2-Day Self-Driving Tour in Shanghai Suburbs in 2021 (Shanghai Auto Expo Park, Qinglong Temple in Qingpu)

**Duration and Time:** The trip lasted for 2 days in January. **Per Capita Cost:** The cost per pers[...]

**Duration and Time:** The trip lasted for 2 days in January.

**Per Capita Cost:** The cost per person was 300 yuan.

**Companion and Activities:** This was a parent-child outing, with activities including gourmet food, photography, self-driving, and luxury experiences.

**Journey Details:** The author visited Qingpu and published the account on January 2, 2021, at 18:02.

**Trip Planning:** During the New Year’s Day holiday in 2021, considering the epidemic situation, we opted for a self-driving tour in the suburbs of Shanghai. To capture the essence of a self-driving tour, we decided to stay outside for one night. The total distance of the journey was 110.0 kilometers.

**Day 1 (January 1, 2021):** The weather in Shanghai was sunny to cloudy, with temperatures ranging from -2.7 to 4.1 degrees Celsius.

– **Departure:** At 12:50, we set off from our home in Pudong, Shanghai.
– **First Toll Station:** At 13:31, we arrived at Jiangqiao Toll Station of the Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway, having traveled a total of 28.7 kilometers.
– **Second Toll Station:** At 13:40, we arrived at Jiasong Highway Toll Station of the Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway, having traveled a total of 40.3 kilometers. The expressway toll was 6.65 yuan.

**Accommodation:** We checked into the Ruili Hotel in Shanghai Auto City, which is ‘zero distance’ from Shanghai Auto Expo Park. The east gate of the park is just diagonally opposite. The hotel building is triangular, and guest rooms facing southeast and southwest offer lake views. We stayed on the 19th floor facing north, which provided a city view. In the distance, high-speed trains and Metro Line 11 could be seen passing by. The cost for a superior twin room was 398 yuan (without breakfast).The hotel is a five-star standard establishment, offering an array of amenities such as a swimming pool, a gym, and a cinema. It is conveniently located near the Shanghai Auto Expo Park and the Shanghai Automobile Museum, making it an ideal choice for parent-child tours. The hotel is less than 1 kilometer away from Shanghai Auto City Station on Metro Line 11, providing easy access by foot or subway from the urban area.

For those arriving by car, the hotel boasts an underground parking garage with two floors, offering ample parking spaces, in addition to spaces available on the ground level. The hotel’s guest rooms are simply decorated and, aside from the absence of a bathtub and a slightly small bathroom, meet the expectations of a five-star hotel. The air conditioning operates quietly, and the heating is more than adequate.

This hotel is notably cleaner and more appealing to younger guests compared to some older five-star establishments. Our stay did not include breakfast, but we heard that the hotel’s buffet breakfast is quite good. The underground garage also features many parking spaces with charging facilities for new energy vehicles.

The hotel lobby and front desk are well-equipped with numerous elevators for quick and convenient movement between floors, and the waiting time is minimal. On several occasions, we did not encounter other guests in the elevators. The hotel chain, Ruili Hotels, also has branches in Hangzhou, Ruian, and Wenzhou.

From the guest room on the 19th floor facing north, one can see the SAIC Volkswagen factory just a few hundred meters away. The surrounding area includes Boyuan Road, as depicted in the picture below.Boyuan Road serves as a test road for intelligent networked vehicles, specifically for driverless vehicles. It is located at the East Gate of the Shanghai Auto Expo Park. This park is open to the public for free and offers a comprehensive experience with themes of automobile entertainment, exhibition, and culture. The total construction land area of the park spans 768,000 square meters.

A notable feature of the park is its sizable lake, which is quite a rarity in Shanghai. South of the park, the Wusong River flows, with a bridge arching over it. From this vantage point, one can gaze eastward to where the Suzhou River meets Yunzhang Port. In the image provided, Yunzhang Port is visible to the left, while to the right, the Suzhou River extends towards downtown Shanghai, with vessels navigating into it.

As evening approached and visitors thinned out, we made our way back to the East Gate of the park. Later in the evening, we visited Jiatinghui City Life Plaza, situated next to Anting Station on Metro Line 11, which is less than 2 kilometers from our hotel. Directly across the street is the Sande Business Plaza. For dinner, we dined at the Wangxiangyuan Anting branch, located on the third floor of Jiatinghui City Life Plaza. Our meal, which included Changsha stinky tofu, Changsha minced meat mixed with rice noodles, stir-fried red vegetable stalks, stir-fried yellow beef, Xiangxi overlord bullfrog, tomato fish slices, and plum juice, came to a discounted total of 281 yuan. The restaurant’s window offers a view of the metro station.

The night scene outside the hotel lobby was picturesque. By the end of the night, we had accumulated a total of 55 experiences or points, marking a memorable day.
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At 13:03, we arrived at the Jiasong Highway toll station on the Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway, having driven a total of 70.0 kilometers. Eight minutes later, at 13:11, we reached the Jiangqiao toll station on the same expressway, covering an additional 11.3 kilometers, for a new total of 81.3 kilometers. The toll for this stretch of the journey was 6.65 yuan.

Continuing our journey, we finally returned to our home in Pudong, Shanghai, at 14:05. The total distance covered by then was 110.0 kilometers. Throughout the trip, we maintained an average fuel consumption rate of 7.8 liters per 100 kilometers.

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