The question: “I’m finally making that trip to China I’ve talked about for so long – and will be spending 3 weeks in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Any advice would be appreciated!” 

Hong Kong is one of my favorite world cities, and neighboring Macau also holds a very dear place in my heart–so while I must admit I’m a little jealous about your impending journey, I’m excited to share some fun things to do!

Let’s just get this out of the way right now: in Hong Kong they actually do use bamboo for skyscraper scaffolding, as seen in every Jackie Chan movie ever made. This, I feel, is incredible.

No trip to Hong Kong is complete  without a trip on the creaky wooden tram up to the top of Victoria Peak, the high hill that looms above the city. Ignore the weird wok-shaped mall up there, and focus on the panoramic view of the sprawling city. You can also circle the Peak on a 30-45 minute loop through trees and urban wilderness to see some of the less developed sides of the island. If you work up a thirst, have a drink at The Lookout before heading back down- which you can do on foot if you fancy a walk.

This might sound strange, but I think one of the most fun ways to get between harbor and hill is the Mid-Levels, a long series of escalators built to take businesspeople between their Peak-face apartment complexes to the flatland financial district. You might be tempted to get off to explore the streets that cross the Mid-Levels, which are full of shops, restaurants, markets, and commotion. A note: they switch directions depending on what time of day it is, so be aware of that.

Not far from the Mid-Levels is the boutiquey-cool Gough Street. The stretch between Shing Wong and Aberdeen offers cute and quirky restaurants among locally-owned design and art shops. Another actively gentrifying neighborhood to check out is Wan Chai, which is starting to get its share of hipster restaurants and shops. The area by St. Francis Yard, Star Street, and Sun Street is the epicenter of this burgeoning coolness. If you’re sick of dim sum and craving really good French toast with an in crowd, try Capital Cafe.

Legend holds that one of the first permanent structures the British colonists built was the Happy Valley Horse Track, and Hong Kongers still greatly enjoy this equestrian pastime. The weeknight tournaments offer a chance to place a few bets, mingle with the after-work cocktail crowd, and join in a Hong Kong institution. Best of all, the track is smack in the center of the city, nestled among the tall buildings.

You can cross to the Kowloon side of the river for a cheesy-cool laser light show that happens each night at 8 PM. Head to the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront for the best view of the free entertainment. To counteract the lowbrow nature of the show, follow it up with a drink at the louche Peninsula Hotel (or dinner at the venerated Felix in the hotel, if someone else is paying.) Like any great world city, hot restaurants and bars have a lot more turnover than sights to see, so I’d recommend turning to this recent New York Times article for more tips on where to eat.

I am transit-oriented by nature, so I also fancy a random jaunt on the old double-decker trolleys. Sit on the upper level to get a 2-dollar tour of neighborhoods bustling with noodle shops, meat markets, and more.

I highly recommend a day trip (at least) to Macau–you can get a one-hour ferry from Hong Kong and be back in time for dinner. The history of Macau is fascinating, as it was technically a Portuguese colony from the 1500s until 1999, making it both the first and last European colony in China.The cuisine of Macau reflects this history, and is influenced by the flavors of China, Portugal, and the former Portuguese colonies in India and Africa. Not only can you have a great Macanese meal at Henri’s, you can also drink cheap Portuguese wine or a pitcher of sangria—a welcome surprise in China’s wine desert. After lunch, it’s easy to forget you’re in China at all as you stroll the tiled expanses and marvel at the colonial European architecture you’re seeing. Of course, the skyline is dominated by the many casinos of Stanley Ho’s empire. In the 1960s, as mainland China was crumbling under Mao’s iron fist, former smuggler and black marketeer Ho was building up a fantastical casino empire. Now familiar Western casino brands like Wynn and MGM mingle with his myriad enterprises.

I have never been to Shenzhen, but I do have one recommendation for you: you should read Peter Hessler’s fabulous book about modern China, Oracle Bones, which includes some fascinating chapters on Shenzhen’s unique development and culture.

For books to get you in the Hong Kong mood, my top pick is James Clavell’s slightly silly but highly entertaining historical novel Tai-Pan, which takes place in Hong Kong and Macau during the very beginnings of the British colonization in the 1800s. To get a flavor of Hong Kong before and during the Japanese occupation of World War II, I recommend The Piano Teacher by Janice YK Lee. If you want a longer read that will give you a good overall history of China, I highly recommend Jung Chang’s personal story of growing up during the Cultural Revolution, Wild Swans. Chang weaves her highly compelling autobiography with an overview of 20th century Chinese history.

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A tip for finding things: when possible, you should look up where you’re going on the excellent website SmartShanghai.com, which gives you a map to help you find the location, the nearest metro station, and the option of a taxi printout in Chinese that you can give to a cab driver.

The doing

It’s important to remember that there have been Europeans in Shanghai since around the mid 19th century, which means it’s not like most other Chinese metropolises. The number one thing people tell you to do in Shanghai? “Walk the Bund.” The Bund is a riverside walkway flanked by European-style buildings that host chic hotels, restaurants, clubs, and offices.

