If you have made it your mission to try out every restaurant in the Expo, then this guide is for you. Since the Expo Park is divided into the Pudong and Puxi areas, leyt us start with Pudong which comprises of Zones A, B, C, and the Expo Axis.

For each restaurant, I included–

• Their real names (If it is in Chinese characters, I used the pinyin. If English name is given or at least is known in the dining circles using its Latin spelling, I used that.);
• The index mark in the official map (go to our super Expo transportation guide to download these);
• What kind of food they serve (Islamic-Halal, Vegetarian, etc.);
• What pavilions are near them;
• Dishes to try out (includes pricing);
• And for some–my general comments (offshoot, related otherwise) and stuff I found interesting in the place.

Zone A

Zone A has a total of 13 restaurants. The pavilions in Zone A are the following:

• China Pavilion
• Asia Joint Pavilion I
• Asia Joint Pavilion II
• Asia Joint Pavilion III
• Chinese Provinces Pavilion
• Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Pavilion
• Hong Kong Pavilion
• India Pavilion
• Iran Pavilion
• Israel Pavilion
• Japan Pavilion
• Kasakhstan Pavilion
• Lebanon Pavilion
• Macao Pavilion
• Morocco Pavilion
• Nepal Pavilion
• Oman Pavilion
• Pakistan Pavilion
• Qatar Pavilion
• Republic of Korea Pavilion
• Saudi Arabia Pavilion
• Sri Lanka Pavilion
• Taiwan Pavilion
• Turkmenistan Pavilion
• United Arab Emirates Pavilion
• Uzbekistan Pavilion
• Vietnam Pavilion

1. Hong Chang Xing (g5)

Hong Chang Xing

Islamic. Xinjiang. Near Saudi Arabia Pavilion. Try their curry meals for RMB 15 per lunch box. They also have chicken snacks on sticks for RMB 8 three sticks.

2. Pakistan Restaurant (g5)

Pakistan Restaurant

Islamic. Near Saudi Arabia Pavilion. Try their Chicken Biryani and Beef Romali Rooti (RMB 35).

And your meals are wrapped in plastic–

Halal food wrapped in plastic

3. Bi An Ka (g5)

Bi An Ka

Japanese. Near Asian Joint Pavilion II. Try their Curry Rice and Chow Mien for RMB 30 each. They also have Pork Cutlet Bowl, Pork Cutlet Curry Rice, and Fried Chicken Set for RMB 35 each.

4. Yoshinoya (g5)

Yoshinoya

Japanese. Near Asian Joint Pavilion II. Yoshinoya has Chicken Rice, Double-Treasure Rice, Curry Rice, Hot Pot, and Pulled Noodles, but the most popular specialty here is the Beef Rice (RMB 35).

5. Ajisen Ramen (f5)

Ajisen Ramen

Japanese. Near Sri Lanka Pavilion. Ajisen Ramen is a very popular chain of Japanese noodle restaurants. I personally like their beef and vegetable noodles loaded with tons of cheese and chili (RMB 35). Amount of chili is customer’s preference.

6. Bi Feng Tang (f5)

Bi Feng Tang

Cantonese. Near Sri Lanka Pavilion. Try their Honey Glazed Barbecued Pork Rice for RMB 22. Dimsum Assortments which includes 2 Pork Dumplings, 3 Siu Mais, Barbecued Pork Buns for RMB 15.

7. Qing Hua Ci (f5)

Qing Hua Ci

Chinese. Near Sri Lanka Pavilion. Try their Spicy Diced Chicken with Peanuts or Kung Pao Chicken for RMB 35. Other meals are priced at RMB 35 also. Try their Taiwan Braised Pork, Sauteed Sliced Chicken with Black Pepper, Scented Fried Pork, Plum-Vegetable-Seasoned Steamed Pork, Curry Beef Flank, and Fried Sliced Pork Fillet with Salted Fish. In the English Expo map, their restaurant is noted as Blue and White Restaurant.

8. Gong De Lin (f5)

Gong De Lin

Chinese Vegetarian. Near Sri Lanka Pavilion. They have noodles, rice, and cold dishes ranging from RMB 15 to 28. If you want to try all their dishes, try their buffet for RMB 88. Their signboard says you do not need to line up. Just proceed upstairs. In the English Expo map, their name is translated as Godly.

