Shanghai Recap

Hey y’all! I posted my Beijing recap a couple days ago! If you haven’t read that post you can check it out here! I was in China for two weeks, the first week we were in Beijing, the second week we were in Shanghai.

Shanghai is such a modern city and has more skyscrapers and western architecture than traditional Chinese architecture. This was nice to see but at the same time means there wasn’t as much tourist things to do.

May 27

The first day we got there, we went to the Yu Gardens. This was so beautiful and by far my favorite day. All of the ponds and mountains in the garden were man made. This was crazy to me! Everything looked so natural and real. I literally could've sat in the garden all day and just read a book. It was so peaceful and relaxing.

May 28

This day we went to the Bund during the day. The Bund is right in front of the river, it divides "Old Shanghai" from "New Shanghai". Old Shanghai has a ton of western architecture, New Shanghai is all the sky scrappers. New Shanghai is also referred to as the financial district. Then we got to go up in one of the tallest buildings there (I believe it was the second or third tallest building there). We went up to the 85th floor. It reminded me so much of going up to the sky deck in Chicago. You could over look the entire city (when its not too smoggy or foggy).

In the afternoon we got to visit a fabric market. This was also neat to see. There was so many different fabrics you could buy. It was fun to see all the different prints and materials. They could also custom make jackets, blazers, pants, skirts, really anything you want there. At night we got to see an acrobatic show. It was not at all what I was expecting at first but, each act got better and better.

May 29

This day we got to visit a couple brands. The first was a Lily, a Chinese women's work wear brand. It reminded me a lot of Express, similar price points but Lily was way more fashion forward. The technology they incorporated into their store was amazing! They have three different interactive technology screens. The first scans your body and allows you to virtual try on their product. The second is a map of the store, it scans the outfit you have on and tells you which section of the store would best suit your style based on what you're wearing that day. The last scans an outfit you like in the store and pulls up the reviews that people have left online about those products and shows you similar products. All the technology was amazing and would be so useful! I also loved how they merchandised their product. It gave me so much inspiration for my future boutique!

The second company we visited was a factory that produced cardigans and sweaters. This factory was similar to the one in Beijing but not as nice. They do all the design, testing, and manufacturing in the factory. They do have a few other factories around the world that are strictly for manufacturing. They have a wide cliental range. They produce goods for H&M all the way to Burberry's cashmere sweaters. We got to go in a couple of their show rooms and I have to say I love some of their designs!

At night we went back to the Bund so we could see it all lit up. It was very pretty and fun to just sit and relax and take everything in.

May 30

This day we visited an old water town. This was my second favorite day of the trip. It was so cool to hear about how people used to live in these now tiny shops and how it was such a close community. The shops were very repetitive as you walked through but, the water town was HUGE. At the end we got to go on a boat ride and it made me feel like I was in Italy (only a little less elegant).

This was a wishing tree. I wished for a successful business! Let's hope it comes true!

May 31

This day we walked back over by the Yu Garden and finished up some shopping then went to a tea house. The tea house was a very unique and fun experience. Tea is huge in China! We were there for a little over 2 hours which I wasn't expecting at all. Our professor told us some people will spend the entire day there. They bring out three different teas and serve you a meal. The first tea was a white tea, then a green tea, then another white tea. I loved both the white teas but wasn't a fan of the green tea. I liked other green teas I tried while there but, not this particular one.

They bring you a snack tray and little cups to sample the tea.

This is the view from the top of the tea house overlooking Yu Garden.

After that we rested for a little at the hotel then packed up all of our stuff for the flight back home in the morning. Dumplings were our favorite meal while in China so, for our last dinner we found a dumpling place to eat at. I figured dumplings were common all over China but, that is very wrong. I guess dumplings are common in Beijing and northern China but not southern China. Luckily our professor found a very good dumpling place for us! It was one of my favorites.

June 1

We got picked up around 11:30 and met our professor at the airport. She helped us get our boarding passes and check our bags then said goodbye. I have to say I'm very thankful numbers are a universal thing because wow it was not that easy to navigate through a Chinese airport by ourselves!! Thankfully there was another girl on the trip flying into Chicago on the same flight as me so we got to navigate the airport together.

The flight home was supposed to be 14 hours but, we made it in about 12.5-13 hours so that was very nice! Since I couldn't sleep much on the way to China I packed some NyQuil with me and took one once I got on the plane. Let me tell ya that was the best decision I made. I slept almost the entire flight. Once we landed going through customs was easy it just took a little bit with all the people. Then, I slept the entire ride home and slept fine that night. I didn't realize how exhausting the trip was!

Overall, I loved both weeks of my trip. It was so cool to get to see another culture and really makes you appreciate what we have over here (like toilets. I will never take another toilet for granted again. Over there most of their bathrooms were what we called "squatty potties" It was basically a hole in the ground but, a flushable one). I already want to plan another trip! It definitely gave me a travel bug and I hope I can travel all around the world some day!

Where have you traveled to? Drop a comment below or on my Instagram post! I'd love to hear all about your favorite places!

Stay Stylish,

Hailey