The views from the Bund look across to the booming Pudong area and let you see how the city lights up as each building competes to be the brightest and most attention-getting. You can also take a sunset boat cruise along the Huangpu River, to see the bright lights from a different vantage point. Of course, this is Shanghai, so once it gets dark, your boat will light up, too.

Just west of the Bund, the most charming area to spend time in is the French Concession. Tree-lined streets with colonial-era buildings sit alongside neon-lit noodle parlors and super-duper malls. One of the highlights of the French Concession is a foray into the warren of alleys and lanes that make up the Taikang Lu area. It’s pretty hard to describe, but imagine a bunch of small lanes and shops all cobbled together. Part souq, part street, part mall, part art gallery, it’s (probably) not like any other place you’ve ever been to.

Wander the lanes, browsing the shops and artist spaces, where you can find anything from smart silk scarves and high-fashion clothing pieces to cheeky Japanese t-shirts, Communist propaganda memorabilia, and quirky gifts.

For a sanitized, albeit very pleasant version of what the French Concession has to offer, hit up Xintiandi – a painstakingly restored area of shops and restaurants that comes alive at night with patrons spilling out on patios, cocktails in tow. Xintiandi could be renamed Expat Central, but for the incongruous historical site within its confines: the building that signifies the birthplace of the Communist Party. I had a nice time drinking beer in the warm night air there, but for the most part I found myself more interested in things like the massive beverage towers being hauled by the bicycle delivery guys just outside the area.

On the weekends, in People’s Park, you will find something strictly Chinese: the Marriage Market. Hundreds of potential suitors list their height, weight, and other interesting stats about themselves, in hopes of securing a partner. Of course, the majority of people looking at listings are the mothers and grandmothers, jotting down phone numbers to bring home to their recalcitrant daughters. The young women in the park that we chatted with find the whole system dreadfully old-fashioned and completely embarrassing.

A little more pricey than roaming the streets on your own, but 100% worth it, is to schedule a tour with Shanghai Pathways. The native Shanghainese guides will show you parts of the city that you could not easily access on your own, and it’s a truly special experience. You can see the breadth of options on their website. We took a trip to the huge, bustling, 24/7 Shanghai Wet Market, which was a fabulous way to spend a morning. Lots of meat hooks! (To see a super in-depth look at our Shanghai Pathways tour to the Wet Market, you can check out the full pictorial run-down I wrote for Summer Tomato.)

We also convinced our guide to take us to the only place in China that still produces soy sauce the old-fashioned way, which takes 2 years (!) to ferment in clay pots with woven lids. It’s not an official tour, but we jumped at the chance to be the guinea pigs for this potential future tour, and the opportunity to experience a very special kind of barrel tasting. The verdict: delicious.

Across the Huangpu River, you leave Puxi (“west of the river”) for the modern marvels of the Pudong (“east of the river”). Head to the World Financial Center, the 2nd tallest building in the world and the home of one of the most spectacular observation decks in existence. Pay the full price and you can zoom all the way to the top of the opening, which has a glass floor that makes most people (even those of us with strong constitutions and no declared fear of heights) waver a bit. Of course, for roughly the same price as entry to the observation deck, you can just hit the 93^rd floor lounge of the Park Hyatt in the same building, and buy yourself a couple of drinks, free view included. Of course, this is Shanghai, so it’s not surprising to hear that they’re currently constructing an even taller building next door.

Perhaps you’d like to get as far off the touristy track as possible. I have just the thing for you—Qibao Old Street. This water town lies within the confines of the Shanghai metro system, so it’s available to you if you’re willing to sit on a subway train for 30 minutes or so. Qibao is a little hard to explain, but I interpret it as having a Jersey Shore/Coney Island kind of vibe. The only difference is that instead of carnival games, they have cricket fighting (the bugs, not the bats) and instead of kettle corn, you can buy miscellaneous animal parts on sticks to snack on. Imagine teenage paramours trying to be cool with a backdrop of red-lit shops and stalls with whole barbecued frogs and pig feet on sticks, all underlined by some vaguely dirty (albeit grudgingly picturesque) canals. Still, the effect is charming, and for once, you’ll be the only laowei (foreigner) around–it’s not just tourist-free, but even expat-free.

Another slightly off-track destination is the new Shanghai Museum of Glass, a small and very specific museum (my favorite kind!) in a gorgeous industrial glass building. SHMOG, as its known, is a bit of a trek (don’t even try to metro and bus there; just go for the taxi) but the building is striking and it’s pretty enjoyable if you like glass. It starts out pretty slowly and predictably, but the second half of the exhibition is informative and aesthetically interesting.

