I'm looking forward to hearing about your experiences at Inle. As you know, we loved it.

Thanks for breaking up the report eks!

Waiting eagerly to hear about my favourite state in Myanmar, yummy Shan food, gracious people and surreal places/scenery especially in the newly opened southern part of Inle lake !

River, Lake, swimming pool. Has anyone else noticed the aquatic trajectory of this thread It's as if the OP needs a water fixture nearby to be comfortable. Probably comes from living on an island.

Everytime she writes HeHo, I'm reminded of the dwarves of Snow White fame, singing on their way to work. Of course, the OP would be Grumpy, while I remain, Bashful.

Oh goodie! The story continues!

Good idea to break it up - look forward to hearing about Inle.

Ok, just to prove that I have not been slacking off, here is another tidbit, with the promise of more to come soon. Again, I am sorry for being so Pandodder-ish:





The plane landed on the tarmac at Heho’s tiny airport and we filed into the terminal area, passing a masked woman holding what looked like a laser gun that emitted a bolt of red light. She aimed this at each passenger as they passed. What was this, I wondered? A thermometer, I was told! Very space age, although perhaps I am late to the party on this one. The luggage arrived quickly and we filed out. But before we exited the terminal, I stopped at the Air Bagan desk to inquire about our flight two days later. I was concerned because we had a connecting flight to China on that day and, while we would have two hours to make this connection, I had heard that flight delays were common in Burma. If we were to miss our connection, we would have to spend two additional nights in Mandalay, because the Mandalay-Kunming flights do not leave every day. I probably should not have inquired, because when I did, I was subjected to quite a lecture from the Air Bagan official as to how, when one has an important connection, it is imperative to arrive the evening before, because flights were often delayed. So much for trying to reassure myself on that score!

We then filed outside, into the clear sunshine. The air here was cool and pleasant, a tremendous contrast to those we had left behind in Mandalay. I estimate that temperatures were in the low 70s in the early morning. (At sunrise it was even cooler, as we would find out the next day).

We were retrieved by our designated driver, arranged by Gracious Myanmar for the transfers, and boarded a van for the ride of about an hour or so to our hotel, on the eastern shore of Inle Lake. As soon as we began our drive, we realized that this was a totally different Burma than the one we had left behind on the Irrawaddy plain. This was cool and fairly green highland terrain and I was immediately captivated. We passed through the small city of Heho and, after a photo stop for a water buffalo lolling in a mud pool, we headed for the tiny village of Kaung Daing, which was the site of the roving Inle-area market on that day. (The market makes a circuit and returns the same spot every 5 days)

Here is the schedule for 2010:


http://www.travel-myanmar.net/marketdays-2010.htm

The Kaung Daing market sprawled out over a flattened patch of earth along the roadside. Our flight had arrived at 9:15, so it was close to 11am when we arrived at the market, and things were beginning to wind down. Nevertheless it was quite thrilling to see the market stalls with the various indigenous vegetables and fruits, along with the other usual market wares, ranging from bootleg CDs to one-use packages of shampoo.

It was here that we got our first glimpse of the huge (more than 12" in diameter) round, crispy discs made from rice that I began to call “Shan crackers.” There were also a few stalls selling wheat-based salty snacks of all shapes and sizes and I was happy to sample several that were proferred by the vendor before buying my own small bag. Please do mot miss these—they are addictive! All of the market vendors were friendly and none appeared to mind having their picture snapped. Although we had seen two tourists en route to the market (a pair of young Basques from Spain who were tootling along the bumpy road on rented bikes) I do not remember seeing any other tourists at this market, in contrast to the lake-side markets we would visit later in our stay.

Despite the lack of tourists, we did see a few stalls of tourist-oriented merchandise. Most interesting of these, to me, were the tables of items crafted from mother of pearl in southern Burma’s Rakhine State. There were ebony salad servers embellished with the shell, among other tempting creations. I felt that the prices were inflated, however; asking price for the salad servers was in the vicinity of $30US and there did not seem to be much room for bargaining. I did buy a polished, flat shell for about $10US, just because it reminded me of one we had on our house when I was a child. (Might make a nice soap dish) Be aware, though, that some of the shells used for nacre, or mother of pearl, come from endangered mollusks.

I remember the Mandalay airport well. I asked the driver to stop so I could take a picture (upon approach) and he informed me that it was 'not permitted' to photograph the airport. As he said this, he slowed to a creep while I surreptitiously took a photo. Who would believe it is 'not permitted' to photograph an 'international' airport! Only in Burma.

We spent about a hour walking through the market and tasting a few snacks. From there, we moved on to the Inle Lake View Resort, which would be our home for our last two nights in Burma. The Inle Lake View Resort (not to be confused with the Inle Lake Resort; there are several Inle Lake hotels with similar names, so be careful!) sits on the west shore of the lake and is accessible by road, unlike the Inle Princess Hotel, which we also considered and which, sitting on the eastern shore, requires a boat ride. Since our time was limited, we wanted to have easy access to the airport in Heho, less than an hour away.

We were very pleased with this hotel and I highly recommend it for visitors to Inle Lake. The architecture melds with both Burmese tradition and with its situation, on a rise overlooking the lake. Note that the hotel is not directly on the shore of the lake, but there were lake views from our rooms. I did not find this to be a drawback in any way. There are freestanding lake side villas, but we had requested deluxe lake-view rooms (the least expensive category) in the one of the hotel’s two-story wings at the hotels' highest point in elevation.

My first-floor room was spacious and handsome, with double doors that opened to the exterior at the rear, facing the lake, and gleaming teak floors. Our rooms were the last in our wing, they were quiet late at night, but I did hear some noise earlier in the evening when I had my windows open while a group of fellow (French) tourists held a cocktail hour on their balcony above me. The bathroom was also large, but different levels necessitate care when entering at night. Here are photos, on the hotel website:



http://www.inlelakeview.com/accommodation.htm

http://www.inlelakeview.com/about-the-resort.htm

We were charmed by the hotel almost immediately. The owner, Sander, is an enchanting Burmese woman who I met later that evening and who recounted the story of how she was able to devlop the hotel after purchasing the land on the lake shore. Staff is gracious and very eager to help. We noticed mosquito coils in the rooms but had no problem with insects during our stay in mid March. Upon check in, we also noticed a prominently placed sign on the front desk expressing sorrow that the hotel was forced to refuse any worn or torn currency.

After a quick wash, we were off.

A short walk down the hill, past the hotel’s vegetable gardens, brought us to the dock, where we clambered aboard the long tail motorized boat that awaited us, and headed off for lunch.

The tourist boats are open, with no shelter from the sun; ours had umbrellas on board for each passenger, but I would echo the advice of other travelers and advise packing hats and sun protection. Many of the Japanese tourists we would encounter also wore masks and gloves!

At NyiNyi’s suggestion, we headed for Ann’s Restaurant, about a 20 minutes ride from the hotel. Our first foray onto the lake was thrilling, although it was 15 minutes or so before we encountered any activity on the lake, in the form of fishermen and boatmen spearing the seaweed with large pronged pitchforks. This may have been to lure the fish into their baskets, or to gather the seaweed for the floating vegetable gardens that dotted the lake. In my excitement, I either forgot to ask or forgot the answer to my query.

When we approached Ann’s Restaurant, I was admittedly a little peeved to be headed for such an obviously tourist-oriented place. But while touring the lake, there are no other options, save eating onshore in a market-type eatery which would have wasted quite a bit of time since our goal was to see as much of the lake as possible. Do not underestimated the time it takes to travel from place to place on the boats.

Fortunately, the setting, on a side terrace cantilevered over the lake, was lovely and the food, although overpriced, was tasty. I neglected to note the total but I think it was in the neighborhood of $30US for four people. My notes comment:” Good chicken stir fry and Burmese-style green bean salad with peanuts. Fresh lime juices.” Here, too, the salads were the star menu attraction. The rest of the menu was kind of generic Burmese-Chinese and we would see variations of the same dishes at the next day’s restaurant as well.

There are clean, western rest rooms that double as fitting rooms for the on-site shop, with tempting items including handsome shirts in cotton and silk, and Shan-style trousers made of a blue and white handloomed cotton. I had seen these on the male staff at the hotel and was determined to purchase a pair for myself, which I would do later that day.

I could not resist a beautifully tailored shocking-pink cotton blouse with closures made from silver-colored coins--kind of a westernization of the tribal styles of this area and of northern Thailand.

Ann’s also has an extensive collection of old and new lacquerware, including Shan-style items which differ enormously from the style we had seen in Bagan. There is also an orchid greenhouse, which we declined to visit.

After lunch, with NyiNyi directing, we set off on our exploration of the lake. The day had turned hazy and the mountain views were much obscured, to our disappointment. Again, this is a result of the burning of the fields which takes place during this season. The water levels were very low at this time of year, and we were chagrined to learn that the water level has been falling precipitously each year, so much so that there is real concern that the lake may dry up completely within a few years. This would become glaringly obvious the following day when we visited a market village.

I'm following your time at Inle with great interest. We had several long conversations with Sander, and I sent her a link to my trip report.

So a person from NYC complains that lunch for four cast $30US. I guess she never goes to a restaurant in NYC.

We've escaped the Pandodderers and are now left with the OP and her two companions. How exciting!

Hush, Panda! It is a fortune for Burma! You are just trying to give me a hard time!

Kathie: She was a lovely woman and I can't even guess what difficulties she must have had establishing that hotel. I am guessing that you would stay there again if you returned, right?
I would love to go back and explore more of Shan state.

Really frustrated because I just erased a huge portion of the report that I was planning to post!

Anyway, here is a bit more:


I will comment here that many of the stops on the official itinerary followed by most tourists are actually shopping opportunities masquerading as handcraft workshops. So there is a “silver workshop,” which we skipped, and several weaving workshops, of which we visited two and found them to be interesting although one would have been sufficient.


I had initially wanted to visit the less-touristed southern portion of the lake, but after learning that the trip there would take about three to four hours each way, I nixed that idea, not wanting to spend 6-8 hours traveling in the boat, plus more time exploring the area, and went along with the “official” program. All was well, since our goal was to get as much of an overview of the area as was possible in the two nights/almost two full days that we had, and the main attraction was just discovering the joy of being in this fascinating area. (I did eliminate the famous jumping cat monastery from the official plan)


And so our next stop was a large handcraft shop, aka "workshop" which had the added “attraction” of having three Padaung Karen women, in residence.

I was initially put off by seeing them, and I do not want to imagine the sad story that had brought them to this shop in the middle of Inle Lake. But their demeanor seemed cheerful; they were joking around with each other when we arrived and kept up a convincing front, telling us that they would be there a couple of months before returning home and exchanging places with three others. They discussed the weight of their ornaments, and one of the women removed her leg rings for us to hold. They did not solicit tips.

For those wondering why these women would be here as magnets for tourists, here is a photo:

http://www.irrawaddy.org/articlefiles/10172-padaung_women.jpg


And here is an interesting, related article:

http://www.marieclaire.com/world-reports/news/international/kayan-long-neck-thailand

Yes, eks, I would stay at the Inle Lake View again. The owner talked with us about the process of building the resort and the difficulties involved in getting basic services when you are not a government owned or affiliated establishment.

We visited one weaving center (since I'm interested in textiles) and saw the process for extracting fibers from lotus stems and weaving them. Other than that, we avoided the handicraft stops. I have to say that the trip to the Southern part of the lake was a real highlight.

Kathie: I also was fascinated by the lotus weaving. I thought they were breathtaking when completed, too, but very pricey. (The scarf I liked was $140US and it was not very large).

I did mean to go to the southern part. But with less than two full days I just did not think I had enough time. And then there was the issue of my friends, who were dead set against doing this. Well, I have to leave something for next time, right!?

I am so annoyed that I lost all that text I had written. That is why this last bit is so abbreviated.

After the visit with the Padaung women, we piled back into the boat and began cruising around. This is a spectacular watery world and it makes me so sad to think that their way of life is threatened by a constellation of factors that combine to lower the water levels. There are at least 37 true villages and more than 130,000 people living on and around the lake. We wove through the canals lined by wooden houses perched high on stilts; many of these houses now contain homespun businesses designed to attract tourists—restaurants and handcraft shops, but there is no tawdry feeling at all. Life seems to proceed much as before here, with everyone trundling about in their hand-built canoes (there are two carvers in the area that craft these vessels out of teak logs), powered either by noisy motors (it is all but impossible to hold a conversation while you are touring by boat due to the noise of the motor), by paddles, or by their legs in the distinctive “leg-rowing” style indigenous to the lake.

We next stopped at a family owned weaving workshop, spread over a complex of three-story wood-plank buildings rising from the lake. Much of the thread is now imported from China or India but it is dyed and woven here into lengths of silk in complex designs including patterns indicative of the various states and regions in Burma and designed to be sold for longyis. There were also handsome ikat designs, and some spectacular, heavily textured fabrics woven of lotus fibers which had been gathered from the lake bed. We walked through the buildings, watching the dying and weaving process.


There is, of course, a shop which offers an array of beautiful temptations. I came close to buying one of the lotus fiber shawls. I am sure that the US$140 or so accurately reflects the work involved, fashioning the plant into thread for weaving and then completing the weaving, but I just did not want to spend that much. Now I regret my decision for these were very striking textiles indeed!

By this time the sun was beginning to sink and the lighting was excellent so we spent the remainder of the afternoon cruising the lake, watching the local people glide home in their boats heavily laden with market produce. Inle Lake presents a totally different picture of Burma than the one we had seen on the river, and I was very glad that we had included it into our itinerary. I would come to the belief that two days was a good amount of time to spend here, although three days/nights would have been ideal. That amount of time would have allowed me to venture to the less-touristed southern sector of the lake, which I would have liked to have done. But since this was said to be a four-hour trip each way from our hotel, I was not too distressed at missing out on this trip. The boats were not uncomfortable,by any means. The wooden seats are cushioned for tourists, and there are many opportunities to stop and stretch one’s legs. But the boats are noisy, as I mentioned, and eight hours, plus exploring time, is a long time to spend on the water, in the sun.

It's easy to imagine that the Karen women took pictures of the OP and friends. These pictures are no doubt handed around as examples of the hardship endure.

Plus, she gets snippy about a dinner for four for $30 and then gets stingy and doesn't buy a unique scarf for $130. What, did it not go with any of her Jimmy Choo shoes? How does she come to these finacial decisions? It's amazing. Plus, she saved the cash by not visiting the most interesting part of the lake.

I can't see how you knew that the Karen women took my picture. That was in the part that I accidentally edited. Do you have special x-ray powers now? They tried to get me to put on some of their getup but I maintained my dignity and refused. Also, I wore plastic flipflops.

There is a village within walking distance of the hotel, but we opted to remain “at home” in the evening and have dinner in the hotels’ pretty dining room.

We shared the premises with two large groups of tourists, one from France and the other from Russia. We noticed only two other tables of independent travelers. Much time has passed since that dinner, so I do not remember many details but I do remember that the main course, the prawn sambal, was excellent, if lacking in heat. So excellent, in fact, that I ordered it for a second time the following night, when I insisted that they make it as spicy as possible, with very good result. The food at the hotel was surprisingly good; I do not remember the price of the food but I did note that a rum sour with domestic rum cost $6US.


There was some discussion regarding the next morning’s departure time. I would highly recommend setting off at first light to maximize both good photography time and to arrive at any markets in advance of tour groups. We left the hotel, after a good breakfast, at 7:45, bound for the 5-day market which was held that day at NamPan. As the hotel is not actually on the main body of the lake, the boat traveled through a narrow channel for about 10 minutes before reaching open water.

Due to the low water level, there was quite a pileup of boats in the marshes at the edge of Nam Pan village. Normally the boats could pull up right to the market area but with the level so low, they were forced to dock in the marsh itself which meant that market-goers had to clamber from boat to boat—through a lineup of 20 boats or so-- to reach the shore. This would have been very difficult for anyone with mobility problems, as the boats were not stable. I found it kind of scary at first, but quickly got into the spirit.



The market was truly wonderful and the few hours we spent here would have been alone worth the trip to Inle Lake. The scene is right out of National Geographic, with the crowded stalls piled with all manner of wares, manned by vendors of various ethnic groups. We saw many tribespeople in indigenous garb, most noticeable of which are the women of the Pa’O minority who dress in black skits and blouses emblazoned by bolts of bright colors and wrap their heads in brightly colored turbans which were once hand-loomed cottons and are today brightly colored terry towels. Although we spotted a few tourists, the market was patronized overwhelmingly by local people who had come to shop, to have their hair cut, to eat, to gossip, and to gamble at cards and at cockfights.

It was a thrilling, animated, and very colorful scene.

Although I had eaten breakfast I could not miss the opportunity to stop at one of the market stalls for a few snacks. Although my friends passed on this, NyiNyi and I devoured the variety of samosas fried sweet crullers, pakoras, and other treats that are served along with an order of tea at the “tea stalls.” Everything was freshly made and very tasty.

