Nî hâo! Let's do this China!!

After a few hours layover in Taiwan and my first experience of a squat toilet I arrived in Shanghai.

I expected navigating my way to the hostel I had booked in the heart of the city to be quite a challenge, however, I arrived without a hiccup, and by mid-afternoon I had settled into The Blue Mountain Bund Youth Hostel.

One thing that was immediately noticeable was there was very few "western" people knocking around in a ram-packed city completely dominated by the Chinese.. I could feel their stares and whispers.

The hostel was located just 5 minutes walk from the famous stretch of the Nanjing Road. The pedestrianised part which is carved into the central area is flanked by shopping brands, malls and popular restaurants, just like you'd see in any other city.

Through run down streets of unorganised chaos where vehicles and pedestrians seemingly share both sidewalk and road, I headed out to catch the Shanghai vibe. The little green man holds no authority here either, step out at your own peril!

The pace is frantic, the streets are dirty, the language is loud and alien, the air polluted, the spitting culture is real and disgusting! Pigs are spit-roasted, live eels, crabs and other ungodly sea creatures lay in tanks ready for someone's plate. Folk walk by donning their pollution masks, locals barter over fruit and veg, there's women by the curb scrubbing their laundry in the gutter, you can't budge for Chinese restaurants, and the roads are infested with pushbikes and scooters. It's a sensory explosion, and I love it!

I was heading for The Bund.. a promenade along the Huangpu River which faces the unmistakable skyline of the Shanghai Financial District across the water. There was a hype of activity here.. mainly of people taking photographs of the magnificent collection of towering skyscrapers. I must admit, it's hard to keep your camera in your pocket when the scene is this impressive - it looks digitally created.

In between a wander down the swanky shops of the Nanjing Road, I spent a few hours here leaning against the railings, watching the constant stream of tour boats and cargos go by, while soaking up the atmosphere.

The fascination of a white boy in town was too much for some of the natives. I had dozens of them queuing up to grab a photo with me. Haaaa! I milked it for my 5 minutes of fame, but made a sharp exit before things got out of hand.

I remained on the Bund though.. darkness was approaching and I knew it would be quite a spectacle to watch Shanghai light up. It didn't disappoint either.. so bright and colourful, with an array of digital advertising. The massive Shanghai Tower dominates the skyline, however, The Oriental Pearl is definitely the star of the show, outstanding with its rocket like shape, dressed in bright red.

I left The Bund, grabbed a not so appetising Chinese meal and headed back to the hostel for some much needed shut-eye. I was pretty wiped out following a long day of travel.

The following day I checked out a few of the nearby tourist attractions via the subway, which I have to say is absolutely superb.. efficient and cheap! I grabbed a 3-day pass for the equivalent of £5.00 and could use it to visit any zone in the city, as many times as I wished for those 3 days.

People's Square was first on my list.. a huge expanse of public space situated south of Nanjing Road in the heart of the city. It is home to the city's economic, political, cultural and transportation buildings which are surrounded by numerous flourishing gardens and green belts.

I jumped back on the subway to Downtown Shanghai to visit one of the city's most famous temples which is under national protection - Jing'an Temple. It is a holy place for both Buddhism and Taoism, and boasts the largest jade Buddha in China. I witnessed the monks doing their thing, I even got a wave off one of them while I watched on. To be honest, other than the main shrines, the place was a bit of a dump and I had no idea why I came to visit in the first place. It was on a list of things to do!!

I came back toward the hostel and checked out a supposedly famous dumpling restaurant that evening.. and to be fair it was pretty good, and ridiculously cheap. Mastering the art of gripping a slippery dumpling was a challenge mind.. pass me a fork!!

Shortly after, I hit The Bund again.. it was Friday night so much busier than the previous evening. Having checked out the colourful cityscape once more, I decided I needed a closer look at those massive skyscrapers and bright lights.

I received a tip-off from someone at the hostel earlier that morning about a "Sightseeing Tunnel" which worms its way underneath the Huangpu River across to the other side.

Jumping on the subway is always an option but this was much cooler, and kind of trippy too. You jump in a pod similar to a cable car but no bigger than a golf cart, and it transports you to the opposite side of the river in under 5 minutes.

