I had the opportunity to visit China
We visitedShanghai , Suzhou , Hangzhou and Beijing
We visited
Flight
Food
There is a "Masala Art" restaurant in Shanghai which has the traditional Indian baithak tables. It always a bad idea if you haven't tried the baithak for a while! My Chinese collegue was gracious enough to not complain.
There are some Buddist places which are pure vegetarian. The food is made of "tofu" and tastes like non-vegetarian. We had been to one of these on the evening we landed. I didn't like the food so much but atleast you know its vegetarian.
There is also a chain of restaurants called "Indian Kitchen" but the food was bad. I wouldnt recommend it but if you don't find anything you can try them. There a lot of American food joints like Pizza Hut, McDonalds, KFC etc but most of these restaurants don't have English speaking staff (Good luck for ordering a vegetarian pizza).
On our last evening in Shanghai my Chinese collegue took us to the "M on the Bund" restaurant which is a theme restaurant, very upscale, good food and wines. The view from this restaurant is simply spectacular with the full view of the Hangpu river and the Bund.
Some tips about food especially for Indians travelling to China: Take a note from someone who knows Chinese which you might want to show in restaurants. By default everything in China is cooked in animal fat oil(not in Indian restaurants of course!). I had taken a note which said "No meat, no eggs, no fish" and "Please cook in vegetable oil". But if you go to Indian restaurants you are fine. Stay in a hotel that has continental breakfast. Have a kingly breakfast and don't worry about lunch especially if you are on a business trip!
Shanghai
Shanghai is a scintillating hotspot city of modern China. A truly cosmopolitan city with a lot of western appeal. The architecture of the high-rises is unique and modern. The city is buzzing with activity reminding onself of the high growth of the economy here.
From the airport you can take the only commercial MagLev(Magnitation Levitation) train which peaks at the speeds of 400km/hr. There was a minor fire a few weeks before we went so they had reduced the speed to 300km/hr(that was the fastest I had travelled in my life on land). It took us about approx 5 mins to cover the 55 kms distance. Use your airline ticket to get some discount on the MagLev ticket.
Most upscale hotels in Shanghai have English speaking staff. They provide a card with some sentences in Chinese and English with addresses of various places and the address of the hotel. This is your life card when travelling on your own in the city. You just have to show the taxi driver the address on your card. The taxis are very reliable and it is safe to go around the city as there is hardly any crime.
Among the places to see The Bund is a favourite spot especially during evenings. The city is glittering with lighting and the Oriental Pearl Tower is breathtaking.
You can take a cruise on the Hangpu river. Its about $8 for a luxury ticket which inclues a nice cabin with a pantry where you can buy fruits and drinks to enjoy on the cruise. You can use the cruise to go to the Oriental Tower or take a underwater tunnel to reach the Pudong island. We unfortunately didn't get a chance to up the tower it surely should be worthwhile.
Try staying on Nanjing road as it is the main part of the city from where People Square's and other important tourist places are accesible. This area has lots of restaurants(Pizza Hut, KFC, McDonalds etc) and shops. But avoid shopping on Nanjing road unless you are good at bargaining. Most prices of the items on Nanjing road are higher. The place where we did most of our shopping in Shanghai was in Yuyuan Shopping City. Its a great place with lots of shops for all specialities, crockery, antiques, pearls, silks, jade statues, paintaings. Bargaining is a must and depending on the item and the shop you can reduce upto 50% of the price. The bargaining aspect of China is so much similar to that of India so we did a pretty good job of it. Most of the traders don't speak English and its amazing to see how language barriers haven't discouraged people to do trade. Calculators were the means by which we used to communicate with these traders and its lots of fun. Spoken Chinese has a lot of tonal changes. So you are always perplexed as to whether the guy was happy with the deal or not as they will speak in a loud tone reflecting anger and dissatisfaction. I used to check with my Chinese collegue often where everything is fine when someone used to start yelling loudly only to find that it was normal!
Suzhou
We took a 1 hour local train from Shanghai to Suzhou. The service of the trains and the interiors are remarkably clean. We reached Suzhou only to be invited by rain. We were not prepared for rain and were drenched until we found a taxi.
Suzhou is famous for its silk. Its a ancient city some of the landmarks date back as 2500 years old. We had been to this company which was in the new part of Suzhou which is a joint collaboration between Singapore and China. There were a lot of high tech companies in the area and its amazing to see the appetite China has for foriegn investment.
We read about Tiger Hill and decided to see it after our meeting. I read on the railway station about a saying about Suzhou "Gardens to the south of Yangtze River are the best in the world, and Suzhou gardens are the best among them". Also written at the railway station were the words of a famous Song Dynasty poet, "It is a lifelong pity if having visited Suzhou you did not visit Tiger Hill."
Hangzhou
Hangzhou is about 2,1/2 hours by either train or by bus. We missed the train and took the bus. Its a comfortable drive as the roadways in China are as good as they are in the US. Don't try the bus if you don't have Chinese help. There is not one soul on the bus station you will find who can help you.
The West Lake is undoubtedly the most renowned feature of Hangzhou, noted for the scenic beauty that blends naturally with many famous historical and cultural sites.
