Massages in Shanghai

One of the perks of living in Shanghai (and I imagine the rest of China) is the abundance of inexpensive, easily accessible massages. They are typically good quality and a fraction of the cost of massages in the US.

Most massage parlors will offer foot or full body options of various lengths of time.

Foot massages will typically include a neck/shoulder/back rub while your feet soak, and then full treatment of your feet. You sit in a big comfy loveseat with your feet up on an ottoman while they work. I never knew I even had so many little feet muscles that could be so relaxed. Many also practice reflexology so expect some strong prodding.

Unlike in the US, you remain fully dressed or in a pajama-like outfit that they give you for the full body massages (though I have been told you strip down for oil rubs). Sometimes there are options for Chinese or Japanese shiatsu massage -- I think shiatsu hurts more.

There are various kinds of spas from those that cater to expat sensabilities to more local feel. The local places, in addition to having limited English/Japanese speakers, have more communal massage spaces instead of private rooms and less 'ambiance' but are cheaper. The other option to consider here are the blind massage places that hire trained blind masseuses who are amazing.

Honestly I am not a massage expert so I'll stop with the details here. Other flavors of massage and spa options include head massages, aromatherapy, cupping (something that has to do with fire on your back), ear candling (fire in your ear), and foot scrubbing.

Places near Ascott/Fraser and Xintiandi (from fanciest to not)

• Green Massage is a chain with four Shanghai locations, including off Xintiandi on Taicang Lu right next to Bellagio and Enoteca (in case you want to combine massage with dessert or wine). One of the more expensive places I've found in China, but it's open from 10:30-02:00 and a few blocks away so I went more earlier on. A traditional foot and Chinese full body massage is 216rmb for 135 min. I've had a head massage for 45 min/98rmb that is just fantastic. The receptionists also speak English and Japanese, so was a good 'starter' massage place when I was first here. I am finding it hard to get 'walk in' appointments these days, so call ahead at +8621-5386-0222.
  58 Taicang Lu (near Jinan Lu)
  太仓路58号（近济南路）
• ItO-Massage (伊都) is on Pu'an Lu off of Huaihai Zhong Lu. There are two signs that say massage on the block and both happen to be on 3F of adjacent buildings. This is the one closer to Huaihai Lu with the slightly fancier brown sign. ItO is surprisingly nice once you get to the third floor with several small rooms for foot and body massages of 3-5 people. I had a fantastic one hour foot massage for 98rmb (masseuse #021 is amazing if you want to request her). They also have massage with oil and other goods and full suite of other packages. Open from 10:00-02:00 and number is +86-21-6386-3101. http://www.itomassage.com/
  3F, No 138 Pu An Lu
  普安路138号3楼
• Shanghai Xinhui Blindman Healthcare Massage Parlor is the other Pu'an Lu place with the green 'massage' sign also on the 3F (look for 盲人which means blind). On the 3F, turn left and it's the first door in the little hallway. It's a three room shop, one room with three loveseats and two rooms with about four beds each. No ambiance whatsoever but fantastic massages. I found one guy who spoke Japanese but otherwise it's all Chinese. But for 45 min 40rmb foot or body massages. Open from 11:00-23:00
  普安路128号3楼（近淮海中路，金陵中路）
  128 Puan Lu 3F (near Huaihai Zhong Lu, Jinling Zhong Lu)

There is a nice group of massage parlors to try on Dagu Lu (大沽路), including the famous chain Dragonfly.

• Dragonfly is listed in every Lonely Planet type travel site I have seen on Shanghai. I have only been to the Beijing one (since it was on the LP we looked at for our trip there). Not so cheap but quite luxurious (for still a fraction of any Western spa)
• fino is affiliated with a Japanese Azabu-Juban shop and quite nice. They specialize in aromatherapy. I haven't been but the place that I hear recommended often for both nice and inexpensive massages are by the Four Seasons. The foot and shiatsu treatment for 100min is 178rmb. Call +8621-6359-1155 (or 139-1786-0903 for Japanese)

The other area that I have seen recommended for massage places is by the Four Seasons.

New York City

There are definitely better guides to New York City, since it's been five years since I lived in the Big Apple, but I still have opinions and my favorites.

I absolutely love the City, the energy, the bustle, the tall buildings. IMHO it is an "experiential" city, kind of like Shanghai, where there are key tourist attractions, but the best way to enjoy it is to be like the locals and live, eat, explore, for a few days.

Eat and Drink
I can't pretend to know the best of NYC food and drink anymore. However, I still know it's one of the best food and drink cities in the world (if not the best) and definitely take advantage of every meal you have!!

Chowhound, Zagat and Yelp will be great resources - just keep in mind grain of salt for the "user" generated feedback.

If you are not American, it's time to become acquainted with OpenTable (http://www.opentable.com/). Many high end restaurants in major US cities use this reservation platform to some extent, and it will let you make reservations 24 hours/day way in advance of your trip at the places where you definitely want to eat.

For the two cents that it's worth, here are my NYC Yelp reviews and eat blog posts. Don't have too many, and I definitely think there are better lists.

Grand Central
42nd and Park Ave (Metro North and subways 4-5-6-S)
I think this is the coolest train station ever. I might have a soft place for Grand Central because this was my gateway into Manhattan when I was growing up in Connecticut, and also my way home when I was going to see my parents when I lived in NY. The station has this amazing dome with constellations and light shows during the holidays. I still stop in my tracks and stare up every time I walk in.

I might also love this place because of The Oyster Bar. It's located down the ramps, halfway to the dining area on the bottom floor of GC. When you go in, turn right and sit at the bar, and order a clam chowder, some cherry stone clams, oysters, and glass of chardonnay. The cherry stones are amazing - enormous, meaty and filling (if you don't like the clam genre, this is not for you). Great selection of oysters and you have to try a real New England clam chowder once.

After the Oyster Bar, stop at Campbell Apartment. This is another hidden place within Grand Central. I believe this will be towards the east side of the station - you can get there from the side entrance by Lexington Ave, or winding through the corridors in the station. Big happy hour crowd, but I think it's a great uniquely NY bar.

Other "old school" NY
In the same genre as GC are a few places that I remember feeling super NYer-y and grown up at back in my local days...

• Bemelman's Bar - located in the Carlyle Hotel on 76th and Madison, Bemelman's has fantastic ambiance with a jazz pianist and murals on the wall by the illustrator of the "Madeleine" books. Also where Carrie took Louise in SATC movie :)


• Keen's Steakhouse - I won't even try to get into "best steak in NYC" discussion, but this is my favorite steakhouse as much for the atmosphere as the steak and mutton (which is a must-have). Start with a drink at their classic bar and get at least one order of the mutton with your steaks. 36th between 5th & 6th.


• Yankees Stadium - Ok so I am a little biased, being a Yankee's fan . And the experience is a little less "classic" in the new stadium. But I don't know what can be more New York than a Yankees game, if you are there from April to October. Pick up cheap tickets online and have a beer and hot dog at the game. Take the 4, B, or D subway lines to 161st St/Yankees Stadium.

Central Park
You should definitely spend some time to enjoy Central Park. In the summer, look out for the free concerts, the Philharmonic, and Shakespeare in the Park. Go for a run around the Reservoir (E86-96th) or see the various gardens. Get a deli picnic (and perhaps a bottle of wine) and camp out on the Great Lawn. You'll see the iconic horse drawn buggies at the south end at 59th Street (though you might smell them first)

Also, though not Central Park, Bryant Park at 45th and 6th has a fantastic free film series in the summer and ice skating and other activities through the rest of the year.

