I love how you guys are traveling to China with an open mind and no preset prejudices. Of course there will be things you don't like and not used to, but trying out different things is what makes traveling amazing, right?! Hope to see more of your videos!
100%. Going to a new country with an open mind is the only way to do it that way you can make honest opinions for yourself. Plenty more to come don’t worry
I live in US, with most of American's cities are packed with homeless people's camping tents, rampant drug needles, daily gun violence, racial hatred... I wonder what Americans "preset prejudices" towards China could possibily be? LOL. I know this couple are not Americans, but believe me, many EU countries are not too far behind in self-destruction contest.
@@Alan_and_Shannon Regarding why you feel so few people in the street, I have not been to Shanghai for more than 15 years, but it's really not the Shanghai in my memory when it was really crowded. I guess the reason is, at around 2010, there were a lot of cities and companies starting to build Shopping malls. Before that time, when people need to do shopping, there were 2 or 3 gigantic shopping centres in each city's CBD where people normally go when they need to enjoy shopping. But after that year, a lot of mega shopping centres were opened here and there across each city. So people do no have to go to the shopping centre to enjoy commercial activities. Another possible reason is, it's winter, and online shopping and logistic, and food delivery in China is extremely advanced. So there is no need for people to go out to the city in cold days. Everything can be ordered online and delivered to your door. Finally, all personal thought :) Hope you enjoy your journey in China!
@@blue.mountainsnah, around that time of day probably most people at work thats why. but u maybe right about not as much people going out since its cold outside.
@@blue.mountains True dude, online shopping in China is extremely convenient. I hardly go to the malls when I was in China. Because of the super developed express industry, basically everything is free to ship no matter the price is. Meanwhile in United States, I have to pay for Amazon Prime so I can have free to ship.
Many foreigners' impressions of China still remain in the last century, thinking that China is as closed and backward as North Korea. In fact, China's level of modernization has long surpassed that of most European and American countries. When I arrived in European and American countries, I felt like I was walking into a backward country.
Taipei would be considered a Tier 3 city at best. Wasn't that impressed with the old crumbling infrastructure and the poor air quality from all the cars and scooters. Besides Hong Kong Taipei is another city in China that has a lot of homeless where in the mainland its like trying to find a needle in a haystack @@UnknownSend3r
Here some tips for you : 1- all chinese city more quiet because many bus , cars , and bicycle are electric not fuel engine , you can know electric cars( EV )from green plate . 2- as you staying 3 weeks in china try visit Chong Qing city . Chong qing has nearly 35 M population but it’s new city . More cheaper than Shanhai or beijing . Or also you can visit Shenzhen city . Weather in this two cities more warm than shanghai . ( many foreign visitor they like go to Chong qing ). 3- use your mobile to translate to local peoples anywhere anytime if you stuck in understanding position , they will help you always . 4- if you want see nature and beautiful mountains and rivers go to Guilin city . 5- you can go outside to see nightlife and night markets in every place you are in china . It’s safety at night also even to 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 o’clock after midnight . 6- china have best infrastructure so do not miss sub way ( metro ) in many cities , also you should try high speed train to go between cities . There also magnetic train called ( maglef ) . 7- have a good time in china enjoy your trip .
Haven't seen Scottish people visit China on RU-vid yet, pretty cool! And glad you guys had a fun time in this often misrepresented country😀 So many regions to explore😎 If you guys are planning to stay in China for longer, I would really recommend visiting Harbin for the ice and snow festival. It's one of the prettiest places I've ever been to.
As a Chinese. I wanna say thank you to show others about truth of China. There are too much fake news and negative news in western media. And i want to tell u that almost each city has it's own culture like The food. The tradition. Even the people.(like my city is Mongolian Autonomous Region )U will always have new things to explore. Hope to see more vlogs from u. Have fun❤
@@theasianjaywalker4455 Of course, many Chinese people will go to the Western media to see the things going on the rest of world. We cannot limit ourselves to our own media. Sadly, many Westerners are constrained by their own fake news and political biases, and they are unwilling to know the truth.
