Shanghai, China - Dec 2025
Five Days Between Skyscrapers Without a Plan
It didn’t quite hit me I was going to China until I reached the plane and saw the Chinese air crew including two impeccably dressed men in smart suits just in front of the door. I was so happy I had to contain myself not to grin like an idiot as I entered the plane. Even now I have to pinch myself to believe it actually happened.
There is a little backdrop story to my love of China. It happened quietly and very unexpectedly during the UK lockdowns in 2021. I sat indoors isolated from family, friends and colleagues and watched depressing news day after day after day. And after a while it all became overwhelming so instead of the endless news, I found myself randomly watching historical Chinese dramas full of vivid, colourful costumes, beautiful architecture and engaging stories - a total escape. So I watched some more. After a while I realized it was not just the visuals I liked but also the sound of Mandarin itself. This surprised me because it couldn’t be more unfamiliar. This love was unplanned and accidental yet it stayed - so that is what happened.
Back to my flight, Air China made a great first impression, the crew were warm and genuinely helpful. They encouraged me to pass them my cabin luggage so they can store it in the overhead locker, a small gesture that felt luxurious compared to the UK and European flights. The journey was smooth and pleasant, we were fed and watered, the food was good, everything was clean and organised. What can I say, it was economy class and it was very adequate.
The same smooth process followed as we landed and passed through the immigration and customs and picked up our luggage - calm and efficient. I say we but I was actually travelling solo.
So here it goes:
Day 1 — First Impressions and Fast Trains
If my first encounter with China happened at the London airport, the second happened also at the airport upon landing. In the immigration queue, there were two signs: one for Chinese passports and one for everyone else simply labelled: Foreigners. Direct, unapologetic, no fuss, no sugar-coating, no “International Visitors”. I loved it immediately.
To get to the city, I took the Maglev train from the airport, high speed magnetic levitation train, then switched to Metro Line 2 to People’s Square. Clean, efficient and in the case of Maglev very fast 300+ km per hour. My London commute does not quite compare.
My hotel was officially a 5-star and unofficially shabby chic fabulous, The Yangtze Boutique Shanghai. They were spoiling me with upgrades from the start: free breakfast, room with a terrace, vouchers for free beer, coffee, and cake - I said in the video every day but it is one of each per stay. And ok, I think everyone gets those vouchers. Fabulous, as I said.
Disclaimer: some of the grand views from the hotel’s website were not visible from my room and The Bund is good 20-30 min walk away but I have no complaints. At this point, I’m rethinking my life choices of never leaving the hotel.
Shanghai revealed itself to me as a city of energy, confidence and individuality. I loved how people here genuinely do their own thing. Someone can sit in KFC for hours minding their business, others work away on laptops in cafés like it’s their office — no one rushes you, no one questions you, no one cares. Everyone just does their own thing. There’s something very freeing about that.
KFC was where I truly understood that everything in China happens on your phone. You scan, choose, order, pay — no counter, no conversation. Everything goes via phone apps, Alipay and WeChat. Those apps contain other apps, lots of them. So menus, ordering, paying, transport, shopping, Didi (Chinese Uber), train tickets and many other things are done from one place. Even though my Alipay worked in a shop before, KFC was next-level. Thankfully, kind young Chinese folks stepped in to help me through my first full digital fast-food and other experiences. I was super grateful.
One of Shanghai’s quiet miracles? Electric motorcycles. Silent, fast, terrifying and everywhere. They ride on pavements between people and cross zebra crossings with pedestrians. Apparently this is normal and legal and at this point you just accept your fate and keep walking. Although it feels a little scary because you cannot hear them coming behind you, it somehow all works and you get used to it soon.
In the evening, I walked down Nanjing Road East, a long, pedestrian street worldwide famous for shopping and buzzing with life, lights and fun, all the way to the Bund. Downtown Shanghai is noticeably cleaner than London, just saying.
Weather: up to 20°C during the day on 30 November, a bit out of norm - warm for the time of year. Not complaining.
Day 2 — Parks, Aunties and Breakfast as a Lifestyle
18°C, still very pleasant.
Breakfast at my hotel is something else. British, Continental, and Chinese options, but not just “fried noodles.” We’re talking dumplings, steamed buns, chicken with mushrooms, beef dishes, congee, pastries, fruit, and things I couldn’t even identify. These breakfasts are solely responsible for me eating KFC later in the day, almost every day. To understand the KFC choice you have to understand I had 3-course Chinese feast every morning at 9:00 - and I loved it.
I wanted to visit a nearby museum and asked the hotel reception for directions. Little later down the street, the receptionist caught up with me to let me know he remembered it is Monday and the museum is not open.
So instead, I started the day in People’s Square Park which I loved. Park is a park is a park but Asian city parks I’ve seen so far somehow hit differently. They are calm but alive, purposeful. I watched a group of Chinese aunties practise catwalk-style walking. Confident, dramatic, iconic.
