Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Mike_Jones]

I'm going to Shanghai next week on a whim and I really have nothing planned. I know I want to go to the North Korean restaurant but I don't really have much other planned. Can anyone recommend what to see and do in the city. Perhaps a couple of the best kept secrets?

When I was in Beijing I stayed at the Red Lantern Hostel House. Is there a place similar in Shanghai?

Thanks in advance.

[pegasus64128]

[Modernist]

This should be in the Travel forum, I think. That said,

Stay at a Motel 168. They are EVERYWHERE in Shanghai, cheap and pleasant and actually quite nice bathrooms. The ONLY reason to stay at a hostel is if you want the dubious 'hostel experience' with random drunks wandering around and sleeping 8 to a room.

The coolest thing to see, obviously, is the Bund at nighttime. You have a remarkable collection of top-notch colonial architecture on one side, and some of the best 21st century architecture right across the river. After Korea's ugliness you'll hardly be able to believe your eyes. It's also one of the best-designed public spaces I've ever seen. Just standing there and taking in the atmosphere is really amazing. The river cruises are great.

The Shanghai Zoo is a ways out but it's really nice. Unlike the concrete torture chambers in Beijing and most of China, this is a proper, Western-style place with lots of native Chinese fauna, including of course pandas.

The Shanghai Museum, I heard once, has the most significant collection of Chinese art in the world. Can't say if that's 100% true but it is damn amazing. 1000x more impressive than any museum in Korea, even if [like me] you're not really into Asian art.

The Urban Planning Exhibition across the street has amazing models of the city. If you've ever seen the one at the Seoul History Museum, again, this one blows it away. The biggest city model in the world.

There's a pretty affordable, and delicious, Italian restaurant way up in the Jin Mao Tower, 65th floor or so, with excellent thin-crust pizza and hand-made pasta. Get a window table and watch the sunset--very atmospheric.

There's an acrobatics show at the Ritz-Carlton, in Jingan, that I missed last time but am determined to see next time. Supposed to be really astonishing to see.

In terms of eating, this place CANNOT be beat:
http://www.bubbasasia.com/

Real American BBQ, brisket and everything, in China. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

[pegasus64128]

IMO, the French concession is by far the nicest part of Shanghai, and the only part with any real taste or charm (and I include the overrated Bund in that judgement).

For bars, the Bulldog (a British themed bar) in the French concession is a good place on the weekends. Then of course, there are literally millions of bars and nightclubs in SH. It blows Seoul out of the water in that department as Shangers has always had a lot of foreigners and foreign investment in it.
Don't tell too many people you're an ESL teacher in Shangers as it means something different over there - "criminal with fake credentials, and poor" - is the look you'll be given by the exuberantly wealthy foreign cliques of Shanghai. Be sure to mention you live and work in Korea if you do.

[seansmith]

Having lived in Korea for 5 years and now Shanghai for the same, I will first heartily agree with the previous poster - Shanghai simply blows Seoul out of the water in terms of architecture, ambiance, class, and the variety of pubs, clubs and restaurants.

However, only the tourists hang out at The Bund. I live a 15 minute taxi ride away and have been there only once in the last 4 months - and I'm typical in that regard. While The Bund is well worth seeing for a couple of hours, expats and hip Chinese spend their evenings in The French Concession. Many of us also live there.

Good happy hour places to start off in The French Concession include Sashas, Shanghai Brewery (right across the street), O'Malley's, The Camel, Paulaner, Southern Belle, Kaiba, and Cotton's. For live, original music, Yu Yin Tang is the best. For good Phillippino cover bands, try The Office or Malones. For funk/soul, rhythm and blues head to The Melting Pot. Other cool live music spots are JZ Club, and The Cotton Club. Mural is for the 18 - 25 year old crowd. The choices are many.

The previous poster is correct on the ESL teacher scene. These types of teachers only account for about 10% of all expats because there are so many Fortune 500 companies with HQs here and their "Expat Package" pays their employees buckets of money (along with private drivers, housekeepers, etc.) As all their kids need educating, there are plenty of international school teachers making good money as well. As a result, an expat ESL teacher here making between $2000 - $2500 USD per month (salary offered by EF/Wall Street/Web in Shanghai) is certainly on the low end of the expat income bracket. Still, they are not treated like trash by the wider expat community or by the Chinese.

[alongway]

[madoka]

[iselynjenniep]

i stayed at an awesome hostel called Mingtown Nanjing Road Youth Hostel. highly recommended. so clean and great location.

we visited The Bund, Yuyuan Garden & Bazaar, Xintiandi, Fuxing Park, Circus World, Qibao, Pudong, Sightseeing Tunnel, and Urban Planning Exhibition Center. out of those, my favorites were Fuxing Park, Circus World, Qibao, and the Sightseeing Tunnel.

more info:
http://teflorbust.wordpress.com/2011/09/14/shanghai-day-1-east-nanjing-road-the-bund-yuyuan-garden-bazaar/
http://teflorbust.wordpress.com/2011/09/15/shanghai-day-2-xintiandi-fuxing-park-circus-world/
http://teflorbust.wordpress.com/2011/09/15/shanghai-day-3-qibao-pudong-sightseeing-tunnel/
http://teflorbust.wordpress.com/2011/09/25/shanghai-day-4-urban-planning-exhibition-center/

[Mr. BlackCat]

[madoka]

[luckylady]

[luckylady]

[iselynjenniep]

well i think if you're an american living in korea, it's different. we went to a great restaurant/microbrewery in shanghai called Boxing Cat Brewery. you can't find a place like that in seoul. and they had amazing BBQ and i haven't found any good southern BBQ in seoul.

i don't think all traveling has to be a culinary adventure. i don't like korean, japanese, or chinese food so when i'm in those countries i'm not visiting for the food! and yeah, maybe i eat at mcdonald's sometimes. don't judge me! but in southeast asia i definitely eat the national cuisines. people have different preferences!

[Mr. BlackCat]

[byrddogs]