china :: shanghai :: general

[mrstacy]

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.

i was in fudan last summer. i'll try to come back here and give you some suggestions when i have time so check back soon!

[LiberationFrequency]

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.

Apologies for the year old reply, not sure if you'll still be reading this.

In Beijing now, haven't really attempted any clothes shopping though I went to check out APC briefly after my current pair's crotch blew out. Ended up getting it fixed for next to nothing and they did a decent job too.

Any Beijing sufuers out there interested in a meet?

(sorry to hijack the Shanghai thread briefly)

Edited May 6, 2012 by LiberationFrequency

[sum418]

Apologies for the year old reply, not sure if you'll still be reading this.

In Beijing now, haven't really attempted any clothes shopping though I went to check out APC briefly after my current pair's crotch blew out. Ended up getting it fixed for next to nothing and they did a decent job too.

Any Beijing sufuers out there interested in a meet?

(sorry to hijack the Shanghai thread briefly)

Been a lurker on sufu for too long. Anyways, I'll be in Shanghai May 22-June 1, then Beijing the week of June 4. Open for a meet / beer!

liberationfrequency, will send you a PM. Anyone else welcome to join/PM. If something actually materializes I can post back here.

[bentobox]

I'll be DJing at Eden on Saturday May 26th. As always, open guest list for all Superfuturians. PM for guest list.

[bentobox]

Eden went off pretty good I guess their promo is still a work in progress but they said it was one of their bigger nights. Hopefully back soon.

Ended up at brunch at the Langham Hotel Xintandi 5th Floor veranda on Sunday. Pretty much all Italians and model bleazies. Buffet was a nice spread. Recommended.

Edited May 28, 2012 by bentobox

[Method]

going to shanghai in 2-3 weeks. I'll probably be staying for at least a month. have't been to shanghai since I was a kid, about 10 or so years ago, so i don't really know what to expect. all i remember was the food was good and cheap, but everything was pretty dirty and seemed shady.

i heard its changed a lot but at the same time I still hear about friends getting mugged and other bs despite being in well off areas. from reading this thread, everything seems to be really mixed. my friends who are there now (the people I'll be staying with) say shopping sucks and most stores mark up prices by 20-30%. they basically said you're either buying super cheap shit, or paying more for things i can get in hk/tokyo/nyc. i might end up hopping on a plane to hk/tokyo/seoul on the weekends just to shop if shanghai doesn't do it for me.

night life recommendations look good. if there are any events let me know, i'm down to see whats out there.

@bentobox are you doing anything in the next month or so?

[undercover73]

Speaking of tailors. Does anyone know a good tailor for alts, making a suit and someone who has a chains stitch machine of denims?

[Phartorialist]

If any girls are reading, there are some boutiques in Shanghai, near Jing'an that sell real designer shit but with the tags cut out at price points that are 75% off retail (based on US retail). Acne dress at like 800 rmb. DVN top for 400 RMB. Prices vary with no real pattern. Last time I checked, there was a sick sick 3.1 top with insane details for 1000, not that wearable but cool. Current season, new stock every other week or so. Probably stolen from the factory lines, but usually will have a range of sizes (with US 6 being the biggest, usually).

Also, Jade Garden for the best Shanghainese food, in my opinion.

[Quiver]

Going to Shanghai in late-Jan to early-Feb with the gf. We want to take a side-trip to somewhere relatively close, cheap and good. Woulda be hella keen for a week in Vietnam, Sichuan or even Lhasa. Any other must-do's or recommendations that I should consider?

[schween]

This is my first post!

So I have been in Shanghai about 5 days now, starting an internship for 1 month with an architecture firm.

So far its been pretty nice, i've done a lot of walking around, the food seems great. Went out once so far to this place called M1NT. Not my thing at all, it was like one of those terrible tacky celebrity clubs that you would see on some reality show based in LA. Horrible music and douchey crowd. Normally back home I would go to places that play either house music or more 90's hip hop. Any advice on some good places to check out?

Also have tried visiting Take 5 twice now. It has been closed both times. Anyone have any idea if it is still open or if its just closed for a short period? There doesn't appear to be any sort of signage out the front advising what is going on. I'd really like to get another pair of jeans, the only ones I bought are pretty faded now and i need something newer I can wear to work. Are there any other japanese selvedge type shops around apart from take 5?

Any other advice on things to check out food/shopping/going out wise would be greatly appreciated!

[undercover73]

Anyone know where you can get denim hemmed with chain stitch machine in Shanghai?

[Warakia]

Take 5 bro, iirc it's something like 60 or 80yuan.

[Phartorialist]

Shelter

[Mr.Sander]

Guys .. i'm just back from Beijing and i'm looking for the same street as the bell tower one with some good shops (on Gulou E Street) any idea?