An interchanging, almost psychedelic light show on the tunnel walls keep you entertained as you pass through. Combined with unusual noises, themed music, and a male voice murmuring short random phrases in English, it made the whole experience weirdly enjoyable.

I surfaced on the opposite side of the Huangpu, dwarfed beneath a never ending assortment of spectacular giant columns. It was much calmer on this side of the water, pleasant to walk around without having to continually dodge on-comers.. fortunate because my gaze was fixed upwards at a 90 degree angle. This was a classier part of Shanghai.. cleaner, sleeker, and glossier.

I took a walk down toward the river for a reverse perspective of where I'd been transported from. The Bund and Downtown area by no means challenged the skyline of where I was standing but it was still pretty to look at as I sat by the riverside.

The observation deck of the Shanghai Tower was top of my list on Saturday morning. The weather was overcast and forecast for rain, so I bided my time and waited for a break in the clouds so I'd achieve a clearer view.

I headed back to where I'd visited the previous evening and made my way to the tower. It's not hard to find, it's absolutely humongous, and standing at the base of it looking up is pretty mesmerising!

The Shanghai Tower stands at 632m high and is the world's tallest building, by height to highest usable floor. It boasts the world's highest observation deck in a building and also has the world's fastest elevator. It is the world's second tallest building by height to architectural top, Dubai's Burj Khalifa the only building higher.

I was super excited to check out the panoramic views over the city, and I was up there in a flash. Of the 128-storey skyscraper, the elevator had 121 to climb to the observation deck, and it did so in well under a minute covering 20.5m/s and reaching a top speed of 46mph.. amazing! My ears were popping!!

The views over a sprawling Shanghai didn't disappoint either.. just stunning! The city rolls on for miles, as do the endless chain of skyscrapers. You realise how ginormous this building actually is when you notice how easily it towers above it's considerably massive neighbours. Phenomenal!

I came back down to earth and jumped on the subway for a total change of scenery. I headed into Old Shanghai to visit the Yu Garden. Located beside the City God Temple, the Chinese Garden is intricate but extensive, and a seemingly popular tourist attraction. It was nice enough to stroll around in for a short time but nothing more.

Old Shanghai was a lively area to walk around in though.. it was bustling with energy! Buildings of typical Chinese theme were scattered amongst the many souvenir shops, food stalls, fast food joints, cafes and restaurants. However, the forecasted rain arrived, so I took off back to the hostel on the subway.

I loved my time in Shanghai, it's been seriously interesting, and a real eye-opener at times. It has been far easier to get around than I was anticipating and unexpectedly cheaper. Occasionally I'd have to point or mimic to what I wanted or where wanted to go, but generally I've managed to get by without using much verbal communication.

Pretty much every single thing is specially barcoded here.. from food and drink, to magazines and flyers, even advertisements too. China use a system whereby the majority of the population pay for things or make orders using an app on their smart phones.. I couldn't pay by card for anything, none of them were accepted, cash only.

One thing I absolutely despise here is the spitting culture. I always thought it was an over-exaggeration when people spoke of it, but they were right. The brazen nature of openly spitting in public, sometimes indoors, is absurd and absolutely disgusting.. it's not just the men either! I'm by no means an aggressive person, however, there have been a few times over the past 3 days where I've wanted to punch someone's lights out for spitting near me. I'm definitely struggling to get used to that.. their eating habits are somewhat of an irritation too but I won't go in to that! I sound like a grumpy old man don't I?! Ha.. Oh the joys of different cultures.

I've an early flight to catch in the morning, I'm heading to Beijing. I wanted to travel throughout China using their rail network, however every single train on this route was completely booked up for the foreseeable future. So unfortunately I'm having to choose the costlier option by flying.

It looks as though I've been a little naive in my planning. Apparently the Chinese National Holidays begin tomorrow (1st October) and continue for the next 8 days.. known as "Golden Week".

I usually like to plan things on a whim a few days in advance to remain flexible, but it appears China is a different animal. Hopefully it won't scupper my future plans too much. We'll see.

Anyway, Shanghai's been class.. Beijing tomorrow!

Zàijiàn xx