If your guys haven’t returned to Scotland yet, I strongly recommend you to go to Hangzhou and visit the West Lake. West Lake is worth visiting just like Isle of Skye. You can reach Hangzhou in about an hour from Shanghai Hongqiao Station, and you can also experience China's high-speed rail.😸
I went to 杭州this summer it’s near to my hometown and that’s was gorgeous WEST LAKE, the pagoda , the center of the city ,(a lot but a lot of crowds)I even visited the Zoo but the panda wasn’t working these day 😂😂😂 I only see monkey , white tiger, elephant and 🦙
As a Chinese, I recommend you to travel to Xinjiang. The level of modernization in Xinjiang is definitely far beyond your imagination. Xinjiang is not what the Western media spread rumors and smear stories about. Every time I see Western media spreading rumors and writing lies, I become extremely angry.
Really amazed to see Scottish RU-vidrs’ videos of exploring China. I personally spent 3 years in Stirling for university, I feel so good hearing you talking about China in the accent 😊 have a nice trip !
Wow, the city looks absolutely breathtaking at night with all those lights reflecting off the water. Explore the old streets, try new foods, and experience the city's unique atmosphere-what an incredible adventure! Can't wait to see more of your journey in China. Safe travels!
Local Shanghainese here. To answer some of your questions: 1. The reason you don't see many people is you went in a quiet season as well as during the day (a weekday I assume). If you are unfortunate enough to go to the exact same road during October or May golden week, you will feel like a sardine. Also Shanghai is very decentralized - If I live in the SW corner of Shanghai I would never go to the NE corner of Shanghai. 2. Shannon was right, the mystery ball is made of shrimp and flour. 3. The places you went to are very touristy - hence the expensive but mediocre food. If you go back to Shanghai on your way back then I'd suggest go to WuKang Road or Huaihai Road, that area is in the old French/British concession and has the proper Shanghai feel to it. Also you can get a cruise on the Huangpu River near the bund for about 50 RMB, very worth it.
You are really a lovely couple. This video is really amazing. After watching so many Chinese travel vlogs, I can't wait to see it. It's really a beautiful country.
Unfortunately too many westerners are too brain washed by western paid anti-china MSM to only report negative about China. I have met an American couple in Thailand after they have visited Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and going to Vietnam after Thailand. I've asked them why not visit China too since they are in Asia. The answer to me was according to American media reports they have been reading, China is dirty, people are very anti-foreigners and the most unsafe country for western travelers.
It's really cool to see you guys having fun in China! I'm a stan. You should visit Hong Kong and make the most out of this travel. It has a lot to offer in the city. You would definitely love it there.
As a student studying in Uni of Glasgow, im really happy to see you guys visitting China and i lived in Scotland for over 2 yrs. I met so many warm and friendly scottish people and i hope you can have great time in ur China journey.
Fantastic video guys, just stumbled across it randomly. Great to see you enjoying shanghai a city i've called home for 8 years now. The area you're in is one of the many centres of shanghai and surprisingly not the busiest one considering how developed it is. East Nanjing and most of that part of Huangpu area is very touristy and not a lot going on unless its during a holiday when a lot of people from other parts of the country visit. Shanghai is a huge city area wise and very very spread out. Other parts of the city at certain times you would definitely start to see how busy the city can be. If you do make a return to Shanghai i highly recommend venturing to other areas like Jing'an and the French Concession. it's an awesome city to explore and great to see you guys enjoying yourselves
17:42 The bowl you ordered is 虾滑, which means shrimp paste (shrimp meats chopped into paste) mixed with flour and cooked into balls. He did ask whether you want one after raising his fingers, and took it from your expression that you indeed want one.
You hit the nail on the head with the bikes with no padlocks...I've left my bike put lock on its back wheel outside a Day to day shop in glasgow to nip in for literally a minute and it got pinched. Some may say this is cos of the presence of cctv but we have more cctv per head in the UK.
