Hey all,

I started a thread in the Q&A forum about mongering in Beijing but I am also looking for non-mongering activities to do there as well. I'll be on a whirlwind trip to China going from HK, SZ, Shanghai and Beijing. I'll spend maybe 3-4 days in Shanghai and 5-7 days in Beijing just for pleasure. I have a bunch of those tourist guidebooks but one of my friends who used Lonely Planet guides to Korea when he went said it was absolutely worthless.

I'm pretty open to whatever. I love good restaurants, bars, and markets. So what must I absolutely do in Shanghai/Beijing that isn't already in those guidebooks? Thanks!

P.S. I am also considering spending a day in Hangzhou. I have a friend who lives there.

there's a free magazine called "that's beijing."  try checking that out for food/entertainment hot spots to hit up.  i personally recommend a restaurant called no name in the houhai hutongs, and a japanese restaurant called hatsune.  by markets, i suppose you mean the black markets?  those should be listed in the guidebooks and are all over beijing.  depends what you want to buy though; some are better for certain items rather than others.  silk street market is the one most frequented by foreigners b/c of guidebooks and its location in beijing's city center. just don't get hosed by the workers at any of these markets.  they always mark things up 3-4x minimum when they know you're a foreigner.  it can get a bit frustrating, but if you're patient enough, you can get them down to a fair price.  don't be afraid to walk away too.  you can find the same thing at another shop.

not sure about shanghai.  work is being done around the bund b/c of the upcoming world expo, so not sure what the eating and drinking scene is like there these days.

Haha...nah I don't mean black markets specifically. But I'm open to whatever kind of markets. I love just walking around and absorbing the local culture. I wouldn't mind black markets though. My friend who just traveled to Beijing told me about the Silk Street Market. He doesn't speak Chinese though so I suspect he got ripped off. He even asked me to buy some fake goods there for him.

black mkts are what i meant by places like silk street since most of what they sell is totally fake.  there are some items that could be real (overproduced goods that they grabbed/factory outlet quality), but getting these almost always depends on luck.

well if you have a strong gut you can try out the Beijing street food.

head over to Wángfǔjǐng 王府井


my recommendation.....avoid the silk worm larva....ugh.

I'll be on the lookout for those real goods. I read an article in the newspaper how Samsung contracted out a factory to produce LCD monitors (I think?) for 12 hours of the day. However, the factory owners kept the factory running for 24 hours and just sold the excess LCDs themselves.

everything is pretty overpriced in Beijing.  I wouldn't buy any electronics in China - I'd stick with HK more than anything.

if shopping is your thing, in shanghai there is this massive underground complex that
sells clothing, souvenirs etc. of course all of the stuff here is fake but some items are
of a relatively high quality. i picked up a souvenir t-shirt from a shop here
which i could not find in the other tourist markets of shanghai. haggle and bargain of course.

if shopping is not your thing, still worth a few hours for souvenir hunting.

its convienently located and easy to get to, just take the metro to the "Shanghai Science
and Technology Museum" stop (its on the green line if i remember correctly). best part, you
get off the train, go pass the ticket barriers, and its there! the entire complex is within the
train station itself.

have a fun trip!

in response to Jesun's bit about electronics, i'd say it depends on what kind of electronics.  if you're buying really cheap stuff like USBs or whatever, that's not a big deal.  more high-end stuff def runs the risk of getting screwed over and they def over-charge if you insist on buying something "real."  in those cases, as Jesun has said, it's best to come to HK to ensure you have a proper receipt and warranty.

Joblow - You can checkout the website www.enjoyshanghai.com or www.smartshanghai.com they both provide good information about SH in terms of clubs, restaurants, shopping etc.

If you want to buy electronics (personally I rather buy in HK) you can go to Xujiahui thats located on Metro line 1 that place will take you at least a day to walk everything.

You can go to The Bund, People Square, Nanjing Road (both east and west), Yu Garden, Xintiandi, Pudong Jinmao Tower, Pearl Tower and there are a lot more things that you can do I am probably missing. But honestly most of the time you are just going to be eating. I personally thinks eating in SH is better than HK now. If you want shopping than stay in HK.


PM if you have any other questions.