9. Bamboo (g5)

Bamboo

Chinese. Near Republic of Korea Pavilion. Try their Special Chicken Leg (with Maggi seasoning–yes, that German seasoning we all love) for RMB 40. For something cheaper than that, try their Yangzhou Fried Rice and Udon with Meat Sauce for RMB 25.

10. KFC (g5)

KFC

Enough said.

11. Yuzu (g5)

Yuzu

Italian-Japanese. In between Uzbekistan Pavilion and Lebanon Pavilion. Try their Mushrooms Bubbling in Garlic Olive Oil, Blue Cheese Pizza, Charbroiled Rib Eye, and Grilled Seafood. Also, bento boxes from RMB 40 to 45 are available here.

12. Yue Sheng (g5)

Yue Sheng

Cantonese. In between Uzbekistan Pavilion and Lebanon Pavilion. They have noodle meal sets for RMB 30. Dimsum for RMB 10 each basket.

13. Ogawaya (g5)

Ogawaya

Japanese. In between Uzbekistan Pavilion and Lebanon Pavilion. Try their traditional Japanese street snacks. Recommended are Curry Rice, Beef Rice, Eel with Rice Sushi, Seaweed Rice Balls, Cold Udon, Ramen, Fried Noodles, Fried Sweet Potato. RMB 40 to 50 per person.

Zone B

Zone B has a total of 26 restaurants. The pavilions in Zone B are the following:

• Australia Pavilion
• Brunei Darussalam Pavilion
• Cambodia Pavilion
• DEVNET Pavilion
• Expo Center
• Expo Culture Center
• IFRC Pavilion
• Indonesia Pavilion
• International Organizations Pavilion
• Life Sunshine Pavilion
• Malaysia Pavilion
• MeteoWorld Pavilion
• New Zealand Pavilion
• Pacific Pavilion
• Pavilion of Public Participation
• Philippines Pavilion
• Singapore Pavilion
• Thailand Pavilion
• Theme Pavilion
• UN Pavilion
• WTCA Pavilion

In Zone B, there is a “Chinese Food Street” that covers all styles of Chinese cuisines.

Chinese Food Street

The “Chinese Food Street” also entertains the tourists at home and abroad with the feasts embodying the Chinese catering culture.

Chinese Cuisine

The eight styles of Shandong cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, Fujian cuisine, Jiangsu cuisine, Zhejiang cuisine, Hunan cuisine, and Anhui cuisine will let tourists experience the unique culture of Chinese delicious foods.

14. Colabo (d3)

Colabo

Italian. Near DEVNET Pavilion, UN Pavilion, and MeteoWorld Pavilion. Aside from the typical pizzas and pastas offered, Colabo has a deli just beside it which has Chinese rice bowls for RMB 35 to 45.

15. Zen (d4)

Zen

Cantonese. In between Malaysia Pavilion and WTCA Pavilion. Get your fill of spring rolls, turnip cakes, and barbequed pork buns here. RMB 150 to 500 per person.

16. CP Food Pavilion (d4)

CP Food Pavilion

Chinese and Western. Near Brunei Darussalam Pavilion and Philippine Pavilion. Try their Fragrant Braised Chicken Wings, Spicy Marinated Chicken Leg, Braised Pork Ribs with Preserved Vegetables, Sushi Braised Pork Belly, and Four Season Duck. They also have sausages and burgers. But their signature dish is the CP Signature Shrimps Wantons. Spend around RMB 50 to 100 here.

17. Xian Er Cun (d4)

 

Xian Er Cun

Chinese. Near Brunei Darussalam Pavilion and Philippine Pavilion. They have a Chinese set menu for RMB 38. You get a main course, vegetable side dish, rice, and soup. If you want an additional main course, the price is RMB 15.

18. Cheerway (d4)

Cheerway

Chinese. Near Brunei Darussalam Pavilion and Philippine Pavilion. Try their RMB 35 set meals like Braised Chicken with Mushroom and Sauteed Beef Fillet with Black Pepper Sauce.

19. World Restaurant (e4)

World Restaurant

Southeast Asian, Oceania, European, Indian, Japanese. Near Expo Center. Try various intercontinental dishes here. Meals range from RMB 30 to 50. Food court style.

20. Yuzu (e4)

Yuzu

This is their second branch inside the Expo Garden. But this branch is near Expo Center. Description taken from Zone A–

Italian-Japanese. Try their Mushrooms Bubbling in Garlic Olive Oil, Blue Cheese Pizza, Charbroiled Rib Eye, and Grilled Seafood. Also, bento boxes from RMB 40 to 45 are available here.

