The Rough Guide to Shanghai 1

by Simon Lewis, Rough Guides

A brand new title encapsulating one of China’s most significant cities - Shanghai - a city that reperesents buzzing and booming modern China in all it''s glory. Well written, thoroughly researched and to the point it gives a clear picture of what must be done and where, to get the most out of this progressive megacity. Covering the Shanghai area as well as Putuoshan and the nearby canal towns, this guide provides you with all the facts, as well as those unusual places to go that will make for that extra-special and positively memorable trip.

Genres: Travel

208 pages, Paperback

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.