Shanghai, China
I spent months fretting ahead of our trip to China. In truth, I think it was because I had never been so excited about going anywhere in my life. That kind of anticipation has a way of turning on you; I became convinced that something would go wrong. The visa would be rejected, the flights cancelled, the rain would set in and undo it all. I almost wouldn’t let myself feel excited about what I knew felt like a dream.
I never thought I would visit China. I assumed it would always sit just out of reach for me, either too expensive or too impenetrable. And yet, when my in-laws invited us to spend the summer with them, it suddenly became real. They live in Shanghai, which would be our first base, the beginning of a larger journey across to Sichuan. We are very lucky in this way as travelling with them has become our summer tradition and always a joyful one.
It’s worth saying plainly that a trip to China requires preparation. You have to arrive ready. Alipay, WeChat Pay, Amap - these are not optional extras but essentials to set up before you leave your home country. Cards need to be linked and identities verified on the apps before you leave home, eSIMS need to be installed. If you do this everything will run seamlessly. If you don’t, you won’t even be able to get out of the airport. This would be the same in reverse: this is not the same as a quick trip where you can use your existing data roaming. In the same way that Amap doesn’t work well here, Google Maps doesn’t work well there.
Shanghai, though, is a gentle beginning. It eases you in. The city is vast but legible, with English alongside Chinese, and a rhythm that feels, at least at first, familiar. I was also unusually fortunate. After several years of lessons, I can speak Mandarin well enough to get by, though I still can’t read it, and the local dialect shifts things further out of reach. Travelling with fluent local speakers changed everything. It opened doors to restaurants I could never have navigated alone, to dishes I wouldn’t have known how to order and to a version of the city that felt deeper and more personal. I’m aware how fortunate I was and how it allowed me to have an incredible experience.
We landed at dawn and took a taxi into the city, something we don’t usually do when travelling, preferring to walk wherever we can. But in China the scale is difficult to comprehend until you’re in it. Distances stretch and suddenly a forty-minute journey for a few pounds feels entirely reasonable. Fortunately, the price is so incredibly affordable (think £2 for a 40 minute trip) that you really don’t have to consider this a luxury.
After dropping our bags, we made what might have been the best decision of the trip and went straight to a 24-hour spa. China does these in a way that feels almost surreal if you’re used to the UK. For a small fee, you step into a self-contained world: saunas, hot pools, quiet rooms, cinemas, mahjong tables, sleep pods, fresh seafood, unlimited refreshments. You can stay for hours without noticing time pass. We had foot massages, slept off the jet lag and ate endless fruit. It was indulgent but also a recalibration after a long journey.
That evening, we met my partner’s extended family for dinner. I couldn’t tell you the name of the restaurant, only that it was elegant and generous in the way these meals so often are. Dish after dish arrived, each more considered than the last, a kind of introduction to Shanghainese cooking that felt both abundant and precise. Afterwards, we wandered through Xintiandi for drinks.
The next day brought more family introductions and another amazing lunch. I found myself fixated on 金汤, rich and golden, this time paired with delicate frog. There was taro with pork and braised belly that was so soft.
It was during this meal that I was given a pair of Xiaomi glasses that translate Mandarin into English in real time. The technology in China is almost absurdly advanced and this was a lifeline on a trip where I was the only English speaker sitting at big tables trying to keep up.
In the afternoon, we walked chatting along the Nanjing Road towards Yuyuan Gardens.
The Yuyuan area is an essential visit for your first time in Shanghai and has a surprisingly peaceful temple complex in the middle that we loved.
That evening, we took a river cruise. This was definitely worth booking (on trip.com) and was the most breathtaking way to see the famous skyline as the lights came on.
Afterwards, we returned to Yuyuan one more time. At night, it is illuminated and this is when it is at its most stunning, lit up in red and gold hues.
The next morning, the weather turned. A monsoon pressed in, and the humidity was almost difficult to comprehend. By 9am it was already 42 degrees, the air thick and unmoving. We retreated to the Shanghai History Museum before meeting my in-laws for hairy crab noodles which were so sweet and one of the best dishes I ate on the trip. It’s the kind of dish that feels tied to place and season in a way that’s hard to replicate elsewhere.
Later, we wandered through the French Concession, moving between sudden downpours. Around Anfu and Wukang Road, the city is tree-lined, slower, full of small cafés and quiet corners. It makes for an easy afternoon of browsing and shopping the quirky boutiques that characterise the area.
That evening, we met a close family friend who would join us for the next part of the journey through Sichuan. She is a tea expert and someone my partner had long hoped to meet as he begins to shape a tea business back in the UK. We spent hours in a teahouse tucked away inside an enormous antiques centre, tasting our way across regions and styles. It was a wonderfully calm end to an awesome trip. It was also another one of those experiences I would have not had without visiting with family.
We returned to the hotel by metro to pack for the next leg. One thing I hadn’t expected, and which stayed with me, was how safe I felt in China as a woman. I hesitate to generalise, especially in a country of this scale, and as a visitor passing briefly through. But there was an ease and safety I’ve not felt in Europe. I didn’t hold my bag tightly, didn’t scan every space instinctively. Coming from London, where a certain level of vigilance has become routine, it was a relief. The absence of that tension was something I only really noticed once it was gone.
