From Shanghai to Xinjiang and Back

[JFores]

Hello all,

I'm usually on the Outer Boroughs or London boards. I'll be flying to Shanghai tomorrow morning and I won't be back in the U.S. for at least a month. The overall itinerary is Shanghai to Beijing to Xi'an to Dunhuang to Turpan to Urumqi (insert detour to Khazak yurts near Urumqi here) to Kashgar to Yarkand to Khotan... then back onto the rail line by bus and on to Chengdu and finally Shanghai again.

Big trip! Most of our time will be in Xinjiang with a decent amount given to Chengdu as well. I adore Sichuan and Uighur food so any places that anyone could give me in either region would make me a very happy camper.

Also, I need extremely low budget places to eat in Shanghai. I'm absolutely dreading my time in that city because of the prices and because every time I mention it around a friend of mine from Urumqi he goes off for about 5 minutes on how much he hates Shanghai... Prove my preconceptions to be unfounded ;)

I'm doing the entire trip on about 300 pounds so budget is key. I'll eat absolutely anything good and I'm quite familiar with the food because of NY (we've got 7 China Towns now.)

[Xiao Yang]

I happen to love Shanghai, and it can be as cheap to eat as anywhere if you know what you are doing (i.e., stick to street food, local "xiao chi" establishments). Go to any of trhe ubiquitous "Lanzhou La Mian" places and get a huge bowl of hand pulled noodles (made in front of your eyes) for about 75 cents, or some of the finest xiao long bao anywhere (see my reviews from last year) for less than $1.50 for a basket of 12.

Let me know where you'll be staying (if you know) and I can provide some more specific recommendations. I follow your posts on the Outer Boroughs board, and am happy to help. As an absolute minimum, learn to recognize the Lanzhou La Mian sign (see pic below) and you can stuff your gut for less than $1.00 in almost any neighborhood.

Hope you get to Kashgar before they tear down the Old City!

http://is.gd/1i77W

[JFores]

Thanks a lot!

The situation in Kashgar is absolutely disgusting. The earthquake proofing thing is BS. Regardless I'll see plenty of untouched stuff in Khotan and Yarkand.

Nice to have the price of hand pulled noodles cut from about 4 dollars in New York to 75 cents! I'm staying at...

Sleeping Dragon International Hostel
# 394 Zhoushan Rd., Hongkou District, Shanghai.

I'll be in town for something like four days. The xiao long bao are my main source of excitement!

[Xiao Yang]

Good news! I checked the location of your hostel and you'll be within very short walking distance of both Fu De Xiao Long and the Dongyuhang Lu Street market whicch I described in an earlier post (last paragraph) http://is.gd/1idmY

From the map, it appears that you only need to walk one block south from your hostel to find yourself in the midst of the Donyuhang Lu street market, one of the most interesting and food-rich of unheralded street markets I've stumbled across in Shanghai. Big variety of cheap eats, including halal stuff from hui(?) vendors. Be sure and check out the friendly lady making "you deng zi" (fried savory daikon pies).

One block to the West of Zhoushan and Dongyuhang (where the street market suddenly ends) you'll find Fu De Xiao Long. Note that they don't sell beer, so if it's a hot day grab a cold one next door and bring it with you (a sanctioned practice in Shanghai). Nothing goes better with XLB than beer, and it's cheap, too.

There's a bunch of photos of Fu De and the Dongyuhang Lu street market in this photo set (browse to the right) http://is.gd/1idOV

BTW, I finally made it to Cafe Kashkar in Brighton Beach a month ago on a brief trip to NYC. Don't know how authentic the Uighur food is, but I found it tasty and overall a very pleasant experience.

[JFores]

Their food is very Russian in style, but they have some really authentic items. They make their own horse sausage, for example.

BTW, it's REALLY sad that the Uighur stall in Flushing closed (along with the whole bloody food court... Board of Health... grr...) They had awesome ramcha and polo and samsa and naan and shurpa and etc. Just great stuff and it was 4 dollars for enough polo and Uighur salad to feed a small country.

[pepper_mil]

Things that are inexpensive and very good in Shanghai and nonexistent, or not very good, in Chengdu: Vegetable rice (菜饭), xian dou jiang (咸豆浆 - Savoury soymilk soup, usually for breakfast.), shengjian bao (生煎包 - juicy fried dumplings) Chengdu does have good lanzhou lamian on every other block.

Don't want to make other CD recs without details. Where in the city will you be spending time, and is there anything you really want to experience while here?

[JFores]

Thanks! I adore the spicier more homestyle Sichuan cooking that I'm more familiar with. My budget is relatively low and I have no idea where I'll be staying in Chengdu but I'll go anywhere and eat anything during my stay. Out of necessity I'll have to hot pot while I'm there and I rank ma po do fu among my favorite things on Earth so both are important for me.

