Shanghai Tunnel Ghost Tours

It is obvious that all of the people not close friends or part of this tour operation have a clear unified unbiased opinion of this tour. You cannot have a shanghai tunnel tour without tunnels. Was it really necessary to take us into a stuffy basement to tell us the history of Portland. I would have been just as content reading a book or watching a documentary. I am not saying this as a personal attack on the people who run this tour. i know they are passionate about what they do and have the best intentions. They claim this is not a business, but they were willing to take our money and should feel obligated to provide some value for it. Create a museum of artifacts, and or a documentary. This tour really does nothing to help there cause and the sooner they realize it and change it the better off they wil be.

I was introduced to the Shanghai Tunnel Tour by my mother. A group of her coworkers were going on a tour and she invited me along. All I knew going into it was that it was supposed to be a walking tour of Portland's underground. We started off the evening at Hobo's. The courtyard was awesome and we got a laugh when one of the girls game out of the restroom with toilet paper on BOTH feet. The wait for the tour to begin took a little longer than expected. But with a drink in hand it was alright. The tour itself was lacking. As many reviews have said the walking tour takes place in the basement of two adjoining restaurants. There isn't much walking to be done, more of a shuffling tour for 40 people. The place was miserably hot and with all the shuffling it was hard to breath because of the dirt circulating around. The stories were long winded for being so hot and uncomfortable. It was hard to pay attention to the story teller because of people losing interest and talking amongst themse... Read more

I went on the tunnel tour before Halloween this year. I was expecting a longer walk, but we ended up only shuffling around under Boiler Room and Hobos. It would've been more fun if we had climbed into a short bus and drove around the city to other tunnels and Haunted places. The Shanghai tour was very interesting and entailed a lot of information. Mike and the other volunteer did a GREAT job, but it was just too boring to only walk around in 1 block.

We booked this tour with a group of 12 people. We waited for the group to assemble at Hobo's where we had a fabulous time with a cocktail in the company of Darcelle and some of her beauties. As directed, we dressed warmly in comfortable shoes expecting to explore hallways and rooms of Portland's underground and to gain knowledge of the history of the Shanghai tunnels and crimes that occurred therein. I would guess that we went in with a total of 40 people with at least 8 children under the age of 10 in attendance (always a bad sign in my opinion.) It was boiling hot and we walked a total of 50 feet. Basically we got a great tour of a basement. The host of the tour was a very good speaker and knowledgeable, however, for a person who admittedly "doesn?t believe in ghosts", he spoke endlessly about the ghosts he and others had seen in the tunnel. So much so that, in addition to the lack of ground covered, the disappointment among the entire group was palpable. In fact, 1/3 of the ... Read more

The Underground Tour was the absolute worst thing I have ever paid money to do. The staff involved are clearly a bunch of ghost hunters using the "Shanghia Tunnels" as a way to fund their pastime. By the way, there are no "Shanghia tunnels". The whole tour takes place under Hobo's restaurant in their basement which is no larger than 1500 sq/ft. The temperature in the basement ranged from 100-140 degrees and that is the honest truth! If you take the time to look behind all the canvas curtains they have hanging off the beams you will see all of the hot water heaters and duct work running everywhere for the restaurant above. The information given on the tour is actually somewhat interesting, however, it is hard to determine if the information is true or if it is coming from the mind of the tour guide (which could be compromised due to the heat). He has to be the most long winded individual I have ever met and I challenge them to come up with hard proof to back up some of the storie... Read more

This is in response to the "lame lame lame" review. i think it's LAME of you to post a review that so blatantly slanders someone who has worked to restore and share a piece of Oregon's history. my advice to you,sir, is to DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE you take another tour. as for the remark about michael, i have met him several times and found him to be polite and i have never seen the man drunk. i went on my first tour last month and would love to take my mother. all in all it's a $12 experience that is well worth it. the money goes toward other projects of restoration for the history of Oregon. i would like to see more of these projects turn out so well. thank you Michael and team for your hard work and dedication to the forgotten history of Oregon and for bringing it to the public. KUDOS TO YOU!!! And on a personal note: The smell from the pizza place turned my stomach

I first took this tour two years ago when I came here to visit. I enjoyed it so much that I signed on as a volunteer as soon as I moved up here. I would like to relate my experiences and thoughts This is an eye-opening and informative tour led through one of the only remaining intact sections of the once-expansive Portland underground. While not everyone will believe the ghost stories, the history itself is as accurate as it can be under the circumstances, considering that this is a subject passed down almost solely through oral histories. Most objects you'll see on the tour are original and authentic; those that aren't were recreated as accurately as possible. Years of hard work have gone into the process of excavating this area and opening it up to the public. People complain that the tour only consists of the basements of two businesses; this is true, but what you have to understand is that the tunnels are extremely disconnected from each other at this point. The tour guides make... Read more

Warning: the positive reviews on here are probably by staff members of the company.... they're around the same date and about the same length and writing style. For our tour, we were told we needed at least 15 people as that's about the size of group they like to take. We ended up having 25. We were told a few more people might be added but that it was primarily our group. By the time the tour started, there were 50 people! Later a volunteer told us they are suppose to keep the groups smaller than 30 for safety. We were led into the tunnels by our tour guide who told the most innane, long-winded stories. She lacked any personality and was a bit short with her volunteers and some of the people on the tour. She made several comments about the difficulty of the job and managing her volunteers which I felt was inappropriate whether true or not. By the way, "tunnels" is used loosely here as you will not ever step foot in a tunnel... the entire tour comprises 4 basement rooms under ... Read more

I wish I read the reviews here beforehand. I was able to book reservations with no problem, but this tour guide (Mike) was drunk as a skunk when he showed up. He reeked so bad that no one wanted to be near him. It's true that all you do is listen to made up ghost stories (over & over) while wandering through a dusty basement. There's no tunnels, just some props that they made up to look old and try to scare us. No Shanghai Tunnels plus no Ghosts plus drunk guide = Bad news. My wife & I were robbed $25 bucks.

