Shanghai and Hong Kong Disneyland March 17 – Day 7 Complete in Hong Kong Proper; 12/04

[PrincessInOz]

Next year is quite a important year for us. It is a special birthday for Graham and our 20th wedding anniversary.

Corinna

Looks like it's a very good year to celebrate....and Shanghai would be an awesome option.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Jumping into the Hot Pot (Shua Yan Grou)


Nothing ruins a good trip like getting sick! I think you all know what I mean.


Coughs, colds, sore throats, food poisoning and the dreaded diarrhoea. Those little and not so little niggles strike fear in any traveller…before and during travel. Any one of you can rattle off a list of preventative measures as well as a list of meds to take with you when travelling to combat the symptoms.


My gut biome is reasonably normal and healthy but I expect that being in a foreign country, any change to what the gut bacteria is used to dealing with would probably result in not-so-welcomed symptoms. So….you can imagine that on day 1 of this trip, I was going to be super careful about what I ate and drank.


That was….until we got off the Huangpo cruise and had to walk from Shilupu Marina back to Nanjing Road. My mother and I had lots of time to talk about food and what we wanted for dinner. It came down to whether we could find a Peking Duck establishment or a Hot Pot establishment.


Walking down Nanjing Road and not too far past the Fairmont Peace Hotel, I saw some neon signs and food pictures. One of them was for this place.





Dong Lai Shun seems to be on everyone’s top 5 Hot Pot places to eat when in China. I understand that they have branches in Hong Kong and also in the US (and possibly Canada as well).

I’ve come home to google but it looks like there isn’t a reference for this establishment’s specific address on Nanjing Road. All I can say is that it was definitely on that top end of Nanjing Road and we had to catch the lift up to Level 5 to get to the restaurant. There were also restaurants on level 3 (and 4?) of this building.


The first Dong Lai Shun opened in 1903. And yes, there is an “M” missing in the signage. The Chinese-Muslim restaurant is known for its mutton hot pot — thin slices of lamb, served raw and then cooked by diners in a boiling pot of soup at their table. I gather from the signs on the wall that Mao Tze Tung even ate at one of the Dong Lai Shun outlets.


It was about 8.30 pm when we got there and we were both cold and starving. Lucky for us, the place wasn’t that busy.





The waitress that served us didn’t speak English; so it was just as well I had my mother with me. She placed our order in Mandarin and it didn’t take long for stuff to arrive at our table. I expect that sign language and pointing to items on the menu would have worked equally as well.


A Hot Pot Dinner is a simple concept. Every major foodie country will have a version of a Hot Pot or Fondue. Whether it’s a water, soup, cheese or chocolate version…..I love the concept. Afterall, it’s all about handing over cash at a restaurant….and having the pleasure of cooking your own food!





We made 2 mistakes or lost in translations with our dinner tonight. The first was with our hot pot. We should have paid the extra for the charcoal version. There would have been a brazier sitting at the bottom of the hot pot, and the pot would have sat higher off the table. In any event, the hot plate heating up the pot worked equally as well.

The next was with the dipping sauce. We had a choice of peanut, chilli and plum (I think). We ended up with 2 peanut sauces. We should have had a different option as well.

Something for next time.



Then the food started to arrive.


We had a selection of tofu and rice noodles.




We also ordered a plate of vegetables.





I really don’t know how it happened, but my mother ended up ordering 2 of these raw sliced lamb bowls. The lamb definitely made this a legitimate Old Beijing style fondue or shabu shabu (Lao Beijing Shua Yan Grou).
Yes, they were thinly sliced and easy to eat but if I had known she was going to order two lots of protein, I may have asked for a different option. There were seafood options on the menu.






We also had a plate of different types of mushrooms. I seemed to have missed grabbing a picture of it.

And lastly, we had some fresh made noodles.





If we had known that the tofu came with rice noodles, we would not have ordered this extra noodles. Nice as they were, we really couldn't finish all the noodles in the end.






