Beth bought a pastry last night at Paris Baguette and I went to the Starbucks to get online. There’re things happening in my family and at work that require my gentle touch. It’s still raining cats and dogs, so today the plan was to actually go to the Shanghai Museum.

Walked to the museum by crossing People’s Way through a pedestrian tunnel. These are easy ways to cross very busy streets. Some have connections to the Metro. Having a good map to keep your bearings is very helpful.

The Shanghai Museum is very good. Much different than the Shanghai Art Museum. We spent three hours walking through the galleries. We were especially taken with the furniture and jade on the fourth floor. The Museum had a number of people, but was not overcrowded. The building is relatively new, but very nice. The galleries are easy to maneuver. Unfortunately, the minority arts exhibit was closed. Just coincidental that it was National Day. BTW, all the museums had security checks like airports. Metal detectors and X-rays of bags. The good news is thst the Shanghia Museum was free.

Walked over to JJT for some more delicious dumplings. Definitely worth repeating. Two orders of dumplings, soup and two drinks cost 34.5 RMB.

Walking back, I went into Magic Hair to get my hair cut. My style is “boy’s regular”, so I suspected it would be fine. The young guy that shampooed my hair took so long, it was like he did each strand individually. I chose the middle of three price level of haircuts, [by the] Creative Stylist. The cut was fine. I did notice that these guys were the only males I had seen in China with earrings. Popped into the lobby of the old Park Hotel on the square. Beautiful Art Deco railings and décor. I asked about the room rate and it was 658 RM plus 15%. The building next door, self-identified as the former Foreign YMCA was undergoing extensive renovations. We could see into the second floor and it looked like an expansive room like a ballroom. Also saw the Pacific Hotel. Not as nice as the Park Hotel.
Back at the room, we watched the replay of the 60th National Day parade in Beijing. Unbelievable pageantry. Tiananmen Square is full of people holding up pom poms of various colors in coordination to show characters, numbers and patterns against a solid background, changing frequently. Marching before the grandstands were an endless colorful chain of various groups and floats. Some were dancing, others twirling, some just marching.

The rain has finally stopped. Nanjing Lu is alive with people going in and out of shops, lining up for moon cakes and generally enjoying themselves. On the subject of Mooncakes, every hotel we’ve stayed in has a separate desk in the lobby with boxes and boxes of mooncakes. They’re taken out of the box and placed in individual bags. I’ve only seen a few picked up, but the allotment of mooncakes shrinks quickly and the supply is constantly replenished.

Did I mention that the Shanghai night is alive with neon? There are signs of every color lighting up the night. It’s sort of like an endless Times Square with no apparent boundaries. Most of the signs have Chinese characters, but a few are in English.

We went to the 789 Bar at the top of the Meridien. The view towards Pudong was nice, but the bar was nothing special. We ate dinner at the Cantonese restaurant in the hotel, hoping for something relatively light. The beef with black pepper was decent. The Roast belly pork was not. Nearly inedible. The stir-fried seasonal vegetables was decent. Notice I used “was”. This is because the vegetables turned out to be one vegetable, spinach. It was lackluster.

We then went for a walk on a very crowded Nanjing Lu. Popped into a shop and bought a food goodies for the GTG. We also bought a world famous mooncake across the street. It was 2.80 RMB and better than anything we had for dinner. It’s easy to see why people lined up for these.

I have noticed that at most restaurants, you are seated, handed one menu for two people. Then the waitperson comes to your table expecting you to order immediately. We never could. We always had to wait. They seemed to go with the western flow.

so moon cakes are good, they are all over the place, they are in and out of boxes and bags....they move quickly....they are very popular......

