Visiting China

Hi guys !

I will be visiting China for the first time this week and thought that some of you may recommend me interesting places to see. I'm spending two weekends in Beijing and Shanghai. I'm not really interested into stuff which you can find in the guide. All interest areas are welcome - automotive , history , restaurants , local bars , very local bars , shopping malls etc. . .

Thanks a lot !
Tad

 

Hi Tad,

I've been to Shanghai and Beijing several times, but unfortunately did tourist things most of the time. anyway, here are some nice spots for both cities:

SanLiTun (not sure about the spelling) in Beijing is a nice club/bar street. I've been there in 2008 and watched the euopean soccer championship with some friends.
in 2009 I walked from the north end of the forbidden city to the Ferrari dealer that ist located east of the forbidden city. we walked through some nice old parts but also through a new shopping street, found a old church. the walk took a bit more then 30 minutes and was quite interessting. next to the Ferrari dealer is the Lamborghini dealer located and we also found a Rolls Royce in front of a hotel.
somewhere on here (I think) I saw pics of a Automall where a lot of used exotics were for sale, but I don't know where that is.
in 2009 I had a hostel (red lantern hostel) that was located in an old hutong. in that area where a lot of hutongs and also a lot of street food. this area was somehwere north west of the forbidden city but south of the olympic area.
also in 2008 i walked through some old quarter in the south of the forbidden city with a lot of old houses, small shops and lots of street food. we got a bit lost and followed the electicity cable and got eventually back to a bigger road that was a nice adventure but I'm not sure if that still exists as there was a lot of construction going on in the areas nearby and it was still before the olympic games.

In Shanghai I once walked from the Bund to the Yuyuan guardens (not sure abtout the spelling). we walked through very old streets and it was very interessting to see this side of Shanghai (compared to the shiny one near people square). I'm not sure if these streets still exists as this was in 2008 before the bund was completly reconstructed.
the old french quarters is also very nice to walk through and quite different from the rest of Shanghai.
I guess it's also nice to get off the MTR at some park and then just walk around these parks and the area nearby. we once did this on the way to a tailor market, but I can't remember where exactly this was.

enjoy the time in china! I did everytime I was there if i find some more time later, I'll post some pics of the areas mentioned above.

BTW, here's a thread with lots of Ferrari pics from China:
http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=84037


Martin

 

Thanks Martin ! Appreciate yor help !

Tad.

 

Make sure you take the very high speed train that runs between shanghai and the airport.... 400km/h and sit at the business class end.