moondog

Here's another update guys.

Shanghai (I can only speak for SH because that's where I happen to be) is now ~60% of its old self now.

On Monday, I called one of my favorite lunch places (Masala Art) on the off chance that they might be open. I gave this proposition low odds because Monday is their rest day, and I hadn't been able to attend (at all) since February.

Much to my surprise, they invited me over.

Upon my arrival, the manager did a quick police lookout, told me to come inside (e.g. squeeze between the table and the door), and promptly escorted me to their basement section (which, I didn't know existed).




The food was awesome (you get all of this for 100, but only during lunch)



The "speakeasy" thing seems to be SOP (either that or you remain closed). In fact, going to popular areas is kind of silly. By way of example, Wuding Rd bars are barely open, and they pretend to be invisible when there is so much as a whisper of police presence.

In my observation, this strategy is/was futile because the FamilyMart across the street permitted bar patrons to continue hanging out on the sidewalk.

travelinmanS can relate to this next picture because Grand Yard was our venue of choice ~10 years ago when we both resided nearby. The manager/owner Erich appears to have some decent 关系 because GY is pretty much free and clear (of course this could change in heartbeat).


In spite of the fact that venues you want to visit are in short supply (for dine-in), pretty much everything below the radar is fair game. By way of example, I discovered some truly amazing XLB yesterday; definitely not DTF standards (e.g. not a date location), but we're talking about Y8 v Y80 for the same thing.



In spite of my disdain for shopping malls, I visited two over the weekend. Texas Roadhouse is convenient enough (e.g. directly above the subway station) to forgive it for being in Pudong.

YariGuy

So Texas Roadhouse is ok for dine-in but Masala Art isn't? Wonder what the rationale is...

moondog

Possible reasons
-mall operator is very powerful
-TRH is very powerful (doubtful)
-the other side of the river (apart from the iconic part) isn't important to the guys up north

In any event, TRH is apparently in the penalty box, once again.

1000 Trees, on the other hand, appears to be above whatever (almost entirely unwritten) laws exist.

moondog

My testing place bounced me this morning because I failed to bring the special card. They advised me to try a different location; not really a feasible option because lunch starts at 10 for those guys. Oh, well; I guess I will reschedule tomorrow's lunch meeting.

moondog

I went back to 1000 trees today because it was such a sure thing last week. Suffice it to say, it appears that the word got out (lots of "go here" internet chatter).





YariGuy Your brother and I are planning on trying Masala Art on Tuesday for lunch. I will definitely call them before heading over.

Meanwhile, the bbq place whose name starts with a B (scroll upthread) continues to be our most reliable spot.

As I'm sure you've heard, Abbey received another time out.

YariGuy

Yeah this no dining in sucks. Hope things get back to 2021 normal soon.

travelinmanS

I’m hoping for 2019 normal. As great as it would be to dine indoors and not see lots of good restaurants go bust, it’s even more important to me at least to not have to pay $8000 and burn 3 weeks of my time just to re-enter China.

moondog

Yes, coming here costs big money, any way you slice it (e.g. the Q costs $1000). And, if you do 30 days in Thailand beforehand, that's $4,000 sunk (in addition to $2,000 to get to Thailand). If you get your tests in SF, you're looking at $900 to fly to Changsha. Simply put, in the days when the China forum thrived, coming over here was a $1,500 expense. The bottom line is that China is now priced out for anyone who doesn't have $10,000 to spare.

moondog

-US/UK/EU flight = $1000 in Y or $2000 in J
-you need to stay there for 30 days, so figure $1500 at a minimum
-BKK-PVG = $1500 (for real)
-you must make your way from Huahin (or wherever else) to Bangkok, and this costs $250, maybe $100 if you slum it
-Covid tests = $500
-Q in SH = $1000

The above drill is certainly less than $8000, but 30 days in Thailand is required (15 was okay last year).

tauphi

You're seriously underestimating the price of a BKK/PVG non-stop ticket. On the bright side, this proves that BKK actually works as a springboard to China.

travelinmanS

Cheapest price in the next 4 months seems to be $3200 for BKK-PVG.

Also, there is no bright side for getting to China. You’re paying through the nose to go to a place that is currently a horrible place to be.

moondog

I didn't realize BKK-PVG prices had become so crazy. Does Xiamen work for you?

narvik

Doing a google search like that is likely the WORST way of finding out a flight's price and/or its availableness: did you actually do a proper flight search?

moondog

Google has been my first resort for flight searches. Well, not quite, before diving in, I like to figure out which days of the week specific flights are operating. I failed in the instant case because BKK-XMN may be a dead route. The same appears to go for KMG and CSX. If so (really?), PVG might be the only option. Sadly, that direct flight requirement still exists, though maybe not for long? On a slightly positive note, hotel Q in China is now only 7 days.

narvik

If you use something like https://matrix.itasoftware.com/search (now also owned by google) you will get ACTUAL flights, not just [misleading] ads.
In my example below, it showed non-stop flights BKK-XMN for July 18, for the month of July.