Gay China: Spaceage Shanghai by Purple Dragon

No other skyline in the world  compares to Shanghai's. Slip into a world rooted in history yet decades ahead of its time, add a great gay-friendly hotel, one of Purple Dragon's renowned private tour guides, throw in a little nightlife and you have a holiday in China's futuristic window on the galaxy.

The old and the new live in harmony in Shanghai

Shanghai has lovely traiditional gardens

Kitchy propaganda art from the Cultural Revolution

Shanghai's markets are full of interesting bargains

Includes
private airport transportation; accommodation with tax and service, nightlife guide on one night during stay, free plan day tour with private guide. Not included: airfare, local transportation, admissions, meals or beverages, gratuities, features not specifically mentioned in the itinerary, or items of a purely personal nature. Please buy lunch for your day guides and soft drinks for your night guide at clubs you visit.
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Shanghai is constantly shedding its old skin for a gleaming high-tech razzle dazzle that proclaims its official party slogan: "Progress is the irrefutable argument." For well over one century Shanghai has been China's window on the rest of the world. It is hip, Colorful and socially liberal, with a large gay community and some of the best shopping and restaurants in Asia. The city reinvents itself constantly, which presents complications for visitors who find that their guidebooks, published last year, are now hopelessly out of date. Our local guides will ensure that you can navigate the waves of change and help you discover the wide-eyed wonders of Space Age Shanghai. You do not have to be gay to enjoy this package. Our mainstream guests choose us because they know they will get something better from a gay company.

Private transfer from the airport to your hotel. If you arrive early in the day, take a stroll in any direction and encounter a cross-section of Shanghai's history, from European-style tree-lined avenues and Russian-influenced merchant shophouse architecture, to hyper-modern shopping avenues where gray communist clothing shops are gradually giving up the ghost for Big Mac outlets. Our local guide is available to join you for dinner and introduce you to the local gay scene tonight or on another night during your stay (Friday or Saturday nights are busiest). Don't miss a chance to stroll along the spectacular Bund, China's former Wall Street in anything-goes pre-communist days, with beautiful old flapper-era banks and hotels lining the riverfront and new Shanghai rising like a futuristic space port on the opposite side of the river.

DAY 2

Breakfast at your leisure. At 10am your guide will collect you. Your tour is free-plan, so your guide can suggest sightseeing to match your personal interests, but we recommend that first-time visitors see the following places at some time during their stay...

Longhua Ta is the most colorful temple in Shanghai (give the Jade Buddha temple a skip) and morning, when the monks are most active, is a great time to visit. It's in the suburbs, a short ride by elevated super highway (a great way to get a sense of Shanghai's spaceage sprawl). You should also visit the beautifully maintained Ming dynasty pleasure garden at Yu Yuan and afterwards stroll around the kitschy Lao Jie shopping avenue -- a sort of Disney version of old China for the modern masses (but don't buy the overpriced souvenirs being hawked here). A better place to bargain for gifts and antiquey items is Dongtai Road, which retains its original Shanghainese ambience of crumbling merchant tenements and old curio shops (visit now before this place gets an official scrub-up like the Duolun walking avenue). Streetside noodle shops offer one of Shanghai's most delicious pleasures: fried and steamed dumplings. Careful, these pleasure bombs have a tendency to explode when bitten into (to the delight of laughing locals who know to bend low over their plates while noshing). For those shop-a-holics craving cheap faux-brand goods, we know a local market specializing in well-made knock-offs (or "copywrong" products as your guide will joke). People's Square is home to more spectacular architecture, including the fabulous Shanghai Museum with its must-see collections of superb Chinese traditional arts. Late afternoon and evenings are a good time to visit Xintiandi, a trendy complex of boutique shops and restaurants housed in restored heritage buildings. Our favorite way to cap off the day is sipping a cappuccino at Starbucks over on the Pudong side of the river while taking in the sunset over the Bund.

DAY 2

Free time until your private transfer to the airport to discover more delights in nearby Beijing, Xian, or Hong Kong and Macau.

PRICE PER PERSON FOR ALL INCLUSIVE PACKAGE
in DOLLARS/EURO/POUNDS/BAHT BASED ON YOUR
CHOICE OF HOTEL
 

Value: The Metropole, Deluxe Room

All year 2008
Double 320 207 159 10,591
Single 614 398 305 20,311

Superior: The Metropole, Suite

Through December 2008
Double 368 238 183 12,175
Single 709 460 352 23,479

Deluxe: Sofitel Hyland, Superior Room

July 2008
Double 374 243 186 12,396
Single 723 469 359 23,949
August through November 2008
Double 448 290 222 14,832
Single 871 564 432 28,821
December 08 through February 09
Double 374 243 186 12,396
Single 723 469 359 23,949
March 2009
Double 448 290 222 14,832
Single 871 564 432 28,821

Faaabulous: Radisson Plaza

March through June 08
Double 512 332 254 16,955
Single 927 601 461 30,701
July & August 08
Double 477 310 237 15,806
Single 858 556 426 28,404
September through December 08
Double 512 332 254 16,955
Single 927 601 461 30,701
January & February 09
Double 477 310 237 15,806
Single 858 556 426 28,404

VIP: Sofitel Hyland, Club Floor Deluxe Room

August through November 2008
Double 486 315 241 16,077
Single 948 614 471 31,370
December 08 through February 09
Double 417 270 207 13,809
Single 811 525 403 26,834
March 2009
Double 486 315 241 16,077
Single 948 614 471 31,370

Ultimate: Four Seasons Shanghai

Minimum 2008*
Double 713 462 354 23,594
Single 1,402 909 696 46,403
Maximum 2008*
Double 785 509 390 25,996
Single 1,548 1,003 769 51,237
*The hotel decides the rate when they confirm reservations. We do not normally know in advance.

choose from these
SHANGHAI HOTELS
Value: The Metropole
Superior: The Metropole

Deluxe
: Sofitel Hyland
Faaabulous: Radisson Plaza
VIP: Sofitel Hyland
Ultimate: Four Seasons Shanghai   

 

Where We Shine: Purple Dragon is Asia's most famous gay and lesbian information resource and we save our guests precious time by recommending the best, newest, and most popular venues in the city. Your tour is private and you have the undivided attention of our local guides. You'll never be herded around on a bus with 40 strangers. Our guests often remark that the highlight of their holiday was the charming company of our guides and their unique insights into local culture.

Join Club Sanook for travel specials

Club Sanook Members who use our packages in China can use a Club Sanook mobile phone free during your trip if you make arrangements with me in advance. We will give you the number before you depart so you can leave it with friends and family. There are a few rules, of course, but we will send you details before your trip. Please make your arrangements in advance.

All prices are based on exchange rates in effect on 25 July 2008 and are subject to change without notice.
 

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