[pepper_mil]

Every neighbourhood has a good homestyle (家常） restaurant or two, but I would probably take visitors to the infamous Yang Yang (扬扬餐馆) in Zongbei, north of the American consulate. Most cab drivers know it. Lots of foreigners there, but locals love it just as much. The Japanese style tofu (日式 铁板 豆腐) is great; the crisp skinned fish ( 脆皮鱼) and the cumin fish ( 孜然渔) are amazing (cumin fish comes with a little bowl of flaming baijiu to dip the fish), and they have all the classics like mapo tofu, water boiled beef (水煮牛肉) and dry fried green beans (干煸四季豆) though they might tone down the heat on you unless you tell them you want it spicy (辣的). They annoyingly run out of dishes often though and the service can be kind of abrupt. It's around Y20 per person; fish dishes a little more expensive.

I would splurge on the hot pot; cheap versions can be one of the toughest things on a traveller's stomach. Huang Cheng Lao Ma (book a time when you can watch the sichuan opera performance) or a place like San Zhi Er (三只耳).

You can also go to the Yulin fresh market (玉林 菜市场) and pick up prepared foods - hand shredded grilled rabbit (very numbing and hot), fuqifei pian, hand shredded roast duck (not spicy), baozi and ye'er ba, lao mian bing, fresh fruit. There is a guy there on the bottom floor that is making amazing eggplant fritters, if you get them fresh.

If you are coming in July, you should still be able to get a panda card that will get you into a lot of local attractions like the panda base for free. Luodai is one of the least expensive and neatest day trips outside the city, and you can eat Sichuan Hakka food there.

other stuff on the blog http://eatdrinkchengdu.blogspot.com

[JFores]

Hey Pepper_Mil,

We just arrived in Chengdu (after 38 hours on the train) and we ate our first meal at a decent place around the corner serving run of the mill Sichuan fair. We're at Sim's hostel for the next three or four days before heading to Xi'an, Jiayuguan, Dunhuang, and possibly the Hami-Turpan-Khotan trifecta if we have time (we have to make it back to Shanghai by the first of August.)

Your blog and the Chinese government's censorship program don't seem to be getting along and my usual proxy isn't loading it right. Could you please post where the extensive tea wholesale market is and what some good eats are nearby? Chinese characters and English is much appreciated.

Thanks to all of you for some great recommendations thus far. Also, we found a fantastic Xinjiang place in Beijing (which was bulldozed four days into our stay...) and a veeeery good Sichuan restaurant just across the road from it. Both are very close to Red Lantern Hostel's main building.

I think we'll be doing Wenshu Temple's vegetarian restaurant in an hour or so as was recently put on your blog. I was able to access it in Beijing but not here... gr.

[pepper_mil]

Lots of other food options in/around Wenshuyuan. . There is a newer, slicker vegetarian restaurant outside the temple area called Lotus on the Water, but the food quality is similar to the one inside. Service at Lotus is a bit nicer. And there is a lot of the iconic street food outside Wenshu - you have Zhong Shui Jiao, Zhang's Pea Jelly, Long Chao Shou, etc. Just like Jinli though, it's a little expensive and not always fresh.

Wukuaishi Southwest Tea Market 西南茶市场、 五块石. The shop there selling tea paraphernalia is Tea Joy (天月茶市场）. It's in the middle of a big industrial/wholesale area so I don't know good eats within walking distance. There is a 'gourmet avenue' a bit to the west (should be a Y10 cab ride or so, stop when you see the giant chopsticks sculpture) called Yi Pin Tian Xia (一品天下） but the most famous places there, like Da Rong He (大蓉和酒楼), are high end (Y50-Y100+ pp). I've only eaten at Yi Pin Tian Xia during the street food festival, have never really gone exploring there.

proxies, www dot vtunnel dot com is working OK for me now

[JFores]

Thanks a lot,

Could you please post the address or the dianping page for Wei Mei Xuan (sp?) the place formerly known as the Little Kitchen? My hostel travel lady is having fits trying to find it but she managed to mark down all of our other destinations (Huiyuan Noodles for example.) Any similar places (especially those in northern Chengdu rather than by the uni) would be much appreciated. We're getting VERY low on money though and cabs are pretty much out except late at night.

Thanks,

Justin

P.S. I leave on the evening of the 19th for Xi'an so I'm getting worried that I won't fulfill my Sichuan food fantasies in time. My best Sichuan meal (and cheapest) was in Beijing so far :(

[pepper_mil]

It's unfortunately a common name for restaurants. That one is on xiaojiahe street, farther from you than Sichuan U. You can take the 27/34 (first ring bus going east) to the next stop past yiguanmiao and then walk south of there, but it is quite easy to get lost in that area. contact offline if you want specific directions. one five 882008 one zero seven.

