Shanghai Arrival

My first impression is that Shanghai is BIG, exotic, with lots and lots of people, bicycles,and cars- but easy to navigate and relatively cheap to live if I don't attempt maintain a totally american lifestyle - which I didn't want to do anyway. The few chinese people I have had contact with after 5 days have been very friendly, helpful, and tolerant. A surprising number of chinese I have encountered speak some English.

Quick Tips:

Walk around alot - Yu Yuan, Home of Dr Sun Yat Sen, the Bund and Nanjing Road, Huai Hai Road, and along the River in Pudong are all places for travelers to take the city.

Best Way To Get Around:

Taxis and bicycles are everywhere. I can get anywhere in the city for 2 or 3 dollars ini a taxi, though you may need a little taxi talk. We don't need a car here.

Downtown on Nanjing Xi Lu near Tongren Lu there is an area some people refer to as "Little America". Even though McDonalds, KFC, and now Starbucks dot the city in all the key high traffic areas, this area around the Portman Ritz Carlton and Shanghai Center gets special mention. A lot foreign businesses, the Welcome Market, the American Chamber of Commerce, and western style restaurants draw westerners seeking a respite from Shanghai culture shock. As much we say we like Shanghai cuisine, as a westerner we are more likely than not to seek out a cheeseburger or a pizza on occasion.

In the Shanghai center complex, there are couple of staples to western diet - BBQ at Tony Romas or Burgers and other American fare at the Hard Rock Cafe. If you collect Hard Rock T-shirts, I guess you must pay them a visit. While these places have reasonably well prepared fare at and very premium western price, you can do better. If you have a hankering for BBQ ribs, pass Tony's and walk around the corner on Tongren Lu to Henry's. It is smaller, cozier, and tastier. Their set lunch special is terrific. Soup, Salad, vegies, tea, ice cream and huge slab of tasty BBQ ribs for RMB 38. At Tony's you would pay over 100 and it wouldn't be as good. If you need a cheeseburger fix, don't waste your time on McDonalds or pay over $10 at the Hard Rock. Talk a couple blocks west on Nanjing to the Always Cafe and get a fairly tasty burger and fries there for $3. The food is fresh, well prepared, the menu is extensive and reasonable and they obviously have had experience with what westerners are looking for.

If you can't get enough of Chinese, across the street from the Portman is Bi Feng Tang. Great dumplings and spicy noodles well prepared. I have been there several times for lunch and dinner. I always get the shrimp dumplings. Noodle soup and congee are available as staples. Good food and an even better place to soak up the street atmostphere of Shanghai on a warm night. There little sidewalk table under the trees make you really feel like you are somewhere exotic. Prices are very reasonable for what you get.

I fear its a tie. Margaret's favorite is Shanghai Ren Jia. It is located on Yunnan Zhong Lu near Yan An Lu (the north side of the Yan An). She's local so she knows. There is always a line to get in here and most times we had to make reservations at busy meal times. It is pretty good. We took Margarets father there for the recent holiday. We some really tasty garlic shrimp, a great eggplant dish - ( and I don't usually like eggplant ), soup, deep friend garlic pork ribs, aspargus tips which were cooked just right in a tasty sauce, sweet stuffed lotus root, and more. They do have some english on the menu so you know what you are ordering if you don't read Chinese, As with most good restaurants that were local, it was packed, the noise level was high, and smoking is permitted. Even with those, I will go a back again.

My favorite is the 1221 Restaurant on 1221 Yan An Lu. Just a couple blocks down the road from us, it is very easy to find once you've been there. I could go there for the cold dishes alone. Again, it is a popular place. You are liable to see a few more expats here and there is probably going to be wait at meal time if you don't have reservations. They have english on the menu. All their dishes were very tasty and well prepared. I liked the shredded chicken in sesame sauce and the sweet and sour cucumbers to start. Margaret always gets her sweet lotus root. From there, many choices for shrimp, fish, pork and chicken. I have never been disappointed. The last time the chef sent out a dessert - a sweet rice pancake ( BaBaoFan) with banana and raisins. We ordered another round after tasting the first. Very reasonable prices with no dish we saw more than 40RMB and most in the 10-20 RMB range.

Co-Chin China. Service was impecabble, food was delicious, and the environment was luxurious, and I was amazed at how little we paid for a great meal (party of 9). I think we had a little of everything on the menu. Crab was tasty; they have good vegetarian selections. No free refills on drinks though (drinks were the most expensive part of the menu). Each dish we ordered came to us like a work of art. I could eat the crispy tofu all night.

We have had a number of interesting excursions since the last log. We have tasted some goodies from a few of the local restaurants. There is a myth that you can order dog and cat as regular fare. Those are not popular dishes here and I have not been to a place yet that have them on the menu. We have had, however, very tasty frog legs, very delicious eel, rabbit, along with the standard pork, beef, chicken, vegetables and tofu. We will get into a few of the specific restaurants we visited in our places section. Most restaurants here know the meaning of fresh- especially where seafood is concerned.

Most good sit-down Chinese restaurant have large tanks where the fish, eel, turtles, shrimp, and snakes are kept alive until they ready to be prepared for an order. My mother in her recent visit from the US, noticed that all the dinners we ate out seemed like a lot of food. With 6 of us around the table, a dozen or more dishes who come steaming out of the kitchen. She also noted that portions were smaller than in the US and that eating with chopsticks, one probably ends up eating slower and less overall quantity than a "normal" dinner in the US. We have never walked away hungry from anywhere we've eaten and I am still loosing poundage and feel great. All and all, I have been pretty happy with the food here.