Peking duck is one of China’s most famous dishes for good reason. Specially-bred and fattened ducks are glazed and hung in a wood fire to roast until the browned skin is crisp and the meat succulent. A specialty of Beijing, roast duck was first mentioned in a cookbook for the royal kitchen in the 14th […]
Destinations
Pearl Tower and the Shanghai History Museum
Shanghai’s skyline may not be as famous as that of Hong Kong, but I think it’s almost as striking. The tallest, at least for the moment, is the Shanghai World Financial Center, but the most easily identifiable building is Oriental Pearl Tower, the city’s 468 meter TV tower. It’s punctuated with purple globes of varying […]
A Multicultural Lunch at the Langham Xintiandi
I was recently invited to lunch at the Langham Xintiandi Shanghai, and since I’ve so enjoyed eating my way around the city – and was quite taken with the afternoon tea service at the Langham Hong Kong – was only too happy to oblige. The hotel, just opened in 2010, boasts a fashion-forward facade which […]
Snapshot: Nap Time in Shanghai
As someone who often has trouble sleeping, I’ve always admired people who can nod off with ease. In my daily wanderings around Shanghai, I find folks napping in the most incongruous of circumstances, content to catch some shut-eye wherever and whenever possible. The city’s recyclers will park their carts next to the curb and lie […]
A Glimpse of the Future: Shanghai Urban Planning Museum
When designing Shanghai’s subway system, Chinese engineers were sent to study transportation systems in cities around the world to discover what worked and what didn’t. The best design elements and functional features were cherry picked to create what is now the Shanghai metro, one well oiled machine with increasingly impressive reach. In 2003, Shanghai’s train […]