The Arts
New York might be the best in the world if you like the arts. I am not super artsy but I love being able to go to a symphony or ballet or jazz or an exhibit any day and with so many options.

Check out Lincoln Center for what's playing there, or Carnegie Hall. Jazz at Lincoln Center is fabulous. They have some great spaces and programs in the Columbus Circle Time Warner Building. The Allen Room space is phenomenal, with the Central Park and NY skyline in the background as the sun sets during the jazz show. Dizzy's is another great space, and you can make reservations on OpenTable (see below).

Obviously the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) and the Modern Museum of Art (MoMA) are two of the world's best, with a great permanent collection as well as special exhibits. So many smaller but fantastic museums and galleries. Definitely check out listings when you get in (see NY mag below).

Don't think it's considered the "arts", but I also love exploring the Natural History Museum on the upper west side. One super cheesy but educational and fun was to enjoy this museum (as well as a bunch of others now) is Watson Adventures' scavenger hunts, two hour whirlwind group competitions to answer clues based on what you can find at each site.

Touristy New York
If you have to do the touristy things in NYC, here's my mom's NYC one-day tour she takes Japanese visitors on.

Start at Battery Park, take photos of Statue of Liberty. Ground Zero site is blocks away, then walk around Wall Street. Head north to Chinatown for dim sum lunch, then up to midtown to see the UN on the east side (42nd-46th and 1st Ave), Empire State Building (34th and 5th Ave), and walk on Fifth Ave. On your way out of the city, relax at the Cloisters.

Etc.
*Buy a New York Magazine first thing when you arrive in the city. Magazine has the week's schedules for shows and exhibits in town, as well as great restaurant lists. The website's Restaurant section might be helpful.

*Use the subway. Super convenient, runs all hours, pretty clean and safe (usual precautions), and as cheap as NYC gets.

*If you are coming from elsewhere on the Eastern seaboard, consider taking Amtrak into Penn Station. LGA and JFK are both outside of Manhattan and can be lengthy cab rides depending on time of day, and the trains don't have the hassle of air travel with similar or cheaper fares.

Expo Pub Crawl

There are many ways to experience World Expo -- see amazing architecture, wait in lines to see the big guns, or visit small countries that you probably wouldn't get to in your lifetime. Another way to enjoy Expo is to eat and drink your way through it. This post is about drinking.

Zone C in Pudong where Europe, America and Africa's country pavilions are located have the largest concentration of brewhouses and good restaurants (click on map below). A handful of contenders are in Puxi as well. Note, this is not the cheapest way to do a pub crawl in Shanghai, as you will pay a 160rmb to enter the park (or 90rmb after 5pm) and the beers are not inexpensive. However they are good and you also get to see a lot of Expo.

Here are some suggested stops for an Expo pub crawl, as well as other places you can eat and drink at Expo.

Zone C beers
The Americas, Europe, and Africa make up the westernmost zone on the Pudong side. Enter at Gate 7 or 8, or you can come from the Puxi side by subway or to ferry dock L4 or L6.

Belgium - clearly you can't do a pub crawl without including the Belgians. For those on the fly, you can get Stella, Hoegaarten and something else (sorry I forget) at the little kiosk bar in front of the pavilion alongside the Belgian fries and waffle huts. If you have a few more rmb and time, go up to the 2nd floor cafe. The entrance is to the right of the pavilion queue, and can you walk right in. I got a Chimay (had Red, should have gone White) which comes with cheese, and I was excited to see they had Delirium Tremens which is one of my fav Belgian pale ales.

Germany - obviously we had to stop at Germany as well, and lucky for us, they're only two doors down from the Belgians. They have a small bar and slightly larger restaurant with outdoor seating located at the front of the pavilion under the arches. Light and dark beer. Note, at the risk of sounding like a total wuss, it's worth splitting the 1/2 liter beers with a friend so you can keep going, here and at other pavilions.

Netherlands - wasn't on the original list, but the daily parade foiled our plan to cross the street to Lithuania, and we discovered that the Netherlands sold 20rmb Heinekens at their kiosks closest to the street and Luxembourg. Also was a good time for fried sticks of meat.

Lithuania - the bar at Lithuania is actually inside of the pavilion - enter and you'll see a few bar counters and seating area in front of you towards the left. They serve serveral kinds of Svyturys, which was fantastic. Our pavilion directors swears this is the best beer at Expo, and it was one of the best we had.

Mexico - we were hungry after four pavilions so head to Mexico, sponsored by Corona and with Mexican fare at their restaurant (and decent accessible bathrooms btw. Belgian cafe is the other nice pit stop). The entrance to the restaurant is at the exit of the pavilion -- walk down the left side of the stairs where everyone is coming out, and you'll see the restaurant on the left.

Malta - our last stop for the evening was at Malta Pavilion, a small pavilion within the Europe Joint Pavilion I, and one of my favorites. The bar is towards the end of the pavilion visit, and they serve Cisk, a Maltese lager named after slang for 'cheque' from the old owner's banking background. They said we need to come back to get the Cisk 'X'. Say "thank you" to them in their native language - sounds like Italian "grazie"

Czech - one pavilion that we missed on the beer tour was Czech where they serve Budvar, the Czech Budweiser.

Zone C wine and spirits
There's also a fine selection of wine and other drinks in this corner of Expo

Argentina - I am itching to try the Argentinian steak house with wine from their 15 sponsor wineries. Argentinian steak... mmm...

Chile - the other great wine from the region comes from Chile. I hear they have a great wine bar where you can pass away the day.

Moldova - the obscure former Soviet republic produced some fantastic wines. There's a Moldovan merlot that I loved, along with a pretty wide selection from what I hear. Moldova Pavilion is part of Europe Joint Pavilion II.

Peru - Peru's national drink is the Pisco Sour, a fantastic concoction of pisco (grape liquor), egg whites, lime/lemon, sugars and bitters. The drink is fantastic, and I'd recommend a refueling stop here for their amazing ceviche, seafood rice, and the potato turnovers.

Cuba - unfortunately Cuba was closed by 9:30pm on Saturday night, but hear they serve great mojitos

Spain - the tapas restaurant on the ground floor of the Spain Pavilion also serves sherry. Enter the restaurant at the right of the queue.

Angola - I am not sure how Angola made the list, except they are supposed to have 38rmb cocktails at their bar...

Puxi options
So the Puxi side is less trafficked but has some hidden gems.

Asashi Beer Garden - hard to walk by without stopping for a beer. Second floor of one of the dining buildings at the border of Zone D and E by the Aurora Pavilion, there's really nothing else around there. Could be your first stop if you come in from Gate 2.

Madrid - Madrid Pavilion has a fantastic tapas restaurant on the 3rd floor, and they also do sangria and churros. Madrid is at the faaaar corner of Zone E Urban Best Practice Area, but really is one of my favorite city pavilions.

Barcelona - stop by at Barcelona's funky neon pavilion and head towards the back to their wine bar. Also in Zone E Urban Best Practices Area.

Japan Business - not so much a bar, but Zone D Japan Business Pavilion food court has awesome green tea ice cream, yakisoba and takoyaki, and cold cans of beer. Nice stop on the way home from work :)

Here's a SmartShanghai article on Expo pub crawling... pictures at the bottom are nice...
http://www.smartshanghai.com/blog/1669/Getting_Pissed_at_the_Expo.html

Shanghai Night Bike Ride

August 2010

I never thought I'd ever be crazy or suicidal enough to ride a bike (or drive anything for that matter) on the streets of Shanghai. However my fearless visitor said she wanted to try the Shanghai Night Rides offered by Bohdi Adventures.