Cutlery consisted of chopsticks….







….and the essential ladle and slotted spoon for fishing food out of the hot pot.






I might have had some concerns about doing a Hot Pot on day 1 of this trip. Afterall, there is a whole lot of local water in the pot and one of my golden rules is to avoid drinking the local water in the first couple of days. But I loved the look of the Cloisonne hot pot on the table and was so charmed by it that all thoughts of diarrhoea just flew out the door.





We started to put food into the hot pot.





When everything is boiling and we’re doing our own cooking, I figured I would be safe.





Talk about jumping into the hot pot!





It’s a deceptively simple meal. But when you eat one or five such full bowls, it does fill you up!


This meal cost us about 370 Yuan for the two of us. That’s about $75 in my money terms. Whilst it wasn’t a cheap meal, it wasn’t overly pricey either by Australian standards. Both mum and I were completely stuffed!


I am also pleased to report that there were no post-meal issues either. Plus, I got to tick off one of the culinary must-eats when in China off my list.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Nanjing Road at Night - More Neons



We figured that we had the Portuguese tarts for dessert so after dinner, we slowly made our way back down Nanjing Road to our hotel.


Nanjing Road was still busy.






The neon lights here were also bright.






In fact, there were brightly lit neons everywhere!





We couldn’t walk down Nanjing Road without people wanting to hand out pamphlets. We ignored all of them.





I took a detour down Shi-tan Lu again. I figured the neons would make it look very bright.





For those wondering, we only walked down what is considered Nanjing Road East.






There is still Nanjing Road West; which we never really got to explore fully.



We made it back to the hotel, had a cup of tea and some Po-tarts. After the midnight flight out and not getting a lot of sleep, I crashed as soon as my head hit the pillow.

 

[tiggrbaby]

Happy to have stumbled on this TR! Will have to take some time to catch up!

 

[dhorner233]

That mutton hot pot was interesting.

You are making this trip look fun, easy and safe!

 

[zanzibar138]

Wow I was forgetting this was still your first day, what a big day!

The hot pot looks so good. Will have to put it on the list for the next trip

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Wow I was forgetting this was still your first day, what a big day!

The hot pot looks so good. Will have to put it on the list for the next trip

Our Beijing version was also very tasty though being in a local off the tourist beat hutong we only got chopsticks to hold our food in the pot while it cooked - I needed those slotted spoons the number of times I dropped some!

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Hi PIO. Only just joined. Didn't see it! Read through now and caught up. Wow! How fascinating. I often wondered what occured with internet access when you go to China. Is the currency is closed currency?

Oh my all the scammers. Good job you were on the ball there.

That magnetic train is amazing!

Enjoying the sights of Shanghai so far. Looks like a interesting place. I love different cultures. Your hotel looks nice.

Lovely food choices. I hope you don't get ill. Looking forward to reading more.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Happy to have stumbled on this TR! Will have to take some time to catch up!

Hi! Long time no see. Hope you've been well.
So happy you're here.

That mutton hot pot was interesting.

You are making this trip look fun, easy and safe!

Denise - If you and DCuz are thinking about SDL and HKDL, I'd recommend you seriously consider going. Once you get the hang of the Metro system, Shanghai is quite easy to get around. And if you take the official taxis, it's relatively cheap for around the CBD. And.....it was seriously cheaper for me than heading to a US park.

Wow I was forgetting this was still your first day, what a big day!

The hot pot looks so good. Will have to put it on the list for the next trip

Yes, it's still the first day!

The hot pot was very good. And yes....the next trip (FYI - They have a branch in Hong Kong). When are WE going again???

Our Beijing version was also very tasty though being in a local off the tourist beat hutong we only got chopsticks to hold our food in the pot while it cooked - I needed those slotted spoons the number of times I dropped some!

Only chopsticks? WOW! We would have spent all our time fishing food out of the pot.

