I’m heading to Shanghai and Tokyo for a week of vacation in June, to meet up with friends and travel with others. I love Shanghai and to share, here are my top 5 things to do while in 上海, kind of my “36 Hours”:

1. Y+ Yoga on Fuxing Xi Lu. I have yet to find a better yoga studio, with teachers as good and a small class environment. Not only that, but the facilities themselves are phenomenal in a beautiful old French building on a tree lined street, fresh fruit, water, and juice served after classes. Good luck finding that in the states.
2. Lunch time mega malls. Take your pick, Grand Gateway, Metro, anywhere in Xujiahui, or in Luwan or wherever. My favorites tended by be in Grand Gateway, but that’s just where I spent a ton of time. All varieties of food (both Chinese and otherwise) during lunchtime, ridiculously cheap and so easily accessible.
3. Old Town near Yuyuan. I could spent hours strolling through the streets here. Walking around, seeing the older side of Shanghai, without the 40+ story skyscrapers, people living real lives. Snacking on street food, watching the hustle and bustle, it’s something else. A close second on this would be walking along Fuxing Xu Lu until it runs in to Hengshan Lu. Leafy streets and plenty of little cafes to drop in to.
4. Dinner at M on the Bund. I don’t care what people say, this is my favorite restaurant in Shanghai. Sitting right at 5 on Bund, the views across the Huang Pu to Pudong are incredible, the patio outside if amazing, the service is great and the food is delicious. Every time I’m in Shanghai and whenever I had guests, we’d made it out here. Glamour Bar downstairs is also great.
5. Drinks at People’s Seven. Best. Bar. Ever. Hands down. Nothing I’ve seen after this place compares. A close second would be have a drink at the Grand Hyatt at Cloud 9 or Fuxing Gongyuan / Park 97 / Cashbox. The latter always comes in to play if you want to end the night singing until 5am.

I love Shanghai, and there a ton of other places and things that would be worth mentioning. In a city that moves that fast, it’s likely the places listed above don’t exist any more or have changed, but I love them all.

I forgot how much I liked this place. There’s a lot to love about Shanghai. Yesterday I spent the day crusing around the city and work meeting up with friends all over. I loved being able to walk down to the street and pick up a taxi, pop on my head phones and spin around town. Today was more of the same, spent time eating, chatting and eating some more. We ate at Yuxin tonight, which is an amazing Sichuan place that is so crazy spicy that my sweating required napkining off. Delicious. I’m sure I’ll regret it tomorrow, but boy do I love it.

I’m off to Singapore in the morning, 9am flight via Hong Kong, and meeting up w/ some office folks. 85F right now, this should be fun.

After a nine month hiatus I’m back in Shanghai. I didn’t quite remember the flight out here being so long (11:45 + 3.5 hours of flying, plus one hour of layover in Tokyo). As I picked up my luggage and walked through customs, out in to the open, the familar faces of Shanghai came back like a ton of bricks, as if I’d never left.

I went to the same ICBC ATM to withdraw money from my account in China (the money which thankfully did not mysteriously disappear), then passed through the various people harrasing me for “taxi” rides, and got in the offical taxi queue. The chalky smell of the air, the bumping and pushing, and public belching, it was all there in its full and wonderful authentic glory.

I was a little worried about having to use my rather poor Chinese when I got in the cab, but as I hunkered down it all started to flow and we were on our way to Xujiahui. As we crossed the Lupu Bridge, I could see the new World Financial Center (aka Shanghai 102), which looks like its topped out and makes the Jin Mao Tower seem small in comparison. Also different is how amazingly quiet the streets are now that there’s a 200 RMB fine for honking!

Didn’t do a whole lot today once I got in; I was pretty nuked after the flight. I did go however to the foot massage place we used to frequent and used it as an opportunity to catch up about life, work, and Shanghai with some old friends. It was great to hang out and talk the same nonsense as usual. I’m wishing I had more than just two and a half days here.