Something Special Happens EVERY NIGHT In Shanghai! | China Vlog

Welcome to Shanghai, China. Now I'm at the Bund in Shanghai. Today's video I'm watching the lights go on. I absolutely love this time of day just before the sun goes down. And that is an incredible view. I'm currently on the South Bund and I'm going to be walking about one mile to the North Bund where the Bund meets Nanjing Road. That is where we are going to watch the lighting ceremony from. If you're here in winter then the lights will turn on at 6pm and if it's the summer it is 7pm. It is going to be dark very, very soon and I cannot wait to show you what it looks like when the whole of the skyline and the Bund lights up. If you watched my previous videos I talked a lot about Chinese New Year and I'm actually filming today's video on the first day of the Lunar Calendar. So, Happy New Year. I don't know what the crowds are going to be like on the North Bund. We are going to find out very, very soon. But 10 million people are going to leave Shanghai and go back to their hometowns during February to celebrate the holiday with their families. So, I'm hoping that it's not too busy because usually the Bund is extremely, extremely crowded. But we're going to find out. Look at these views just before the sun goes down. As we get closer to the Bund the views are going to get even more incredible because we can't even see the Oriental Pearl Tower which is the most beautiful tower. It is hiding right now. It is very, very cold right now. It is currently 35 degrees. The temperature has been very, very up and down in the last few weeks. We've had some hot days where I've been wearing shorts. It's been snowing in the last few weeks but tonight is going to be cold and it's just going to get colder. And there's the ferry down there. It just pulled in. I see so many people getting off, so many people getting on. Oh, look at that. Look at all those people. People on the left just got off the ferry. People down here, they're waiting to get on the ferry. Let's watch them. It's going to be a stampede. Here we go. The gates are open. And they're off. People are going to run and try to get upstairs. Look at them. That is crazy. They're racing. The people on the left are so mad. They're in the wrong line. Yep. Yeah, I took the ferry in the last video. Go check it out. The ferry is leaving right now. And we have our first glimpse of the Oriental Pearl Tower. Peeking between those two buildings there. So the tall tower there, that is the Shanghai Tower. The third tallest building in the entire world. The one on the right there is the Shanghai Financial Centre. And then the Jinmao Tower is hiding behind the Shanghai Tower. The ferry is off. Look at all those people. We've hit the crowds already. I think these people are waiting for the ferry. And also these boats down here, these are for the river cruises. You can go in there, you can have dinner and stuff. It's really cool. I've changed over to filming on my iPhone. So you might see a little bit of a quality difference. But anybody that says that Shanghai is empty during Chinese New Year. Absolutely not true. There's so many people here. There's a lot more people here than I expected. So we might have to go a little bit fast to make it to the Dianjing Road. For the lighting ceremony. Got some more of those river cruises down there. See the dragon boats. Look at that one. Really cool. You can go in there, you can have dinner and stuff. It's a really cool thing to do in the evening. Look at that. So cool. It is currently 5.30pm. I see so many people down there. It's a lot more busy than I expected. But at the end of this video I'm going to show you a hidden gem. Where you can get an amazing view of the skyline. And also I'm going to show you some of the New Year's decorations. It looks absolutely incredible. But right now the main objective is to fight through the crowds. And get to the North Bund. Got a lot of people getting their pictures. This place is a restaurant. And every single time I walk by. I want to sit in that window there. And look at the skyline. I always see people up there. This is the ferry that I took last time. Literally just goes across the river. It takes 3 minutes to get across the river. And it costs about 50 cents. The South Bund is usually a lot quieter than the North Bund. So it's not a good sign that there's a lot of people at the South Bund. That means that the North Bund is going to be even busier. You can just see the sun there. Just going down. It is the year of the horse. So there are horses everywhere. Oh my gosh. Look at that. I'm going to try and get through that. This is going to be absolutely wild. There are thousands and thousands of people on the Bund right now. I don't have to make it to Nanjing Road. It's just a really nice place to watch the lighting ceremony. I just want to get past all the ferries and stuff. We should get a good spot. But let's see what happens. It's going to be an adventure anyway. All of these people are waiting for the lights. You see a lot of people doing professional pictures here. And it's going to cost you $5. $5 for a professional picture on the Bund. By the way, this side of the river is the Bund. That across there, where the skyline is, is called Lujiazui. I did actually come here for, I was going to say, real New Year's. Which is January 1st. Of course, not Lunar New Year because today is February 17th. And it is crazy. It is absolutely manic. You cannot move. There are a billion people here. Worse than this, I think. Worse than this. Quite an