A few more friends joined along and we had a fantastic time! The group was four of us, two strangers, and two Bohdi guides. They gave us mountain bikes, helmets and water, before we started from the Bohdi offices around 7:30pm. With a few pit stops we rode about three and a half hours. We passed through residential areas up north Shanghai, to the art gallery district 50 Moganshan Lu, down to the Bund and Xintiandi, and back to their office. All flat and not tough exercise at all, but it is tough to be in the saddle that long when you're out of bike shape, ouch.

Bohdi runs these rides on Thursday nights, great 200rmb :)

Shanghai Night Bike Ride ~part 1~ from Aki Naito on Vimeo.

Shanghai Night Bike Ride ~part 2~ from Aki Naito on Vimeo.

Beijing 北京

August 2010

My best friend and I spent four days in Beijing from a Saturday afternoon through Tuesday night. We knew nothing about the city, with limited Mandarin abilities (mainly mine), and we had a great time.

Here are the highlights and facebook album

• Great Wall - a must, we went to the Mutianyu part of the wall
• Forbidden City - impressive and a little overwhelming
• Massages - inexpensive and welcome after long days of touring
• Food - eat some Peking duck for sure
• Acrobat Show - surreal

We arrived on Saturday afternoon, ready for vacation. We stayed at the Great Wall Sheraton Beijing near the embassies in Chaoyang -- I heart those Starwood points.

After settling in, we head off to get massages. Dragon Fly is a high-end spa chain with locations across major Chinese and few other cities. We went to the Beijing location by Lufthansa Center and our hotel (@Yan Sha), in the middle of an expat village complete with a City Market and Fatburger. As this was day 1 of vacation, we went for the "Ultimate Indulgence" full body and foot massage, 290rmb for 120 minutes.

My friend happens to be vegetarian and I definitely am not, but we both enjoyed Pure Lotus, a Chinese vegetarian and uber traditional medicine restaurant. I definitely rolled my eyes a few times at the menu, but the food is absolutely delicious and the presentation is fantastic. We went to the one in the Courtyard of Tongguang Building, The West of Agriculture Department, ChangHong Bridge, East Third Ring Road. We went back to their second location at the Holiday Inn Lido on the way to the airport on Tuesday, but found it to be a much worse experience with ok food (mamahuhu if you will) with cheesy feel next to the astrobowl.

Forbidden City
We did this on Sunday. Our guide book said to start at Jingshan Park north of Palace Museum (which is what the Forbidden City is really called), but we ignored it and saw Tian’anmen Square and got tickets at the south gate. Big mistake – we waited in line FOREVER (I don’t wear watches on vacation but it was a long, crowded Chinese line, went through a full bottle of water waiting). We ended up walking out of the north gate and across the street to Jingshan Park, where you can climb up a hill for the full aerial view of Forbidden City which is pretty amazing. And the north gate had zero lines for tickets, doh.

Tian'anmen Square, Forbidden City, and Jingshan Park from Aki Naito on Vimeo.

So we recommend

• See Jingshan Park first (10rmb I think)
• Enter Forbidden City from north gate, across the street from Jingshan Park (60rmb)
• Get an English audio guide (40rmb charge plus 100rmb deposit that they give you at the end). The GPS is imperfect and audio lady is a bit verbose, but worth the 40rmb, we each got one
• If you do subway to Tian’anmen West, the #5 bus goes to close to Jingshan. They definitely do not have English on the bus signs or on-board so write down Tian’anmen Sq (天安门广场) and Jingshan (西景山)

After a little rest, we went over to the 798 Art District. Like 50 Moganshanlu in Shanghai, this is the hip art area with a ton of art galleries. We were recommended a Peking duck restaurant across the street from 798. We got there a little late as 798 Art District closes around 7:30pm, but found some cheap shopping across the street before we set out to find my duck.

You Xin Kao Ya (友鑫烤鴨) is not on the main street and in an alley so will take some searching, but was definitely worth it. Delicious roast duck and actually an amazing vegetarian-friendly selection of dishes as well.

Great Wall

The Great Wall at Mutianyu from Aki Naito on Vimeo.

We went on Monday and it was awesome. There are several parts of the wall that you can go to. We were recommended Mutianyu (慕田峪) because it is less crowded and more of a hike. It’s a little farther than some other spots, but the big tour buses can’t get there so you don’t have as many of the flag waving guides and some of it can be hard (big steps and lots of them) so not everyone likes it. Mutianyu also has a toboggan slide that you can go down

Tobaggon Ride Down the Great Wall from Aki Naito on Vimeo.

We got a driver for the day. Got picked up around 7:45 and it’s about 90 min drive. Once you get out of Beijing, open roads. Definitely go early, the first few hours on the wall were really nice and quiet with people but not too many. Last hour or so of walk was starting to get pretty crowded, especially on the lower part of the wall that’s easier to get to.

I couldn't find Mutianyu on any English weather sites. This weather site is Chinese, but you can still figure out Mutianyu weather.

There’s apparently 20 watchtowers that make up the Mutianyu stretch of the Great Wall (they only number #6 and #14). From the parking lot, we took the cable car to #14 (45rmb + 45rmb Wall entrance fee), walked up as far as we could towards #20 (left), then walked back to #6 and took the toboggan (50rmb) down again. Maybe 3-4 hours, including lots of rest and photo stops. We went through 3 bottles of water each – they sell them for 3-5rmb at the bottom and about 10-15 on the Wall. My Power Bar was a lifesaver, would recommend you bring some sort of snack.

We were recommended lunch at The Schoolhouse, which is probably 100m from the bottom parking lot. It used to be a school but now a converted inn and restaurant. Cute, a little hippy, Western food (I got a burger). +86 10 6162-6506, they sat us inside without a res (though we were happy with A/C) but you should call esp for weekend.

Our driver Tony was awesome. Great English and we got a full Chinese history lesson in the car there (ok I liked it, Yell fell asleep). He’s also helped us out with the acrobat show and another massage today. His number is 139-1186-0851 (office phone 10-5129-4091, tonyyue2008@yahoo.com.cn). 500rmb for full day driver.

Massages
We’re on vacation and my friend is a masseuse so we like our massages

Hanlife 漢方洲

Tony brought us here, super authentic Chinese massage without frills. Definitely was manhandled but was really good. Upper body 60 min plus 20 min foot massage for 150rmb. We went back on out last night for a "navel massage".

6500-3853 or 8407-4455. Dongsheng, Beimencang 6 haolou 18hao 东城区北门仓6号楼18号

Acrobat Show
Super tourist trap and they have these all over China, but we loved the Chinese acrobat show. It’s at TianDi Theater (near Hanlife). We got hooked up through Tony, 250rmb each for front-middle seats. 19:15 show every day, and it was surreal. Loved it.

