Mooncake Festival Weekend

So last weekend was a three day weekend due to the Mid-Autumn aka Mooncake Festival. I didn't buy the other mooncake flavours I mentioned in my last post but I was very happy with sharing the ones I already I have. I don't think any modern flavours as much as durian flavoured mooncakes which sadly I have not seen available here! The festival celebrates the day the moon is at its brightest and is a time to share and eat mooncakes which are pastries with sweet fillings, traditionally egg yolk or azuyki red beans, with family and loved ones by the moonlight and is related to the legend of the goddess Chang E, the mythical moon goddess of immortality.

Sheshan

Aside from attending the party and fashion show which you can read about in a separate post, this past weekend I went out to a suburb of Shanghai called Sheshan. I was surprised how different it is to the main city with so many trees and greenery and it was so quiet and peaceful. I guess because it was a holiday weekend, there were families who had driven out there with little tents set up by a river opposite the sculpture park  having picnics, fishing and kite-flying, with all the little kids playing or riding their bikes and people were just relaxing in the sun. It kind of made me miss my time camping in America.

I haven't mentioned about it much but I have to say that the nightlife here is amazing. You have everything you can want from every type of bar and club to cater to whatever mood or budget you are on. There is so much to choose form but for now, I just wanted to mention a few places in particular for the fantastic views of The Bund/Lujiazui skyline which I went to this weekend. An upscale club called Zeal which is a new kid on the block on The Bund club scene has a great view of Pudong and the Pearl Tower from the terrace and across the other side of the river the Vue bar @ the Hyatt which probably has the best views of the skyline in Shanghai from its rooftop terrace as you can take in both sides of the river from certain vantage points. Vue does really good frozen margharitas too.

Shanghai Skyline

Also I have finally tried some street food. There is a guy close to my apartment who cooks on his stall where basically you pick which meat and vegetables on wooden skewer sticks you want and while he grills the food you can pop in the DVD store next to his stall for a while. I really like the spicy slightly sweet pork and the long mushrooms he makes they are so delicious and very cheap. In other dining experiences, I have returned to old favourites Southern Barbarian and Din Tai Fung but have also had a more upscale yunnan folk dining experience at Lost Heaven on The Bund. The food was really good and the candle lit traditionally themed setting in the restaurant that over looks pudong river was perfect. I think yunnan is fast becoming one of my favourite Chinese cuisines. The food is very varied and includes a mix of ingredients including goats cheese, potatoes and curries and is very hearty and filling. I especially love yunnan style noodles.

As I mentioned visiting outside of the city reminded me of my time in America at the start of my journey and when I think of all the experiences I have had in the last few months collectively it is staggering.  It prompted me to reflect on my time here in Shanghai and how many things I have gotten to do, see and experience. I feel it is almost like a hyper-reality when I think back to how alien I found everything when I first arrived and how in such a short space of time I have come used to things and getting to know different areas and places. I think I have come a long way.
xoxo

Wish You Were Shanghere!

I am still loving it here in Shanghai. I don't think i have as much of a  'wow' factor to going about my daily business now as I feel I have got used to everything and just can't believe I have been here nearly 2 months now which seems crazy as in many ways in seems much longer. I really like the nightlife, food and social side but there are the little things I miss about home. I have been thinking though in terms of metro travel, I tend to get quite aggressive here and that is probably a trait I do not want to bring back! The rush hour here is something else! Anyone who has heard my train/London tube stories/rants knows how I feel about this subject. You want to survive, you basically have to storm that subway train like it's a battle!!!

Alchemist cocktails

I am pleased to report the weather here, at least in the evening to mid afternoon has cooled some what and it is quite pleasant especially in the evenings. Last night I visited a very nice gastro-cocktail bar, The Alchemist at Sinan Mansions in the French Concession and had a sweet coffee/orange/rum concoction called Return of The Jolly Roger and it was so nice to sit outside and relax on the sofas without the humidity.

Karaoke room

As mentioned before this weekend I went out, had a few drinks (maybe more than a few) and went to Haoledi KTV karaoke which was a good experience - very different from pub karaoke.  It was also my first time rapping at karaoke which is much harder than imagined (especially after the few drinks) and the fact you are room where you are able to control all the settings on the machine kind of clues you in to how bad (or so bad you are actually good for entertainment value?) you sound. We sang (and drank) a lot - we got there at 1am and could have sang until 6am in the morning if we so desired.

I have tried manchurian dongbei food at Dong Bei Ren, a place near my apartment which included eggplant and potato (I really like this dish but the place near my work does it better!) potato and beef stew, wraps with spicy meat and vegetable, sweet and sour chicken and vegetable and meat dumplings and it was very nice and different. Lots of potatoes it seems.

yunnan delights

Also as mentioned in my last post I went and I ate lots of food at Southern Barbarian including goats cheese, grandma's mashed potato, chilli and beef, chicken, vegetables and other chilli-infused dishes I cannot remember but they were all so good! And also yunnan hot pot street noodles which exceeded the one I ate previously. i was very satisfied by the meal and recommend a visit to this kind of tucked away restaurant to anyone. They also stock a wide range of beers on the menu including imported beer. Best yunnan restaurant in Shanghai.

