Gary Soup

For starters, here's a good link for finding a hotel at a good price. You can book through it if you like. Shanghai Hotels I don't know that much about the hotels, since I haven't had to deal with them in recent years (we have an apartment in Shanghai) but you can pretty much go by the stars. A three-star would be about the equivalent of a run-of-the-mill Holiday Inn; some rankings might be a little inflated at the high end. The Peace Hotel (North Building) and the Jinjiang Hotel (not the tower) are very historic and charming, and may not have the level of amenities of the more modern places. If you are going to do some strolling, I'd suggest Nanjing Lu (East or West) or People's Square area. I would avoid Pudong, just too inconvenient. I'll get back to you with more info on foods and restaurants. Egg cream????

I'll wait until after the Presidential election. The Florida citrus growers may have less "juice" in Washington come next January.

I don't think it is (though it certainly could be cultivated here). But that's not really the point. What's being banned is the importation of the harvested, dried buds, which travel from importer to retailer to end user to the wok. Where's the mechanism for infecting live citrus stock, of which we have plenty in California?

Invoking Katherine Harris's name is likely to drive more of us to Carlovski's side. I think the point being made here is that no link has been established between Sichuan peppercorn and citrus canker. We've got a whole lot more loose Sichuan Peppercorns rolling around here in CA than in Florida, yet no citrus canker epidemics.

And pronounced PEEdro, as I recall. I don't remember much Italian stuff there, but there was a nice little pupuseria in the downtown.

At this moment I can hear moms who want their infants to grow up to be chefs saying: "Go ahead, play with your food, dear." But I can't forget Julia Child's comment about Nouvelle Cuisine: "You can tell somebdy's fingers have been all over it."

slate.com has an amusing piece about "Foaming Chefs" posted. It makes the interesting point that Ferran Adria and his imitators, now matter how fresh and natural the raw ingredients they start out with, are turning out products that are more highly processed and refined than the mass market products we all like to decry. Are high-end restaurants selling the spritz instead of the soda? Is there an increasing disconnect between "fine dining" and quality eating? Where will this trend go?

Well, this is the information age, after all. Browsing in Eastwind Books and Arts (SF) today I spotted an instructional Video CD which purports to teach dumpling making skills step by step. I didn't buy it, but traced its origin to Foreign Language Press in Beijing, via China Books and Periodicals in SF. It has both Mandarin and English sound tracks, and should be playable in most DVD players of recent vintage (some of the early models didn't support VCD format). Chinese Dumplings

Jon, the pic is a link to an image on Ditty Deamer's Breakfast in China website. She's spent quite a bit of time in both BJ and Shanghai investigating street foods so I'm guessing that she didn't find it totally improbable that such a thing could be represented as xiaolong bao. The picture you refer to is of the leading contenders in my "ugly xiaolong bao" contest. Second place is currently held by the beauties below: First Runner Up -- Ugly Xiaolong Bao Competition

Remember, we're talking about Japan here.

Xiao Cheng, I couldn't resist tweaking you for your intital attitude, and it's all in jest. In any event, I'm well aware of Shanghai-bashing, which seems to be a national sport in China outside of Shanghai. IMHO, it's a combination of envy and intimidation by the "front" that Shanghainese tend to put up. I currently only get to Shanghai once every year or two and for three to four weeks at a time. That will change soon, depending on when the stock market decides I can retire. When we are there, we travel on my wife's idea of a budget, which means we seldom have a meal that would put a dent in your expense account report. When we are in the Nanjing Lu area at lunch or dinner time, we usually head for Yunnan Lu and indulge in stuff like Xiao Shaoxing, Paigu Niangao and other "xiao chi" (that's something like small plates, for those who want to know). Last time around we did get to Lao Banzhai on Fouzhou Lu for one of our "high end" meals (maybe $30 for three people) and it was still living up to its reputation as one of the best old-line places. Sad to say, our favorite place in the Huaihai Zhong Lu area (and favorite in all of Shanghai for family gatherings) has bit the dust, a victim of progress. That was "Yue You" on Fenyang Lu, now replaced by an ultra-trenty, ultra-pricey Japonais venue called "Aroma" (another dreaded one-word restaurant name). Not being a swinging single I've never been to a bar in Shanghai, but I do down more of my fair share of the palindromatic Reeb Beer with dinner and sometimes before and after. That's my beer recommendation, if Eddie is listening. Get the Gold (second from the left). REEB BEER

There's some perception shining through chengb02's unreconstructed Beijinger outlook, especially with regard to the Shanghai Ren Jia chain and the street food. I don't know if you're going to be looking for Sichuan food in Shanghai, but Shanghainese have palates sophisticated enough to know that there's a lot more complexity to Sichuan food than high heat (which can easily be used to mask lousy food). You'll find, for example, that they make a lot of use of "Yu Xiang" treatments in their own foods. A knowledgeable source tells me that the best Sichuan cuisine may actually be at a restaurant in the the Hilton, and another one suggests a place called the Shanghai Rose Queen in the Xujiahui area. The Dome (aka Ashanti Dome) might be for another time, as it's French and pricey. As a general rule, I tend to flee from restaurants with one-word names, but a restaurant called "Grape", next door to another Russian Orthodox church (you can't miss it, the dome looks like a giant blue onion) is not a bad option. It's beloved of locals and foodie expats alike, and cheap. It's also the only place I've seen dog on an English menu, though I'm told it's very well-prepared dog. I'll come up with more strateries and locational specifics later, once I have some sense of your parameters. It'll be great if this becomes a rich, undying thread!

Ah, but you are now a dongbeiren (from Northeast North America).

