Dan Washburn in his neighborhood, Hua Ye Xiao Qu. Dan will answer questions about Shanghai on Tuesday, July 11, at BudgetTravelOnline.com My Shanghai Is Better ThanYours Four years ago, Dan Washburn dropped everything, moving from suburban Georgia to China’s most dynamic city. As the editor of Shanghaiist.com, he’s since learned far more about Shanghai than we ever could hope to, so we’ve invited him to tell us the best places to eat, shop, and play. Photographs by Ryan Pyle I ARRIVED IN SHANGHAI BY ACCIDENT, REALLY. I had a decent that Shanghai is certainly never boring. The city is constantly gig at a small newspaper outside Atlanta—they paid me to try changing, always reinventing itself. The relentless pace of the a new activity each week (bull riding, skydiving, nude water place is addictive. I have fallen in love with Shanghai (and no, volleyball...) and write about my experiences. Not bad. Of course, that’s not hyperbole). I also had to cover high school tennis, but there are always trade- I had a personal website before I moved to Shanghai, so I kept offs in life. Nearly four years into my Georgia stay, with another it going once I got here. Hard to believe now, but back in 2002, high school sports season on the horizon, I suddenly decided I there was a dearth online of English-language information about needed to make a change. I didn’t know what, and I didn’t know the city. My blog, Shanghaidiaries.com, quickly attracted a dedi- where. I just knew I wanted something…different. cated readership. Last summer, I launched Shanghaiist.com, a An e-mail here, a contact there, and faster than you can say blog that has since become one of the most popular English- “career suicide,” I had signed a one-year contract to teach English language websites about Shanghai. at a place called Shanghai University. Different, indeed. It’s kind of funny: Four years ago I was the guy asking all the Four years later, my teaching days far behind me, I’m still in questions, and now I’m the one other people look to for answers. Shanghai. And I have no plans to leave. I receive e-mail after e-mail from people the world over wanting Western journalists have taken to calling Shanghai “the most to know about Shanghai, Shanghai, Shanghai. I respond to most exciting city on Earth,” and while I generally think anyone who of them, too. Think of the following 3,000 words as a giant mass writes such hyperbolic swill should be fired on the spot, it’s true e-mail about the city that I happily call home. July/August 2006 Budget Travel 67 Chun 124 Jinxian Lu, near Maoming Lu, 011- 86/21-6256-0301, $15 (prices listed are for two) Jesse 41 Tianping Lu, near Huaihai Zhong Lu, 011-86/21-6282-9260, $30 Bao Luo 271 Fumin Lu, near Changle Lu, 011- 86/21-5403-7239, $18 Ye Olde Station 201 Caoxi Bei Lu, 011-86/ 21-6427-2233, $40 Nanxiang Mantou Dian Inside Yu Yuan, 5 Yu Yuan Lu, 011-86/21- 6355-4206, $2–$30 Din Tai Fung Xingye Lu, near Madang Lu, South Block Xintiandi, Lane 123, House 6-7, 2nd Fl., 011-86/21-6385-8378, $35 Yang’s Fry-Dumpling Wujiang Lu, south of Shimen Yi Lu metro station, $2 Da Qing Hua 466 Changde Lu, by Xinzha Lu, 011-86/21-6289- 9999, $16 Shu Di La Zi Yu Guan 187 Anfu Lu, near Wulu- muqi Zhong Lu, 011- 86/21-5403-7684, $12 Guyi 89 Fumin Lu, 011- 86/21-6249-5628, $20 Dolar Shop 1728 Nan- jing Xi Lu, Bailemen Hotel, floors 20–21, 011- 86/21-6249-7188, $20 Afanti Tianshan Hotel, 775 Quyang Lu, 011- 86/21-6555-9604, $12 Vegetarian Lifestyle 258 Fengxian Lu, near Jiangning Lu, 011-86/ 21-6215-7566, $15 Crystal Jade Xingye Lu, near Madang Lu, South Block Xintiandi, Lane 123, House 6-7, 2nd Fl., 011-86/21-6385-8752, $25 Charmant 1414 Huai- hai Zhong Lu, near Fuxing Xi Lu, 011-86/ 21-6431-8107, $15 Xing Xing Shaanxi Bei Lu, Lane 193, No. 60, near Nanjing Xi Lu, 011- 86/21-6272-5821, $3 BudgetTravelOnline.com up quite nicely.) Slightly more sophisti- cated, Guyi , a Hunan restaurant in Jing’an, can make you breathe fire. