I Didn’t Expect This From Shanghai | CHINA Travel Vlog 2024

Considering Shanghai China travel? Watch this Shanghai Vlog FIRST! We spent 2 days in Shanghai during our layover from Japan to New York and we saw as much as we could! We were surprised by many of the food in China, the trains, the people, and all the top sights to see in Shanghai.

Check out our experience to help you plan your visit to Shanghai, China!

Watch to see how we spent 2 days in Shanghai for $484 USD/pp including our flights from Japan to Shanghai, flights Shanghai to NYC, Shanghai hotel stay, food in Shanghai, trains in Shanghai, and Shanghai attractions.

Prices can of course vary depending on dates, and the number of people you travel with. This is just to give you an idea!

Video Time Stamps:
0:00 Intro to Shanghai
0:43 China Entry Requirements
1:21 Hilton Hotel Shanghai
2:17 Banned in China
3:19 First Impressions
4:03 Shanghai China Train
5:37 Lujiatzui
6:27 Jingling Ferry
7:19 The Bund (Waitan)
7:53 Biking in Shanghai
8:28 Gucheng Park
9:19 Yu Garden
10:24 Lu Bo Lang Shanghai
12:00 Golden Square
12:46 Jiujiang Road
13:00 Vegetarian Food in Shanghai
13:43 Unicorn Paradise
14:37 Credit Cards in China
16:10 Jing’an Temple
17:42 People’s Square
18:13 People’s Park
18:31 Shanghai China Nightlife
19:34 Driving in China
20:15 Shanghai China Food
21:59 Shanghai Tips

How To Find Your Perfect Airbnb: https://chewstoexplore.ck.page/f2d29ebc25

Top 9 Ways to Find Cheap Flights: https://chewstoexplore.ck.page/find-your-next-cheap-flight

Check out our budget travel guides and itineraries: https://chewstoexplore.com/shop-2/

Our Amazon StoreFront Travel Essentials: https://www.amazon.com/shop/chewstoexplore

DJI Osmo Pocket 2- Vlogging Camera
https://click.dji.com/AHIn4IL1ty1ZeSwuoSwKiw?pm=link

DJI Mini 3 Pro – My Drone
https://click.dji.com/AL54qKWM6qPSIFVzL6dT8g?pm=link

Liv’s nails – Chip-resistant strips resulting in a salon-quality manicure
https://www.colorstreet.com/miatay

Follow me on Instagram and TikTok: @chewstoexplore

Please check out some of our other videos below:

How to Enter Cuba as an American

Bali Budget Travel Pt.1

Bali Budget Travel Pt. 2

Thailand Budget Travel

Aruba Budget Travel

Mexico Budget Travel

Guatemala Budget Travel

St Lucia Budget Travel

*Disclaimer: This video description contains affiliate links. That means that if you click a link and decide to make a purchase we will receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Youtube and blogging is a stream of income for us, and those purchases help support this channel. Thank you for your continued support!

Niow explorers welcome back to our Channel We’re The Cho here from choose to explore where we teach you guys how to see the world and save a dollar so we are here in Shanghai China and we came here last night from Osaka Japan and we flew with peach Airlines and the flight

Was $81 per person thanks to a American Express credit we also got $50 off that flight so we see the world and save a dollar to get here getting here was pretty smooth for us um typically you do need a visa coming as an American but

We’re only here for about 36 hours so we got a Transit visa on arrival so when we got here was actually like 1:00 in the morning so there wasn’t any Metro station running so we had to get a taxi to stay at our Hotel here at the Hilton

Double Tree so today we’ll be sharing our experience here in Shanghai China what it’s like what to do especially if you guys have a transit Visa and you guys want to explore summer China so last night we checked in at the Hilton Double Tree right here in Shanghai this is in the Pang region we got this room for $62 at night and because of my Hilton Diamond status we got upgraded to a one-bedroom Suite on the 21st floor so let me show you guys walk In So one thing that also you really need to keep in mind is that a lot of apps are banned in China so things like Instagram won’t work YouTube won’t work and Google Maps won’t work so we usually rely on Google Maps but here you can’t

Do that so what you can do is you can use the apps map or you can also use a VPN so we also have been successful with using a VPN we’ll link the one that we use in the description below so the VPN gives you access to apps and websites

