Last week I finally had the opportunity to visit Shanghai once again after being away for so long due to the pandemic. Given what has happened in China during the last few years where they had the strictest rules and lockdowns imaginable, constant testing for everyone and long quarantines followed by the subsequent riots across the country when people desperately started to fight back against all the protocols after seeing that the rest of the world had moved on, I was truly interested to see how it would be.

I would never have even imagined that I would get to visit Shanghai with absolutely no restrictions this year as I thought that it would not happen for a very long time but earlier this year China reopened their borders and finally dropped all of their restrictions. I used to visit Shanghai so often and I was so looking forward to returning again however in the week before my flight, I was definitely feeling slightly apprehensive about the trip and wondering if it would be how I remembered and what it would be like there now after being closed off to the rest of the world for so long. Friends that had already been back to Shanghai since flying had resumed told me everything was completely normal but I really needed to see it with my own eyes to actually believe it!

One thing that was definitely very different to my last visit to China was the flight as it took a lot longer to get there as you can no longer overfly Russian airspace. The flight took just over eleven and a half hours but it surprisingly went by a lot quicker than I expected. The flight was completely full yet no one onboard was wearing a mask which was the first sign that everything in China was back to how it was a few years ago. We landed into Shanghai early and it was so strange to see the airport looking so normal once again as my last memory of it was during the height of the pandemic on a cargo flight and seeing everyone in full hazmat suits (we did not even leave the aircraft) but there was nothing like that at all this time – instead we just had welcoming smiles.

The only difference at the airport was having to scan the health declaration QR code from the China Customs app before reaching immigration – it took one second and that was it. As soon as I walked out into the arrivals hall at Pudong Airport, I remembered exactly where I was going as the memories all came flooding back! The biggest shock was leaving the airport as I could already see the famous Shanghai skyline in the distance which was something I had never seen before as the smog and the pollution used to be so bad. The majority of vehicles in Shanghai now are electric and you can immediately tell the difference as the air is so much cleaner.

Walking back into the same hotel that I always used to stay at was such a strange feeling as everything was exactly the same as it always had been and it honestly felt like it had only been a few weeks ago since I had last stayed there when in reality it was much longer. Even though I was so tired after such a long flight from London, I did not want to waste any time so quickly got changed before heading out for the afternoon.

Before travelling to China I had remembered to find my purse that still had about £60 worth of RMB in cash as well as my trusty Shanghai Metro card. I could still remember which entrance of the Metro station that I needed to use but my card would not work at all at the turnstile. Thankfully a few seconds later, one of the staff at the station reactivated my card (it even had 37 RMB left on it!) and with a quick “Xie Xie” (thank you in Mandarin) I was on my way. The Metro was the only time in Shanghai where I saw the occasional person wearing a mask as they are not required at all anymore – I had packed some in my bag with me (for the first time in ages) just in case they were needed but they did not leave my bag the entire trip.

My first stop of the afternoon was Shanghai Disneytown and I could still easily remember the exact journey having done the trip so many times over the years. I knew what Metro lines to take and what station I needed to change trains at and the journey took about forty minutes and the fare was still 6 RMB after all this time. The only difference to my last trips was that there was no one selling fake Minnie ears on the train as you were approaching the resort although I did see some being sold after leaving the station on the walk towards the park entrance as well as plenty of personal shoppers pulling giant wagons full of Disney merchandise to sell online.

I quickly reached the large World of Disney store in Disneytown and ran in as fast as I could to finally buy a LinaBell (the Shanghai Disneyland Duffy and Friends character) as she had been released in 2021 so I had been waiting two years to buy her. I had wanted to be able to get her myself in person and it really felt like a huge accomplishment after the last few years that I was able to do so. However it was here that I discovered one of the major things that has changed in the last few years as foreign credit cards are not as widely accepted as they used to be and none of my cards (even the ones that I used to use in China) would work – everyone in China now uses mobile payments either through WeChat or AliPay to pay for everything. I had already downloaded AliPay to my phone but I had not set up my credit card yet (you can add a foreign card to it) which in hindsight was a huge mistake as it would have made my entire trip a lot easier and I will definitely set it up to use on my next trip.

I was trying to work out if I had enough cash to pay for all of my shopping when a supervisor brought out a different card machine from the back office which accepted my credit card immediately. This was such a huge relief as even though cash is not used as much as it used to be in China, it meant that I still had some money with me for the rest of the trip as I was not planning to do anymore shopping as I just wanted to explore the city and thankfully as I had smaller bank notes, I did not need to worry about anywhere having enough change.

As much as I wanted to go into Shanghai Disneyland I had already decided not to visit on this trip as not only was it very busy but due to it being the middle of summer, it felt hotter than the surface of the sun outside. I had been checking the wait times all week on the app and I knew that waiting that long for a ride with those crowds in that heat and humidity would not have been fun in the slightest so I am planning to visit on my next trip instead (hopefully later this year) when it will be much cooler as well as quieter.

I knew that the tiredness had started to get to me when I was trying to swipe my hotel room key instead of my Shanghai Metro card to get back into the station. Even though my entire body was aching and extremely tired, I was determined to try and stay awake for as long as possible so I could try and sleep through the night ready for my next day exploring the city. I used to be able to cope with this tiredness no problem but what once felt so normal all of a sudden felt so overwhelming after being away for so long as I had seriously forgotten how much the jet lag hits you when flying from Europe to Asia.

