Shanghai China Snippets Observations about living in Shanghai and China in general

One more day to go in Kunming. The city I started my life in China and which I left last year.
I’m typing on a keyboard that’ s so sticky most letters have to be re-typed but it works.

Has Kunming changed since last year. No, not at all. Everything is still happening in the very laid back way it used to be. Waitresses are slow, beer is most of the time warm, and all foreigner bars have signs in the toilet telling me “No pooping/shitting or you get a 50 Rmb penalty”.

In my old apartment the fridge stopped working so we cooled the beers by hanging them in a plastic bag in the squat toilet and flush them constantly. It works and it even survived the peeing of the 10-year old son of one of my friends.

Kunming is also the place where I learned to schedule my own loo-time. Everything to avoid the public toilets where pooping is allowed.

The sun shines but because it’s 2000 meters above sea level it’s nice and not hot. I drink a coffee on one of the many terraces and will have some great Spanish food tonight.

I’ll miss Kunming but I will be happy to get back to the speed of Shanghai.

One week away from bloody hot, sweaty Shanghai. One week in good old Kunming where coffee is 5 kuai, food is 1/3 the price and shoe shiners are everywhere.

Wish you all a Happy Golden Week and don’t forget to spend, spend, spend..

I have just updated some more Yangshuo restaurant reviews. If i feel up to it I might, some day, continue with some more Yangshuo info. For now, just a last tip.

Bike out of West Street into the paddies. It’s great, it’s hot and you loose your breakfast fast. There are some great guides that can lead you or you can go by yourself. The advantage of having a guide is clear the moment your bike breaks down.

Yangshuo Restaurant Reviews III

Yangshuo Restaurant Reviews IV

Yangshuo is known for it’s famous (so they say themselves) beer fish. We tried it, it’s ok but what really can make you go home with a story is Yangshuo snakes. Ordering snake means you have to give the restaurant some time so the poacher can go out and fetch one. That was the feel we got. The snake is fresh and you have a photo-op with it. I held one but I am still waiting for the answer whether it was poisonous or not. Most other places also offer the snake experience. After the pic with the life-version, they squeeze its blood out and mix this with strong liquor. Later they serve you the snake dish although it was pretty hard to find bits of the beast itself. Taste is nothing special though, it is more the idea although I did feel stronger afterwards.

Yangshuo – Twin Peaks Cafe – West Street

• Breakfast (2 fried eggs, juice, coffee, 2 x toast, ham/bacon, hash brown) – 20 Rmb – Not bad at all.
• Wine – Cabernet Sauvignon – 80 Rmb
• Small Snake – 60 Rmb – Fresh but hardly any taste

Popular place with good food. A bit too busy at times though.

Yangshuo – Minni Mao Cafe – Side street of West Street

• Beer – 630 mm – 7 Rmb – They also pretend to serve draft beer but beware, it is just a bottle
• Garlic Bread – 8 Rmb – 4 excellent pieces with lots of garlic and cheese
• Club Sandwich – 15 Rmb – served in a nice basket, with fries, very good
• Wine – Cabernet Sauvignon – 90 Rmb

They hardly speak English but they serve good food.

Lissa’s

• Breakfast (2 fried eggs, 2 toast, butter or jam, coffee or orange juice) – 20 Rmb

We won’t be coming back here. This one was the worst experience ever breakfast wise. The oil used for frying the eggs is as old as the grandfather who gestured us in. The coffee, … lukewarm and the toast is not really toasted. The juice was passable though. The worst was maybe the fact that one of their touts asked us whether we liked the food. Our “No, not at all” was accepted with unbelief, a short laugh and once again she asked ….
We said “No, really, no”. She gave us one more look, as we were crazy, sat at our table and tried to sell us a tour.

I mentioned before that most of the waitresses in the bars have pretty good English. It makes Yangshuo a weird enclave with bars, restaurants, hotels and lots of schools to learn English. They all seem to be in need of teachers so if you want to relax and make some travel money this might be a nice spot.

I was actually asked by a lady if I was willing to teach the daughter of a friend of hers. Only one month as a preparation for the girl’s big jump abroad. “You teach very beautiful girl” was the pitch. “Only one month, so you can stay here, ok..” was the second phrase.

I uttered that I actually lived in Shanghai. “No problem, only one month, teach beautiful girl’. My answer that my wife would be less pleased made her try once more “No problem, only one month”. She left but I was tempted:)

Yangshuo – Jimmy’s Bar – West Street (Xi Jie)

• Wine – 86 Rmb – Great Wall Cabernet Sauvignon 1999
• Double Espresso – 20 Rmb – The absolute best in town
• Beer – Local 630 MM – 7 Rmb
• Club Sandwich – 18 Rmb – Medium taste/li>
• Garlic Bread – 10 Rmb – average, 4 pieces if I recall correctly

Pleasant bar with a very enthusiastic waitress called Spring. She opens a bottle of wine almost perfectly; she’ll even let you sniff the cork. Mentioned before is their Double Espresso that is near perfect
Unknown Bar

Yangshuo – Rosewood Inn – Side street West Street/Gui Hua Street

• Breakfast (2 fried eggs, juice/coffee, toast, (not so tasteful) ham) – 12 Rmb – One of the cheapest western breakfast places, though not the best
• Coffee – 6 Rmb – They have a special with Brazilian coffee. It’s watery so avoid

As it is just out of West Street it’s quieter and situated next to a small stream the location is nice. Food wise not too good and they hardly speak English

Yangshuo – 98 Bar & Restaurant – Side street West Street/Gui Hua Street

• Breakfast (2 fried eggs, tea/coffee, 2x toast, hash brown, grilled tomato, nice crispy bacon) – 22 Rmb – Next to the same stream as the Rosewood inn but quality wise definitely the superior.

