china :: shanghai :: general

[subarashii_kudamono]

it's been so long since i've posted, i'm in beijing now and coming to Shanghai for 5 days to check out the biennale amongst other things. is anyone there right now?

[bibipuerk]

Someone knows where to find some clarks desert boots in shanghai?thanks

[CDDH]

Hi guys

First of all, like to thank you guys for sharing in this wonderful thread - it's been really informative for my upcoming trip to Shanghai (late March)

The food & shopping details so far, in this thread, has been really good but I need some advice for hotels. Looking for one that has good location, reasonable and affordable pricing and most importantly clean rooms. I don't need anything fancy and stuff just a practical hotel for the night's sleep.

CHEERS

[tm]

Anybody in SH right now ?

[azn8oi]

I fuckin wish dude.

[jimtje]

I will be within the next 12 days. I am aan den rijn btw, My school closed my email when I graduated and I couldn't recover my pass after a hard drive crash while on a lot of opiates, but email me at [email protected] or just reply here and we'll figure something out. I'm bringing a friend (bewildered Portuguese-American old old friend of mine who has never been out of the country so it will be fun). My flight leaves in 3 hours to PVG but I live in Suzhou. Keep in touch. Also, please tell me what the bar scene is like, we're both notorious drinkers.

[tm]

I'll be there this weekend anybody got the connect for herbs ? PM me lol

[aan den rijn]

Ah, my pass is actually my tFS pass, anyway,

Herbs in SH, great hash, but you have to be ballsy and ask. A lot easier if you're not ethnically Chinese and have some US dollars to spend. By great I mean SERIOUSLY GREAT. I talked up a girl at Bar Rouge in 2007 who gave a sketchy business card and ended up with a quarter that I brought back to San Diego and don't remember much of the next three days.

Anyway, I'm in SH all day on the 3rd if anyone wants to come shop/go for drinks. I have to get back to Suzhou for drinks at 11PM though, but if you want to tag along to Suzhou, I have an extra couch.

[aan den rijn]

So i've decided to move to China once i'm through with university (2012) to teach English and I think Shanghai/Beijing are my best options.

Can anybody offer any advice for someone who has never been to China?

From the thread it seems that Beijing may be the preferred option for someone in my situation due to the cultural differences and the westernisation of Shanghai. I should mention that my goal is to reach a level of speaking as close to fluency as I can in the space of 1-2 years.

As well as optimum learning conditions i'm obviously looking for a place with a decent nightlife, good food and all that.

I'm also 6'6''. Clothes won't be impossible to cop in my size, right? haha

Hope you'll still be reading this

Bring something that'll help your digestion. My stomach got fucked by years of Bourbon and shit food and all sorts of crazy pharmaceuticals (most of them legal and prescribed - I have an anti-seizure med that causes seizures, ffs) Seriously, people will take you out to dinner. In fact, I've been here 5 days on this trip, 4 dinners, 3 lunches, my fridge is full of leftovers, and it is just absolutely crazy. I'm on a regular regimen of Pepto-Bismal and Folic Acid and also since I have weak lungs from being in an accident, coma, and ventilator for 2 weeks, I also have to Cipro the fuck out of my lungs and once a week I have to go in to breath pure oxygen or I just simply can't handle the air here, but that's kind of a unique case.

I'm here 3 months out of the year, mostly for real estate and investments (I'm a Masters/Doctorate student in London in the fall and I otherwise split my time in San Diego, Boston, and Los Angeles) and I spent my time in the states losing weight so I can have some room to maneuver in in China.

The thing about Shanghai or even Suzhou (where I live, own apartments, and do my evil underhanded shady dealings and whatnot) is that there are so many fucking dialects spoken all over - I'm fluent in Mandarin, Shanghainese, Suzhounese, Changshunese, Chinese Pidgin Shanghainese (sorta, it's dead, but that was my thesis topic), and I still get stumped. You throw in English in the mix, and a bit of Quebecois/French on my side, and it's a potpurri of fucked up languages. Beijing, you can get by with Mandarin and English. Shanghai, you can get by, obviously, but you'll be missing out on a lot if you don't learn some of the "dialects" - they're further apart from each other than Danish/Norwegian/Swedish or even Frisian/English in some cases. Fluency in a few years? Forget it. I took 4 serious years and really, a good part of my life (at least 7 or 8 years if you add it up) to learn three related dialects and now I can only do it with a heavy accent and can't handle some of the weirder jokes they do, and I took 2 years to research the pidgin, not even to speak it or anything. In contrast, I got the gist of Quebecois and can converse in French without much trouble except for my Quebecois accent in 4.5 years.

