The last time I went to Mainland China was back in 2003. We went to Beijing then. Since it has been awhile, we decided to go to Shanghai. My mom wanted to go to the Bund 😋
I don't mind going to China again. I wanted to see the difference in 20 years. We were not disappointed. The city was very modern and clean, the facilities were great. Our bus was new. Our hotels have bathrooms with heated toilet seats 😍
Having said that, my mom and I unanimously agreed that this trip is the worst trip ever in our decades of travels. We came back sick and tired despite only spending 4 nights there. Until now I am still puzzled why a short trip to a modern city ended up on a bad note.
Could it be because of the unseen pollution that we ended up sick? Could it be because the itinerary was too packed? Could it be because the food were bland and monotonous? Could it be because of the time wasting compulsory shops that we must go? Could it be because of the traffic jam and short daylight hours? I don't know. Maybe the simple reason could be the city felt just like Kuala Lumpur. There were no "excitement" factors to balance the shortcomings.
Looking back at the photos taken, it should by right be an enjoyable short trip. The food were plentiful and the restaurants fancy. The places visited were interesting. Good rapport with other travellers in the group. And yet... 🤔
The trip was organised by Tripfez Travel & Tours Sdn Bhd. 5 days 4 nights. Full board. All in price was RM3080/person. Twin sharing.
The itinerary was as follows:
21 October 2025 Kuala Lumpur - Shanghai - Suzhou
22 October 2025 Suzhou - Hangzhou
23 October 2025 Hangzhou - Shanghai
24 October 2025 Shanghai
25 October 2025 Shanghai - Kuala Lumpur
My World Countdown:
Since both me and my mom have been to China before, there is no increase in our world countdown. I am still at 66 and my mom 55.
Note: Recently we recalculated the number of countries we've been to based on United Nation's recognised 195 countries. Thus a slight discrepancies from previous posts 😅
I will upload the daily food videos at my IG account mkhasha.n.food and daily sceneries videos at mkhasha.n.travels.
Hashtags specific to the trip are #mks2025China #mks20251021 #mks20251022 #mks20251023 #mks20251024 #mks20251025
Njoy!
POST MORTEM (Updated 1 November 2025)
Tour Company:
Our first time with Tripfez Travel & Tours Sdn Bhd. Easy to deal with. Pretty efficient. I noticed from their advertisements in IG, their tour packages might get cheaper nearer the departure dates. So if you have no need to plan way in advance, it is worthwhile to do the booking last minute.
Itinerary:
Very packed and rushed. Daylight ended at 5++ pm. We did not have enough time to rest. From day 1, we arrived at our hotel after 8++pm. On day 4 we were suppose to reach the hotel before dark, we even decided not to have dinner at the restaurant so that we can go back early and rest. Unfortunately we still ended up arriving late due to the traffic jam.
Airlines:
We flew via Malaysia Airlines 😍
21/10/2025 MH388 KUL - PVG ETD 0840 ETA 1415
25/10/2025 MH389 PVG - KUL ETD 1525 ETA 2100
I just wished that the group meeting time was not so early. We were to gather at the airport at 4.40 am, 4 hours before departure. Prior to Covid it was only 3 hours. This could also be the reason why the trip was such a failure, lack of sleep and rest on the first and subsequent days thereafter.
Tour Leader:
A nice young man by the name of Syahmi. Unfortunately he didn't have any real "power" in this trip so I will rate him B-. He tried to convey our complaints to the Local Tour Guide but to no avail.
Local Tour Guide:
An experienced lady by the name of Tracy, de facto leader of this trip. I will rate her C-. Her behaviour was superficial, not helpful at all and her time management was terrible. Enough said.
Bus:
The bus was fantastic. New. You can practically smell the leather 😋
Bus Driver:
Our bus driver was nice. Can be a bit grumpy sometimes coz he didn't really get along well with our tour guide 😅 At one time he and the tour guide engaged in an open argument in front of us. They spoke in Mandarin without knowing that some of us can understand their conversations 😂
Hotels:
We stayed at three separate hotels. The rooms were ok. The showers were great. All bathrooms came with heated toilet seats 😋
Hotel Breakfasts:
Breakfasts in Suzhou and Hangzhou were good. Breakfasts in Shanghai were horrible. Limited halal food to eat. The coffee machine was broken. We tried to tell the hotel workers about it but they can't understand English at all. Seriously? How can you messed up something basic as serving coffee during breakfast? They didn't even have tea bags!! In China!!! On the second day I brought my own tea bag to breakfast just in case the coffee machine was still broken. True enough. At least I got my daily fix of hot drinks 😅
Lunches:
We had rice plus many kinds of side dishes at a proper halal restaurants. Unfortunately same type of food served in different restaurants at different cities. When we brought the issue up to the tour leader, the tour guide said that for Muslim tour that is the only kind of food served. Seriously? When we can see the same halal restaurants sold noodles and kebabs? Obviously there was no effort whatsoever to ensure we enjoyed diverse culinary experience during the trip.
Dinners:
We had the same kind of food as lunches. Sometimes even at the same restaurant! By day three, I think most tour members couldn't stomach it anymore so one dinner instead of eating at the restaurant we asked the tour guide to tapau the food for us and brought it to the hotel. Some of us took a little bit for dinner and the bulk of the meals were given to the hotel staff who thankfully enjoyed it 😅
Maybe Tripfez should consider making this tour half board. No dinner, just late lunch. Repetitive food once a day is easier to stomach than twice a day. Can reduce the price of the tour, more money for shopping which is always a plus with Malaysians 😋
Rapport With Fellow Travellers:
They were all nice and friendly people from diverse background. First time we joined a group with an infant. It was quite entertaining to see some of the antics of the toddler 😂
Timing:
If you asked ChatGPT, our timing was good but I beg to differ. I hate it when the sunset is at 5++pm. It was so depressing to get stuck in Shanghai traffic jam after sun down. There were hardly any autumn leaves either during this time. So maybe the best time to go is in April, spring season and sunset is later at 6++pm.
Overall:
Should be a short and sweet holiday in between longer overseas trips. Instead it was anything but. The meals were epic fail. There were so many people everywhere you go. The time allocated to take photos were limited. The time spent on time wasting compulsory shops were too much. We spent a lot of time stuck in Shanghai traffic jam. Not enough time to rest and savour the moment. Frankly, the best time of the trip was the time to go back home 🥴 Pathetic 😅
