Shanghai 2010: City Temple

Yes, it is another random and long-overdue update of my March excursion to Shanghai. I've been putting this off for a while, but I knew at some point, I had to dedicate a post to the City Temple (or ShengHuangMiao) which originally began as a religious place but has since evolved into a tourism/food extravaganza.


City Temple is one of those places that you have to visit at least once when you go to Shanghai (we visit it every time). Unfortunately, like most places, it's slowly losing the genuine "feel" of a cultural center and has over the years become much more commercialized and tourist-trappish. When I first visited 4 years ago, I remember going to a small, humble restaurant to eat the most delicious xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) I have ever tasted in my life. However, this last March, I noticed that the street food and sights no longer seemed so authentic. Still, a lot of the fun remains, so I advise anyone who wishes to visit to go as soon as possible - before it disappears entirely!

Shanghai 2010: World Expo, Nanjing Road, and HuangPu River

Once again, this is a much-delayed continuation of my April trip to China (yes, I know, it's random amidst all the recent food posts)...and although this post isn't about food, I thought it would be nice to put up 3 of the hottest attractions in Shanghai.



Unfortunately, the Expo hadn't opened yet in April, but we got to check out the site beforehand (which might have turned out for the better; I heard the place was literally a zoo the day it opened...a very hot, stuffy, humid one).  It's strange that we haven't heard much of it back in the U.S. but apparently it's a huge deal everywhere else in the world. I think a lot of different countries come to one specific site (it changes every 4 years) to set up an exhibit and show off some of its newest technologies to the public. We posed in front of the red building on the left - it's supposed to represent China. And, needless to say, security was incredible. I don't mean policemen, I mean soldiers. Very angry-looking ones who were probably sick of the numerous tourists peeking in and unintentionally edging over the boundary line in attempts to take better pictures.

Shanghai 2010 - Qibao

I know, this is a little late, but I've been putting off the posts from my trip to China all the way back in April, and I figured I may as well put them up now (at least before school starts and I get too busy). I'm probably going to cut down a lot on because I think with all the pictures I took, it would take forever for me to finish. Or maybe I'll just keep updating...very very slowly.

Anyway, one of the biggest highlights of my stay in Shanghai was our visit to Qibao, a small village on the outskirts of the main city. The place is known best for its nuomi, or glutinous rice products...which are all sinfully delicious and equally sinfully fattening.It's a bittersweet relationship.

We started off with lunch at the main restaurant. The highlight of the meal was a gargantuan bowl of fish head soup, swimming amongst tiny hairy crabs and other types of seafood. The soup was alright, not particularly outstanding, but that's okay - the sight of the giant fish face peeping out sadly over the rim of the soup tureen was memorable enough.

Shanghai 2010 - Lujiazui and BaBaoBan

Today, we went to Lujiazui (downtown Pudong) before stopping at BaBaoBan for lunch - an incredibly fiery mouth-numbing Sichuan meal.



Things haven't changed much since the last time I went there, but then again that was only 2 years ago.

Shanghai 2010: Chongming Island and Hairy Crab stirfried with Rice Cake

Mom bought bus tickets for us to visit Chongming Island, off the coast of Shanghai. It's this tiny little island that has always been more rural than the rest of the city, and my grandfather even worked there for a bit during the Communist Revolution. The good thing is that, although most of the local streets are still underdeveloped, a lot of the countryside has been converted into recreational parks and natural preserves. I thought it was cool how the Chinese government is starting to care more about the face of Mother Nature. My aunt just thinks they're trying to cheat the foreigners of their money.

China 2010: Shanghai Carrefour Bakery

So I know that technically this belongs in the last post, but there's so many pictures of the bakery section that I figured it deserved its very own post. Unlike Western buns, most Chinese breads are steamed, often with interesting fillings or shapes like these. They are called baozi.

China 2010: Carrefour

My parents and I took a trip to China throughout late March and most of April in celebration of my release from undergrad (they always get so frustrated because my school schedule has prevented almost any chance of a family vacation for the past 4 years). We met my mom (who got there earlier) at Shanghai Pudong Airport after 13 hours (and about 4 movies) on the plane. Although it was dinner-time, the jetlag and bad airplane food was enough to kill our appetites, so we just went to the local Carrefour outside our apartment to buy some food for the next day's meals.

Carrefour is a culinary phenomenon that is unfortunately absent from the U.S. HQ-ed in France and known as an hypermarche, it's spread around the world and is pretty much what it sounds like - a supermarket on steroids. It's pretty fun in there if you're a foodie, and if you're not careful, you can even get lost.