I boarded a high speed train (Gaotie) from Fuzhou to Shanghai on 5^th January, as it started to get boring in Fuzhou. Arriving in Hong Qiao train station in Shanghai approximately 6hours after due to delay in departure time. It was late already so I did not bother going out. Spent the whole night doing research about the city in my hostel. Oh, and the toilets and shower rooms were shared and the level of cleanliness was terrible, which resulted in me switching to another nearby hotel. I am not really a group life kind of person since young, that place reminded me about a training camp I went during junior high school.

Went to the famous Waitan, and some local shopping streets (VERY Chinesey!) such as Yu-yuan.

Of course, being a fashion addict I cannot leave without visiting every fashionista’s heaven: Xin Tian Di area. There is this fashion mall called “Style” (Yeah such an unstylish name I know), where Designer pieces of reputable designers gather. Collections consists of 70% local designers and the rest being imports. What I found interesting with posh areas like this in China is that the high contrast between the posh streets and the streets beside it. You’ll find designer pieces going on 6000RMB but on the other side of the street you’ll find the everything-for-150RMB store.

Tian Zi Fang was another local shopping alley I went to. It has a very interesting concept where most shops are run by local craftsmen specializing in something. For example there were leather goods crafts shop, perfumery, scent, art materials, Chinese artwork like Shuimohua（水墨画）, engraving, food, bags, clothing, jewelry and much more. I bought a leather travel note and had my to-be-official hanko carved by a very skillful craftsman and also got a few carved for my friends as Omiyage (souvenir). It was a great spot to experience Chinese craftsmanship.