nekohime

To those who have been here, what's a good place to go to? I have the whole morning to explore the city so where do I go poking around?

markhr

pm gbcb - I believe he currently lives there as an ex-pat

edit: buy a tibetan national flag, running shoes and a free tibet t-shirt. Then use the shoes, wear the t-shirt, wave the flag and run around until caught.

nekohime

Yeah, did that, and he gave me the whereabouts of bike shops where I can poke around for bikes...

markhr

Cool, well good luck, try the dim sum, szechuan cooking and whatever else the lonely planet recommends.

fuzzbox

Buy cool asians toys.



Bacon and Tofu!

gbcb

I'm not as much of an early riser, clearly... Well, you already know how to contact me, so you can do that if you want. The usual attractions in China tend to be total tourist traps, but here are a few things that are cool to do:

- Walking/cycling around the French Concession (absolutely the nicest area in Shanghai)

- Walking around the old city -- near Yu Yuan (Yu Gardens). You can go to the gardens, too, but I found them a bit underwhelming because of the sheer masses of people.

- Eat fried dumplings at Yang's Dumplings on Wujiang Lu (another location on the corner of Shaanxi Bei Lu and Wuding Lu). They're so cheap they're essentially free, and really, really good.

- The Bund tourist tunnel is really overpriced, but it's so bizarre it's probably worth a look. It's a great example of the Shanghai tendency to spend money without answering the question "why not?"

- Walking around the Bund area, both for the old colonial buildings on the west bank of the river (the Puxi side), and for the sci-fi skyline on the east (Pudong). The Pudong skyline is best viewed at night.

- Just cycling around randomly and seeing where you end up.

There's more to do, but I figured I shouldn't delay posting this too much.

Good local restaurants:
- Baoluo (保罗), on the corner of Changle Lu and Fumin Lu - Really fun place for reasonably priced Shanghai food.

- Jesse's (新吉士) - the best Shanghainese food I've had period. A bit pricier than Baoluo, though. Tianping Lu north of Huaihai Lu.

-Dongbeiren (东北人) - Food from north-eastern China. A fun place to go with a group of people. There are several, but I think the best is on Shaanxi Nan Lu near Yan'an Lu.

- Underneath Dongbeiren, there's a fantastic Uighur restaurant, but I can't remember the name. It's western Chinese food... not stuff you typically find outside of China. Lots of grilled lamb, and sort of half-way between Middle Eastern and Chinese. Another good, but much smaller Uighur restaurant is on the corner of Ulumuqi Bei Lu and Yuyuan Lu (a different yuyuan from the Yu Gardens).

- Yang's dumplings (小杨生煎), as mentioned above

By the way, Don't believe ANYONE who tells you that the best xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) can be had at Nanxiang in the gardens. Total lie (I think the Lonely Planet is guilty of this). The best xiaolongbao I've had in Shanghai are at Dintaifung, a restaurant in the Xintiandi restaurant/entertainment complex

Hope this doesn't come too late to help!

donnamb 

I wish we could have a pic of nekohime and gbcb for Foo...

East Hill

YES! We need photos! Come on guys, how often is a chance like this going to happen?

East Hill

gbcb

Camera charging...

nekohime

Ack!!! Picture!! So THAT'S what I forgot to do last night when I met gbcb outside the artist's entrance....

*headdesk*

I blame it on the long day. Neuen (the conductor) worked the soloists + band so hard we didn't have time for a real dinner, though he did take us to Luna in the French Concession to feed us afterwards.

Hopefully we get a chance to get dumplings. I'll remember to take a pic then.

mlts22 

Let us know how Shanghai is. I wish I could learn my posterior from a hole in the ground when it comes to kanji, or in polytonic speech.

KrisPistofferson

<Jealous>

Suttree

where did you get that??
Asian toy nut here--keeping it down
to about one or two purchases a year.

edit: found 'em. return to the
topic.

fuzzbox

I want one

Suttree

http://www.mcphee.com/items/11814.html

fuzzbox

Yaino. Just too lazy to go through with it.

BenLi

Not for the faint of heart. (read: SPICY!!!)

East Hill

Ha! That's the Archie McPhee store . Right here in beautiful Ballard...!

Bribe me to go....

East Hill

fuzzbox

So look at this instead http://www.mcphee.com/items/11421.html and you can hand them out like candy.

Suttree

I'd fling them across the office at passersby while yelling "miaaaow"

fuzzbox

I'd tape them to my clothes.

markhr

Agreed but it beats the heck out of boiled rice, boiled pork/chicken and boiled vegetables. I'm not a fan of some of the NW chinese cooking (I was always told NW = limited ingredients and boring as heck, SE = spicy and incredible variety), please correct me if I'm wrong.

gbcb

NW is actually pretty decent. Muslim Chinese (Hui), as opposed to Muslim non-Chinese (Uighur). Also some Mongolian influence in there (hotpot and the like). Still lots of lamb and stuff. NE food is hearty, and traditionally involved a lot of cabbage, but it can be very tasty, too.

But really, those compass directions are misleading. Even within some provinces, there is a *lot* of variation. I do love Sichuan food, though — and it's one cuisine that you simply can't find done properly outside China. It's more than just being spicy: the specific term for the typical Sichuan flavour is "mala," or numb-spicy, and it involves the use of a special peppercorn that, from what I understand, can't even be imported to certain areas in North America. You really have to come to China to experience it!

markhr

Thanks - that's what I'd suspected but, not having the personal experience, I'm reliant on the UK (hong kong influence) /singapore (malay influence) interpretation.

Paul Merton did an interesting "off the beaten track" travel program on China for the BBC. Makes for interesting watching, although the ex-pats don't do themselves any favors (the hash house harriers warm down...).

gbcb

I don't think expats anywhere do themselves any favours

The Hong Kong and Singapore takes on Sichuan are very tasty, but having had the real thing, I've been spoiled for life...