Shanghai & Seoul

[treehugger]

So, hypothetically speaking... if you were going to Seoul for work, would you spend £270 of your own money to have a three or four day side (personal) trip to Shanghai in June? Accomodation in Shanghai would be taken care of, just not the extra for the flights.

Tell me all about fun things to do in either city, please?

[elora]

yes

and

not sure but i've never been to either so would probably jump at the opportunity.

[tzarine]

in shanghai, i love the nightmarket (especially for the dumplings), strolling the bund in the morning & nanjing lu

have a fab trip!

[mei]

no - I would spend it in Seoul and surroundings. Assuming during the work period you won't have much time to explore the city, that is.

I enjoy Shanghai, but it's still a couple of hours away, and this would be a great opportunity to get to know Seoul. I was really positively surprised by Seoul when I visited years ago.

Loved their palaces, good food, really nice people, interesting city to discover.

[treehugger]

Extra time in Seoul would cost me a lot more so not an option, sadly. I suspect that I will have a bit of free time in Seoul though. All the other members of my research project are presenting at a conference so they've decided to have the project meeting there rather than fly loads of people to one or the other of the places we are based, I'm the only non presenting team member, so I'm just going for the meeting. Hehe!

If I fly out with my boss to Shanghai we can visit his sister for a couple of days before or after and just pay for the connecting flights, so I think I may just have to do it Have never been to Asia before, I am *so* excited!

[treehugger]

Tell me more about Seoul, mei, what were your favourite things to do and see?

[crazycat]

I preferred Seoul over Shanghai although I've only ever been to Seoul once and I've been to Shanghai a number of times, all of them for work.

Shanghai is interesting though and going to the markets and trying the dumplings on the street is definitely something to do. You should also take a train to Suzhou. The fast train takes about 30 mins from Shanghai Train Station but you should try and book tickets in advance through your hotel otherwise you need to queue at the train station with your passport. Then get a taxi to the old town from Suzhou station and enjoy wandering around the old buildings, the water and enjoy the street food. I went last year for the day from Shanghai and really enjoyed it.

[crazycat]

Zoe, I just put some photos on pblog of Suzhou from last year for you to take a look at them.

[sprite]

how would staying in seoul be more expensive? (curious) the love hotels are pretty cheap. they were about £20 a night a few years ago and shouldn't be too much more than that now. and despite the name and the rather dubious selection of dvds available at reception, they are quite nice, comfortable, and clean.

koreans like raw seafood, spicy food and climbing mountains.

i would.... spend a day doing 'old seoul' by visiting palaces, markets, insadong (where you buy traditional art/music supplies), tea house in/near insadong, some temples, walking up... argh. i can't find it. it's a massive boulevard that leads to one of the palaces, but parallel on either side are little side streets--these were used by merchants and workers because the nobles used the large street, and lower ranks had to stop and bow to them--making progress slow. these alleys are full of little places to eat, which are great fun to watch even if you have no intentions of eating the mystery objects. i just remember that there was a massive bookstore on that street where foreigners used to hang out.

i might go to the dmz, but check around to make sure you're getting the full deal. you have to go with a group, and some just sort of drive around while others take you into the conference room and tunnels.

i would also try, purely for the 'wtf' of it, to take a bus to the east coast and the penis temple. it's a small village on a pretty bit of coastline. that would be the better part of a day.

i would try 'calguk-su' and 'su jaebi' soups--i believe they're mostly vegetarian, they aren't spicy, and they are tasty and filling. ialso loved the sushi rolls after i learned to have the pickled radish taken out, but you're not as picky as me.

i might ask around to see if there are any drumming performances, or traditional korean opera.

[sprite]

oh, i can't resist!!

orcim.org/category/temple/

[mei]

I would follow sprite's itinerary!

it's over 10 years since I was there so I honestly don't really know placenames etc that much. I though the palaces were spectacular, but I think that was also because they were very different from what I knew from Japan (it was a long weekend away from living in Japan). had tea at a supercute teahouse, met really cool people and went on a day-hike with them. I really regret not going to the DMZ, so I have to go back sometime.

I do really like Shanghai as well, and can understand the temptation. But well, Seoul is an interesting city I think and I'm guessing that it'll be more likely that you may be going to Shanghai/China at some point than going back to Korea. And if you want to get a feeling for China, I'd suggest Beijing over Shanghai. Shanghai is one big, huge city but doesn't have that much in terms of history, temples, palaces etc. I think Beijing would be a much more interesting sidetrip, if you want to go to China after all.

oh, and I also wondered about why Seoul would be more expensive to stay in. Shanghai is not a cheap city.... (but it also sounds like you may have enough time during the conference to see some parts of the city I guess)

[sprite]

mind, shanghai in a house with a local would be better than as a tourist.

