Shanghai - Dec 2007 - 豫園

Ok, this should be the last post for Shanghai 2007. After walking around Shanghai old street, I decided to spend some time in 豫園 since it's in the same area. Of course the scenic 豫園 already closed by then, so just walk around the souvenir part.


豫園 street


Shopping area


You should be able to find some expensive souvenirs here and maybe some simple Shanghainese eateries.

Shanghai - Dec 2007

Walking around Shanghai.. on foot. Yes, I actually walked from Nanjing rd, to The Bund and then.. to the Old Shanghai street.


Some food hawkers.


Another building on the way..


Some goldsmith around that area, not sure if they are worth buying but saw only tourists frequent these areas.


Shanghai Old Street (上海老街)


辣娘子臭豆腐... had a few of these in my previous trip, so came back for more.


Cannot not be considered a hygienic place to enjoy food, but the taste sure is out of this world.

Shanghai - Dec 2007 - The Bund (外滩)

The Bund, is the most important and attractive landmark of Shanghai and never to be missed when you visit Shanghai. It is alongside the 114km long and 400m wide Huangpu River, the most important artery of Shanghai. So, as with my other visits I have to visit it and snap some pictures. As time did not allow, so this trip I will give the river cruise a miss.


The Huangpu River.


Ads on the boat, hopefully not there during strong winds.


A misty day in Shanghai.


That is part of The Bund, there are total of 52 main historical buildings along the stretch. You'll find buildings of architectural designs from Gothic, Baroque, the Renaissance, etc. here and they were banks and major trading houses some time ago.


This is the entrance to the underground pedestrian transit passage through the Huangpu river across to Pudong area.


Pay RMB50 for a quick sketch of yourself.


After 6pm..


View of Pudong from the Bund


A closer view of the Oriental Pearl Tower from the Bund


Night view of the HSBC building and Customs house..

Some other buildings..

Shanghai - Dec 2007 - 南京路步行街

There are not much to do in Hong Qiao, so took a cab alone to this Nanjing road. Not sure why I came here as I do not intend to do any shopping, so just walked around and snapped about 300 pictures.


The begining of Nanjing road. This is the part where only pedestrians are allowed, so everyone is on foot, except some folks who decide to be lazy and take those blue and red mini buses.


This is the full time photographer on Nanjing Road, you can pay him RMB10 for a picture of you in the human traffic jam.


Something like this.


Chinese pollution is pretty serious, so you can see many walking around with face masks.


A big toy shop.


This musician plays lovely tunes off the balcony of a store, to attract crowd.


Walking in between shops and alleys of Nanjing road, you can expect to find these food stalls crowded with people waiting for their orders. After getting this shot, I was asked to go take pictures of the next stores.

Shanghai - Dec 2007 - 小乡村

Since there are nothing much to try out nearby our hotel, so we decided to venture a little further to 徐家汇 for more choices, and found this big 3 floor restaurant called 小乡村.


Streets of 徐家汇


This herbal soup of is to replenish energy and improve concentration, at least this is what it states.


This corn drink is natural and without preservatives. Brought 2 more boxes home.


Nice cucumber dish


This is the only dish that I wanted to skip but decided to try a piece. Its duck tongue.


Some oily and spicy stuff


Beef and nuts..


Salted eggs, with beancurd. This definitely tastes alot better than it looks.
The damage was about RMB350, quite reasonable and surprisingly these dishes came in less than 20 minutes even with a full house of 3 level full of tables.

Shanghai - Dec 2007 - 鼎爐

This restaurant is in Hongqiao, just 15-20 minutes away from the hotel we were staying. Since it was almost 9, and being an almost business district with office buildings around, we have very limited choice. The name of the restaurant is 鼎爐, serving mainly old shanghainese dishes.


Forgot what is this..


and this..


this is some veggie dish.


Can't remember what this is.. the taste is nothing special, and the damage is reasonable for a decent meal in Shanghai.

Shanghai - Dec 2007

A chance visit to Shanghai again, a pre-plan short visit to assess possibility and need to consolidate and upgrade IT infrastructure of a new acquisition, but I shall spare the details and just treat this as another visit to Shanghai.


Reservation was made on my behalf, so I just need to get on a cab after arriving and check into this hotel, Grand Mercure in Hongqiao Shanghai. Looked like a big busy hotel but rooms are not big.


Entrance of room


A very simple kitchen and dining area.


Work desk and a small tv far away from the bed, so not possible to enjoy a nice movie in bed.


This bed is pretty comfortable, the place I rest for 3 or 4 nights.


This is the bathroom.

Beijing - Dec 2007 - 北京烤鸭 (Peking Duck)

One of the things you will not forget when visiting Beijing, is to sample the authentic Peking duck. Personally, I prefer a few other restaurant, but since the most famous restaurant in Beijing for foreigners is 全聚德烤鸭, I will share some pictures of it. The restaurant is a bit pricey as it has become synonymous with Peking duck, and could cause 2-3 times more comparing to other non-famous restaurants.


Since this 绣水街 branch is in the proximity of World Trade Center, we visited this while checking out some DVD.


Ordered a veggie dish to start off.


Within 30 minutes, this person pushed a cart over, with our roasted duck, and began slicing and cutting to serve us.


Here's the duck after 5 minutes, boneless. Tried few types of sauce, but these sauces are charged separately.


Duck soup..


After the meal, returned the chopsticks back to the duck.


Yes, you get to enjoy traditional chinese music throughout your experience. A good 20 minutes walk from the WTC service apartments.