Solo Travel for Women! Shopping Trip in Shanghai

A 3-day, 2-night trip to Shanghai!

Entering the country was smooth; I was only asked how many days I planned to stay.

Using the Maglev train, you can travel from PVG to Longyang Road Station in about 7 minutes to reach the city center! There are both vending machines and a staffed ticket counter. If you purchase your ticket at the staffed counter, you can get it for 40 yuan instead of 50 yuan (⚠️ only for those with a flight ticket!). If you have more time, you can take Line 2 directly to the city center, which takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes (7 yuan).

For accommodation, staying near Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street or People’s Square Station makes it convenient to access The Bund and enjoy city walks.

I stayed at the Grace Hotel, which was affordable and conveniently located on Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street. The checkout time was until 2 PM, which was great.

Day 1: I explored The Bund’s night view and Tianzifang. Tianzifang can be covered in about an hour! The Bund remained lit up even after 10 PM, but some clothing stores closed at 10 PM.

Day 2: Jing’an Temple → Huaihai Middle Road → Xintiandi → The Bund → Yu Garden

Huaihai Middle Road has many clothing stores, including GoodBai (a fashion brand by Chinese actor Bai Jingting), Basement FG, and GM Giant Exhibition, making it a perfect shopping spot! GoodBai’s shoes are super cute, so I highly recommend visiting. Xintiandi features trendy spots like Harmay and 13DE MARZO (where drinks come with a teddy bear). These places offer slightly pricier clothing and Korean cosmetics. After returning to the hotel to drop off my shopping bags, I walked about 10 minutes to The Bund to enjoy the evening view and then headed to Yu Garden. Visiting after the lights are turned on is more beautiful, so if you don’t mind crowds, I recommend going at night! It’s about a 20–30 minute walk from The Bund. I didn’t enter the paid area but still felt satisfied.

Day 3: Departure Day
Since my flight was in the evening, I spent the morning shopping on Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street. W.management, Shanghai souvenirs, Adidas, and more are all conveniently located here. There are also many shopping malls, making it a great place to shop while staying cool in the summer.

All payments were made via Alipay! I linked one credit card and one debit card and registered them in Japan beforehand. Since you need to register your passport and phone number, it’s best to complete the registration in Japan. I also registered for WeChat Pay just in case.

Shanghai’s subway accepts credit cards, but using Alipay is more convenient if you’ve already registered. Additionally, there’s a baggage check before entering the subway gates, ensuring safety. With plenty of police officers and surveillance cameras around the city, I didn’t feel unsafe.

English was less commonly spoken in Shanghai than I expected, so learning some basic Chinese phrases beforehand would make your trip smoother.

CHAGEE’s Peach Oolong Milk Tea is highly recommended—it’s delicious! Molly Tea and Luckin Coffee are also great options, all located in the city center. Most orders are placed via mobile using Alipay, which can be tricky to navigate.

During the trip, I used Trip.com’s eSIM, which cost about 600 yen for 3 days. Without connecting to Wi-Fi, I could use Instagram, TikTok, Google, and Line. However, when connected to the hotel’s Wi-Fi, these apps didn’t work, and Netflix was also inaccessible.