If you’re into the gallery scene, don’t miss a few hours at M50, on Moganshan Road. You’ll find a haphazard grouping of old buildings that used to be part of a textile mill, which are currently colonized by up-and-coming artists. Wander among the pedestrian alleys–with galleries on every floor, you’re sure to find something that catches your eye. And do take the effort to hike up the stairs, because some of the best galleries are on the upper floors.

The eating and drinking

First things first: a stop at Yang’s Fry Dumplings. You want to do this very early on, because you’ll probably want to go back again and again. With over a dozen branches throughout the city, you should be within easy distance to Yang’s at all times. Pay for your dumplings at the cashier (at press time, under US $1 for 4 dumplings—you order them in multiples of 4) and join the back of the queue. Grab a sauce bowl and a soup spoon and jockey for a seat (sharing a table is the norm.) After mixing up the right proportion of vinegar and fried chili flakes in your sauce bowl, move one of the dumplings into the soup spoon; your best bet is to use the spoon and the chopsticks as a team to tackle the juicy exploding dumpling.

The dumplings, which are fried on the bottom and steamed on the top, are full of hot broth, so take a small bite and slurp out the juice before proceeding. Pile on the vinegar and chili flakes and prepare to D.I.E. of happiness. After the third dumpling, I predict you’ll be a) deciding how many more to order and b) trying to figure out when you’re going to make it to Yang’s next.

On the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of price, atmosphere, and clientele, nearly everyone we talked to recommended recommended dinner at M on the Bund, on the 7th floor of 5 Bund, and while it was a gorgeous space and a view that couldn’t quit, the food was only so-so, especially considering the exorbitant prices.

Instead, I recommend you skip M and just go one floor down to Glamour Bar for well-crafted and interesting cocktails. Get there early enough (before 9, maybe) and you can snag a table with a great view of the sky-high skyline across the river in Pudong, plus a front-row seat for people-watching as the place starts to fill up.

If you’re in the Taikang Lu area and want to grab a snack or a drink while you’re there, I recommend Kommune, which offers a laid-back courtyard setting and a surprisingly delicious albeit eclectic menu. If you’ve ever dreamed of eating good hummus or lasagna in China among artsy intellectual types while listening to achingly hip music, this is your big chance.

But you are in China, after all, so you might be on the hunt for regional Chinese food, and migration patterns are definitely in your favor in Shanghai, as you’ve got people from every region of China showing off their culinary stylings. If you want more dumplings options than the one-size-fits-all Yang’s experience (say, if you don’t eat pork) then there is always a branch of the upscale Taiwanese chain Din Tai Fung nearby; you can get them filled, fried, steamed, or souped in a dazzling array of combinations.

Overall, I personally find the bulk of the Shanghainese cuisine a little bland for my taste, but the Grandma’s Meat Pot at Shanghai Min—a clay pot overflowing with slow-braised pork belly and knotted tofu skin—is one of the best things I’ve eaten in a long while and worth the trip. I wouldn’t turn down their fried meat dumplings, either, and the Bund views from their perch at the tippy top of Super Brand Mall aren’t too shabby.

For excellent and accessible Yunnan food, Lost Heaven is a great bet, but if it’s not too inconvenient, trek out to the location at Gaoyou Lu and Fuxing Xi Lu; it’s more intimate and homey than the glitzier version on the Bund. But truly, my heart belongs to the numbing chili fires of Sichuan cooking. Thankfully, a couple of Shanghai natives shared their favorite Sichuan restaurant with us, and it was spectacular. Middle-class Chinese families fill this affordable, large, tasteful restaurant (which is somewhat unfortunately named Chopsticks) in the Shanghai Pearl Hotel. Standouts included fish-flavored shredded pork (which we confirmed had no fish in it and tasted nothing like fish) tree mushrooms in a hot pot, and poached sliced beef in hot chili oil, with thick, glassy rice noodles slicked with chili oil. There was also a dish that consisted of chiles with tiny pieces of chicken hidden throughout. The chiles outnumbered the chicken by about 20 to 1.

Of course, if you want braised bullfrog or duck blood, be my guest (and let me know how they tasted, because I didn’t try them.)

The Cool Docks is also a pretty cool place, despite the dorky name (maybe it sounds better in Chinese?) with a slower, more relaxed feeling than Xintiandi, featuring small restaurants around a courtyard fountain, and another opportunity for people-watching.

The Indian restaurant at the Cool Docks, Kebabs on the Grille, is so good we went back twice for curries and lamb kebabs with cooling raita and charred naan.

With the strong expat legacy, there are other non-Chinese restaurants that deliver as well. For cracker-thin pizzas and Italian specialties in a breezy covered side patio, try Bella Mia, a standout and a welcoming place when you just can’t eat another dumpling. The friendly, hands-on owner claims both Northern and Southern Italian heritage, so he deftly covers a spectrum of dishes.

For drinks, the outside rooftop patio at Kathleen’s 5 in People’s Park is a classic– and they have a reasonably priced, thoughtful wine list to go with the views. Across the street from the Cool Docks at Waterhouse on South Bund, both the rooftop bar and the first floor lounge are intimate, fun places for a drink (make your choice depending on weather and how badly you want a view.)

