Chinese g.p any advice.
Discussion
I'll be traveling up from Chengdu for the race and was wondering if anyone could recommend a good hotel or area to stay in for easy access to the circuit but also with decent links for heading into town in the evenings. Easy circuit access would be the priority though. Thanks in advance.
You should bear in mind that the circuit is out in the boonies, about an hour's drive from downtown Shanghai, depending on which taxi driver you get...one year we had a guy who seemed to think that we were recruiting for actual F1 drivers. There is a perfectly good metro that will get you there and back on line 2, again about an hour. In my view, don't stay near the circuit, there's basically nothing there and there's not a lot going on either, just the F1 and Porsche support race...but nothing else that I recall. Stay in Shanghai and have some fun!
As for Shanghai itself, you should ideally wander up & down the Bund to look at all the fancy buildings that the British built before the 1930s, and gaze upon the magnificent Liujiazui that the Chinese built after 1990. You also need to go up somewhere high, I wouldn't bother with the viewing galleries, try the hotel bars instead and you get the view with cocktails, much better! The Indigo Hotel is nice for sunset, or try Flame in the Ritz for serious rooftop action 50-something floors up, or Cloud 9 bar in the Jin Mao tower (Grand Hyatt I think, also check out the lobby bar if you're into architecture) or there's another in the SWFC (Park Hyatt) etc. There are a bunch of good late night cocktail joints, try SmartShanghai.com for listings & taxi printouts, handy if you don't speak Mandarin.
The former French Concession is lovely in spring, skip Xintiandi but try Tianzifang if you want souvenirs etc. If you fancy a cozy pint then try Jackie's Beer Nest, and if you fancy French people then Yongkang Lu
Seriously, Shanghai is fun, out by the track isn't fun. Choose fun!
Also, Xian is great if you're into history...obviously the terracotta warriors (get a decent guide) but also the local museums are good too, and you can hire bikes to cycle the top of the city wall...which is very cool, the Chinese had a thing for walls and they didn't mess about.
Beijing, also good...as you might expect...personally I enjoy the (massively biased) exhibitions about the Chinese Communist Party in the National Museum on Tienanmen Square, huge oil paintings with Chairman Mao looking young and heroic...but then I suppose the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square is also presenting a particular narrative about British identity, you don't tend to notice it so much when it's your own establishment's propaganda!
Anyway...let me know if you need any more pointers.
As for Shanghai itself, you should ideally wander up & down the Bund to look at all the fancy buildings that the British built before the 1930s, and gaze upon the magnificent Liujiazui that the Chinese built after 1990. You also need to go up somewhere high, I wouldn't bother with the viewing galleries, try the hotel bars instead and you get the view with cocktails, much better! The Indigo Hotel is nice for sunset, or try Flame in the Ritz for serious rooftop action 50-something floors up, or Cloud 9 bar in the Jin Mao tower (Grand Hyatt I think, also check out the lobby bar if you're into architecture) or there's another in the SWFC (Park Hyatt) etc. There are a bunch of good late night cocktail joints, try SmartShanghai.com for listings & taxi printouts, handy if you don't speak Mandarin.
The former French Concession is lovely in spring, skip Xintiandi but try Tianzifang if you want souvenirs etc. If you fancy a cozy pint then try Jackie's Beer Nest, and if you fancy French people then Yongkang Lu
Seriously, Shanghai is fun, out by the track isn't fun. Choose fun!Also, Xian is great if you're into history...obviously the terracotta warriors (get a decent guide) but also the local museums are good too, and you can hire bikes to cycle the top of the city wall...which is very cool, the Chinese had a thing for walls and they didn't mess about.
Beijing, also good...as you might expect...personally I enjoy the (massively biased) exhibitions about the Chinese Communist Party in the National Museum on Tienanmen Square, huge oil paintings with Chairman Mao looking young and heroic...but then I suppose the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square is also presenting a particular narrative about British identity, you don't tend to notice it so much when it's your own establishment's propaganda!
Anyway...let me know if you need any more pointers.
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