At Yang’s Fry-Dumpling. Ariana Lindquist for The New York Times
March 15, 2009
36 Hours in Shanghai
By ARIC CHEN
NOW that the Beijing Olympics are but a memory, the spotlight in China is moving to Shanghai as that city gears up to host the 2010 World Expo. With an anticipated 70 million visitors and 200 participating countries, the six-month World’s Fair will be enormous by any measure — not that Shanghai has ever needed an excuse to party. While the global economic slowdown has had its impact, Beijing’s naughty sister is still up to her tricks: from the flashing neon signs and light-bedazzled skyscrapers to the throbbing clubs and houses from the foreign-concession era hiding their decadent secrets. But beyond the clichés, mainland China’s most cosmopolitan city still offers a breadth of experiences.
Friday, 7 p.m.
1) JOURNEY TO KITSCH
Tonight is about embracing the kitsch. So set the tone by taking the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel, a Disneyesque ride from the historic Bund area (look for the sign across from the Peace Hotel on Nanjing Road East) to the futuristic Pudong district. Buy the 40 yuan ticket (about $5.70 at 7 yuan to the dollar), and a silver pod will shuttle you across the Huangpu River through an extravaganza of pulsing, flashing and spiraling lights, creepy blow-up dolls and even creepier voice-overs (“hell and paradise,” “nascent magma”). Don’t ask questions; just sit back and look forward to that cocktail at the end of the night.
8 p.m.
2) DINE AT THE TOP
But first more sensory overload. Emerge from the tunnel in Pudong and walk toward the Oriental Pearl Tower, a TV tower that would be Shanghai’s Statue of Liberty if the Statue of Liberty looked like a rocket ship in Christmas lights. Then head to the skyscraper with the giant hole at the top: the new 101-story Shanghai World Financial Center. If you can stomach it, go up to the 100th-floor observation deck (150 yuan) with its terrifying glass floors. Otherwise, enter through the Park Hyatt Shanghai and take the elevator to 100 Century Avenue, the sprawling restaurant on the 91st floor with triple-height atriums. Its six open kitchens serve everything from oysters and pasta to sushi, Peking duck and wagyu beef (dinner for two, with wine, about 2,000 yuan). Admire the geometric mosaic floors and swirling bas-reliefs — if you can keep your eyes off the panoramic views.
10 p.m.
3) DRINKING IT IN
You can’t avoid the Bund. Across the river from Pudong, this waterfront stretch of Art Deco and other edifices is Shanghai’s signature promenade and a hub of upscale restaurants and bars. At night, its floodlit facades offer an unparalleled vantage point for marveling at the giant light show that is Pudong. So go for a nightcap at the Glamour Bar (No. 5 on the Bund, sixth floor; 86-21-6329-3751), a perennially popular lounge with a 1930s inflection.
11:30 p.m.
4) UNTIL IT’S OVER
Caught a second wind? Head to No. 18 on the Bund, which, depending on your perspective, is either a hotbed for the stylish and beautiful or a nightmare of boozy, over-coiffed expats in too much cologne and too-tight camisoles. There you’ll find two swanky spots: Bar Rouge (seventh floor; 86-21-6339-1199) and Lounge 18 (fourth floor; 86-21-6323-8399). For something more underground, don’t miss the Shelter (5 Yongfu Road; 86-21-6437-0400), a testing ground for up-and-coming D.J.’s. Housed in a former bomb shelter and painted black, it’s packed with the hoodie-and-skullcap set.
Saturday
11 a.m.
5) NOSH AND SHOP
Start your day in the French Concession district, with its old lane houses and tree-lined streets — specifically, in the former residence that now houses the Citizen Cafe & Bar (222 Jinxian Road, 86-21-6258-1620; www.citizenshanghai.com). Try the club sandwich (45 yuan) in a parlor-like setting of wainscoting, vintage-style ceiling fans and velvet banquettes. Then have a wander among the area’s fashionable boutiques. Make sure to stop by the antiques shops known as Lao Zhou’s (152 and 204 Jinxian Road; 86-136-8191-6036) for Old Shanghai-era furniture and knickknacks; One by One (141-10 Changle Road; 86-21-5306-3280; also at 141-12 Changle Road and 143 Xinle Road) for work by the city’s emerging conceptual fashion designers; and Spin (758 Julu Road, Building 3; 86-21-6279-2545), which produces contemporary ceramics in the traditional porcelain-making center of Jingdezhen.
2 p.m.
6) ROOM FOR DUMPLINGS
Feeling peckish? Despite lines that are often long, Yang’s Fry-Dumpling (54-60 Wujiang Road) is worth a wait. Not much more than street stalls, this institution’s two adjacent locations dole out pan-fried sheng jian bao — pork dumplings encrusted in sesame seeds and scallions (1 yuan each) — that are so deliciously soupy you might wish you had a bib. The trick: bite a small hole and slurp out the juices.