For strictly drinks, The Bund and Xintiandi (both described above) are crawling with bars and clubs – pick up a copy of Time Out Shanghai or That’s Shanghai, or check SmartShanghai.com to see which is the flavor of the week.

Now go back to Yang’s one more time.

The sleeping

There are a wealth of great hotel options in Shanghai, and as usual, I picked from the Tablet Hotel offerings. We stayed at two different places in Shanghai, and we liked them both for different reasons. JIA Hotel Shanghai is in an old, 7-story French Concession building that’s been retrofitted with modern, comfortable, thoughtful furnishings. Just off Nanjing Road, right at the metro station, it’s at the epicenter of commerce and crowds, in a good way. If you can afford the splurge, opt for one of the reasonably priced suites  - you’ll feel like you’re playing house in your very own Shanghai sublet.

If you want to be out of the unceasing action of Nanjing Road, Waterhouse on South Bund, also a modern hotel, might be a good choice. Its aesthetic is a little grittier than JIA—think concrete and iron—but not at the expense of comfort or service. It’s next to the Cool Docks, which makes it easy to grab a bite to eat or a drink, plus it’s on the southern end of the Bund, so you can walk the mile or so down for dinner and Bund views at your pleasure.

An added bonus is that the walk to the closest Metro stop (Xiaonanmen) leads you through the old silk market, which is an area where people still live in an old-fashioned way that hasn’t yet fallen prey to the cranes and construction.

But fall it will, because Shanghai never stops moving forward, forward, inexorably forward.

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This is from a menu in Harbin… but how to decide if I should order the “The syrup forks the fever” or the “The gold medal burns the goose?”

The “CrazySelf-Help” Karaoke Bar in Harbin.

Yeah, people should totally be “thinkgking” of that before urinating. This sign was in a (very fancy) mens restroom at Qingcheng Mountain, which is actually the birthplace of the Tao religion so I guess they want to make sure everyone remains all Zen. Er, Tao. (Ross took this picture so don’t blame me if it’s all shaky.)

This ticket sign for a museum in Harbin is not exactly PC: you’ve got your “Old People” price, and your “Deformity People” price, in addition to everyone else.

I can’t help reading the message on this Christmas decoration like a command. “Xmas! Marry!”

The first 2 seem reasonable, but the last one really seems a little lofty for being a random sign in a private KTV (karaoke) room (in Tibet Hotel, Chengdu.) If it helps, the name of the private karaoke room was “Sacred Umbrella.”

These meat cubes roasted on a skewer with Caucasian flavor are looking delicious on this ad for a Russian restaurant in Harbin. Doesn’t mention whether it contains actual Caucasians or not though.

This is one of my most favorite signs. These are the Chengdu Municipal Rules Pertaining to Civilzed Tour which are all over the city, in touristy spots. All of the rules are really applicable to life, but I particularly like:
#1: “Don’t spit.” HA! In China? Yeah right! Everyone is hocking loogies constantly.
#3: “Don’t give animal any food without permit when you are in the zoo.” Is this REALLY a problem?
#5: “Do not be out for small advantages.” No idea what that refers to, I’m guessing euphemism.
#7: “Do not wear clothes exposing the neck or shoulders in public places.” This is China, not Saudi Arabia, so I don’t get that one either- we saw plenty o’ necks and shoulders and no one seemed to mind.
#8: “Advocate a happy and healthy way of life. Resist superstition. Avoid pornography, gambling and drug.” Amen to that. Although realistically, I’m not sure reading it on this sign is going to be the tipping point for people in the clutches of those particular vices.

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The bulk of the (mostly useless) travel resources on Harbin were wont to describe these frost-covered folks of Northeastern China as gruff, hardy types who drink a lot to stay warm. I don’t know if that’s exactly true, but because of its proximity to Siberia, Harbin is home to many Russians so of course there is a heavy Russian influence on the food. The upshot of this is that there is some good Russian food to be had.

the Russian onion dome of St. Sophia church now houses a museum of Harbin history in its gorgeous interior.

Harbin is not touristy for Westerners, which means 3 things, as far as I can tell. The first thing is that you can eat well really cheaply- more challenging in more well-visited Chinese cities- and have a sit-down dinner for 2, in a perfectly nice restaurant with drinks, for no more than US $10, or even cheaper for lunch or breakfast. The second and most difficult thing (for me, and other non-Chinese speakers I assume) is that there is not much English spoken and there are not always English menus, which can pose challenges. For example, one morning we had no trouble getting big yummy plates of fried dumplings but it took us about 20 minutes of pointing, gesturing, and pantomiming to get a bottle of water. But, food being food, you can generally figure it out! And the third and funniest thing is that when they do have an English menu, often, hilarity ensues from reading the bizarre translations.