Getting on the reservation list did require a bit of patience, but these folks are VOLUNTEERS! Once there, I thought the tour was fabulous. The tour guide (Mike) is a born story teller, and the history and information that he imparted was fascinating. I would recommend this to anyone that may be interested in Portland history, ghosts, or just neat old stuff. I enjoyed the hell out of it!

In Short The "Shanghai-ing Trade" made this one of the most infamous ports in the world by 1870. Until 1941, men were kidnapped from bars, brothels and opium dens, drugged and dragged to work on ships. Holding cells were small and dank, and many men died. Now their spirits are said to lurk inside the tunnels that run under the city. Tours include the history of the trade, plus ghost stories of haunted Old Town.

I must agree with the other "less than complimentary" reviews here. This was a tour of the basement under Hobo's. The tour guides were nice enough. Unfortunately, by around the fifth ghost story things started to sound quite repetitive. It's not a big deal that the stories are not true, I could handle a good story-teller. But this was not worth the $12 per person price, to wander around a basement with a few contrived props for two hours.

Tried for 2 weeks to make a reservation. Finally got a call the guy I talked to was very rude. He curtly answered my questions and kept referring me to a waiver and rule webpage. I have been on walking tours around the country - never found a group so rude and inflexible with booking a tour. Because I'm not traveling with my 2 year, I asked if there was a way we could cancel in case of an emergency. I was told that "If you are not ABSOLUTELY sure you can do this tour you will be taken off our list. We have a lot of people who want this tour!" I was appalled. I wished I gave this guy a piece of my mind and told him personally what he could do with his tour. I emailed him instead and told me to take me off the list.

Several of my freinds have taken this tour and throughly enjoyed going after I went and told them about it. My grandfather who used to drive an ice wagon in that area had told me about the tunnels. It was exciting to see and hear the history in such detail. I have been to the underground tour in Seattle and felt the Portland tour was superior.

The Portland Underground is is an archeological dig. The tunnels being a series of "connected basements" does not surprise me. With all the changes over the years, I'm amazed that anything remains of the notorious labyrinth. When I went, it was overcrowded--a bit frustrating but tolerable. However, what I found intolerable was the behavior of some of the tourists. Many were heckling, banging on pipes to get a rise, and wandering around intoxicated and loud. They made it difficult for everyone else. You get out of the tour what you put into it. If you go in closed minded or with mischief in your heart, you will feel disappointed. But going in with curiosity and appreciation of Portland's history yields many treasures. The CGS has no control over the layout of the dig and tunnels; that's the whole point. It is what it is.

I just seen the review from waitingallday. I am so shocked about the total outright __ that was posted. I have known Michael for over 7 years and have gone on several tours over the years. I have never seen or known him to ever take a drink of anything alcoholic. Michael is a hard working man who has done allot to bring Portland's history to life. He is an educator who not only has brought back Portland's History. But is also bringing history of our Pioneer's. Everyone of the volunteers who work in the Shanghai Tunnels all took tours of the Shanghai Tunnels and decided to get involved in this wonderful non-profit educational program. Portland Shanghai Tunnels are part of the Cascade Geographic Society a 501c non profit educational program. They host Festival's, Oregon's Country Settlement and many other projects that provide education to the public. Artifacts found in the Shanghai Tunnels remain in the Tunnel for all visitors to see. You will find them tagged because they are logg... Read more

If you really listen to the history told during this tour, and take the time to look around you, you understand that yes, these are basements (and yes, you do go through a tunnel) made of brick and stone and archways in-between, but they were utilized for reasons our city is not proud of. The "stories" are oral history, and are fascinating when coupled with really examining the physical location that is being restored by this organization's volunteers. You have to look beyond today's "basements" and listen to the grim realities of yesteryear in order to value this tour.

You pay like $15 to go stand in a basement for an hour while a guy tells you annoyingly repetitive ghost stories. This thing had *so much* potential, and was completely wasted! No actuall connecting tunnels. No tour. Just a basement with some old brick walls, and a couple "re constructed" wood plank "cells". The story telling is very repetitive, and very contrived. Did I mention you never leave the *one basement* ? Our group of 15 people was crammed in with about 25 other people, and when we originally booked our group we were led to believe it would be just us on the "tour". It was crowded and annoying. The plus side is you get to see the back alley of "Hobos" which is kinda nice.... Just go to the restaurant, get a beer or a meal, and walk out the back door. Skip the "ghost tour".

What a huge waste of time and money. This tour was nothing more than a dark view of a dirty basement of the Hobo's restaurant. Never once were you taken to other "tunnels" or areas, although it was supposely a vast underground network. If you want an endless barage of ghost stories, then take the tour....if you are looking for history and a tour of the underground tunnels of Portland, then DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME. We were very disappointed.

Good luck getting a reservation. All communication seems to be done strictly via voice mail or email, and you'll be lucky to ever talk to a human. Even if you do get on a list, theres no gaurantee they'll let you attend(because of over booking) when you arrive. Very poor an unproffessional reservation practices. Don't waste your time, go to a movie. Being able to tour a part of our rich heritage SHOULD NOT be this difficult.

Basically, you go into a basement and stay there for 90 minutes. The ghost story telling was great, however you don't get a tour of anything other than the basement of Hobo's. We were very disapointed and wished we had seen a tunnel