I also took a similar travelling route. In Beijing, go to the national museum of China super cool. And you have to visit Suzhou which is super scenic. Train ride from Shanghai is super quick!

Would download hotspot shield too- it's free in the app store (express didn't work for me in Beijing but hotspot did)

Recs for Beijing bc i lived there for a while : - Historical palaces Forbidden Palace 故宫 (probs need a solid 3-4 hrs) and Tiananmen Square 天安门广场 Summer Palace 颐和园 Temple of Heaven 天坛 Llama Temple 雍和宫 - Areas Qianmen 前门 (huge old area), also next to Dashilan District (used to be the old red light district) 大栅栏 798 Art District, used to be a factory district and now it's full of modern art galleries Gulou 钟鼓楼 is in the middle between Shichahai 什刹海 （后海 Houhai area, bars by the lake but super pricey and cringe af) and Andingmen District 安定们 which is full of old alleys (胡同). This is also where Nanluoguxiang 南锣鼓巷 is located - it's an alley full of food and old stuff (but has become v touristy as of late) - New areas LOTS of bars and pubs and malls and branded stuff in Sanlitun 三里屯 and Chaoyangmen 朝阳门, also Wangjing 望京 if you still want more

One of the best underground clubs in Shanghai is ALL Club. Solid international artists like Yves Tumor and Iglooghost have done live sets there, and the club is frequented by the core of the city's underground electronic scene. If you're looking for dive bars, C's has pretty good prices and a great atmosphere with nice, themed music nights.

I’m also trying to travel but I will have a student visa which only allows one enter and one exit, does anyone know how I can go around that?

hey hey! I'm gonna be in Shanghai at the end of July to mid Aug! If u wanna meet up I'm up for it! I've been more than a few times so happy to take u around 🤗

田子坊in Shanghai for a kinda touristy shopping area but pretty fun. The Bund (外滩) in Shanghai is also a great place to walk and see the skyline- it's beautiful at night. French concession in Shanghai for a really unique area (really pretty and a good place if you're craving western food one day, tianzifang is also located within it).

hidden gems in shanghai: - Muslim market (weekends, outside the mosque. TONS of chinese muslim food, friendly people). This is probably my personal favourite. - Shanghai wildlife zoo (not the normal zoo): they put you in an armoured car and you drive through a huggeee park on the outskirts of shanghai. There's tigers, lions, giraffes, pands, rhinos, etc. Sometimes you can get really close and interact with the animals - Zhu Jia Zhuang 朱家庄: an old, well-preserved water town about an hour away from Shanghai. You can take a boat down the canals, look at pretty views, eat lots of street food, and relax - 1933 cow slaughterhouse: very interesting architecture (good for photos), and in a very interesting area of the city too. lots of non-local food vendors there, and the old slaughterhouse has been converted to some dance studios, niche boutiques that you don't find in mainstream shanghai, and a nightclub - world's biggest starbucks: i'm not a huge starbucks fan but i was amazed. It's unbelievably big and has every form of coffee/sweets/teavanna you can possibly think of - Shanghai marriage market: It's in The People's Park 人民广场, on weekends in the mornings. What a sight to see. - shanghai fake market: you can buy anything you can possibly think of. My friends took the opportunity to get tailored suits and custom dresses. Quality's good if you know how to look, but the brands are fake. - take a day trip to Suzhou (for traditional chinese artisans and amazing street food) or Hangzhou (beautiful views, lakes, and gardens). It's only about an hour away by bullet train. hope that helps!

Captain Rooftop Bar has really nice views of both Pudong and Puxi! I’m not sure if they have durian cocktail, but they’ll make drinks that aren’t the menu so you can try and see if they can do it