Had coffee at Starbucks in the park because yes, there is one everywhere, Chinese people love Starbucks. Went back to the nearby shopping mall, looked at a jumper I saw earlier, didn’t buy it again - personal growth.
Later still, I relaxed into hotel life. Very decent local beer in the lounge (a free welcome voucher), afternoon fruit delivery to the room one day, sweets in the cutest, little box the next.
Water is already replenished daily but they still bring more, maybe they worry I might dehydrate if left to my own devices. Tap water isn’t drinkable, so I brush my teeth with bottled water because my travel jabs are ancient and I’m not risking it.
Day 3 — People’s Square, Museum and Knowing When to Rest
Weather: 16°C - overcast but no rain, later sun with a hazy glow.
Mentioning breakfast again because it has now escalated to something resembling a three-course dinner, followed by the urge for a nap but I managed to resist.
Visited People’s Square, not the park this time but the square itself. Surrounded by government and cultural buildings, its size is huge and the feeling is majestic and calm.
My next stop was the Shanghai Museum situated centrally on People’s Square. It is beautifully curated and it serves public education purposes but it is also a research institution of Chinese Art history. It houses a vast number of cultural and art items, many ancient.
Throughout the day I could feel how much more there was to see and do in Shanghai: temples, rooftop dining overlooking the Bund, Old Street, the French Concession, towers in Pudong. But this trip was intentionally casual. I’d arrived after an early winter cold that kept me in bed for a week. While technically recovered, my energy was definitely not up to speed and I needed occasional rests.
Also — I’m staying in a hotel with free coffee, cake and beer. It would be irresponsible not to use that voucher and enjoy it!
Day 4 — Metro Adventures and the Bund, Again
Colder today, the temperature dropped to 10°C and all of a sudden everyone is wearing a mask. Maybe preventative measures, I don’t know. I do the same in London because the air becomes too cold to breathe. Not exactly at 10°C but close to 0°C and I am masked.
After another heroic breakfast and a well-earned two-hour nap after, I headed out on the metro. As a side note, a single journey costs 3 RMB which is 32 pence in Pound Sterling, just saying. The metro system is excellent: huge stations, clear signage, English and Chinese announcements, ticket machines in both languages, staff always available to help.
I haven’t used the metro much, only on the first day and now, but it seems easier to navigate than Tokyo’s metro — even though Shanghai is bigger. The trains have benches instead of individual seats which makes the space feel fairer and more relaxed. Plus, at 17:00, the trains weren’t overcrowded or sweaty.
Following a tip from social media, I attempted to visit International Cruise Terminal Station for Bund-style photos without the crowds. Unfortunately, that plan failed spectacularly. I couldn’t find the river let alone the bridge and it was cold, windy and getting dark.
So I returned to the metro and went to the Bund. No regrets, the Bund views are worth visiting more than once. They are beautiful, especially at night.
Day 5 — Taxi Philosophy and Leaving for Japan
Temperature? - didn’t record but it went up a bit from yesterday. Sunshine or slightly overcast skies for the entire stay in Shanghai, not a drop of rain.
Today is the time to leave with China Eastern from Shanghai Pudong to Osaka Kansai.
My taxi ride to the airport turned into an unexpected conversation thanks to a chatty driver and voice mode in Google Translate. We talked about lots of things, our everyday lives, private lives like marriages, divorces, children and current tensions between China and Japan. The last topic made me feel like a proper adventurer, heading from China to Japan right at this moment. The driver even mentioned Modrić, Croatian footballer - I was impressed although football is not in my top 10 interests. But it surely is universal.
He did try to overcharge me slightly, we negotiated, life went on.
Final Thoughts
Shanghai feels modern, efficient, digital yet human and kind, slightly chaotic and relaxing at the same time - how could that even be - safe and clean. I came without a strict plan, moved slowly, rested often and maybe that was the best thing because Shanghai isn’t a city you “do” but experience at your own pace.
For the record, I ate at KFC on most days, not all but most. My glorious (Chinese) breakfasts were to blame for it. I enjoyed people watching at KFC, then I walked and had coffee breaks and watched some more.
I let the city happen to me.
Thoughts on China
Since this was my very first visit to China, it is confession time. I’ve been watching C-dramas for several years — the romantic and improbable stories usually involving a cold, emotionally unavailable CEO who falls for a kind and beautiful but poor girl. Adult fairy tales, basically. My excuse is that I’m “learning Mandarin” this way. Yes, sure, hahaha.
Anyway, I knew there won’t be a CEO on the streets of Shanghai to appear out of thin air and catch me if I tripped, I’m not that delulu.
But around day two or three, in the middle of a street, a thought hit me out of nowhere: This is real China and I love it way more than the dramas. And suddenly I was genuinely happy. Maybe deep down I’d wondered if my love for China existed only because of C-dramas. Standing there surrounded by real life, I realised it didn’t, not at all. And just like that I knew my love for China wasn’t just a C-drama phase after all.