adventure. People taking their pictures. Beautiful Chinese dress. You see the street lights are already turned on. It is getting darker. The sun is going to set at about 5.40pm. Which is literally a few minutes. And then the lights will be on. Both sides of the river. Look at all these people. Craziness. That is where you can book the river cruise, by the way. Of course, you can book it online as well. Crazy streets. Oh my, oh my. Look at that. That is crazy. Okay, I am past the last ferry, so anywhere here is good. So I have slowed it down, but that was a mad rush. Quick history lesson. See this tower here? This used to be very, very important for navigation. So there used to be so many boats doing deliveries along the Bund here. Of course, it is all touristy today. But there used to be so many boats bringing in products. And that was where they did the navigation in that tower. They wanted to knock it down, but they said no. It is beautiful, keep it. So that is why they renovated it and it looks really cool. Crowds of craziness. There are a lot of police and security everywhere. Keeping everybody safe. Just going to keep going. Get as north as I can. If I don't make it to Nanjing Road, it is okay. As long as I can see the Oriental Pearl Tower clearly. Then I am okay with that. But the crowds go all the way down there. It is now 5.45pm. I think I did pretty well to get this far on the Bund. To be honest. And I am not going to try and fight people to get a good spot on the barrier. I am going to let people have it. There are going to be people camping out until the lights turn on. Because today is a very important day for, I assume, most of these people. And I am just an observer. So I am going to be able to see the lights anyway. So I am good with wherever I stand. 15 minutes to go. It is going to get dark. And then the lights will turn on. Maybe I will just hang out in this area. It is a good spot. I just walked from all the way over there. Definitely more than a mile. I am right here where the umbrellas are. What do you think about that then? Pretty cool, huh? It is such a unique view. There is no other view in the world like this. It is very, very unique. Look at all these people. Both sides of the river too. Every single building is lit up. It is so cool. Most of these people are going north because they are going to Nanjing Road. But I want to go south because I want to show you some decorations down here. I am going to try and get through all of these people. It is craziness. Crazy, crazy. Like I said before, I have had people tell me if you stay in Shanghai during the holiday, it is going to be empty. Absolutely not true. It is still so busy. It is Shanghai after all, right? It is not empty. It was worth it for that view though. I think I have mentioned Nanjing Road a few times in this video. If you are not familiar with what that is, then you are going to be a little bit confused. It is the main shopping street in Shanghai, the main pedestrian street. It is literally just over there. I don't want to go there right now. I can just imagine it is crazy. Remember, the lighting ceremony happens every single night. It doesn't just happen on Chinese New Year. Of course, the crowds get a big bump because it is Chinese New Year. In the winter time, I would say the crowds would be a little bit lower just because it is colder, of course. In the summer and spring time, the crowds would be like this every single day because so many people like to come to the Bund and look at the lights. I think people going north are going to Nanjing Road. People going south, maybe they are going to Yu Yuan. Here is the ticket office for the river cruises I was talking about earlier. It is 150 yuan per person, which is about 20 US dollars. Like I said, you get dinner and everything. It is a really cool experience. You can just walk through here. There is our last look at the Bund. I didn't forget, I am going to show you the hidden gem where you can get a great view of the skyline. Let's go. The last time I was in Shanghai, it was the year of the rabbits. There were just rabbits everywhere. Of course, now it is the year of the horse. You just see horses everywhere. It looks so cool. I was just thinking that I remember seeing an ice rink here, but I didn't see it this time. But they moved it. They still have ice skating here. I am so lucky that I have been able to travel so much because things like this, seeing other cultures like this is such an incredible experience just because you can't see anything like this where I come from. So I have to go across the world to see it. I am so lucky. I am currently at the BFC, which is the Bund Finance Center. I want to show you something very special. It is so nice and warm in here. When you enter the BFC, find the elevator and go to the fifth floor. On the fifth floor of the BFC, you are going to find the roof garden. Are you ready for this view? Look at this view of the Shanghai skyline. Look at that. Incredible. Wow. That is the end of this video. I really hope that you had fun watching this night video from Shanghai. What did you think of the lighting ceremony at the Bund? Please write me a comment. I would love to know what you think. Hit subscribe if you want to see more videos from China and from Shanghai. Thank you so much channel members for supporting me. Click the join button below this video to become a channel member. Channel members watch the video before anybody else and there are special videos just for channel members as well. Have a great day. See you next time. Goodbye.