21. Latino Restaurant (e4)

Latino

Chinese and Western cuisine. Near Expo Center. Meals are from RMB 38 to 40. Try their rice toppings–Pork Chop, Mixed Seafood, Chicken Breast, Barbecued Pork, Fish-flavored Pork, Chicken Leg. They also have Penne and Fussili.

22. Le Provencal (e4)

Le Provencal

Mediterranean cuisine. Near Expo Center. Try their set menu complete with starters and main course for RMB 150 and above.

23. That’s Amore (e4)

That's Amore

Italian. Near Expo Center. Pizzas range from RMB 80 to 100. Salads, pastas, and desserts are also available.

24. Relax Turkish Restaurant (e4)

Relax Turkish Restaurant

Turkish. Near Expo Center. Get your fill of Turkish meals like kebabs and casseroles (RMB 78).

25. Shanghai Local Flavors Area (e4)

26. Xiao Nan Guo (e4)

Xiao Nan Guo

Chinese. Near Expo Center. Xiao Nan Guo focuses on using organic vegetables. Try their Vegetable Salad, Salt and Pepper Fish, Fried Shrimp, Tofu, Abalone, Shallot Noodles. Spend around RMB 100 to 500 per person.

27. Xing Hua Lou (e4)

Xing Hua Lou

Shanghainese.

28. Heji Restaurant (e4)

Heji

Shanghainese. Near Expo Center. Try their Fried Shrimp, Honey-smoked Fish, Beef Ribs. Price is around RMB 160 per person.

29. Lao Zheng Xing (e4)

Lao Zheng Xing

Shanghainese. Near Expo Center. Try their seafoods like shrimp and crab. Lao Zheng Xing’s shrimp dishes are famous in Shanghai. Expect to pay around RMB 100 per person.

30. De Yue Lou (d4)

De Yue Lou

Suzhou cuisine. Near Pacific Pavilion. Try their duck, eel, fish dishes. Other specialty dishes are Squirrel-Shaped Mandarin Fish, Braised Disassembled Big Fish Head, Steamed Reeves Shad, Mallard Vegetable Rice, Shredded Chicken with Bean Sprouts, Chicken Soup Boiled Bean Curd Noodles, Stewed Pork Balls with Crab Sauce. Price is around RMB 100 per person. Classic Jiangsu cuisines are Stewed Pork Balls with Crab Sauce, White Sauce Stewed Turtle, Yellow Mud Roasted Chicken, Boiled Salted Duck (Steamed Nanjing Duck), Chicken Soup Boiled Bean Curd Noodles, Phoenix-tailed Prawns.

31. Zhi Wei Guan (d4)

Zhi Wei Guan

Hangzhou cuisine. Near Pacific Pavilion. Try their West Lake Sour-Sweet Fish, Braised Dongpo Pork, Longjing Stir-fried Shrimp, Fenghua Yam, Braised Ham with Honey, Orchid Bamboo Shoots, Song Sao Fish Chowder, Snow Cabbages Yellow Fish, Ningbo-style Shredded Eel, Baked Chicken.

32. Tong Qing Lou (d4)

Tong Qing Lou

Anhui cuisine. Near Pacific Pavilion. Must-try’s are Fuliji Roast Chicken, Smoked Reeves Shad with Maofeng, Steamed Turtle with Ham, Huangshan-Presented Leopard Cat, Braised Civet Cat, Fengyang Hongwu Tofu, Huizhou Hairy Tofu, Salted Fresh Mandarin Fish, Huangshan Stewed Pigeon, Braised Pheasant with Potherb Mustard and Winter Bamboo Shoots, Fat Yellow Fish with Milk. Price per person is around RMB 150. Classic Anhui cuisines are  Steamed Turtle with Ham, Braised Civet Cat, Salted Fresh Mandarin Fish, Huangshan Stewed Pigeon, Tiger Skin Hairy Tofu, Mushrooms & Chestnut.

33. Majesty Plaza (d4)

Majesty Plaza

Fujian and other Chinese cuisine. In the English Expo map, the name written is Nam San Ya Hotel. Lunch and dinner buffet is RMB 120 including free flow of tea.

