Shanghai

Shanghai is China’s largest city and also one of the largest cities in the world. About 18 million people live in Shanghai, if you include all the suburbs, and 10 million if you only count the city itself.

Shanghai is large, that is for sure. If you go by car from the center and out, it feels like the city will never end. And there are high-rises everywhere.

Shanghai is different from Beijing. In Shanghai there is really not so many cultural attractions to see. Beijing has a lot of those, a lot of old temples and palaces. In Shanghai, they have much less of that.

Shanghai is usually called the economical capital of China, while Beijing is the political capital.

To do in Shanghai

There is still a lot to do in Shanghai. They have a lot of interesting attractions that are well worth a visit. Here are a few examples:

Oriental Pearl – the TV tower in Shanghai

The world’s third highest TV tower, 468 meters (1535 feet) high, and as a tourist you can reach the highest observation deck at 350 meter (1148 feet) called the Space Module. The view from there is great!

The Bund

An entire street of houses in European-style along the Huangpu River. You can walk along the river and have a very nice view of the skyscrapers on the other side.

Shopping in Shanghai

Yuyuan Market, or Shanghai Old Town. A paradise for those who love shopping. But do not forget to bargain!

Prices in Shanghai

Shanghai is about as expensive / cheap as Beijing, but for those who live there, it is actually a bit more expensive. Apartments cost more, and a cheap one can be 3000 RMB per month (and then the condition of the building is… not so good)

Rich and poor

There is an extremely large difference between the rich and the poor in China, not only in Shanghai. In the west you can in many cases be a simple factory worker and still afford to have a car and a descent house. In China, that would be impossible. But the managers probably make as much money as their colleagues in west.

There are plenty of extremely wealthy, and they really like to show others how rich they are. For the luxurious restaurants you can find dishes that cost 10,000 per serving and even more than that. Such restaurants are rare in the west; there is simply no market for such extreme luxury here.

That is also the reason why a good apartment in Shanghai can cost as much as a good one in New York.