I am going to blame the fact that I haven’t posted about my trip to China yet on the fact that I ended up being sick as a dog twice in the past two weeks, and not on forgetfulness.

It was a short but sweet trip filled with wonderful company, food, and surroundings.  I returned to Thailand much-pampered and very grateful.

I arrived in Shanghai bright and early on a Friday morning and went straight to hotel.  Ah, the hotel.  I don’t think I can properly convey through words or images the luxury of the experience, but I will try.  It was blissful: complimentary fruit and cookies, two bathrooms, toilet/bidets with motion-sensing seats, a huge bath, a mirror with a TV in it, and a bed that angels would find too indulgently soft.

After a much needed post-travel nap and lunch at the hotel (red meat, how I’d missed you), we set off in the rain to see some of the sights including the famous Shanghai skyline, the historical buildings along the Bund, and the (gift shop of the) Shanghai Museum.  While we wandered we stopped for street-side scallion pancakes that I honestly have to say are in the top ten of things I have ever eaten.

 

We returned for drinks at the hotel’s bar.  It was a nice place with a very European-colonial atmosphere and fantastic cocktails.  After some freshening up, we headed for a dinner of Chinese food with crispy honey-glazed barbecue pork, stir-fried lamb with scallions, a rich chicken soup with ham, and fried rice.

The next day was a whirlwind of sight-seeing and shopping.  We started in Yuyuan Gardens after breakfast.  It was a beautiful place to wander around and get lost in and I think we were lucky that it wasn’t overwhelmingly busy.  We did some souvenir shopping in the area around the gardens and then headed off on foot to the Nanjing walking street for some window-shopping.  We snacked on pot-stickers and sesame and scallion buns for our lunch.  Then we headed back to the Shanghai Museum (before it had closed for the day this time, so we had the chance to go in) to look at an overwhelming collection of Chinese art and handicrafts.

We went for a drink at a roof top bar to get a better view of the skyline, which was absolutely breathtaking.

Dinner was at a french bistro where we were treated well by our new friends Xavier and Jean-Baptiste.  I tried escargot, and as I had long suspected, it was delicious; basically a vehicle for garlic and butter which are two of my favorite things.  For someone who has been in south-east Asia for so long this meal was bliss (Bread!  Butter!  Potatoes! Oh my!).  For an entree I had lamb with roasted vegetables and a falafel and then a poached peach with ice cream for dessert.

Our last morning we took a walk through the French Concession and stopped for espresso, pastry, and people watching.  It was the perfect, relaxing cap to a perfect weekend.

I loved visiting Shanghai, and would definitely recommend it to any considering going.  It was especially nice to be able to find some of the western things that I’ve been missing.  A perfect vacation and a great way to spend one of my last weekends in Asia!