That you may need as long as you are connected to a strong Wi-Fi connection so we went right downstairs at the Double Tree and I was really surprised they had a wide variety of breakfast choices and options they have vegetarian options they have Western options and they have Eastern options here which is

Great because we didn’t really planed where you wanted to eat and it may be a little difficult to find food here so it’s great that they had so many different accommodating options for us yes we’re off to a good start so coming right from Tokyo things are a lot different especially cuz we

Got used to being in Japan for so long but we’re right here walking on the sidewalk and there’s people on motorbikes with people on the back just driving here along the sidewalk yeah on the sidewalk with us um also they drive on the same side as we do as Americans

Which is actually opposite than what they do in Japan and also they is garbage around like in Japan there wasn’t any garbage anywhere nowhere no garbage on the street no garbage cans nothing it was just no trash so definitely different than what we were you got used to in Japan yeah but we’re

From New York so yeah so this is less garbage than we got in New York so last night we had a lot of difficulty with the public train and Metro because it wasn’t running and everywhere said bus stops and even you look on the maps it looks like it works but it really

Doesn’t and nobody that we’ve encountered speaks English even the people who work in the train station who work at the airport all of the signs were written in English which was kind of a false sense of security um nobody spoke English um so we really should

Have learned a little bit more of the language before coming here Yesterday at the airport we actually went to the ATM and we took out around 500 Yuan which is give or take like $65 and we only had $100 Yuan notes and in order to get on the train Subway was only 3 uan which is like 40 cents but

The train operations only had like 5 10 20 Yuans so we couldn’t even use a 100 Yuan bill so what I would say is also have smaller denominations or small coins to go and take the public transportation it’s good that it’s affordable though yeah so the people

Here they did help us get changeed so we were able to get our Passes So we just got off the metro and we are in L giau I think that’s how you say it’s pardon me if I’m butchering Miss Chinese but we’re heading through the financial district to hopefully get on the ferry now so let’s Go now this area has humongous buildings the Shanghai skyline looks marvelous here and we’re right here I can’t wait to see when we’re on the opposite side another thing that does surprise me here is I thought that there would be so many people here but it’s a Saturday and it’s

Midday and we haven’t really seen a lot of people around and walking over here you have beautiful views of the Shanghai Tower which is the tallest building in all of China So we’re just leaving the Chingling dong Ferry pier and it was only 2 yen in order to enter it was a lot of people as soon as you get there uh they’re lining up kind of like the Sten Island Ferry and everybody runs to try to get the

Best picture of the bun Skyline spot yes the best spot to take the picture at the bun Skyline but honestly the boat kind of rotates so you get a lot of beautiful views from different areas um I don’t know why but everybody loved not the

View of the bun but my wife so they asked to take pictures with me and they asked um like where I was from it was very interesting a little bit uncomfortable but I’m really nice so I just smiled and let them take my picture with Them so now that we crossed the Wang poool River we are here at the Bund and this is probably one of the most popular things to do in Shanghai and we were expecting to be with a ton of people but I’m surprised cuz it’s really not that

Many people it’s not like Time Square it’s not like things that we see in New York or even shabuya or anything like that so just interesting cuz I thought China was so Populated another interesting thing about China is they have these yellow green blue bikes literally all all over the place on every single stop every single corner and you could just rent them through a app unfortunately we’re not going to be doing that but walking on two feet the Metro system is so cheap

It’s like 43 Yuan which is like 20 cents 30 cents 40 cents for a ride so um we’ll save we’ll save some money and do That we walk from the bun to Chang Park and it’s a very nice Green Space um I hear if you come early enough you can see people doing Tai Chi here and they also have an ancient te- room which we’re not going to visit but it’s a nice

Green Space right here in the park with great views also of the skyline yes and also one thing to note is that it actually is very clean over here where we started out earlier it was not a lot of people so maybe in the more touristy

Areas it keep it more clean but it’s it’s almost spotless here yeah and there’s a lot of workers who are here who are cleaning and ensuring that everything is cleaning up to date so Yeah our next stop of the day is U Garden it was 40 U on for person in order to enter and it is beautiful traditional Chinese architecture here there’s a lot of really nice path ways to walk through there’s different bridges over waterways there’s really

