tips on what (not)to do in shanghai, anyone?


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eikin

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Apr 27, 2004
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東京 Tokyo
Hi everyone in CS, i'll be going to Shanghai in June for about a month and will be going to Suzhou, Hangzhou and Ningbo during the stay. This is my first time there and first time going for such a long trip (NS dun count ok? :D )

So I will like to know if anyone has any advice(s) on what to do and what not to do, especially taking photographs as this is an urban study trip so will be doing lots and lots of documentation :faint: really going to faint, haha (if you have other things to share like lodging, food etc. I will appreciate too ;) ) Many thanks for all who can help
 

hmm

try not to get SARs? :)
 

clive said:
hmm

try not to get SARs? :)

oh, yah lor...i might as well not go out of my home then, who knows what virus is lurking out there...duh
 

shanghai...juz try not to be too prominent wif ya cam...if u using SLR....ppl tend to eye ya stuff...otherwise...do as the ROMANS do ya haha
 

Witness said:
shanghai...juz try not to be too prominent wif ya cam...if u using SLR....ppl tend to eye ya stuff...otherwise...do as the ROMANS do ya haha

hmmm, thanks, that's quite true, already heard a couple of stories about robberies there :( ... i'm using a cp4500 though, will try to be discreet with the help of the swivel lens, heheh
 

Witness said:
shanghai...juz try not to be too prominent wif ya cam...if u using SLR....ppl tend to eye ya stuff...otherwise...do as the ROMANS do ya haha


This is totally un-truth, I would rate Shanghai safer then walking on the street of Johor.

For your information, there are lots of hobbyist photographers who carry DSLR in Shanghai.
 

Simon said:
This is totally un-truth, I would rate Shanghai safer then walking on the street of Johor.

For your information, there are lots of hobbyist photographers who carry DSLR in Shanghai.

hmmm, that's new ... what about the less developed places like those 'nong4 tang2'? do you happen to know if people there are generally camera shy? (or even hostile?:hammer: ) or are they very open about people taking their pictures?
 

I just came back from Shanghai last month. There's really not much to worry about if you're careful with your belongings, though if you're carrying way too much photo gear (like tripods, harness etc. etc.) you'll definitely find it hard getting around as well as taking care of your stuff, because frankly, there're a LOT of people there, and if you've got half a mind to travel on foot to feel the ground, there's no way you're going to be able to do stuff like take the subway and squeeze onto buses... and walking is what you WILL be doing a lot of, because the transport system there doesn't have an MRT stop on every street corner, and you really do not have a clue where their buses are going unless you've got a guide.

Recommend you get a street map at least: it's a shanghainese peculiarity, but taxis have no idea where you want to go if you give them a location, but instead need an intersection of the streets you're heading for, because shanghai's built on a grid/block system. (ie. you give them the names of 2 streets that intersect where you want to go).

Don't bother shopping for camera gear there. Stuff is even more expensive than singapore (even the local chinese Seagulls and Phenix cameras... hmmm). Stuff like clothes and shoes are cheaper, but strangely enough, build-quality of even branded stuff isn't as good as expected.

If i'm not wrong, it's summer now, so weather's warm and balmy... and you'll do well to exchange maybe S$100 before you head down, so that you have enuff to take taxis to your hotel etc., and carry the rest in traveller's cheques or just draw from the local bank branches (they have citibank!)

Lemme know if you have more specific questions.
 

Most parts of Shanghai is quite developed, so shouldn't be much of a worry carrying your DSLR around. But if you are going alone, do be extra careful because its easy to get distracted and you may lose your gear.

Otherwise, have fun in Shanghai! Nanjinglu has lots of neon lights, Xintiandi and Xujiahui are good places to chill out in class (similar to Boat/Clarke Quay), and don't forget the Huangpujiang--the Pudong and Puxi regions reflects the old and the new of Shanghai!
 

eikin said:
hmmm, that's new ... what about the less developed places like those 'nong4 tang2'? do you happen to know if people there are generally camera shy? (or even hostile?:hammer: ) or are they very open about people taking their pictures?
They're either friendly, or quite ambivalent... but then, i was using a rangefinder, largely... dunno what they'll say about SLRs... helps if you speak mandarin (ie. beijing-chinese... the shanghainese dialect is unintelligible to me :dunno: )
 

many thanks to Ah Pao and tingchiyen for the helpful information :D

I'm travelling with a friend actually and I think he is using his film slr, anyone has information whether it is worthwhile developing photographs in Shanghai? The last time my friend did that in Vietnam the photographs turn out to have a mild yellowish tinge that made the entire collection look very warm and 'Vietnamese'.

Also anyone able to offer any information on safe budget stays? say around $70 per night? (i.e. $35 to $40 per person) I'm claiming expenses from my school so intend to stay in a 2 star room rather than backpacker bunk, but not too expensive as I can't claim for my friend's expenses. Thanks!
 

Hmmm.... just something you may encounter...