MAYBE THE READERS WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT THE HELL MOON CAKES ARE, EINSTEIN?????????????????????????????????????????? ??

and unlike the water in cambridge, which is pink, the needham water is delicious like any bottled water one might purchase at B&C or in europe...

thank god this dreary "report" will end in the next couple of days....then we will have to go all through it again in person, and then again at the pre-GTG dinner and then at the GTG, and then at the post GTG dinner.... how much can one group be expected to endure??

and then on the flight to thailand

To alleviate Bob's pain while the Panda is probably out and about in Shanghai:

http://chinesefood.about.com/od/moon...onfestival.htm

I'm certain the Panda will respond in full upon return to his hotel and his cigar.

thanks for this explanation... as with all things panda we get only 4% of the explanation....thank god for other fodorites who get the whole story....

i wonder if his contained a sausage and he thought it was a wonderful dessert??

Glad it stopped raining. Sounds like it didn't hamper your plans too much. When do you come home?

Bob: You're quite welcome!

Now, we all await the next chapter in this wonderful saga of eating and eating and eating - more dumplings stories please!

how about a description of the dumplings....or some PICTURES

Yes, pictures please. I can't believe this fabulous trip is almost over!

The pictures will be forthcoming after we return to the cozy confines of Cambridge. Let's see, is there anyone who doesn't know what a dumpling looks like? They are roughly spherical or oblong, with dough on the outside and a filling (hence the name) on the inside. The soup dumplings have a small amount of liquid that resides between the dough and the filling. They are beige and have pinched edges near the top where they have been closed. This prosaic description does not do them justice. They can be mouthfuls of delicious taste. I believe that I have surpassed my goal of eating one dumpling for every Fodorite. It was ambitious, but I'm the panda for the job.

Is it clear to everyone else how much Bob misses me? He clearly feels a disturbance in the force when I'm on the other side of the world. I'm sure he takes great solace in my iminent return (notice, I did not say eminent return).

Up late, 6:00 a.m. Went to Starbucks to check on work and post on Fodors. No penalty for this panda.

Left at 8:30, took a cab to Xian Tian Di. Walked down the two blocks. Just a few stores were open. Walked east on Zizhong Rd, through Taipingqiao Park,, to the antiques market on Dongtai Rd. Bought a few knick knacks, including a fur hat with ear flaps (my lifelong desire, and walked east on Zizhong Rd. Went north on Renmin Rd. Went into a produce market to the left. Just like the market in Beijing, all of the items were thoughtfully displayed and everything looked clean. Bought a few dried longans for snacking. Turned left on Liuhekou and left again on Ji’an Rd. In the middle of the block is an amazing market selling crickets, grasshoppers, birds and live millipedes for bird food.
Walked back to Xin Tian Di, stopping at the Shanghai Museum Shop. Beth bought a bracelet and a jade pendant. Had lunch at the famous Ding Tai Feng (DTF), a Taiwanese restaurant with outlets all over the world. Had noodles with meat sauce and vegetables, Pok Choi and XLB’s. Our opinion of the dumplings was that the dough was lighter than JJT, but the filling not quite as tasty. Still superb. The bill was 80 RMB, more than twice JJT, but the setting was more relaxed.

Now, we had suffered from a little confusion. We wanted to go the walking street with art galleries and thought it was on Taicang Rd, right by Xin Tian Di. It turns out the street we actually wanted was Taikang Rd. An easy mistake.

We walked over to Sinan Lu in the French Concession and south to the much-sought- after Taikang Rd. About 25 minutes, but the weather was nice and it was easy. Walked down Taikang Rd., turning into the numbered alleys to the right as we went west. We saw several really good paintings in one, but they were out of our price range. The best was listed at $4000 USD. Need a second job for that purchase. As we progressed the alleys became much more crowded. The alleys are maze-like and full of cafes and shops. Very pleasant on a beautiful day. Had gelato for nourishment.

Caught a cab to Changle Lu in the northwest portion of the French Concession. Went to the Pottery Workshop on Fumin Lu and Madame Mao’s Dowry across the street. Popped into Brocade Country with some very nice stuff from the provinces. Cab back to the Meridien. The streets were again alive with people. Throngs. In the French Concession, there were many fewer people on the streets. They were snapping photographs and strolling at a leisurely pace. A very nice last day in China.