Large koi fish in the water it’s a lot of Greener it’s really pretty to come here what’s interesting here is maybe it’s cuz it’s a smaller enclosed space but it seems like there’s more people here than in the bun than anywhere else that we’ve seen in shangai but it makes

Sense cuz it’s so beautiful here to see everything another thing that I really love about it here are the rock formations and the different shapes of the Rocks it’s just really beautiful to See They also have another koi fish pond that has beautiful rocks and bamboo and a waterfall really Peaceful So after we left U Garden we walked down the street and there was a lot of people waiting out on this line at lolang and and they were like hand making things and we just trying to see what it was so we stopped and we got it

I got one that looked like it was some kind of meat it had a symbol on it you know I eat anything so I tried it and it was honestly so good it reminded me of the Jamaican beef patty it had a nice flaky crust it was crisp and the beef

Inside was really flavorful I used the translate app to see what this was and it said it was rose petal and it looks like rose petal let’s see what it tastes like very much like rose jelly it’s good And there’s so much beautiful architecture and Greenery here in Shanghai which I didn’t really expect so we’re right here in the yuy Yang Gardens and it’s beautiful here the architecture here the koi fish everything is Nice so if you were wondering where all the people were we found them in Golden Square it’s a gold temple in the middle of the city and it’s beautiful to see and a lot of people here lot of shops lots of shops lots of places to get

Snacks it’s really cool Lively area for Sure So we were just walking along ju Shia Chang Road it’s written along the screen uh sorry if I mispronounced it but I found this really good Peach impaired drink it’s really large it was only 20 new on and it’s really good so it’s not too sweet it’s just sweet enough and

There’s like bits of fruit inside of it so I’m loving It So we contined walking along Jou Ching road we went up the the Fifth Street which is bailing road to get an ATM which is right next to 7-Eleven and across the street there was a restaurant that was golden and it was calling me and the reason it was calling me was cuz

It’s actually vegetarian so I had a really good noodle dish with mushrooms and vegetables and it was a little bit spicy not too spicy but it was really good and I high recommend you check it out if you’re vegetarian it was it’s a really good choice it only cost 24 Yuan

Which is under $4 for her entire meal which is fantastic I’m good in full I’m going to keep [Applause] walking all right xang Road has become my favorite road and let me tell you why look at this huge cotton candy I got this unicorn from unicorn paradise and it’s going to give me a sugar rush I can tell all right and we just turned the

Corner and now we are at Old Shanghai Street and once again good people nice shops here a nice place to be so we’re getting right back on the Metro and I have to say it’s very secure so every time you come through if you have a bag they scan your bag through so

No guns we wouldn’t have that anyway don’t worry all right and also keep in mind that when you come here you’re not going to be able to use your credit card to buy the train ticket so we just used our coins here it was only three you on for

This trip um but also when we when we went to other stores and shops and eateries um they didn’t accept their credit card either so definitely have some cash on you um or they widely accept the alip pay app I I actually downloaded the alipay app beforehand but

Um it didn’t work for me cuz the I wasn’t connected to the Wi-Fi here it just didn’t really work out for me that way so I would just definitely recommend having some cash what you also can do to get on the train is get one of these

Cards it’s a Shanghai Transit card it was about 20 Yuans which is like $3 or so to get the card and then you load it up that way you don’t need the cash you just keep tapping and going through so he has the card I have my coins and we’re getting around just

Fine also in China something that is really cool is the trains actually give you a ton of information so they tell you when the next train is when the one is after that it tells you the stops that are there it also tells you when the first and the last train running on

That track is so lots of Information so we got right off of the train and we made it to jinang Temple and it is a beautiful gold Temple it has this beautiful sculpture I guess in the middle and right there they say if you get a coin and you throw it in it’s good

Luck for you and your family I did it so let’s check that out well let’s get lucky oh yeah but I can see this getting a little bit dangerous cuz there’s a lot of coins flying a lot of misses more than makes um but it’s a lot of fun it’s

Cool um I think my wish is coming true so yeah these people need to get in the gym and get their shots up because it’s not a lot of Kobe’s head it’s a lot of bricks it’s harder than it looks though I it took me like three tries I got it