Eating in Shanghai

Dining in Shanghai is fantastic, with a wide range of cuisine and prices. It is generally easy to find good food in Shanghai, though sometimes the value can be questionable, particularly at foreigner-friendly venues. Since there are so many places that are great, here are lists of my recommendations by category

Fun Dinner

• Lost Horizon - Yunan eatery near the Bund, relatively inexpensive and foreigner friendly; lounge and bar


• Mr & Mrs Bund - French fusion, fun atmosphere, and delicious food


• Sichuan Citizen - Sichuanese for foreigners, fun place, great drinks


• Jujube Tree - delicious "vegetarian" organic Chinese cuisine like sweet & sour pork and chicken satay - I have no idea how it's done but I fully enjoy this place as a carnivore


• People 6 and People 7 - the whole 'People' concept still escapes my understanding, but uber cool eateries with some funky twists

Work Dinner - Chinese

• Lost Horizon - Yunan eatery near the Bund, foreigner friendly


• Ye Shanghai - Shanghainese in Xintiandi


• Whampoa Club - modern Shanghainese at 3 on the Bund


• South Beauty - Sichuan restaurant group

Work Dinner - Western

• Mr & Mrs Bund - delicious French fusion, private rooms available


• Jean Georges - how can you go wrong


• Kathleen's 5 - top of Shanghai Modern Art Museum by JW Marriott


• M on the Bund - great Bund view from their bar

Other Chinese Food

• Yuxin Sichuan Dish - fantastic tongue-numbing Sichuan cuisine


• Dintaifung - Taiwanese dim sum place in Xintiandi, fantastic xiaolongbao


• Herbal Legend -delicious and healthy Chinese in Xintiandi


• Bellagio Cafe - Taiwanese cafe with great food and amazing desserts

Japanese Food

• Sun With Aqua - pricey but delicious high-end izakaya on the Bund


• Gyu Jin Shabu Shabu & Sukiyaki - all-you-can-eat sukiyaki with heavenly buffet of meat, veggies, other Asian foods, and sauces


• Nanbeitei - delicious yakitori shop in French Concession

Bars with views

• Vue - top of Hyatt on the Bund, gorgeous view of the whole Bund


• New Heights - rooftop of 3 on the Bund


• Bar Rouge - rooftop at 18 Bund


• Century Avenue - 91-93rd floor of the World Financial Center in Pudong, Shanghai's tallest building (for now)

Brunch

• Azul - Peruvian fusion with great set brunches including bloodies


• Sasha's - casual Western in a historic house


• New Heights - a bit overpriced but beautiful outdoor seating overlooking the Bund

Here's the full list of Shanghai eating from me... Enjoy :)

World Expo Part II

I often get asked for advice about Shanghai World Expo now that I work there every day. Here's a few suggestions and other random thoughts.

As we go into the summer months, yes it is very hot and humid and yes there are a lot of people! Many of my suggestions for Expo definitely have a lot to do with dealing with the heat and people...

• Don’t come at 9 AM when the gate opens – masses of people line up for hours before 9AM open because Expo Bureau gives away tickets to line up at China Pavilion to the first 50,000 or so (note: it is a ticket to get into a line, much like at Disney World--you stand in line for up to two hours after you get in the line). After that first push, the lines are much shorter. Here’s a fun chart if you want to see patterns of how busy different days and times are--http://en.expo2010.cn/yqkl/index.htm
• Don’t come at end of month – the city of Shanghai gave each household one free ticket, but the tickets have an expiration date, which is typically last day of the month. The end of month is nutty.
• Come in late afternoon and stay for evening – less people, shorter lines, somewhat cooler (though it’s still pretty hot at night now too), and the pavilions lit up at night is actually one of my favorites parts.
• Get dinner at one of the pavilions – many of the country pavs have food options. Spain’s tapas place (towards the right of the line), Mexico’s fast food but good dishes, margaritas and Coronas, and Indonesia's restaurant are all casual and fast options that you don’t have to line up for and can enter without going through the pavilion. If you get reservation at France, Spain, or Italy pavilion's fine dining establishments, it might cost an arm but you get Michelin starred food and fast track entry into the Pavilions (though confirm that when you book)
• Check out the "small" pavilions. The smaller pavilions have shorter lines but some very cool content. Think smaller Asian countries, Africa, Central/Eastern Europe, Caribbean and Middle East. I heard Iran was interesting. There are also a lot of fairly large but less well known pavilions like Egypt, which was designed by Zaha Hadid and has amazing authentic artifacts. I think Thailand’s line might be a little longer these days, but theirs is super fun.
• Try some of the "big" pavilions closer to 8, 9pm. Australia, UK, Canada, those that have a few hours of lines during the day you can probably get in with minimal wait at that time. However, be aware that many pavilions close at 10pm and will cut off their lines at some point before then
• Pudong (Zone A, B, C) has the country pavilions and Puxi on the other side of the river (Zone D, E) houses the corporate and Urban Best Practice City pavilions. I do think Pudong should be your first stop, but Puxi is definitely worth the trek if you have time. I think the corporate pavilions have the some of the best night displays -- Oil and State Grid, not surprisingly have been allocated ridiculous amounts of power to light their pavilion exteriors in the evening. The Urban Best Practice Area is actually pretty cool if you like museum-type experiences and you have more time to spend. Madrid Pavilion is my favorite, cool architecture, fantastic content on urban renewal in the city, and great tapas restaurant on the 3rd floor.
• The “chop”... For whatever reason, the Expo passport is all the rage, and public goes nuts to collect passport stamps from the pavilions. I don’t have one, though I will get one soon. It’s kind of cool though to fill your “passport” with visits to so many countries from around the world. Honestly, when will you ever get to visit Palestine, Syria and Monaco in a span of 30 minutes. The joint country pavilions are key if you are going for stamp volume.
• Don’t get stuck on seeing the inside of all of the pavilions. The exterior architecture is the best part of many. You'll see some amazing stuff just walking around, there are a few things like Denmark’s Little Mermaid and the sculpture at Luxembourg you can see without going inside. My votes for coolest exterior = UK, Spain, China, Scandinavians of course, State Grid and Oil at night.

Other random thoughts...

• Japan Business Pavilion has the best ice cream (green tea, chocolate and vanilla in cone, 20rmb) and also good takoyaki (35rmb for 8 in a box, 40rmb with soda)
• All of the transportation is free within Expo, including buses, ferry and subway between Puxi and Pudong. You can also rent one of those golf carts for 10rmb at some stations too.
• Beware the silent electric buses. Seriously, you don't hear them coming and they definitely do not slow down for pedestrians.
• The bathrooms are generally OK but ladies beware that most are squatter. You can identify a Western stall if the door is close to the floor, usually the last stall in the row. A step up will be squatter.
• Best photo op that I have seen for the China Pavilion so far is from in front of the Theme Pavilions in Zone B/C and also the covered walkway between that area and China Pav.

San Francisco / Bay Area

*I haven't been a tourist here in a long time, but here's a post based on an email I put together for my brother's best friend who asked for summer San Francisco visit recommendations...

FYI summer is cold in SF. As Mark Twain is famously misquoted, "the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco" (apparently he never said that). The rest of the Bay Area though, Peninsula and South Bay, Marin and Napa/Sonoma Counties up north, are all wonderful and sunny and summer-like.

Big picture, you probably want to think about what you want to do on the weekend… everywhere is crowded on the weekends in the summer, but wine country is probably less pleasant with a lot of people. Just make sure you check with the wineries about what days are off (a lot of them have Monday or Tuesday as their day off). Same with Muir Woods or Point Reyes, better without a lot of people.

San Francisco
It’s probably easiest to stay closer to downtown and the touristy areas, lots of more options. There is a new chain of trendy “W”-like hotels that are reasonable priced, they’re at www.jdvhotels.com. Clift is another boutique hotel. Probably want to stay away from anything near Moscone (big convention center), not too close to Union Square but around is fairly central.

