3rd Day in Shanghai

Day 3 Itinerary: Zhu Jia Jiao – AP Plaza Shopping Mall (@ Shanghai Sci & Tech Museum metro station) – Tian Zi Fang (@Tai Kang Road)

I think I don’t have to explain this, this is the crepe that we have the day before but today we asked the boss to add YouZaGuai + the peach that I bought the night before when we passed by a fruit stall after our reflexology (so cheap, it was only RMB40 for 1 hour reflexology + shoulder massage).

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Zhu Jia Jiao

How to get there?

1. (From where we were staying) Take bus no. 455 @ Pudong Avenue, Qiancang Road  --> Pu’an Road,  East Yan’an Road (only 4 stations away), then

2. Take Hu Zhu Express Bus (Pink bus) all the way to Zhu Jia Jiao (has only 3 stops because this is express bus)

There happened to be very very crowded when we were @ Hu Zhu Express Bus stations, everybody were queuing and we estimated we need to wait for 1 hour before we can get in to the 3rd bus (interval time for every busses to depart from station is 20 minutes). When we were “sun-dried” with other ppl in the queue, the conductor asked if anybody doesn’t mind standing, they can get in the bus too. Me & my friend quickly run up, because we were planning to sit on the stairs rather than continue sun-drying ourselves. But when we got up, the stairs were almost occupied, only one of us can sit. But after the bus move a short distance, we saw the conductor were scolding 2 passengers, I think probably they refuse to pay so, the conductor asked them to leave, and yea… we were lucky, we were closest to the seat and we got to sit already!

About an hour plus of bus trip, we finally arrive @ Zhu Jia Jiao, the China’s Venice.

Such a beautiful water village

The dumpling and this pork knuckle, everywhere in the village… I didn’t try the dumpling, I see the knuckle is interesting, I only bought one small piece to taste, it taste a little bit like marinated pork in our version of dumpling, and the fat layer can really melt in mouth… so, it can’t take too much at a go if you are not the fat lover. They can help visitor to vacuum pack too, convenient for the visitor to brought it home.

Because of the morning rain, we got to eat our lunch earlier too. We were buying the Chinese traditional ink painting as souvenir and the artist’s wife recommend this restaurant to us, she said the famous one is not the nicest…

We saw everybody were having the chicken soup, we think it must be the signature dish. But the smallest portion is half chicken, so, initially we thought of ordering 1 chicken soup and a dish of vege. For the vege, the waitress recommended their homemade 面筋 (no idea what’s the English translation) with vege and insisted we should also try their prawn cooked with wine too… at first we don’t want, but since she insisted, we agreed. They served the prawn first, the prawns were so tiny, has to eat with shell, but I think the dish was really tasty, then came the vege, also very nice, we were eating non-stop until we got a big shock seeing the chicken soup!!! The soup can served 4 actually, we were also half full! No doubt, the soup also very tasty, although the chicken meat was super “elastic” like chewing gum. We counted, there were altogether 8 bowls of soup, each of us took 4. Our stomachs were almost bursting when we left the restaurant.

Must-do activity in Zhu Jia Jiao – Cruise around the village

The cruise fare is counted by boat, each boat RMB60. When we were at the counter, we saw a couple were also checking out the price there, we exchanged a sight, and we agreed to share the boat. At first we thought they were Chinese but they are actually Korean… They must be thinking the same, but we are Malaysian Chinese.

For me, I love to see and experience a place slowly, walk around, sit in a nice coffee shop or tea house to observed how the local live their lives, see the place in day and night. But this time we only planned to do a half day trip, so, we need to catch the bus back to Shanghai city before the sky gets dark. Next time if I ever have a chance again, I will surely spend a night there…

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Shopping @ Shanghai AP Plaza – for those who like to do wholesales shopping, you can either shop @ Qi Pu Road (Metro station: East Nanjing Road) or AP Plaza Shopping Mall (Metro station: Shanghai Science & Technology Museum), both of the places are easily access by metro. Reminders to shopper: 1. bargain, bargain and bargain, cut at least 50 - 70% of the 1st price they offer to you, you got to be more daring, walk away if they can’t give you the price that you ask for, they will either give up and you win the bargain or there are plenty of shop selling the same thing, ask around if you have ample of time; 2. be aware of the quality, especially the buttons, I bought 2 tops, I even asked for new piece which is with plastic cover, when I brought home and check, all buttons need to re-sew; 3. most shops do not have a fitting room, you can’t put on to try before buying them, so, you need to be very sure about your measurement and what suit you best.

For me, erm… I am not good in bargaining, I like quality stuff, I need to try and be sure that the cloth really fit me well, so… sometimes I rather pay more and save time for other sightseeing (unless the trip is really meant for shopping).

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Dinner – Food Court near AP Plaza

I was coughing badly during the trip, so, I usually opt for something with hot soup or something light. Everything seems nice in the food court and this has given a libra a lot of headache. Finally I chose Fish fillet noodle with sour vege… who knows, the soup looked clear but it is spicy. My friend ordered dried pot, which is very interesting too, you can pick whatever you like over the counter, pick a spiciness and they will cook the stuffs that you pick, rice and soup are FOC. The serving of everything are big, China ppl has bigger stomach?

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Tian Zi Fang

This place housed a lot of young and talented artists. They are selling their master pieces (clothes, handbags, toys, paintings, handicrafts, etc.) in old buildings, so, it seems traditional but yet modern inside. I always appreciate original and arts, I really like this place, but we were there quite late, we only has limited time to walk around. There are a lot of restaurants, cafe and pubs too. I’m glad that my friends were willing to accompany me to drink a cup of latte before leaving such a nice place.

P/s: little tips to tour around Shanghai city: always check the last train going back to the place that you are staying, most of the lines close at 9pm or 10pm. But taking cab is very convenient, the fees is very reasonable too, beware of those maroon cab, they don’t charge accordingly.