With Beijing-Shanghai bullet trains due to start running in July 2011, the ‘Pearl of the Orient’ just got closer. As Beijingers’ journey time to Shanghai shrinks to under five hours, we run you through the best of the city.
Where to eat
Shanghai has long been a Mecca for sophisticated European-style cuisine. For the best food and views, visit Mr & Mrs Bund (021 6323 9898), a French-fusion restaurant on the Bund where the bold and beautiful flock (book ahead to secure a window table overlooking the Huangpu River and Pudong’s bright lights). The menu here features a huge selection, including foie gras crumble, and will set you back about 500RMB per person for the a la carte menu.
With the opening of Table No. 1 (021 6080 2918) last year, the city gained another top-notch dining experience. Here, executive and head chefs Jason Atherton and Scott Melvin (who both previously worked under Gordon Ramsay) serve up such delights as osmanthus panna cotta with watermelon granite. The menu comes in at around 400RMB per person, but the early dinner 158RMB set menu is a steal.
Great food in Shanghai needn’t be served with such pricey airs and graces, though. Saunter down Yunnan Lu (a mile west of Yuyuan Bazaar) for a rainbow of authentic Shanghainese street food, from the ubiquitous Shanghai speciality xiao long bao (pork or shrimp dumplings packed with broth) to dazzling wok-fried vegetables. Pick a stall, sit down and watch the world go by.
Where to drink
For a drink steeped in history, the Jazz Bar in the newly renovated Fairmont Peace Hotel on the Bund (021 6321 6888;
www.fairmont.com) is hard to beat. The Cathay – as the art-deco hotel was then known – was built in 1929 by the Iraqi-British tycoon Victor Sassoon. Last year, it had a 60-million-USD makeover to return it to its former glory. If you’re looking to splash out and stay there, see ‘Get up and go’ for a special June offer. Otherwise, walk through the breathtaking Octagon Lobby to the Jazz Bar, where you can enjoy classic cocktails, an old-time atmosphere and a live band.
For a modern twist on your drinks, visit Alchemist Cocktail Kitchen (021 6426 0660) on Sinan Lu in the French Concession. This is a place to experiment: expert mixologists concoct crazy cocktails, while the platters of ‘molecular gastronomy’ cuisine should stop you feeling peckish. Feeling daring? Try the popcorn pig brain with jalapeno-gribiche emulsion and wash it down with Dr Lee’s cider house remedy, complete with a frothy carrot foam.
What to see
To check out a less swanky side of Shanghai, visit the Old Town. Ignore the garish tourist trap Yuyuan Bazaar (a fake ‘ancient’ complex filled with souvenir shops) and instead get lost in the longtangs, or alleyways, which are lined with temples, local street food and shikumen – the traditional two-storey houses, which fuse East and West and are unique to the city. Go to the absorbing Bird and Flower Market (Xizang Nan Lu) to see exotic plants and hundreds of crickets. The insects are kept in glass jars and sold for local cricket-fighting competitions.
People’s Square, which was formerly a horse racetrack, provides a few architectural gems and museums of interest. Visit the Shanghai Museum, which tracks 5,000 years of Chinese history, and if the hordes of people and honking cars get too much, pop into the 1930s art nouveau building that now houses The Langham Yangtze Boutique Hotel (021 6080 0800;
yangtzeboutique.langhamhotels.com) and indulge in a luxurious afternoon tea. Afterwards, walk across the square to the Shanghai Art Museum, located in the old race club, and finish with a journey up a creaky lift to Kathleen’s 5 rooftop restaurant (021 6327 2221; www.kathleens5.com.cn) for a martini and a bird’s eye view of the square below.
For a charming mix of old and new, head to Taikang Lu in the French Concession. The cluster of shikumen hidden in the pedestrianised alleyways behind this road have been invaded by coffee shops, galleries and photography studios, but the area has yet to be completely redeveloped (as nearby Xintiandi has) and local residents still live here. Watch cute elderly women interrupt dumpling-making to peer out of their windows at the flocks of hipsters.
Where to stay
Jia Hotel (021 6217 9000;
www.jiashanghai.com. From 2,000RMB per night for a studio room), located in a 1920s building on the corner of the busy shopping street Nanjing Lu, stylishly blends its historic fa?ade with an interior decor that pays homage to China’s modern art scene (look out for the vast bird cages suspended from the ceiling in the lobby). In Mandarin,
jia means ‘home’ and this trendy boutique hotel lives up to its name, with a lobby lounge stocked with complimentary coffee and tea, cakes for the afternoon, wine for the evening, plus magazines and newspapers. They go some way to justifying the hefty price tag.
If you’re on a budget but still want to stay in a design-led hotel, modern bright rooms and plasma TVs make Pentahotel (021 6252 1111;
www.pentahotels.com) a winner. Rooms cost as little as 598RMB per night.