It had been a long time since I had been on an island in the Yangtze – at that time it was in Nanjing. But I had been intending to go and have a look at Chongming although my friends had always told me that it was a miserable place and definitely not worth going to. So I thought I’d have a look myself and I found it to be a really nice day trip out of Shanghai.
The map showed a bus running from Wuzhou metro station all the way to ‘Nan Men’ which seemed to be the biggest concentration of buildings. The bus (18rmb ticket) was not full and I was invited by an elderly man to sit next to him on the front seat. This was a blessing and a curse because he talked the whole 1:20 hour journey and I understood only about 20% of what he was saying. 
But he was friendly and told me that he was from Chongming but now lived in Shanghai but was returning to see his sister and her children for a few days. He pointed out the parks and all the fancy houses en route and it was akin to being on a tour bus. At one stage I feigned sleep in the hope it would stop him talking. It didn’t so I gave up the idea.
The road took us under a long tunnel to a smaller island first and then over a beautiful bridge to Chongming itself. The river was grey and very heavy with container ships and ships bearing what looked like coal and stone.
Chongming is noticeably poorer than Shanghai but then to be honest which place isn’t! The houses were large and built over multiple floors and had gardens and I wondered whether wealthy Shanghaiese bought properties here to go to at the weekeend – a kind of summer house. The road was lined with trees and was clearly newly built.
My new friend said I could go all the way to Nantong if I liked. I didnt like. I have been to Nantong and once is enough for anyone!
The walking street is pleasant and at Starbucks I spotted one more foreigner. Apart from him, there were no other western tourists in evidence and I did get quite a lot of staring.
I decided to try to ferry (12 rmb) on the way back and it took about the same amount of time as the bus (1:20) bubt at least you could get up and walk around. The river was really busy and at one time we got up close to a large commercial vessel called the Cape Sun (we could have done with some of that!). I looked around for the life jackets (none in plain sight).
At the destination I squeezed myself onto a number 14 bus with hundreds of other ferry passengers and after one emergency stop which nearly ripped my arm out of its socket, we reached the end of line 1. Thank God for the metro!
Chongming is a nice day trip out of Shanghai and very cheap to do on public transport. You should choose a sunny day and take your time. There are very few shared bikes there so if you want to cycle, take your own and use the ferry. A longer trip would allow for a visit to several of the parks which are apparently very pretty.