Mad About Shanghai

Travel Tip : Mifi

Over drinks on Friday, a friend of mine shared how her travel mates and were able to constantly upload their photos on Facebook on the go without incurring bill shocks for her data roaming , bringing an extra phone or the need to change SIM card. (I noticed she has been uploading a lot of photos in every key destination she went).

Apparently, she got herself a Mifi (mobile wireless router). She would then purchase a data plan SIM card in each of the country she went to. When it is time to mass upload the photos on their social media profiles, she would switch on the mifi and all her travelmates would tap on the wireless access to do what they need on their mobile phones. 

Furthermore, the mifi can be used for wireless access on laptops and tablets back in the hotel.

Now that is a good idea ! I might get a mifi router myself.

If you are a first time visitor to Shanghai, you might want to do that too.

WiFi at Pudong Airport

Somewhere in 2009, free wifi was introduced in Pudong Airport (PVG).  I thought that was very welcome as the free internet then could be accessed just by the click of a button at your browser.

Just a few days ago, I was at the airport when I tried to use the free wifi. I was surprised to know that to access the free wifi now, you actually need to key in your mobile phone number, afterwhich a password would be sent to you.

I thought that is absolutely redundant as it incurs overseas SMS charges for travellers and/or in the unlikely event that your phone has run of out power or you forgot to bring your phone, you could not access the free wifi.

Anyway, I tried this twice on my two flights to and from Pudong Airport. First time round, I did not receive the SMS at all, which meant that I could not access the wifi. Second time round, the password arrived...only 24 hours later !

I ended up not using the wifi at all. Why fix something that ain't broke?

 

 

Kempinski Hotel Dalian

I have a favourable impression of Dalian. The last time I went there many years ago, I was impressed by the cleanliness of the city, natural sights and the almagation of Russian and Japanese culture in their city landscape. And of course the cheap and nice seafood there. I remembered the last time I went there I stayed at the superb Nikko Hotel.

A friend of mine Elyn, who has always been very kind to me, recently paid this northern up and coming city a visit for business and stayed in Kempinski Hotel Dalian. She took some photos and I thought I would share with you guys in case any of you are thinking of making a trip there and looking for hotel choices. The room photos on hotel websites can be all too deceiving at times. So here you go:

Elyn, can we have more photos of Dalian city sights next time you visit?

Sanya Mandarin Oriental

Now that it is summer and if you are considering getting away from Shanghai for a break, why not consider Sanya ?

I bring you some pics from the Sanya Mandarin Oriental:

China Train Travel

If you ever wondered how the bunks in the train networks in China are, here are some pics:

I once heard this "Air travel is about destination. Rail travel is about process". Do you agree?

Pictures from Lori

Ticket Prices for Beijing-Shanghai High Speed Rail Revealed

 Tickets prices for the Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Railway has been released.

There are two categories of ticket prices:

Trains running at 300 kph

555 yuan (85.6 U.S. dollars) for second-class

1,750 yuan for business class.

Trains running at 250 kph

From 410 yuan for second-class

From 650 yuan for first-class

There  300 kph trains will cut travel time to 4 hours and 48 minutes. The 250 kph trains will complete the trip in about 8 hours.

 The entire projects costs US$33 billion dollars with a line length of 1318 km.

Shanghai to Beijing : Mercedes Benz B Class F Cell

From the automobile exhibition "Auto Shanghai" the three Mercedes-Benz, B-Class F-CELL cars set off on their journey through China, which took them to the capital Beijing on 24 April. With this leg, the final and longest leg of the F-CELL World Drive began: all in all, the fuel cell powered cars will each absolve around 9000 kilometres until they again reach European soil in Russia 20 days later. From there the tour will start its homeward journey to Germany via Scandinavia. Before setting off from Shanghai, the F-CELL World Drive had already travelled half the globe: since its start at the end of January the tour successfully crossed southern Europe, North America and Australia.

Lets take a look at some of the pictures taken when they journeyed in China:

 Pictures courtesy of Mercedes Benz

Shanghai - Hangzhou High Speed Rail Line

China officially opened the Shanghai - Hangzhou high speed rail line yesterday. Now it takes a mere 45 mins (compared to the 80 mins by normal rail)  to get to Hangzhou from Shanghai.

With this new addition, China's total high speed rail is now 7431 lm long, three times longer than Japan.

Nikon Shutterbugs in Suzhou

While taking a break in one of the Suzhou parks, I noticed a small crowd gathering around a table. I walked closer and noticed that a group of camera enthusiasts, obviously Nikon ones were taking a rest too. They pooled their cameras together on the table attracting many shutterbugs which struck up conversations with them and exchanging photography tips.

One of them joking said that they were auctioning off their cameras for RMB20 a pound to raise money to go back to their hometown :D

A Walk in Suzhou

Another place you can consider for a quick getaway instead of Hangzhou is Suzhou which is about 2 hours by train away from Shanghai.

I was in Suzhou and I saw these two chickens in a basket in the middle of a park. They dont look like cocks so I dont think its a cock fight about to start.

What could they be for ? I wonder..