We got really lucky for dinner. We were really tired after a long day and could not face a trek for dinner. We thought we would eat at South Beauty in the same building as the Meridien. However, when the concierge tried to make reservations for us, he was told that it was booked due to a wedding party. We were flummoxed. Thought about walking to a vegetarian place nearby, but Beth was pooped. We “settled” for the Italian restaurant at the Meridian, Favola. We figured a pizza and off to bed for the flight home. We got lucky again because they brought some very nice bread and we decided not to get pizza. We split the fire-roasted spring chicken and pasta with Amatriciana sauce. Both were really good. The chicken was delicious. The pasta and sauce were great. A wonderful meal. Who knew?

A slight digression (as if this report has anything else). We’ve noticed that the chicken in China is much more flavorful than the chicken in the US. The white meat has a lot of flavor and does not need the eternal saucing that you see in the US. Frank Perdue has done us a great disservice. The chickens are smaller, but much tastier. A short walk after dinner walk and collapsed back in the room.

Groan. Did you have to do this?

I can just see Bob's posts on yet another Italian dinner in China!

Otherwise, very much enjoying your TR and sorry it has to end.

easy---you are again right....OMG, ITALIAN FOR THE FIRST MEAL AND ITALIAN FOR THE LAST MEAL....why the hell didn't you go to rome?? i bet if they serve XLB's on the plane you will ask for italian ones....

nicky has a fabulous restaurant for us in bkk....small house not far from sh-la....and they don't serve italian...

in advance, welcome home, and of course we missed you but only slightly....its beth we really missed....the wise one...

have a good flight, talk to you next week...

B&K

robert just reports an unbelievable fare to india for 8 months of 2010... any interest??

Safe trip home. Did you have to? Italian? Now if I want Ital on one of our trip Bob won't go for it as he won't want to be put in the same category as you. Oh, dear!!! Great trip report by the way. Love to Beth.

Great report Andy and very timely with no penalties involved unless you consider going back home to be near Bob a penalty,lol.

Which city did you like better Shanghai or Beijing? Do you see yourself returning one day?

Have a safe trip home.

Aloha!

btw, nothing wrong with Italian food, personally love it!

Get home safe - the REAL baseball season is starting soon...

We expect your DETAILED trip report within 10 days of your return.

GOD, they are home...stand by for a barage

I;m on the wrong computer, so I will go a little out of sequence. Someone nicer Than I can help Bob make sense of it.The Pandas have landed. We are girding our loins for the upcoming assualt by fodorites on Friday. Many of them have never been to the center of the Universe withouy adult supervision. The PVG-EWR leg was easy, lots of room and very helpful staff. Again, the in-seat entertainment selections were certainly passable. The meals were acceptable and served at proper times.

Naturally, the EWR-BOS flight did not liveup to these standards. It was a tiny plane. If Bob and I had both been on it, we would have been asked to sit one to a side. The entry way required me to bend my neck six inches downward. Even Beth demanded her 1/2 of the seating room. Hence, I spent most of the flight blocking the aisle.

Unbelievably enough, the checked baggage was only 10-15 minutes later than we thought possible. The airport was closing down for the curfew. In Terminal A, where we got off, there was not onesingle ticket agent open. That means no more flights that night from Terminal A. Therefore, there was no need to have any of the baggage handlers processing incoming luggage. There was none! In theory, the entire baggage handling staff could have been assigned to assist in the deplaning of the luggage from our flight. Nope. We went down and the carousel was dead. After about 10 minutes, an alarm went off and the carousel began turning. Non-Bostonians might think this was a good sign. Us locals know better. It took at least 10 minuted after the horn for the first piece of luggage to appear. Maybe someone at the airport gets some kind of roayalties kickback for the alarm sound.

An easy cab home.