This was to be my first visit to Shanghai. I always wanted to go so this stopover with free visa stay was an ideal time to go exploring. I arrived at 6am, headed straight to immigration, and got my free visa stay without any hassle. I mooched about the airport looking for a place to get information on where to leave my bags, exchange money and what to do for the day. Terminal 1 was rubbish as everything was closed. I decided to see if the metro station had more information when I noticed the terminal 2 sign and I followed it. It was definitely busier than terminal 1. I got the information I needed from the tourist info booth and was able to put my bag in storage for a measly £3. I bought my all day metro card for the fabulous price of £2 and off I went to explore. At 7am, it was rush hour. My empty carriage filled up quickly to the point of crushing. When I had to get off I pushed and was pushed otherwise I'd still be stuck in my seat. I basically went with the flow of the crowd in order to get off at my stop. The crowd was a bit scary. I took time out to breathe in a tiny space I found to myself. I could see the crowds and noticed the security bag check at the station. There is a bag check at every station. The metro station is actually quite wonderful. It is fully air conditioned in the mainline stations. The smaller stations not so much but every train is air conditioned to point of freezing my arse off. It has to be because eventually the heat got to me. By the time I got to the financial district I had sweated through my t-shirt. The aircon on the metro is amazing but as soon as you're out it's like walking in an oven and the sweat came in streams. I kept going into shops for a blast of cold air, which probably made it worse. I tried to use the water dispenser, which is available everywhere but only hot or warm water available. No cold water! Oh my goodness I’m about to melt. Luckily for 7elevens at every corner so I can enjoy the air con and buy a cold drink. For some reason my credit card wouldn’t work. It looked like everyone pays for things using their phones. Luckily, I had some cash. I saw the amazing buildings. My favourite is the Shanghai Tower as it was twisty and quirky. People prefer the oriental pearl tower apparently. Then I wandered into the People's Park to get back to nature but it was too bloody hot so I jumped back on the nearest metro to anywhere. I found West Time Residence a quiet leafy suburb with buildings and roads covered in trees. This place was where the French lived back in the day. Again, it was too hot to just meander about the streets so I jumped on the metro. Next stop was Jingan temple. Then it was onto the ancient town of Qibao. The old buildings set by the river made it so beautiful. It was busy though but I managed to find a quiet spot to have some lunch. If the weather is this hot maybe some time at the water park might be a good idea. Suddenly it was 6pm. Where did the time go? My stop to the Disney resort will be on my next visit. I had to get to the Bund immediately. Therefore, I got off Nanjing East station and as it was rush hour, I literally went with the flow of people out of the station and walked with them to the Bund. The crowd was overwhelming and so was the heat but the view of the most famous landmark was amazing. I took my photos as dusk arrived trying to avoid people in my photos and headed back to the airport. I finally got to the airport by 8pm. After 14 hours I was done. My flight was at midnight and it came quickly. Unfortunately, the plane was just as hot as the outside as the aircon wasn't working well in my area. We had to wait a couple of hours before normal temperatures resumed. The airline food was crap too. China Eastern is cheap but the food, which is Chinese food, was the worst airline meal ever and that's compared to flights with no meals included. It is that bad.
