Mari's Travel Blog: CHINA 2014: Imperial Tours Shanghai & Hong Kong w/ Macau

CHINA 2014

IMPERIAL TOURS SHANGHAI

HONG KONG WITH MACAU

Shanghai

Group Picture in Shanghai

We drove 3 hours from Hangzhou to Shanghai. Wow! Shanghai has changed and is ever changing since our last visit 9 years ago. The Pudong area is built up. Sadly, the old neighborhoods are being torn down to build huge malls and apartment complexes. There are 28 Million people in Shanghai. The feel of the city is that it is exploding. More apartments, restaurants and malls with Rodeo Drive type of stores. The “bargains” that I found 9 years ago are gone and shopping is at market value. If it is luxury shopping, the price includes a 48% luxury tax. This is NOT the place to get your next Gucci purse.

French Concession

Our tours included visits to the French Concession with it's beautiful tree lined streets, a colonial architecture tour with an expert from Texas, a visit to the Yu Garden (too crowded and you can skip this tourist trap) and the Shanghai Museum. I liked this museum because it showed the history of Shanghai as well as the current model of today's Shanghai and the vision of it's future.

Peninsula Shanghai

We stayed at the Peninsula Shanghai on the Bund. Our room was large and beautifully appointed. It is located on West side of the city. The service was excellent and the food quality was quite good except for our final dinner there. I enjoyed staying on the Bund because of it's location.

Four Seasons Pudong

I was totally surprised with the Four Seasons Pudong. What a beautiful hotel on the business side of Shanghai. Beautiful rooms and excellent cuisine. It's definitely an option for people traveling to Shanghai. Unfortunately, the other Four Seasons on the West side of Shanghai has a mall that is being built next door so until the construction is finished, if you love your Four Seasons Hotels, the Four Seasons Pudong will be your best option.

Hong Kong

Our group trip ended in Shanghai. My husband and I flew 2 hours to Hong Kong to continue our China exploration. We had visited Hong Kong 9 years ago and loved the shopping. Well ... you can skip the shopping if you are only looking at saving money. The prices are expensive ... no deals here and the quality is not good. Many places advertise silk and cashmere but they are actually polyester and cashmere/wool blends.

If you haven't visited Hong Kong, the places that you will tour include Victoria Peak, the Tin Hau and Man Mo Temples and Aberdeen Harbour. There is a Disneyland for your family to visit as well.

Isola on Hong Kong Island

We enjoyed a GREAT dinner at Isola on Hong Kong Island. Half the fun was figuring out the Star Ferry to get to the other side of Hong Kong – easy. We enjoyed thin crusted pizza, a seafood pasta dish and an excellent U.S. Steak. Dessert was an apple turnover with vanilla ice cream. It was a great break from the Chinese cuisine that we have had during our time in China.

Jeff and I in Macau

Our final day in China was spent in Macau. Macau, as my friend Melissa, from Travel with Melissa described it as "Las Vegas on steroids". Macau is a 1 hour ferry ride from Hong Kong. Helpful hint: spend a little more and purchase "superclass" ferry tickets and get the seats on the upper floor. Macau is a blend of Portugese and Chinese.

Turbojet to Macau

There are brand new casino hotels with huge mall complexes next to decaying apartment complexes. Like Mainland China, these apartments will probably be torn down to make more room for more expensive office buildings, malls and luxury housing in the next few years. Macau is worth visiting if you love to gamble BUT beware ... the table stakes begin at approximately $60-$80 per hand depending on where you gamble. The casinos offer more tables than machines and I did not see roulette or craps tables. Happy I went ... never need to go back.

My new BFF, Melissa Norton McKinley

My Concluding Thoughts on my China Adventure!!

So, this ends my China Adventure. What did I learn? For first time visitors, China is an exciting vision. You experience and see things that you have only seen in picture books or movies. It is a must see on your travel wish list. China is not the same China as my last visit 9 years ago. It is more crowded, more polluted and has traffic that makes Los Angeles's traffic seem minimal in comparison. You visit the same sites as 9 years ago but now, it's more crowded. I feel that returning to China was an important thing for me to do as it helped clarify China in general with it's diversely different itineraries that I can offer you. I can't wait to share more of my insights with you when you are ready.