Shanghai Foods & Restaurant

Without a doubt, Shanghai is one of China's great gastronomical centers. If you do not experience Shanghai's cuisine to the fullest, then you are depriving yourself an essential part of Shanghai life. Chinese people have always placed top priority on food, and Shanghai is no exception. Shanghai has been developing its own distinctive local cuisine for over one hundred years. At the same time, this historical port city has tolerantly and appreciatively welcomed the best international cuisine from around the world. World famous international restaurants have been gradually making their way into Shanghai to set up shop. As a result, French, Japanese and Italian restaurants together make up eighty percent of Shanghai's high-end cuisine, many of which are on par with some of the best restaurants in the world. Shanghai locals are proud of their city's fine eateries and have come to see them as one of the definitive trademarks of their home. Never tired of discussing the newest international restaurant in town, Shanghai locals are willing to spend top-dollar — sometimes huge chunks of their pay checks — for a new dining experience. Chinese newspapers and lifestyle magazines do not spare any ink reporting on the city's newly opened establishments. Do not be surprised to see streams of upper class Chinese people filing in and out of the ultra-fancy restaurants in Three and in Eighteen on the Bund. You would be challenged to find another city in China that rums eating out into such an extravagant display.

Expensive cuisine is fine for an occasional splurge, but for the rest of the time takes comfort in knowing that Shanghai abounds with mid-level working class eateries. Every flavor and every price range is accounted for on the Shanghai streets, and you can easily indulge in some fine cooking without doing too much damage to your wallet. Choices here are not limited to local Shang-haiese and regional Huaiyang cuisines. You can also find Sichuan, Cantonese, Hunan, and Guizhou style restaurants. Every once and a while you may even run across signs for restaurants serving Peking Duck.

Just a few years ago, restaurant-lined food streets were extremely popular in Shanghai. Huanghe Lu Food Street near the People's Square, the Zhapu Lu Food Street near the Qipu Lu Wholesale Clothing Market, and Yunnan Lu Food Street on Fuzhou Lu were once veritable bee hives of small restaurants and swarming customers. Aside, perhaps, from Huanghe Lu, most of these food streets have since fallen back down to Earth, and are no longer the bustling venues they once were. That being said, most of the restaurants there still operate and beacon to customers with advertisements bearing their signature dishes or a special style of food preparation.

It is not hard to find a restaurant in Shanghai. Like most large cities in China, each of Shanghai's large avenues has an almost limitless selection of eateries. Another fact about Shanghai that international visitors may not be aware of is that most department stores and shopping malls have food courts on their top or basement floors. Usually packed with dozens of stands, these food courts serve small portions of precooked items, and there is usually so much variety that choosing what you want to eat can be a real challenge. Most food courts require that you first purchase an electronic card at the sales counter, which you can then use to buy food. When you have finished your meal, you can return your card to the sales counter and they will refund the money left on your card. Most food courts offer pretty reasonable prices. Expect to pay 40to 50 RMB per person — not a bad price for a decent dinner. If you want to go even cheaper, than stick to the traditional Shanghai snacks like "xiaolongbao steamed" buns, which can fill you up for about 20 RMB. In contrast, a dinner in a swanky upscale restaurant can set you back over 500 RMB.

If you want to avoid Chinese food, but still do not want to pay high restaurant bills, McDonalds and KFC are absolutely everywhere. Shanghai is one of China's most westernized cities, and you can also find some locally operated restaurants selling simple western fare such as pizza, pasta, and hamburgers. Their prices are cheap too, and you should be able to fill up for about 20 to 30 RMB.