We also did a bit of shopping here. I purchased a brass opium weight ($10US for the largest size) and a very interesting white silk jacket emblazoned with Pali script and astrological calendars. I thought that this was quite expensive at $50; the vendors here were not willing to drop prices much even after spirited bargaining.

On the way back to the boat I was trailed by a rather desperate woman toting a round black lacquer betel box embellished with brass medallions. I did not want this box but she was so persistent that I eventually capitulated. In retrospect, as I look at the box on my shelf, I think it ranks among the most attractive souvenirs of the trip.

We spent several hours at the market before scuttling along across the sea of boats to our own little ship, and setting off for lunch.



more soon...

I'm learning a lot from this, Eks, and it's making me yearn to go, like Kathie's report did. And I can't count the number of times something seemed too pricey and I later regretted not buying it.
It's sad for us when the tourism begins to dilute authetic local life, but maybe not so sad for their families' income and better standards of living. I loathe being dragged to these tourist restaurants until I realize that in many places without tourist there would probably be no restaurants at all.
In Botswana, we went for a mokoro (canoe) that I was dismayed to learn was made of fiberglass, not the original wood. Silly me, they must be so much cheaper to buy, easier to pole and simpler to clean. I'll bet those teak boats won't last long. Good for the environment? Maybe, maybe not.

Planning to visit Nampan on market day enroute to southern area this Nov after your report ! I read somewhere that it is 1 of the bigger markets of the 5day rotating markets, we visited Mine Thauk n bought grass cushions to put on our patio and large colourful woven shopping bags to lug them in! Last Dec we invited our UK pal n she was late everyday - didn't start till 9.30am (just as well I booked afternoon flights all thru !)so we did see a few tourists about in the market but not in Samkar !

We took 2 hours from Nampan to Samkar. The journey was enlightening n surreal- a photographer's dream ! Visited the village nursery school as we brought (via my guide) books n stationery to pass to the teachers. The children were so shy n adorable. Passing thru the village n talking to the guide we found that their new hospital was unused as they don't even have basic medicine n bandages, so we are coming this year!

We stayed @ Inle Resort(www.inleresort.com) on the eastern bank n it was quiet n sumptuous. Built by Princess Resort Owner than sold to Myanmar business (not Tay). Stayed @ mid range deluxe teak villa $65 with deck,sitting room separated by teak sliding doors to bedroom. Had a air con cum heater which was useful as temperatures drop down to 10C @1am !We'll go back to Inle Resort again as we didn't have time to try their spa during our 2 nites n 2 full days there.

Saw small groups of French ,US n UK guests around in the restaurant, no big groups. Food was large portions & good with menus for Asian & Western palates, so we did a mix & match, burb !

As long as the food was hot n freshly made it was quite safe for us as we tried the local restaurant nearby Heho airport n even our bashful driver joined us. We were being massaged whilst waiting for our food Loved both the fried & soupy Shan noodles, vegetables were so fresh especially the marrow sprouts/tips fried, mange tout,yum. My tour guide helps with her mother's potato farm when she's not guiding so I bring sealed packets of seeds for her to try. She tells us what veg is in season, we ate well during our stay in Inle.

We bought some Shan jackets @ the silk & lotus weavers as it came in various colours(red,ple,brn,blk ,thick cotton n just $15.Our UK pal took 2 back, I bought a red plus silk scarves(presents) n some silk fabric to leave with my Yangon tailor.

Yes ,sounds like I'm in love with Burma, how can one not be, the people are gracious n very warm and when you get to know them well , they can't do enough !

what would you estimate the price of a burmese silk scarf to be in nyc??? oh maybe $600??

I am wondering now about the information that I received from our guide that it would take four hours EACH WAY from our hotel to Samkar in the south. When I heard 8 hours in the boat, plus exploring time, I made the decision to skip it on this trip, especially since my late-starting travel companions were dead opposed. Now it is possible that the guide was exaggerating the distance in time. Perhaps he had to take into account the location of our hotel, which was on the western bank, pretty far north. I did not research this myself but depended on his counsel, which is unusual for me! I certainly would have gone alone if I had had an extra day.

But tell me, if it was a four hour trip each way, what exactly is different in the southern part of the lake, besides the fact that there are fewer tourists? The markets we saw looked "authentic" and not very much marred by tourism.

When we did it, Samkar took all day. We made several stops however, so we did not spend all of that time in the boat. Without stops, it would probably be about 2 hours each way from your hotel.

Well I have only myself to blame for not double checking the info that I received from the guide. Let that be good lesson. But having said that, I doubt if I would have gone since we had only the day of arrival plus the next day. I think that two nights is really the bare minimum for Inle Lake. I would like to return to that area and see not only more of the lake (while there is still a lake!) and also travel to Kalaw.

I just looked at the map and see that Nam Pan is in the center of the lake,so the travel time from there to the south would be much shorter than from my hotel to the southern end. So people wanting to visit the southern end might want to take hotel location into account before booking.

...and also visit Taunggyi, which is only 19 miles north of the lake. That city is also in a 5-day market rotation system.

Did you visit Taunggyi? In addition to the 5-day market there is a large (and interesting) central market there...

Eks, we visited the southern end of the lake and it didn't take as long to get there as were were told. It took probaly three hours to get there (you have to stop and pick up a guide and a permit, plus there is a permit checkpoint. It took maybe 2.5 hours on the way back. But all of that time in the boat was heavenly. There was always something to see.

The southern part of the lake is less touristed and less developed. It has only been open to visitors for a few years. The stupas at Samkar were un-restored and rising up out of the water. We had tea with a monk at the Samkar monastery, one of those things that are hard to arrange in the more touristed north.

Here's a great idea. Start a trip report, make it really interesting and get so many replies that you have to start a new thread beacause the old one takes too long to load up. The new thread begins like a house of fire and then you stop posting because you vanish to the hinterlands each weekend. You give no thought whatsoever to your loyal readers and just stop posting. Welcome to Ekscrunchyland.

last we heard they were fooling around on some lake ignoring the jumping cats.

Welcome to Ekscrunchyland, indeed! I am on a temporary hiatus and will return within a few days. Panda you know very well that I am having work done here (still) and have not had as much free time as usual.

Craig, I did not visit Taunggyi on this trip, but I would love to do so if I am fortunate enough to return to the Inle area, or to Burma!

A hiatus by definition is temporary. Plus, you've been having "wok done" forever. They could have built an entire new building in this time.

BTW, "having work done" is a phrase from NYC that can cover a wide range of activities. Anywhere from remodeling a bathroom, to having a picture framed to getting a face lift. About 85% of NYC residents are "having some work done" at any given moment. It's a perpetual state of being and no excuse for trip report delinquincy.

We are trying to organise a trip in February (hoping that it will be cooler than yours in March) and keep coming up against flights from one part of the country to another. We recognise that this is the fastest/easiest way to get from one part of the country to another, but are more inclined to try to see more in one area rather than fly up and down the country.

How time consuming/difficult/long are these international flights? Yangon-Bagan, Mandalay-Heho, etc.

carlux: the answer to your second question is IN this very report, in great detail. Do a Google search for the rest. Type 'Yangon - Bagan'. Click on the first link you find - or ANY link. As pretty well 100% of tourists take the Yangon/Mandalay flight I reckon you'll find what you need.

A map can be found on Google, too - always good to look at.

The laws of physics would suggest that flights take the same time to get from A - B in Burma as they do anywhere else in the world. On the assumption that they've wound the rubber band tight enough, you'll be fine.

As for difficulty... well, that's up to you. What kind of difficulty were you imagining? I suggest you read some trip reports. See the search box up above?

Carlux: I understand what you mean, but you really will want to fly within Burma. It sounds well and good to want to see the country by road, but I do not think that you will want to cram onto a local bus and doodle along many of those roads for an extended period, and getting to and from most places WILL require an extended period of time. As mentioned, the flights are easy as these things go. Flying into or out of Mandalay is a bit more time consuming than some of the other route due to the location of the airport far from the city. But even then, as I mention, we traveled from our hotel in Mandalay city to the airport, flew to Heho, and were at the market near Inle Lake by about 10:30am. Because flights often leave early in the morning, you do not waste a good part of the day in transit.

Carlux - when I was there in 2005 I traveled entirely by road - with a car and driver. I really enjoyed seeing the countryside and the villages. It depends partly on how long you have - I was there for 14 days, and saw Yangon, Inle Lake, Mandalay and Bagan, plus overnights in Taungoo and Pyay.

I'm planning to be there next February, too, but I want to concentrate on the north this time, so I may well take the Yangon-Mandalay flight. But I've already done the drive. There is a (government run) train (see http://seat61.com/Burma.htm) - but private, AC, buses are faster.

Thanks for that eks. I have actually read the report, and DO understand the laws of physic. What I wanted was some idea of the difficulty - having had to get to airports hours in advance it seemed like it might take up a lot of the day. It seems you are saying that it doesn't. I know we don't want to take long car drives either - the choice is more should we spend more time in fewer places or less time in more places.

In fact I've read your earlier report, and we too are very interested in a boat trip/cruise. Not the long one you did, but perhaps about 5 days.

http://www.ayravatacruises.com/royal-capitals-cruises.htm

I will attempt to continue with an unfamiliar computer:


After our visit to Nam Pan market, we headed for lunch. This time, our chosen restaurant stood atop stilts opposite the Phaung Daw Oo Paya, an immense tired pagoda which is said to be the holiest religious site in southern Shan State. It certainly appeared to be popular with tourists and, as we lunched, we watched a steady stream of boats pull up at the dock and disgorge large groups of (mainly Asian) visitors.



I do not recall the name of the restaurant but by this time I was of the opinion that it did not matter much-both of the lake restaurants we visited had similar menus highlighted by salads and stir fried dishes and both served tasty, if unmemorable, fare. My meal consisted of a bean sprout salad, a mixed vegetable stir fry, and a fresh lime juice. The total price was 4,000 kyat, or US$4, quite a bit less than Ann's, where we had lunched the previous day.

This particular restaurant consisted of two levels, with the upper providing the superior view. Our fellow diners on this level belonged to a group of Japanese travelers who sported virtual truckloads of photo equipment of as assortment and quantity that I had never before seen. Both men and woman wore gloves and masks (removed during lunch) to protect from the sun.

Lunch breaks also present an opportunity to use clean restroom facilities; both restaurants we visited had western style toilets. Both also offered plenty shopping opportunities.

I forgot to mention that someplace that day I found my pair of Shan trousers, made from hand-loomed blue-and-white textured cotton and priced under 10,000 kyat. Number of times I wore these trousers on the trip: One. Number of times I have worn them since returning home: None.

After lunch, after a short ride, we left the main body of the lake and made our way along a narrow channel rimmed by green fields and punctuated by waterfalls. Each time we passed one of these sets of falls, the boat would drop, much like a ride in an amusement park. It was really fun! We traveled about 20 minutes or so, halting finally at the dock beside Indein village.


More soon...

The waterfront of this tiny village is one long shopping mall with small stalls offering all manner of objects from Buddha statues and oil paintings (monks are a popular subject) to handwoven textiles and handmade puppets, interspersed with a few tourist cafes advertising “spaghetti with sauce” in several languages. Perhaps because these stalls were permanent, rather than mobile as we ha seen in the actual markets, the scene seemed more touristy here than other places we had visited on or near the lake.

From the village, our guide directed us past the dusty market area, empty on this day since the 5-day market was at NamPan, and along the bamboo-shaded banks of the stream (we were accompanied the entire way by little kids trying mightily to sell us dried seed pods with which they kept up a continual rattle). Our final destination was the Shwe Inn Thein Paya, a complex of more than a thousand chedi in various states of repair, that climbs a steep hillside about a 20 minute (hot!) walk from the boat dock. A stepped staircase ascends the slope and strung along the steps are more souvenir stands. Along with the usual subjects, we noticed some antique lacquer and ancestor portraits; I thought prices were high. At the top of the staircase, a makeshift café offers cold drinks including Red Bull, which seems to be quite popular among locals able to afford the price. We spent only a few minutes at the summit, however, before making a slow descent, pausing to admire a few of the chedi, many in a dilapidated but atmospheric state of disrepair, along the way.

We then made our way back to our boat, passing groups of Pa’O women returning from market laden with goods. From the dock, it was back through the channel, past a few water buffalo lolling in the shallows, and on to the main lake. From there, we set out for the hotel, arriving late in the afternoon.

For our last dinner in Burma, we again headed for the hotel restaurant and I again ordered the tasty prawn sambal, which was delivered with an added lashing of spice at my request.

Carlux

As EKS said the flights are not onerous most airports are close by except Mandalay. The boatride Mandalay to Bagan is very pleasant. If you choose to travel by bus expect bad roads, bad buses and an almost non existent rail road.

Eks, your visit at In Dien (In Thien) was quite different from ours. I'm glad we went first thing in the morning and had the place to ourselves. The walkway to the top of the hill did have the best quality crafts we saw in the Inle area, though just a few of the vendors were open as we left. Because it was so early and not yet hot, we wandered through the stupa forest on our way up the hill. The shops where our boat docked weren't open yet, even as we left.

From today's New York Times book review, a new book about Burma:


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/books/review/Downer-t.html?ref=books

Older book, also about Burma, by the same author:

http://www.amazon.com/Lizard-Cage-Karen-Connelly/dp/0385525036/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276459268&sr=1-2-spell

Kathie: I do not think that we visited Indein under the best circumstances. Despite the impression that I may have given above, we actually saw few tourists there, possibly because all of the tourists were in Nam Pan at the market that day. But even without the tourists, the place was crowded with stalls and eateries oriented toward tourists. This was just so different than the scene at the villages we had walked through during the cruise that I mentioned it. I think my impression was heavily influenced by the remoteness of the villages we had visited on the cruise.

But compared to villages on the tourist trail in other countries, the innocence was still there, although who knows for how long. Of course that may be a moot issue if the lake dries up..

I do realize that I only scratched the very tip of the iceberg at Inle Lake--in no way do I want to give the impression that I delved anyplace below the surface. I was delighted that my friends had agreed to add the area to our itinerary. They were also so very glad that they had agreed to include Inle Lake.

We are almost out of Burma now! Prepare yourselves for a culture shock when we relocate from the shores of Inle Lake to Nanjing Road in Shanghai!

There are icebergs in Inle Lake? No wonder they proplel with their feet. Ever diligent, don't want to hit an iceberg. A demonstration of an inapt mwtaphor. That's our beloved Ekscrunchy. Stuck in the wilds on the Gisalnd.

Can't wait for your return trip to Shanghai and your impressions and discoveries!

Hi, S! I will continue as soon as I can but I will tell you now that I loved Shanghai as much the second time as the first. I found the people very welcoming and the city has an electric energy that delights me. I think it is interesting about the energy--I find that some cities have it and some don't (just like people, I guess!) Shanghai has it, Beijing does not. Saigon certainly has it; Hanoi maybe not so much.

I am not sure where I am going with this and I cannot put my finger on it.

I'm going to Las Vegas for five days and will be offline. That means that someone else has to step up and keep the pressure on the OP. She's a hopeless slacker and needs "encouragement". Maybe by the time I check in on 6/21/10, she will have arrived in Shanghai.

Put all your fingers on the keyboard, eks. We're all waiting. Please.

The following day, after two nights at Inle Lake, we departed the Inle Lake View Resort shortly after 10am, bound for Heho airport and our 11:55am flight to Mandalay on Yangon Airways. I had been quite nervous about this flight due to our connection in Mandalay but I need not have worried. We departed on time and arrived in Mandalay at the scheduled 12:25pm, with plenty of time to collect our bags and make our 2:40pm China Eastern flight to Kunming. As I mentioned earlier, food options at Mandalay airport are limited; I was sorry I did not carry provisions with us, especially since I managed to miss a good eating opportunity in Kunming.

Our guide, NyiNyi, had accompanied us in Yangon and Inle Lake. We said goodbye to him at the gate for the Kunming flight. I was happy to have had his help shepherding us through the two airports on that day.

The flights to Kunming was uneventful. I had secured a window seat and my eyes all but fell out of my head as I observed the scene unfolding as we approached the city. Superhighways, flyovers, forests of 10-story-plus towers—this was a very different scene than the one we had left behind a bit more than an hour before! Yunnan province is currently suffering from a disastrous drought—the worst in a century-- and this, too, was evident in the landscape below.

I felt as if we had been catapaulted forward 100 years as we entered the Kunming airport. We collected our bags, passed through immigration and then entered a vast hall, where he scene was more reminiscent of a train station than an airport, with travelers camped out on the floor, surrounded by thermoses and snacks, myriad shops selling everything from Pu’er tea to beribboned gift packs of Nescafe to cell phones to stuffed pandas; I was enthralled by the many food shops but found it disconcerting to have a salesperson attach herself to me as I wandered, examining the shelves of exotic delicacies, and frustrating that I could not ask questions about the offerings. We found an overpriced airport café with comfy sofas and camped out for the duration. It was only when the time of boarding approached that I noticed a real restaurant on the upper level balcony at the top of a staircase. This proved to be a major oversight on my part, and one that prevented us from sampling Yunnanese cuisine at its source. (There is no sign in English, but the restaurant is easily visible from the main floor of the terminal).

