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Travel: Charming Shanghai – The Bund, Oriental Pearl Tower and Bund Riverside Hotel

I always thought Shanghai is just another Hong Kong, but I was wrong. There's more to this vibrant city than I expected. Check out my photo diary and let the pictures show you how wonderful was my Shanghai trip and all the things that surprised me along the way.

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AirAsia, the world’s best low-cost airline, brought me to Shanghai last Sept. 23 to 28–my very first time in mainland China! I took the 8:20pm flight on the 23rd and arrived in Pudong International Airport (PVG) at around 10:30pm. My hotel–The Bund Riverside–is located at the Bund which is around 30km from the airport and travel time by taxi from Pudong International Airport to my hotel took around 30 minutes.

The moment I entered my hotel room at the 16th floor of The Bund Riverside, I fell in love with it instantly. The hotel is classified as 4 star but it felt like 5, really!

Here’s my queen size bed:

Here’s my work station:

The spacious comfort room has three divisions, the bath tub in front of the mirror, the shower room at the right corner and the toilet bowl at the left corner room which has a washer, dryer, deodorizer, and I can even control the seat and water temperature. Furthermore, it glows in the dark! How cool is that?

Check this out:

Since my hotel is located at the riverside, I went outside at midnight and just a few minutes walk, this breathtaking view made me speechless:

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The Bund is a symbol of Shanghai and an epitome of the city’s modern history. On one side of the broad highway stand 52 blocks of magnificent buildings with innovative architectural styles (above photo). They call it “museum of modern world architecture.

Here is my daytime snap of THE view:

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On the other side you can see classic buildings which contrast the futuristic skyscrapers beautifully. It’s a showcase of Shanghai’s historical architecture which has a London feel at daytime and a Paris feel at night.

This is Shanghai’s version of London’s Big Ben. It strikes every hour of the day until midnight.

The next day, I rode the sightseeing bus to familiarize myself of the city’s whereabouts:

Sightseeing Bus 2

Sightseeing Bus

Then I went to the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel located at the Diamond area where I rode an underground sightseeing train that will cross the river from the Puxi side to the Pudong side!

Bund Sightseeing Tunnel 3

Sightseeing Tunnel

Tunnel

Bund Sightseeing Tunnel

This is the train that crossed the Huangpu river under the river floor:

In less than 30 minutes, I’m now on the other side of the river where the Oriental Pearl Tower is located!

Outside the Tunnel

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The Oriental Pearl Tower stands 468 m. high and consists of 15 spheres of different sizes at different levels creating an artistic conception of “large and small pearls dropping onto a jade plate.”

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Here is the view from the upper sphere of the Oriental Pearl Tower. The circular footbridge connects the tower to Super Brand Mall, IFC Mall and Lujiazui Metro Line 2 station.

The glass floor at the upper sightseeing sphere is nerve-wracking!

Nerve Wracking

The highest observatory level is called the Space Module. Here you can find aliens dancing to Psy’s “Gangnam Style.”

Space Module 2

Space Module

There is a revolving restaurant at the 267 m (876 ft) level and a 20-room hotel called the Space Hotel between the two large spheres. At the bottom (final part of the Oriental Pearl Tower tour) are exhibition facilities, some restaurants, shopping mall and automobile museum.

Oriental Pearl lower floor

Mall

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The chocolate cream puff at the ground level is a must-try!

Cream Puff

More souvenir items are being sold outside:

Outside

For my next update, I will blog about Shanghai World Financial Center, the shopping mecca that is Nanjing Road Pedestrian Walkway, Yuyuan Garden and Shanghai Old Street, People’s Park, and the Maglev Train.

AirAsia Zest, by the way, flies daily from Manila to Shanghai. For bookings and other details, visit www.airasia.com. And to get updated with the lowest fares to Shanghai and other AirAsia Zest’s international destinations like Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Macau and Seoul (Incheon), like their official Facebook page: www.facebook.com/AirAsiaPhilippines.

Track my photos on Facebook and Instagram via the hashtag #AirAsiaInShanghai.

6 Comments on Travel: Charming Shanghai – The Bund, Oriental Pearl Tower and Bund Riverside Hotel

  1. Anonymous // November 6, 2014 at 2:56 pm //

    Punta sana ko Shanghai last summer kaya lang may VISA kaya nagHongkong na lang ako :b

  2. Travel Bug // November 1, 2014 at 11:49 pm //

    More of these please!

  3. mas Bet ko yung Shanghai keza sa HK..hehehe..Tsaka mas mura ang mga bilihin dito sa Shanghai kesa HK..hehehe

  4. DarkfallingAngelFromPinoyExchange.com // October 27, 2014 at 1:46 am //

    Ang bagong business ng GMA! Nganga ang mga kapamilyucks na nagsasabi na hindi raw nageexpand ang GMA!

  5. The Bund is miles better than Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. Went there last year, the view was mesmerizing!

  6. Anonymous // October 3, 2014 at 6:21 am //

    Very nice plc

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