I have also had other asian cuisines including korean barbecue which was different (I really like kimchi) and a thai meal at Coconut Paradise, which has a really nice tranquil atmosphere as you dine in a garden with towering bamboo plants, glowing candles and buddha statues. The food was pretty good but not as hot as I would have liked. My favourite place I have been to this week is Shoga, which is a modern Japanese restaurant just off Huai hai Lu with a great happy hour ( 10 kuai = about £1 for draught Asahi beer, 25 kuai = £2.50 selected cocktails) which had lots of really tasty delicious Japanese treats including pork and mayonnaise sushi rolls, tempura, chicken wings, chicken and chilli, shrimp rolls and much more.

This Monday is a public holiday because of the Mooncake Festival celebrations. I have already bought some red bean paste novelty Hello Kitty Mooncakes from Breadtalk but I want to get some more non-traditional flavours to try so will do that over the weekend and include more info in my next post.

XOXO

M50 and Taikang Lu

M50

This past weekend I went to the M50 art district which is basically a former industrial complex packed with galleries, studios and design boutiques. I am happy that I did get to see the famous graffiti wall which is still in tact for now before it is all taken down. What draws me to graffiti and street art is general is that the form is organic, not dictated by markets, the medium has emphasis on taking away visual control of public spaces from corporations and usually the messages are politically charged or indicative of a mood in an environment in a certain place or time. However here the graffiti scene is emergent and more about creating and establishing something cool, modern and relevant and I was very impressed by the variety of styles and breadth of the tags and designs which includes murals bidding farewell to Moganshan Lu.

M50

I have also sadly learnt that the entire industrial complex of M50 galleries will be torn down as well as the wall to make way for redevelopment so I feel really lucky to have been able to see this area and creative space before that happens. It will remain one of my favourite places in Shanghai even when it is long gone.

I attended 3 different openings and as well as enjoying the lovely receptions laid on for those exhibits I got to cram a lot of gallery visits in to one day and see a variety of works.  My current favourites are 'Everyday Frenzies' by the (Island 6) Liu Dao art collective which included LED light installations all made on site in the studio showing a modern more explicit urban environment twist on the traditional shan shui cliffs and rivers of Chinese landscape painting; the group work I saw at the opening of 'Kawaii' featuring cute kitsch quirky modern japanese painting, sculptures, photography and mixed media and really haunting monochrome prints by Feng Fangyu. But my absolute current favourite exhibition is 'Abstract Marks of City' by photographer Guan Yiming. I find his style quite similar to Robert Frank's 'The Americans' - his photography really captures the essence of disparate groups of people representative of modern Shanghai as well as those characters representative of the older generation.

There is a little cafe in the creative garden called Bandu that serves very cheap chinese snack dishes and I had noodles, toasted peanut sandwich and iced coffee all for the cost of about £4 while I took a break from walking round the galleries. The cafe is also a music shop and sells local CDs and sometimes has Chinese band jamming sessions in the evenings which get pretty crowded.

Taikang Lu shop

I also went to Taikang Road which is another place which has a lot of galleries and boutiques with random stuff. You want to buy tourist niknaks with Mao's face on, propaganda posters, ladies of old shanghai postcards, mulitcoloured chopsticks, apparel with scenes of the city or 'I love Shanghai' bits and bobs then this is your place. You can also find here 'create your own baby' munny dolls, phones shaped as drink cans, coffee holders shaped as camera lenses, crazy animal key rings with flashing eyes, angry birds toys and Princess Diana playing cards to name a few of the weird and wonderful stuff you can browse. There are also some cool tee-shirt design shops and photo print shops.

teppenyaki time

I had one of the best meals this week at a teppenyaki place called Kagen. It was all you can eat and drink on beers and saki and the food is cooked to perfection right in front of you, it is heaven. I would highly recommend any visitor to Shanghai to visit this place if you are going to have teppenyaki. I have also tried at local places Xinjiang chilli cold sesame noodles which were surprisingly tasty and filling and also cold sesame noodles, eggplant, bell peppers and potato, egg fried rice, vegetables and tofu and stir-fired garlic and broccoli at another local place which was also very nice. Tonight I am going to be going to Southern Barbarian in the French Concession which specialises in homestyle yunnan food I have heard good things about.

I'm also very much looking forward to karaoke this weekend. I have already done some unofficial karaoke on stage at our local bar but this will be my first proper Chinese karaoke experience so should be lots of fun!

xoxo