Shanghai Day 4 Itinerary: The Bund & Hidden Gems

The Heart of Chinese Culture and Economy

A Captivating City Where East Meets West

Shanghai

Shanghai

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Hey there! I'm Ciel, your go-to travel influencer!

Today, featuring night views just as stunning as Budapest,

I'm sharing the final day (Day 4) of our 2-night, 4-day Shanghai getaway

with my younger brother! Here's our full itinerary and honest review.

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Shanghai Day 4

Grand Central Hotel → Miniso → Nanjing Road → Hen Jiu Yi Qian → Corner Cone Gelato → Wukang Mansion → Diandude → 13De Marzo (Xintiandi Branch) → The Bund → Hong Kui Jia → Heytea → Lawson (Convenience Store) → Grand Central Hotel → Pudong Airport → Incheon Airport

When hotel breakfast isn't included, I usually prefer spending that money

on trying local street food nearby.

But Grand Central Hotel Shanghai had such great breakfast reviews!

So, we decided to pay for it and give it a try this time.

While it wasn't mind-blowingly delicious,

it was decent and had a pretty solid variety.

That being said, next time I think I'd rather just grab breakfast

at a local spot nearby.

After breakfast, before checking out of the hotel, we stopped by Miniso

to look for a Hello Kitty hot water bottle.

But I couldn't find the specific hot water bottle I had seen online... 😭

Since I couldn't get what I wanted, we just started browsing to see if anything else caught our eye.

True to being the homeland of pandas, there was tons of panda merch!

They were absolutely adorable.

But if I had to recommend must-buys from Miniso,

I highly suggest the Zootopia Judy and Nick blankets!

And if you have a dog, definitely pick up some of the Zootopia dog treats.

My dog, Lotto, absolutely went crazy for them!

After making a reservation at Hen Jiu Yi Qian,

we wandered around Nanjing Road while waiting for our table.

We spotted the "I Love Shanghai" sign and snapped a quick photo,

and checked out some shopping malls too.

There were actually tons of cute clothes, so window shopping was super fun.

Since my dad loves Nike, we dropped by a Nike store to see if we could find a gift for him.

But as we looked around...

I knew people in China love red, but

literally 70% of the inventory was bright red... ​

So we ended up walking out empty-handed.

This is a legendary lamb skewers spot you absolutely have to visit when in Shanghai.

It's notorious for having insane wait times,

especially the queue for the Hen Jiu Yi Qian branch at the No.1 Department Store.

If you're even a little late getting in line, they say you can wait up to 8 hours...

And that's only if they haven't closed the queue for the day yet!

"No way it's actually that bad," right?

I didn't believe it either. But after experiencing it firsthand,

I literally couldn't get in the day before. haha

Anyway, we reserved our spot the second they opened and managed to eat at a slightly awkward hour,

but now I completely understand why it's a must-visit.

Excluding the Pan Xiaoxiao lamb skewers we had the previous day, every other lamb skewer spot had been a total flop,

so I absolutely loved this place! 💙

They even gave us a free mini ice cream for dessert! Great touch!

After our meal at Hen Jiu Yi Qian, we hailed a taxi to head over to Wukang Mansion.

But we got a little lost because we couldn't spot our driver at first.

Luckily, after snapping a quick photo of our current location and sending it to him,

he was able to find us! We safely hopped in.

The very first thing we did after getting off near Wukang Mansion was...

grabbing some Corner Cone Gelato!!!

It was on the pricier side, but it looked so pretty, how could we resist?

But honestly, if I went back... I probably wouldn't get it again.

Sure, it looks great on camera, but... it really didn't taste good.

When I was looking up Wukang Mansion, it seemed like there was nothing to do except take a proof shot...

So I really debated whether I should go or not...

But since everyone else goes, I felt like I'd miss out if I didn't, you know?

So in the end, I did go...

And honestly, there is absolutely nothing to do except take photos! Haha.

After taking some slightly underwhelming photos at Wukang Mansion,

we headed over to Dian Dou De to grab some red rice rolls (hongmi changfen) and dim sum.

I heard it was amazing, so I had really high expectations.

