The Rough Guide to Shanghai

by Simon Lewis

The Rough Guide to Shanghai is the ultimate insider's guide to China's brash new mega city. Having hosted the extravagant 2010 world expo Shanghai is muscling forward to take its place alongside such financial powerhouses as Tokyo and London. But it's no longer just about China's rising business clout; in everything from fashion and art to cutting-edge architecture, Shanghai is making waves. All the major and off beat sights of this notoriously fast-changing city are covered in this fully-revised third edition, from the glorious, newly renovated Bund, set to become China's Champs Elysee, to huge new cultural markers such as the Power Station of Art, to chic shopping district Tianzifang. Cutting through the hype, this guide reveals the best places to shop, from malls to backstreet tailors; to sleep, whether you want a youth hostel, trendy boutique hotel or luxury pad; and to eat, from the glitziest destination restaurants to the best street dumplings. For when the pace of the city gets too frantic, there's all you need to know for great daytrips to tranquil canal towns such as Wuzhen or Suzhou. Easy to read, full-colour maps are provided throughout the guide, plus there's a handy subway map, and the pinyin and Chinese characters are given for all attractions and venues. Make the most of your trip with The Rough Guide to Shanghai .
Now available in Kindle format.

Genres: Travel

478 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 3, 2008

Reviews

[David Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book I read to research this post was Rough Guide to Shanghai which is an excellent travel guide which I bought from a local bookstore. Shanghai which has a population of 21 million and is one of the biggest cities in the world as well as the third biggest port behind Hong Kong & Singapore. It's also one of the greatest cities of the world especially as a tourist destination. You can buy cut price items especially clothes which are extremely cheap. If you buy pirated dvds they often don't work, are often dubbed into russian, often filmed in a cinema on a camcorder and are illegal so aren't recommended. There is a kind of modern day great wall of China which is a shield that blocks out undesirable websites including facebook and twitter. Foreign nationals and foreign companies can use a VPN provider to get around this and whilst illegal as long as they aren't Chinese nationals a blind eye is turned towards this. Of course internet cafes won't let you go on these undesirable sites. Shanghai has the 3rd tallest building in the world which is the World Financial Centre which is also a beautiful building with an observation cafe at the top. Shanghai has the only commercial maglev in the world which links the airport to a point on the outskirts of Shanghai and reaches 430 kph. It floats on air so provides a smooth ride and probably the fastest land transport in the world. The Bund district which means beach in chinese is a built up area with many skyscrapers and of course also has a beach. Shanghai has over 3,000 skyscrapers, more than New York and plans to build 2,000 more in the next few years. They recommend the food basement in the Jinmao Tower for cheap but good international dishes and that is on the Puyong District on the opposite side of the river to the Bund District. There are many temples in Shanghai including some chinese people go to on pilgrimages. Of course there is an underground metro to help you get around. There are also over a million kilometres of canal linking Shanghai with other parts of China. A lot of visitors enjoy a river cruise.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have used this book during my visits to Shanghai and apart from the out of date Metro map, the book contains good descriptions and suggestions for touring the city.

Contains a lot of detail including the 'tea ceremony' scam which any visitor to Shanghai should be aware of - I was approached to join a tea ceremony three times within a hour whilst walking around Peoples Square!

The chapter entitled Excursions details things to see and do beyond Shanghai. I found this very useful for planning a day trip walking the shore of Xi Hu (West Lake) in Hangzhou.

I would certainly book this recommend.

[alana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used this Rough Guide for neighborhood maps and overviews rather than for restaurant and hotel recommendations. The book includes interesting information on the buildings and sites in each neighborhood as part of it's walking tour overviews. It's a bit too dense to read as you are doing the walking. I read it in advance and looked up certain places again when I was standing in front of them.

This book has a more literary style of writing which is interesting in a travel guide. I didn't carry it around with me much in Shanghai, though.

[Michael Flick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just back from 8 days in Shanghai. This book was passable both for background information and for use once there. Its organization by neighborhood made it more useful than other Shanghai guides. Nothing, though, off the beaten track--maybe the best way to experience Shanghai is to go where guidebooks don't and just get lost.