I hear Alcatraz is pretty cool (again would avoid on weekend), and probably worth walking around Fisherman’s Wharf. You can drive down Lombard St (the zigzag road). Walk around the Castro and Haight area, fun shops, more east village-y. The Mission has the great Mexican food (actually all around) and fun shops and bars. Go up to Pacific Street, highest point of that side of city and great views. If you want to be healthy, go for a run on the Embarcadero or over by the Marina along Crissy Field, really pretty and great view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Blazing Saddles is a bike company, all around SF, and you can rent bikes for the day. I would take one day and bike over the Golden Gate over to Marin County (other side of the bridge) and down the hill to Sausalito and Tiburon, which are super cute towns there (kind of like waterfront Darien ish). Great place called Sam’s which is really popular for day time boozing, a lot of SFers will take the morning ferry on a weekend day and hang out on their patio all day. Town has nice restaurants and shops too. There’s a ferry that goes back to SF so you don’t have to climb the hill back to the bridge and SF

Eating and Drinking
San Francisco and the Bay Area are fantastic for eating and drinking. There's a great range of dining options, from food trucks to Michelin stars, and every ethnic cuisine out there. SF has great fine dining, the Mission is known for best Mexican, and I think the South Bay has the best Asian.

Look at Yelp for dining options, it's very robust here. This is my SF favorites eats post, and all of my Yelp reviews are here.

Here's a quick list of places for cocktails by location. I haven't been to all of these, but here's the SF Cocktails Yelp list.
• Bourbon and branch, Rye – Civic Center/Tenderloin
• Rickhouse, Burritt Room – Union Sq
• Comstock Saloon, 15 Romolo – both near Columbus Ave/N Beach
• Prospect, Bar Agricole – SOMA, nicer bars
• Maven, Blackbird, Churchill, Alembic – Lower and Upper Haight
• Armory Bar, Elixir, Locanda, El Techo – Mission, Armory is a little risque but my new favorite

Here's a good list of places to get beer.

Wine Country
Napa and Sonoma are actually kind of far apart and a little different, so you can pick one or other, or you can spend one day in each (though I think two days of wine tasting might be a bit much). Napa is the more famous of the two, with more wineries and more recognizable wineries. Pretty easy to get around but probably more commercialized and slightly more expensive. Sonoma has some cute downtown areas and good wineries that are more chill, but harder to get around since it's more spread out. Here is a Sonoma & Napa post with more details

I highly recommend that you get a car to take you guys around for a day. You can either drive up that morning, check in and have the car meet you, then spend night there, or come up in afternoon, have a nice evening, booze all next day, and spend night (I would do latter if expenses work out).

I think there is a range of nice hotels (Fairmont in Sonoma) to more bed and breakfast types that are in downtown Napa and Sonoma, which would put you closer to the restaurants and stuff.

You can also rent a house if you have more people, or just want the option to cook for more than one night stay. http://www.vrbo.com/ is a good search site for rentals.

Two car services I'd recommend that I've used.

Sona Bedrosian at Private Limousine Service
1-866-866-7788
1-707-843-4114

Katie at Sonoma Sterling Limo
1-707-542-5444
Btw you can also do wine or cheese tasting locally. The Cheese School of San Francisco is one in SF

Other stuff
Definitely plan some hikes, there’s great nature in the Bay Area. Muir Woods is a park with redwoods in Marin County. Bunch of parks and hikes though

Here are some sites I’ve collected through the years
http://www.parks.ca.gov/parkindex/
http://kevingong.com/Hiking/index.html
http://www.redwoodhikes.com/Bay%20Area.html

Muir Woods is great, that’s the redwoods. Nice hikes in there, and there’s a great little bar in the middle of it, should definitely stop to get a beer there. The NPS sites are pretty good for finding parks and hikes.

Another favorite of mine is Point Reyes. Even if you don't love oysters, but it is super fun to bring a picnic, wine/champagne and chill out with raw or grilled oysters for an afternoon. You want to get charcoal too (or buy some there). Bring cards or board game, really a lazy time. These are the two places. Hog Island you need a reservation, virtually impossible on weekends, and Tomales Bay is first come for picnic tables. Here's a NY Times article on Point Reyes being the next Martha's Vineyard.

You’ll have to pack a lunch for half of the hikes, and for Point Reyes. Also wine if you want. Blue Fog in Pacific Heights (north end of SF) has great sandwiches

All across the Bay Area is awesome golf. Here are my favorites.

Finally, depending on when you are coming, you might be able to catch the weird SF events… Bay to Breakers just happened (half marathon with naked people and beer floats…) and Urban Iditarod was a few weeks ago (people are the dogs, shopping carts with kegs are the sled, path is, well the streets of SF). There are some great street festivals and stuff in the summer. Here’s a SF site for official events. Being the home for the company, Yelp is pretty big out here too.

Jiuzhaigou 九寨沟

May 2010

Jiuzhaigou 九寨沟 means "Valley of Nine Villages" and is a beautiful national park and world heritage site in the Min Shan mountain range, Northern Sichuan in South Western China. It's famous for the fantastic aqua and green lakes and waterfalls

Their English website is actually quite good for the important details
http://www.jiuzhai.com/language/english/index.html

Here are my photos on Picasa. Some of Ryota's photos are embedded on this post


We stayed at the Sheraton Jiuzhaigou Resort -- I think it was previously something else and Sheraton took it over. Best thing about it is that you can stay there for 3000 starpoints per night, which is ridiculously little if you know SPG. The hotel was fine accommodation and had decent staff. There are two restaurants, a pan-Chinese and more buffet and Western style place that is always filled with the tour groups.

At the Sheraton Jiuzhaigou

The most interesting thing about the hotel is in the late afternoon when guests are arriving, there are dancers dressed in traditional Tibetan costumes who greet you at the entrance and then dance in the lobby. Now if you are coming off of a bumpy two hour van ride with a splitting head ache, this is less enjoyable of a performance, but still nice touch.



Jiuzhaigou

Jiuzhai Valley is anywhere from 1,990m (6,529 feet) to 4,764m (15,630 feet) above sea level. You do feel the elevation at times and you have to balance drinking enough water with not wanting to use the bathroom.

We had an enormous Sheraton buffet breakfast at 6:30 AM, hearing that there's not a lot of food inside of the park grounds (they were right). It was a bit rainy so we got fleece hats (great purchase to keep your head warm) and a 5 rmb poncho, and cabbed the 5 min to the park entrance.

Entrance fees during peak season are pretty steep at 220 rmb plus the 90 rmb for the full day bus pass (which you need). All cash btw. We got there early enough, but not at 7 AM open so there were already tourists.

The park is shaped like a 'Y' with the entrance at the bottom of the stem (to be accurate, it's an upside down 'Y' with the stem facing north). There are buses to the base of the 'V', and then along each branch which are the more interesting parts. The left (west) fork that goes to Swan Lake has more attractions. The way the guidebooks tell you to do it (and I agree) is take the bus all the way up to the top of one fork, then walk down to Nuorilang junction (the intersection) and take a bus to the other side.

Also, there is little signage to point to it, but cut across the water to find the
walking paths that are on the other side of the lakes from the bus road. It's a beautiful hike on wooden platforms and is soo much less trafficked and quiet (the tour groups seem to get off at the crossing points and back on the bus, rather than walking, missing the best parts of the hike).