[beetlebug]

I was in Chengdu and Shanghai about a month ago. Below are the reports.

In Chengdu, we stayed at Sim's Cozy Hostel. It was a little further away from the center of things, but near one of the major temples. But, it is close to all the major bus lines and we had no problems navigating our way around the city. Most importantly, the alley near the hostel had great food. When you exit the hostel, go right. At the next light/intersection, cross the street and there is the big alley with excellent street stands. My favorite was the first one on the left for homestyle cooking and the dumpling stand. The noodle stand was medicore. All street stands are on the left - there are about half dozen. The hot pot restaurant I went to is also walking distance from the hostel (right out of hostel, second light, turn left and the restaurant is on the left.)

http://www.gogosc.com/

When you come out of the hostel, if you go left and cross the street, there is a bao restaurant. It's ok but they are open in the am, unlike those street stands.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/616339

As for Shanghai, the best cheap eats I found were Jia Jia Tang Bao and Yang's Fried Dumplings. Conveniently across the street from each other.

Have a great trip.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/618201

[JFores]

Just giving some feedback on day one and the beginnings of day two.

We got into the city proper very late due to insane traffic with a badly arranged taxi journey from the maglev. When I finally ate something it was already past 9pm at night. It was a pork "burger" similar to those at the Xi'an stall in Flushing but with infinitely better flat bread. 3 yuan and extremely tasty; they were filled with long-stewed pork shoulder which was cleavered into a porky sludge. This was at a collection of what seemed to be Muslim leaning stalls on Wulong Lu next to the uni dorms.

Upon returning home (at 6am) from last night I went down the road to our fantastic little high street of sorts. A cold noodle dish reminiscent of liang pi and with very similar spicing (though done with a thinner doughy noodle and bean sheet noodles) was the first thing that I annhilated. 3 yuan for a huge bowl of noodles which I finished in about 30 seconds.

Also on the stretch is an exceptional fried dumpling restaurant with probably the best dumpling filling I've had for normal fried ones (not fried xlb.) I still need to get down the road for XLB and I'll probably do that around dinner time. The entire street is lined with specialist restaurants as I'd imagine is the case in much of Shanghai. I'll be working my way through them.

Also got myself an outrageously good watermelon for 7 yuan... and a t-shirt since I flew here with only the clothes on my back.

[JFores]

Just giving another update on Shanghai before I end up heading on to Beijing (today or tomorrow depending on train availability.)

We ended up going to our local XLB place, Fu De. The XLB are pretty decent there. Nothing life changing, but a solid option at four yuan for six. Other dishes there are nothing special, but they generally quite large and filling.

Our next meal ended up being one of the best I might have ever had and certainly one of if not the best Chinese meals I've ever had. We went to a fantastic restaurant in Western Shanghai (the very end of line one) which served traditionally prepared food (more or less banquet style) in a sort of faux-antique setting. Gimmicks aside, the food was absolutely amazing.

I'll break the meal up into cold and hot dishes...

Among the cold we had bean jelly in what seemed like a slightly spicy and sour bean based sauce. They were delicious and I'd rate them well above the simple ma la preparation I'm used to from back home (at Chengdu Tian Fu.) There was also a shredded bamboo dish which was OK, but their Sichuan style pickles were very good. A lovely little trip into hua jiao land long before I reach Chengdu. Only OK was the stiff tofu skin with star anise.

Our hot dishes were incredible and could (by quantity of dishes and portion size) could almost be considered an assault of food. A stew like dish of beef cubes and tofu which was heavily redolent of star anise (common theme so far) and was very satisfying. Our second soup like dish was a vegetable and thousand year egg soup which also contained bits of pork belly; it was the least memorable of our entrees. On the other hand, the red braised pork belly at this place was the single best pork belly I have ever eaten. it was perfectly soft when chewed but incredibly firm before that. There was almost a crunch to it before it melted. Also amazing was a dish of pickled green beans with pickled chillies and fresh chillies. Oh yeah, there also happened to be incredible pork intestines within Mt Chilli, but from the get go it actually did look like a pile of pickled chillies. Awesome dish and something I wish I could have elsewhere or know the name to. Finally our dish of dishes was an enormous whole catfish which was brilliant prepared (first grilled and then braised) in such a way that either half of the fish was entirely different in flavor; one spicy and one sour. It sat in an immense tray with no physical separation and yet it maintained this fifty-fifty balance perfectly. Also, despite the fact that it was being heated by charcoal underneath the entire time, the texture of the meat remained absolutely perfect and the grill marks especially stood out. Firm, delicious, and not even the slightest hint of that muddy I'm eating catfish taste. There was also a pile of perfectly scrambled eggs with an immense amount of chillies scattered throughout.