 

[Fairy Floss]

When are WE going again???

Whenever it is.... I'm in!!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Hi PIO. Only just joined. Didn't see it! Read through now and caught up. Wow! How fascinating. I often wondered what occured with internet access when you go to China.

Hi Paula! So glad you made it here. Hope that you and J are well.

Internet access?

The SIM card worked really well for me. I popped it into the smart phone when I landed at HK airport and it found the carrier, plus swapped over the APN without me having to do anything.
I also had ExpressVPN, which I turned on when in HK airport to make sure that the combination of the 'local' SIM and ExpressVPN worked for me in HK. It did.

When I got to Shanghai Airport, I turned everything on again. The 'local' SIM found the carrier but I had issues with connecting to ExpressVPN in Shanghai Airport. The SIM card worked well and I could send messages via WhatApp to hubby at home. The 'local' SIM card let me communicate via WhatApp with or without ExpressVPN, which was just as well.

I eventually managed to connect to the ExpressVPN servers when I was on my way to the hotel in Shanghai. I kept trying on the MagLev and eventually got connected when I was in the taxi. The ExpressVPN servers I used were located in HK. I think a couple of the other Dissers tried to connect to the servers located in Japan and they didn't manage to get any service until they swapped over to the HK servers.
Once I had connection to ExpressVPN, all normal internet access worked. I couldn't get access to FB with just the local SIM. I think the write-up on the SIM was that you should be able to access FB.....but I don't think I was ever successful at FB connection without having to turn on ExpressVPN. I was also able to access my yahoo mail using ExpressVPN. There was definitely no google and no yahoo access without the ExpressVPN.

Connection with the ExpressVPN servers were spotty. At times, it connected straightaway.....at times, it took multiple attempts before I could connect. On my smartphone (which is an iphone), I also had to go into my settings to make sure that my wifi (or was it VPN) connection was on (it did automatically switch off from time to time) if there seemed to be a delay in connection.

Once I got into the swing of things, everything worked well. I think the ExpressVPN servers did experience 'peak load' around lunchtime and periodically during the day. During those peak times, it took a bit more effort to get connected but I did get the connection after several attempts.


The local SIM card didn't work for my mother. We did google to try and work out why; and even went into an Apple reseller store in Shanghai to see if they could help. Turns out....her iphone is old and it doesn't support changing the APN at all! So, we popped her Aussie SIM card back in and used WhatApp to keep in contact with each other.


@zanzibar138 can also elaborate on her experience. I don't think she managed to get the 'local' SIM card working for her at all!
@Aussie Wendy also had a good experience with the combination she chose. I'm pretty sure she used ExpressVPN as well.
@Fairy Floss also successfully used a different combination. I'll leave it to her to share, if she wants to.

Is the currency is closed currency?

Not sure what you mean by this question....but happy to answer any question on currency.

Oh my all the scammers. Good job you were on the ball there.

That magnetic train is amazing!

Enjoying the sights of Shanghai so far. Looks like a interesting place. I love different cultures. Your hotel looks nice.

Lovely food choices. I hope you don't get ill. Looking forward to reading more.

Thank you.

I didn't get ill at all on this trip. And I didn't get ill when I arrived home either.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Whenever it is.... I'm in!!

I've been slowly unpacking and processing my pictures. It's making me want to go again!!!

 

[franandaj]

Wow! I can't believe this all happened on arrival day! The pictures from the River Cruise were stunning and amazing to see how much the skyline has grown in the last 11 years!

I'd love to try Hot Pot sometime. Do they refill the water in the pot? I know when we do shabu shabu we are always filling the pots from our water glasses. Do you end up with a soup afterwards? Good thing your Mom speaks Mandarin! Such a long day, I don't blame you for passing out as soon as you got back.

 

[shushh]

Your TRs are the best! So glad about it because we leave on Saturday!!! Is that enough incentive to write faster?!?! Love how you've taken your mum
We have had zero preparation other than booking Aurora and Royal Banquet Hall...DH's high school friend lives in Shanghai and I think we've been lulled into a false sense of security!