3 p.m.
7) CULTURAL REVOLUTION
Time to feed your cultural appetite, and you have three museums in People’s Square to select from: the Shanghai Museum (201 Renmin Avenue; 86-21-6372-5300; www.shanghaimuseum.net), an important repository of ancient Chinese art, including bronzes, jade, ceramics, calligraphy and painting; the Shanghai Art Museum (325 Nanjing Road West; 86-21-6327-2829), with exhibitions that range from more calligraphy to modern painting and the Shanghai Biennial; and the Museum of Contemporary Art (231 Nanjing Road West; 86-21-6327-9900; www.mocashanghai.org).
5:30 p.m.
8) FOOT RELIEF
After searching for great art, give your feet a rest at Dragonfly, a Shanghai-based international chain of Zen-like spas where the treatments include an hour’s foot massage for 135 yuan. There’s one (458 Dagu Road; 86-21-6327-1193; www.dragonfly.net.cn) not far from People’s Square.
8 p.m.
9) ETHNIC EATS
Sample cuisines of China’s ethnic minorities at Lost Heaven (38 Gaoyou Road; 86-21-6433-5126; www.lostheaven.com.cn), which serves foods from the groups in and around southern Yunnan province. Its dark, vermillion interior, sparely decorated with ethnographic art, is a good place to try dishes like sea bass with black bean sauce from the Dai tribe (80 yuan) and Yunnan chicken salad with chili and sesame (60 yuan).
10 p.m.
10) BOHEMIAN NIGHT
Jazz fans can wrap up the night at JZ (46 Fuxing West Road; 86-21-6431-0269; www.jzclub.cn), a club with nightly live performances and an Old Shanghai speakeasy vibe. Another option is Y.Y. Club (125 Nanchang Road; 86-21-6466-4098), where you’ll find an artsy crowd smoking, drinking — and smoking some more — in a salon-style interior (think upright piano, velvet drapes and splashes of Mao-era propaganda). No need to rush; it’s open 24 hours.
Sunday
10 a.m.
11) FROM HAR KOW TO MAO
Xintiandi, another must on the tourist circuit, is a popular enclave of recreated and restored — over-restored, some would say — lane houses that are now home to high-end restaurants, shops and bars. Start with dim sum at Crystal Jade (6-7 South Block, Xintiandi, Lane 123, Xinye Road; 86-21-6385-8752), a Cantonese restaurant in a new mall. Its setting may lack charm, but you’ll love the shrimp har kow (24 yuan), steamed soup dumplings (24 yuan) and pan-fried turnip cake (16 yuan). Then stroll to the Memorial to the Site of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China (76 Xinye Road). It’s where the Chinese Communist Party was founded in 1921 and where one might ponder what Mao Zedong would make of today’s Shanghai.
THE BASICS
Continental recently announced daily nonstop service from Newark to Pudong International Airport outside Shanghai, with introductory fares starting at $777 round trip for travel next month, according to an airline spokeswoman. United and American are among several carriers with one-stop service out of the New York area, with fares starting at about $700 and $815, respectively. Shanghai has a good metro system, which is being expanded for Expo 2010, and taxis are cheap.
The new Park Hyatt Shanghai (100 Century Avenue; 86-21-6888-1234; www.parkhyattshanghai.com) occupies the 79th to 93rd floors of the Shanghai World Financial Center. In addition to jaw-dropping views, it offers minimal-luxe décor, several restaurants, an impressive spa and 174 spacious rooms with oversize, deep-soaking tubs. The standard rate is 5,500 yuan, or $785 at about 7 yuan to the dollar, with lower rates available online.
Housed in a 1920s building, the 55-room JIA Shanghai (931 Nanjing Road West; 86-21-6217-9000; www.jiashanghai.com) is small and intimate, with a richly textured contemporary eclectic-Asian interior. Jia means home in Mandarin, and the hotel’s generous rooms and perks (free afternoon tea, an open bottled water, juice and soft drink bar) live up to the name. There’s also an excellent Italian restaurant called Issimo. Studios are from 2,000 yuan, with lower rates available online.
The 26-room URBN Hotel (183 Jiao Zhou Road; 86-21-5153-4600; www.urbnhotels.com) claims to be China’s first carbon-neutral hotel. Its sleek design in a retrofitted post office building features reclaimed wood and brick and rooms with sunken lounges and wraparound sofas. Studios from 1,400 yuan.
The twin villas at 796 Huaihai Road in Shanghai house luxury retailers like Dunhill. Qilai Shen for The New York Times
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