I took the Metro from Shanghai Disney Resort back to Lujiazui on the Pudong side of the Huangpu River. It was so crowded on the circular elevated walkway next to the Oriental Pearl Tower as everyone was out taking photos which was exactly like I remembered from my last trips to Shanghai. The heat and humidity in Shanghai that afternoon was intense – I had brought a handheld fan with me but it was proving completely useless as it was just blowing even more warm air in your face so it very quickly went back into my bag.

Instead of taking the Metro back to my hotel, I decided to take the scenic route back (as it was much more fun) and I walked along the Pudong riverfront and joined the long line of people waiting at the Dongchang Road ferry terminal to cross the river towards the Bund as no trip to Shanghai would be complete without seeing the famous city skyline.

The crowds waiting to get on the ferry on the Puxi side of the Huangpu River were even bigger but walking past them to see the unmistakeable and instantly recognisable skyline of Shanghai on a clear day with blue skies in the late afternoon sun was truly perfect. My first ever visit to Shanghai was back in 2003 when the two tallest skyscrapers were the Oriental Pearl Tower and the Jin Mao Tower both of which are now dwarfed by the gigantic Shanghai Tower – the city really has changed so much in that time!

As I was walking along East Nanjing Road, the scenes of empty streets across the whole of Shanghai during the pandemic seemed like a very distant memory as it was so busy with people walking between all the different stores as the city turned to night. It looked like a total revamp had taken place and everything seemed so clean, shiny and so much brighter than it had ever been before but sadly I noticed that a small section of old buildings which I used to love (and always used to take photos of whenever I walked past) had disappeared to make way for their more modern counterparts which was such a shame.

At that point I had lost count at how many hours I had been awake since leaving London and thankfully it did not take long to fall asleep once I got back to the hotel. I had never slept so well and woke up the following morning which felt like a miracle as usually you are awake in the middle of the night due to jet lag.

Once again I wanted to get out and see as much as I could in Shanghai before it got too hot as well as too busy that day – as it was summer break in China, the city was very crowded during my visit. The Metro is so cheap to use in Shanghai that I had decided to use it as much as possible on this day to get out of the oppressive heat outside and make the most of the air conditioning. My first stop of the day was Yuyuan Garden which has always been one of my favourite places to walk around when in Shanghai. Getting there early was definitely a good decision as it started to get very busy just as I left.

I then took the Metro to Tianzifang (which was part of the old French Concession area of Shanghai) which was so calm in comparison and just perfect to wander around the tiny streets and enjoy the peace and quiet before walking onto Xintiandi. To help with directions during my stay as well as stay connected, I turned on the data roaming on my phone which had the added advantage of bypassing “The Great Firewall of China” where so many of our normal day to day websites are restricted – for example the only messaging apps that will work in China are iMessage and WeChat and all social media is blocked. As a funny aside I also found out that you cannot access this blog whilst in China which made me laugh so much!

Many people make use of a VPN whilst in China to get around the restrictions but these can also be hit and miss and you never know if it will work or not until you arrive. Even though I have a VPN installed on my phone which I had used many times before, it would not connect at all when I was using the hotel wifi so I relied on mobile data throughout my entire trip – it was worth the small daily fee to have unrestricted internet.

Another bit of Far East “normality” for me was being able to go to Coco Ichibanya for lunch and order my favourite Prawn Katsu Curry. It might sound silly but it always used to be my traditional first night dinner without fail whenever I visited Hong Kong, Japan or Mainland China over the years and I had missed it so much – even though there are two branches now in London, it just isn’t the same! To walk off my lunch I headed up to the point where the Suzhou Creek meets the Huangpu River for a different view of the Shanghai skyline that I had never seen before which I loved and actually preferred over the Bund!

I walked around a little more of the city before heading back to my hotel for a much needed sit down and some air conditioning as the heat and humidity was absolutely draining that day and getting to be way too much. I was so relieved that I had decided not to visit Shanghai Disneyland that day as I would not have enjoyed it at all in those temperatures.

One thing that I had definitely noticed the entire time whilst I was in Shanghai was just how few Westerners I saw when I was there compared to before the pandemic. I know that the country has only recently reopened but hopefully more will begin to visit soon though it is not the easiest country to travel to as there are currently not as many flights as there used to be and you also have to apply for an expensive visa for most visits.

That evening I walked back down to the Bund along with what felt like half of China to see the skyline all lit up at night. I had never seen crowds like this even before the pandemic but when you think that this is the first normal summer break with zero restrictions that China has had in four years, it slowly begins to make sense. As I could barely walk down East Nanjing Road as there was so many people, I used the back streets to get to the Bund but the last shuffle across the road to get to the viewpoint seemed to take forever. Along with the thousands of people standing along the waterfront and all of the sightseeing boats sailing along the river to take in the views, you would never have guessed that the last few years had ever happened and it was truly a surreal and bizarre feeling to think what the entire world had been through in that time.

After flying back home to London the next day (and that really was a long flight!) all I could think about was how normal everything had been in Shanghai – everything that my friends had told me was completely true and that is the way I will describe it to anyone who asks me what it was like. I truly felt so lucky and grateful to have been able to travel back to China once more after such a long time away and it was so good to explore somewhere so different once again – it definitely felt like a bit of the old me returned!

I cannot wait to go back!

Since this blog post was written back in 2023, some of the information may no longer be accurate or up to date. Be sure to do your own research and check official websites for the latest details before making any of your own travel plans.

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