My hometown Harbin city highly recommended, known as the ice city and oriental Paris, the snow and ice world( one of the biggest winter festivals in the world)will open on December 17th I think, hope you guys enjoy your trip in China❤
First is the time.If it's holidays like National Holiday,there would be more people. Second is the online shopping.You could buy almost everything online in China,so people don't need to get out of their houses to buy things. Third is maybe the locals just get used to the scenery😂
I guess more than half of the people in Shanghai have headed back home getting ready for Chinese New Year. We landed in Shanghai 3 weeks before the New Year, and we also found it quiet, not like the Shanghai I used to know. But on our way back around 20/02, it was crowded.
If you pay attention to car number plates, green plate is for EV, i would say 40-50% of the cars running on Shanghai streets are EVs, plus all taxes, buses and scooters are run on batteries rather than petrol engines now. And no seas of three-wheelers ( as you saw in India) in China either, people either use buses, metro, taxi or shared bicycles, and honking is banned in Shanghai.
We actually noticed the different coloured plates on cars, pretty cool! Yeah we definitely appreciate the quietness of the city, much more relaxing to wander around
Honking is not banned in China. But the civilized and well mannered Chinese only honk when it is emergency and necessary to provide accident. Very different from the uncivilized country "I" you have mentioned. I was told in that country "I" if the car have got no brake, no light, no door they still can drive. But if without honk, they have to park the car aside and people won't drive a car that the honk is not working. To them it's too dangerous to drive a car without honk.
There are so many people are looking downward to see their phone while walking, so they added the tiles that change color, hoping people can see it and stop while it's red.
Being respectful, friendly to the local culture and people will do the same to all visitors, Chinese people are the one of most nice people in the world, nice Video and good job
It's a mixture of the cold, the season, the population density, and great urban planification that makes you feel that there isn't much people at that time. The scale of the city is just different. They build buildings and roads thinking about thousands of people in mind. Everytime when I go back to Spain, the first thing I will notice is just the pure difference in scale of the infrastructure.
Why does the Chinese government care so much for their citizens? In Canada the government is so corrupt. We spent $188 Million Canadian dollars to build just 1 KM of subway train track, in total $12.6 BILLION! 😭 Corruption masked as “democracy”… I wish we were more like China!
It's quiet in China because most cars and motorbikes are EV. Also less people on the street because the amazing infrastructure, if you want to see more people during the day go to the subway.
26:16 The bells and the clock on top of the Shanghai Custom House is built with the same design of the Big Ben by the British administration back in the time.
As a Chinese, I highly recommend you visit Yangshuo, it boasts one of the most beautiful sceneries in China. And I suggest you stay at the Yangshuo Mountain Retreat, you get to have a very wonderful view from that hotel. Also if you like winter and snow, visit the northeast city of Harbin.
@@Alan_and_Shannon Don't listen to him. Yangshuo is a terrible place in deep south China. The most beautiful places in China are Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong in Western Sichuan. Just copy paste Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong in google and you'll understand what I'm talking about.
at 20:00 . What you're eating is shrimp paste or shrimp ball. We usually only eat the shrimp paste in the soup, and don't usually drink the soup itself. Of course, it's fine if you want to drink it. A price of 40 yuan for this is reasonable and not expensive, as the shrimp paste here is generally around this price. The other item is a chive box. We can also find it in our regular snack streets, usually priced around 8 yuan. But the one you're eating is quite large, so the price is about right.
Why do you not usually drink the soup? I think for the amount of food that you got it seemed really expensive compared to other street food we have had
@@Alan_and_Shannon The soup is drinkable, there's no issue. However, I noticed that you ordered the spicy version. This kind of soup is too spicy and greasy for us, and most people don't prefer to drink it, unless it's the original tomato soup or mushroom soup. Shrimp paste is inherently a bit expensive, and considering you ordered it in the city area, it's normal for the price to be a bit higher.
@@Alan_and_Shannon Shanghai is indeed one of China's first-tier cities and can be considered the financial center of the country. If you want to experience a thousand years of Chinese history, you can visit Xi'an in Shaanxi Province, home to one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Terracotta Army. For a taste of a hundred years of Chinese history, Beijing is the place to go, with the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, and more. But be aware that many places in Beijing require advance reservations, so you need to plan ahead. If you're interested in experiencing a modern, high-tech, digital city, consider visiting Hangzhou or Shenzhen. For food enthusiasts, I personally recommend Guangzhou, which tends to suit the tastes of many foreigners. If you want to experience beautiful landscapes, Yangshuo is highly recommended by many foreigners. And if you like spicy food, head to Chongqing, a magical 3D city famous on TikTok, whose night view can rival that of Shanghai's Bund.
