I didn’t know today (22 Jan 2010) is La Ba Jie until I watched the morning news.
La Bameans the eighth day of the 12thmonth in Chinese Lunar Calendar. The whole month is regarded as the coldest time in the year and in Chinese we put La in front of some other word to indicate this special time, for example La Yue is putting La in front of the Yue (month) means the coldest month. Read More…
It was raining all day yesterday in Shanghai. So nasty. Too wet and cold to go anywhere.
Even worse. I didn’t have any food left in my apartment. So I decided to order some pizza online.
Thank God. I still have the Internet connection. Read More…
When the weather is getting colder, I am just craving for Beijing Roasted duck. The fat, the crispy skin and the rich sauce, mmm…… feel so good in the cold winter!
Quan Ju De is my favourite place to have Beijing roasted duk. I know there are some others in Shanghai, for example: Yan Yun Lou, which is the Shanghai brand for Beijing Roasted Duck and also very well known in Shanghai. But I just feel Quan Ju De is better. Read More…
According the Chinese Lunar Calendar, 22 December this year is the winter solstice (in Chinese pronounced as Dong Zhi), which marks the start of the coldest time of the year.
I believe Chinese Lunar Calendar and recent weather forecast also proved it as Shanghai is going to minus 3 - 4 degrees this weekend! Read More…
Eric, my California friend kept telling me how good Carl’s Jr at Raffles City was for two months. But I just didn’t feel like to go because:
- first of all, I am not a fan of burgers or sandwiches.
- second, The basement food floor at Raffles is a nightmare, always millions of people there, crowded, chaotic and noisy. Read More…
Wujiang Road might be the most famous eatery street in Shanghai. But today’s news said that the second phase of Wujiang Road Renovation Project has started which means the East part of the Wujiang Road will be completely tore down by the end of 2009. Read More…
If you have been to Shanghai, you will know how much Shanghainese love pan fried dumplings. And if you ask any Shanghainese for recommendation, the top brand must be Yang’s! Whenever you pass Wujiang Road, there is always a long queue in front of this small yet shabby store at the corner, where Yang started his very first pan fried dumpling restaurant.
But recently a post in a local BBS put Yang’s dumplings into a serious trouble. The post said he was seriously sick after eating Yang’s famous dumplings. And then he went back to Yang’s restaurant and bought a few more and sent those to local food inspection bureau. The report then told the meat used in Yang’s dumpling was questionable. Read More…
Lisa asked me this question today:
‘ Before I came to China, I was always dreaming to drink tea in those old Chinese houses and I was pretty sure I could find one because tea should be everywhere in China. But when I am in Shanghai, I just found Starbucks everywhere. Where are those nice tea houses, I mean real Chinese tea houses?’
Yes, she is right. I just found it was really hard to recommend a nice tea house in Shanghai. Read More…
Wendy and I had a lunch at Xing Hua Lou in Fuzhou Road today. To be honest, I’ve never been there after living in Shanghai for five years. But I do know Xing Hua Lou is famous for it moon cakes.
‘Xing Hua Lou(means Apricot Flower House) is one of the oldest Cantonese restaurants in Shanghai (established in 1874). It has been awarded China Time-honored Brand in Shanghai by Ministry of Internal Trade.’ Read More…
There is a good tradition in my office that is after a business travel, we usually bring a local speciality back to the office for sharing.
David, who has just back from the trip to Europe, brought a box of Mint Chocolate. And then interesting things happend!
All the foreign colleagues just loved it and told David that they had wanted the mint chocolates for a long time. Read More…
By entering the autumn, the shell of the crayfish becomes harder and the meat becomes hard and chewy. So the best time for crayfish (summer) is over, now it is the time for crab!
The crab Shanghainese love is called Hairy Crab, which is from the fresh water (lake or river), not the sea. So it is much smaller than the sea crabs. Those crabs usually have hairs on their crawls as its name indicated. Read More…
In recent days if you happen to pass some restaurants, hotels, bakeries or food stores, you probably will notice that many people are queueing there for a box/bag of something. Some small bakeries are even closed because the space is completely occupied by those boxes and the people who are collecting the something. Read More…
Okay, summer is leaving us in Shanghai now. Watermelon might not be the most favourite fruit for us in Shanghai. So what is in season in September in Shanghai?
- Grape
Actually early September is the best time for grape. You might see many different kinds of grapes in wet market, big, small, green, red. All are good! Read More…
Today I saw this big board in Songjiang district: Read More…
Okay, it seems that we have a scientific number about how much it cost for a lunch in Shanghai!
A research by Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine showed that average lunch cost in Shanghai is 18.9RMB. Some interesting findings below: Read More…
You might find recently in the street people are selling some green cone shaped pods. They look like a kind of plants and local Shanghainese eat them like a snack. Yes, you are right. It’s one of the summer delicacies in this area (Yangtze Delta) – Fresh Lotus Seeds. Read More…
Yesterday when I passed Banana Leaf in 96 Plaza in Pudong, I noticed a big notice on its wall saying: we only have 3 branches in Shanghai, any other restaurants under the name of Banana Leaf are not authorised by us. Then I remembered one day I passed another very similar restaurant in Raffles City at the People’s Square called very much like Banana Leaf something. So does this mean the one in Raffles City is Shan Zhai (fake)?
Today I told this to some of my colleagues and it seems everybody knows that the one in Raffles City is fake because the food there were not good! My colleagues told me if I pay a bit more attention, I will find their names are similar but different. Read More…
In China, KFC is doing much better than McDonalds or Burger King. Some people said this is because that Chinese prefer chicken rather than beef. This might be one of the reasons. Another reason might be KFC really made something which accommodate locate taste.
KFC in Shanghai
You will find lots of items which are only availabe in Chinese KFC menu. For example: Beef Wrap, which is shreded beef in Sichuan hot and spicy sauce wrapped in a Mexican Tortillas together with lettuce, tomato etc. So it has the Chinese taste: shredded meat with Chinese flavour and also has the western features, wrap, lettuce etc. This makes KFC not just appealing to young Chinese but also to the senior. Read More…
Sarah from England is visiting Shanghai this week. She is a vegetarian, so I took her to Gong De Lin, a well known Chinese vegetarian restaurant with long history.
We ordered a few dishes which are the restaurant specialities and interestingly they all have meaty names, for example, vege sweet and sour pork, vege fish etc. To me, it was a bit weird that coming to a vegetarian restaurant for fake meat food.
When all the dishes were brought on the table, I was amazed by the chef’s creativity because all the vege dishes looked and tasted very much like the real meat or fish. Read More…
When Linda told me she found a really nice Shanghai restaurant in Jiujiang Road, which is next to East Nanjing Road, I was wondering which one she refered to because for me restaurants in East Nanjing Road are usually lack of originality and characters. Restaurants in Nanjing Road are usually for tourists only which means they are either overpriced or chain restaurants like anywhere else. It is not easy to find one which are good priced and have the unique Shanghai characteristics. Read More…
