Super excited to be back in Shanghai. We’ll be traveling around the region for 3 weeks, starting with 6 days on The Bund. Views of Pudong and the river from our room.
We were finally able to load Alipay and WeChat Pay on our phones. In the recent past, a China bank account was required.
Almost all restaurants, vendors, street carts require digital payment. We were getting lots of confused looks trying to pay with cash and credit cards. The beggars here do not shake cups to solicit contributions, they all wave their QR placards.
Scan the QR, place your order, pay via phone, servers bring your food. Eat and leave. No fuss, no muss.
Very nice. Where are you heading off to this time after the Bund? Jiangnan?
Can you do me a favor? When you pass by a market, can you see if yangmei is still around this year? If so, what’s the price?
There’s also a question that I thought about but never really figured out- whether there is a legal way to import / mail a jinhua ham back home. Any insights?
Nangjing is next. Then Suzhou, Hangzhou and finally a few last days back in Shanghai city.
I’ll keep a lookout for yangmei, we do a LOT of store checks.
Swine Flu seems to be always recurring, highly unlikely pork is allowed for USA entry.
Landed 12 hours ago and still having problems staying hooked up with my NordVPN, very spotty. Without VPN, can’t get pass the Great China Firewall for Google, Facebook , etc….
Our China digital payment accounts are linked to our USA credit cards. My wife set them up, as I’m Chinese illiterate. I’ll get more details from her in the morning.
Our payment accounts are linked to our home credit cards. Apparently, both Alipay and WeChat Pay are available in English now. User friendly!!!
We buy a whole Smithfield Ham (says Jinhua on the cloth cover) and portion vacpac. . Good price from Marina Foods. Vaguely recall that a Chinese company bought Smithfield a few years back, can’t confirm, no Google.
What is yangmei? Can’t Google and wife doesn’t recognize my various attempts at pronunciation.
These. Which someone finally succeeded growing and branded them as Calmei in Norcal in the last decade, but they are native to around Shanghai/ Jiangnan. Its sold for about $60 / pound in Norcal. It should be expensive also in Shanghai but I am curious how much they are.
Those are ”yamamomo” (山桃/ヤマモモ)in Japanese and are a specialty of Tokushima. If I had known you liked them, I would have directed you to stores where you could buy them when you visited as August is the peak season for them. They aren’t very common outside of Tokushima and don’t travel well. I really missed them when I moved.
Yeah I also only just found out today that yangmei / yamamomo is a Tokushima specialty. I have seen yamamomo showing up in some omakase meals in the US so I knew Japanese has them.
Funny my wife just now told me now that I mentioned about yamamomo she thought she saw them on a poster somewhere that day in Tokushima.
I’ve only been to Shanghai once, over a decade ago. I believe they were renovating the Bund at the time. Can’t remember much apart from going to some trendy restaurants in the French quarter, and having an excellent Peking duck at the Hyatt on the Bund Chinese restaurant. I believe they have a Michelin star these days.
A very satisfying quintessential Shanghainese dinner on the famous Nanjing Road. Classifying this broad avenue of shops, restaurants, excitement as a road is a bit of a misnomer.
Crab and Pork Xlb. The presentation not as refined as DTF, with their exact 23 pleats. Very crabby flavor and loaded with a dangerous complement of scalding juice.
Also about a decade since my last visit. Used to come in every other year or so for the Shanghai SIAL or FTC food show.
Doing the show was a bit of work. It was great that our clients would wine and dine us (or us, them). Enjoyed the cuisine greatly with actual natives, or visitors from other areas.
OT. Friend and I were walking along the Bund waterside somewhat late in the evening, no one else around. A lady strode right up to me and stuck a flower stem in my shirt pocket.
My Bruce Lee instinct kicked in and I slapped the flower away. The flower and MY PEN (clipped to my shirt pocket) went flying metres away. Woman scuttled off and left me with a wilted rose. I apparently foiled her pen snatching ploy. Our Didi driver told us that theft is very uncommon these days, security cameras all over and all.
So, how is the mood/atmosphere these days? Even more modern than say HK? Just looking at that last pic of yours, wow the street looks so shiny, could be disneyland!
Just checked my iphone photo library: I was there in 2009. Will show a pic, I believe that’s the Bund across the river.
We only landed 24 hours ago, haven’t explore beyond an hours walk from our hotel yet. Got to say as of now, Shanghai is much more modern than HK in some ways.
The population around us is quite young (or, I’m quite old). Everyone is in western dress. Latest phones. Of course, cashless transactions for the most part.
Sure things will definitely be different when we get out of this high end area.
Disneyland: on our walk to the street market today. I noticed at least 3 smaller street sweeper vehicles and one large sweeper cleaning the streets. This is in addition to the cleaners manually sweeping the sidewalks with their whisk brooms.
This town is almost spotless, no trash. Clean public toilets minutes apart, no charge.
Makes San Francisco look like a 3rd world destination.
A large bowl of Duck Noodle Soup. Cellophane Noods in a surprisingly spicy soup, thanks to the Sichuan Peppercorns. Duck Slices, Kidney, intestine and Duck Blood. With a side of Duck Blood for good measure.
As I was bringing my first Sheng Jian Bao to my lips, my wife warned me these were loaded with soup. Too. Late.
We both ended up wearing Bao juice stains, oops.
Temps has cooled to the hi 80°s for our hour walk back home. Fresh Squeezed Sugah Cane Juice, no brainer!!! 25rmb??? (usd$3.52)??? Highway robbery!! Even the cashier seemed embarrassed to fleece us tourists. NP, ok to play tourist now and then.
What is always missing from Shanghai cuisine outside Asia- these little shrimps. Restaurants like to substitute with larger shrimps, but they are not even close.
on our phones. In the recent past, a China bank account was required.
