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Destination Deep Dive: Shanghai
- Jun 1
- 7 min read
Shanghai is huge and though this is technically a ‘Deep Dive’ post, we barely scratched the surface of experiencing this city. We hope to return to Shanghai and expand on this as our experiences grow.
Photo by Nabeel Chirathodi
Preparation:
We found the following apps useful.
Translation App – We downloaded both English and Chinese for offline use, which made navigating signs and conversations much easier.
Amap– For accuracy, use Amap rather than other map or GPS software. You can get this app through your app store. It does not require a local sim (it may prompt for one but you can bypass this). For large landmarks you can use English Names (ie Pudong Airport). Additionally, you can download maps for offline use.
Trip – Trip.com worked better for us and gave us more options than other booking counterparts.
Alipay –Alipay is used for a lot of different things, from paying to an in-app Didi.
Didi– This is a transit app. It offers a mix of vehicles similar to Uber as well as Taxis. This is not a necessity as a separate app and can use Didi within Alipay.
WeChat: This can be used for payment, messaging, food delivery etc.
Photo by Nabeel Chirathodi
Transportation:
Didi: This is an app that you can use as a standalone app or through Alipay where you can book vehicles (taxi or something similar to an uber).
A little bit of a subjective thing here is that Nabeel was very excited to see the BYD EV’s. Didi rides were a great way to do this!
Cost: The cost really varies depending on distance. Our cheapest Didi ride was a couple of dollars CAD and our most expensive was $46 CAD (this ride was close to an hour long).
Photo by Nabeel Chirathodi
Subway: Getting around Shanghai via subway is very straightforward. You can buy a ticket or tap on with your payment method. On average we used line 10 or line 2 to get around. Often our rides only used one line at a time and worked out to 60-80 cents CAD per person.
The subway is clean, efficient, runs very frequently and is always on time.
Remember your subway etiquette: Before getting on the subway notice the markings on the ground. There are arrows dictating a flow of passengers to ensure that people get on and off effectively.
I read somewhere that it gets busy during the ‘rush hour’ of 7-9am or 5-7pm. We did ride during these times and it never felt congested, it just meant we had to stand.
Cost: 3-4 Chinese Yuan (60-80 cents CAD at the time of writing this).
Maglev:
The Maglev (magnetic levitation) is a train that hovers, directs and propels the train through electromagnets instead of traditional wheels and rails. Since there is no mechanical friction the train is almost silent, can accelerate rapidly and gets to speeds upwards of 480km/hr.
We took the Maglev from Pudong Airport to downtown Shanghai. The ride is about 7-8 minutes long and the train will reach speeds hovering around 300km/hr.
The Maglev in Shanghai was the worlds first commercial high speed Maglev. It’s first public commercial service started in 2004.
Photo by Nabeel Chirathodi:
Subjective note: We rode this train in 2026 and were so impressed. Considering this tech is 22 years old and only took 2.5 years to build, I think this is a testament to how poor the public transit infrastructure is in our current home country of Canada.
Cost: One way costs 100 Chinese Yuan or you could buy a round trip operating at 80 Chinese Yuan each way. You pay by purchasing a ticket at the kiosk at the station.
This works out to $16-20 CAD at the time of writing this.
It’s worth noting that the subway also runs directly from Pudong Airport. Because the subway is a really cost effective option the Maglev is usually not busy. The caveat here is we were told that when weather is bad people who usually walk will take the subway. The extra congestion on the subway makes people who would usually head to the airport via subway avoid the subway with their luggage, subsequently making the Maglev busier during poor weather.
Food
Food:
This was something we were very excited about. I love milk tea and Chinese sweets and Nabeel was after some soup dumplings.
Dahuchun
Location: Shanxi South Road and Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street Intersection Northwest 40 meters.
This location is known for shengjian bao (pan-fried pork buns).
Pricing: The food here operates at standard take out pricing. It does not seem inflated, despite how well regarded it is. A meal for one would cost around $8-10 CAD.
FINE Pancakes
Location: Shaanxi Road Branch: No. 53 South Shaanxi Road, Huangpu District.
These were quite literally the best pancakes I’ve ever had. The quality and atmosphere was excellent.
Pricing: It was more expensive than a lot of the meals we had (working out to just under $40 CAD).
*If a splurge is within your budget we definitely recommend FINE Pancakes. The pricing did feel appropriate.
Shops
There were a few stores that were important to us and we planned on visiting.
Culture Matters (specifically for Feiyue by Dafu Rubber Co. Ltd):
Feiyue (飞跃; 飛躍;) is a Chinese shoe brand founded in Shanghai owned by Dafu Rubber Co., Ltd.