My sibling loved it and said it was absolutely delicious,

and while I thought it was good too... if I had to wait in a long line for it? Hmm... haha!

But yes, it was definitely tasty!

After that, we visited 13De Marzo,

the famous cafe where you get a cute little teddy bear when you order coffee.

I originally wanted to go to the branch with the giant teddy bears clinging to the wall,

but I got the address wrong and ended up at the Xintiandi branch instead...

Even though it wasn't the exact location I wanted, I heard that one has a 2-hour wait just for a cup of coffee!

The Xintiandi branch only had a very reasonable wait, which turned out to be a blessing.

After all, my main goal was getting that adorable teddy bear that comes with the coffee anyway! 🧸

Plus, saving time here meant we could actually make it to

Hong Kui Jia, which we almost had to skip. Such a win!

By the way, the coffee taste was pretty standard.

The only downside? Since I'm so used to Venti sizes,

the portion felt a bit on the small side.

But look at the teddy bear! It's actually bigger than I expected, right?!

To be honest, this Shanghai trip had been a bit of a struggle with insane wait times,

terrible traffic (maybe because of a local festival?),

and taxis that were impossible to catch, probably because of the rain.

After spending most of our time at Disneyland,

we only started having proper meals on day 3.

Our first real meal was crab noodles, which cost us around ~$64,

but it was so disappointing... My sibling and I were literally like...

"Yep, no more Shanghai. This is our first and last time here." That's genuinely what we thought.

Honestly, I was thinking it was my least favorite trip after Hong Kong...

But then, the moment I saw the night view of The Bund,

it gave me the same breathtaking chills I felt back in Budapest.

Suddenly, I thought, "Okay, maybe I *would* come back here."

It made me really want to bring my parents here next time.

Anyway, this trip was so close to being remembered as just a tiring ordeal,

but this view single-handedly saved the entire trip and turned it into a beautiful memory.

Thanks to the time we saved at the teddy bear cafe (13de marzo),

we were able to fit in a visit to Hong Kui Jia, a famous spot for spicy crawfish (mala longxia)!

We were way too full to add pasta noodles to the sauce, but

overall, it was a pretty solid and tasty meal.

Just a heads-up: the wait here is brutal too...

Since it's so famous, we actually ran into some fellow Koreans. But as soon as they realized we had the same destination,

they literally grabbed their mom's hand and sprinted ahead

just to get a waiting number before us...

I was honestly so flabbergasted... lol.

After quickly devouring the crawfish, we rushed straight to Heytea.

Everyone says you absolutely have to try Heytea in Shanghai.

While it wasn't life-changing, if you have to choose between

mango and grape,

I'd personally highly recommend going with the grape!

Sipping on our Heytea, we had to head back to the hotel

to grab our bags and head to the airport.

But this was actually our first time seeing Nanjing Road at night!

The night lights were so sparkling and beautiful.

I felt a pang of regret for not exploring more the night before.

Before heading to the hotel, we popped into a Lawson convenience store

to grab Shanghai's famous must-buy item: Cucumber-flavored Lay's chips.

Spoiler alert: they were terrible.

Fortunately, catching a cab to Pudong Airport

was super quick, and we made it to the airport in no time.

Unlike when we first arrived in Shanghai,

there was no one sleeping in this area today.

So I took the opportunity and quickly snapped a photo at this popular spot! Haha.

We got our boarding passes, checked our bags, and...

Since we had some time to kill, we went inside thinking, "Let's buy some souvenirs at the duty-free shop!"

But we were completely blown away by how futuristic the whole place looked!

Since it was late in the evening, everything in the duty-free shop was closed except for the liquor section...

So I only ended up buying some alcohol, and couldn't get any souvenirs for my coworkers at work...

Once we boarded the plane...

It definitely felt way tighter than the exit row seats!

Honestly, it felt even narrower than Jeju Air or Jin Air...

Or was it just my imagination?

Since it was a night flight, after takeoff,

they dimmed the lights so everyone could get some sleep.

I fell fast asleep and woke up just as we landed at Incheon Airport.

My 4-day Shanghai trip with my youngest sibling is officially a wrap! END 💜

Cielso

ⓒ2026.Cielso All rights reserved.

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