Shanghai Trip Part 15: Great World (Dashijie), Jing'an Temple and Shanghai Exhibition Cente etc.

[Introduction]

I traveled to Shanghai, China, in late May. If I had been fluent in Chinese, I could have enjoyed the trip more, but I was impressed with a fine mixture of retro and modern elements in Shanghai. In this article, I will write about Great World (Dashijie), Jing’an Temple and Shanghai Exhibition Cente etc. as part of Day 5. I had to change my itinerary as a tourist spot I originally planed to visit was closed, and I went around haphazardly, but enjoyed strolling more than expected.

[Visit Places (series of articles)]
* Day 1: Fly to Hongqiao International Airport
* Day 1: Waitan (The Bund)
* Day 1: Waitan (The Bund) (Light-up)
* Day 2: Oriental Pearl Tower
* Day 2: Jin Mao Tower
* Day 2: Shanghai Tower
* Day 2: Shanghai World Financial Center
* Day 2: Pudong (Light-up)
* Day 3: Yu Garden
* Day 3: Xintiandi, Middle Huaihai Road, Hengshan Road and Tianzifang
* Day 3: East Nanjing Road (Light-up)
* Day 4: Shanghai World Expo Museum
* Day 4: Natural History Museum, Ocean Aquarium and China Art Museum
* Day 4: Yu Garden (Light-up)
* Day 5: Great World (Dashijie), Jing’an Temple and Shanghai Exhibition Center [This article]
* Day 5: Return Home from Pudong International Airport

[Travel Date]
2018.05.23 – 27

[Main Part]

Breakfast and Review of Sofitel Shanghai Hyland

It was the fifth day, the final day, of my Shanghai trip. To begin with, I will have breakfast at “Sofitel Shanghai Hyland” where I have been staying.

As it was the final day, I checked out the hotel.

To review “Sofitel Shanghai Hyland”, it is honestly difficult to evaluate whether the hotel is recommendable.

The reason why I chose this hotel was it was located in the center of “East Nanjing Road (南京东路)”, the main street in Shangai. In this respect, I was really satisfied with the hotel – “Waitan (The Bund)”, one of the most famous tourist spots in Shanghai, was within walking distance and two subway stations were available, which enabled me to visit other tourist spots easily. Receptionists and doormen were OK.

On the other hand, however, as I mentioned in the past article (see the related article), I had some complaints about breakfast – breakfast was not fully ready at 6 a.m. when the restaurant was supposed be open, most of staff were relatively unfriendly (lack of smile) and they didn’t check visitors’ name and room at all etc. – this dissatisfaction offset the above advantages.

If you don’t mind such issues, “Sofitel Shanghai Hyland” should be fine. Or as I mentioned in another past article (see the related article), there were “Grand Central Hotel Shanghai (上海大酒店)” and “Central Hotel Shanghai (上海王宝和大酒店)” near “Sofitel Shanghai Hyland”, and both hotels received good user reviews, so in retrospect, I could have chosen either of them.

Shanghai Street Snaps

My return flight was in the afternoon, so I will go sightseeing in the morning.

First, I will move toward “People’s Park (人民公园)”. Here are some street snaps on the way.

I arrived at “People’s Park (人民公园)”.

There was “Shanghai Museum (上海博物馆)” in the park and this is the first destination.

I was wondering why there were not any people and found the museum was closed. I visited the museum on Monday and it has been closed every Monday since January 1, 2018. This information is not reflected on the guide books I read prior to the trip. Actually, the museum’s website clarified its close day, so I realized how important it is to check with primary information source including official websites.

The Great World (Dashijie/大世界)

Anyway, there is no use crying over spilt milk, so I decided to walk around as much as possible.

To begin with, “The Great World (Dashijie/大世界)”.

“The Great World (Dashijie/大世界)” was a built in 1917 as an amusement arcade and entertainment complex. It was closed in 2003 and re-opened in 2017.

The surrounding scenery around “The Great World (Dashijie/大世界)” was also photogenic.

I moved to the next destination by subway.

Jing’an Temple (静安寺)

I came to “Jing’an Temple (静安寺)” where Shanghai Metro the Line 2 and the Line 7 are available.

“Jing’an Temple (静安寺)” was first built in 247 AD in the Wu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms period of ancient China.

To tell the truth, I made an unscheduled visit to the temple just because “Shanghai Museum (上海博物馆)” was closed, but found the temple had good atmosphere.

Snaps between Jing’an Temple (静安寺) and West Nanjing Road (南京西路)

There were lots of department stores between “Jing’an Temple (静安寺)” station and “West Nanjing Road (南京西路)” station and I will take snap photos.

Jiuguang Department Store (久光百货).

Reel (芮欧百货).

Jing An Kerry Centre (静安嘉里中心).

Roadside trees were also photogenic.

Another shot.

Shanghai Exhibition Centre (上海展览中心)

There was also “Shanghai Exhibition Centre (上海展览中心)” between “Jing’an Temple (静安寺)” station and “West Nanjing Road (南京西路)” station.

“Shanghai Exhibition Centre (上海展览中心)” is an exhibition and convention center. The building was built in 1955 as the Sino-Soviet Friendship Building to commemorate the alliance between China and the former Soviet Union.

So, the atmosphere of the building was different from Asian architecture.

I would like to visit the former Soviet Union some day.

Snaps between Jing’an Temple (静安寺) and West Nanjing Road (南京西路)

I will continue to walk around department stores between “Jing’an Temple (静安寺)” station and “West Nanjing Road (南京西路)” station.

Plaza 66 (恒隆广场).

Golden Eagle international Shopping Center (金鹰国际购物中心).

Citic Square (中信泰富广场).

And a Japanese department store, Mei Long Zhen Isetan Department Store (梅龙镇伊势丹).

Wujiang Road (吴江路)

There was a gourmet street, called “Wujiang Road (吴江路)”, near “West Nanjing Road (南京西路)” station and I will have lunch around here.

I stopped by “LA PASTA”.

Here is what I ordered.

East Nanjing Road (南京东路) / People’s Square (人民广场)

I came around “People’s Square (人民广场)” on the west side of East Nanjing Road (南京东路). There were two buildings I would like to take photos of before I return home, so I stopped by there.

The first one was “Jin Jiang Pacific Hotel (上海金門大酒店)”.

The other was “Shanghai New World (新世界城)”.

Then, I will pick up my baggage and return home.

[Closing]

That’s it for the article about Great World (Dashijie), Jing’an Temple and Shanghai Exhibition Cente etc. as part of Day 5.

I had to change my itinerary as “Shanghai Museum (上海博物馆)” was unexpectedly closed and went around haphazardly, but I enjoyed strolling more than expected. “The Great World (Dashijie/大世界)”, “Jing’an Temple (静安寺)” and “Shanghai Exhibition Centre (上海展览中心)” had unique characteristic respectively and there were a variety of department stores between “Jing’an Temple (静安寺)” and “West Nanjing Road (南京西路)”, so if you are especially interested in shopping, I would recommend the area 🙂

In the next article, as the final article of my Shanghai trip series, I will write about return home from Pudong International Airport as part of Day 5.

[Map]

1. Dashijie (The Great World)
2. Jing’an Temple
3. Shanghai Exhibition Centre

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