I think someone else has also commented but we were able to make our hotel reservations completely online in December last year. Got confirmations straight away.

Eagerly awaiting the rest of the TR...no pressure

 

[zanzibar138]

When are WE going again???

Whenever it is.... I'm in!!

As much as I would LOVE to do another trip while I have my MAP, unfortunately I don't think I'm going to be able to make it happen (unless I happen upon a sudden windfall lol!). It's going to take everything I have to save for this ridiculous Round the World RunDisney trip I have planned

@zanzibar138 can also elaborate on her experience. I don't think she managed to get the 'local' SIM card working for her at all!

PIO is correct - I never did get the local SIM card working in Shanghai. I generally had no trouble connecting to the free hotel wifi, and was able to access everything through Express VPN (which I pre-downloaded onto all my devices). Unlike PIO, I never had any trouble connecting to the Hong Kong server via Express VPN.

I did have some serious issues connecting to the free wifi in the park. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Mostly it didn't Still, we managed to keep in contact reasonably well between all of us.

FWIW, the local SIM card worked perfectly in HK. I was on it pretty regularly trying to get my money's worth after having no luck in Shanghai lol!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Wow! I can't believe this all happened on arrival day! The pictures from the River Cruise were stunning and amazing to see how much the skyline has grown in the last 11 years!

I'd love to try Hot Pot sometime. Do they refill the water in the pot? I know when we do shabu shabu we are always filling the pots from our water glasses. Do you end up with a soup afterwards? Good thing your Mom speaks Mandarin! Such a long day, I don't blame you for passing out as soon as you got back.

You know me. I try and cram as much as possible in the one day as I can.
(But I did have to go slower on this trip for my mother)

They did refill the water in the pot. And we did end up with a decent soup afterwards. That's why we ordered the noodles.
Yes. If my mother didn't speak the lingo, I would have definitely organised guides before I left!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Your TRs are the best! So glad about it because we leave on Saturday!!! Is that enough incentive to write faster?!?! Love how you've taken your mum
We have had zero preparation other than booking Aurora and Royal Banquet Hall...DH's high school friend lives in Shanghai and I think we've been lulled into a false sense of security!

I think someone else has also commented but we were able to make our hotel reservations completely online in December last year. Got confirmations straight away.

Eagerly awaiting the rest of the TR...no pressure

Nice to see you here! And you're the best. Thanks for the vote of confidence.

Have a great time in Shanghai! I'll try and cover off Suzhou before you leave. There's a lot of pictures for Disney....in the rain.


I did zero prep for Shanghai other than booking Lumiere's and RBH. I was lulled into a false sense of security because my mother could speak Mandarin and had been to Shanghai before. But you'll definitely be fine if you have a local contact. They'll take care of you!

 

[PrincessInOz]

As much as I would LOVE to do another trip while I have my MAP, unfortunately I don't think I'm going to be able to make it happen (unless I happen upon a sudden windfall lol!). It's going to take everything I have to save for this ridiculous Round the World RunDisney trip I have planned

You never know what may happen!

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

thanks for explaning about the internet access. I think I would be scared in case the Chinese arrested me! Can they do that?

I looked it up. They don't have a closed currency. Some communist countries do. Meaning you can't get any outside the country you have to wait to get there to exchange it. You can't take any out either.

 

[PrincessInOz]

thanks for explaning about the internet access. I think I would be scared in case the Chinese arrested me! Can they do that?

I don't think I want to know!!!

I looked it up. They don't have a closed currency. Some communist countries do. Meaning you can't get any outside the country you have to wait to get there to exchange it. You can't take any out either.

Ah. Like in Czechoslavaka in the 1990's. We had to change money at the border and change it back when we left.

No. I bought my Yuan in Melbourne and came home with some....for the next trip.