On my first goal that’s good luck for me and my Family So we’re walking along this super cool elevated Road it’s over these streets it’s like an intersection of like it’s like a People Bridge yeah it’s like six or seven different streets that intersect into one place and we’re just over it and it’s a great place that

People watch and see the cars and the movement of the City past the foot Bridge we made it to the People’s Square and this is a beautiful space it has a police presence I hear that at 6:00 the water shoots up right there in the middle of square so we’re going to come back for that but

There’s a lot of flow hour there a lot of beautiful architecture and the big city buildings are glowing up right now so beautiful place to Be so the sun has set we’re here at the People’s Park and it seems to be this really cool amusement park especially for kids there’s a beautiful merry go around and it lights up in these beautiful colors it looks like it’s about to close but if you have kids

Check it out here it’s really golden and it flashes different lights in all the gold it’s like very best friend all right so we came back just in time it’s 6:00 and the water show is here it’s free in the middle of shangai people’s square it’s really really cool

It’s a lot of different colors lots of water splashing and different shapes and it’s it’s it’s a great s to See so being a New Yorker I saw on the map it said Shanghai Times Square so I wanted to come check it out even though in New York I barely ever go to Time Square I think I’ve been to Time Square One time in my life but it’s not as

Lively as it is in Times Square it’s really nothing it’s just Bright Lights a lot of buildings but cool to see I think the Time Square is literally a square with um a large clock in the middle of it it’s not really like Time Square like

I thought it was going to be but yeah and also drivers here in China Drive like New York City drivers too like they go when they want to go they make rice when they shouldn’t make rice they people the drivers also drive on the sidewalks it’s crazy here so we just

Made it back to the Bund we sew it in the morning when it was bright and the sun was out but now the sun has set and let’s see what it looks like all lit Up we literally got right off the train heading to our hotel the Double Tree and I was hungry I wanted to be in China and have authentic Chinese food because I’m tired of chicken wings and por rice so I saw this place um and it looked like more upscale kind of

Food so I said let me try it so the first problem I ran into is that I had no idea what anything on the menu says and the literal translations are like crazy name this like beef lung liver whatever or something it’s not like just beef rice or something like that so I

Looked at what the guy had next to me and I ordered that so first thing I got was a cauliflower with fish sauce but it says cauliflower fish sauce but it has meat in it but I’m not complaining cuz it’s really good but it’s a whole plate of cauliflower and that’s basically an

Entree by itself then I got the fish and the fish is phenomenal it is in a whole tray of garlic and ginger and it’s spiced Heavenly I’m not going to lie Chinese food I didn’t think it would be this good but truly enjoying it good morning good morning another

Beautiful day here in sh China and we had an amazing night’s sleep I think we’re still kind of jet lagged from this trip which is crazy cuz this is like our ninth day abroad but we had a beautiful sunrise to see the view of Shanghai and

We’re about to get the day started yes so we’re going to head down to breakfast our very last breakfast here at the Hilton Double Tree and then we’re going to take the metro to the Airport so we just had an amazing breakfast we walked to the train station and now we have about an hour to the airport what I love about Shanghai is how inexpensive the Metro is it’s only six Yuans Which is less than $1 to go to the airport um Fantastic other thing that’s different here in China is the water fountains and all the drinking water is hot which is different you know I’m used to nice cold water but really even though I don’t really like drinking warm water or hot water I think it might be better for your body so there’s

That another app that is truly essential here in China is translate uh because Google Translate is not available here because it’s an American app now the reason why I say that is because a lot of the foods my wife is a vegetarian basically and a lot of things you would

Think are vegetarian like for example a cracker you think it’s a just a cracker but it’ll have like beef seasoning or like what else there’s like pork and like almost a lot of things or something looks like a cookie or like a cake but it’s actually like a meat pie or

Something yeah I don’t know so and a lot of times they don’t even put write it down this the beef or the meat seasoning or whatever so you don’t even really know until you just go and translate it so that is truly essential here so we

Made it to the airport we’re flying back with Virgin Atlantic because we got a really good deal for around 18,000 points per person and $300 cash and not just that we had an amazing time here in Shanghai I’m so happy that we got to visit here for the day and a half that

We had and we definitely will be back so please be sure to like comment subscribe and we’ll see you guys on the next One Yeah