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve had there, espe- 2 10 13 cially the pork ribs with cumin. Personally, I had always identified with that line from Lost in Translation: “What kind 1 15 6 of restaurant makes you cook your own food?” Oddly named Dolar Shop, however, You probably aren’t visiting Shanghai for tou Dian , in the 11 7 8 recently converted me to hot pot. You sit Eatits hamburgers—which are getting a lot kitsch capital of Old before an individual pot bubbling with better, by the way—so I’m focusing on City, Yu Yuan. Nan- 9 5 3 broth. Toss in meats and vegetables, wait a Chinese restaurants. Whittling my list xiang is famous, couple minutes, and enjoy. Nice view, too. down was no easy task; Shanghai is a and recognizable by 14 4 12 Speaking of fun, Afanti serves Xinjiang great city for anyone who loves to eat. the long take-out when you reach food, which is more Middle East than Far Shanghainese cuisine gets a bad rap: line (pay more to a number in the text, East, in a raucous atmosphere well worth too oily, some say, or too sweet. But when get a seat upstairs). locate it on the grid. the 25-minute cab ride to Hongkou Dis- prepared correctly, it can be delicious. Gourmands grum- A photo of the place trict. Stuff yourself with roast mutton and (You’ll hear that word a lot: It’s one of the ble about a decline will be in the corre- Xinjiang Black Beer, and enjoy the belly sponding spot on first English words students here learn.) in quality at Nan- dancers. I’ve been to Xinjiang, in the west, the opposite page. On a small, dark street in Luwan Dis- xiang, preferring the and Afanti rings true, down to the clientele. trict, Chun (“Spring” in Chinese) serves Taiwanese chain Din Tai Fung in Luwan’s After Afanti, a time-out from meat will the best home-style Shanghainese food in Xintiandi development, despite a sterile be in order. My fiancée, a vegetarian, thinks town. Reservations are essential, as Chun atmosphere and higher prices. Vegetarian Lifestyle is the best place in has just four tables. Simply ask the owner The xiaolongbao’s fried cousin is shengjian town. Drinks include a variety of juices and what she recommends. If you don’t speak mantou, which is worth the wait at Yang’s teas, but no alcohol, and it’s one of the only Chinese, have your hotel concierge write Fry-Dumpling . While we’re on the sub- nonsmoking establishments in China. “please feed us well” on a piece of paper. ject of dumplings, I could live on jiaozi, Dim sum is a breakfast and lunch tradi- You’ll be taken care of. minced meat and/or veggies in ravioli- tion here, so get to Xintiandi’s Crystal There are a dozen more tables and an esque skins. They’re boiled, steamed, or Jade early. I’m a big fan of the Sichuan English menu at Jesse in Xuhui District, fried and served with an addictive soy- dan dan noodles—so what if they’re not but you still need reservations. The vinegar sauce. Da Qing Hua is a technically dim sum—in peanut broth. braised pork is, well, delicious. chain—I go to the one in Jing’an—but it In Xuhui, Taiwanese restaurant Char- If you’re out late, hope for a seat at has a wonderful selection of jiaozi and mant (I don’t understand the name, Jing’an District’s Bao Luo , a cavernous other hearty specialties from the north- either) has an equally expansive menu, joint that stays open until 6 a.m. and often east. Don’t miss the bizarre “penis shrine” with creative desserts. Just don’t try to has lines out the door. I like the sautéed in the men’s room. drink the “smoothies”; you need a spoon. tofu and crabmeat. Spice things up even more at Shu Di La The restaurant I go to most often is Xing Ye Olde Station Restaurant , in the Zi Yu Guan , a multistory Sichuan joint in Xing , in the old Jing’an lane area I call heart of Xujiahui, is a little more upscale. northern Xuhui that specializes in la zi yu, home. Everything is fresh, and I love the Despite its name and the old train cars a vat of tongue-numbing, flaky fish huntun soup (akin to wonton soup, but a that double as dining rooms, it was never drowned in an oily broth and red chili whole lot better). Poke around the Hua Ye an old station. It was a French monastery, peppers. (The huge bullfrogs you see in Xiao Qu neighborhood: If you see a tall founded in 1921. (The equally regal St. tanks just inside the entrance? They cook white guy walking a cute dog, say hello. Ignatius Cathedral is across the street.) Assuming you won’t want Chinese food for every meal, let me Savor the tender Mandarin fish—a A Future Perfect steamed river fish that the server will suggest a hip new place, serving Western fare, that may not have found its way into your guidebook.