One of the best breakfasts available. Service is friendly and the saltshaker is actually sprinkling salt.

Yangshuo for backpackers consists of one main street and some alleys leading up there. It’s called West Street and is a true Walhalla for travelers, which have been traveling the dirt roads of China. Compared to Dali it’s more crowded, compared to Lijiang it’s fairly quiet. It is the low season though now so my observations might be incorrect. High season or national days are likely to be the periods to stay away.

If you stay for more than a couple of days you start to see the patterns of the street life. The old, grinning woman carrying her basket with fruit points enthusiastically to the different flavors “Hello lychee, hello banana, hello apple, hello …” until she runs out of things to point at. She smiles once more very deeply and moves on for her next pitch. The lady selling bags in her small stand, trying to convince you time after time again to buy something you surely will never need. The mini seized beggar who has been convicted by nature to squat through the street, seeing all the other pedestrians at knee high.

Groups come in for just a few hours, are guided through all the stands, have a quick drink in one of the bars and continue their bus journey. The best place to observe all this is at Le Votre Restaurant as it’s in on a T-crossing, yet the terrace is big enough to keep distance and avoid being pestered all the time.

Yangshuo – Le Votre Restaurant – West Street

• Breakfast (2 fried eggs, coffee, juice, yoghurt, 1/2 baguette/toast, 2 butters, jam, 2 slices of cheese – 30 Rmb – Cofee is good although could be stronger)
• Beer – Locally Brewed Draft – a Pitcher – 38 Rmb – The best beer in town
• Irish Coffee – 25 Rmb – Average
• Sirloin Steak – 58 Rmb – Good

Le Votre is a bit more up market than the other places around. It’s a bit more expensive but definitely the best place to have a fresh beer, enjoy the cooling of the fan on your back and eat good food. Tables have clean white tablecloth, the food is presented as it should and service is adequate most of the time.

Yangshuo – Lucky Cafe – West Street

• Breakfast
• Wine – Great Wall Cabernet Sauvignon – 86 Rmb
• Club Sandwich – 16 Rmb – Not the best but still ok
• Beer – Local 630 mm – 7 Rmb
• Pizza – Spicy version – 28 Rmb – Average but nothing really special

All the staff seems to be studying English next to serving food and drinks. Apparently Yangshuo is known as a good place to learn English. It makes sense, may foreigners, many English. The current karaoke star jamming in the evening should be avoided.

We have been blessed with some very fine and sunny weather the last two days. A nice change from the endless rain, drizzle etc. We came here to relax a bit but even relaxing has its limits. Sitting in one of the ample available bars we decided to make use of our time by playing Lonely Planet freak. We surveyed the backpacker bars/restaurants where we had breakfast, lunch, brunch, late afternoon tea, dinner, supper and late snacks. All rinsed down with coffee, wine, tonic, gin & tonic, local beer and more wine from the year 1999.

We compared breakfasts, club sandwiches, wine, coffee and local beer. Sometimes we did not feel like a beer or had an appetite for a “real” pizza so other culinary surprises are included. Lists are in no particular order and all expressed opinions are very subjective..

Last but not least, in good old Lonely Planet Style we like to add that we received word from one of the more active readers that Yangshuo is not as safe anymore as it used to be. 5 Years ago a guy was robbed because he left his wallet in a bar.

Yangshuo – Blue Bird Bar – West Street

• Breakfast – did not have it there yet… a bad start for survey results:)
• Wine – Bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon 1999 – 100 Rmb –
• Coffee – nopes… too late
• Beer – Local Beer 630 mm – 10 Rmb – yep, it was cold
• Pizza – Chill Beef – 25 Rmb – Not bad at all
• Club Sandwich – with fries in the middle – 15 Rmb – Pretty nice, Frank liked the french fries a lot

It has a small terrace and service is friendly. A bit tedious, but that goes for most of these places, is the local karaoke hero who takes the opportunity to extend his 15 minutes of street fame. Then again, with all this rain, the power outages do have an advantage.

Yangshuo – Meiyou Cafe – West Street

• Breakfast ((juice, coffee, pancake banana, 2 fried eggs, 2 toast) – 20 Rmb – Price/quality good
• Wine – we still have some nights so maybe this will filled in
• Beer – Local Beer 630 mm – 7 Rmb – Cold
• Irish Coffee – small glass but for – 15 Rmb – was an ok drink

Meiyou Cafe prides itself to “have” everything on the menu except bad service, warm beer, etc. This is something.. in China it tends to happen on a frequent basis that you point something on the menu, the waitress nods yes, goes in, comes back and tells you “mei you”. This ritual repeats itself a few times and by the end of the day you have eaten.