Down on the coast below Shanghai is Jinshan town, famous for two things; The Shanghai Petrochemical Company and Jinshan, the closest beach to Shanghai.
Fear not, they’re far enough apart and actually this 3km stretch of sand (imported from Hainan or Dalian depending who you ask) is good for a spot of sunbathing or dip in the china sea which features (so we’ve heard) some harmless kind of blue dye during the summer months.
Ok, it’s no Kuta Beach, the sand is not perfect and the mainlanders, walking along the water’s edge in their jeans, will likely stop and stare as you apply factor 15… but there’s plenty to do (they are not the sitting and relaxing type) with pretty much every sea-based water sport covered, a couple of inviting looking islands (we’ll hit them next time) and a ‘seafood promenade’ which is basically a line of bbq skewer stands.
To get to Jinshan Beach:
Take the Metro #5 line south to JianChuan Road Station and get a taxi. The route from there is onto the A4 which goes all the way. Tolls will be around 35RMB and in total the taxi ride should be around 160RMB and 30-40 minutes.
NB: Don’t take the #5 to the end. The drive from here is cross-country and takes a lot longer.
They’re in the process of extending the #5 down to Jinshan town, also the bullet train will start running Q4 2010 with a 25minute service to Jinshan from Shanghai South Railway Station on the way to Ningbo.
There’s supposedly a charge to get into the Beach which is higher on weekends. We were just waved through without paying.