On the streets near The Bund, especially at night, dun be too surprised if a gorgeous girl pop out of nowhere on the street corner and ask you for the time. You will soon realise that every next street corner you go to, there will be a different girl asking for the time. And then their next question will be, to ask whether you are a foreigner. ;)

You know what they want. :D
(But damn, some of those girls are really pretty...)
 

Prismatic said:
Hmmm.... just something you may encounter...

On the streets near The Bund, especially at night, dun be too surprised if a gorgeous girl pop out of nowhere on the street corner and ask you for the time. You will soon realise that every next street corner you go to, there will be a different girl asking for the time. And then their next question will be, to ask whether you are a foreigner. ;)

You know what they want. :D
(But damn, some of those girls are really pretty...)
Roger that, pris... check out Maomi-Nan road... it's a chicken farm, and the clubs don't close till 6 am in the morning! Club 97 is another havoc place.

Eikin: there's a camera emporium just a few streets south of Nanjing-east road shopping stretch, it not only carries (incredibly) over-priced camera gear which is shockingly updated (i saw a panasonic LC-1 going for almost S$2,100...), but it has a developing centre on the 2nd floor for film and other-formats... there're also ubiquitous hole-in-the-wall developing shops.

Ps. bargain for EVERYTHING. Rule-of-thumb is, chop it down to about 30% of the asking price, then work your way up. There's no shame. But it doesn't work in big stores or emporiums.
 

Prismatic said:
Hmmm.... just something you may encounter...

On the streets near The Bund, especially at night, dun be too surprised if a gorgeous girl pop out of nowhere on the street corner and ask you for the time. You will soon realise that every next street corner you go to, there will be a different girl asking for the time. And then their next question will be, to ask whether you are a foreigner. ;)

You know what they want. :D
(But damn, some of those girls are really pretty...)


hohoho...every city has an active sex industry :devil:

you have any idea where the redlight zones are? i'll be covering some stuff about changing urban programs over the years, will be interesting to map out the sex industry as well (most urban studies choose to ignore this important component of what a city is about, heheh) and also will be good to know in case i bump into the area without me knowing it :bsmilie: can be dangerous :think:
 

tingchiyen said:
Roger that, pris... check out Maomi-Nan road... it's a chicken farm, and the clubs don't close till 6 am in the morning! Club 97 is another havoc place.

Eikin: there's a camera emporium just a few streets south of Nanjing-east road shopping stretch, it not only carries (incredibly) over-priced camera gear which is shockingly updated (i saw a panasonic LC-1 going for almost S$2,100...), but it has a developing centre on the 2nd floor for film and other-formats... there're also ubiquitous hole-in-the-wall developing shops.

Ps. bargain for EVERYTHING. Rule-of-thumb is, chop it down to about 30% of the asking price, then work your way up. There's no shame. But it doesn't work in big stores or emporiums.

oooo...this is getting interesting, clubbing at a chicken farm! :what: some things that never happen in singapore, haha, thanks for the info!

heheh, and time to horn my bargaining skills learnt from my mum, hahah, slash slash slash
 

Hi Ekin,

I just came back from a trip to shanghai last week.. I must say the nightline is very impressive... so a tripod is a must....
I think its quite safe in shanghai city... Just beware of beggers and touts.. beggers usually come in the form of a dirty looking woman carry a baby... ignore them and ask them to go away firmly... if you go shopping at their market (pasar malam), you will get alot of people asking you whether wana buy fake bags, shoes or sunglasses... they can be quite irriating...
the cabs are quite alright and cheap there... but do remember to get a reciept from the cabby... it will give you the cab number, in case you drop something in there, you can track them down....
Foodwise, go where the locals go, and its dirt cheap... you can get a bowl of noodle at about 5yuan.. which is SGD1.... if not, there are always foodcourts, which is also quite reasonable...

have fun in shanghai...
 

Erm... Thanks I supposed? :sweat:
(Wasn't expected to get a guided tour of the chicken farm industry in Shanghai).

Anyway, those on the street corners are lone operators. But there's been horror stories of how they lure you to a hotel, then big burly guys come in and you know, blackmail etc etc.

But then again, some of them are students, looking for some hard cash to finance their studies (It's true!) I personally have a friend who was approached by one of the girls, and it turned she was a student at some private art school. Now the two of them are happily married.

(Prismatic's disclaimer: Fairy tales are far and rare in between. So dun try it unless you've got a fairy godmother looking after you)
 

I heard from my china friend telling me not to take flyers from the street. Some of them are "drugged" LOL

Wonder how true that is...
 

siriuslim said:
... Just beware of beggers and touts.. beggers usually come in the form of a dirty looking woman carry a baby...

oh no...my friend has a really soft heart for such things :bheart:
guess i must watch out then...

thanks for all the info, some stuff i will never find in travel guides ;)
 

Prismatic said:
Prismatic's disclaimer: Fairy tales are far and rare in between. So dun try it unless you've got a fairy godmother looking after you

haha, thanks for the advice, no worry, i m a poor student with no spare cash for such 'entertainment' (no taste for such things also :bsmilie: ) then again i agree it's always safe to be careful, that's why i kind of 'bribed' my friend to come along, at least there are 2 pairs of eyes to watch out for 'things'.
 

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