Confession time, folks. Bespoke rocked up at Shanghai’s newly opened W Hotel with every intention of a thorough investigation of the hotel’s particulars: its room sizes, its conference facilities, its dining venues and so on. And then we saw the swimming pool.
Shanghai is justifiably known for its delicious street breakfasts, but sometimes you need to elevate things a little, right?
When the summer temperatures inevitably soar, the residents of Shanghai know that an early start is the only way to go about their business without fear of heatstroke. It’s a habit energetic visitors should consider adopting, since whilst most museums and galleries don’t open until mid-morning, some of the city’s most endearing neighborhoods are up and moving hours earlier. Ready to dive in? Check out a few of our favorite early morning Shanghai endeavors below.
China’s train network really is a thing of wonder: the country boasts more high-speed rail than the rest of the world combined. And if zipping between megacities at 300 kilometers per hour wasn’t impressive enough, the fact they almost always arrive bang on time makes them an invaluable option for those that find themselves stressed out by seemingly endless delays on the country’s domestic flight routes. In fact, before you sit back and relax, you have just one decision to make. Which class? To help kick off your journey in the best possible way Bespoke presents a primer to picking the seat that is best for you!
Turning one hundred years old is no mean feat, so Bespoke’s hearty congratulations go out to the lovely Great World building near People’s Square that was built in 1917. Now, whilst you’ve no doubt whizzed past this grand old dame countless times (and seen the bright white spire that looms over the elevated highway) you might not know that back in her youth she was a bit of a goer.
Opened as the city’s premier ‘entertainment complex’ and later taken over by corrupt-policeman-turned-mob boss ‘Pockmarked Huang’, the Great World was said to be teeming with life of every kind – contemporary accounts tell of everything from opera performances and tightrope walkers to fortune tellers, pickpockets and pimps!
The original Xixi Bistro was a real Bespoke fave when it opened back in 2015 and its closing left us somewhat bereft – just where were we supposed to get our Shanghai Italian fusion food now? The good news is that Xixi is back and she’s on as fine form as ever, having relocated from scruffy-but-charming Wuyuan Road to some seriously swanky new digs in none other than Xintiandi.
