Shanghai Archives - Page 14 of 16

Hot off The Press!

May 4, 2015 Shanghai

The Press Exterior — The former Shun Pao newspaper headquarters revived as a cafe.

Read all about it! Read all about it! Nanjing East Road area in decent café shocker! It’s a bit of an odd part of town, this, isn’t it? The long stretch between the Bund and People’s Square has plenty of gorgeous heritage architecture but, where they haven’t been ripped down to create malls, most of the buildings here seem to remain occupied by obscure government departments determined to let them crumble into obscurity.

The Press Interior — The beautiful ceilings still in place.

New café The Press, then, is rather a breath of fresh air in what we’ve often described as a ‘culinary wasteland’. Sitting pretty on the corner of Hankou Lu and Shandong Lu, the smiley staff serve a decent selection of coffee and western food. But we’d be lying if we claimed it was all about the food, folks, it’s the space here that makes the headlines. Huge windows and a high ceiling giving an airy feel rarely found in Shanghai. In fact, it’s the gorgeous curved and ornately plastered ceiling that provides the incredibly grand look.

Sherlock Gets Shanghai’d

April 30, 2015 Shanghai

Benedict Cumberbatch in Shanghai. Photo Credit: Sina.

To say the BBC’s Sherlock adaptation has been a huge hit in China is something of an understatement, its star famously being honored by his legions of Chinese fans with a quirky Chinese nickname (juan fu, or ‘curly fu’ after his hairstyle in the show). So we admit we were more than a tiny bit excited when we were invited to accompany Benedict Cumberbatch and entourage around Shanghai for the evening.

Would the star reciprocate the city’s affection? After all, one local fan was so besotted that she opened a café, 221B Baker Street, dedicated to the man (it’s at 50 Ruijin Er Lu if you must, and yes, we told him about it!).

Spring Eats – POP Brasserie and Wishbone

April 30, 2015 Shanghai

Spring has arrived with a bang in Shanghai, so Team Bespoke has been out pounding the streets before the full heat of summer arrives to try out the city’s newest restaurants. Hey, it’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it…

Beautifully Prensented Dishes at POP — Beautifully presented dishes at POP American Brasserie

First out of the blocks comes POP American Brasserie. Replacing former tenant New Heights, POP seems determined to make a splash with bold branding and beautifully presented dishes. While the menu of American classics – think Caesar salads, New England clam chowders and plenty of fresh seafood choices – plays it pretty safe, the abundance of colours and fresh flowers used to present the dishes make for a lovely seasonal touch that certainly brightened up our lunch.

The All New Shanghai Museum of Natural History

April 27, 2015 Shanghai

Shanghai Museum of Natural History Main Hall — The vast main hall of the museum.

The Shanghai Museum of Natural History had, let’s face it, long been a bit of a laughing stock. Opened in 1956 in a lovely old colonial building behind the Bund, it would surely have been something special back in the day. Rarely (if ever) updated, the dusty corridors and bizarre exhibits (ragged looking mummies, animal specimens in formaldehyde) gave the impression of an eccentric professor’s laboratory: quirky and amusing, but hardly living up to Shanghai’s 21st century aspirations.

Shanghia Museum of Natural History Exterior — The brand spanking new Shanghai Museum of Natural History.

But now the museum has reopened and has been given more than just a makeover. This is a full scale reboot including a new location in Jing’an Sculpture Park. Serious amounts of time and money have been spent here, and with its dramatic new design, the museum hasn’t been short of attention: so many locals turned up on opening day in mid-April that ticketing had to be halted an hour in.

Eat Like a Local – a Shanghai Foodie Adventure

April 16, 2015 Shanghai

Dumpling Steamers — Your dumplings await, m’lady

Shanghai’s foodie credentials have never been more prolific – featuring ever higher on ‘Best Restaurant’ lists and in the glossy write-ups in international travel mags. But of course that’s just a tiny part of the story – the vast majority of locals rarely make the trek to the Bund for fine dining, and why would they, when some of the best food in the city comes from a hole in the wall?

That’s right, the food we’d happily pole-vault the Great Wall of China for is in fact much more local. There are just a few things you need to experience it: an empty stomach, a willingness to veer off the beaten track, and, with nary a word of English spoken in most tiny local establishments (let alone written), a lot of guidance is key. Enter Bespoke and our foodie expert: an experienced, well-connected food critic who knows every culinary corner of the city. Roll up your sleeves and prepare to jostle for a red plastic stool – we’re taking you local.

Design Shanghai

March 30, 2015 Shanghai

Shanghai Exhibition Centre Exterior — ‘The Wedding Cake’

Quite frankly, we’re always happy to find an excuse to spend a bit of time in the Shanghai Exhibition Centre. The 1955 Soviet-style building, sometimes referred to as the ‘wedding cake’, has more charm than the multitude of new conference centres on the fringes of the city combined. Appropriate then, that this should be the venue of choice for the second Design Shanghai, a showcase of all things visually fabulous (not to mention fabulously expensive) that rolled back into town this past weekend.

Central Hall of Shanghai Exhibition Centre — The Central Hall

Shanghai has always played second fiddle to Beijing in the contemporary art world, but the organizers of this show seemed determined to proclaim Shanghai as the design capital of China. Locals turned out in full support – so packed was the building’s vast Central Hall that the usually unflappable army of Italian vendors in sharp suits, here to promote their wares to a new generation of style-conscious homeowners, looked distinctly harried. Ticket touts prowled the streets outside, selling entry passes to those who had come too late to register.

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