The name of the landmark xiaolong bao place is actually "Nanxiang Xiaolong Mantou Dian", and it's located in the Yuyuan classical garden area of the Old City, which is undoubtedly the No. 1 tourist magnet in Shanghai. I've always had local help (now family help) since I first started going to Shanghai in 1992, and have mostly stuck with the old-line places, local cheapo favorites and street foods, and am not too familiar with the newer, more accessible (in terms of English-speakers) that expats and travelers get to, though I can point to some of the literature and on-line resources. How long will be there, and where will you be staying? What sort of help will you have from travelling companions or local contacts in terms of communicating and navigating? I know you have been involved with Chinese restaurants; can you speak Mandarin? Read a simplified Chinese menu? It will be helpful to know these things. I'll put together some resources and collect some thoughts for you, and maybe arrange a little help over there if need be.

LOL, I'm a nice guy, so I won't tell you what my sister-in-law says about Beijing except that it ends with ".....BUT the people there are very friendly." I love Shanghai and plan to spend half my life there after retiring (we already have a comfortable apartment in SH). You are right about the XLB at the Nanxiang Dumpling shop. The last time I was in town I waited a full HOUR with "the masses" at the downstairs takeout window for a single long of baozi. Not a single one of the locals in the line appeared to be grumbling about the wait, such is the anticipation of those xiaolong bao. They're still the standard all other XLB should be judged against. Here's what passes for Xiaolong Bao in Beijing: BEIJING XIAOLONG BAO .... and at Yuyuan in Shanghai: SHANGHAI XIAOLONG BAO

Thanks Fuschia. I agree that there is a lot of confusion in the naming, and without a good photo it's hard to tell what someone is trying to describe. My wife shops with her eyes, and when I ask her what something is called, what she tells me may be totally different from what someone from a different part of China would call it. I think what you are talking about often appears on menus as "garlic shoots" in the US and has a mild garlicky flavor, not nearly as pungent as jiu cai. Can you weigh in on the Sichuan peppercorn issue? They're definitely NOT readily available in the US these days because of the ban. What's the best substitute, the legally imported roasted and ground stuff?

I think it's ridiculous. It would become a magnet for abuse and politicization. Many of the "offenses" are really ticky-tacky. Next thing you know, they'll be denying my wife her Constitutional right to clean her chopstick with the tea before dining. The SF Department of Public Health's Violations Database is already a matter of public record, and you can check on any restaurant you wish at the link below. SFDPH Food Violations Database

When I was working in Hong Kong, I often went to lunch with a Canadian Chinese who could speak Cantonese quite well but could not read Chinese, even a menu, and a Shanghainese who could speak no Cantonese. The Shanghainese guy would translate the menu to English, we'd decide what we wanted, and the Canadian would order in Cantonese.

It's very good stir-fried with cucumber or Chinese Lettuce (Celtuce). Steam or parboil and slice on the bias first, as you suggested.

Jo-Mel, I have no problem with "Tang Yuan". It's the Mandarin for the characters pronounced "tee doi" in Taishan dialect that I'm trying to figure out.

Thanks, guys. It's good to know that not all "lo wah kius" don't evolve into bananas (at least not in Canada). Now for Part 2: Do either of you happen to know the literal Mandarin (in PinYin) or can you display the (embedded) characters so I can look it up? With all the dialects and transcription schemes the only way I can compile and remember this stuff is hooking it into Guoyu.

You're probably talking about Flushing. You ought to make a pilgramage there just to check out the eats. On my last trip to NY to visit my daughter I made a special trip to Flushing just for some good chou doufu and other goodies at a Taiwanese place. I wish I had known about the goubuli place. A now-defunct restaurant in San Francisco, Ryumon, used to serve goubuli as part of its dim sum offerings. I don't know if it was good goubuli or not, as it is the only place I've ever had it, but it was plenty tasty. The restaurant seemed to have a loyal clientele of northern Chinese, and was said to be a favorite hangout for Japanese consular staff. Across the Bay, there's a restaurant called "Goubuli", but they only make and serve their namesake dish one day a week, and I have yet to try it.

Could be that, though "free range" doesn't mean a whole lot as it's defined by the USDA. Could also be related to diet, but I suspect that it's because they aren't bred to be all breast. I read a report that they switched from white meat to dark meat in a chicken patty sandwich KFC sells over there and though they got some complaints from expats, the overall sales doubled. They favor a chicken variety in China known in Shanghai as a PuDong Chicken, and elsewhere as a Shanghai Chicken. In the U.S. the closest variety is called a "Buff Cochin" chicken, I think. It's sometimes sold (at a premium) in Asian markets in the U.S. as "huang mao" chicken, though usually the feathers are more reddish brown or buff with yellow highlights. The "Old Shanghai Rooster" of Sweet Betsy from Pike fame was undoubtedly of this family. Shanghai chickens already had fame in the U.S. in the mid-19th Century as great eaters and poor fighters. It's my theory that they gave rise to the slang phrase "yellow" or "yellow chicken" for cowardly. De Shanghai Chicken

It's almost unheard of in California, too.

Yes, first (1987) and still biggest Western franchise -- 1,000 outlets and counting, almost 2:1 over McD's. Every province except Tibet, and they're working on that (difficult logistics is tha only thing that's held them back). I ate at the first Shanghai francise in 1992 (the back door led to People's Park!). Now there's one on every corner, seemingly. They started out with the traditional set dinner but subsequently dropped the mashed potatoes and cole slaw for French fries and local veggies. The KFC chicken in China tastes much better than here in the US, IMHO, probably because of the local chickens. And BTW, Yum/Tri-con has over 100 Pizza Huts in China now, and exactly one (1) Taco Bell.