There is a long, cobblestone pedestrian street that combines Chinese, Western, and Russian architecture in an attractive way. This pedestrian street, Zhongyang Da Jie, or the Central Street, is home to many restaurants and quite a few bars.

A cheaper, chillier, chancier alternative to taking a taxi home in the cold.

Of course, Harbin is not immune to Western influence- you can get your standard fast food in Harbin, and as in the rest of China, KFC reigns supreme. With over 30 branches in town, they are so ubiquitous that one place we were looking for was described to us as “near the KFC on the main street” and we were vexed not to be able to find it- until it dawned on us that there was, in fact, a KFC on every other block of the main street. You can find McDonalds and Pizza Hut as well. But the only vestige of globalization that you will probably actually desire will not be available, because Harbin remains untouched and unspoilt by all of the good Western coffee chains, including Starbucks. You’ll have to turn to watery hot chocolate, Nescafe, jasmine tea, or whiskey to warm and comfort yourself on the cold winter nights (and mornings and afternoons too.)

But that’s quite enough exposition: Here are my thoughts on some places to eat and drink!

USABucks

How to get there: it’s on Zhongyang Da Jie, about 3 blocks down from the Songhua River end. It has a pretty big sign so it would be hard to miss.

This is a HILARIOUS place. With no Starbucks, you might think of trying USABucks but I recommend you go for an alcoholic drink there, NOT a coffee- the coffee is weaker than a Minnesota bridge and nearly as unpleasant. And while the logo bears a striking resemblance to Starbucks, once inside the place, you’ll see it’s actually done up in Sarsaparilla-style Old West saloon-type deal. But, it has 2 things going for it: it’s really warm inside, and it’s kind of fun. They have snacks too- me personally, I was not adventurous enough to order one of these snacks- here is the menu- a pretty far cry from the scones and muffins you’ll get at the original ‘Bucks.

I know, it’s SO hard to decide whether you want Explode the Valley (?!?!?), Dried Intestines, or Red Bowel with your crappy coffee. But really- go to warm up and order a beer or some whiskey, maybe a Happy Nut to go with it, and enjoy the scene… which may or may not include the owner parading around in full 1920s military regalia, greeting the patrons like a Chinese Eva Peron.

Lao Chang Spring Pancake

How to get there: the address is 180 Zhongyang Da Jie (The Central Street) and it has this nifty sign in English. It’s about 2 blocks down from the Songhua River end of and this is what the sign looks like, for your edification.

This was a great spot! Imagine an order of mu shu pork. Now imagine, like, mu shu everything. That’s pretty much the concept of Lao Chang Spring Pancake. You order a bunch of stuff, and spring pancakes with sauce and onions, and you mu shu all of it up and eat pancakes. It’s really tasty and it’s a pretty nice restaurant- and a nice hearty lunch with entirely too much food, for 2 people, was around US$15 with beer and tea- so I think you could realistically get out of there for much less, if you ordered fewer mu shu-able items. We left more than half of the food uneaten- we just had no idea how big the portions would be or how filling it was.

Orient King of Dumplings

How to get there: I think there is more than one, but the one we went to is a couple of buildings down from the Shangri-La Hotel, so if you are facing the Shangri-La, it’s to your right.

We ate breakfast here because the stupid continental breakfast in the Shangri-La Hotel was 138 yuan per person. That’s like almost US $40 for 2 people which is a crazy price! So we walked on over to Oriental King of Dumplings and got some freshly-made fried dumplings for breakfast each day. You can watch a bunch of folks in surgical masks rolling out and filling the dumplings. They have an English menu… sort of. This is the most bizarre and entertaining bit of the menu:

I totally wanted to order “scalding cymbidium” but Ross wouldn’t let me. What IS that?! And how did they get the word “lobscouse” for soup? (Don’t answer that: according to wikipedia, cymbidium is a kind of orchid and oleaster is a kind of shrub… so those seem odd. It turns out “lobscouse” is an obscure British sailor’s term for a hardtack stew. SO the only logical conclusion I can draw is that the menu translator is actually a myopic, floraphilic, 19th century Liverpudlian stevedore. There is simply no other possible explanation.) We actually did order something from the “Fries explodes” menu one day- mistake- I would stick with the dumplings. At any rate the dumpling section of the menu is translated reasonably – you can get fried or steamed, and for my money the fried are more enjoyable. They’re 3.5 yuan (50 cents) for 6 and each person will probably need around 12. So you can get out of there for a $2 breakfast unless you do as the Chinese do (and apparently, now I do) and drink beer with breakfast, in which case you’ll end up spending a couple more dollars.

Russia Food and Coffee

How to get there: It’s right near the KFC! Just kidding. I mean, it is near a KFC but that’s totally unhelpful in this context. It’s just off Zhongyang Da Jie, essentially across from Lao Chang Spring Pancake- about 2 blocks down from the Songhua River end of the street.