@@Alan_and_ShannonShanghai is the financial center of China and a tier-1 city. So expect it to be more pretty expensive city compared to rest of South-East Asia (except Singapore).
Hi,I 'm an Chinese international student studied in Canada.My hometown is Xi'an,which is an ancient capital for more than 3000 years.You can explore the most traditional culture and Chinese history in Xi'an.The old traditional Chinese buildings and musuems are really nice.Also Xi'an local cuisine and snacks are very good.I really hope you guys can come to Xi'an,I strongly recommend you guys to visit Wild goose pogoda,Grand Tang Mall,Ancient Bell Tower,Xi'an Ancient city wall,Qujiang Lake.I also recommend you guys to book a hotel in Qujiang area of Xian.The experience will be incredible.Hope you guys have a nice trip in China
35 yuan for a beanie is quite a fair price, especially when you asked a deal for 2 hats. Shang Hai is a big city, vendors pay higher rent and higher wages for people. We don’t expect to pay 10 yuan for a beanie. Plus those looks pretty good quality stuff.
You are very welcome to come to China and make such lovely videos. China has undergone great changes in recent years. I hope more and more foreign friends can come to China to see the beautiful scenery and eat delicious food. Communicate more and feel the goodwill flowing between each other. I hope you had a good trip. You're so cute
19:14 What you have is actually kind of boiled dough made of shrimps and 18:33 that crepe is called “jucaihozi “ which is fulfilled with Chinese leek and it’s famous in mainland of China. Hope you have an awesome time in China!❤from Hong Kong❤
Yeah the food near tourist traps are gonna be expensive and crap, it's understandable though, they have to pay crazy rent. They city is also still recovering from the lockdown, for example all of my fav pubs have closed, which is how I measure things, but if there's a plus side is it's probably more clean and orderly now, or at least it feels that way. I've done a lot worse than jaywalking and I've never gotten into trouble, so it's not true at all, not to say that you should be jaywalking.
I really didn't expect that someone as famous as Jordan Peterson would spread such rumors. My opinion of him has really gone down. As a scholar, it's really disappointing to make claims without doing any on-site research. Sometimes on the streets of China, you might see some delivery workers in blue or yellow uniforms riding electric bikes. Some of them often ignore traffic rules (not because of discrimination, just stating facts), especially during lunchtime. But if what Jordan said is true, wouldn't these hardworking workers who already have low incomes go bankrupt early? Keep in mind that there are more than 10 million people doing this job here.
@@seekx2y556 I do like Jordan Peterson, he's smart and gets the fundamental ideas right, but the problem is a lot of the times his conclusions just goes way over the top and lands somewhere else
@@Alan_and_Shannon The pub scene in China is surprisingly good, especially in Beijing and Shanghai... if you're into that kinda stuff. Although since the lockdowns a lot of the foreigners have left, and the surviving pubs have had to change the taste to suite the local customer base. Now you get some very out there flavors to catch the eye, but I still prefer the more traditional stuff. Having said that as you say it's recovering well and things are looking good.
Winter honestly isn't a good season for traveling in China, maybe Shenzhen GuangZhou, zhuhai and Dali, Xishuangbanna these places in southern China are much warmer places for visiting.
Thanks for your vedio. Me Chinese and I used to live in UK for like 7 years, mostly in West Midland but also been to Yorkshire and the Humber several times so thats why I immediately recognized your Scottish lol and I just love your accent so much. I am gonna travelling back to UK next year OMG I missed UK so much and just cant even wait after watching your vedio so thats it you take care in China and have a good trip!
At 15:44 you are walking past the Old Municipal Building, which is now being restored and expanded to its intended shape. A piece of work by the renowned British architect David Chipperfield.
