Welcome to Jakarta Potato’s first live trip report, A Summer in Shanghai! I acknowledged that it has taken too long for me to publish reviews from previous trips. First, allow me to apologise. Jakarta Potato is a hobby as opposed to my day-to-day job – the stress from the latter often drains any energy left for me to write here, leading to long publishing times.

The goal of this new ‘live report’ is to publish each review as soon as possible. I’m targeting to have each review published within two weeks of the flight or stay to alleviate this problem. I’ll also be publishing reviews from this trip concurrently with A TransPacific Clipper, so please do stay tuned to that as well!

Planning the Journey

For my latest trip report, I’ll be travelling on my first ever journey to China! For the longest time, I’ve wanted to visit the city of Shanghai, undoubtedly the most important city in China and one of the most influential in the world. Earlier this year, I finally applied for a Chinese visa, allowing me to finally visit the world’s second most populous country – surely fitting after visiting the world’s most populous country last year. 😉

Flying to China

Several weeks ago, I found an incredible fare with Philippine Airlines for an itinerary between Jakarta and Shanghai, via Manila. The Manila to Shanghai portion even features flights operated by the airline’s flagship products on the long-haul Airbus A330-300 and Boeing 777-300ER. While the A330 flight ended up being upgauged to a Boeing 777, each flight still features different Business Class products.

Shanghai

With my trip spanning just under two weeks, I split my time between two main cities in this part of China – Shanghai and Hangzhou. In Shanghai, I booked a stay at the iconic Grand Hyatt Shanghai in Pudong when I arrived, and a stay at the Mandarin Oriental Shanghai before I leave. However, after some last-minute reading on Pudong, I ended up cancelling my stay at the Hyatt; I switched it for the historical The Portman Ritz-Carlton in Jing’An.

Hangzhou

Next, I headed south to the neighbouring Zhejiang Province. Hangzhou, Zhejiang’s largest city and one of China’s seven ancient capitals, was easily on my radar. In my time there, I also made a short trip to Yiwu, the world’s largest retail market; here, I booked a stay at the Shangri-La Hotel in the International Trade City.

Returning to Shanghai

After some back and forth, I ended up having to shorten my stay in Zhejiang, returning to Shanghai a bit earlier. As luck would have it, the Grand Hyatt was available with rates that were a third cheaper than my cancelled stay. I’ve long been interested in this hotel thanks to its unique architecture. What a stroke of fate!

Let’s fly

Here is what my final itinerary looked like – frankly, very simple compared to some of the trip reports we’ve had on here. 😛

As always, I’ll be updating the list below as soon as they are written. Occasionally, some reviews may not be published in chronological order.

• Garuda Indonesia Lounge Jakarta (CGK)
• Philippine Airlines A321 Business Class (CGK-MNL)
• Mabuhay Lounge Manila Terminal 1 (MNL)
• Philippine Airlines 777 Business Class (MNL-PVG)
• The Portman Ritz-Carlton Shanghai
• Taking the China High Speed Rail (Mini Review)
• Kempinski Hotel Hangzhou
• Shangri-La Hotel Yiwu
• Grand Hyatt Shanghai
• Mandarin Oriental Pudong, Shanghai
• China Eastern Lounge 77 Terminal 2 (PVG)
• Philippine Airlines 777 Business Class (PVG-MNL)
• Philippine Airlines A321 Business Class (MNL-CGK)