This place is I think the only place I saw in a guidebook- but it makes sense because the food is quite tasty, the service is nice, it’s cheap, it’s a pretty attractive ambiance, and it doesn’t have a funny menu, just a regular menu. We got pot beef which was a deceptively large amount of beef and vegetable stew in a little tiny pot, mashed potatoes with black pepper sauce, and best of all, a fantastic piroshki (they spelled it “piloshki”)- one of my best ever… a good piroshki is hard to find! (The other two that round out my top three are my friend Jane’s homemade ones, and the ones we used to get as kids from a now-defunct Russian shop on 9th and Irving.)

Dinner for 2 was around $10 with beers. They had a lot of fun coffee and tea choices but we were too full. It seemed like it would be a nice place to warm up with a tea and a snack if you’re hanging out on Zhongyang Da Jie during the day!

Mr. Lee California Beef Noodle King U.S.A.

How to get there: they’re a chain so you will see them all over China. The one we went to is near the St. Sophia end of Zhongyang Da Jie (The Central Street.)

I don’t know what is up with this name- I find it pretty amusing- but this is a chain throughout China. We were really hungry and wanted to be warm so we checked it out. For 10 yuan (about US $1.40) you can get a big bowl of passable ramen in beef/soy broth with chunks of beef. The beef is a little like yak meat (ie: chewy as hell) but damn, it’s not too bad, especially if you’re cold and want to be thrifty! I imagine if you were drunk it would also be satisfying. It’s not, like, awesome though.

Ice Palace Bar & Restaurant in the Shangri-La Hotel

How to get there: go to the Shangri-La hotel in the winter and ask where the ice bar is.

The Shangri-La sets up an ice bar- a bar made of ice with ice stools and everything ice- in such a way that you can enter and exit from the warm hotel. There are other ice bars we saw but this one was the coolest because it was the iciest- it had more things made of ice than the other places- and it was kind of hip with good lighting and dance beats. You can also grab a larger table and eat hot pot in this ice bar, which would be an interesting combo of the spicy spicy oil at the icy icy table. If you don’t bring a coat, they’ll lend you one. It was really expensive but I think that’s directly related to the fact that we stupidly ordered really expensive drinks, so I think it would only be kind of be normal hotel expensive if you paid more attention!

Coffee Garden

How to get there: it’s in the Shangri-La hotel.

“Coffee Garden” is a total misnomer because it’s actually a full-service restaurant that’s pretty nice. They have a lot of American/Western food and some kind of somewhat Westernized Chinese options. We only ate here because it was in our hotel and we were too cold to go out, but then it was surprisingly quite good and not nearly as expensive as we expected- reasonable, in fact… which is funny because everything else in the hotel was really expensive. We kept getting French Onion Soup room service and tried some other soups, which were really pretty tasty if you’re in the mood for something Western- but we really didn’t try the other stuff. A meal of hearty soup was around 30 yuan or less, like $4 or $5, which seemed reasonable in this context. Also, you can get imported wine if you have the hankering, but that will set you back a bit more. They also have a big fancy buffet that many people were partaking of- very lavish- but I’m not a buffet type of gal. After a couple weeks in China, sometimes you have the urge to go West. Note: bad ice cream.

DDL Bar and Coffee

How to get there: it’s a few storefronts off Zhongyang Da Jie, just around the corner from USABucks (walk down towards St. Sophia and hang a right.) Look for the “coffee” sign.

We were having some trouble finding an after-dinner spot and then frigid feet and desperation led us to settle in here. It was a nice surprise- a sweet, mellow, well-lit little cafe/bar with nice people and a good vibe. We had yummy lavender tea and beers and listened to the Russian hipsters chat and smoke.

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A liger is conceived when a male lion mates with a female tiger (tigress)- which is kind of weird and pretty uncommon, since in the wild, tigers and lions don’t have overlapping habitats. But if tigers and lions are raised in captivity together, they might get the idea to mate across species. So perhaps more exciting than seeing the liger itself was the chance to see a liger being conceived- as in, a lion in flagrante with a Siberian tiger! And the proof is in the pudding. Kids, avert your eyes. It’s kinda freaky.

Exciting, eh? The Chinese graciously describe this cross-species canoodling as “Affinity between Lion and Tiger.”

Ligers are infertile- like mules- and very difficult to conceive successfully. They estimate that only 0.1% of couplings result in a successful liger birth, and that there are only around 10 ligers in the whole world! Wow. Ligers  are actually the largest cats in the world, whereas Siberian tigers are the largest “pure” cats. Ergo, the coupling between an African lion and a Siberian tiger is going to make a really big liger. And FYI, if a male tiger mates with a female lion, it’s called a tigon.

So, to sum up, Napoleon Dynamite pretty much had it right when he said, “It’s pretty much my favorite animal. It’s like a lion and a tiger mixed… bred for its skills in magic. ” I totally agree. Ligers are cool.