We started with the Swan Lake side (btw sit on the left side of the bus up to Nuorilang, then right to get the best views). We went all the way to the top and had braced for the 18 km hike down, until we were denied by the park guys who (we think) told us that the first part of the trails weren't ready yet. To be fair, I think the parts that were maintained were incredible.

So we took the bus back down about 8 km and hopped over the bridge to the walking path at Arrow Bamboo Lake. Next one is Panda Lake, which has cool inlets that have carved the banks along the waterway. Aqua blue and very clear water.

After Panda Lake is a big bus stop and another crossing point that is congested with tourists. It does have some amazing photo ops though, well placed. The Multi Color Lake is next, with amazing green moss that you can see at the bottom (the water is really incredible clear) and many points along the bank to stop and snap photos.

From there you are with tourists the rest of the way. Pearl Shoals Waterfall is spetacular and there are steps along the side. It is a short walk to Mirror Lake and to the Nuorileng Water fall where there is the bus stop to go up other branch to Long Lake or back down to the entrance.

By that point it was past 1 PM and we were HUNGRY, having crackers and a Luna bar since the start. We did stop for a snack (two tea eggs for me, Oreos for Ryota), but again would recommend packing some real food if you go, there is surprisingly little substantial food inside the park.

We hopped on the bus to the right (east) branch to Long Lake at the top. It started raining again and we were both exhausted so we did a few mile walk down to the Five-Colored Pool, and hopped back on the bus home.

Huanglong 黄龙

May 2010

We took an early morning flight from Chengdu (CTU) to Jiuhuang Huanglong Sichuan Airport (JZH). It's a 45 minute hop and the view over the mountains is spetacular. I'm not sure if we were flying low or the mountains are just that tall, but it is a little scary. The airport is at 11311 ft / 3448 m, yikes!



The airport is small and new, ie they are still partially under construction. There is a "airport bus" booth right at the exit, and we asked for the C-package of JZH-Huanglong-Jiuzhaigou so we could stop at Huanglong. 100rmb each. Luckily my travel buddy speaks some Mandarin -- we were told to wait until they had 6-7 people to fill a bus. The flights come in threes or so from Chengdu, ChongQing and Beijing, so took about 45 min before we actually left in the mini bus (15 ppl capacity with 10 ppl and luggage)



Drive to Huanglong

The drive to Huanglong from the airport is about an hour and probably 30 miles, but incredibly bumpy as most of the road is still under construction. Highly recommend emptying your bladder before the ride as it was quite painful without having done so.

The road winds through mountains and canyons and really quite beautiful. There are small settlements on the side of the road. Sichuan is close to Tibet so you see prayer flags and Han influences.



Huanglong

We arrived around 10 AM and got tickets for the park (240 rmb) and the ascent on the gondola (80 rmb). We had 5 hours to return to the van in the parking lot at 3:00, i.e. ride up and walk down. Our van had a Chinese threesome then rest were Japanese -- luckily one Japanese couple, being long term Shanghai expats, understood the Mandarin instructions to get back to the bus (until then we went back and forth if we were to be back in 3 hours or at 3 o'clock...)

The ride up was uneventful, but we quickly found that 3000 m of elevation is pretty high and we had to take it pretty slow. We had heard in advance that it was early in the spring and that there had been a drought, so some of the lakes might not have the aqua water that makes them so famous. We did the hike up to the temple near the peak and were a little disappointed, as we saw cool looking but dry lake beds.

However, as we walked up the extra route to the peak, we were met by beautiful and surreal looking blue pools that cascaded down towards the temple. We sat on the platform ledge and enjoyed the amazing view for a while, then continued our walk to the overlook where you can see all of the pools.

Further down on the walk, the pools were more dry unfortunately, but it was a pleasant day and a nice hike. We saw a few more crystal clear pools of water and imagined what the calcified lake beds would be like with more of it. The dry water fall was pretty cool actually.

There are well-maintained wood platforms for the entire length of the hike since the ground and pool walls are pretty soft (though didn't stop some of the Chinese tourists from tromping around for photo ops).

We made it down by 2:30 or so, and grabbed some snacks (I love the tea eggs, hard boiled in tea!) On our way for two hour drive to Jiuzhaigou...

Chengdu 成都

May 2010

The two day stay in Chengdu was the front half of a mini Sichuan vacation over the five-day Shanghai May Day holiday (especially long to honor Expo opening for which i wanted to get out of town).



I arrived on a warm Thu evening. We were recommended the Jin Jiang Hotel by one of my local colleagues as "English friendly" and nice. It was indeed both, and also the first five-star hotel in southern China with a host of dignataries who have stayed there. Not bad for 822rmb per night (~$120 USD). The hotel is near Sichuan University which was an interesting walk around the campus, as well as some high end shopping and some good food along the river.

We got up super early on our first day and took a 50rmb cab out to the Panda Reserve. They open at 8am and highly recommend that you aim to arrive by then. The tours start arriving about an hour later and I think the pandas decide to avoid the annoying voices by sleeping around then (well, whatever their motivations, they are less active later in the morning). It's a 58rmb fee at the gate.

Pandas might be the cutest animals ever, and I just wanted to take one of the cubs home with me. They do have a pretty mundane lifestyle of eating, eating, sleeping, and eating (about 20 kg of bamboo per day) but they look so good doing it. There is a museum and also an... interesting... film about the research center's work around panda reproduction... it's in English and you'll learn a lot, worth the 10 minutes.

Adult Pandas

Sub-adult Panda

There are several zones where the Giant Pandas live, divided by age. The adult and sub-adult pandas basically sit and eat. There was one active "sub-adult" at 8:15am but I don't think we saw one that wasn't eating or sleeping for the rest of the time.

Panda Cubs playing in the nursery

The nursery was SOOOO cute. The babies are much more playful and active, nipping and roughhousing each other and falling off of things. This one baby would climb to the top of his ladder, then slowly and tenuously make his way down, head first, hanging by one or two limbs for dear life. We also saw the aggressor of a play fight with his brother backfire as he went rolling down into a ditch (he was fine).



Panda Cub Feeding Time

The keepers came out to feed them around 9, 9:30am. They are really like human toddlers, vying for attention and affection. Some eat out of bowls and one baby lay on his back with a bottle.

The Lesser Panda is just that... They look kind of like overgrown reddish hued raccoons and not as interesting as their greater rotund cousin. But they're there, stop by for a look.

Chengdu Day 1

After the Panda Reserve, we came back to town and had our first Sichuan meal at Chen's Ma Po Tofu. Sooo yummy.

http://aki-eats.blogspot.com/2010/05/chens-ma-po-tofu.html

We decided to walk off lunch (also because it is impossible to get a cab in Chengdu) and head over to Wenfungshen, an shopping street recreated to look like old Chengdu. Not so much shopping, but we stopped in one of the tea shops for a lazy hour over 12rmb tea with the locals who were hanging out and playing mahjong. Very nice.

After a few beers at Sim's, we walked over to ChongQing QinMa Hotpot for a taste of the fiery Sichuan hot pot. Absolutely delicious. Video and details over on food blog

http://aki-eats.blogspot.com/2010/05/chongqing-qinma-hotpot.html

Chengdu Day 2

After a chill morning (and some work), we walked along the river to look for Long Chao-shou 龙抄手, recommended to via Facebook post.

http://aki-eats.blogspot.com/2010/05/long-chao-shou.html

We walked to Tianfu Square, which has the requisite Mao statue in front of the Science and Technology Museum, then to People's Park. It was May Day, a national holiday, so many families out for the day. Made for fun people watching.