The word "Feiyue" means to ‘leap’ or ‘fly over’. The shoes were first produced in Shanghai dating back to the 1920s. However since 2006 there have been two separate companies creating Feiyue shoes. If you notice in the title, I was very specific to Feiyue by Dafu Rubber Co. Ltd.
Photo by Nabeel Chirathodi:
My interpretation of the situation is that a French “Martial Artist Enthusiast”, Patrice Bastian discovered these shoes while training in China. From what we understand, Dafu did not hold a global trademark and the Frenchman trademarked the shoe internationally. It has since been acquired by an American brand. You can read more about this here:
From our understanding the soul of this brand remains with Dafu Rubber Co Ltd. Which is why we were excited to acquire these shoes from the shoe store Culture Matters in Shanghai.
Fun Fact: For the 2008 Olympics the Taichi performers wore the classic white Feiyue shoes during the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony.
Buy 42 Near People’s Square: 买42个
A store that was new to us was Buy 42 near People’s Square. It’s right across from a large bookstore on Fuzhou Road. When we walked in we were able to speak with a store employee who told us about the ethos of the brand. Everyone has value (每一个都有价值)
More than 40% of the employees at Buy 42 are people with disabilities, who receive employment opportunities and regularly provide job skills training to help individuals better self support.
When you buy (Buy 42) the benefits are for two people. The consumer who receives a product and the charity's beneficiaries, including the employees with disabilities or craftsmen with disabilities who make the artisan items for sale (think honey, tea, decorations).
This store we visited is located at: 480 Fuzhou Road, Huanpu District
Touristy Things:
Yu Garden 豫園;: 豫园; Meaning Garden Of Happiness. This garden was recommended to us by a member of the team at Ironman 70.3 Shanghai- Chongming who lives in Shanghai.
Photo by Nabeel Chirathodi
My understanding is that the garden was built during the Ming Dynasty (1559) by a government officer as a private haven for his aging parents. It has changed hands a few times over the last few hundred years and has been open to the public for a fee of 30-40 Chinese Yuan ($6-8 people).
The garden can get very busy. We were there at the same time as a school trip and many tourists. It was beautiful, but (because of shoe limitations - I recommend you wear athletic shoes) we didn’t feel we had the space/capacity to stop and read the plaques along the way to learn about where we were.
Outside of the garden is the Yuyuan Bazaar. It features Chinese Architecture with many shops selling a variety of things. Small vendors up to large businesses.
Photos by Nabeel Chirathodi:
This garden is located in the Northeast of the Old City of Shanghai. You can get there from the metro line 10 and line 14 at Yuyuan Garden Station.
Tip: Go in the morning. When we arrived there were not very many people and about half the stores were open. This was great and allowed us to slowly wander around. By lunchtime it gets pretty packed with tourists.
Other Cool Things:
Before we left Chongming Island and ventured to Shanghai we spoke with some new friends who live in Shanghai to get some recommendations on what we should check out. We didn’t get to tackling this list in its entirety, but thought we would share some of their recommendations.
Photos by Nabeel Chirathodi
Shanghai has the largest planetarium in the world. We really wanted to check it out but didn’t get a chance to.
Walk Around Xintiandi:新天地
This area is the ‘car free dining, shopping and entertainment district’. It has preserved the 1920s Shikumen (stone gate) architecture.
This is a very expensive area. Both for cost of living (apartments) and shopping. You can get there by subway/metro.
The closest stations in the vicinity are South Huangpi Road Station (on Line 1), Xintiandi Station (on Line 10 and Line 13) and Madang Road Station (on Line 9 and Line 13).
Jing'an Temple ( 静安寺; 靜安寺)
'Temple of Peace and Tranquility'; is a Chinese Esoteric Buddhist temple. It was built in 247 AD in the Wu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms period of ancient China. It was originally located by the Suzhou Creek / Wusong (Woosung) River (a river that passes through Shanghai’s city centre. But moved in 1216 during the Southern Song Dynasty to its current location to prevent it from being destroyed by erosion.
At one point the temple was torn down to be turned into a plastic factory. In 1983 it was repurposed and rebuilt.
This temple has its own subway station. Jing'an Temple Station, a major hub of the Shanghai Metro network where Line 2, Line 7, and Line 14 intersect.
There are also Shuttle Express Services provided from airports to Jing'an Temple. Pudong Airport Shuttle Bus Line No. 2 run from City Terminal (beside Jing'an Temple) Most of the time the temple is open from 0730-17:00.
Please note: I made an effort to include simplified and traditional Chinese for some titles. As I do not speak or read Chinese, I used translation tools for this and can not speak to their accuracy. I am currently in the process of reaching out to individuals who can read Chinese for confirmation.
