Hotels/restaurants in Shanghai and vicinity
 

Planning to visit April 14-20 for the first time. My wife speaks a very little Mandarin, otherwise we are only able to speak English.

Any suggestions for mid-price hotels and restaurants, sights to see, is it safe to eat from the street markets, Hangzhou vs Suzhou vs Nanjing for a visit?

Any help or advice appreciated.

Hotels: Most of the sightseeing is done on the Puxi side of Shanghai so it would be advised to stay at a central hotel there. Portman Ritz Carlton, Four seasons, JW Marriott are all good hotels. Mid-range would be places like Hilton, Equatorial, some local hotels. I would advise you to stay either in the Jing'an Temple area or the People's Square area.

Restaurants: A dinner on the Bund at either Jean Georges, M on the Bund (downhill lately), Laris is a great way to enjoy the views of the riverfront and Lujiazui on the Pudong side. If you're looking for Chinese food, there are a lot of choices. An area called Xintiandi has some nice places, both western and Chinese. You should ask your hotel to get a copy of That's Shanghai magazine for you. They have all the restaurant listings and events listed.

Eating from the markets: If you mean the Xinjiang guys selling meat skewers on the street...i've never gotten sick from eating the meat sticks, but lots of
friends have.

Sights to see: The top floor of the Jin Mao building in Lujiazui, Yu Yuan gardens, the pearl market, underground market at the Science and Tech. Museum, Shanghai history museum, Shanghai art museum, People's Square, Nanjing Road....

Travel to Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou: Nanjing and Hangzhou are recommended. There are bullet train connections and these trips could be done in a day. Nanjing has several museums and the city wall is pretty spectacular. Hangzhou has the lake (not advised in 40 degree weather) and temples, etc.

Hope this helps a little

There is a Japanese restaurant, that I haven't been to yet, which only serves toro and crab (iirc, they have a contract with an air freight company that does daily deliveries from Tokyo) at a set price. Unfortunately, the name escapes me, but it is highly regarded (by my friends and food critics alike).

Tian Jia
 

http://shanghaiist.com/2007/10/09/tian_jia_heaven.php

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Make sure that you don't eat too much blue fin tuna though. Too much mercury based on a recent New York Times article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/dining/23sushi.html

Very helpful. Many thanks.


There is a Japanese restaurant, that I haven't been to yet, which only serves toro and crab (iirc, they have a contract with an air freight company that does daily deliveries from Tokyo) at a set price. Unfortunately, the name escapes me, but it is highly regarded (by my friends and food critics alike).

We will look for it--thanks

Thanks. By the way, on the subject of blue fin tuna there is a recent (March) Scientific American article describing how blue fin is quite endangered due to the popularity of sushi. According to that article, sushi eating in Japan only became popular after WWII with the widespread availability of refrigerators

OTOH my wife, who grew up in Maui in the 1950's, says that sushi was popular there at that time. Bought as rolls or cones from the mom-and-pop stores

Nanjing also features the tomb and mausoleum of Dr.Sun Yat-Sen, the leading mind of Kuomintang and "father of modern China". Must be the only place on the mainland where the Kuomintang symbols are openly displayed out of respect for the revered Doctor.

While I don't like Shanghai style Chinese food that much and prefer f.ex Nanjing style, the Japanese and Korean restaurants in the "Japantown" and "Koreatown" of Honqgiao are as good as they come outside of the respective countries.

Train travel
 

OK, we booked 4 nights at the Ruijin Hotel in the former French Concession, and plan to travel to Nanjing for 2 nights. Assuming the Ruijin will get train tickets for us, is it possible to get to the station and on the right train without being able to speak much Chinese, or to read any at all? I remember from a trip to Beijing 10 years ago that street signs were exclusively in Chinese and in the simplified version to boot.

Stayed at Ruijin Hotel once. Nice place, very large green space, prime location.
Can't believe it hasn't been developed into high rises, that land's gotta be worth a fortune.

It's a park; huge cities need parks in order to combat pollution and help people feel sane. As far as the Ruijin Guesthouse is concerned, I'm also a fan. However, I'd like to point out that the standard-issue rooms are exceedingly small (been discussed before here) so it's worth a few dollars to upgrade to what they consider to be "deluxe".

I travel to NJ a few times a month and this is quite an easy trip. Though i do speak Chinese, it should be a very easy process for non-Chinese speakers. Shanghai has two major train stations, and most if not all Nanjing bound trains will leave from the Northern station (North of People's square, across Suzhou creek). If you get the hotel to book your tickets and to tell the taxi driver where to go, you should have no issues.
Then once you get to the train station there is only one entrance to the platforms. It is somewhere in the center of the building, just across from the main square (big tv screens, lots of people). Your taxi may not stop directly infront of the building entrance, but you will easily see it.
You then show your ticket to a guard who will then let you enter. Bags go through a quick security check and you then take the escalator up to the waiting lounges on the second floor. All the times i've traveled to NJ the waiting lounge has been lounge 4, on the right side of the main hallway on the second floor (don't worry, signage will be present and the waiting area will be easy to spot as long as you know your train number).
Once your train number is called, hundreds of people will rush for one small door at once. Just relax, the train won't leave for another 15-20 minutes. Then follow the masses to the train, get on, and enjoy the 2 hour 20 minute ride to Nanjing.

Trains to NJ are about 90-110 RMB one way in first class. Very comfortable seats and a very smooth ride. There are a few trains every hour. NJ train station is right downtown, next to the Xuanwu lake. Plenty of cabs, IIRC the taxi line is downstairs where you exit. Remember to watch out for illegal cabs.

Hope it helps.

On our visit to Shanghai last year we ate at "prime" (twice!) which is above Sasha's Bar and Restaurant in the French Concession. The food was fantastic and not one of the 8 of us had any complaints. M on the Bund was another success. Make sure you try one of the local Hot-Pot restaurants!
Hotel-wise, we stayed in the Equatorial as part of the Team Ireland delegation with the Special Olympics World Games and the manager and staff couldn't have been more helpful.

Enjoy your trip!

Maybe it is considered a park if the government owns it, but why is there Fuxing Park across the street? They surely aren't hurtin for money these days and need to sell off prized land. It was strange when I pulled in with a taxi the driver refused to drive back to the building I was staying, it was like he wasn't allowed to drive past a certain point. I thought that was odd..kind of spooky.

Remember a lot of Europeans at the Face Bar. Overall nice quiet place.
But prefer the Garden Hotel a few streets away.

If you haven't been, I suggest you check out the Urban Planning Exhibition (mini museum) in People's Square. After the aquarium, it is my second favorite tourist attraction in SH. You can learn a lot about things, including the placement of parks, there.

And please do consider booking 1st class even on the fast D (CRH) trains to Nanjing. I've already experienced the first broken seats in 2nd although they've only been running since April, the pax load is that heavy.

You also get to miss the mad scramble to the trains at both ends as 1st pax enter from their dedicated lounge a few minutes before the rest.