34. Courtyard by Marriott Shanghai Pudong (e4)

Courtyard by Marriott

Shandong cuisine. Near Expo Center. The following are the signature dishes: Braised Whelks, Braised Oysters, Grilled Prawns, Braised Intestines in Brown Sauce, Stir-fried Pork Tripe with Chicken Gizzard, Braised Sea Cucumber with Crab Cream, Simmered Turtle Rim in Broth and Deep-fried Small Fish. Classic Lu-style cuisine includes Braised Intestines in Brown Sauce, Sour-Sweet Carp, Quick-fried Pork Tripe and Chicken Gizzard, Braised Tofu in Pottery Pot, Braised Abalone in Shells, Stewed Shark’s Fin with Crab Cream, and Steamed Scallops with Egg White.

35. Huatian Restaurant (e4)

Huatian

Hunan cuisine. Near Expo Center. Chef’s specialties–Lotus Seeds with Rock Sugar Soup, Steamed Fish Head with Diced Hot Red Pepper, Braised Dong’an Chicken in Vinegar and Simmered Shark’s Fin in Brown Sauce. The following are classic Hunan dishes: Braised Mushroom in Brown Sauce, Braised Chestnuts with Shanghai Greens, Western Hunan-style Sautéed Preserved Pork with Red Pepper, Sautéed Duck with Sticky Rice Cakes, Steamed Sliced Pork with Fermented Soy Beans, and Sautéed Chicken with Chinese Prickly Ash and Pepper.

36. Chao Food Restaurant (e4)

Chao Food

Cantonese. Near Expo Center. Try their foie gras, fish, red crabs, beef balls, oysters. Special dishes are Roast Suckling Pig, Assorted Meat Soup in White Gourd, Braised Pork with Taro, Roasted Pigeon, Steamed Fish, Scalded Shrimps, Chinese Double-stewed Soup, Soup of Sharks’ Fin, and Roast Duck. Price per person is around RMB 300.

37. Ba Guo Bu Yi (e4)

Ba Guo Bu Yi

Sichuan. Near Expo Center. Chef’s specialtes are the following:  Kung Pao Chicken (Diced Chicken Fried with Chili and Peanuts), Sautéed Spicy Pork, Braised Shredded Chicken with Dried Tofu, Braised Eels, Spiced Chicken Nuggets, Poached Sliced Beef in Hot Chili Oil, Fish-flavor Shredded Pork (Sautéed with Spicy Garlic Sauce), and Sautéed Diced Chicken with Chili and Pepper.

38. Chinese Food Street (e4)

Chinese Food Street

Chinese. This food court only accepts food card spending. The par value of the card is categorized into RMB 100, 200, 900.

Zone C

Zone C has a total of 32 restaurants. The pavilions in Zone C are the following:

• Africa Pavilion
• Algeria Pavilion
• Angola Pavilion
• Argentina Pavilion
• Austria Pavilion
• Belarus Pavilion
• Belgium-EU Pavilion
• Bosnia and Herzegovina Pavilion
• Brazil Pavilion
• Canada Pavilion
• Caribbean Community Pavilion
• Chile Pavilion
• Colombia Pavilion
• Croatia Pavilion
• Cuba Pavilion
• Czech Pavilion
• Denmark Pavilion
• Egypt Pavilion
• Estonia Pavilion
• Europe Joint Pavilion I
• Europe Joint Pavilion II
• Finland Pavilion
• France Pavilion
• Germany Pavilion
• Greece Pavilion
• Hungary Pavilion
• Iceland Pavilion
• Ireland Pavilion
• Italy Pavilion
• Joint Pavilion for Central and South American Countries
• Latvia Pavilion
• Libya Pavilion
• Lithuania Pavilion
• Luxembourg Pavilion
• Mexico Pavilion
• Monaco Pavilion
• Netherlands Pavilion
• Nigeria Pavilion
• Norway Pavilion
• Peru Pavilion
• Poland Pavilion
• Portugal Pavilion
• Romania Pavilion
• Russia Pavilion
• Serbia Pavilion
• Slovakia Pavilion
• Slovenia Pavilion
• South Africa Pavilion
• Spain Pavilion
• Sweden Pavilion
• Switzerland Pavilion
• Tunisia Pavilion
• Turkey Pavilion
• UK Pavilion
• Ukraine Pavilion
• USA Pavilion
• Venezuela Pavilion

39. Hakuna Matata (c2)

Hakuna Matata

African-themed restaurant. Near Africa Joint Pavilion and Italy Pavilion. The first floor serves Western-style fast food, while the second floor is a buffet which can accommodate 200 people. Around RMB 50 per person. Authentic African and European chefs cook the meals. Try the African Ostrich Risotto and the North African Mutton.

