Morning above Shanghai
Returning to a city, and finally seeing it differently.
My first visit to Shanghai was when I was twelve years old.
It was one of those family package tours that hurried through Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuxi, Nanjing and Hangzhou in the space of a week. Looking back, I remember surprisingly little about Shanghai itself. Every destination blended into the next.
Years later, I returned several times for work. Those visits were measured by airports, client meetings and hotel rooms. Shanghai became somewhere I passed through rather than somewhere I experienced.
This visit was different.
My mum and I wanted to return to mainland China together after many years. We weren’t chasing a long list of attractions. We simply wanted a few days to wander, sit in cafes, enjoy meals we knew we would love, and experience the city without rushing.
When I discovered J Hotel Shanghai, I knew it would become part of that experience. The thought of waking hundreds of metres above one of the world’s great cities fascinated me, and it felt like the perfect place to create a memorable trip together.
Sometimes a city doesn’t change.
The way we return to it does.
Occupying the upper floors of Shanghai Tower, J Hotel Shanghai creates an immediate sense of leaving the city below.
The ascent itself becomes part of the stay. Lift after lift carries you upwards until the streets gradually disappear from view and the skyline becomes your new point of reference.
By the time I reached the room, Shanghai already felt different.
Not smaller.
Just quieter.
Every time I returned to the room, I instinctively walked towards the windows.
Morning, afternoon and evening, the skyline never looked quite the same. The changing light, drifting clouds and shifting reflections meant the city was constantly rewriting itself.
The room wasn’t what stayed with me.
It became the place from which I watched Shanghai unfold.
The following morning, I woke before sunrise.
Drawing back the curtains, I found myself looking across a city that seemed to have disappeared beneath the clouds.
Every so often, thick clouds swept past the windows with surprising speed. For a brief moment, it almost felt as though the room itself was moving through the sky.
Inside, there was complete silence.
The windows blocked out every trace of the city below. No traffic. No construction. No voices.
Only light.
I made myself a cup of coffee and sat quietly by the window.
There was nowhere I needed to be.
No itinerary waiting.
Just Shanghai slowly revealing itself as morning arrived.
Looking down from such a height, the city felt unexpectedly peaceful.
I knew millions of lives were unfolding beneath me. Someone was rushing to work. A child was walking to school. Somewhere, a bowl of steaming noodles was being served for breakfast. A courier was weaving through the streets delivering someone’s morning order.
None of those individual stories could be seen from where I was sitting.
The details disappeared.
Only the rhythm of the city remained.
That morning made me realise something about the way I travel.
Wherever I am in the world, I begin the day pretty much the same way - with a cup of coffee and a few quiet moments before everything else begins.
At home in Umbria, that usually means birdsong, rolling hills and familiar silence.
At J Hotel Shanghai, it meant watching one of the world’s largest cities slowly emerge from beneath the morning clouds.
The ritual remained the same.
The place transformed its meaning.
As I reflected on the trip, I realised I had experienced three completely different Shanghais.
The first belonged to childhood.
The second belonged to work.
This one belonged to curiosity.
Without meetings to rush to or a tightly planned itinerary, I finally had the space to notice the city.
Returning after so many years, I was struck by how clean it felt, how easy it was to explore, and how naturally we settled into its rhythm. The food suited us perfectly too. I have always been drawn to the flavours of southern China, and every meal felt both familiar and comforting.
Only then did I realise I had never really given Shanghai my full attention before.
Sometimes we don’t need a new destination. We simply need to return with a different purpose.
Breakfast offered another reminder that despite being hundreds or metres above the ground, I was still unmistakably in Shanghai.
Among everything on offer, I found myself reaching for 生煎包 (shēng jiān bāo).
What I enjoyed most was the contrast in textures: a crisp, pan-fried base giving way to a juicy filling of well-seasoned meat and broth.
There was something quietly satisfying about enjoying one of Shanghai’s most iconic breakfast dishes while looking out across its skyline from one of its most remarkable buildings.
Travel has a curious way of lingering.
Sometimes through a photograph.
Sometimes through a familiar flavour.
Sometimes through an object that quietly carries us back to another place.
Looking back, the greatest luxury of that stay wasn’t its height or the fact that J Hotel Shanghai occupies one of the tallest buildings in the world.
It was having the time to experience it with my mum.
A cup of coffee. A basket of 生煎包. Clouds racing past the windows. A city waking beneath us. As I finished my Gin & Tonic back home in Umbria, I realised those were the moments I had brought home with me.
Staying at J Hotel Shanghai
Location
Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai, China
Best For
A special occasion, architecture enthusiasts, panoramic city views, and travellers looking to experience Shanghai from an extraordinary perspective.
Why I Chose It
I wanted to experience what it felt like to wake above the clouds while revisiting Shanghai with my mum after many years.
Atmosphere
Serene, refined and surprisingly tranquil despite being at the heart of one of the world’s busiest cities.
Ideal Stay Length
2 - 3 nights. Long enough to enjoy the hotel itself while leaving time to explore Shanghai’s cafés, neighbourhoods and food scene.
Inspired to experience a morning above the clouds?
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View J Hotel Shanghai on Trip.com
More from the Journal
The Space Between - A reflection on how travel isn’t always about seeing more, but noticing more
The Places We Carry - On the memories, rituals and objects that continue travelling with us long after we’ve returned home
Travel, Pre-experienced - How our expectations shape the way we experience a place before we even arrive
COMO Metropolitan Bangkok - Another stay where the hotel became part of understanding the destination, rather than simply somewhere to sleep
Unless otherwise credited, all photography and written content are original works by Foodie Goes Travel.