We departed Kunming on the China Eastern flight at 9pm, bound for Shanghai, and it was with tremendous excitement that we landed in that city at 11:30pm, after a two-and-a-half-hour flight.

No mountain views on the Mandalay-Kunming flight?

Thursday: No--I think we either flew too high or the weather was too hazy but there were no views until we neared Kunming. How I would have loved to spend a few days (or more) around Kunming before moving on!

I just received a copy of the Spring 2010 Pandaw magazine; I found it very interesting, especially the comments made by Paul Strachan on the changes he has seen recently due to the massive influx of Chinese (more than 10 million, according to his account) into the country. This should be avaialable as a download on the Pandaw website.

Pity about the view - the photos were awesome. Also sounds like Kunming has grown some in the last six years - although I arrived by train and likely missed some of the 'burbs.

I was very disappointed about the view between the two cities.

Kunming looked absolutely huge and sprawling from the air! Forests of those high rise white concrete towers sprouting up everywhere for miles and miles. And the roads looked brand new. The airport looks to be a bit out of town so I did not actually fly over the central city of Kunming. Just writing this frustrates me that I was unable to spend a few days there! But at least we know know that travel from Mandalay to China by air is a snap, if expensive. (I am almost embarrased to tell you all how much I paid for the tickets, which I bought here in the US; ticket from Mandalay to Kunming )

Speaking of roads, I just finished Peter Hessler's book, Country Driving, about the effects of the auto on China.


Pandaw magazine mentions that they are now researching the possibility of a new cruise on the Upper Mekong, into Laos and China. I would love to go on that one! Details should be in the download on their site, or you can request the magazine by postal mail.

I am confused by the ownership/management of the Burma portion of the company because Strachan writes in the magazine article, The Pandaw Story, that he "could not take working with the government any longer and was forced to give up the old Pandaw. It broke his heart and is something he regrets to this day."

Thanks for completing a third of your report, I'm eagerly awaiting the remaining two destinations.

Marija: I will try my best to complete in a speedy fashion. Only then do I dare to begin a new thread on a possible next Asian destination!

Here is the excerpt from the Pandaw magazine, spring 2010, that I referred to above; I had forgotten to mention in my account that we had seen the new, tremendous Katha railway station (not yet in operation) on our drive to the elephant camp.



<It was several years since I was last up at Katha and I have a number of observations on the state of affairs in Upper Burma today. First of all,
there was far greater prosperity than there used to be or indeed we are led
to believe. These river towns are booming. New houses going up everywhere
and the quaint old teak houses fast disappearing. Even small towns now had
metered power supplies. People are running around on scooters rather than
push bikes. Fishermen in their canoes have outboard motors where before
they relied on a trusty paddle.

In Katha an enormous railway terminus was
under construction connecting the river station to Bhamo and thence Yunnan.
Across the river from Pagan another railway is under construction connecting
Pakokku with Bassein with a spur through the Yoma to Akyab (Sittwe)
through the Yoma. A six lane highway linking the new capital with Rangoon
and Mandalay nears completion. These are engineering projects the colonial
British did not even think of in their wildest dreams.
Burma is now a major transit corridor linking SW China to the Indian
Ocean. An oil pipeline will bring Middle Eastern oil up through Burma
cutting out the long sea journey round Singapore.

We saw the effects of this
opening up all around. The wealth generated is far greater than one might
expect. Hand in hand with these strategic projects are the mass migration
of Chinese people into Burma. A trend that began in the early nineties but
has now accelerated. A guesstimate would be that at least 10 million Chinese
have moved into Burma taking over most businesses, buying prime property
and exclusively populating the city centres of Rangoon and Mandalay. Even
in Katha the main street shops were now run by Chinese.

........ I took a walk to a village situated a couple of miles upstream of Katha. I first went there in 1986 and was overjoyed by its rusticity – little wooden houses, everyone busy
making things. I went back in 1996 and it was exactly as was ten years before,
nothing changed. Last time I walked here was around 2003 and again nothing
had stirred. Now in 2010 over half the teak houses had been replaced by
rather grand brick mansions. People had trucks and tractors parked in front.
Every house had a satellite dish. The girls were wearing jeans and the boys
base ball caps. These were Burmese folk, not Yunnanese migrants. >

Leaving aside the possibility, or probability, that the changes he saw signify a better living standard for the local Burmese, his comments do make the case for travel to Burma now, rather than later.. Although I am transfixed by the idea of that Upper Mekong cruise!

"I am almost embarrased to tell you all how much I paid for the tickets" - my friends flew the other direction, and bought their tickets in China. I suspect it's a lot cheaper doing that.

See the thread I just started for an article on Chinese investment in roads through SEA - Laos specifically in that piece. Economic colonialism 21st century version?

Thursday, I plan to check that thread right now!

Here is a bit more; we are safe and sound in Shanghai and will begin our appointed rounds after breakfast!


We landed at Terminal 2 at HongQiao airport and were struck by the gleaming spotless appearance; I later learned that the terminal had opened only two days before our arrival, in anticipation of Shanghai Expo.


HongQiao is the city’s original airport and since the opening of Pudong, it had been used mainly for domestic flights. It now handles both domestic and international and, being much closer to the city than Pudong, is more convenient, if one has the choice. It was after midnight be the time we collected our bags and exited to the taxi line. Fortunately, we did not have to wait for a cab. Although the driver used the meter, I suspect that we may have been overcharged because according to my notes, we paid 120RMB (about $US17) for the drive to our hotel on Nanjing Road. (We did have lots of luggage and it was late at night, so perhaps that explains the fare).


Here is some additional information about the airport:


http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archives/20100315_hongqiao_airport_t2_opens.htm



Flying along the expressway with the lights of Shanghai around us, I again felt as if I had been thrust into a different century than the one I had left behind in Burma. I had visited the city once before, in 2007 and was very excited to be back. There was no traffic at that late hour and within 15 minutes we arrived at the familiar Le Royal Meridien, where I had been so impressed on my first visit. There appear to me many excellent hotels in Shanghai and while I would have liked to explore a different neighborhood, particularly the French Concession, I opted to return to the Meridien mainly because of their wonderful swimming pool and for the warmth and professionalism of the staff.

I obsessively searched for the best price on the room, both on third-party sites and through Starwood, but I did not find any substantial discounts and ended up booking directly with the hotel. I selected the lowest priced room category, the deluxe (as opposed to Grand Deluxe) city view, just as I had the first time. My friends chose the Grand Deluxe Bund View but since the lights of the city are turned off before 11pm, and the view is rather distant, I do not think that it was worth the substantial price difference. (The rooms looked about the same to me; the only difference that I noticed was that they were provided with slightly more upscale better bathroom amenities than mine, but a simple request netted me the same products).

I would consider my room to be very deluxe! Here you will find a photo, on the hotels’ website; note that rates vary tremendously depending on time of year:



http://www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien/property/rooms/index.html?propertyID=1945


My room cost me 1725 RMB ($US252) on the first night and 1380 RMB ($US202) on the subsequent two nights, including taxes and service charges but without breakfast.

Although I had been impressed by the service last time, the concierge appeared to have fallen down on the job even before our arrival. I had contacted the hotel to assist me with obtaining train tickets with sleeping berths on the Shanghai-Hong Kong direct luxury train.

This train runs only every other day but the concierge kept insisting, through e-mails, that it would not run on the day we intended to travel. Back and forth flew the e-mails, with me insisting that we could travel on 22 March, and the concierge insisting that he had checked with the railway authorities and it would depart only on “odd” dates. (I knew better because I had received the definitive dates here, which I confirmed with the railway authorities in Hong Kong). In the end, the concierge realized his error and the tickets were, indeed, purchased, after we agreed to refund the monies to the hotel in cash, upon arrival. After that, however, we had no problems and I feel confident in recommending the hotel and would stay here again in the future.

By the time we got to bed, it was past 2am, but I was so excited to be back that I was in the swimming pool by 6am opening time. I had tried mightily to have breakfast included with the room rate but it was not to be. My friends, however, opted to take breakfast at the hotel anyway and they invited me to join them on that first morning. On my first visit I had been bowled over by the vastness of the hotel breakfast buffet. Here is what I wrote after that trip:


<On my first morning in Shanghai, I decided to try to try the hotel breakfast. In a two workds: Mind-boggling! I thought the Peninsula breakfast was lavish. This one looked like the tables at a fancy bar mitzvah! The food must have stretched for 60 feet across the room! All the usual suspects plus omelette stations, miso soup, xlb, .....there was so much food! And it was all good. They actually used ghee to fry the eggs. My favorite thing was a pieces of yellow dried fruit which I looked for at stores but never found..I am not sure what it was..bright yellow but not pineapple. Dried fruit, by the way, is sold everywhere and would be great purchase. And amazing jams with flavors like mango coriander... and fresh yogurt in flavors like mango and coconut. With dried coconut to put on the top. And excellent croissants. And pan au chocolate!>



Two years later, the number of offerings had decreased slightly and the buffet now resembled only an over-the-top bar mitzvah spread and not a Hollywood mogul’s son’s over-the-top bar mitzvah spread. Or maybe I had seen a few more lavish Asian hotel buffets in the interim and was not as easily impressed. Or perhaps, after Burma, the sight of all that food just seemed wasteful. (Weekends would bring back the mogul-worthy-ness of the buffet). But, at US$30 per person, it should have been worthy of Hollywood, or Las Vegas! That first Shanghai meal, I am again embarrassed to report, cost a grand total of $US90 for the three of us. I would be heading to my old dumpling haunts on subsequent mornings!

eks: when fact meets fiction meets Pandaw meets Paul meets marketing there is many a slip twixt the cup and the lip. Only a true Pandodderer would believe all she reads - or believe that all she reads is all of the story.

Dog signs off from C-c-cooopenhagen. I'm heading north to take lessons in good manners from the Troll Queen. Back after my fortnight in Flam... by which time I imagine we'll have made it to lunch in Shanghai, day two.

Hi Dog! Interesting. Because if he does not own the Burma operation, who does? I guess I am showing my Pandodderer stripes yet again with the question. Do not make haste--we will save you some snacks from lunch in Shanghai.

How about a link to the cruise, so we can (once again) try our luck at predicting where Dogster will swim ashore? Two weeks on the fjords?!

ekscrunchy, I have been enjoying your report and I'm glad you've gotten to the Shanghai portion of your trip! (Thanks for answering my question on my recent thread about ATMS!) That is an expensive breakfast! We'll be staying at the Le Royal Meridien as well, and I think we'll get breakfast elsewhere! I hope you'll post the names of those dumpling haunts where we can grab some breakfast!

"if he does not own the Burma operation, who does?" - interesting question. His name has almost disappeared from both "The Pandaw Story" and "Pandaw Team" on the web site - just "The Irrawaddy Flotilla was in 1995 revived by the Burma historian Paul Strachan" remains. This is still there: "This year we inaugurated new cruises on the Rajang in Borneo and Ganges in India".

Some more information on alternative transport (lol) in Burma: http://www.legalnomads.com/2010/06/my-5-worst-bus-rides-in-burma-myanmar.html

Paul S has retired, that's why thursday. The company has gone thru epic restructuring, as you can see from their much transformed website. There's hardly a soul left alive.

Upper Mekong sounds very interesting for the Fododderer cruise, eks, but as we've seen from the Dog and Tangata, new routes can be troublesome. Though they've got experience alogn the lower Mekong, for what that's worth.
I still vote for the Chindwin, mainly for its remoteness and relatively (one hopes) untouched villages, and because if the line goes more upscale the prices will skyrocket.
10 million Chinese immmigrants to Burma? That's pretty hard to swallow. Or, if true, very scary. Indeed, given their infiltration of Middle Asia and Africa, scary.
I knew I should have learned Mandarin...
The Dog in Toyland. That's quite an image.

The Chindwin would be my next choice. The Upper Mekong might be a long time in the planning before they even take the first cruise. I will do my best to make progress this week.

If it's Monday, it must be Eidfjord. Are there any people in Toyland? Why is the suicide rate the highest in Europe? I think I know why.

On, on to Bergen. Roll on Flommmm.

Rumor has it, dog, that you are in that area of the world because you were attending the royal nuptials. The cruise is just a red herring.

Dogster's flinging a lot of red herrings. Norway has the highest suicide rate in Europe? Not even close. I believe that distinction still belongs to Lithuania. But then I don't know about the rates in Eidfjord.

Be sure to buy yourself a tasteful Norwegian (probably made in China) sweater so you don't catch a fjordian chill. They'll probably pipe in Grieg as you approach Bergen...

Back to keep the OP in line. There were 3200 people in the Vegas tournament. I finished 500th which payed $0. Only the top 324 got money back. I had a good time, but missed Beth and Cambridge a lot. Fodors too.

Why did the OP not buy a stuffed Panda (all pandas are stuffed in one fashion or another)?

You can imagine how pleased the staff at the Meridien were to see her come back. No wonder that the concierge tried to get her to leave for HK a day early. Can't you just hear her finagling with the housekeeping staff to get an amenities upgrade?

Florida1-there is a pastry shop at the rear entrance to the Meridien. We went there and got a few items each day for about $5. Also, if you're there on Saturday, take a stroll through people's Park in the morning. It's amazing. Not to mention the ballroom dancing outside the rear entrance to the M that happens many days of the week.

No new routes for the Fodors cruise. Tangata showed us the folly of that. I miss him/her.

Dogster, I was talking about Copenhagen when I said Toyland. It seems like a child's city, populated by the most childlike people on earth, the Danes.
Right Marija, it's Lituania! Followed by Russia. No. 6 is Guyana. Were they counting that Jim Jones Kool-Aid thing? Denamrk is 43, Norway 39. Most of thte top ones are former Soviet states. Do they count suicide by vodka in the rate?

Panda quit scooping me! I will discuss the bakery to the rear of the hotel in due time. I forget the name but will probably spend hours trying to find it due to my obsessiveness. It is a branch of a chain based in Singapore with the word "Bread" in the title. I think.

All will be revealed in due time..

Now, can we have a show of hands: Raise yours it there is even a remote possibility that you might like to consider some kind of Fodor's excursion in Asia, Pandaw or otherwise, in the future.

Florida: Since you are Shanghai bound, you might like to read my first report about the city, from 2007. I stayed at the Meridien on that first visit, so maybe there are a few useful tips within all the chatter:




http://www.fodors.com/community/asia/back-from-21-superb-days-in-seoul-beijing-shanghai.cfm

Doris Day and my suicide statistics have ended up somehwre else. I cannot remember where. Somewhere in here. Internet is suitably Danishly mega-expensive. I'm not gonna correct it, 'cos an attack of meanness has come upon me.

I'll go anywhere - but not on a Pandaw.

I'm up for a cruise. Not committed to Pandaw. Think of how much fun we can have together.

I'm interested.

Two of us, as long as suicidal Norwegians aren't allowed, or for that matter, Doris Day.

Possibility, but very remote - by the time this gets sorted, I rather expect to be in South America. Plus, Pandaw is out of my price range. I don't object to the Norwegians, so long as the suicide is postponed until after the trip.

The first order of the day on that first morning in Shanghai was…..shopping!

I had purchased a triple strand of dark “coin pearls” at Beijing’s Pearl City in 2007 and I planned to buy a few similar necklaces in various colors. I was not looking for fine, heirloom pearls; the kind I wanted were fresh water pearls that are easy to find and fairly inexpensive in China and look something like this:



http://www.itsatreasure.com/store/media/Pearls Necklaces/P12JN192.jpg


I was joined on my excursion by my female friend and travel companion; her husband opted to explore the Bund instead.

I had done a fair amount of research on the topic of buying pearls in Shanghai and had come across a helpful site oriented toward expats that suggested avoiding the "overpriced" Pearl City complex, east of the hotel on on Nanjing Lu, in favor of the Pearl Market in HongQiao, where prices would reputedly be as much as 40% less than in the central tourist district.



http://www.fodors.com/community/asia/shopping-in-shanghai-pearls-antiques-and-all-else.cfm




At the last moment, however, I opted for convenience over price, and we headed west in a taxi to the loftily named Fenshine Fashion and Accessories Plaza, home of the much-lauded AmyLin’s Pearls which enjoys popularity in several mainstream guidebooks and is reportedly the purveyor to various American First Ladies and wives of European heads of state.

I am not sure what I expected to find at the 580 Nanjing Xi Lu address, but it was not the non-descript concrete office building stacked with floors of stalls piled floor to ceiling with all manner of fakes and Chinoiserie trinkets that we entered at that address. We arrived about 10am when the building was peaceful, but by noon every floor was crawling with groups of tourists toting large bags of everything from copies of brand name sneakers and handbags to pirate videos and Mao piggy banks. For people that love to prowl the stalls of New York City's Canal Street in Chinatown, this would be nirvana. The Plaza is apparently a favorite with airline staff and we watched, amused, as the vendors haggled in Turkish, English, Italian, Spanish, and Russian, to name a few tongues in which they appeared well versed.

