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93 S hanghai is a city tagged with many names: “The Paris of the East,” “The Pearl of the Orient” and my personal favorite, “The Whore of the Orient” (the East India Company found the city to be very helpful in satisfying both their tea needs and their burgeoning taste for opium). My love affair with Shanghai started when I moved to Korea three years ago, and I have returned to it annually because it feels like a second home. Yet, even still, each visit reveals something new and enchanting. The city offers ever-changing cultural locations, arts, food and, most especially, fantastic shopping — what more could you want? Shanghai is a perfect place to meet, greet and buy, and you won’t even have to spend tons of money. Just jump on one of the daily direct flights from Seoul and see how the mood strikes you; travel plans in this wildly cosmopolitan city are best made on the day. The quickest entry into Shanghai from Pudong Airport is on the Maglev train. Pay 50 yuan (around 8,000 won) for a ticket then hang on tight as the train whisks you from the airport to Longyang Road Station at 150 mph. Transfer to line 2 or 7 for the last leg of your journey into the city, away from the buzz of Korean life for the next few days. Start at the Bund to get your bearings. It offers a beau- tiful scenic location to capture the history and evolution of Shanghai, where the couture fashion houses and bars used to be the headquarters for many European banks. Sit in awe at the Pudong waterfront, suck up your morn- ing brew and then head towards People’s Square, but be sure to stop off first at the Rockbund Gallery to get a touch of European art’s latest craze. Marked by a beauti- ful modern building that attracts the double-decker tourist buses, People’s Square is quintessential Shanghai. If you feel inspired, you can even grab one of the Big Bus tours; you’ll see the Shanghai Museum, the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, the former provisional government of Korea and the site of the first national congress of the Communist Party in Xintiandi, all on a tour that will cost you less than 5,000 won. This glitzy and glamorous city is an ideal place to splash your cash or to get your bartering skills in order. Just remember, the real price is never the one on the label.