Worth the visit?

Hello,

I%26#39;m be heading to Asia this June and I%26#39;m still trying to decide whether or not I should go to Shanghai...

I%26#39;ll be in Hong Kong and Bangkok for about 5 days each and I just don%26#39;t know if Shanghai is worth going to. We%26#39;re trying to decide on a third city for about 5 days and I feel like that may be too long for Shanghai.

So is Shanghai worth visiting?

Thanks in advance!

Worth the visit?

Hard to say without knowing your specific interests. But let%26#39;s say you are looking at the entire cultural map. If you want to see a city representing the 3,000 years or so of Chinese culture, then you should head to Beijing for five days.

Shanghai is a modern bustling international city. Very Chinese in many respects, it is the cutting edge of modern society, much like Manhattan or London. There are plenty of day trips outside of Shanghai to older and quainter places such as Hangzhou, Suzhou and the water towns. So you can have five good days in Shanghai and vicinity, also.

You should really stop in either Shanghai or Beijing, though. Hong Kong is not representative of China, and it does not have a museum like Shanghai which represents the country%26#39;s many outstanding cultural facets. (Beijing%26#39;s National Museum is closed indefinitely it seems.) HK is an interesting city, but its sole function was to be a trading colony of the United Kingdom.

Worth the visit?

I would say yes, why not?

Depends on what you like, shanghai%26#39;s modern side is sometime too modern for western traveller. But shanghai does has some other side, old city, and the colony buildings. Hong Kong was good for shopping but not anymore. You go central of Hong Kong, you will see those small BOC building coloned from the shanghai Bund, treat HongKong as ';small shanghai'; as it was called.

I don%26#39;t think the OP was really trying to choose between Hong Kong and Shanghai. I haven%26#39;t heard Hong Kong called ';Little Shanghai'; before. They have (had) nothing in common. Yes, Hong Kong and Shanghai are two totally different cities. Shanghai is definitely interesting, and with around 20m people, is massive. You can easily fill in 5 days in and around Shanghai. The museum is great, but get there early - long lines! Accommodation, food and travel are all reasonably cheap also. Hong Kong does still have great shopping, probably not some electronics though. It is a 24 hour city and 5 days in Hong Kong are long enough to see the sites and experience the city. Beijing is the obvious alternative to Shanghai. If you want something different and have a reasonable budget, try Tokyo. That might even suit your flight plans.

Enjoy!

Hong Kong was referred to the %26#39;%26#39;Pearl of the Orient%26#39;%26#39; in some textbooks.

Hey - I thought Shanghai was the ';Pearl of the Orient.'; I googled it and apparently there are a lot of cities with this title - Shanghai, Hong Kong, Manila, Penang ...

If I had to pick one city in China to visit it would be Beijing - seeing the Great Wall and the Forbidden City are the classic must sees.