That green/red light on the pavement is so convenient. I can't remember how many times I have stood next to a traffic light looking at my phone, not knowing that the light has turned green. haha so definitely that will be very convenient for people like me who always stare down at the phone while walking.
You may not see this old town next time you come. The wall next to it says "Old Town Renovation". It is likely to be demolished and a new modern CBD building will be built.
Hi you gorgeous people❣️ Graham here again. You need to take the ferry over the Huangpou river and go up Oriental Pearl. Go to the glass floor level. When you finish, go to the bottom, and there is a brilliant museum there of Shanghai past. You need to head down to Nanning and Beihai. Then over to Hainan island, and go to Sanya . Graham and Peng.
Shanghai is very large, with an area three times that of New York. You can take a look at its subway lines, which have the longest, most numerous, and most complex subway system in the world.
Winter is a not travelling season in central and north China, the roads are quiet because most of the vehicles are powered by electricity that make much less noise which is hardly compared with those big cities in South East Asia. Enjoy your stay in China as there are many things to explore with also quite some world class heritage and scenery spots.
not sure how long you plan to stay in shanghai, some places to visit 1/Jing'An temple and the french concession(many creative stores/nice cafes in this area) 2/ Pudong Art Museum 3/ Xintiandi, old shanghainese style buildings turned into shopping mall, there're also some christmas markets in the city center you can explore
It should be fairly easy to navigate in China, look for young people who look like students, and they can speak English just fine. And when it comes to foods, look for crowds, where there is crowd/line/queue, there’s good food.
In China, you cannot use Google, Facebook, Yelp, etc., but there are more exciting local software in China, such as using Amap (or A map) to replace Google Maps, using Dianping to replace Yelp, using Bilibili to replace RU-vid, using Didi to replace Uber, and 12306 is also a necessary software for buying train tickets. China's electronic system is very developed and convenient.@@Alan_and_Shannon
@@Alan_and_Shannon 1. it is cold, 2 it is working time at daytime 3. it is not holiday, less visitors wander on street 4 local residents are always staying away from tourist resort
17:32 The man actually understood you mandarin :) it's just the Chinese hand gesture for number "three" is different than in the west, where you'll interpret it as "ok".
Great video as always! Are you planing to go to other places in China? The only thing I've got saved on my Shanghai map is Tron Lightcycle Power Run, not sure if you interested, I'm just big fan of TRON visual style
why shanghai looks so quiet? the reason is that the city is well designed. the road is so wide and the shopping center is walking only street too. imagine the road is 10 times narrower and with cars running on it, u will experience the crowdy like in india.
I have been to ~ 30 provinces in China. I would recommend you to go to Chongqing/Sichuan, Xi'an, Yunnan, Shanxi, and of course, Beijing. North-eastern provinces are beautiful in winter, but the weather might be too cold for travelling.
I think that the reason of the no crowdness is that there're a lot of commercial centers in Shanghai which makes the people evenly distributed. For example, I barely go to Nanjing Road because I can buy anything from the shopping area near my house or online.
I would rather stay indoors on such a cold day. Cars in downtown are not allowed to honk, and half of the cars are electric. Most people don't like to yelling in public places. Shanghai is four times bigger than London. It's impossible for all the people to be concentrated in the city center. That's all the reason why you feel quiet or empty.
shanghai is quiet because it has implemented traffic rules with a penalty if an auto is found honking. ALSO, the city promotes EV use. Look for the "green/white" license plates. Gas auto owner has to pay some RMB 100K to draw from a lottery of a very small pool of new license plates.
The good news is from December 1st, 2023 to next year November 30th, 2024 for French, Dutch, Spanish, German, Italian and Malaysian citizen no need China visa to enter to China for 15 das and in Hainan Island stay for 30 das.
go to Columbia Circle, you will like the resturants there, Lenbach bistro, or Casa Baja, sit by the pool where it once was US navy club. you will like it there.
as a new Chinese fan of yours, Actually I don't know your travel plan, But I highly recommend Suzhou for you if possible, a city right near Shanghai, It's the only city in China that has preserved a huge historical districts, and it also has a modern CBD. I'm sure it won't let you down!