11am: Check-out of hotel, explore Disney Resort 上海迪士尼度假区, Wishing Star Park 星愿公园 (1hr)
Other than Toy Story Hotel, Shanghai Disney Resort has another hotel called Shanghai Disneyland Hotel, which goes for a classical European-style look. Enjoy a relaxing walking along the lake at Wishing Star Park!
12pm: back to airbnb by taxi (40mins)
2:30pm: Walk around Tianzifang 田子坊, lunch at Old Shanghai Dim Sum 老上海糕点
After returning to our airbnb to place our extra bags, we headed to Tianzifang. Tianzifang and Xintiandi - Tianzifang is the hipster district, while Xintiandi is the classy district. Tianzifang is an artsy district developed from a renovated traditional residential area in the French Concession. It features small craft stores, cafes, trendy art studios, bars and boutiques.
We stopped by Old Shanghai Dim Sum for lunch, which sells cute animal-shaped steamed buns like rooster, penguin, chick, pig, bee and husky. There are many other types of dim sum available too.
3:30pm: Sinan Mansions 思南公馆 / Sinan Open Air Museum 思南露天博物館, Hotel Massenet 思南公馆酒店 (1.5hrs)
Next, we head to Sinan Mansions. Sinan Mansions consists of 51 historical buildings built in the early 1900s. It was turned into “Sinan Open Air Museum” in 2017, where visitors get to learn more about the buildings by scanning the QR codes. Audio clips are available too. Unlike other museums, Sinan Mansions is open 24hrs and does not have an admission fee.
This compound accommodates near all forms of architecture in the past century of Shanghai - garden villas, detached or semi-detached villas, buildings with veranda, apartments, hotel apartments, and so on. Most of the buildings here are detached villas with gardens, dating back to the 1920s and 30s. They reflect the evolution of European Architecture and are, thus, of great historical and patrimonial value. Originally a rural village, the area was developed by the French authorities in order to meet the needs of the nouveau-rich, politicians and cultural personalities for elegant houses in the city. Only houses with European features were allowed.
The Hotel Massenet, one of the buildings at Sinan Mansions, is an operating 5-star hotel today.
5pm: Miette Cafe
Next, we take a break at a nearby cafe before we move on to the next location. Miette Cafe is a minimalistic and simple Korean-style cafe that features cute decorative details like checkered, small flowers and fruits. A very lady-like cafe.
5:30pm: Former Residence of Sun Yat Sen 上海孙中山故居纪念馆 (30mins)
After which we head to the Former Residence of Sun Yat Sen. Sun Yat Sen was the first president of China and the first leader of Kuomintang. He lived here with his wife, Soong Ching Ling from 1918. After his death, his wife continued to live here till 1937. The residence now house an exhibition centre presenting Sun Yat Sen's life, together with some artifacts and a statue of Sun Yat Sen outside.
6pm: Metal Hands
Continuing the path, we arrive at Metal Hands, a coffee-focus cafe. Quite the opposite style of Miette Cafe, Metal Hands adopts a darker design element, featuring wood in dark brown shade, black and grey elements. They offer a variety of coffee options and creations here.
Caramel Cinnamon “Egg”.
6:30pm: Cathay Theatre 国泰电影院 (30mins)
Next, we pop by Cathay Theatre, the oldest cinema in Shanghai, built in the 1930s.
7pm: Dinner at Siu Loon Fung Restaurant 小龍鳳餐室
Following after, we proceed to Siu Loon Fung Restaurant, a Hong Kong cha chaan teng style dining place. The entrance of this store at Shanxi South Road is quite a popular photo spot on Instagram. They do classic Hong Kong dishes and serves your beloved hot milk tea in the iconic Black & White (evapourated milk) teacup. Recommended dishes include Scrambled Eggs with Prawns (滑蛋虾仁), Stir-fry Beef Horfun (干炒牛河), Shrimp Wonton Soup (鲜虾净云吞), and Black Pepper Pork Chop Rice with Egg (黑椒猪排双蛋饭).
Top selling - Condensed Milk and Ovaltine French Toast. Polo Bun with Butter. Pork Chop Polo Bun. Kaya Butter Toast.
Dry-fried Beef Hor Fun.
Stir-fry Eggs with Prawns.
Black Pepper Pork Chop Rice with Egg.
8:30pm: Barber Shop (hidden bar)
“Speakeasy” literally means a hidden place where alcoholic drinks are illegally sold. There has been a raising trend of “speakeasy bars”, which means “hidden bars”, don’t worry, these drinks are legally sold instead. One of the popular hidden bars in Shanghai is Barber Shop, where the storefront is perfectly disguised as a barber shop. Upon entering the barber shop, there is a secret door that leads you to the bar.
Alcohol bottles as "hair product" bottles.
*Instagram is rarely used in China. Most of the photos will be from Dazhong Dianping (大众点评) instead - a China app where users can share their photos and videos, rate and review food and places.
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