40-41. Burger King, Papa John’s (b3)

Burger King, Papa John's

As you noticed, there are a lot of BK’s and Papa John’s.

42. Pizza Hut, KFC (b3)

Pizza Hut and KFC are more and less partnered together.

43. Zhen Gong Fu (b3)

Zhen Gong Fu

Chinese fast food. Near Peru Pavilion. It is currently China’s largest fast food chain. All dishes are steamed. Try their rice set meals. Spend around RMB 30 per person.

44. Da Niang Dumpling

Da Niang Dumpling

Chinese fast food. Near Peru Pavilion. Try their different kinds of dumplings like pork, shrimp, mushroom. Spend around RMB 25 to 50 per person.

45. Bricco Cafe (c3)

Bricco Cafe

Italian. Near Luxembourg Pavilion. Try their crisp pizzas, fresh salads, Italian pastas. Recommended dishes are Panino Amalfi (Amalfi Sandwich), Insalatona Oi Pollo (Smoked Chicken Salad), Insalatona Norvegse (Smoked Salmon Salad), Minestrone Di Vepdura (Italian Vegetable Soup), Pizza Prosciutto E Funghi (Ham and Mushroom  Pizza). Spend around RMB 75 per person.

46. Haiku (c3)

Haiku

Japanese-Californian fusion. Near Luxembourg Pavilion. Try their bento sets like Tonkatsu or Chicken Teriyaki for RMB 72 each. The Unagi is RMB 76. They also have sushi rolls and yakitori and the always-present shrimp tempura for RMB 18 each piece.

47. MX Hong Kong (c3)

MX Hong Kong

Chinese fast food, Western-style fast food, Hong Kong-style roasted flavor, Southeast Asian food, casual bakery. Near Russia Pavilion. Try their American-style barbecued pork, roasted duck, sweet and sour pork, chicken-shrimp stew. Fast food will cost around RMB 30 to 50. Fine-dining Chinese dinner is around RMB 75 to 90 per person.

MX even has a dining guide posted on their doors–

1. Choose food/drink items from the menu board.
2. Place order and settle payment at the cashier.
3. Pick up your food/drink item from the designated counter with the ticket.
4. For orders that takes time to prepare, please take a number and wait.

48. Yuyuan Restaurant (c3)

Yuyuan Restaurant

Chinese snacks. Near Russia Pavilion. Yuyuan get their supplies from the tourist spot Yuyuan itself.

49. Starbucks (c3)

Starbucks

50. Manabe (c3)

Manabe

Chinese meals and coffee drinks. Near Russia Pavilion. Try their signature coffee and beef rice and noodles. Spend RMB 40 to 50 per person.

51. Harvest Festival (c3)

Harvest Festival

Zhejiang and Shanghainese cuisine. Zhejiang meals are reflected from 3 places namely Hangzhou, Ningbo, and Shaoxing. Near Russia Pavilion. Try their Vegetable Salad, Jellyfish, Seafood Noodle Soup. Around RMB 80 per person.

52. South Beauty (c3)

South Beauty

High-end Chinese cuisine. Near Europe Pavilions. Place large enough to hold meetings and banquets. Try their a la carte dishes like Beef Sauteed with Black Pepper, Sichuan Noodles, and seafoods such as abalone. They also have brunches and lauriats and afternoon tea and snacks. Expect to spend around RMB 150 per person.

53. Wishdoing (b3)

Wishdoing

Chinese fast food. Near Caribbean Community Pavilion. Try their Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs, Shanghai-style Rice Cakes, Eel Fried Rice, Fragrant Beef Noodles. Price is around RMB 25 to 30 per person.

54. Duck King (b3)

Duck King

Chinese fast food. Near Caribbean Community Pavilion. Try their meal sets. Mongolian-style Lamb Sticks, Duck Burgers, Duck Rolls, Duck Noodles. Around RMB 38 per person.

They really are the Duck King–

Roasting the duck

55. Shishman-Cafe Turkish Foods (b3)

Shishman-Cafe Turkish Food

Not only do they serve Turkish meals but Shishman-Cafe also has Western dishes. Near Caribbean Community Pavilion. Expect to spend around RMB 50 to 60 per person.