AmyLin’s occupies a tiny store on the 3rd Floor of the building and here, especially, I would advise an early arrival to maximize attention from the staff. The place is draped with all manner of inexpensive pearls and costume jewelery and I quickly selected three necklaces of four strands each in violet/black (similar to the one I brought home from Beijing), in natural, and in a pale lilac. After deciding upon the number of strands and their length, the customer must select a clasp and here, I am afraid, this shop fell short: The selection of clasps tilted toward the cheesy and I would advise shoppers to bring their own clasps from home or to plan to have their purchases restrung at home. The total price for my three necklaces came to $140US; haggling had produced a discount of about 20%. We were told to return in about 40 minutes so that the necklaces could be strung and knotted, and we set off to walk the floors of Fenshine Fashion Plaza.




http://www.amy-pearl.com/EN/index1.htm

We proceeded to prowl the aisles of the building’s four floors, not finding all that much of interest since neither of us are much interested in designer fakes. But after about 30 minutes or so, I overcame my resistance and sprung for a pair of “Havaiana ‘Heritage’ “flip flops. After halfhearted bargaining, I paid the equivalent of US$4. Oddly, the shoes had a price tag from Abercrombie & Fitch attached.


http://tinyurl.com/2an98s4




My other purchase that morning was a reproduction calligraphy brush that looks something like this:


http://www.legendofasia.net/catalog/white-jade-calligraphy-brush-arhat-head-carving-p-2903.html



After retrieving our finished necklaces from AmyLin’s, we returned on foot to the hotel; the walk, along Nanjing Xi Lu and the edge of People’s Park, took about 20 minutes. After dropping off our purchases, we met the third member of our party and headed off in a taxi for Xintiandi, a complex of 28 restored and recreated buildings, divided into north and south blocks, reflecting the shikumen style of residential housing indigenous to the pre-revolution Shanghai of the 1920s and 30s.

http://www.xintiandi.com/english/events.asp


Xintiandi is more than a bit Disney-esque, but the architecture is truly handsome and the area houses a few very good eating places, along with myriad coffee shops, gift emporia, bars, and upscale boutiques. Most notable of these is an outpost—one of several in the city-- of the Taiwanese chain DTF, which holds a perennially high rating in any list of Shanghai’s best xiao long bao (xlb), or “soup dumplings.” I been awed by the xlb here in 2007 and was anxious to introduce my friends to this signature Shanghai treat. Here is what I wrote after my first visit:




<A quick look at my notes told me that the famous DTF restaurant was open until 3 so I hustled up to the second floor of No. 6, South Block to arrive just at 3pm. I must have appeared desperate (after all, it had been a full 6 hours since my last meal!) because after some hushed consultation with a manager, the hostess showed me to a table. 

The Xintiandi branch (there is at leat one other location in Shanghai) of this world-famous Taiwanese dumpling restaurant is a bright cheerful room with an open kitchen and sleek contemporary design. For the first time since my arrival in China I found myself in a restaurant where foreigners appeared to be almost as numerous as locals. 

I didn't need a menu, since DTF is synonymous with Xio Long Bao. The menu lists these in several variations, along with soups, noodle dishes, and vegetable and meat plates. I ordered the pork and crab xlb (at 22RMB for 5 the price here was many times more expensive than at Jia Jia Tang Bao where I had eaten that morning) and a glass of fresh watermelon juice, a favorite of mine. 

The dumplings were outstanding. Absolutely wondrous. If I had more time in Shanghai I would return here again and again to repeat the xlb and to sample every dish on the menu. (Happily, there is a branch in Seoul, ROK, where I would have lunch the following week). Absolutely fabulous. On a par with Jia Jia Tang Bao, with spiffy decor and attentive friendly service thrown in.>

It was with great anticipation that we made our way up the escalator to the second floor of the high-rise building at No 6, South Block. Just as last time, the airy dining room decorated with caricatures of famous diners was filled with a mixture of well-heeled locals and foreign tourists. We began our lunch with a plate of kaufu, (28 RMB), the distinctive wheat gluten dish of Shanghai that is a longtime favorite of mine. The version at DTF was the best I had ever tasted and I would return again and again just to gorge on this.

The famed xiao long bao (10 pork, 58 RMB); (5 shrimp and pork, 43 RMB) were very good, but not quite hot enough. Perhaps my expectations were too high but in my opinion the quality had slipped a touch since last time. Portions for all dishes were also quite skimpy as compared to those in other local restaurants.

A plate of stir-fried morning glory was good, but stems predominated and 35 RMB was just too high a price for this dish.

DTF offers a range of excellent fresh fruit juices (30 RMB each, or about US$4) and we were astounded by the fresh pear juice, along with the watermelon, which is a personal favorite.

We shared two desserts: An enticing mixture of fruits and coconut jelly in a cold soup and a handful of hot sesame dumplings, also presented in soup. I had never before appreciated the excellence of Chinese desserts but if these were any representation of the delights in store, I was ready to do some culinary exploring!

With a pot of jasmine tea and four fruit juices, as well as two baskets of xlb, the kaufu and the vegetable, our bill totalled 395 RMB, or about $20US per person.

http://www.madaboutshanghai.com/images/2007/04/26/dtf.gif


All in all, I would highly recommend DTF for a first-time visitor to the city looking for a non-threatening and comfortable place to delve into the delights of the local fare. The restaurant is attractive and clean and there are staff members with English skills. Credit cards are accepted.




There are 6 branches in Shanghai, according to the website:




http://www.dintaifung.com.tw/en/product_a_list02.asp?CategoryNO=39

The bakery/sandwich shop behind the Le Royal Meridien (between the hotel and the Park) is Bread Talk, a chain from Singapore. It is owned by the parent company of DTF.

It is a good place to pick up croissants and their ilk to take back to the hotel and enjoy with coffee or tea. They also sell sandwiches and stuffed pastries, some in rather strange combinations like tuna fish and hot dogs.


http://www.breadtalk.com/breadtalk/ourcreations.php

i want dumplings right now....is 57th street open tonight

Raising my hand, over here.
A cruise without Dogster would be like (tho the allusion to her is utterly lost on me) Doris Day without Rock Hudson, so maybe another boat is in order. But my beloved will need his arm twisted if the itinerary isn't Chindwin.
I've got Norweigan blood but promise not to fling myself overboard with the Lithuanians.

Only our beloved heroine would report on Nirvana without a capital "N". Why would Nirvana be important to an NYC resident?

DTF is as good as she reports. The XLB's were super. However, they are just as good at JTB (also mentioned by OH) and there is a lot more local flavor at JTB.

Bread Talk can save a couple $55 per day. Plus, you don't need a mid-morning nap as one does after consuming the breakfast buffet.

Although dogster says NO to Pandaw we know that he is available as a companion for hire:

"To any other fodorites who might have stumbled in on this luurve-fest - I can be hired [for a large fee] as travel companion."

Our charming leader may have to engage his services as a companion for a mysterious cruise. She'll show him such a great time he won't bother cashing the rubber check. Shhhhh!

Ah, everyone has his price eh? From his picture I can tell you he is quite handsome, so he should have no trouble being hired.

Just located the Doris Day reference on "Palace on Wheels" post. All Danes look like Doris Days.

"There is nothing like a Dane, nothing in this world,
There is nothing I can name, that is anything like a Dane."

Our eks is no slouch. She is svelte and doesn't have frizzy hair. Be warned, dogster, no advertising on fodors.

Frizzy hair or not, EKS can hlod her own with some of the world class slouches. I remind everyone of the year that it took her to finish the last report. She attempts to fool us with small bursts of energy, but then she vanishes for a few days. We're on the second thread and she's been in Shanghai for a single day. Clear evidence of slouchiness.

BTW, her yelps about absence of internet access hold no water. She could certainly write her report as a Word document and just cut and paste when internet access was available. Nope. She would rather soak up the sun and swim endless laps in a tiny pool.

lol lol lol - from Olden.

It's a place - not a state of mind. Google it. Today I ate goat cheese and patted a lamb. It was sunny, bright blue sky - and gobsmackingly beautiful. Dog didn't weep, he's too tough for that, but ahhh... there were times when he felt like it.

I'm afraid I am cynically deprived today. Even the other passengers are tolerable. As a matter of fact, they even seem to like me. I'll have to do something disgraceful quickly to return to the status quo.

Tomorrow Geiranger, whatever that is.

For those who haven't yet traversed the perilous Norwegian fjords, here's a map of Dogster's route:

http://www.azamaracruisedestinations.com/offer-1610.html

Make sure to take a photo of the lovely Doris so you can turn her into a widget for Uncle Dogster and the Gobsmackingly Beautiful Fjord.

Thanks Marija for having figure that out.
I note after Olden Dogster goes to Molde. A natural progression. Have some Aquavit and you'll feel even less cynical.

After lunch and a stroll through Xintiandi, which was crawling with Chinese and western tourists on that pleasant March afternoon, we set our sights on the French Concession. After a bit of difficulty finding a free taxi, we set off for Maoming Road, the former Rue Cardinal Mercier, and the Jinjiang Hotel, the former Cathay Mansions built by Sir Victor Sassoon. (The Sassoons and the Kadoories were Baghdadi Jewish families who put an indelible stamp on the city’s skyline in the 1920s and 1930s; Sir Michael Kadoorie recently inaugurated the Shanghai Peninsula Hotel on the Bund.) When Cathay Mansions were completed in 1928 it was the lone high rise in the city.

The Jinjiang Hotel (a state-owned) complex encompasses 5 Art Deco buildings set around manicured lawns. The Cathay Building, which retains its original lobby fittings, despite housing guest rooms that are reported to have been stripped of all detail, merits a visit.

After a brief walk through the bi-level entrance area, we crossed the street and toured the interior of the former Cercle Sportif French Club, a handsome baroque structure which today houses the main building of the Japanese-owned Garden Hotel, formerly the Okura Garden. Here, the original 1926 ballroom remains intact and on this day it sheltered hundreds of exuberant, chattering young people attending a job fair.


http://www.gardenhotelshanghai.com/en/wedding/wedding_33.html




We then meandered through the gardens of the hotel, where a wedding was taking place amidst the flowering greenery. Please see website for details:

http://www.gardenhotelshanghai.com/en/wedding/index.html


And then it was time for more shopping across the street at Shanghai Tang. I had never before seen the appeal of this design emporium but on that day I took a closer look and was bowled over by their updated versions of traditional Mandarin jackets, fashioned of supple silk in gorgeous hues.
These jackets are a far cry from the versions offered at more mainstream shops throughout the city. There are, in fact, entire streets in the French Concession that seem to be overwhelmingly devoted to these jackets and similar apparel aimed at the tourist and expat market. (The salesgirl at Shanghai Tang told me that a Chinese woman would wear a jacket like this only on her wedding day!)

Anyway, I was smitten with a particular jacket which, unfortunately, was not available in my size. Fortunately for me, but unfortunate for my bank account, a version in my size was available at Shanghai Tang in Pudong and it would be sent over within a few hours.

http://www.shanghaitang.com/shop/Women.html


Planning to return to explore the French Concession in more detail during the next few days, we taxied back to the hotel. My friends retired upstairs to refresh before dinner and I took a brief walk around the neighborhood surrounding the Meridien, to scout out food shops where we could provision ourselves for the train trip a few days later. Unfortunately, the large supermarket in the basement of the adjacent building, where I had stocked up a few years before, was no more. But the venerable Shanghai No 1 Food Store still stood almost directly across Nanjing Road, as it has since 1926, so all was not lost.

Oh I adore Shanghai Tang. Clothes so unique, so chic, so beautiful. But the prices make me swoon.

I agree about the nice stuff at Shanghai Tang. I always calculate the number of bottles of good wine a clothes purchase translates to. Drink enough wine and no one notices what you're wearing.

Speaking of prices that make you swoon, I hope all that Azamara dogster love doesn't embolden dogster to increase his travel companion rates.

For our first dinner in Shanghai, I had selected the celebrated Jesse Restaurant at No. 41 TiangPing Road.

I should note that I did a lot of research about food and restaurants before we left home. I asked the hotel to make the bookings for me before our arrival. Jesse is located a fair distance from the Meridien; the concierge advised leaving 40 mintutes for the taxi ride and we were very glad we needed his advice, for we encountered lots of traffic on that Friday evening and made it to the restaurant just in time for our 7:30 reservation.


I liked this place as soon as I walked in. There are two floors; we were seated in the small and crowded downstairs dining room, where there are less than 10 tables and every inch of space is spoken for. We (myself and two friends) were the only non-Asian diners in the room when we arrived; by the time we left, there was a crowd of locals and foreigners milling about outside, waiting for tables. We were seated directly at the entrance, beside the cash register; not the most comfortable seats in the house, but we could easily attract the attention of the server when needed.

The menu has English translations; servers speak minimal English. Beer is served.


This is what we ate:


1. JiShi chicken: Hacked pieces of (cold) chicken that had been steamed with wine. This was my least favorite dish; the yellow skin was flabby and the chicken was not tender. I know I am missing something because this dish was on every other table in the room. Price: (32 Y or about US$4.20 at 7.65RMB to the US dollar)

Another dish that graced every table were the "Sugar Candy Kumquats" (28Y). This is the sweetened rind of the popular Asian citrus and was very interesting. (Neighboring tables were more gracious about offering tastes to this curious newcomer).

While we were waiting for our food to arrive, I noticed a server ferrying a dish of Bean Curd Rolls in Chicken Essence up the stairs to the second-floor dining room. This was a plate of rich-looking chicken broth with bean curd rolls nestled within. I am so sorry that I did not add this dish to our order; I am still fantasizing about it three months later--that's how delicious it looked to me that night.

2. Dates with Glutinous Rice: (18 Y). I loved this dish of red dates stuffed with creamy, gooey rice. The dates reminded me of chestnuts. I think this is an essential dish here.

3. Wild Herbs with Dried Bean Curd (22Y). This dish had been highly recommended by local reviewers, but it was a bit too grassy in flavor for me: A mound of coarsely chopped cooked greens studded with cubes of dried bean curd. Certainly interesting but I would not order it again.

4. Mixed Mushrooms with BeanCurd. (18Y)These shredded mushrooms in a light oil/vinegar sauce lavishly dotted with dried red chilis was among my favorite Shanghai dishes. Ever. Absolutely essential.

5. Fried River Shrimp. (98Y). This dish also found its way to most of the nearby tables. Tiny cooked shrimp, not fried. Unadorned and just not that interesting to me, especially since they are more expensive than most of the other dishes we enjoyed.

6. Baby Cabbage with Gluten (18Y). A green vegetable (unrecognizable to me as cabbage) surrounded by unctuous, gooey balls of gluten which was very different than the gluten in kaufu. Very, very good.


7. Hong Shou Rou. Served in a round clay pot, this was by far the best version of this signature Shanghai red-cooked pork dish that I had ever tasted. Lots of fat and slightly singed, rich pork. Worth a trip to Shanghai!!!!! Fabulous! Absolutely essential for anyone who would like to delve into the glorious mysteries of Shanghainese cuisine.

Here is a photo, from a food blog:

http://livetonibble.blogspot.com/2009/03/highlight-161-red-cooked-pork.html



8. Scallion Cake. (18Y). (In the noodle section of the menu). Very tasty. Studded with sesame seeds. Ask for black vinegar for dipping.


Another dish on most tables was a fried whole fish. I was offered morsels by neighboring diners, but refrained.

Our dinner for three, with Tsingtao beers, totaled 345 RMB or just under $50.

This was my favorite meal of the Shanghai portion of our trip and perhaps the best of the entire 5-week vacation.

eks, I don't mean to pry but were you a food writer/researcher in a previous life? Wish I was going to Shanghai so I could just blindly follow in your skillfully and lovingly researched footsteps. I'm so impressed that you can recognize Bean Curd Rolls in Chicken Essence as it's being carried up the stairs. I know I couldn't recognize it even if I fell into the bowl.

Marija your compliments are most welcome, if undeserved. When I noticed that dish go upstairs, I wanted to grab it out of the server's hand! Instead, I immediately asked the manager/host what it was. He pointed to the English translation of the name on the menu..


I deeply regret not adding it to our order. The people I was with are very dainty eaters and they were always astounded at the amount of food that arrived at our tables.

It is true that I am nothing if not curious, especially about food!

Honestly, that memories of that meal are engraved in my mind....I will make a beeline for that place every night if I am lucky enough to be able to return to Shanghai.

Drink enough wine and you don't care what you're wearing. Still, it's civilized to at least enter a restaurant looking fashionable AND sober. Then let the chicken broth and bean curd rolls drip all over your expensive new clothes.

So she ordered two bean curd dishes and wanted a third. Her dainty companions may have been satisfied with two. Sounds like enough food for a bar mitzvah.

Laleslie-what does she care about civilization? She lives in NYC.

How could the OP ever be on deadline? Any thing she wrote is by definition six months late. It's like she chooses each word with chopsticks from a Dictionary. She could use her nose to type, she goes so slowly.