Hangzhou is also famous for its teas. There are lots of varities of teas. The Dragon Hill tea was recommended as being the best and we brought a couple of them. The teas can go from extremely costly to cheap. One piece of advice: teas that are green in color are supposed to be of the best quality.
Beijing
There are some Buddist places which are pure vegetarian. The food is made of "tofu" and tastes like non-vegetarian. We had been to one of these on the evening we landed. I didn't like the food so much but atleast you know its vegetarian.
There is also a chain of restaurants called "Indian Kitchen" but the food was bad. I wouldnt recommend it but if you don't find anything you can try them. There a lot of American food joints like Pizza Hut, McDonalds, KFC etc but most of these restaurants don't have English speaking staff (Good luck for ordering a vegetarian pizza).
On our last evening in Shanghai my Chinese collegue took us to the "M on the Bund" restaurant which is a theme restaurant, very upscale, good food and wines. The view from this restaurant is simply spectacular with the full view of the Hangpu river and the Bund.Some tips about food especially for Indians travelling to China: Take a note from someone who knows Chinese which you might want to show in restaurants. By default everything in China is cooked in animal fat oil(not in Indian restaurants of course!). I had taken a note which said "No meat, no eggs, no fish" and "Please cook in vegetable oil". But if you go to Indian restaurants you are fine. Stay in a hotel that has continental breakfast. Have a kingly breakfast and don't worry about lunch especially if you are on a business trip!
Shanghai
Shanghai is a scintillating hotspot city of modern China. A truly cosmopolitan city with a lot of western appeal. The architecture of the high-rises is unique and modern. The city is buzzing with activity reminding onself of the high growth of the economy here.
From the airport you can take the only commercial MagLev(Magnitation Levitation) train which peaks at the speeds of 400km/hr. There was a minor fire a few weeks before we went so they had reduced the speed to 300km/hr(that was the fastest I had travelled in my life on land). It took us about approx 5 mins to cover the 55 kms distance. Use your airline ticket to get some discount on the MagLev ticket.Most upscale hotels in Shanghai have English speaking staff. They provide a card with some sentences in Chinese and English with addresses of various places and the address of the hotel. This is your life card when travelling on your own in the city. You just have to show the taxi driver the address on your card. The taxis are very reliable and it is safe to go around the city as there is hardly any crime.
Among the places to see The Bund is a favourite spot especially during evenings. The city is glittering with lighting and the Oriental Pearl Tower is breathtaking.You can take a cruise on the Hangpu river. Its about $8 for a luxury ticket which inclues a nice cabin with a pantry where you can buy fruits and drinks to enjoy on the cruise. You can use the cruise to go to the Oriental Tower or take a underwater tunnel to reach the Pudong island. We unfortunately didn't get a chance to up the tower it surely should be worthwhile.
Try staying on Nanjing road as it is the main part of the city from where People Square's and other important tourist places are accesible. This area has lots of restaurants(Pizza Hut, KFC, McDonalds etc) and shops. But avoid shopping on Nanjing road unless you are good at bargaining. Most prices of the items on Nanjing road are higher. The place where we did most of our shopping in Shanghai was in Yuyuan Shopping City. Its a great place with lots of shops for all specialities, crockery, antiques, pearls, silks, jade statues, paintaings. Bargaining is a must and depending on the item and the shop you can reduce upto 50% of the price. The bargaining aspect of China is so much similar to that of India so we did a pretty good job of it. Most of the traders don't speak English and its amazing to see how language barriers haven't discouraged people to do trade. Calculators were the means by which we used to communicate with these traders and its lots of fun. Spoken Chinese has a lot of tonal changes. So you are always perplexed as to whether the guy was happy with the deal or not as they will speak in a loud tone reflecting anger and dissatisfaction. I used to check with my Chinese collegue often where everything is fine when someone used to start yelling loudly only to find that it was normal!
Suzhou
We took a 1 hour local train from Shanghai to Suzhou. The service of the trains and the interiors are remarkably clean. We reached Suzhou only to be invited by rain. We were not prepared for rain and were drenched until we found a taxi.
Suzhou is famous for its silk. Its a ancient city some of the landmarks date back as 2500 years old. We had been to this company which was in the new part of Suzhou which is a joint collaboration between Singapore and China. There were a lot of high tech companies in the area and its amazing to see the appetite China has for foriegn investment.
We read about Tiger Hill and decided to see it after our meeting. I read on the railway station about a saying about Suzhou "Gardens to the south of Yangtze River are the best in the world, and Suzhou gardens are the best among them". Also written at the railway station were the words of a famous Song Dynasty poet, "It is a lifelong pity if having visited Suzhou you did not visit Tiger Hill."
Hangzhou
Hangzhou is about 2,1/2 hours by either train or by bus. We missed the train and took the bus. Its a comfortable drive as the roadways in China are as good as they are in the US. Don't try the bus if you don't have Chinese help. There is not one soul on the bus station you will find who can help you.The West Lake is undoubtedly the most renowned feature of Hangzhou, noted for the scenic beauty that blends naturally with many famous historical and cultural sites.
Hangzhou is also famous for its teas. There are lots of varities of teas. The Dragon Hill tea was recommended as being the best and we brought a couple of them. The teas can go from extremely costly to cheap. One piece of advice: teas that are green in color are supposed to be of the best quality.
Beijing
Beijing update coming soon...
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