[mei]

ah true, i missed that.

must.read.thread.before.responding.

[sprite]

read? read??? whatever happened to 'spew'?

[treehugger]

thanks to both of you.

I know this is a bit strange... but I don't really like the idea of travelling on my own (even for a couple of days) somewhere so different to what I'm used to at the moment. I also have to consider that the Mr is going to be at home with both kids while I'm away as the eldest is on halfterm, so I can justify travelling with the boss but not really if I'm just staying on a few days on my own. So it would be just going to Seoul and back or £270 extra (but little to no other expenses) to spend a couple of days extra in Shanghai.

I love the idea of the park, but I suspect it may be not appropriate for work we'll see!

[sprite]

oh, the park is a family destination! they have an annual competition to carve new penii and i think there was a category for kids.

i know i was living in the area, but seoul is pretty easy to negotiate. there's english (and english speakers) all over the place and the undergound is like london but easier. (for example, platforms are in the middle of the tracks, and there's three names on the wall with arrows: previous station, current station, next station. they even tell you which side to exit.)

i'm sure you could bring back enough red pepper powder to gain forgiveness.

[mei]

either way I think you'll enjoy it - Seoul is relatively easy to get around I thought. It's a very modern, clean city. but big, and yes different - mostly because of the hangul signs etc everywhere. but staying with a local in shanghai will make it more comfortable.

I guess I don't think of these two cities as close together at all (though looking at flights, turns out it's only 2hours, huh).

[sprite]

maddeningly, i never got to china despite 3yrs in south korea. japan, yes.

we may go to japan this year, if the man can decide where he really wants to go. i've see what i want (kyoto) so as long as it isn't 5 days in tokyo, i'll be happy. don't like lots of big city stuff.

[treehugger]

Yeah, I'm worried I might not ever get the chance to go to China again, got to grab it by the horns now!

What were you doing in Korea all that time?

[Deleted]

I'd hit China. I've never been mind you but I've been to Seoul a bunch of times. It's fun to wander the city, the food is amazing, clubs were fun (but really not my thing). But I feel like there'd be a lot more to see/do in Shanghai, if you're in the area why not.

[krazykatie]

I'm in Hong Kong at the moment so brief reply! I love shanghai but a huge draw for me is that I get British products there (I actually squealed when I spotted mince pies, oops). Will write more when I get back but when will you be in Seoul?

[tzarine]

katie

hk is iust so british! from the m&s to the high teas.

couldn't find a good photo, but love the xiao long at yunnan lu nightmarket

[Jules]

I'd go to Shanghai. Amazing city, which is constantly changing.

Stuff to do:

1. Go to Xin Tian Di, a pedestrianised shopping district, done in traditional Shikumen style architecture.
2. Visit the Peace Hotel on the Bund to listen to jazz one night.
3. If you are interested in architecture, there is some amazing art deco buildings/neighbourhoods in Shanghai.
4. If you are interested in museums, the Shanghai Museum and the Urban Planning Exhibition are both interesting.
5. To be completely touristy, go up the Pearl Tower (hopefully on a clear day) to see all over Shanghai.
6. Go have a cocktail at New Heights bar at 3 on the Bund - amazing views at night over the Bund and across the river to Pudong.
7. Visit the Yu Gardens and the Yuyuan markets (next to the gardens).

[treehugger]

so... it looks like I'm going to do both

I'm just about to book the tickets, going to head to Shanghai for three days before the conference and then spend two days after in Korea.... am very, very excited!

[leela]

I really enjoyed Shanghai. And I'm really glad someone suggested the Urban Planning Museum to me! It would never have occurred to me as a draw. But it's really interesting, especially the whole floor that is a scale model of the city.

And definitely go to a teahouse - but NOT one offered by students who might accost you and drag you to a place where you'll be ripped off! I went to the one in the old town, and it was almost like having tapas in Spain. The tea came with lots of little nibbles (some unidentifiable!)

[sprite]

zoe, i missed that--i was teaching english. i did my first year in Daejoen which is good to live in but not really worth a tourism visit, and 18 months later was back, living in wonju. this is about 2hrs east of seoul, it's the main city for that region which is mostly mountains, and only 1.5 hrs from the east sea/sea of japan. a nearby resort area bid against vancouver for the next winter olympics. i loved this area, but again, not really worth it as a tourist unless the skiing was very good that week.

i really enjoyed korean food, and found that despite what people said, it was entirely possible to eat non-spicy AND vegetarian. although you may be able to find some spice there to take home as a gift, haha!!

[sprite]

and so glad you can do both!!