But she has details. God is in the details, gpanda.

The next day, after an early hour-long swim in the Meridien’s superlative pool (29-degrees, or 84F), I ducked into the hotels’ business center for a quick e-mail session which, according to my notes, cost 80RMB. Unfortunately, I did not make note of the length of my internet time but I suspect that this was the price for half an hour. Very pricey! I did not, however, notice any nearby internet cafes; there may well have been one—probably not at street level, but in general, these are not as prevalent or as apparent as in some SouthEast Asian cities.

After my time on the computer, I donned a light jacket and exited the hotel. My first stop was the plaza directly behind the Meridien, between the hotel and People’s Park. Each morning a crowd of mostly middle aged and elderly Shanghainese gather here to execute their ballroom dance steps to the recorded music—mostly American standards-- emanating from portable speakers. Once again I declined the kind offers to participate, just as I had done three years before (I am still polishing my foxtrot moves). Watching these spry and enthusiastic folks swirl and dip on the cement plaza remains one of my favorite Shanghai experiences.

By the time the dancing wound up, and I finished checking out the offerings at the Bread Talk fast-food bakery on the plaza in preparation for my train trip a few days later, it was after 9am and I was getting hungry.

I walked west along Nanjing Road, meandered through People’s Park, stopped to watch a screaming match between a local man and a policeman, and turned right just past the Park Hotel, continuing along Huanghe Lu to an address familiar to just about every food fanatic who visits the city.

Jia Jia Tang Bao, at number 90 Huanghe Lu, comes at or near the top of every listing of the city’s best xiao long bao outlets. I had fallen under its spell on my last trip and to say that I was eager to return would be a vast understatement.


http://cdn.pe.recordcup.com/img/3964.jpg





By the time I reached the restaurant, a mostly local crowd of about 15 people were already waiting outside and I took my place at the end of the line and chatted with a trio of Chinese Americans from Dartmouth who were visiting Shanghai and clearly knew where to eat. Like most of the others on line, they staved off their hunger pangs by ducking across the street to nab a take-away plate of the equally famous and, as I would learn on another day, equally delicious, specialties of the house at Yang’s Fry Dumplings. Both of these eateries draw huge crowds but early in the day it is probably easier to get a seat at Yang’s. I waited on line about 20 minutes; there is a fast turnover.

Jia JiaTang Bao is no frills in the best sense of the word. There are only a few menu choices, listed on the front window and behind the cashier. There is no English translation. Orders are placed, and paid for, upon entering the restaurant and, holding your ticket, you remain standing until a seat at a communal table opens up.

After placing my order for a basket of pork dumplings (7.50RMB, more or less $US1; I usually prefer these to the more pricey pork and crab version) and a dish of shredded ginger (1RMB) to accompany the dumplings, I was shown to a seat at a table for two. My dining companion was a young local “business” man who proceeded to grill me in rudimentary English (much better than my Chinese) on prices of consumer goods in the US, and prices of airline tickets from the US to China.

We both fell silent when our baskets arrived. Dipped in the dark vinegar provided on the tables, and eaten with shreds of the fresh ginger, the xlb were, in a word: Sublime. The amazing thing is that even more than a dozen (I think there were 16 in the steamer basket) do not make one feel full. A classic Shanghai breakfast!

You abandoned your companions to cry in their prune juice while you took off for Jia Jia Tang Bao?! Did you stop at one basket or continue so you could determine how much the batches vary?

Gpanda--if you don't pay attention to details you could end up in Molde instead of Mumbai!

Details are for people like Bob and the OP. I'm more of a big picture panda. Really big.

I'm ashamed to report that I totally agree with EKS on the delight of JTB. It is a wonder. Truly one of the great eating places in the world. The dumplings are unsurpassed anywhere. No frills is an overstatement. All they do is serve delicious dumpling after delicious dumpling. The patrons are all serious eaters. An absolute must-see in Shanghai.

Wherever possible, choose Mumbai over Molde. Don't ask why. Just trust me.

Don't give up on Molde. Wikipedia asserts that it has become a scenter for learning, plus it has a team in the First Division of the Norwegian Football league. Also, Wikipedia claimed it had mild winters. Of course, as usual I will follow the pack lead dog and choose Mumbai.

Marija: By this time I needed a short break from my traveling companions.

About the time I was finishing my basket of dumplings (only one was ordered, as there were other meals to think about that day, plus the specter of Yang's Fry Dumplings looming across the street), having had a mile-long swim, reassured a stay-at-home companion via e-mail and checked in with Fodor's where I received the horrific news about our own dear boy here; thrilled to both the ballroom dancing and the mysterious goings on in the park between the policeman and the Uighur; AND eaten my dumplings while offering a discourse on airline pricing between NYC and Shanghai, my friends were first entering the Meridien breakfast bar mitzvah buffet and had yet to sip their first fruit juice of the morning.

More soon, but today is mostly, if not totally, about shopping and eating.

Mr. Panda, No more Molde research required. If it's Saturday it must be Alesund.

Eks, looking forward to more eating and shopping. Your report has so whet my appetite I'm considering going to Chinatown for breakfast.

A full moon in Flam.

Or, as the locals say; Flom. Six houses and one thousand tourists. Ahhh, Norva-a-ay. Marija was right.

lol. I remember Flam. We had lunch there once. It's pretty. At least they don't sacrifice their cute little white goats. Has Doris taught you any more epidemiology?

From Norway to advertising. This thread has taken some tricky turns. If the OP starts writing about the fjiords of Shanghai, we're lost. So does this make the Dogster Flam-buoyant?

Sounds more like he's been flim-Flammed by the pretty cruise brochure pictures. As have we all. At least this is one time the pablum on board is probably downright scintillating compared to the Scandinavian fare.

None of the above. Dogster stumbled upon Nor-ve-e-ey by a mere coincidence of dates, a last-minute trip back to my past in London, a total absence of research and wish for more Azamara suck and grovel. The term 'no-brainer' may apply.

I could just as easily have substituted Turkey for Norv-e-e-ey, Istanbul for Copenha-a-agen or Rome for Flom. I only went to Flommm because of the name - and the possibility of some evil insights into more of the cruising mentality. I may well have some stories to tell in the fullness of time.

Is the Jayavarman next?

I'll decide when I get back to Bangkok, Marija. I'm in a very good frame of mind, so it's a distinct possibility. This cruise has been, and continues to be, extraordinary. Norway and Azamara have nothing to do with the amazement. I'm a lucky guy.

Is that really you, dogster, or has some troll or PR person stolen your identity? Our dogster uses Extraordinary only for events that leave the rest of us shaking our heads in disbelief-- Did he really do that?!

Now we've got to wonder if dogster's much maligned appendage has returned to life (the bum leg, of course) or if dogster has perhaps been blessed with appreciative and worthy companions. Hope your trip continues to be amazing.

Yes, I'm also interested to hear what has made this voyage extraordinary. though I'm guessing it may not be for public consumption.

Makes one wonder about scurrying...

The simple question is:

How many cruises has the Dogster been on in total?

Inquiring Pandas want to know. ( An archaic american reference that may escape the dogster. If he gets the reference, I will be again very impressed.)

Thanks for this great information!
I am glad for the bakery info, ekscrunchy
& gpanda! I am really looking forward to
Jia Jia Tang Bao - I do love dumplings! If
there's no English on the menu, how do
you know whichkind of dumpling is which?
Do you just point at things on the menu?
Sorry it tooka while to thank you for the
info-I've been in New Zealand & now in
Australia-sometimeshard to get to Internet!

Florida: The woman behind the cash register, in front of the menu posted on the wall, in the front of the restaurant will help you. She knows the English words, "crab" and "pork." If she cannot, the other diners will help; the place is very friendly and welcoming to outsiders.


There is really only one choice for you: Do you want pork or crab and pork?

Make sure to also get the ginger which is listed for 1Yuan.



More, from three years ago:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/13/travel/13iht-wdumpling.1.8315891.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

Great article! Thanks so much! Thanks also for the practical information on how to order! Will be sure to get the ginger too! Maybe I should get both pork and crab and pork and compare the two!

Florida1: I don't think they serve tea with the xlb so get an order of the seaweed egg flower soup, it is an inexpensive daily staple of shanghai family meals, and you can make it at home yourself.

For some reason, the last three times I pulled up this thread, the posts were all in tiny letters. Unreadable. I've never seen this before. There's some wierd forces interacting with this thread. Does anyone else have this problem?

Thanks, Shanghainese! Will definitely do that! If you have a recipe, I'd love to have it!

Gpanda - I haven't had a problem with the thread... but- glad to hear your good news! Glad to hear you have the green light to travel to Asia!

Confusion reigns. Russia. I can't explain.

Russia? Has dogster been recalled to the motherland? Or does this have to do with scurrying?

Maybe LA can tell us if this is a verse from some obscure song. She probably even knows all of the words. Or maybe dogster's following Mr. Leary's instructions, in the correct order. In any case, make sure you know where the lifeboats are, dogster, and drop us an explanation from Copenhagen. Inquiring minds want to know.

Florida1, Gladly, it's very simple.

Servings for 4 persons.

4 cups water, 2 eggs, few pieces of roasted seaweed (nori in japanese for making sushi), 1/4 teaspoon of sesame oil, salt.

Beat eggs, bring water to boil, using 1 chopstick posed vertically right above the water, pour beaten eggs slowly down the side of the chopstick while moving the chopstick around the surface of the water (hence the egg flowers). Add seaweed, sesame oil and salt to taste.

On weekends mum made it with chicken broth sans the oil, I've added petite peas or diced carrots for color. If you leave out the seaweed, add thin-sliced mushrooms, hot sauce, dark chinese vinegar, it can masquerade as hot and sour soup.

Dogster,
Have some caviar for me and don't miss the Russian museum in St. Petersburg

And after St. P stop off in Novgorod on the way to Moscow. Unless, of course, we're talking about, say, Archangel....

Does this have anything at all to do with those clumsy "spies" that were just apprehended in the NYC suburbs? Just asking...

This case is now turned over to agent Hanuman, since dogster's next stop was to be Bangkok on 1 July. If reports are true that dogster was crowned czar of Russia while in Flam, his plans may have changed. Very confusing indeed. Keep us informed Mr. Hanuman!

I'm not sure exactly how much being czar of Russia currently pays. The retinue may not be all that large. It may be below even Dogster's low expectations.

Did anyone else notice how the sneaky OP jumped right in on the diversion and had not one substantive addition to what started as a trip report? Ever clever EKS.

I have indeed, noticed that. However, I have not (yet) objected because I want to hear what dogster is up to.

I too am interested in what dogster is up to. He seems very confused but, when last I heard, was somewhere near Berlin. It's all falling dominoes. One seems to crash into another, propelling him further and further into outer space. Luckily his cut-price Thai ticket expires on 10th July, not that that means anything. He may make it to Bangkok by then but nothing is certain. If he doesn't, well, que sera sera.

His tragic appendage seems to holding up, provided he takes the slow road. In fact, the more he does, the better [relatively] it gets. I can report that he has put on enormous amounts of weight and seems almost human [relatively].

Dogster sees himself as a mere diversion to Ms. Eks' thread, filling in the ever-increasing gaps between postings. All will be revealed, if and when he gets out of Russia alive.

"somewhere near Berlin" AND in Russia? Unless we're talking Kaliningrad, confusion reigns indeed!

Meanwhile, is eks still in Shanghai, or have they boarded the train to Hong Kong yet? More confusion...

"Ever increasing gaps". I'm not the only one. Perhaps EKS was enthralled by the old wwekly installments of thrillers at the movies during her youth in the 1930's. She wants us hanging on the edge of our seats before she posts some tiny substantive element of her report. She has forgotten that we have the attention span of a gnat. After two days, we've completely forgotten what has preceded.

On another topic, do you think the Pandaw cruise should be subtitled, The Love Boat? The thought of the elderly scurrying still amuses.

No, there is no confusion! Dogster and I work as a team. More I cannot say.

Meanwhile, back at the Ekscrunchy ranch, the last three days have witnessed a trio of plumbers arriving promptly at 8:30am and remaining on the job until close to 5. There is a promise to return for more of the same tomorrow.

The bagged evidence now includes lengths of brass pipe painted to resemble copper in what was obviously a successful dodge to fool the NYC Building Inspector.

Dogster, use your tragic appendages wisely and remember the fate of the Baltic States.

A new horrible thought, i.e., the Ekscrunchy Ranch. Populated by a bunch on non-frizzy haired obsessive travelers. Every meal is 3 hours late because they are discussing the menu at great length. The horses are terrified. Each has been taken on some endless shopping trip and burdened with tons of knick knacks that would fit right in to a nook or cranny of the NYC apt. Yippe, Yay, O EK.

Down, boy! And take that chaw out of your mouth before you address me!

Howdy, M'am. How you all doing today? It does a cowpoke's heart good to see the ladyfolk up and at 'em as the sun rises. Now, get some breakfast on the table and go about your chores.

Just typical jawing at Ekscunchy's Ranch. She runs a couple of hundred head of cattle around a small spread far out on Long Island.

Dogster thinks he's in Finland but is so drunk he may be wrong. Bear with him.

From Jia Jia Tang Bao, I took a taxi (easy to hail in the street) and headed back to Shanghai Tang on Maoming Nan Lu to pick up the reversible silk “coolie” jacket that had been sent over the day before from their Pudong outlet.

Then, after a quick taxi ride back to the hotel to drop off the jacket, I set out in yet another taxi for more shopping, this time along crosshatch of streets comprising the DongTai Road market.
If Shanghai Tang represents 21st-Century Shanghai, the Dongtai Road area retains more than a whiff of the quickly expiring early 20th Century city.





This is what I wrote about the area on my visit three years ago:




“After breakfast, I took a taxi to Dong Tai Road "antiques market." This area consists of two main streets which intersect. Small shops and open-air stalls line both axes. I thought this was the second-best shopping area of my trip with Beijing's Dirt Market being the first. I spent a few hours here; the more interesting items were often inside the shops so don't look only at the stalls. From calligraphy brushes to minority textiles to jade sculptures to antique porcelain figures to Mao busts to ancient fossils...it's all here at very good prices, if you are willing to bargain. I bought a few things, including a brush pot made from a resin-type material. I wish I could have understood the long explanation about the material, which apparently comes from tree sap.. Very few of the shop owners speak any English but they all have calculators.”




The area looked much the same as it had in 2007 but I was surprised at the lack of tourists this time. Early in the afternoon on a Friday I spotted only a handful of other shoppers, mostly European. Deliberately holding myself back from adding yet more items to my gee-gaw collection back home, I contented myself with strolling around and examining the various outdoor stalls, most of which were appendages of actual shops which lined both sides of the street. The only actual purchase I made that afternoon was a long strand of blue-and-white porcelain oval “egg” beads. (Several similar lengths of porcelain beads and red coral chunks spill from various containers on my shelves back home.) The asking price for the blue-and-white necklace was 250 RMB and we settled on 100RMB, or about $14; I am almost certain that continued bargaining would have resulted in an even lower price. (I’ve since looked online and found these for about the same price as I paid so I cannot pride myself on ferreting out a great bargain!).

At the edges of the two main shopping street that comprise the market, a few more upscale shops have opened their doors since my last visit. For example, Shanghai Rong Xing Ming Qing Furniture Shop, at #34 Zhishong Road, appeared to have some nice vintage country items and appeared to be a favored haunt of at least one expat shopper.

After about two hours of wandering, I returned to the hotel by taxi.
En route, we passed a street (off Fuzhou Lu, between the hotel and the Yanan Dong Lu Elevated Expressway) lined with shops selling snacks and fresh food and I made a note to return and explore this stretch in more detail later in my stay.


The Shanghai No. 1 Food Store has occupied its hulking Nanjing Lu premises since 1926 and continues to offer everything from deer antlers and preserved pig faces to beribboned jars of Nescafe and fresh watermelon juice to shoppers whose numbers approach horde status on weekend afternoons. One thing item that I did not see, and which would surely be a big seller: A t-shirt emblazoned with the legend: “I Survived the 4pm Saturday Mob at Shanghai No. 1 Food Store.” This is the land of the hovering salesperson; it is impossible to stop for even a moment to stare in dismay, for example, at the wine selection (Gallo Turning Leaf Chardonnay, 2006, for the equivalent of $30US) or contemplate the staggering variety of dried nuts and fruits, without having a rather dour uniformed clerk attach herself to your elbow. As a lingering outpost of another, less capitalist Shanghai, this place is certainly worth a look, preferably in the morning. They have a decent selection of fresh fruit and also sell fresh fruit juice; I bought a package of fresh pomelo sections here almost every day.(830 Nanjing Road East, opposite the Royal Meridien Hotel and a block or so east of People’s Park).