The highlight of the day was definitely the cooking class we had signed up for at Sim's. I put the details under the food blog, but definitely check it out. Videos for how to make Kung Pao Chicken 宫保鸡丁, Fish Flavored Eggplant 魚香茄子, and Ma Po Tofu 麻婆豆腐

http://aki-eats.blogspot.com/2010/05/sims-cozy-garden-hostel.html

Shanghai, China 上海

April-May 2010

I stayed in Shanghai for over a month to prepare for Cisco's activities at World Expo 2010 (minus a one day trip to Korea to fulfill my 30-day visa limit), then another six months through Expo. I enjoyed experiencing the city as a semi-resident, living in a service apartment and working. Much like NY, there are tourist attractions but the urban life is what makes the city so compelling. Fantastic restaurants and shopping, different neighborhoods, easy to get around, I understand why there are so many expats here.

Here's the famous view of the Pudong banks and the Bund from New Heights, the 7th floor bar at Three on the Bund


There are touristy sites in Shanghai, like the Yu Yuan Garden and the Bund and museums, but I find it to be a great experiential city. There are plenty of things to do outside of sightseeing in Shanghai.

I wrote this post about Living in Shanghai for some friends who were moving there. If you scroll down about halfway to “Stuff to do” there’s a whole list of well, stuff to do. The Shanghai Night Bike Ride is super fun and a great way to see a lot of the city in a short amount of time. They are run every Tuesday by this company Bohdi, and they do other tours too. Otherwise the city is quite easy to get around – cabs are super cheap and the subway is very accessible as well.

Also, if you like to go out, Shanghai nightlife is quite robust and there’s something for everyone if you don’t mind shaving sleep time. Note that the expat and local places are different.

The food is phenomenal in Shanghai, Western and Asian. It’s funny, the street food and high end cuisine is quite cheap, while mid-range still feels the same as the US. It is a slightly dated list, but here are some of my favorite restaurants in Shanghai. Definitely find “xiaolongbao”, or soup dumplings, which are absolutely delicious. If you don’t find street food of it, DinTaiFung is a chain and absolutely phenomenal – it’s at Xintiandi so relatively easy to get to on your own.

See the food blog for other Shanghai restaurants. More on food...

• Really good. It's hard to go wrong here. Again like NY, I don't think a bad restaurant would last too long here
• Huge range of cuisine and prices. I tend to like the local food and it is surprisingly healthy. However if you want your Jean Georges or other Western food, there is plenty of it as well, though you'll pay for it. There are also classy Chinese or Asian food places with ambiance and ok food that can get quite expensive
• French Concession is super cute neighborhood with nice cafes and restaurants. I liked sasha's and I hear Azul has a great brunch. Very West Village-like for you NYers.
• The Bund has a lot of high end Western friendly restaurants and bar/lounges
• Xintiandi also used to foreigners and has some great Chinese food including Dintaifung for dim sum. There is also Cold Stone Creamery and a pizza place for cravings (I am totally jonesing for a burrito after 3 weeks...)
• Get your own groceries. My service apartment has a small kitchen and fridge so I have been lucky enough to eat in. I happen to be a few blocks from City Supermarket at Times Square, which is an expat friendly high end grocery store, but I also found a local market that has plenty of fresh foods.

Here's more on two local trips that you can do from Shanghai

• Hangzhou - Hangzhou is about 1 ½ train ride from Shanghai with a beautiful lake, Xixi wetlands, tea village, and a cool show. It would be worth spending one or two nights there for sure
• Zhouzhuang - Zhuozhuang is a water village about an hour drive from Shanghai. Both Zhuozhuang and the much larger Suzhou are called the “Venice of the East” because of its canals, but Suzhou is as touristy as Venice plus an industrial Chinese city, so I’m not a huge fan. Zhuozhuang is also touristy (all of China is, really) but much smaller and quaint. Quite easy to get around and much less crowded.

If you have more time to travel

• Beijing - Beijing and the Great Wall are obvious destinations for a China excursion. You can probably see things in the city like the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square over a few days, and spend one full day at the Great Wall. My friend and I did it in four days. It’s a 2 ½ hour flight and depending on if you’re transferring directly or not, you’ll want to fly out of Hongqiao (SHA) rather than Pudong (PVG) – think LGA vs EWR.
• Sichuan - Sichuan is awesome – the spicy food, pandas, nature – I would love to go back. Chengdu is 3 ½ hour flight from Shanghai, then Jiuhuang is another 45 min where Jiuzhaihou and Huanglong are.

One last thing – not sure if you speak any Mandarin… In the touristy areas, you will find people who speak English but expect that most people don’t. The hotels should be able to set up you with drivers or tours, and unfortunately they are probably ripping you off but still should be reasonably priced. Taxi drivers are on meter, almost never speak English so make sure you carry written addresses with you or have an app that will save addresses or convert other words. Google Translate isn’t bad, and SmartShanghai app is $5 but awesome – it’s like Yelp but has a “taxi card” function where you can show the address in big Chinese letters to your driver (for whatever reason, Shanghai cabbies have horrible eyesight and have a lot of trouble with small font…)

Zhouzhuang, China 周圧

April 2010

Zhouzhuang is a water village about an hour west of Shanghai. The old town dates from 1076 and is connected by canals and bridges. About 3000 people live in the quaint and beautiful town, which also has great crafts and food in addition to the old residences and tea shops.

Here's the KodakGallery album from the day

We hired a driver for the half day, leaving Shanghai a little before noon. He dropped us at the main gate, where they sell tickets to enter the old town for 100rmb.

Zhuozhuang water village

The beginning of the walk towards the heart of the old town is a little kitschy... strange inflated dolls and new old-looking buildings. We saw the rehearsals for the big cultural show that runs in the evening (not sure if we'd go back for that)

The entrance to the main street of town is where the shops start and continue all through the alleys by the canals. Zhouzhuang has some great food and crafts, and spurred an unexpected shopping spree...

• Wansan pork leg - this smoked pig leg is a Zhouzhuang specialty and they have it everywhere. Even our driver bought three to bring back to his family in Shanghai. You can get the hoof or parts of the leg, and price depends on where on the pig the part came from (10rmb for foot, up to 35rmb for front flank). Looks really fatty but actually not super greasy and delicious.
• Stinky tofu - yes it smells but it is yummy. They fry it up and then put a sweet
  soy based sauce and dabs of spicy, I liked it a lot.
• Sweets - so many kinds and oh so good. I really like the peanut-sesame pieces that they pound into blocks. Lai Yun had some malts and the beard candy, which really does look like a beard when it gets stuck on your chin. They also had baked sweet breads and hard candy.


• Art - the beautiful canals and bridges inspire some great art. Little shops sell traditional Chinese paintings and scrolls. There are four famous bridges in the town, which seem to be the primary theme for most of the art.


• Carved stone teapots - a trade passed down over generations, the crafts people carve stone from nearby Tai Hu Lake into intricate tea pots.


• Pottery - stores sell antique pottery, but I was drawn to the little Shin-chan figurine that you pour water on, and well, it pees. For dear my brother :)


• Combs - we saw others crafting horns into combs.


• Silk - as with a lot of shopping areas, handmade clothes and other trinkets as well as bedding are plentiful here.


