As we got ready to leave Hong Kong, we were finally feeling a bit better and were looking forward to our next stop in China – Shanghai! This was especially exciting because we were meeting up with our good friends from back home, Jesse, Lu, Nick & Janet. Both Jesse & Nick went to college with Andrew, and I’ve become good friends with the girls over the past few years. On a side note, Nick spent a year after college living in Shanghai, so he was pretty familiar with the city, and Lu grew up in China (Beijing to be exact), so we were excited to explore the next couple of cities with her.
Our flight from Hong Kong to Shanghai was pretty early in the morning, so we had to wake up at 4:30AM. Definitely not fun, but we were glad to be feeling better, so we packed up our things and headed to the airport. The 2 hour flight was easy. However, we were surprised at some of the differing customs on Chinese airlines. For one, you cannot use your cell phone the entire flight, even if it’s on airplane mode – it has to be completely off. I usually listen to music on every flight so this was a major bummer for me. The second thing we noticed was the decent sized meal you got for a 2 hour flight – something that US flights no longer offer, even on 5 hour flights across the country. It’s interesting to note differences like this as we’ve traveled between the different countries.
After grabbing our bags, we took a taxi to meet up with our friends. Nick and Janet had just come from spending a few days in Thailand so we were able to get some good pointers from them for our visit. Jesse and Lu seemed to have a good, yet long, flight in from LA. We caught up for a bit and then went to go check out the city.
There were some very interesting & modern buildings. We liked the one shaped like a bottle opener in the background of the picture below.
From left to right – Janet, myself, & Lu
Oriental Pearl Tower – Radio & TV tower
After grabbing a delicious dim sum style Chinese lunch, we headed over to our Airbnb to check in. We were all a bit tired from traveling, so we hung around the Airbnb and relaxed before dinner.
One of the main things that my friend Lu has taught me over these past few days in China is the various types of Chinese cuisine that exist. Fortunately, we were able to experience a different type of Chinese cuisine every night we were in Shanghai (and also in Beijing – but you’ll read more about that in my next entry!). We were also able to meet up with one of Lu’s good friends Jenny, who currently lives in Shanghai, for dinner every night. She used to live in LA, but since moving to Shanghai a few months back, she has been able to discover a number of delicious, and very unique, Chinese restaurants. We learned that crab is currently in season in the Shanghai region, so Jenny and Lu wanted to take all of us to a restaurant that specialized in crab dishes. We found out that these restaurants have separate menus for their crab dishes that they only put out between the months of September and November. Jenny and Lu did all of the ordering, since all Chinese restaurants serve most of their dishes family style, and they knew the “must try” items on the menu. Everything was delicious and the experience was wonderful.
Cheng Long Hang – Crab house in Shanghai!
From left to right – Janet, myself, Jenny, & Lu
The next day we woke up to find Jesse and Lu had gone out and gotten us some items that make up a traditional Chinese breakfast. We then headed out to Tian Zi Fang, which is a beautiful, enclosed area in Shanghai with small alleyways filled with shops and restaurants. We spent a few hours checking out some of the shops and enjoying some lunch.
Tianzifang
Beef Noodle Soup for lunch – Chinese fast food, delicious!
Andrew and Nick trying to recreate the statue
After leaving Tianzifang, we found an authentic and luxurious Chinese spa, so Janet and I decided to get our nails done, along with a massage, both of which were very relaxing and appreciated after our morning of walking around.
Lu took a picture of me getting pampered
On our 2nd night, Jenny and Lu wanted us to experience Sichuan Chinese cuisine, which is known for being spicy. However, we learned it’s more of a numbing spice, as opposed to a fire spice, which was very interesting. Andrew loved it since he’s a big fan of spicy food, and I enjoyed it, even though I can’t handle too much spiciness. At one point I accidentally bit into one of the full peppercorns that was in one of the dishes and (unfortunately) was able to experience that numbing spice.
Peacock – Sichuan Cuisine
From left to right – Jesse, Andrew, Me, Jenny, Lu, Janet, Nick
In the picture below, the bowl on the right is a spicy fish dish, and the fish is cooked in all of those red peppers that are shown on the plate. The server is removing a majority of the peppers from the dish before we eat it, so it’s not as spicy, since the peppers themselves are extremely hot.
After dinner we headed to a place for some drinks called Hotel Indigo, which had a few amazing views of the city of Shanghai and “the bund”, which is a waterfront area in Shanghai.
After Hotel Indigo, we headed to another bar that Nick mentioned he used to frequent when he lived there. They were known for their rum, which was served with dry ice. Pretty cool presentation.
The next day was Wednesday (November 9th) in Shanghai, which meant it was Election Day back home. Since our lunchtime was Tuesday evening back in the States, we scurried to find a bar where we could grab some lunch and watch the election results. After many failed attempts, we finally found a restaurant (Liquid Laundry) that had a pretty big set up for the election. Apparently this place is popular among a lot of foreigners, so we were able to watch the election results in Shanghai with other Americans in the city.
It was our last night in Shanghai, so Jenny and Lu wanted to take us to a traditional Shanghainese restaurant, so we could try the food that was typical of the people from Shanghai. This type of food was delicious and probably my favorite of the 3 nights.
Jardin de Jade – Lu & Jenny ordering all of our food, as they did every night
Peeling the scales off of the fish with a spoon!
After dinner we headed to another place that Nick used to frequent when he lived in Shanghai called Bar Rouge. It was another place on “The Bund” with spectacular views of the city. It was a great way to spend our last night in Shanghai before heading to our last city in China – Beijing!
Bar Rouge
Andrew + Allison Around the World 