The sun must be shining hard on Shanghai, because China's largest city is growing faster right now than just about anyplace else on earth. Back in action after recovering from the SARS epidemic, Shanghai is literally paving the way for the World Expo coming to town in 2010. China's premier port and trading center is hosting ever more foreigners and the construction of new skyscrapers, a Maglev train from the airport, high-speed trains to Beijing, a near glut of luxury hotels, and an annual film festival showcasing the growing body of extraordinary Chinese film. Plans are also underway for a marina along the lines of South Street Seaport or Harbor Place, and the city's ultimate goal for the Expo is to build one hundred museums before 2010. More unbelievable, however, is the fact that you can cross the globe and stay there for nearly a week for less than $600, through hotel-air packages to Shanghai, as well as Beijing, from Go-Today and Gate 1 Travel. And the deals are available from a unusual range of departure cities on both the East and West coasts.
Go-Today's "Shanghai Special" (www.go-today.com) covers five nights in the Ruitai Hongqiao Hotel, three-star lodgings of elegant, minimal design, recognized as one of the city's best ten hotels, in 1995, by the Shanghai Bureau of Tourism and Shanghai Security Bureau. The discount fare is good for travel from January 11 to February 2, from Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York, for tickets purchased by January 19.
If it's ancient Chinese secrets that compel you, Go-Today throws in an extra night for the same price through its Beijing Special. You can explore the Forbidden City, Tianamen Square, and the Great Wall by day, and stay for six nights in spacious rooms at the three-star, pagoda-shaped Jin Du Yuan Hotel, for $599. The discount applies to departures from January 10 to February 2 (with a January 20 purchase deadline), and from February 14 to March 9, for tickets bought by February 23. The lowest fare covers departures from New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle as well.
Go-Today's fares include round-trip air, hotel taxes and services charges, and daily breakfast. Airport taxes, from $40 to $200 a person, may apply. On both these Go-Today deals, four and five star lodgings are available for more money but, unless you demand to sit in the lap of luxury, it's worth sticking with the discount accommodations; they're elegant and much more than basic, given their three-star rating. And all the hotels, from both operators, seem to bear a simple, soothing elegance that's hard to find even in four-star establishments -- with large windows, warm, neutral-colored walls, white or light-colored bedspreads, and furniture with clean, elegant lines.
Gate 1's (www.gate1travel.com) prices to Shanghai and Beijing are slightly higher, but the hotels are better located, and the range of departure cities is consistently broader. In Shanghai, five nights and seven days in the three-star Shanghai New Asia, a converted private mansion, are $599, departing from New York Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Seattle. Prices are the same to Beijing, from the same four airports, at the Best Western Beijing, a four-star hotel in the center of the business district, near the large Antique City and the Beijing Capital Library. Likewise, Gate 1 fares don't include airport taxes and fees, which can range from $50 to $200 a person.
Talk about Shanghai on our China Message Boards.