For dinner that evening, I had selected the very well-reviewed Fu 1088, an upscale restaurant comprised of about a dozen private dining rooms spread over three floors of an intact 1930s mansion at No 375 Zhenning Road in the former British quarter. (Upon booking, we were informed that there was a minimum charge of 300 RMB per person, or about $44US, a very lofty amount for Shanghai; our total dinner bill was actually a bit less than this)

After about a 20 minute ride from the hotel, we alighted in front of a pale yellow stuccoed three-story villa, and gave our names to the doorkeeper. We were then led past the piano, and down a dark wood-paneled hallway to our own combination dining/sitting room, a vast space appointed with ebonized Victorian furniture, delicate latticed screens, and a curlicued settee upholstered in pale blue satin brocade. We took our places at the vast oval table draped with starched white linen, feeling like the protagonists in a period drama.

Although Fu1088 is currently among the top tables in the city, the service is less polished than one might imagine and there is a definite lack of English speaking staff. We had our own waiter throughout the meal, who did his best to attend to our needs despite the language barrier. Mercifully, the menu has an English translation.

Back soon with the details of our sybaritic dinner..

Finally catching up here myself. Just returning from a family trip to Italy / Switzerland. Now I get treated to the further adventures of the ezcrunchy odyssey and Dogster's tales of the north for intermission.

EZ -- thanks for all the food details! Love it -- I eat it up (both figuratively and literally!)

Dogster -- Try the Russian (or Finnish) Sauna (Banya)! Good for all that ails you!

Dinner at Fu 1088, Shanghai


Here is what we ate that night:

1. Kaufu (38Y)—My favorite Shanghai non-meat dish and one of my all-time favorite comfort foods. Stellar rendition.

2. Shredded Bean Curd with Coriander (28Y)—Short strands of linguine-like dried bean curd. Nice, if a touch bland.

3. Pea Starch Noodle with Wild Vegetable/Sesame Sauce (38Y)—Chopped cooked greens, similar to the preparation at JiShi, but here the greens were encased in a gummy bean-starch noodle. There was quite a bit of this left over at the end of the meal, but it certainly was interesting in texture and taste.

4. Marinated Yam with Preserved Plums (32Y) Again, interesting texture; cooking; reminiscent of jicama. Worth ordering as a contrast.

5. Braised Cabbage with Shredded Prok and Hairy Crab (128Y). I tried to dissuade my friends from ordering this dish since it was not the season for hairy crab. This was a soupy concoction of crab and roe whose delicacy was lost on me; I found it bland, but much improved with the addition of the soy sauce condiment provided at each table.

6. Fried Pork Rib with Sweet and Sour Sauce (58Y). Now we are talking! Downright addictive. Fabulous dish which was red-cooked rather than fried. Essential!

7. Sauteed chicken with Mango and Fresh Peppers (68Y). Ordered by my tablemates, this was sweet and sour chicken with the expected orange sauce. Tasty enough but a bit of a waste to order here.

8. Braised Home Made Beancurd with Needle Mushroom in Golden Broth (38Y)—Gorgeous preparation of square of cusgtard-like tofu (with a pronounced eggy taste), crowned by a layer of pressed, dark mushrooms surrounded by a pool of vivid yellow, slightly sweet sauce. Presentation worthy of Jean Georges. Recommended.

9. String Beans with Bamboo Shoots and Minced Pork (38Y)—Classic rendition. Excellent.

10. Greens with Oyster sauce (58)—I asked for the waiter’s recommendation; greens were similar to choy sum.

11. Noodles with Dried Shrimp in Scallion Soy Sauce (15Y pp) This was the waiter’s recommendation among the noodle dishes. Simple; good way to close the meal.

12. Mango and Pastry Cream (dessert)—Delicate flaky wheat pastry; too subtle for me.

13. Raisin ice Cream with Rum Mango Sauce—More semi-freddo than ice cream, this was a light, flavorful, and exquisitely presented dessert.


The charge for three of us, with beer, one soft drink, and a pot of Longsheng tea, totalled the equivalent of US$132.


We had been seated in the first room on the ground floor. After dinner, we took a self-guided tour of the restaurant; most of the other diners had departed and we were able to peek into most of the other rooms. Unlike ours, most of the other rooms have doors, so keep this in mind when you book if you desire privacy. The beamed-ceilinged attic room was very atmospheric, but no room that we visited was undesirable.

Thanks for the details of this lovely dinner. When we go will you order for us?

Been out of town, only to return to find:
1. Dogster has apparently had sex for the first time since the '60s ("I'm a lucky man"), possibly with Doris Day. The confusion and Berlin/Russia venues recall "From Russia With Love" (with Robert Shaw and Lotte Lenya), except that 007 is on a ship instead of a train of spies. Something about tragic appendages being revived, too. And...
2. Eks trip report has turned into a Food Channel show, where she wanders from restaurant to restaurant in search of the Perfect Endless Chinese Meal.

Eks, I see why your delicate companions are in awe of the meals your order. Thirteen dishes for three people. Go, eks! (and think before you go, dogster...)

Kathie-if you go to dinner with EKS, she will definitely order. I know this from experience. We went with such Foodies as RhkKmk and Tengohambre and EKS pretty much dominated the ordering.

If EKS were to write a book about her travels, it would be entitles "Eat, Shop, Swim". It would be very well-written over twenty years. At least.

The next day, our second full day in Shanghai, I began my morning with the now customary long swim, returning to my room to snack on the fresh pomelo I had purchased at the Shanghai No 1 food Store the day before.

By 8am, I was in a taxi bound for No 457 Fangbang Lu. Located in a non-descript modern building a few steps from a giant red gate that guards an entrance to the “old city,” this address is well known for its antique and vintage sellers, and for the top-floor convergence of rural dwellers that spread their wares on blankets on the floor. Everything from snuff bottles and calligraphy tablets to blue-and-white porcelain jars and old coins can be found and I would guess that there might be some good buys waiting for perseverant shoppers. I enjoyed the atmosphere, which is miles away from that of the modern city, with rough hewn country people mingling with urban antique dealers armed with magnifying glasses. But by this time I suppose I was tired of this type of Chinoiserie because nothing caught my eye and in about an hour, I was headed by taxi to the Shanghai Museum. Unfortunately, this was a weekend and the line was very long—too long for me to take my place at the end, so I directed the driver back to the hotel and headed on foot to the food street I had noticed the day before. After stocking up on mangoes, papaya, and bananas at the streetside shops, I headed for a small supermarket on the same street where I added to my collection of provisions for breakfast and for the upcoming overnight train trip.

And then it was back to the hotel to drop off my purchases, and off to Yang’s Fry Dumplings, the landmark eatery across the street from Jia Jia Tang Bao, which I had not yet sampled.


Yang’s Fry Dumplings is, in a word, sublime! Again, there is virtually no English spoken and again, none is necessary because there is one thing and only one thing to order here and that is: Fried Dumplings, or Shengjian Bao. There is a menu, however, with English translations posted outside.

The drill is that you take your place on the ubiquitous line and while you wait, watch the master chef shallow fry the dumplings (I ordered pork again) until the bottom attains a crackling golden crust.


You then take your order inside and try to snag a place at the communal tables. (There are other offerings, but first timers need only to order the dumplings) I seated myself at a table with three generations of a Chinese family and proceeded to chow down on these incredible delights. A much better breakfast than the hotel buffet, at a cost of about one US dollar. (Nothing on the menu costs more than 10 RMB)

Here is an article, with photos:


http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9161504


After a scrumptious breakfast, I returned once again to the hotel and met one of my travel partners for a jaunt to the French Concession.

Please do continue both the spectacle and the entr'acte.

As usual, Marija is completely correct. Sometimes, however, the dogster's stupidity gene dominates all others. Wait till I tell you about the 'Russian Ballet' in St. Petersburg tonight... Caveat Emptor to the max.

But we are all the wiser for his stupidity, so just think of it as an act of love.

Dogster in a tutu and the OP torturing an entire multi-generational family. Fodorites are much like a germ. Spreading their special brand of joy throughout the world. I know I do my part.

Was it Complexions?

http://www.mikhailovsky.ru/en/afisha/shows.html?date=2010-05-07

Click on the video and join dogster at the ballet!

EKS, my mum lives catty corner from Fu xxxx, we go there if someone else picks up the bill. What rating would you give it taking into consideration the high price?

Marija, you amaze me.

"Hissy Fits" to Joann Sebastian Bach . . . mmmm . . . that could be uh . . . enlightening . . . ?

Yes, I loved the "hissy fits" too!

It's been four days since the OP leaked out a tidbit. Time for another installment.

Both missing. Does eks look like Doris Day? Are they in search of the ultimate pelmeni? Your audience awaits the resumption of both sagas.

Yes, when they both go missing at the same time it does look rather suspicious.

They seek him here, they seek him there... that damned elusive Doggerel...

We are somewhere in Euroland, escaped from the KGB and almost en route to Bangkok, give or take a day and two more cities. Alas, confusion surrounds our wherabouts after the 11th July but a long word with Jaya at the beginning may lead Detective Marija to our honeymoon destination.

I'm sorry Doris, I had to tell all.

Doris and Rock are engaged.

This brings up the question of how many hours of thought were wasted by fans contemplating the lives of Doris Day and Rock Hudson? Mt guess is that millions of hours were so squandered. Today is Brad and Angelina, but the hours wasted are still ridiculous. I'm sad to say that these icons of the past still take up space in the panda mind. I need a cleansing ceremony.

EKS MIA.

I am NOT MIA, Mr. Panda! I was in your neck of the woods, in fact, or at least in the same state.....by the way, I saw quite a few of those distinctive three-decker houses along the highway in places like Providence.

I will return soon with more details..

Shanghainese:

I actually liked JIshi (Jesse) better than Fu 1088, especially when you factor in the price. Many of the dishes at Fu 1088 were too subtly flavored for me, or perhaps I did not order the right dishes (it was almost impossible to get any input from our waiter; when I would point to a dish on the menu and ask, he would smile and nod his head up and down, as if to give approval, but there was no actual advice given)

Fu1088 scores on the surroundings and the overall experience, (it was fascinating to see the interior of that residence) but due to the language barrier, I do not feel that I "got the most" out of our meal here. If I am lucky enough to go back, I think I will have every meal at JiShi.

Having said that, Fu1088 would be a great place for that special meal if one is seeking an upscale ambience. A far, far better experience than my dinner at Whampoa Club last trip.

Maija: Nix on the Doris Day. Sophia Loren, maybe. Angelina Jolie on a dark night.

Without a doubt, the French concession, or Luwan, is THE most enchanting of the Shanghai neighborhoods that I have visited. The plane-tree-shaded streets are lined with structures representing a panoply of architectural styles, comprising a veritable museum where Bauhaus apartment blocks and Russian churches stand shoulder to shoulder with Art Deco villas and Tudor mansions. The area is mostly low-rise, a reminder of colonial regulations requiring buildings to stand no higher than one-and-a-half times the width of their street. We walked the streets for a couple of hours, taking a break in the Old China Hand Reading Room at 222 Jinxian Lu, a combination library and modern tearoom decorated with architectural remnants and period furniture.
The shop offers wonderful volumes detailing the history and architecture of the city including many published under their own imprint. I highly recommend a visit.


http://www.han-yuan.com/zhongguotong/gazette/gazette2006.htm



http://www.han-yuan.com/zhongguotong/tongguotongshu/artdeco/artdeco.html



After a bit more walking, we tore ourselves away from this fascinating area and returned to Nanjing Lu where we ducked into a venerable food store across the pedestrian street from the hotel (I forget the name, but this one is reminiscent of the Shanghai No. 1 Food Store, a few doors to the east) and began stocking up for the train ride the following afternoon. (I bought a take-out tin of kaufu (30 RMb per kilo) and a few servings of pomelo, along with an assortment of dried nuts and fruits. (Having taken an overnight train on my last trip, I knew full well that the offerings in the food department would be meager at best; I believe that much of the fun in a long train trip are the rolling picnics that can be enjoyed en route)

After a quick stop to freshen up, we were off again, this time to the Astor House Hotel, which was founded in 1846 and which was, in its heyday, said to be among the best in Asia. The first electric lights and the first telephone in the city, as well as the Shanghai Stock Exchange, made their debut here. Today the lobby and ballroom retain their original Victorian detailing and are well worth a look if you are near the northern end of The Bund. (It also might be well worth investigating by those searching for budget lodging in this expensive city)




http://www.pujianghotel.com/index.htm


After a brief walk-through of the public rooms, adorned with photos of the historical figures counted among the hotels’ former occupants, who range from Charles Chaplin to Albert Einstein, we set off on foot.

Our next, and final, destination that evening was the 3-year-old Hyatt on the Bund, where we had booked a table in their Xindalu restaurant, Shanghai’s most famous address for Bejing duck. Before checking in at the restaurant, we took a self-guided tour through the cavernous lobby (reminiscent of an airplane hangar and eerily deserted on the night we visited) and headed up to the 32nd and 33rd floors of the west tower, to the Vue bar.

The Vue Bar at Hyatt on the Bund provided us with one of the most thrilling sights of our Shanghai visit. The bar itself appears to be a gathering place for Shanghai’s youthful, moneyed elite; the two-level space is all sleek, hard surfaces with exposed racks displaying well-known vintages from celebrated chateaux. (Not the Jacob’s Creek vin ordinaire that appear to be the go-to tipple in the wine shops we visited; that Australian vintner must be doing a massive marketing campaign in China). But you are not here for a tasting; if you are like us, you are drawn for the view which merits the trip from any location in the city.

Unlike other outlook posts, including the bar at the Meridien hotel, this one offers a ravishing vista of BOTH sides of the river, and the view of The Bund and Pudong sparkling in all their Vegas-ey glory was just spectacular. Thankfully, the staff is used to gawking tourists and let us walk around and snap photos from the outdoor terrace without pressing us to order drinks. Make sure to add Vue Bar to your Shanghai itinerary!

After this visual aperitif, we descended to the lobby floor and were shown to our table at Xindalu. With its sleek, industrial décor and vast, glass-walled kitchen, Xindalu bears more than a striking resemblance to its sister eatery, Made in China, at the Beijing Grand Hyatt. We were told, during our tour after dinner, that the 7-ton duck oven, stoked with apricot wood, and the duck chefs, had been imported from the capital.

Xindalu specializes in Zhejiang cuisine, from the coastal province encompassing Suzhou and Hangzhou, celebrated as one of the eight culinary traditions of China and highlighted by braises of seafood, fresh-water fish and fowl. Perhaps the most famous dish is Beggar’s Chicken, which hails from Hangzhou and is one of the centerpieces at Xinadalu.

But for most first-timers, the dish to order is Beijing duck; the ducks used here are 45 days old, younger than the average duck prepared in this style. Unfortunately, I did not learn from my 2007 experience at Made in China and I neglected to order in advance of arrival, so it was touch and go for a few minutes while the waiter left us to check the kitchen for any unclaimed ducks. Happily, one was located, and we staked our claim. (There were only two of us on that night so we ordered half a duck. I would recommend ordering a whole duck, even for two persons; keep in mind that these ducks are younger, and therefore smaller, than the norm, and a half duck yields very little actual meat)


To round out the meal, we ordered my beloved kaufu, along with a rather bland dish of soft tofu with a light scallion sauce, which was intended to be a take-away meal for the third member of our group, who was laid low with a mild stomach upset (My friend, unlike me, is of the “let’s-not-over-order-lest-we-leave-food-on-the-table-at-the-end-of-the-meal school,” and because he was treating me on that evening I restrained myself, with great difficulty, for there was a plethora of unusual (to me) dishes on the menu that I would have loved to sample. As a result, for the first time ever in China, I left the restaurant hungry!)

The duck was stellar, even if the portion was scanty. The duck broth is served after the meat and skin, as a separate course. The service, however, left something to be desired. Unlike at the Beijing duck houses I had tried on my last trip, the waiter offered no guidance in how to consume the duck and its various condiments (here, too, sugar is served for dipping, along with the usual Hoisin sauce and scallions. A stack of the requisite delicate pancakes accompanied the duck, but the waiter forgot to bring the cover for these until I reminded him. Twice.

With two beers, and the three dishes, the total price for dinner was in the neighborhood of $50US for the two of us. If you have not eaten Beijing duck in China, put this restaurant on your list and make sure to order your duck (and perhaps the Beggar’s chicken) when you book. Figure one duck for four people if the duck will be a complement to a full meal; if not, figure one duck for two persons.


http://shanghai.bund.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/entertainment/restaurants/index.jsp - 10135049


From the taxi, en route back to the hotel, we spied the new Peninsula Hotel, which celebrated its grand opening on the day of our arrival in the city. The picture on the homepage comes close to duplicating the view we enjoyed from the Hyatt’s Vue Bar.


http://www.peninsula.com/Shanghai/en/default.aspx

How could you not have a drink at the Vue Bar?! You settled for a visual apertif when real ones were to be had? Half a duck for two people?! Unbelievable. You won't catch us making mistakes like that. I still remember the sunset, the twinkling lights, and the real drinks.

Marija: One would have to know my companion for that evening.

I am still peeved about only sampling those three dishes and, as you know, one of the dishes (the tofu) was ordered only to take home to the ailing party...

