One night in Shanghai - 36 hr Layover
My mistakes and lessons learned. What I will do next time.
Here's some extra information that might be helpful for a Shanghai Layover that I didn't have time to mention in my YouTube video.
Arrival Cards
China provides convenient visa-free transit options for travellers from various countries. A temporary entry permit is required. Currently, citizens from 54 countries can transit through 23 cities in China for up to 72 or 144 hours without a visa.
Shanghai municipality offers the Transit Without Visa (TWOV) policy, which lets you visit Shanghai visa-free for up to 144 hours.
I did not need to apply in advance. I filled in the Arrival Card and got my temporary entry permit stamp when I arrived. Please be careful to fill in the correct card; as mentioned in my video, I filled in the wrong one first, which was the just-named "Arrival Card." You need to fill in the "Arrival Card For Temporary Entry Foreigners."
Once this was completed, I joined the "24/144H Transfer" line at immigration.
I had to show 4 things:
A temporary entry card
Boarding pass to China
Air tickets to a third country within the period
Hotel reservation confirmation
It's worth noting that I could show my air ticket and the hotel reservation on my phone without a physical ticket.
I was then able to get my temporary entry permit stamp. Type: 24-hour Visa-free Transit
If you do not have these, you may get rejected or put on the side for extra questions. I saw this happen to some people in front of me.
After a 3-minute exchange, I received a 24-hour entry permit stamp. It was a 36-hour stopover, but for some reason I was allowed to enter the country for 24 hours, but there was no problem when I left Shanghai the next day.
Luggage
I then claimed my luggage and went back to the Departure area to store it. It is an airport service and a window you can go to.
There were coin lockers upon arrival; however, when leaving the next day, I decided to use the luggage storage service at Departure. Which worked out very well, and I advise it.
It's worth noting that if the stay is less than 7 or 8 hours. You don't have to collect your luggage.
Internet, VPN, Google, Maps, WeChat Pay, Ali Pay
When I talked to my Shanghai friend in London, she recommended that I use a VPN and WeChat Pay so I could use the Google applications. However, Nord VPN, which I had, didn't work for me. I most likely didn't set it up properly, which is another thing to learn from experience.
Luckily, Apple Maps was working, which was crucial for helping me navigate the city. Since I didn't have mobile data, I took advantage of the hotel's WiFi to preload maps of potential walking areas at various zoom levels.
I was unable to sort out WeChat pay at short notice, so I had to use cash for everything except the hotel, where I was able to use my UK band card (Monzo Mastercard)
If you book through booking.com, you usually pay at the time. However, in Shanghai, I had to pay at the hotel. I was lucky I could pay with my Monzo card. The customer before me, an Italian couple (maybe Portuguese), could not use their own credit card for the hotel.
It is worth preparing for a completely different system. I also made sure I could survive without the internet; however, next time, I will make sure I have it sorted out, as well as my VPN.
I had a VPN (Nord VPN), but I couldn't use it because I didn't set it before I entered China. Before I left Japan, I should have turned on the VPN app and chosen a location in Japan or England, even if I switched to airplane mode on the flight. I thought I was cut off from the internet on the flight. I turned off the VPN, and when I got to Shanghai airport, I tried to turn on the VPN with the airport wifi. I was in China then, so it was too late to set it up.
Finally
If you used VPN in China, let me know how you did it. I assume I should have just set the country and turned it on before I left for China.
If you want to see the video of my 36hr Layover in Shanghai, the link is below