The people are very friendly–

Smile at the camera

56. KFC, East Dawning (d3)

KFC

57. Porterhouse (d3)

Porterhouse

Authentic Western Ireland cuisine. Near Monaco and Serbia Pavilion. Try their Irish Fish and Chips, Irish Stew, Irish Braised Beef. Around RMB 100 per person.

58. Old Uncle (d3)

Old Uncle

Chinese Fast Food. Near Monaco and Serbia Pavilion. Try their Curry Beef or Shredded Pork with Garlic Sauce meal for RMB 24. Their Stewed Duck with Tea Tree Mushroom or Braised Pork in Preserved Bean Sauce is RMB 26.

59. Cang Lang Ting (d3)

Cang Lang Ting

Chinese. Near Monaco and Serbia Pavilion. Try their Shallot Pork Noodles, Curry Chicken with Rice, Spicy Chicken Noodles. Around RMB 25 to 30 per person.

60. Bulgarian Rose (d3)

Bulgarian Rose

Bulgarian. Near Finland Pavilion and Estonia Pavilion. Try their Bulgarian-style Pizza for RMB 35. They also have Pork Sausages and Beans, Beef Curry Soup and Rice for around RMB 5o to 60. Must-try is the Yoghurt and Rose Ice Cream for RMB 30.

61.  Tenya Family Restaurant (d3)

Tenya Family Restaurant

Japanese fast food. Near Finland Pavilion and Estonia Pavilion. Try their different bento boxes. Price is around RMB 50 per person.

62. Huyu, Feng Tang Ji (c4)

Huyu

Feng Tang Ji

Japanese fast food. Near Europe Joint Pavilion II. Price ranges from RMB 25 to 45.

63. Uruguay Restaurant (c4)

Uruguay Restaurant

Uruguay cuisine. Near Bosnia and Herzogovina Pavilion. Try their meat dishes ranging from RMB 60 to 69.

64. Jade Cuisine (c4)

Jade Cuisine

Chinese. Near Belarus Pavilion. Their set meals cost RMB 60 each. Includes Special Braised Meat, Mushroom with Oyster Oil, Vegetables, Half-Spiced Egg, Drinks. Other combinations are also available.

65. Jardin de Jade (c4)

Jardin de Jade

Zhejiang, Shanghainese cuisine. Near Belarus Pavilion. This restaurant is the first  from Mainland China which was recognized by the world’s food bible “Michelin”. The price per person is around RMB 200 to 300. Try their abalone, shrimp, and beef dishes.

66. KFC, Pizza Hut (c4)

KFC, Pizza Hut

67. Food Plaza of Xing Hua Lou Group (c4)

Food Plaza of Xing Hua Lou Group

Chinese snacks. Near Belarus Pavilion. The food plaza adopts the shikumen architectural style. Try the Peking duck, pork cakes, vegetarian dumplings, fried meats. Around RMB 30 to 50 per person.

68. Red Chicken (c4)

Red Chicken

Cantonese. Near Belarus Pavilion. Try their Golden Red Chicken, assorted cold dishes, shrimp, sweet and sour pork, Guangdong-style beef brisket, sea cucumber, bird’s nest. Price is about RMB 80 to 150 per person.

69. Newcomb Tea Theme Restaurant (c4)

Newcomb Tea Theme Restaurant

Chinese fast food. Near Belarus Pavilion. Try their Baked Prawns, Black Pepper Beef Ribs, Mushroom Stew. Price per person is around RMB 50.

70. C-Straits Cafe (c4)

C-Straits Cafe

Western food. Near Belarus Pavilion. Try their Cream of Mushroom Soup, Filet Mignon, Fruit Salads. Around RMB 60 per person.

The prized cow–

Holy Cow!

Expo Axis

The Expo Axis has 21 restaurants.

71. TMSK (f5/01 F)

TMSK

Taiwanese. Try their Stewed Pork Minced Meat and Shiitake Mushroom with Steamed Rice (RMB 58). Includes special side dish and iced black tea. Other dishes for the same price are Braised Beef Shank with Steamed Rice, Taiwan Rice Tube Pudding, Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup, Farmer’s Bowl Braised Pork and Seasonal Vegetables with Steamed Rice.

72. De Da (e4/01 F)

De Da

Western. They have RMB 35 set meals. Choices of braised beef or fried chicken. Includes soup, rice, vegetables, and fruit.