Please have a drink (or three) and an entire duck, for starters, in my name!

I'm guessing that none of the other "patrons" at the Vue were Pandodderers. The OP probably tried to order 1/4 duck.

We went to the food store mentioned across nanjing Lu several times. In fact, we bought moon cakes there. We actually liked it better than the No. 1 Food store.

In reading this thread and its percursor, I'm trying to form an image of her two traveling companions. I'm sorry to say that the picture is not thrilling. I seem to remember that the OP claimed that the Pandaw was the only way she could entice her companions to Myanmar. Yep, that would get me everytime. Let's spend two weeks as capives on an overpriced boat with lots of fellow travelers that I wouldn't talk to on a bet. How could one resist?

mmmmm, duck.

Would the French Concession make a good base for visiting Shanghai?

Panda, so you won't be talking to any of us on the trip?

I'll talk your ears off. Pandas never want for words.

When we were in Shanghai, we had very good results with staying in the French Concession (Rui Jin)for s few days and another few days at the Meidien on People's Park. Having two different hotels allowed us to wander off in several directions. Getting lost in two places is much more fun than restricting confusion to a single spot.

LA, I also love duck. I can't imagine ordering half a duck for two people!

Andy, speaking of the cruise, how is your research coming? Have you ben able to convince Pandaw to turn over one of their ships to us?

French Concession would be a great base to stay in Shanghai. I considered staying at the Okura last time and would consider it again. They have a nice pool and a heavily Japanese client base. The location is excellent.

I am getting more and more peeved about that duck as I read this. Serves me right for trying to be polite.

That other food store has a name that starts with a "T" Extra points for the person who comes up with the name. (Near Shanghai No. 1 Food Store; very similar; been in business for decades) Something like Taikang...

Taikang Food Store:


http://shanghai.cultural-china.com/html/Shopping/Time-honoured/Food-Production--Processing-and-Circulation/200811/05-1188.html

Unless I missed something, The OP made an offer for extra points for information and then two minutes later in the early morning, answered the question herself. I'm sure she is recording the extra points in her book as we speak. She better be careful when she pins the star on herself.

So what has happened to planning on the 'Love Boat cruise?'

As the only person in here who actually knows river cruises in S.E. Asia, I feel it may be time to cast my pearls of wisdom before the swine. Stay tuned for a separate post on this forgotten topic.

The answer to Gpanda's question of long ago: between fifteen and twenty - not including ocean cruises.

Dogster, guess we'll sign you up for two now, eh? Do start an "On my way to Bangkok" thread and bring us up-to-date. Please.

Thank you dogster, I didn't want to nag Eks. But we do need your detailed input on this. Knowing Eks' proclivity for dilly dallying as she over-researches every facet of each trip (the pools! the restaurants! the best seats on the plane! the color of the guide's hair!), we'll trust you to cut to the chase.

Kathie, if it had been me and my dinner companion insisted an a half duck for two, I wouldn have had to keep mtself from reaching across the table and strangling said dinner partner. Luckily, I have a dinner-partner-for-life who would have ordered two ducks and, liek Eks, an additional 13 courses.

LA--we'll need to order loads of food to maintain dogster's "endearing fleshiness."

I don't think that my endearing fleshiness is anything to do with fat, Marija. I'd like to think of it in more carnal terms.

Ahhh... the good old days.

Dogster-relax! If I continue to get good news, I will attempt to get a consensus and push forward with our Love Boat cruise. Getting a consensus may prove to be difficult, so maybe I'll just see if I can get anyone to agree with me and go with that.

My actual thought is that we should look at a week as the absolute maximum time we could possibly spend together. Additionally, we might consider bargaining with Pandaw or another company. We will be giving them a bonus cruise with pre-arranged customers/victims. We should not try for a novel never-been-done cruise. As Tangata so faithfully reported, new cruises can be troublesome.

A week? No time at all. You're on, your off. Not enough time to relax and go with the river's flow, not enough time to see anything. Panda, a cruise can be fun. And you can smoke cigars on the deckj and try to hustle people into poker games.
Agree about no new cruises. And dogster won't do pandaw, unless we can twist his fleshiness and convince him the new management is different.

A week isn't enough? Just wait until you get all of the most opinionated Fodors posters together and see if you think a week isn't enough! I was thinking we might need a preliminary pre-cruise test. We could all meet in Bangkok and take the water taxi together - lol.

You may be right Kathie. As dogster says, a cruise is the devil's bargain. I wasn't thinking of opinionated Fododderers but the thin itinerary. You can't go far in a week. Or can you?

Where is this plan that dogster's putting forth? We're waiting.

The bag with cruisewear is already packed. It's the same stuff I am using in Paris and Sweden, but who cares? When are we leaving?

Unless we get some proposals on the table it isn't going to happen in our remaining days. If we view it as "opinionated Fododders" who have to be accommodated and jockey for influence, we might as well forget it. But I think we may have a core of easy- going travelers who want to see interesting places in the company of like minded travelers and would happily participate without high drama or "my way" scenes, as long as there's good food and suitable beverages. Length is an issue. It makes no sense to plan "a three hour tour." There is one among us who has sailed many rivers and seas and I hope he/she makes a proposal in our lifetime.

Marija,
Are you questioning the gender of our "cruiser"?

Nywoman, surely you remember the revelation:

I too am a woman of certain years, all bar the anatomy

I am all for a cruise...just wanted to add my two cents. I have only spotty internet for the next week or so and that is why I am not chattering away more often....still burned up about that half a duck, too.

I'm assuming were all thinking about Asia, right? But, just to muddy the waters, what about, say, the Danube, eastern Europe or the another venue? Meanwhile, I'm going to look into the Mekong and other Burma options.

Just a comment, Suzhou is in Jiangsu province, and Hangzhou is in Zhejiang province, eks, shows that I am following you carefully.

My strong preference is an Asian destination that is best seen by boat. I believe that on the 17th of July Dogster's taking one for the team and checking out the new seven night jayavarman cruise from Saigon to Siem Reap:
http://www.jayavarmancruise.com/

I'm most interested in Asia. And the Jayavarman cruise sounds like the kind of cruise that would work for this group.

I've met a lot of these Fodorites and I promise a week is plenty. Of course, it's Asia. One of the first steps is to decide whether we want this to be only Fodorites.

First let me correct Marija's research. Her website for the Jayarvarman is a pirate site designed to entrap unwary tourists into booking holiday packages.

The CORRECT website for the cruiseline is:
www.heritage-line.com

The cruise I am about to go on:
www.heritage-line.com/8d7nthelostcivilization_upstream.php?lan=en

And in future, Mr. Pookblabbermouth, I would like to reveal my mysterious travels when I choose, thank you very much.

For those demanding instant gratification, might I just mention that I, the glamorous Mr. Dogster, am currently on secret research in parts unknown and cannot respond immediately to your every whim.

Your whims require many hours of work. Strangely enough, I have a few other things to do at present. However, if you will wait - you will see. A new post may or may not appear, depending on MY whim.

As a matter of interest, guess what popped into my mailbox the other day? The next chapter in the Pandaw India saga.

Observe:
www.thegangescruise.com

Paul Strachan: 0/10 - Indian partner 10/10

Caveat Emptor to the MAXIMUM.

Absolutely not all Fodorites. We must avenge the sins perpetrated on our dogster. This trip will be open only to Caledonians and Fodorites.

Seems that dogster's very crabby this morning. What are you doing up or are you on your way to bed? Don't blame Mr. Hanuman, you yourself revealed your next step:

Alas, confusion surrounds our wherabouts after the 11th July but a long word with Jaya at the beginning may lead Detective Marija to our honeymoon destination.

and you yourself felt the time had come to cast pearls our way:

As the only person in here who actually knows river cruises in S.E. Asia, I feel it may be time to cast my pearls of wisdom before the swine. Stay tuned for a separate post on this forgotten topic.

Don't get huffy. We will remain ignorant and patient.
Have a good trip!

I will provide clues for those wise in the ways of Google search, Marija. There the dance is. But you have to work for it. Much more fun that way.

Nooo, not crabby, just busy. I have one day left in BKK. The jetlag has created a howling monster, alive and alert at 6.00 a.m. Tomorrow - Saigon.

Poor Thomas:
www.heritage-line.com/contactus.php?lan=en

Don't forget to pack the prune juice.

My Dogster's bowel movements are not for discussion. Go to the new thread and play.

whatever happened to the trip report? I've been checking in frequently, but everything seems to be about this potential cruise...

I am working on the trip report. Please stay tuned. We have only one more day in Shanghai before taking the train to Hong Kong.

Artsy--this is but an intermission while the OP gets new plumbing for her apartment, maps out her meals for the next year, travels to the Cape for R&R, bonds with a more reliable internet provider, and makes excrutiatingly detailed arrangements, including learning Italian, for her next adventure. Surely you don't expect us to sit in silence while we await her return!

Oh - of course...

With the beginning of the Love Boat thread, I figured this one would go inyo iys usual dormant state. Is it possible to have a 17 year trip report similar to locusts? We may see.

Need to get this finished before we pull up the anchor on the cruise ship:



Upon checking into the Royal Meridien, I had negotiated a late check out on the Monday that was our last day in the city, so we had most of the day to explore before setting off for the railway station and our overnight
Train to Hong Kong. (My friends were hesitant to request the late-checkout and so were forced to vacate at the usual time and leave their luggage in my room). I therefore, got a late start, as I waited for them to finish packing and deposit their bags. Having swum in the hotel pool very early, I was finally able to depart the hotel about 10am, bound by taxi for the Pudong side of the river and the Oriental Pearl Tower, home to an observation deck (with a long queue; the fog would no doubt obscure the view, so I skipped this) and the Shanghai History Museum (no queue), which was my intended destination that morning.


But first, I had to ensure that I could enter because there was a rather stringent list of “don’ts” posted prominently outside.

These included:

“1. No admittance for anyone who is drunk, insane AND not properly dressed.” I may have qualified on all counts at one time or another but happily, not all at the same time. And I was pretty sure that, at least on this day, I could refrain from “6. Prohibit hanging streamer, slogan and other prints in the tower about commerce, politics, religion and so on.”
And since I fulfilled 5. “Prohibit carrying animals and the articles which disturb common sanitation including unusual smell,” I was good to go.

I will not delve into the list of the exhibits and realistic dioramas—ranging from opium dens to tofu sellers premises—which do a fine job of telling the story of the city in an entertaining and informative manner. I highly recommend a visit; I spent about two hours here and found myself thoroughly engrossed throughout my stay. You can purchase various combinations of entry tickets, either museum entry alone, which I did, or in combination with ascents to various levels of the observations decks of the tower, one of the city’s most iconic structures.


http://www.historymuseum.sh.cn/en.php


From the museum, I walked diagonally across the street to the Super Brand Mall (home to outlets ranging from Starbucks to Muji and Hooter’s to H&M) where I did some last minute food shopping for the train in the vast, gleaming basement-level supermarket. From there I navigated my way through twists and turns which forced me to walk through floor after floor searching for the escalators and elevators that would allow me to reach my lunchtime destination: South Beauty.

SouthBeauty is a Beijing-based chain of high-design restaurants featuring the cuisine of Sichuan province.

http://www.southbeautygroup.com/


Because I was on my own for this last Shanghai lunch, I wanted to seek out the spicy fare that my companions could not tolerate. The South Beauty on the 9th Floor of the SuperBrand mall is a sprawling, glitzy restaurant with a terrace whose view, on a clear day, would no doubt rival that of the Oriental Pearl Tower, although from less lofty heights. Service was eager and a bit stumbling but the food was good and the menus have competent English translation with dishes marked with one, two, or three chili peppers signifying degree of spiciness.

I am afraid I was rather timid in my selections, as I did not want to have a big meal:

Watermelon juice—fresh and delicious

Sichuan wonton soup—small cup—good enough but not worth seeking out

Stir Fried Pork—1 chili pepper—excellent; good amount of heat

Sesame noodles with chicken—take out for the train ride—very good

After straightening out a few errors on the bill that I suspect were the result more of inexperience than of any intent to deceive, I was on my way in a taxi back to the hotel.

The drive through Pudong and its forest of skyscrapers in weird and unusual designs was an eye-opener and one that I would highly recommend. I especially enjoyed seeing the tower that attempted to inject a bit of ancient Greece on the HuangPu by framing each and every window of its at least 80-story height with an Ionic column rendered in dun-colored cement.

After lunch I took another swim and about 4pm we set off, laden with luggage, food and drink, for the railway station where we had booked seats on the T99 train to Hong Kong, due to depart at 6:24 that evening.


(After much e-mail back and forth with the hotel concierge, who insisted that the train did not run on our desired dates (the luxury direct train runs only every other day and schedules were available a few months prior to departure) and phone calls to the railway offices in Shanghai and in Hong Kong to confirm dates, we were finally able to request that the Meridien purchase the tickets for us, with the understanding that we would reimburse them, in cash, for the tickets plus a service charge, at check-in.) I chose to purchase both berths of the luxury soft sleeper, so that I would have the entire en-suite compartment to myself; each berth cost 824 RMB, or about $121 at today's rate of exchange.



http://www.fodors.com/community/asia/train-shanghai-to-hong-kong-2010-schedules-questions-again.cfm

Wow! Another installment! It may be too early to say, but perhaps we will get to the end of this trip report before the Love Boat sails.

Gilligan checks in.

Yeah, finally we're off to the station! I've been waaaaaiting for a train.

Impressed that you remember what an Ionic column is--as opposed to Doric and Corinthian (the fancy one, right?). I'm always getting them mixed up.
Now I know why you suggested trains on the Love Boat thread.

An ionic column uses wit and juxtaposition, Doric columns were named after Dorc Day and Corintian colunms have that deep smell of rich leather. I go with the three syllable colomne every time.

Ok, I get it, IRONIC column. But if that's a Doris Day joke, they need to scan for typing abnormalities.

It would be too easy if I could type appropriately. Even Bob would get the jokes.

Leslie: It IS funny how I/we remember some of the things that were drummed into us very early on! The Ionic was always my favorite. The Corinthian is too fancy! The Doric is too plain!!!!

Honestly, you should have seen that skyscraper with EVERY window framed in columns. I wish I knew more about the building.

Pudong is a total trip. The area looks sterline at street level, with absolutely no life, but tilt your head and WOW! The panoply of architecture is incredible. From the Temple of Hatshepsut to the Jetsons--all in a matter of blocks!

Assuming it is an office tower, is it closer to the mall or the river?

The South Beauty you went to in the mall is just so so, the best branch is in the french concession on Hungshan Road.

Where does the Xintiandi South Beauty fit in the ranking order, Shanghainese -- in the middle?

Well, Eks, at least the Chinese are keeping the marble and column business booming. I love architecture and am dying the see the various Chinese interpretations, though I imagine they
've imported most of the architects from afar.

It's really all about phallic symbols.

There is also a South Beauty right next to the Meridien Hotel, but there is little or no indication that it is inside the building. But it is not as attractive as the one in the SuperBrand Mall.

S., that building with the columns is not on the river. The taxi passed it when traveling from the SuperBrand back across the river to the hotel. It is south of the OP tower. I found this photo of the construction phase:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/11795120@N06/3718695529/

Interesting link about architecture in the city:

http://www.architravel.com/architravel/building/754

ekscrunchy,

Thank you for such a wonderfully detailed report! Truly enjoyed all posts.

I've been searching for a Fall 2010 destination & am now looking into Burma & Pandaw Cruises. It would be my first visit to Burma. All advice is appreciated.

Sending belated thanks for recommending Charlie Ratcliffe in Cape Town. He was delightful!

I guess I am following your trails...
So where are you going next?

MB: I am thrilled that you hired Charlie. I've done a lot of traveling in my time and I would be hard pressed to come up with the name of any other guide who has come close to him. I traveled with two friends--incidentally, the same ones who took the Burma, China trip with me--and they feel the same about Charlie. We often reminisce about our trip and his name always comes up. In fact, just today I thought of him when I heard the news of Jackie Selebi's sentencing, because we had had many spirited discussions with Charlie about his case, and about SA current affairs in general.


I would be more than pleased to discuss Pandaw, and Burma, with you.

I am headed next to Puglia, next month.


I WILL return to finish this report soon!

Puglia! Good choice eks.

Eks –

Yes - Charlie was a big hit with my 2 friends, as well. Felt more like a very informed South African friend than someone programmed in the tourism industry. So thanks for the recommendation & for making me quite a hero for ‘finding’ him.

I was wondering if your travel partners were the same as on your Southern Africa trip. Cause I’m guessing the Cape Town prune juice hunt resulted in the necessity of 48 cans for Burma/China?? Love your details.

I’m doing my research now & will back with Burma questions.

Many thanks for all & look forward to reading the rest of your report.

Buon Viaggio!

Yes, same friends. Same quest for the same type of juice. Apparently does not exist in Southern Africa.

