Let’s start with the hotel. It’s quite old now; it used to be one of the must-stay hotels in Shanghai, but it has gradually declined over the years. Transportation is fairly convenient, accessible via both Metro Line 9 and Line 2, though you’ll need to walk a bit from either station. The surrounding area is reasonably lively, with Lianyang Plaza and Thumb Plaza nearby, plus some dining options around the Science and Technology Museum. However, none of these places are particularly close—you’ll have to walk to get anywhere. On the bright side, it’s very quiet~~~ Right next door is a rather old Renaissance hotel.
nThe elevators and lobby all feel extremely dated. Unlike the Ruijin InterContinental, which has an old-fashioned charm but still features modern amenities, many things here have simply worn out over time and don’t work as well anymore—for example, you often have to try multiple times just to get your key card to activate the elevator… The room decor is also quite outdated, and the TV is tiny, but the room itself is spacious, and the bathroom is especially huge.
We got really lucky—the room we were assigned happened to offer a view of the Century Park fireworks right from the window.
On each floor of this hotel, only two rooms provide an essentially unobstructed view of Century Park, and even then, you need to be on a high floor.
As for the fireworks festival section below, this was actually my first time watching the fireworks at Century Park, and I have to say, they’re far more spectacular than the free ones over the Huangpu River.
Today marked the first show: the first half featured France, while the second half showcased China.
There are two more shows coming up on the 3rd and 6th, so if you’re interested, keep an eye out!
Seeing it live is so much more breathtaking than looking at photos…
Photos in this post taken with SONY NEX-5R + 16-50 f3.5-5.6, post-processed in Lightroom.
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