Hey Guys,
Here’s my first blog post of 2019, I can’t believe we are pretty much at the end of January now. At the beginning of December 2018 I went on a trip with Uni to Shanghai, China. As well as sightseeing and the normal touristy destinations we visited clothing factories as the trip was linked with our course.
First I’ll start off with some tips for the flight to China. We flew from Manchester – Frankfurt – Shanghai you are travelling for over 24 hours in total so make sure you are wearing something comfortable. I wore a matching set I had got from MissPap but I also packed a spare change of clothes to put on during the flight from Frankfurt to Shanghai so that I felt fresher for the flight landing. I also tried to stay as hydrated as possible the long journey will dehydrate your body and skin so to help prevent my face becoming super dry I decanted some minis for my hand luggage so I was able to cleanse and moisturise during the flight. I had also downloaded some albums and playlists on Spotify and some films on Netflix to keep me entertained. When we landed we just made our way to the hotel and went out for dinner as everyone was knackered from the journey.
The next day we visited a sourcing office of a UK fashion company. In the evening we visited The Bund the riverside part of shanghai that has all the big skyscrapers and the Pearl Tower and Bottle Opener building. We went on a river cruise which a was really nice way to see a bit more of Shanghai the best time is to go at night when all the buildings are lit up.
The next day we visited another clothing factory which produced mainly sportswear. In the evening we crossed over the river and visited the Pearl Tower to be able to get a view from above of Shanghai at night. I would put this at the top of the list of things to do if in Shanghai! We had some dinner and then went back to the hotel.
The following day we visited a silk museum and got to see the whole process of how silk is produced. After that we went to the Jade Buddha Temple it was actually snowing that day too which was apparently very unusual of Shanghai in December. We then went to see People Square and Park. One of the girls on the trip had her birthday that Saturday so we went for dinner at Goodfellas and then out to a club called Mint where they have mini-sharks swimming around in a tank.
On the Sunday we had the whole day to ourselves to we had a slower morning and then headed to a big shopping destination in Shanghai called A P Plaza where we were able to pick up some gifts for our families and ourselves of course.
On our final day we visited one final factory which was also a massive fabric producer. For our final dinner we went to a restaurant called The Nest which was in a high rise building so we had the chance for one more look at the stunning views of shanghai at night. We got around the city all week by using the metro it kind of works like the tube in London with different zones that cost more per journey but it still a lot cheaper and more reliable than flagging down taxis!
The next morning we headed to the airport as we had quite an early flight and the 24 hour journey home began! I would recommend Shanghai but just be prepared for how cold it will be in Winter if you are going around that time. Also the visa applications can be confusing and quite expensive to you need to factor this into your budget when planning your trip.
I have trips planned to Edinburgh, Malta and Paris coming up in the next few months which I’m really excited for, so I will definitely be following up with a blog post on them!
Rosie
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Rosie Mary-Ann Broadhurst 