I did leave out some details from the SA trip, such as the ATM card of one of said friends getting stuck in the machine (person was not familiar with ATM use) and the bank's "expert" having to make the trip from Pretoria to free the card. Charlie had a leading role in that caper! I agree that he was more like a friend than a paid "guide."

Please come back and ask away!!

Eks, the time has come to switch them to dried prune powder:

http://www.blenderculture.com/prunes.shtml

Enough fooling around. Time to finish this. Or give us insight into your psyche about the prohibition against finishing trip reports.

Marija: I LOVE that!!!!!!!

I hope they have their sense of humor intact because they are about to get an e-mail with that link!

Panda: You must be feeling in fine fettle, since you are back to nagging me! Ok, ok--I have my notes with me and will attempt to resurrect this very soon. And you can bet your bottom dollar that I will persevere, even though I am having the painter coming this week!

Eks..I cana't find your Hong Kong report. We're heading over there and I alwys enjoy your foodie focused trip reports.
Is it under another heading?

Happy: You can't find it because I did not get around to writing it! Shame on me, I know..

When are you leaving for HK? If you are leaving soon, I can give you some tips, but if you have some time, I will try to finish this report by adding the HK portion.

Thanks Eks..we're not leaving until early September...I really enjoy your foodie trip reports and from reading them, believe we have similar dining tastes. I look forward to reading the Hong KOng portion whenever you post it!
Thanks.

Happy: You have given me a well-needed push! I agree about the similarity in our tastes.

I will try to write the actual HK part soon.

Meanwhile, these were the locations of the main meals; all of the food we tried was good, some was great, and some was flat-out fantastic.


Hutong (I was warned away from this place and went anyway, for the view) http://www.aqua.com.hk/#/eng/global/hongKong/hutong/concept


Fu Sing Seafood Restaurant, Wanchai (two dinners)


Lung King Heen in the Four Seasons (dim sum lunch)
http://www.fourseasons.com/hongkong/dining/lung_king_heen/


Tim's Kitchen


Tasty Congee and Noodle (IFC mall)-lunch
http://www.tasty.com.hk/
http://www.ifc.com.hk/en/mall/detail.jsp?id=221


Guangdong Barbecue, Kowloon ( lunch)


Lei Garden, IFC mall
http://www.leigarden.hk/English/local_detail.asp?id=0885986E-E3CF-4E16-8CEA-927FFDB812B6

Thanks, ekscrunchy! I am loving your report as I prepare for Burma. So helpful. I so appreciate your details.

Patty, I am living vicariously through you now--have a fabulous trip and be sure to keep us updated! I am here and happy to answer any questions before you depart!! Remember those crisp dollar bills!

Thanks so much Eks..

As promised, here is the continuation of this report which will include details of our 5 nights in Hong Kong. I had been to Hong Kong several times in the past, so did not follow the usual sightseeing trail. The report will have lots of food detail, though.




After forging through the assembled crowd at the Shanghai Railway station, we joined the laden-down masses in the waiting room and were soon led onto the track to board the waiting train. There are a couple of security and immigration checkpoints along the way but English signage makes the process fairly straightforward. The train itself appeared fairly new and, while the compartments were a tad less luxurious that those on the Beijing-Shanghai z train that I had taken a few years before, they were roomy and very comfortable. As I noted above, I had booked both berths in the two-berth compartment; I had an attached, private bathroom but no shower.

From my notes: “The train ride was superb—much too short!!” Unfortunately, much of the ride was in darkness, so scenery gazing was at a minimum that evening. There is a dining car manned by rather stern railway personnel; no picture taking!!! No standing and gawking!!!

Ok, ok, I retreated to my compartment and stayed put for much of the ride. From the reports of fellow passengers, the food available on the train was edible, but I would recommend bringing your own supplies, as I did. My larder included a fairly unbalanced array of items: Kaufu (wheat gluten and black mushrooms—a signature Shanghai cold appetizer that I adore); sesame noodles; mangoes; chocolate bars; and sliced pomelo and yogurts for breakfast. Washed down with canned fruit juices and Mandalay rum.

We arrived in Hong Kong early the next afternoon and, piling into a taxi from the lineup outside the terminal, were off to the Four Seasons. I will offer more details later but for now will comment only that the hotel proved to be a fantastic choice and one that was well worth the splurge. Mindful of price, I had chosen the least expensive room, so I had a view of the towers of HK island. My friends chose the harbor view, which was everything they had imagined. We were able to get a deal marginally better than the one offered on the hotel website by contacting a Virtuoso agent.

This has certainly one of the most memorable hotels I've ever had the good fortune to visit. I had extensive e-mail exchanges with the concierge before arrival and their professionalism and responsiveness was impressive. (One of our restaurants required booking and selection of dishes long in advance (much like a Cantonese banquet would require) so there was much e-mailing back and forth before we settled on a dinner..)


http://www.fourseasons.com/hongkong/


For our first meal in the city, we were scheduled to meet up with someone I had encountered on Chowhound. Unfortunately, one of my travel companions had not slept well on the train and opted out of dinner. Her dutiful husband remained with her and I set out alone for Fu Sing, on Lockhart Road in Wanchai, a restaurant which has been much discussed, and much lauded in the Michelin guide and on international and local Hong Kong restaurant sites. Fu Sing is particularly famous for their dim sum, which I had hoped to sample later in the trip.


FU SING, 353 Lockhart Road, Sunshine Plaza, Wanchai, Hong Kong Island

I took a taxi to (prepare for traffic near dinner hour) to the unprepossessing Sunshine Plaza office building in Wanchai (an up and coming area that I wish I had had time to explore that week) that houses the restaurant and followed the sings to the elevator, which whisked me to the first floor. (Note that many of the better Hong Kong restaurants, especially those patronized by locals, are located within concrete-block office towers. Fu Sing has another, newer branch in Causeway Bay. The restaurant is reminiscent of countless other Cantonese banquet-style restaurants—large, fairly glitzy dining room with large round tables; a few private rooms opening onto the main area. Bright lighting. The emphasis is, as it should be, on the food. Adequate English is spoken. Service is brusque. Two of us at our table were among the few non-Asian diners on that evening.




This blog shows the main dining room, along with a few of their notable dim sum offerings:

http://epicurious.wordpress.com/2009/03/26/fu-sing-dim-sum-hong-kong/


There were three of us at the table and since one was fluent in Cantonese, we left the ordering to him. From my notes, this is what we had that first night in Hong Kong:



Fried whiting—heaped on a platter. Sparkling fresh. Yes, you eat the whole fish!

3-Layer Roast Pork—crispy, meaty, fatty, luscious. Meticulously cut into small squares. Essential.

BBQ Pork/Char Siu. Worth the trip. The best I’ve ever had.

Yunnan Ham with lotus seeds. Served with pancake. Swoon-inducing.

Oxtail braised with Red Wine. A signature dish. Excellent. Rich.

Sauteed Grouper filet with green onions and preserved vegetables.
Excellent.

Dessert: Sago and mango cold dessert. Excellent. I developed a new appreciation on this trip for Cantonese cold desserts, which I had always shunned.

Bolay tea, reportedly good for digestion.

The total came to 400 HK$ each. That seemed high to me, but overall I found prices in the better restaurants to be almost on a par with New York City. The difference is that you can eat remarkably well in the most basic of restaurants for very little money. Unlike New York!!

As at the other restaurants we tried in the evenings, advance bookings are recommended and, often, essential.

The next morning before breakfast, I headed to the pool area. This is what drew us to the hotel and, as soon as I walked out of the building onto the pool terrace, I knew that swimming here would be a dream! There are two large, rectangular swimming pools. One is unheated and the other, 28 meters long, is heated to 28-30C, or 82-86F. The pool itself is a sight to behold, with gorgeous mosaic tile paving and, of course, that see-it-and-die Hong King harbor view visible from the entire pool terrace! It is also one of the few outdoor pools in Hong Kong to remain open throughout the year.

And so I began that morning, as I would every morning after that one, with a long swim of at least an hour. The air was chilly early in the morning, so the pool attendant was quick to rush over with my voluminous terry robe as mounted the ladder. Clad in the robe, I returned to my room to shower and dress before heading to the lounge for breakfast.

I had been dismayed to learn that, despite the astronomical price of the room, the rates did not include a breakfast buffet. I no longer have that opinion. How much more civilized to be presented with a long menu and to be served at table! I even noted the contents of that first brfeakfast in my notebook:

Sliced pomelo
Oatmeal, served with hot milk. Bowl of fresh blueberries, raspberries and strawberries on the side.
Toasted whole grain bread.
Coffee, served with cold milk.

There was a full complement of egg dishes on offer, along with smoked fish, bagels, and an array of Cantonese specialties. I would sample some of these on the days to come. Superb! It was apparent from the clientele of the breakfast area that the guests here were predominantly business people. The concierge also told us that the hotel now receives many visitors from the mainland.


That morning, the two ladies were off on an abbreviated shopping spree.
This turned out to be more of the window-shopping variety. On previous visits I had probably uncovered every last nook and cranny on the bargain trail, including the famous outlets of MonKok, where I had snagged sample garments from Italian and US designers. Sadly, and not only for this reason, those days were long gone, and there appeared to be few bargains on ready-made items left in Hong Kong. (My shopping forays, however, were constrained by the fact that I was not alone and had to take into account the tastes of my two companions, who are most emphatically NOT shoppers!)

Our first stop on that morning was the famous Peddar Building in Central, a walk of a few minutes, largely inside, from the Four Seasons. We headed first to Shanghai Tang, where I wanted to compare pricing here with its Shanghai counterpart. (Prices in HK were a tad less than in Shanghai, I believe). Then it was on to the showroom of a local design house that I have long admired for its clean, sophisticated designs with an Asian twist: Blanc de Chine. (Despite its name, this is a clothing and accessory house!) My hopes that the prices here would be much less than in New York (they have a shop on Fifth Avenue in midtown) were quickly dashed, but my friend managed to find a few scarves for gifts. If I had the lifestyle that demanded this type of elegance, Blanc de Chine would find a permanent place in my address book!

From there we walked a few floors in the Peddar building without seeing much that caught our eyes. We tried unsuccessfully to find the Central branch of the Yue Hwa Chinese emporium at 55 Des Voeux Road but were unsuccessful. (We did find this, and a couple of other of these mid-range Chinese department stores and my advice is: Do not bother)





From there we ambled, by sidewalk and escalator, to the Soho area where we cruised Hollywood Road, visited the Man Mo Temple, and ended up at the street stalls along Lascar Row, where I found a few souvenirs: A strand of large blue and white porcelain spheres (first asking price was 150 HK$; I paid 50$ and was pleased. About the same price were the prayer beads which resembled ivory and which looks great spilling form a bowl on my shelf at home. For this type of inexpensive merchandise, Shanghai offers far better bargains, so if you are headed that way, save your shopping for the mainland.

From there, we strolled back, marveling at the street life and at the little eateries which, by 11:30am, were beginning to fill up with crowds of office workers on lunch break. It took all my strength to walk past without stopping but my friend was a bit squeamish about this type of eating and, besides, we had reservations for 2pm dim sum at the hotel’s much-lauded restaurant, Lung King Heen.

Lung King Heen at the Four Seasons has been much discussed on every food site and in every travel magazine and on countless television programs. As those who follow these things know, Chef Chan Yan Tak, who came out of retirement to head the kitchen here, is the only Chinese to have received three Michelin stars.



http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/03/world/asia/03chef.html

http://www.fourseasons.com/hongkong/dining/lung_king_heen/




Details on the LKH dim sum lunch soon...

Happy, have you sen the new section on Hong Kong eating?

Eks.. thank you for a wonderful gift! I'll take your report along to HK. I am not sure what section you're referring to..NYT? Fodors? I'll do a search on Fodors firt..Thanks again. I'm looking forward to the rest of your report.Thanks again.

No, I meant the section above--that I posted recently! I will finish it soon...and if I see any good articles in the newspapers, I will link them here...

Don't read this while hungry! The lack of passable--never mind good--Chinese joints on my side of L.A. is tragic and I ain't going to HK anytime soon.

Leslie I am surprised because here in NY, we always hear the LA has such great Asian restaurants! HK is certainly THE mecca for Cantonese food. But prices have certainly shot up since my last visits, which were in the 1980s. Then again, as I mentioned, there is wonderful eating to be had at all price points. I was a bit constrained my the fact that my friends were not so keen on the little no-frills places; they are big on atmosphere with food second.

Here are short reports of the two meals we had on that first full day in Hong Kong:


LUNG KING HEEN in the Four Seasons Hotel—Dim Sum lunch


Dim sum lunch at Lung King Heen was scrumptious! The setting is understated—glitz of an elegant sort. We began our lunch with a half order (although not stated on the menu, the restaurant will divide portions which is ideal for sampling a good variety of fare) of:

Honey Roasted Pork. Impeccable presentation. Downright, dare I say it again (?) scrumptious! Perhaps a tad less delectable that the one the previous night at Fu Sing, which is now my personal gold standard for Cantonese roast pork but worth the visit all the same.

Dim Sum plates:

Baked roast goose buns—not to be missed. Among the best dishes of the trip!

Baked Abalone Puffs with Diced Chicken (88HKD)—signature dish—superb. ( I did not note the price of any other items)

Chicken with Chestnuts
Shrimp Dumplings

Pot of Chrysanthemum tea (too mild for my taste)

Complimentary osmanthus jelly and egg tarts for dessert

The tab came to 140 HKD, or about $17$US, per person, therefore an outstanding ratio of price to value and a very inexpensive way to sample one of Asia’s most lauded restaurants. Service was impeccable.





HUTONG (Kowloon) —dinner

I had vacillated back and forth about Hutong and finally decided to book a table based on reports of the great view of fireworks over the harbor, and their Northern-Chinese-inflected cuisine. While the dim sum lunch at the Four Seasons had been expensive, it represented excellent value for the price. Hutong was just the oopposite.

We took the Star Ferry from the dock near the Four Seasons, and walked a few blocks to Peking Road, where Hutong is located on the 28th Floor of an office tower in the TsimShaTsui area of Kowloon.

Hutong appears to be a favorite of expat yuppie business types and it was jam packed when we arrived about 7:30pm. We were seated at a window table, which I had requested at the time of booking. (The restaurant can be booked online on their site, where you immediately get an idea of what to expect at the actual restaurant; the “experience is stressed almost as much as the food)


The restaurant is atmospheric and there is a buzz and bustle about the place of a type you might expect to find in a trendy place in NYC’s Meatpacking district, for example). The food is excellent, if overpriced.


http://www.aqua.com.hk/ - /eng/global/hongKong/hutong/concept


This was our dinner; while eating we had an excellent view of the fireworks over the harbor; for this, be sure to request a window table:


Golden Eggplant Stuffed with Minced Prawn (appetizer—128 HKD)

Squid with Golden Scallions (188 HKD)

Crispy Deboned Lamb Ribs (268 HKD). A knockout!

Stir-Fried “jade green” Bamboo Shoots (108 HKD)

Julienned Tofu with Yunnan Ham (118)

With 1 beer, 1 cocktail of vodka and peach juice, and 2 lime sodas, the total was 1400 HKD, or about $60US per person. Very good food; trendy, youthful ambience; beautiful décor. I doubt, however, if I will return.

Eks, L.A. indeed has great Chinese restaurants (some say better than HK) but they are way over on the other side of town from us where all the Chinese live. Sadly, we rarely venture there.
I liked the lamb ribs at Hutong too, but wasn't impressed with the other dishes. Just so-so at inflated prices, as you suggest. For me, food trumps all. Ambiance is overrated.

Eks, I'm so excited. Husband and I have just decided to do a river cruise from Beijing to Shanghai with time in the two cities before and after the cruise. So I come for my first visit to the Fodors Asia forum and who should I find but you extolling the virtues of food in both cities. My planning work is done already. We'll just follow in your footsteps and then hope we can still fit in the airplane seats for our trip home. I'm so hungry just reading your posts (this one and from the 2007 trip) and I haven't even shown them to Val yet. With his love of Chinese food, and duck especially, he'll be tripping out. Thanks so much for all your hard work planning, traveling and writing about your trips. We'll hang on every word and make note of every dish.

Julie I am delighted for you both! I can almost guarantee that the two of you will have a blast in those two cities...I know for certain that you will eat exceptionally well. I am available at all times for discussion! When is the trip? Where did you decide to stay in the two cities, or did you not decide on the hotels yet?

Thanks eks. We will be in China from Sept. 28 to Oct. 17. I booked 4 nights before our tour/cruise in Beijing and 4 after in Shanghai. I wanted to stay where you had, definitely looked like superior locations and great hotels but let Val's interest in not switching hotels if we didn't absolutely have to and the good rates offered by our tour company and the ones I found on line influence me into staying put at the tour company hotels--Ritz Carleton Financial Street in Beijing and Westin Bund Center in Shanghai. We're definitely taking your advice and having our hotel shuttle pick us up at the airport. I'll be reading and rereading your reports as we get closer to our dates. Meantime I have returns to Barcelona, Paris and the Dordogne/Auvergne to plan for March, April, and June respectively. Where to next for you?