My friends in the states all want t-shirts and the largest ones here fit my friend who's 6'3" and 190 barely. Good luck.

[aan den rijn]

Checked out Aegis and then went barhopping the other day. Girl gave wrong directions. Interesting collection of Moleskin and finally, a place overseas that celebrates Cinco de Mayo. My friend got a lot of free drinks around Hengshan Lu.

[Nortrom]

I'll be traveling to Shanghai in a couple of days for a summer internship and I'm looking to get a couple of good quality suits and shirts made here.

I'm going for a very slim and modern look, so does anyone have experience or recommendations on where I should go?

Thanks.

[mydenvermax]

Where to find spanish-language films on DVD? knockoffs or legit are fine

[nlim3482]

anyone going to be in Shanghai in December? I'll be there for a week by myself, wouldn't mind meeting up with peeps

[suprastar]

i'll be there from 4th of jan to about 13th.. any party peeps?

[bxbxbx]

Where to find spanish-language films on DVD? knockoffs or legit are fine

Check with the bicycle vendor who posts up on Da Gu Lu (off Cheng Du Lu) on nice days. That guy has a huge selection of foreign films. Worse come to worse, check Taobao.com and have a friend pick em up for you.

[undercover73]

Im going to be in Beijing and Shanghai from the second week of december untill into january. Anyone recomend a good place or area to stay in? Any other advice would be welcome as i have no real idea what to expect. Not sure which city would be the best place to spend the NY.

[Nick Halden]

Anyone in Shanghai between dec till feb? wanna have a meet up?

[tm]

There for Chinese new year in jan

(null)

[undercover73]

Arrived in Shanghai a few days ago. Anyone know any street ware stores or good shops in general? So far ive only found high end boring European designers or sportswear. Anywhere selling Visvim etc?

[suprastar]

interested to know too.. probably check out the I.T. stores?

[undercover73]

Thanks, where are they?

[suprastar]

IT Plaza 66

Shop 328, 3/F, Plaza 66, No 1266 West Nanjing Rd, Jing'an District

Tel: 86-21-6288-4270

IT Xintiandi

Unit 01, 2/F, No.7 Xintiandi Lan 123 Xingye Rd, Luwan District

TelL 86 21 6336 5131

[suprastar]

how's the partying over there mate? looking forward to checking out a club called babyface in a few weeks time when i land.

my good mate has been over there for a few months now studying at an international school, and the guy has been ripping it up nearly every night. told me to bring my A game..

good thing the guy im going with (who isn't big on shopping) booked us into Raddisson Blu in Nanjing Rd West. From the info in this thread, that is a good central location to base ourselves?

[tm]

how's the partying over there mate? looking forward to checking out a club called babyface in a few weeks time when i land.

my good mate has been over there for a few months now studying at an international school, and the guy has been ripping it up nearly every night. told me to bring my A game..

good thing the guy im going with (who isn't big on shopping) booked us into Raddisson Blu in Nanjing Rd West. From the info in this thread, that is a good central location to base ourselves?

pretty good location id say........im not sure if youve been to parties in HK but SH is mos def. better

i went to Muse/m2 or something and it was pretty good.

[emixam]

Here arethe most popular places to party :

Muse1 and Muse2

Bar Rouge

Mint

The Apartment

The Shelter

Lola

88 Bar

Other than that Shanghai sucks for shopping

[gie]

going to fudan university for the semester, and wondering if anyone has any tips for living in the wangpu area. most things I've read focus only on pudong/puxi/french concession, and I'd like to know what's local too.

and any must-see shops while I'm in sh? style is mostly classic, but I'm open to anything.

[jilla82]

and fuck a herb expedition, the herb comes to you. those muslim-chinese dudes manning the charcoal bbq carts know what's up

Where are these fellows you speak of? I'm leaving shanghai in a few hours, but will be back in a few weeks.

Is it pretty easy to get away with smoking here?

[unioz]

just go on yongfu lu near fuxing lu around the weekend at night and wait for someone to push a bag of weed under your nose

pretty easy to get away with smoking in public. had no problems smoking at laidback bars/clubs and inside taxis

[jilla82]

What are avg China prices for green?

I'm in Dali now and from I read I should have been offered some by now (I haven't)...thinking of asking one of these white dread heads I see in certain bars for the hookup.

[unioz]

500 yuan for a 25 grams of sticks, stems, seeds, leaves and a bit of bud in shanghai