Visiting Dragon City :)
November 8th is mine and
crism79 Guardianniversary :)
The story of how we came to Guardian has been told in this post.
When we booked our trip to China, I realized that we'd be spending our Guardianniversary in Shanghai. I remembered seeing on Twitter images of the fanmeeting at "Dragon City University" for the drama ending anniversary last July so I thought: "Where is Dragon City University Building in reality? Is it possible to go there during our holidays?".
A few minutes and a google research later, I had my answer: "hell, yeah!".
Not only I could locate the building but I found out that it's in Shanghai and it has an official website!
Plans were made, we were going to spend our Guardianniversary in Dragon City!
Dragon City in real life is a place called Shanghai Film Park, a permanent open-air set that was built and it's still used for filming Dramas set in the Republican Era. It's located in Chedun, in the suburbs of Shanghai.
This is a detailed guide on how to reach the park if you’re visiting Shanghai! :)
TripAdvisors
If you’re a group traveling together or don’t mind the budget, the easiest way is to book the visit through TripAdvisors.
I think it’s not truly necessary to book this or a private taxi, it’s not that difficult to go there by public transport, even if you don’t know the language.
Just follow these directions and tips.
Public Transport
Chedun is connect to Shanghai by a local train line, so it’s possible to go there by metro + train + walking a little.
From wherever your hotel is (or you are), go to Shanghai South Railway Station (Shanghai Nan, line 1 or 3) then follow station directions for Jinshan Railways.
Trains bound for Jinshanwei leave from platform 10 or 11, but pay attention to which train you’re boarding: only local trains stop in Chedun!
Of course, we got on the express train… Lalalala. If that happens, don’t panic. Just get off at Jishanwei and take the local train back till Chedun.
I downloaded a Shanghai Metro APP that also have train timetables so it could be useful for knowing which train you need to take as displays at the platform don’t have train info in English (yeah, P. follow your own advice next time >_>).
Once you arrive in Chedun, you can walk to the park (distance and direction as per Google Maps).
If you don’t have access to Google Maps, or any other map, I’ll explain directions (street names are also in English, so you can find your route without the map, if you know where to turn).
Keep the right when exiting the train station, walk through the bus station and turn right to Chefeng Road. Cross to the other side as soon as possible.
Once you reach a red brick building that looks like a church, turn left and take Xingchen Road.
At the crossroad where Luhan Supermarket is (on your left), turn right and take Yingwei Road. Walk for about 1 km and then turn left to Yingshi Road.
At the end of this street, you’ll see the park’s entrance on the left.
Walking around the park is … extremely weird!
There are many spots that where used for Guardian: camera angle and a little post-production editing was enough to mask the location but some are still easily recognizable and now there are black plates with quotes from Guardian so you can be sure it’s the right place.
I made this map to help you out finding relevant spots if you don’t have much time to spend there, but the best way to experience the “Guardian Magic” is to walk around and try to figure out if you recognize locations.
I’m probably editing this as I progress with my Guardian rewatch and match pictures to drama screen caps.
Anyway, the places you don’t want to miss are: Dragon City University (professor Shen T_T), the place where the first encounter happened, the place where the kneeling in the rain scene was filmed and the bench.
All in the map (click to enlarge).
Pictures from the park:
Dragon City University
The first meeting spot and the plate that confirmed that was really the place (I don’t know Chinese, but guessing the meaning from the kanji it say “seeing each other after 10,000 years”)
The doctor's studio entrance
The bench T_T
The "city center"
River, Lake and Park
The Disguiser was also filmed here and its easy to recognize buildings and street views.
And also this may look familiar to Detective L fans….
A little hidden (why behind the pole?!!) but we found a poster.
General Tips for the trip:
If you’re using the Shanghai Metro Card, make sure to have more than 20 yuan in your card in case you end up to Jinshawei and have to pay the return trip (lalalala, we only had 16 yuan).
If you buy tickets, buy the return trip from Chedun to Shanghai Nan in Shanghai as ticket machines in Chedun don’t have an English menu (but luckily there was a nice guy at the window - he didn’t know any English but helped us with buying tickets when he realized we didn’t have enough money in the card. But what if you don’t find the nice guy?).
Take your time for the visit: train trip is 30 minutes (if you don’t board the wrong train - lalalala) and the walk to the park another 25 minutes. We spent almost 2 hours in there.
There aren’t many trains returning to Shanghai in the afternoon, so plan your return in advance and consider how long it takes to go back to the station on foot.
Bring something to eat or drink if you plan to have lunch in Chedun (if you don't speak chinese).
This entry was originally posted at https://powwie.dreamwidth.org/36568.html