Shanghai Travel Forum

Hi All

My husband and I are going to Shanghai - 5th - 12th June.
This forum is a wealth of knowledge and I have pages of recommendations - many thanks!

A quick question ~ How expensive is Shanghai? We will convert from AUS$ to local currency.
Cost of food, beer, attractions, shopping - clothing/jewellry?

Cheers in advance! 2 sleeps til we depart!

I hope you enjoy your time in Shanghai, I was there about 3 years ago and had a great time, I used my credit card to get the cash I needed, but took enough out for a couple of days to save a few dollars. There are lovely shops but found you did not save that much but the markets are great and very cheap, the quality is quite good, it really depends on what you want to buy. Taxi's are cheap compared to australia. We caught a Taxi from our Hotel on the Bund got him to take us quite a way - about 40 mins wait for us about 1.5 hrs - and bring us back and from memory it was about $40 aus, I wish we had more time there, we only had 3 nights as we had a week in Beijing and 2 nights in Xian. So really if you frequent expensive restaurants and shops you will pay a lot however but you can get by on just a little. I don't drink beer but my friend does and she said most of the beer she tried were very good and they arn't expensive. Wine was more expensive but did try some Chinese red and it was quite good and though not cheap was not too dear. Have a great time.

A beer in a restaurant that isn't part of an international hotel should be RMB25 or less. they cost RMB4 (AUD 0.80) for 600ml TsingTao at a supermarket. Food is similarly cheap. You would pay RMB80-100 for a meal in a western restaurant so unless you want to abalone or crayfish things will be much lower than that. Not sure on the rest as I used to live down south (Shenzhen). Ellyse may have more details.

You can go out to some very nice restaurants in Shanghai and have great meals for very little. Yuan Yuan comes to mind as the best place to get Hong Xiao rou and a few other specialties. Cost for a mealwith beer, 200 RMB max. A hamburger and beer at Malones for 2 will cost the same. Eat Local food and it is real cheap. I have some restaurant favorites on my Shanghai page. http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/1e4db/f4fc8/2/

Hotels cost about 100 USD for most good 3-4 star places. If you want 5+ stars, expect 5+ prices. Look at Ctrip.com for good comparison prices. Looking for something really special, look at Hengshan Moeller hotel. It was recently refurbished and the basic room price is excellent.

There are few paid attractions in Shanghai that I would recommend. Maybe a boat cruise on the river with dinner, or top of the TV tower.

Travel around town is by taxi, about 10 USD per day, or subway, pennies per day.

looking for bargains, you won't find them on Nanjing road, but you will at Xiang Yang market. http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/1e4db/f4fc8/c/

Want to see old China, head to Suzhou or one of the water towns. They are a short distance away, and worth taking a tour so tee them. Talk to your hotel to see them.

Eh, it depends on your spending habits.
Food: street food from a few RMB, sit-down hole-in-the-wall restaurant with no English menu for 10-25 RMB, nicer sit-down restaurant for 30-100 RMB, and the sky's the limit for the rest.
Beer: 3 RMB for a big bottle in a convenience store or supermarket, up to perhaps 60 RMB in a bar/restaurant depending on brand.
Attractions: Depends on where you go -- some are free (mainly museums), the most expensive in Shanghai is probably 150 RMB for the top deck of Shanghai World Financial Centre.
Clothes/accessories: Depends on what you're buying. -_-

Thanks for your replies. Gives me a bit of a clue what to expect.
Will post my experience when we return. BonVoyage :) :)

In my opinion, Shanghai is not at all expensive. My parents and I booked a package tour and we couldn't believe that cruise, overflowing BLD and tours were included. For more information on what to see and how to visit sites without a guide, please read my article http://www.ehow.com/how_5050876_chic-cruise-around-shanghai.html

The article includes my personal pictures. Whatever you do, don't miss the Huang Pu River Cruise at night and the Charming Shanghai Acrobat Show!

"Expensive" and "inexpensive" are relative. It depends on each person's spending habits, expectations and where they're coming from. Someone coming from perhaps Vietnam or Laos would find eastern China expensive.