was wearing a navy blazer with khaki pants, complete with security badge and a red lanyard with Shanghai Airport. I figured I would need to stop to talk to him (being security and all that).

He wanted to know if we were going to Shanghai and if we were catching the MagLev train in. After my affirmative response, he told me that there was a disturbance at the Longyang Road Station and that it was not safe for us to travel by the train.

At this point, I knew I being was scammed.

It is amazing what length some people go to. Well done for not falling for this.

Instead, I would now have the pleasure of travelling by Maglev.

That looks amazing.

I would come to realise (very quickly) that the mass transport system in Shanghai is amazing! Aside from being on time, it’s incredibly clean.

That is good to know.

We were on the ‘slow’ Maglev. Top speed on our journey was around 310 km/h.

That would be plenty fast enough for me.

Corinna

 

[cschaaf]

I debated between Suzhou, Zhujiajiao and Tongli. In the end, I figured the one to see was Suzhou.

Taking the train out to Suzhou is relatively straightforward. We bought ours at the train station; and there is one window out of the 15 or so counters that had a sign saying that the person there was "english speaking". It is a small sticker on the window; but if you know that it is there, you should be able to spot it. Having said that, I'd recommend that you consider booking your train ticket online, if that is possible. There were a lot of people wanting to purchase tickets and we did spend some time in the queue.

You will need transportation at the other end, which can also be relatively straightforward. There are any number of touters at the train station wanting to sell you a tour. We ignored all of them and headed towards the tuk-tuk and rickshaws. We thought we were safe on the tuk-tuk but the driver there 'sold' us a tour. It's a long'ish story and I'll save that for that particular edition in the TR.

If you have decided on Suzhou, I highly recommend that you consider hiring an individual/independent tour guide. There are a few of them on Viator and if I had my time again, I would definitely have arranged one before I left. I thought I could do it when in Shanghai and there just wasn't enough time to do so.

The independent tour guide should be able to help you with putting together the sights you want to see and arrange transportation.

Thank you!

Those are pretty much the 3 that we are deciding among. Luzhi is the other one.

I've been reaching out to private guides on Viator, so we'll see where that goes.

 

[Flossbolna]

Thank you!

Those are pretty much the 3 that we are deciding among. Luzhi is the other one.

I've been reaching out to private guides on Viator, so we'll see where that goes.

I would be interested in hearing how your planning with the Viator guides goes. We are thinking of getting one for the one day that we have for Shanghai itself.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Good start to the trip! We are flying Cathay - glad you gave them a good review!

Cathay was good. I'll be happy to fly with them again.

 

[PrincessInOz]

The Maglev in Shanghai is the only train ever built with the German Transrapid system (a joint venture between Siemens and TyssenKrupp). The whole Transrapid thing was a huge thing in German politics as there were quite a bit of subsidies flowing into the development of the technology and there were several projects planned to happen in Germany (a link between Berlin and Hamburg and an airport link from Munich airport to city center). Both were under huge criticism as being far too expensive compared to normal rail without any additional benefits. Especially for the airport link the distance was far too short to actually benefit from the technology. I think the advantage in Shanghai was that the Chinese just pulled down any houses that were in the way of the best track. In Munich they would not have done that and the Maglev ideally wants a straight track. The general opinion is that the Transrapid Maglev system is dead now. So, for me the Shanghai Maglev is really up there as a major attraction. It was in the news so much in the 90s and early 2000s.

Thanks for the additional info!

It's a shame that the Maglev system is considered dead. It could be super useful in Australia, especially between Melbourne and Sydney. It's just too expensive to build.