Other highlights of the Siberian Tiger preserve: seeing super big tigers super up close… they drive you out to the big open fields where a bunch of tigers live and breed. I will admit I enjoyed the experience with some trepidation, mostly due to the relatively recent Siberian tiger tragedy at the San Francisco Zoo. Ai, Tatiana!

The tigers seem nonplussed by the presence of the ancient converted school bus (that was so clearly about to break down and leave us stranded with no way to defend ourselves against a gang of enormous bloodthirsty wild animals whose incisors are as long as my arm.)

At one point a guy in a caged-in car drove out and started throwing live chickens out of the car. The tigers clearly know what’s up with this chicken-delivery truck. One jumped on top and grabbed the chicken.

This guy got the 2nd chicken. Victory! He is kind of giving me the evil eye, don’t you think?

It’s a little bit sad to see the chickens- probably not realizing their imminent fate is to be tiger food.

There were many many tigers in the center, and some other cats. It seemed a little unfair to the African cats to be living in such a cold environment and the lionesses all had to huddle for warmth!

All around a super fun and interesting event! Unfortunately, it’s unclear what the scientific and environmental quality of the tiger breeding plan is, long-term, for the park. There have been reports that when the park has re-released these tigers into the wild, it has not worked out terribly well. It’s unclear if that’s due to the shrinking natural environment or to an inadequate preparatory experience for the tigers that are in captivity. My guess is a combination of those 2 factors and more. Regardless, it is thrilling to experience these beautiful and powerful creatures at such close range.

For more info on the Harbin Siberian Tiger park, check this link.

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Even the stuff that doesn’t actually, empirically taste good is still fun. Plus, it’s pretty much no risk from a money standpoint. Most things are 1 or 2 yuan- 10 to 20 cents- so you can feel free to try a whole bunch of things, take a bite, and reject or accept them without feeling too badly about the investment.

Mmm bacon, it’s smoky, because he’s smoking, ha ha- plus a big ol’ pile of smooshed pig heads- a popular snack.

If you don’t speak Chinese as I don’t, then you will most likely not be able to figure out what is in stuff or what stuff is made of. If you are a vegetarian this might be tricky for you. If not, just go for it with pointing and smiling and taking a bite. It is also extremely helpful to learn the words and hand signals for the numbers 1 through 10 (they have funny hand signals for 6-10) because pretty much nothing will cost more than 10 so you should be ok with just that. Without the numbers and the hand gestures I would have had a great deal more trouble in these many transactions. Here is a helpful tutorial on the number gestures for you.

All the kids on Jinli Road beg for one of these caramelized sugar dragons.

This cat (spotted under the cooking pot on the Tibetan Street) is probably warm, but that’s got to be against the health code, right?

Aside from eating prepared food, or buying raw food to cook at home, there is a plethora of services for you to take advantage of. It’s a full-service deal. For example:

You can get your handbag repaired while-u-wait by someone who uses the most anachronistic sewing contraption I have ever seen!

You can buy a fish and watch her gut it for you on the sidewalk!

Not in the mood for fish? Grab a live chicken off the hook and he’ll hack it up on a wooden block for you with a cleaver!

You can get your knives sharpened too- he carries all the equipment on his bike!

There are many areas where you can find great street food scenes- the ones we had the most fun at were:

• Wadancang Street right near the Tibet Hotel, (which by the way was a fantastic bargain hotel, very fancy for the price and with a lot of fun stuff in the hotel, including a bowling alley! Woo hoo!) So if you are facing the Tibet Hotel, go to your right, and Wadancang Street will be off to your left in about a block. Its proximity is also a big plus of staying at that hotel.
• The area near the Wenshu Monastery had a lot going on, especially candy and sweets vendors- but we weren’t sure if it was a festival type thing or a permanent thing, because it sort of seemed like a festival type thing.
• Sichuan University Area, near the intersection of KeHua Jie and Guo Jia Qiao Bei Jie. The good stuff is on Guo Jia Qiao Bei Jie. Pick up a rabbit head here, if you’re interested, because it seems to be the nexus of that well-loved snack, and they were harder to find in other areas. Don’t worry, there’s a stall with pictures of little bunny heads on it to guide you. Go for the cheeks. Mmmm.
• Jinli Road has a kind of sanitized set of tourist-friendly stalls, with English translations of what they’re selling, but we didn’t eat anything there, it didn’t seem as fun. A better option would be…
• Shuhan Dongjie, near Jinli Road and the Tibetan Street (Wuhouci Cross St.) If you are at Jinli Road gate, and facing out towards Wuhouci Street, the Wuhouci Cross St. is just across the street and forking to the right. Walk down Wuhouci Cross Street for a few blocks, and make a right on Shuhan Dongjie. The street is good in and of itself, but there is also a covered marketplace with old folks playing intense mah-jongg, and some impressive spice and meat products for sale.

