I was fortunate enough to check out Shanghai for a few days on a flight back home from Osaka. Long story short, what was supposed to be a 2 hour layover turned into a 3 day layover!! Most people would categorize this trip in particular as a disaster since it really was for the most part, but I consider myself to be an adventurous person willing to take on any good challenge.
The flight out of Osaka was very delayed thus causing me to miss my connection flight out of Shanghai ultimately leaving me stranded in China for a few days. I had to spend the night at the airport since it was past midnight by the time I found out I wouldn’t be flying out just yet. To be honest, I was actually excited when I found out I had to spend some extra time in China. All flights out of Shanghai through this terrible airline, which I don’t want to name, were fully booked and I was placed on call. That wasn’t fun but I was still determined to have a good time. In the end I mostly had a great time!
For the first order of business I decided to go and see what everyday life in China looks like. I walked around the neighborhood near the hotel I was staying at (the airline paid the hotel fee!), I snapped some pictures, tried some of the local eats and observed everyday life in Shanghai. I don’t think I’ve ever been starred at so much.
After spending a few hours wandering the streets I went to check out the Temple of City Gods located in the old city of Shanghai. This temple was dedicated to the god who protects the city in ancient China, but due to the popularity of the temple this area in particular became a very commercialized market place. Many tourist flock to this area and for good reason. It was a neat place to check out, the variation between ancient and modern architecture was definitely a sight worth seeing.
Next I went to Nanjing Road, Shanghai’s main shopping district. Nanjing Road is one of the world’s busiest shopping areas attracting over one million visitors per day. It is the world’s longest shopping street expanding out to about 3.4 miles long. After a full day of walking this place was very tiring but definitely worth the visit.
My last stop for the day was to world famous Shanghai waterfront know as The Bund. Located just across the way from Nanjing Road is this spectacular architectural vista. The beautiful Oriental Pearl TV Tower is included within the 26 building skyline. This awesome sight totally made my trip. This is Shanghai’s most famous attraction and for good reason. I loved it!
I had plans to go to the Shanghai Zoo the next day but alas I was told to make my way to the airport early in the morning and see about flying out that day. Getting a flight out of Shanghai through this airline was a total nightmare! I showed up early, was the first person in line, signed in and just narrowly made a flight out after spending over six hours at the airport this time around. I had a great time but was ready to go home after this stressful and frustrating ordeal. Honk Kong and Beijing are definitely on my travel list but I wont ever fly with this particular airline again! I would of loved to have had more time to check out all that Shanghai has to offer but that will have to wait for a better planned China excursion in the future. Happy travels!