Visiting random places like Jeju Island off South Korea, often means random flight options to get to the next destination. As luck would have it, our ticket to Japan required transit via the Chinese city of Shanghai, and so we took the longest layover on offer and planned a quick visit to the city historically described as the ‘Paris of the East’.

The Pearl Tower, icon of Shanghai

Rooftop hanging

This was our first foray into China, and as independent travellers (i.e. no organised tours or transport) it proved to be ….. interesting. In our first hour off the flight we encountered ‘broken’ ATM’s that would not accept international cards, an airport cafe that would not accept our international credit card, then a taxi dilemma where 3 people had to be consulted to determine where we were going, despite having an address on our phone ready to assist with this challenge. Safely at the nearby hotel, and wondering how on earth we would make our way into the city for the evening given the very obvious language barriers, we were then advised the hotel would accept cash only for payment, and of course we had none!

Long story short – with the help of google translator, a local with limited english and a car, and a train that travelled at over 400km per hour, we found ourselves on The Bund in the middle of Shanghai City at twilight. Hideously smoggy, absolutely packed with people, and a steamy 30 degrees at 6pm – it was exciting, chaotic, and despite the obvious level of pollution, stangely captivating.

It really is the point where two worlds collide having the colonial, low rise European influenced architecture on one side of the river and the modern,  gleaming skyscrapers on the opposite side. With so few hours on the ground our agenda was short – cocktails with a view and great food. We achieved both, spending a few glorious hours amongst non-gypsy travellers in the rooftop bar of the Ritz Carlton, followed by a local meal where we truly were a novelty for the staff, as they practiced some English on us.

Shanghai’s famous skyscrapers

Cocktails above the city

With China being one of our most densely populated neighbours, and Chinese tourists becoming ever more present in Oz, it was an interesting (and delicious!) glimpse into their world, even if only for a few hours. One thing this detour did provide us, is an unbelievable contrast to our next destination – a remote island off the southern coast of Japan’s southernmost island of Kyushu. Like I said earlier, random places!!