It’s been nearly a month since I returned from spending Christmas weekend in Shanghai and I’ve meaning to provide a recap and review here, but unfortunately it’s been an extremely busy past few weeks. Also, most of my free time has been devoted to planning my next trip: I leave this Sunday night for 11 days in Malaysia, Thailand, and Cambodia.
Overall, I saw a very small part of Shanghai. Being in the world’s most populous city, I decided to focus my four days there on the must-see’s: the Bund, the old French Concession, Pudong, and Nanjing Road.
December 24
Check-in
I arrived Christmas Eve morning at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, which rivals JFK as the most avoid-if-possible airport I’ve flown through. I took the subway into the city which dropped me off just three blocks from my hotel.
I had booked a room at the Astor House Hotel, which lies at the north end of the Bund and is steeped in history. Opened in 1846 by a Scottish merchant, it was the first ever western-style hotel to welcome guests in China and has been called one of the world’s most famous hotels. While the lobby is grand and sprawling, the individual rooms are built to resemble tiny cottages which provides a much more cozy and homey feel. After unloading my luggage, I read a small note in my room that indicated I was staying just two doors down from where Albert Einstein and Charlie Chaplin had stayed…not together, I’m assuming.
My room at the Astor House
My room was on the top floor and looked out over the Russian Consulate to the Pudong Skyline, although blocked slightly by the Hyatt Hotel a block away.
Nighttime view from my room
After unpacking, I decided to go for a stroll along the Bund. The Bund is a long strip along the west bank of the Huangpu River. To one side is the river with the picturesque Pudong skyline on the eastern bank. On the other side is a long stretch of five star hotels and financial buildings that at one time were all international trading houses. The buildings themselves are an eclectic mix of Art Deco, Romanesque, Baroque, Gothic, and many other Western styles sometimes blending into each other. The walk is full of tourists and it can be difficult to take in the sights without walking head-on into an extended selfie stick.
Boxing Cat
At night, I met my roommate and his girlfriend, who had also traveled to Shanghai, for dinner at The Boxing Cat Brewery in the Old French Concession. The craft brewery, started by two American expats and one Shanghai local, has gained international recognition for its beer and locally has won awards for its western food, as well. The pub, and the beers, have a boxing theme and I enjoyed their TKO IPA along with a bowl of Jambalaya, which was as good as any I’ve had outside of New Orleans.
December 25
Sunrise
The view from the Bund looking across to the Pudong skyline in the east can offer a breathtaking sunrise and I thought I would try my luck at catching it. I set my alarm for 6:15 and was out on the river walk by 6:30, camera in hand, to hopefully snap some memorable photos. With the first light illuminating the bases of the skyscrapers, I readied my camera, but unfortunately at the last minute a sheet of fog and mist rolled in and the rain that would stay with me the rest of the trip began.
My foggy Pudong sunrise
Xiao Long Bao
Shanghai is famous for its cuisine, especially its xiao long bao, or soup dumplings. Filled with meat and soup, these dumplings feel like a marvel of physics and taste like heaven. There is an ongoing debate amongst the Shanghainese about what place makes the best xiao long bao, but one place that has consistently topped the Best of lists is Jia Jia Tang Bao, so of course I decided to make it there for lunch.
Outside, the snaked line of people waiting underneath umbrellas seemed to justify its lofty praise and I quickly grabbed my spot in the cue. After about 30 minutes I was finally inside the small restaurant. It was only 12:30 but they were already sold out of everything but their specialty: a combination of pork and crabmeat.
The line at Jia Jia Tang Bao
My roommate, his girlfriend, and I crammed ourselves in a booth next to a couple of Korean tourists and anxiously waited our baskets of dumplings. After ten minutes, a Chinese auntie brought them over and the table fell silent as we savored every bite. We each finished a dozen and wished we had ordered more, but we also had to save room for our big Christmas dinner later that night.
Kitchen view at Jia Jia Tang Bao
Yuyuan Gardens
After our incredible lunch, we hiked across the downtown to Yuyuan Garden, an extensive garden built in 1559 that sits beside the City God Temple. It felt eerie to walk inside as you were instantly transported from the hustle and bustle of vibrant downtown Shanghai to the old city on the river 500 years ago.
One of several ponds in Yu Garden
The grounds spread out over five acres in the heart of the city. In addition to the gardens, there were roughly a dozen of the original buildings still standing, as well as several ponds built in between and separated by walking bridges.
Downtown is literally just past the trees
Christmas Dinner
Being thousands of miles away from our families on Christmas Day was tough for both my roommate and I, but we decided to make the best of it and reserve seats at one of the better western restaurants for a gluttonous Christmas dinner. We booked a table at Shanghai Slim’s in the Old French Concession and were not disappointed. We feasted on turkey, prime rib, and ham alongside other Americans and Europeans while the restaurant supplied a steady stream of Johnny Mathis and Nat King Cole Christmas Carols.
Christmas menu at Shanghai Slim’s
December 26
A cold and rainy Boxing Day greeted me on Monday morning as I made my way to the Cathay Theatre, a grand Art Deco movie theater built in the 1930’s that showed the first western movies in China. I was there to see The Great Wall, the latest Zhang Yimou film that stars Matt Damon in a “white savior” trope as a deadly mercenary who joins forces with the Chinese to beat back horrible monsters at the wall in 13th century China. The film wasn’t half as bad as I was expecting and it kept me sheltered from the freezing rain.
Propaganda Poster Art Centre
After the film, I headed to what, aside from the food, was the highlight of the trip: The Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Centre. Located in the basement of an apartment building, this privately-run museum is dedicated to housing the largest collection of Chinese propaganda posters from the 20th Century, including over 5,000 pieces from the birth of the People’s Republic in 1949 to the ascension of Deng Xiaoping and his Economic Reforms in 1979. Under Deng, the old posters were ordered to be destroyed, but luckily the museum’s owner began to illegally collect them to preserve as a time capsule look to China’s recent past.
After the Propaganda Museum, I hustled over to try and make it inside the Jing’an Temple, a Buddhist temple originally built in 247 AD, before it closed. Unfortunately, I got there ten minutes late to make it that day, but I was still able to take a walk around the outside. The Temple is located in the middle of the city and in fact sits next to a Ferrari dealership. I laughed at the sight, but then realized how perfectly that encapsulated modern day China. China is filled with new rich that are looking to spend their money on all the flashiest toys, but everywhere you look you are also bombarded of images from the past few thousand years.
Even without the Ferrari dealership, Shanghai felt very much like a playground for the rich. Just walking around downtown, I saw several Rolls Royces, Lamborghinis, and even a Bugatti. There are several high-end bars there where drinks start at $25 and many Michelin starred restaurants that charge between $400-$800 for a dinner. And a walk down Nanjing Road takes you by Tiffany’s, Cartier, Prada, and Dolce and Gabbana flagship stores.
December 27
Before catching my flight in the afternoon, I had one more mission to accomplish. At Jia Jia Tang Bao, I was able to try some of the best steamed soup dumplings, but there is also a fried version that is allegedly just as good.
Literally across the street from Jia Jia Tang Bao is Yang’s Fried Dumplings, arguably the best of the fried variety. There was no snaking line like Jia Jia, but the dumplings may have been even better. Fried crispy on the outside with a piping hot soup and pork on the inside, I again left wishing I had ordered more.
Finally, it was time for me to say goodbye to the Pearl of the Orient and head back to the boondoggle that is the Hongqiao Airport. Despite four days of cold and rain, I was still able to see quite a bit of Shanghai. Still, I hope to make it back in warmer weather to go test drive a Ferrari.