The mah-jongg tables at the indoor market on Shuhan Dongjie are plentiful, and deadly serious. But it beats playing poker behind this raw meat and sausage curtain, I guess…

Sharing every food we sampled would be too exhaustive, since we tried like 5 or 10 things a day, but here are some highlights…

Skewers and beer on the street at 11 PM

This was one of our best and most fun meals- a full dinner for 15 yuan including 2 huge Tsing Taos. So, about 2 bucks US for dinner. A lot of times street food is kind of gross-seeming, but this guy had a mobile cart with a coal grill and some of the cleanest looking food I have ever seen. He’s got a bunch of raw skewers, of meat, seafood, and vegetables, lined up like a total Type-A, anal retentive clean freak. He gives you a little tray to fill with raw stuff and then when it’s your turn (there could be a couple people ahead of you, and the grill is pretty tiny) he’ll smack it on the grill and brush it, squirt it, shake stuff on it, until it’s perfectly cooked and super spicy. We had little pieces of beef, chicken on the bone, beans, cauliflower, thin potatoes, and some other stuff. The best were the thinly sliced potatoes (he had them skewered up, but raw in cold water so they wouldn’t get brown) because they tasted like the best spicy potato chip you ever had.

The food was really spicy with lots of numbing spice. Best part: deliciousness of eating experience? Yeah. 2nd best part: Food was US$1.10. 2 giant beers were US$1. So dinner for 2 people, including giant beers, was $2.10 To clarify, GOOD dinner, including 2 GOOD giant beers (Tsing Tao), was $2. You have to get the beers at the little shop across the street. They are 3.5 yuan (50 cents) each. Also, there is a crazy “seating area” comprised of children’s stools and tiny short tables, with toilet paper for napkins. Important note, this guy was at Wadancang Street, and is only there late night though, when most of the other vendors have gone home- seems to be a stop for late night partiers coming home tipsy and hungry. You can definitely get the skewer action from others during the day, but it’s not the same setup with the stools and the old guys playing poker and all so it’s not quite as exciting.

Haw Flakes

Haw flakes are a candy of my childhood, probably because I went to school in SF in a Chinese neighborhood with lots of Chinese kids and Chinese-owned stores. Most (non-Chinese) people I know have never heard of them. My sister and I LOVED them as kids and still do. But in Chengdu, they make them fresh, not packaged, and they taste even better. The other candies we tried- not so much. The haw flakes are the pink discs in the front right of the photo. A big handful was a couple yuan. They didn’t last long! I wished my sister was there to eat them with me. The candy vendors have gorgeous arrays, even if not all of their offerings are delicious to my palate.

Steamed Cabbage Bun

I know, cabbage dumpling does not sound so  exciting, but we tried a bunch of kinds and it was the clear standout. The cabbage was very fresh and tasted sort of flash-cooked and then stuffed in the center of a soft doughy bun that comes out of these giant stacked steamers. If I remember correctly this was essentially free. Like, I think we got 6 or 8 buns for 2 yuan which is like 25 cents or so. We tried a bunch, so of course, some were gross. Actually the worst ones were the ones with NO filling. The cabbage ones usually have a little green thing on top, since you’ll have to point. BUT sometimes you can get tricked- we got one that had a green thing on top and then inside there were mushrooms. The ones with a red thing on top have pork that’s pretty good if you like sweet, star anise-flavored pork. The twisty ones that look cool have nothing inside so don’t be tempted just because they’re the prettiest, unless you are planning to get a smoked duck tongue or pig snout from the guy across the street to wrap up in your plain dumpling.

“American Corn”

We had this in a restaurant but were told it’s really a street food. As far as I can tell they make it by taking a can of corn (“American” corn, so they say- they give us no credit for the whole maize thing!) that is kind of fried and then tossed with big granules of sugar. It’s like an unholy union between a piece of kettle corn and a corn nut. And it’s hella good.

Fruit

Yeah, and I don’t even like fruit that much. But how can you not love and support the type of ad hoc marketplace that offers you lettuce from a Vespa, or grapefruits from a bicycle? The bounty that can be found on people’s bicycles or vespas (or batterycycles or horse carts or whatever) is staggering.

Also, the fruit is really fresh and counteracts all of the greasy stuff you are otherwise eating, and plus there are fruits that I have never even seen before which are fun to try. And so very many delicious and affordable  lychees and longans for the taking and the snacking.

Plus it’s fun because when you buy something, they whip out this antique abacus-lookin’ gizmo to weigh it.

Waffle Cone

These guys are just like a waffle cone but thinner. When they’re warm, they’re a good crunchy semi-sweet treat. The going rate is 1 yuan for 2, I believe.

Scallion bread or pancake

I ate a bunch of these and sometimes they were really good and sometimes they were too greasy or didn’t have enough salt. When it’s good, it’s like a salty piece of pizza dough with a lot of scallions baked into it. Some of them are so thin they are almost like a crepe, and I didn’t have the best luck with that type. The best one was this one, which I got on Shuhan Dongjie and cost 1 yuan.

-> For Chengdu eats you can enjoy while sitting down, check out this post.

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