Enjoying a Long Layover in Shanghai, Shanghai, China

When life hands you a hellish 26-hour trek, turn it into a day trip to a place you’ve never been. I recently had a 7-hour layover in Shanghai, and though I basically hadn’t slept all week, I had to take advantage and see the city.

To visit China, you normally need a visa. However, there is a 24-hour, 72-hour or a 144-hour exception for people traveling through cities like Shanghai, which allows you to do exactly what I did.

One of the biggest considerations is whether you have enough time. Shanghai’s international airport is about an hour out of the parts of the city you want to see by car or train.

But I had 7 hours to kill, I made my own decision on that one. In order to leave, you have to go through passport control and show that you have a ticket out of China within the 24, 72, or 144 hour period. They stamp you in with a temporary entry stamp. And when you come back, you go through the process again and they stamp you out.

When I went through passport control, the guy basically told me he didn’t think I would have time to go downtown. Well I showed him! I had time to spare. That being said, the passport control line was gnarly on the way back in. I waited 20 minutes and then about 15 more for security. So don’t cut it too close. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).