CHINA, SOCIETY, FEATURE SERIES: On The Road to Shanghai... Day Two? Must Be Shanghai.
[This is the third installment in the series: On the Road to Shanghai... The editors]
By Lianne Li
I was holding my gastronomist's guide sheet given to me by a Shanghainese classmate and fellow gourmand when I caught the 8:30 bus to People's Square in the rain. The guide sheet read: "Best ice-cream: Anderson's at the underground floor of Ruffle's City. Best bread: ICHIDO, Best tortilere: Lilian. Best cheese: Tima Hazbouz," and so forth.
Since it was guaranteed to me by my fellow Hunanese that the Shanghainese will add sugar even to a dish of cabbages, I made up my mind to try out all the western delicacies of Shanghai I could afford under my tight budget.
"Better measure your waist before going around," Wang sniffed at my idea in a phone call, and clung to his bed in his 150-RMB per-day expensive--but terrible--hotel.
After an hour's plunging back and forth on the bus, I almost forgot what my targets were when I arrived at People's Square, Shanghai's Tiananmen Square by my inference. The damp warm air and the river of striding passersby set me into a daze.
A guide conducting a family of three announced practically into my ear: "In front of your eyes stands the Office Building of Shanghai People’s Government, and the Shanghai Museum is on your right. As you see, it is designed in the shape of an incensory, intending to show good wishes... ."
My friend had recommended a visit to the Shanghai Museum, so I put my gastronomist's guide-sheet aside and got in with a 5-Yuan student ticket. The collections of the museum were quite versatile, if not rich: ancient Chinese bronzes, sculpture, ceramics, seal, jade, coins, painting, calligraphy, furniture and minority garments. There was also a special exhibit of bronze mirrors, which I had little interest in.
I would have lost myself, however, in the Han Dynasty glittering jade works and Zheng Banqiao’s bamboo paintings, if my stomach had not reminded me. So I went for the first target: ice-cream. Ice-cream addicts like me helplessly covet the special 3 Anderson's cream ball at a discount of 30 Yuan. Great taste!
If only my fellow gourmet had warned me that 3 balls of such ice cream equaled 3 bowls of rice for my small stomach. Unfortunately, I could only taste the infamous delights of Ruffle's City with my eyes after such a grand feast of ice cream.
At six in the afternoon, Wang and I took the highway bus to Hangzhou. Two and a half hour later, we were in the city where long lived the spirit of Su Dongpo (Song Dynasty poet) and the myths of the white snake...
By Lianne Li
I was holding my gastronomist's guide sheet given to me by a Shanghainese classmate and fellow gourmand when I caught the 8:30 bus to People's Square in the rain. The guide sheet read: "Best ice-cream: Anderson's at the underground floor of Ruffle's City. Best bread: ICHIDO, Best tortilere: Lilian. Best cheese: Tima Hazbouz," and so forth.
Since it was guaranteed to me by my fellow Hunanese that the Shanghainese will add sugar even to a dish of cabbages, I made up my mind to try out all the western delicacies of Shanghai I could afford under my tight budget.
"Better measure your waist before going around," Wang sniffed at my idea in a phone call, and clung to his bed in his 150-RMB per-day expensive--but terrible--hotel.
After an hour's plunging back and forth on the bus, I almost forgot what my targets were when I arrived at People's Square, Shanghai's Tiananmen Square by my inference. The damp warm air and the river of striding passersby set me into a daze.
A guide conducting a family of three announced practically into my ear: "In front of your eyes stands the Office Building of Shanghai People’s Government, and the Shanghai Museum is on your right. As you see, it is designed in the shape of an incensory, intending to show good wishes... ."
My friend had recommended a visit to the Shanghai Museum, so I put my gastronomist's guide-sheet aside and got in with a 5-Yuan student ticket. The collections of the museum were quite versatile, if not rich: ancient Chinese bronzes, sculpture, ceramics, seal, jade, coins, painting, calligraphy, furniture and minority garments. There was also a special exhibit of bronze mirrors, which I had little interest in.
I would have lost myself, however, in the Han Dynasty glittering jade works and Zheng Banqiao’s bamboo paintings, if my stomach had not reminded me. So I went for the first target: ice-cream. Ice-cream addicts like me helplessly covet the special 3 Anderson's cream ball at a discount of 30 Yuan. Great taste!
If only my fellow gourmet had warned me that 3 balls of such ice cream equaled 3 bowls of rice for my small stomach. Unfortunately, I could only taste the infamous delights of Ruffle's City with my eyes after such a grand feast of ice cream.
At six in the afternoon, Wang and I took the highway bus to Hangzhou. Two and a half hour later, we were in the city where long lived the spirit of Su Dongpo (Song Dynasty poet) and the myths of the white snake...
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