Our family has a bit of disagreement on the how, but we agree on the what to see. The wife says you can rely on local taxis and go out on your own. She doesn't think you need an English translator but does say that you should go to Yuyuan Garden and the Shanghai Bund (river). You should go to the shopping districts, but remember that everything is negotiable. When they tell you the price say Boo Yaow (I don't want it) Tai gway (too expensive) and walk away until they stop chasing you. when they stop coming after you, you know that you've hit their bottom number.
I think you'd do well to establish a relationship with a local who would serve as your tour guide and driver for the whole week and would drive you to all the good places. I'd search the internet for a local college student who could serve as your driver/guide for a few dollars a day, but my wife says you don't need that, you should just jump in a taxi and go.
Whatever you do, get off the beaten path (which is about two blocks from the tourist section). Do not eat anything you can't identify. I'm not being culturally insensitive, Chinese get sick eating carelessly too. Don't drink the water. Don't even brush your teeth with it. Try to get to a local's apartment. You'll be shocked but educated.
The last time I was in Beijing the family wanted to do a Great Wall tour, so one of my cousins made a point of gathering all the handouts from street peddlers to find the absolute cheapest bus tour of the Great Wall. We ended up finding one for some ridiculously low price that was hard to believe, even in local currency. We showed up that morning, my wife, mother in law, cousins, and 6'4" in me, toting my two clearly American-born sons. The tour manager engaged in a rapid-fire conversation with my wife, who related it to me. Apparently this was not a tour designed for foreigners. It was not even a tour designed for locals. It was a tour designed for Chinese migrants from the countryside who had saved up for a big city vacation and had come to Beijing to see the sights. He told her that they never refund people's money, but that the foreigners wouldn't be happy on this trip and he suggested we take our money back and get on one of the big luxury motor coaches filled with fat Americans taking tours from the big hotels. That's not exactly what he said, but that's what he meant.
When my wife told me, I laughed out loud and asked how else we were going to see the Great Wall? We ended up going on the tour and had the time of our lives. The reason it was so cheap was that the tour company got paid to deliver us to a jade factory, amusement park, a Ming Tomb, and a restaurant on the way to the Great Wall. Trust me, these are not places you would pay to see on your own. We dutifully visited each place with me laughing more and more as the full absurdity of our trip became evident. Eventually we got to the Great Wall late in the afternoon. An hour or so later we left for the return trip. That was plenty of time because once you see the Great Wall there isn't much more for you to do.
So we got back in the van and fought rush hour traffic back to Beijing, dropping people off on the way. We'd go for a while with the AC on, then they'd turn it off, we'd open the window, it would get unbearably hot, and we'd shut the windows and start all over again. Every thirty feet the van would dynamite its breaks to stop and then would tromp on the accelerator to start again. We did that for an hour before we finally made it to the frontage road of the big highway that rings Beijing. We fought for inches as we approached an on ramp - and then passed it. We went past a few more on ramps before it hit me. I confirmed to my wife that the highway was a toll road and we were avoiding the toll by staying on the frontage road. I asked my wife what the toll would be, and she said about five Yuan, or well less than a dollar. I jokingly suggested that I pay the toll to get us onto the highway and home faster, but I settled into my seat for the last hour or so of the journey, jerking back and forth at ten miles an hour to avoid a fifty cent toll.
It was the best day of our trip. Go out of your way to have an experience like that.
Motion, the Great Wall is in Beijing, which is a couple of hours away by air. You really can't see the Great Wall from Shanghai.
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