The first thing you need to know about Shanghai is that it is actually a hodgepodge of… everything, actually. Old characteristic houses stand next to ultra-modern buildings, food booths stand in front of chic restaurants. Everything flashes and shines everywhere (in lighting, in shop windows) and everything and everyone drives past and through each other, and everything always goes well. You take the taxi yourself, because it costs nothing (the equivalent of half an hour costs €3, something they can learn from in Amsterdam!). The Chinese are a bit strange: nod the loudest yes even though they have no idea, because hardly any English is spoken. The fingernails (maybe the toenails too, I didn't check) of the men are longer than those of many women (especially the little finger, ew) and they clink and smack a bit. That is disgusting, indeed, but they are right about the smack: the food is delicious.

Shanghai is very interesting and is also chock full of exciting hotspots. As there are:

W Hotel Shanghai The Bund
Have you ever been to any W hotel anywhere in the world? Then you know that everything is correct and that every surprising detail has been thought through. This is also the case with the one in Shanghai, which has also been promoted to the flagship of Asia by the luxury chain. Opened in September, so if their own delicious house perfume had not been sprayed around liberally, it would still have smelled like new. The design is industrial without being stale, with graffiti on the walls and matte black details, and honors the history and soul of the city with, for example, hanging works of art in the lobby. The 374 rooms are spacious and have 'a touch of drama', as they say. The view from (the pool on) the roof terrace is magnifique, there are no other words for it. (Quite expensive) Cocktail in hand, sitting on the designer furniture: nothing more to do.
starwoodhotels.com/whotels/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=3360

 

ChopChop Club
Good food doesn't wait. That is the motto of star chef Paul Pairet. Although we strongly agree with him, he built his own restaurant concept around that statement. At the ChopChop Club, in a former bank building on The Bund, you can see the food you can subscribe to on large screens: glazed chicken, for example, or smoked beef. For an extra feeling, the handsome waiters will also show the whole chicken to your table, so that you can be sure. You then indicate whether you want any of it, and the screens announce when it will be served. How brilliant?! At the bar you can drink B-ocktails: cocktails composed for the ChopChop Club and served from the bottle. Nice to know: the restaurant has a Dutch touch: the water served is from the Dutch Earth Water, and the restaurant director is from Friesland, yes!
unicoshanghai.com

More China? We also went to Hong Kong:
Barts Boekje x Hong Kong

Cho Collector
Chocolate burgers. Ice cream with chocolate sea salt. The most artistic chocolate bonbons. Cho Collector is everything for the chocolate lover. On a good day, locals queue up to get their sugar rush or Instagram-friendly calorie bombs. You can also eat your love handles for next to nothing: a complete star restaurant platter will cost you the equivalent of €12.
shanghainavi.com

Goga
It takes some searching, but via an elevator in the lobby of an apparently abandoned office building you eventually reach a roof terrace, where you will find a loft, where you will find the most fantastic food in Shanghai. Are you still following? Anyway, here you come for Chinese food with a Western touch. Best of both worlds, and that together with another great view. Reservations are recommended, because it is not big, which at the same time makes it fun.
gogarestaurants.com

Lu Bo Lang restaurant
We suspect that there is no place in Shanghai where you cannot eat delicious dumplings. We ate them in Lu Bo Lang restaurant, in the epicenter of a Chinese shopping area, reminiscent of the Van der Valk Hotel in Breukelen: with lots of red and artistic curls on the roofs. The Chinese believe that you drink tea with lunch. Very strong tea, which is refilled without asking. Tea is a thing here anyway; the most diverse flavors in the most beautiful packaging are for sale. It is known as the most famous restaurant in Shanghai, which can result in hordes of tourists, but during our visit it was (thank God) full of locals, a good sign.
laomiaocanyin.com/Cn/brand/brand_1.aspx

 

Shopping
Are you looking for something you didn't know existed, let alone needed? Look no further, because it is sold in Tianzifang. Dozens of knickknack shops alternate in the smell of street food sold on every corner, and every now and then there is a gem of a shop with handmade leather bags. But especially think of brushes with crazy prints, transparent umbrellas, Hello Kitty pens, reading lamps in the shape of a pig (hey, you may need it!)…
No, then the French Consession district. Chock full of smaller shops, all usually beautifully styled, with designs such as Hay and other brands. If you want something of the same, but under cover (it can sometimes come pouring out of the sky, namely): Huaihai is a department store with, in addition to shops such as MaxMara, Apple, Burberry and K11, a place with a high entertainment value. For example, downstairs when you enter you will find a large exhibition, but there are also events with complete coffee roasting companies.

The authentic architectural style of the shops, including Lulemon and Nike, makes the Xintiandi shopping area particularly pleasant. One facade is even more beautiful than the other, and you have to be careful not to miss the details of a statue on the corner or an artfully crafted fountain when looking up. The shops are interspersed with nice coffee shops and - of course - dining options.

Hyatt on the Bund
The view over the Huangpu River and the adjacent ultra-modern Pudong is everything, and you literally wake up with it and go to bed with it, because the enormous windows in the spacious rooms make it impossible to ignore. Also nice: Vue, the restaurant, and the accompanying rooftop bar. Breakfast deserves a special mention, because it is the most extensive ever. Metre-long tables with just about every food you can think of, from slurpy soup to sticky rice, from cheese sandwich to eggs poached in front of you. Yum.
shanghaithebund.hyatt.com

Then some practical tips:

Make sure you always have the Chinese address at hand. From the hotel you're staying at, the restaurant you need to go to… Just push it under the taxi driver's nose and everything will be fine.

Watch out! Not for pickpockets or other scary scum, because that's not what Shanghai feels like at all. But the residents have a tendency to drive through each other, completely ignore red traffic lights, and you too. So be careful before you get run over by a motorized tuk tuk.

Addicted to social media? Then kick the habit, because not all channels can be reached via WiFi. WhatsApp isn't working either. Long live Skype!

x Sigrid