[Nations]

Bumping this thread. Will be in Shanghai for 3-4 days, any recs for food/drinks? I'm guessing there's no point in shopping since Chinese retail prices are much higher, but any cool shops to check out?

 

Also, where's a good place to see the skyline? The bund (opposite the bund)?

[Quiver]

Gf and I stumbled across bar constellation when we were there two weeks ago, and it was pretty good apart from the clientele that night (tuhao, rich kids, weird old ppl and a salaryman passed out at the counter)...but the staff were great and the owner kin was a top guy. very comprehensive list of drinks. About two hundred whiskies and the cocktails are meant to be pretty good.

Cordurov is definitely worth checking out if you're alone or in a small party. Would recommend if you're after some place peaceful but different in shanghai. Lab looks pretty good for a drink too but didn't get the chance to visit.

Katos kitchen does good jap cuisine, and the yakitori is tops. Can't remember anything else that memorable.

All of the places mentioned are smokers friendly.

Shopping's expensive with the 30% luxury tax. Can't claim that when leaving either. Shops that stood out were ziggy chen and uma wang. Chinese goth ninja labels basically. Heard eth0s is also good for that kinda gear. Gyakusou was also running an exhibition upstairs of the previous collections if ur into that kinda thing.

Three days ain't much so hope u make the most of it.

[Nations]

Thanks, gonna add bar constellation and katos to the list. Already planning on checking out eth0s , I remember they used to be an affiliate at sz.

 

Yeah not gonna be in shanghai long but it's not my first time there so won't be doing any of the usual tourist stuff. Basically have some free time and I'm nearby so popping over for a few days.

[raddy]

Took job at HF here and 99% chance moving to this den of madness in a month. 

 

Anyone got a good real estate / rental agent contact? I've used a few but not really finding cool shit even at bonkers price points. (Beer kickbacks galore)

[emixam]

what is your budget ?

[raddy]

I live here now. Who wants to trade info for beers? 

 

Should I just taobao it to get a hk-version iphone? (REALLY wish I grabbed one in HK before I got here...since I'm stuck another 2 weeks waiting on residence getting raped by AT&T on data till then)

[Warakia]

Why not get one from any electronics market really? You'll pay a bit more, but it's faster than Taobao and less hassle. 

[raddy]

Thanks -- actually a great call. Only like 50$ US more to have it immediately.

 

Why not get one from any electronics market really? You'll pay a bit more, but it's faster than Taobao and less hassle. 

[Warakia]

Anyone got any bar recommendations? Not talking fuerdai chinese ballin' but nicer upscale bars. Gonna be in SH for 10 days and need to entertain some guests for a few nights.  

[raddy]

Heyday -- Kimi rocks. Jazz bar and hardcore cocktail nerdotry. My fav spot in city. If you have group, call ahead and grab a table; it's quite cheap I think. (Especially for value)

Epic -- Down the street a bit from Heyday. Cross is super awesome. Again, hardcore cocktails. 

 

Another pretty decent bar very close to those two is Bar No 9. (All 3 are within a few blocks)

 

Union Trading (UTC). I go there a fair amount as it's down the street from me. It's a bit too hypehype but solid. Again, cocktails but less avant garde. 

 

Bar @ Commune Social is solid. Not at same level as above spots in terms of overall drink program probably but food menu is AWESOME and a few of the drinks are worth liver damage.

 

All the Japanese chain bars are zzz. Papaya >> Constellation *. But, the vibe at all these places will make you insta-suicide.

 

Flask is zzz. El cocitel, zzz. El ocho I want to like more than I do. Great space, ambitious drink program, kind of constantly underwhelming.

 

If you're looking for beer, I don't really know; I always hit Boxing Cat or Liquid Laundry and both are plenty sufficient for me but I'd rather have an Ebisu than all the crap I drink here. Dogtown up next to Sumerian has good rotating taps. 

 

Avoid all Dr *s.

 

Yongkang lu is crap version of LKF with similar but more downmarket food/bev options + crowd. Still, can be quite fun. ^^

[mydenvermax]

Anyone got any bar recommendations? Not talking fuerdai chinese ballin' but nicer upscale bars. Gonna be in SH for 10 days and need to entertain some guests for a few nights.

I like Lab on Wuding St. An upscale whiskey bar opened by a Taiwanese. Good selection, creative Japanese whiskey-based cocktails, pretty nice space.

[King Tut]

ni hao is anybody in shanghai? 

[CHINESEGOLD]

wo ai ni

[Warakia]

你好ä¼

[King Tut]

add me on wechat :cookingdance         if u want to eat lamb skewers  

[Warakia]

Anyone still kicking it in SH that's up to date on new good stuff? Restaurants, bars, cool hangouts..