Travel Halal: Shanghai

This is my story of our Shanghai trip...

First of all, it is so different that the Shanghai you've watched in Shanghai Noon (hahaha). Shanghai today is very moving forward, and sophisticated.

You can ride the fastest bullet train in the world, from Pudong Airport to Shnaghai City. The train is called Maglev Train. We didnt get to ride on it though. We did get the chance to ride on the second fastest in China, the bullet train which took us from Shanghai to Shaoxing.

Transport:
We had a local guide, so basically, transportation was included in the price as well. We were given a bus for us 12 people. Talk about the spaces and empty seats!
I think it would not be a trouble to catch public transportation as there were many and probably more efficient than ours! (lol)
We decided to hire ground agent to take us around because we have small children with us. We didnt want to hassle of getting caught in the cold of winter season and communication issues that could make it worse. Unless of course, it was just us adults.
If it was just us, I would have taken the Hop-On Hop-off bus for sight seeing of Shanghai city.

Food:
It is not difficult to find Halal food in Shanghai. You will easily find Lazhou Noodle restaurants. Lanzhou noodle is also known as mee tarik here in Malaysia. They have the Halal, green coloured sign outside their shop. It is really easy to see. Lanzhou noodle is a must. It is simply yummy.
Comfy food in the winter.
Our agent took us to a halal restaurant which served chinese food. but I cant recall the name. That place was quite pricey.
For other basic food, you can eat the bread and try different drinks available. I love their Matcha, and E100 drinks (lemon or calamari juice). You can purchase from their mart like FamilyMart, Lawson,

Hotel:
We stayed in apartment when in Shanghai. International Service Apartment. 
sorry, but i dont recommend this if you have small children, strollers, and big heavy luggage.
I booked this because we planned to cook our meals. and the only decent apartment I could find was this.
The room was okay, with 2 queens. It could fit 4 adults and 2 children. It has a microwave, washing machine, stove, kettle. You can cook there.
But what i hate is that the apartment was only a part of the tall building. meaning, the whole building was not the apartment. it shared with other businesses as well. to go to the building, you need to ride on an escalator. this escalator only functions at 730am to 8pm.
When we reached there at 3am, we had to carry our big heavy luggage up the stairs. it was so tiring for all of us. we have 4 strollers with kids on them to carry! imagine our tiredness!

Places worth visitng:
Our agent took us to few interesting places. We didnt cover much cause the day was shorter than night. We went to the museum (which was boring), The Shanghai Financial Tower, Shopping in Chingpu Outlet which houses branded items at reduced price. I got myslef a Furla, Hub got himself a Braun Buffel and Mak got herself a Bally. The price was much cheaper from Malaysia, and you can entitle for tax refund up to 11%.

Souvenirs shopping can be done in Bazaar outside the Wu han garden.

at the bazaar outside Wu Han Garden

But make sure you bargain kaw kaw. hahahha. There was also a halal turkish food in the bazaar. Dont forget to grab a bite!
We went for a river cruise along the Huangpu River. You can see sophisticated Shanghai better at night.

on the river cruise along Huangpu river

I find that Shanghai, being an international as it claims, is not a children or baby friendly place. It was hard to maneuver strollers in the city. They have lots of stairs but hard to see the tracks for wheelchairs or strollers. We ended up carrying the strollers (with out kids in it) many times and that exhausted us.
The night we went for the river cruise felt like a night in Amazing Race. We were literally running up and down the stairs, carrying strollers and the kids, just to catch the boat. (cause we were late),
and our body is still aching till now.

walking in the city to the river cruise

Tips for parents with small children:
bring light strollers. or no strollers at all.
in fact, put on your baby carrier. find one that can carry up to 20kg perhaps? hahahah


Overall, winter in Shanghai is really really cold. I would love the city but the language barrier is killing us. and child unfriendliness makes it even difficult for us.

Nice place to go if you don't have small kids with you.

we'll be back once the three girls are big enough. hahhaaha


Thank you Shanghai.