Time to document this amazing trip!

I mentioned this briefly in my wrap-up, but yes, we flew to Shanghai, China last April. For most of us, it was our first time in Mainland China, and everyone’s first time in Shanghai. If I were to describe it in two words: pleasantly surprising! A lot of expectations and hearsay were debunked, and I’m happy to say how encouraging and educational this trip turned out to be.

A bit of background on how we ended up there:

We were originally planning to fly back to Japan, this time to Tokyo. Unfortunately, the Japanese embassy here announced a new timeline for visa applications. While we did have just enough time based on what they recommended, we couldn’t risk purchasing tickets last minute since prices would skyrocket, especially in April, which is peak season.

So we started brainstorming where to go. We had two very important requirements:

• It had to have better weather than the Philippines. ☀️🥵
• It needed to have a major theme park!

South Korea was off the list, even with amazing weather, because they didn’t really have amusement parks that appealed to us (and we just been there last year). At one point, we almost booked Taiwan since we planned to travel outside of Taipei this time, but the amusement park factor weighed heavily, especially since we had kids with us. We also considered Malaysia and Singapore and thought of doing what we did last time (starting in Kuala Lumpur and ending in Singapore) but the weather made us hesitate.

Then we thought about Hong Kong for Disneyland. But instead of just HK, we figured we could cross the border and visit Shenzhen too. That’s when we realized, why not just go to Mainland China directly since we’d need a visa for Shenzhen anyway? Plus, they have Shanghai Disneyland, which we haven’t been to yet, and the weather would be great. So off to Shanghai we went!

I was very surprised in a good way.

Shanghai is a well-developed city. Lots of buildings, high-rise ones, and it looks clean. What I loved the most were the green spaces, the wide pedestrian sidewalks, the dedicated bike lanes, and the abundance of trees. It’s so nice to see a city with this much greenery. I loved it.

They also have great environmental policies. You’ll notice colored car plates—green ones are for electric vehicles, while blue ones are for traditional fuel cars, which I heard are expensive to acquire. Amazing! The weather was also super nice. We went in early April, so it was still early spring. It got really cold at night, but the daytime was perfect. Still cool, but manageable with just light jackets or windbreakers. I’m glad only one day was gloomy with a bit of rain. We were lucky that the day we went to Disneyland had amazing weather. I’ll share more about Disneyland in the next post.

We visited all the popular tourist spots in Shanghai, like The Bund, which overlooks Lujiazui in the Pudong New District and its iconic Oriental Pearl Tower. We saw it both day and night. It lights up beautifully in the evening, and the whole vibe just hits differently after hours. So stunning! We also explored Nanjing Road, the Zhujiajiao Water Town (which kind of reminded me of Taiwan’s Jiufen, but this one was surrounded by water), and the beautiful architecture of Chenghuang Temple.

But honestly, what I love most about traveling is getting to experience city life with real infrastructure that’s made for people. We don’t have much of that here, so I was legit envious.

Happy to say, the people were warm and kind.

One great example was our driver for Disneyland. He was super kind. Even with the language barrier, he was eager to help using his phone to communicate. I’m not sure if that’s just Shanghainese culture, but overall, people were really nice. Even convenience store staff had a politeness that reminded me of Japanese konbini clerks.

Also, their cashless society is amazing. It was the first time I never had to withdraw cash from an ATM. I signed up for Alipay before we left (don’t use GCash! Go straight to Alipay for peace of mind) and linked my credit card. Transactions were super smooth. Even small mom-and-pop stores accept QR payments. Incredible!

Downsides? Unfortunately there were ones.

A lot of people smoke. Like, a lot! Even inside toilet cubicles, which is annoying if you’re sensitive to the smell of nicotine. And speaking of toilets! Most of the public restrooms, even in Disneyland, had floor-level/squat types. There are some regular ones, but they’re rare. It was definitely intimidating.

Overall, our first time in Mainland China was eye-opening.

You can feel that locals still carry some of the burden from the pandemic, but the city is thriving again.

As a final note, I just want to say this trip broadened my view of China. Of course, my stance stays rooted in support of my own country, but it helped me see beyond what I’ve heard or read. I gained a deeper appreciation and a bit more understanding of their culture and people. I’d love to go back again if given the chance. Maybe Beijing next time? We’ll see!