• Grandma's tea - local blend of flower tea, was ok.


• And tons of other chochkies - jewelry, watches, stamps, notebooks...

The heart of the old town has narrow main roads along the canals, and small alleyways that lead back into residential areas. There are a few old residences that you can tour, Zhang and Shen's are the largest and most famous. We entered the Li(?) residence, a wonderful old house filled with the housewares and art from the era. Unfortunately, no photos/videos allowed (and the ladies follow you around the whole house), but we were entranced by the beautiful inner courtyards and traditional architecture.

The early part of the afternoon was serene and peaceful, low murmur of voices and water. While we sat in the tea shop to eat our tea eggs and try some Grandma's tea, we started to see hoardes of flag waving tour guides with their red capped followers. One after the other after the other. The narrow streets were packed and people yelling everywhere. The late afternoon is indeed the most beautiful time of day, with the light playing off of the water and buildings. However, beware the 3-5 pm tourist scrum that happens every day (we were saying perhaps the morning light might be nice also).

Boat ride in Zhouzhuang

We made our way to the docks for a boat ride (100rmb per boat). There is a set course through the main canal during the busy afternoon, but it was wonderful to be on the water and away from the crowds. The boat driver sang a few "boat songs" as he rowed, though he did ask for an "enjoy song fee" later.

The highlight of the day may have been back in Shanghai. Our driver invited us to dinner with his family in Shanghai. We visited his wife at the silk store that she runs on the north end of the city. Then his elder daughter, a local design student, joined us for a wonderful meal at the eatery next door. She is a lovely girl and we had some really interesting conversation with Lai Yun, my Singaporean friend who graciously translated for me.

Here's more information from wikitravel.

World Expo Shanghai 2010

World Expo Shanghai 2010 will be the "largest ever gathering of humanity in the history of mankind" with over 70 million people expected to attend over the 184 days from May 1 to October 31. Cisco is a senior IT sponsor and host to a corporate pavilion, themed "Smart+Connected Life."

I'm fortunate to be in Shanghai to help prepare the Cisco Pavilion for our customers. Here are some videos and photos from the preparation and stress test of the Expo site prior to the opening.

See the Picasa web album for some photos of Expo Pavilions. The slideshow starts with Puxi side Zone D (Corporate) and Zone E (Corporate, Urban Best Practices Area), then Pudong side Zone A (China, Asia, Middle East), Zone B (South Asia), and Zone C (Europe, Americas, Africa).


April 20

Day 1 of public stress tests. Over the next week, the Expo Bureau will open the Expo grounds to 50,000 to 200,000 people to "test" the site -- everything from safety and security to whether the plumbing will hold. Note that the "test" sample is the size of a small American city...



World Expo 2010 Shanghai - Zone D

Cisco Pavilion is in Zone D closest to Entrance No. 1. You'll see the security lines (96 security machines!), the vastness of the grounds, and the Cisco Pavilion. The public show at Cisco Pavilion introduces the challenges of urbanization and the concept of Smart+Connected Life, then demonstrates the experience through three generations of a Shanghai family in 2020. We are co-located with the other corporate pavilions also on the Puxi side.



Expo 2010 Urban Best Practices Area

The Urban Best Practices Area is in Zone E on the Puxi side, and consists of "Case Pavilions" which host exhibits for multiple cities in one building as well as city pavilions, like Madrid or Shanghai, who have their own structure.

The Madrid Pavilion was well done and had the meatiest content around how they have built and managed their city. Exterior is cool too, its modelled on the Casa De Bambu in Madrid. Would recommend for anyone interested in city planning, urban design, etc.

The joint case pavilions are easy to get in but a little less compelling. Several cities share each building, and their showcases range from the fun, interactive activities (Seoul, Bologna) to museum-like exhibits with some video and signage (most others) with plays on the space to localize. Shenzen was an arty fun-house with rooms filled with paintings and modern art installments, Porto (Brazil) had cool video walls and game on touch screen table.



Shanghai Expo Pavilion of Future

The Pavilion of Future, while I made fun of the 19th century factory-like exterior design, is a fantastic exhibition about how mankind views the future with a perspective to cultural and urban planning. Great video and other content that shows real-life best practices in areas of urban design, sustainbility, city management, and the like. The Pavilion suggests a 'fast' and 'slow' line for a 20-minute or 40-minute visit, but I think I spent a good hour in there, and this was without crowds. Loved it.

April 21

Only 50,000 people were expected for the second day of stress tests, and I could really feel the difference. Much less people, no lines for security, ferries, or buses, though queueing for Pavilions may have been worse since very few were open today.



Expo 2010 Zone A Pavilions

I took the free Expo ferry from L3 on Puxi side about 3 minutes from Cisco Pavilion, to L2 on Pudong side on East end near the Japan Pavilion and Gate 4. Also shown are Vietnam, Korea, Saudi Arabia, and India country pavilions, all in Zone A (note: video title is mistaken!)

Expo has multiple modes of free transport within the grounds. Ferry was good, subway seems straight forward. The bus will be a disaster... they run the length of the Pudong side. With almost no people on site on a moderately warm day, the electric buses were overflowing and smelly with barely standing room and a lot of shoving.



Expo 2010 Europe Pavilions

The European pavilions are in Zone C closest to the river. They have some of the most interesting architecture out of the country pavilions. Of course the Scandinavian countries are all fabulous with clean lines and well designed space.

The UK pavilion is the most fascinating -- surreal porcupine like structure that is actually 60,000 fiber optics rods that let light in turing the day and in turn lights up the exterior at night.



Expo 2010 Americas and Asia Pavilions

The Americas pavilions and some of the Asia pavilions are in Zone B and C. The USA, Canada and Australia pavilions are enormous and impressive from the outside. The Asia square has the Aussies, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Philippines in one place, and Vietnam is over by Korea and Japan

Walking further West towards the China Pavilion, I came across the behemoth Theme Pavilions. I jumped into the Pavilion of Urban Being right as they closed the line -- it shows city infrastructure, rail, utility, urban life, and the highlight is a very well done film with vignettes from urban life around the world (teared at the Sichuan segment themed "resilience")



Expo 2010 - Pudong side

I have many photos of the China Pavilion but I didn't attempt to get in line, as I hear they're running 2 hour waits with reservation during testing

I went to the Expo Culture Center, which has performance hall, movie theaters, and shopping -- 360 view of the Expo site from their 6th floor observation decks for aerials of Pudong and some of Puxi side. No exhibits, likely not for a customer visit.

April 23

200,000 people were expected for today, though there were no lines at Gate 1 by 2pm when I entered.



Expo 2010 Japan Business Pavilion

There happened to be a short line at the Japan Business Pavilion two doors down from Cisco Pavilion. They have a main movie, the series of 3 min shows by the sponsoring companies, and a live show outside. Interesting video including a 3D show, a globe-shaped theater where it "snows" at the end, and choreographed windows. I am going back for the "world's best toilet" which was not on display today...



Expo 2010 at night

Expo at night is a fantastic experience. The awe of Vegas, and certainly the energy costs, but more beautiful. I can be mesmerized by the lighted buildings all night! Expo is open until midnight, definitely worth waiting until nightfall.

We had dinner at LaoFengGe PinZhenXuan next to the Coca-Cola Pavilion on the 2nd floor, Zone D. Good selection of Shanghainese food and appropriate for customer meetings. They take reservations with minimum one day advance notice (33300078 and 33300079)