Also, a Xinjiang restaurant two doors down looks incredible. We went in for Sinkiang black beer (hands down the best beer in all of Asia IMO) and some conversation with the staff.

Yesterday we also went to your run of the mill Muslim place which was staffed by guys from Gansu. Had a beef and onion noodle dish for an above average price because of the location (very close to the Yu garden and stuff.)

Also ended up at an assemble your own la mian place at about 3am near the French Concession (back to back house parties all night meanwhile I didn't realize that it was the 4th of July until about 1am lol...) Ate some more street/tiny restaurant food from Don right next to my hostel. Decent fried XLB and what not.

Oh I forgot a few dishes. We had nicely made cold cucumber in a garlic sauce and a really incredible stuffed pepper dish. Long spicy green peppers were stuffed with a pork and spice filling. Lovely spicey/sour contrast. Really tasty. All of this (plus an immense amount of beer and rice wine) came to 55 per person btw. The place seems to be named Yu Men Ke Zhan but I don't know as it's the only English on the whole card.

[pepper_mil]

Thank you for keeping us posted with another great write up. Yu men ke zhan sounds like a location though. If you have a card, a photo that shows the characters clearly would help a lot.

[JFores]

Just writing some basic updates...

We ate at a local restaurant near the intersection of our road (Zhoushan Lu) and Donyuhuang Lu. They change their ingredients daily and between lunch and dinner. You pick what you want and they cook it either as you want or (for us) as they choose. All in all the food is very good but it can be expensive (we went wild on three seafood dishes the first trip and it came to 78 thanks to beer and crayfish. That's a lot for us. We usually get a 5 yuan meal somewhere else in the immediate vicinity.) Two or three doors to the right of this restaurant is actually a fantastic XLB place. Probably better than the one further down. Also, it's 8 for 3.50. (The above restaurant did a fantastic preserved pork dish as well as a great fava bean dish.)

Went to Suzhou for a night which was pretty nice. Cute town overall, but too touristy. Had a good bowl of preserved pork, tofu ball, tofu, and rice noodle soup. Only 7 yuan as well (huge bowl.)

Just got back into Shanghai (leaving for Beijing in a couple of hours) and we just had some very nice fried chicken strips (7) and XLB from down there road.

[Xiao Yang]

Do you recall if the XLB place was Nanjing Tang Bao? There's a branch on Dongyuhang near Zhoushan. I haven't tried it, but did review Nanjing Tang Bao on Shouning Lu in Huangpu District earlier, and ranked it at about the same level as Fu De.

[hquanshang]

Hi Jfores,

What was the name of the restaurant in Shanghai where you had the best Chinese meal ever. Sounds awesome.

[Xiao Yang]

I'm guessing from the description of the food and the decor that it might be South Beauty (Qiao Jiangnan) which has a branch in Xinzhuang, which is where the Western end of the #1 line takes you.

[pepper_mil]

Sorry, you're right about the name 'yu men ke zhan'. I found it: 鱼门客栈

though there are several branches and I can't tell which one you were at.

Happy you're alive btw....we were wondering.

[JFores]

I think you've got it right. The setting seemed almost chain like but the prices and food were both incredible. I was really impressed.

We're in Beijing now. Just getting our bearing as I read up on some local chow. Ate breakfast at a nearby Uighur restaurant staffed by Kashgaris.

We're still heading for Urumqi in the near future so long as things don't really kick off again.

[NewYorkNewHaven]

JFores-- I stumbeled upon your post after having ignored these boards for the better half of the past month. I didn't know the details of your trip, but I do remember your first name and am familiar with everything you mentioned about Shanghai, particulary the Minhang restaurant and Sleeping Dragon neighborhood. We went to that Shanghainese restaurant together-- I can get the name from Aaron (the Sleeping Dragon guy) but I think we're going to try and go soon anyways if you are in town. BTW, that catfish was absolutely amazing.

Moving on... I've managed to find a pretty good Hunan place in Changning district thanks to Dianping. If you are interested in going, let me know. Next time we (myself and any friends) go we will have to get hen la and stress it. Good food. Exceptional 牛蛙 (bull frog)!

Cheers,

Chris

[JFores]

Hey Chris!

We just arrived back in Shanghai and we'll be here until the 3rd of August. Do stay in contact. I need to write a massive update detailing Chengdu, Xi'an, Turpan, and Urumqi (plus I need to wrap up my Beijing posts.) I'm going to top up my cell phone today (hopefully) but I have to charge it first. It'd be best to call Aaron for any details. I'd really like to try the Hunan place and make it back to the Shanghainese place of the gods before we leave.

Take care,

Justin