73. RBT Tea Cafe (e4/01 F)

RBT Tea Cafe

Chinese casual dining. They serve snacks for only RMB 10 per person.

74. Mister Donut, Starbucks, Afternoon Tea (e5/01 F)

Mister Donut, Starbucks, Afternoon Tea

Get 6 donuts for RMB 40 a box.

75. South Beauty (e5/01 F)

South Beauty

Try their Taiwanese beef noodles for RMB 45.

76. Manabe (d5/01F)

Manabe

Zone C has a Manabe already. From the description over there–

Chinese meals and coffee drinks. Try their signature coffee and beef rice and noodles. Spend RMB 40 to 50 per person.

77. Master Kong Chef (d5/01 F)

Master Kong Chef

Try their RMB 45 classical set. Beef noodle sets with jade green cucumber on the side and iced tea.

78. Dain Ti Hill (f5/B1)

Dain Ti Hill

Try their Rice with Vienna Roasted Chicken or Plum and Ribs for RMB 70.

79. Burger King (e5/B1)

Burger King

BK meals are more expensive at the Expo Garden. Bundle meals are RMB 40. Couple meals are RMB 70, while family meals are RMB 100.

80. Papa John’s (e4/B1)

Papa John's

Get rice or pizza combos ranging from RMB 35 to 100. You can also order whole pizzas for around RMB 100.

81. Chamate (e4/B1)

Yi Cha Yi Zuo

Taiwanese. Try their Braised Tofu and Crab Roe Casserole and Braised Chicken with Steamed Oil.

82. Route 66 (d5/B1)

Route 66

Classic American food. Diner set up. Try their chicken wings and fries (RMB 40) and their steak set (RMB 55).

83. KFC, East Dawning (e5/B1)

East Dawning is the sister company of KFC. They serve Chinese food KFC-style.

84. Christine (f4/B1)

Christine

Well-known bakeshop in Shanghai. If you are thinking of having breakfast at the Expo Garden, try their Nutrition Package Series for RMB 19. Includes specialty bread and drink.

85. Wang Bao He (f4/B1)

Wang Bao He

Try their Chinese dumpling with crab meat and minced pork in soup for RMB 20 per bowl. The steamed dumpling with crab meat and minced pork is RMB 40 per steamer of 6 pieces. They also have set meals for 3 to 10 persons. For 3 persons, 4 dishes and 1 soup is RMB 360. For 5 persons, 5 dishes with 1 soup is RMB 600. For 10 persons, 8 dishes with 1 soup and 2 dimsum is RMB 1500.

86. Cai Yun Jian (f4/B2)

Cai Yun Jian

Chinese. Get rice set meals with drinks for RMB 25.

87. Mu Creative Restaurant (f4/B2)

Mu Creative Restaurant

Their Curry Chicken Meal is RMB 36. Spaghetti Bolognese has the same price too. The Beef Stew and Grilled Chicken is RMB 38.

Mu really is one creative restaurant. Saw these and fell in love with them immediately–

I love Mu.

88. Croissants de France (f4/B2)

Croissants de France

Get your typical bread-pasta-drink combination for RMB 15 to 30. You can have Kimchi Beef Ciabatta or something less weird like your boring ham and cheese sandwiches (but I still like them anyway).

89. 85-degrees (f4/B2)

85-degrees

If I should choose only one thing I like about food in China, it is that their cakes and desserts are really pretty. 85-degrees has chocolate mousse cups for RMB 11 each. The cheesecakes are cheaper at RMB 8 each.

90. Dico’s (f4/B2)

Dico's

If suddenly you are craving for big burgers and fries, Dico’s has them for RMB 35 a meal. This includes drinks and fries. Their bucket meal which is good for 3 to 4 persons costs RMB 93.

Watch out for the Puxi guide coming up!

Today–Sunday February 28, the 15th day of Chinese New Year–I’m going to wander out into Shanghai in search of Tang Yuan.  I’ll post some pictures of what I find here.

Update 3/1:  Here’s a picture of a place called Die Yuan (Butterfly Garden) at Nanjing West Rd near the Metro Station (Dianping reviews in Chinese).  A huge crowd was buying Tang Yuan for preparation at home:

But since I didn’t really want to bring it home to prepare it, we ate out and had a few for dessert:

Tong Yuan (which means “round dumpling in soup”) is mainly made out of a glutinous rice flour.  When you bite into it, the dumpling gives way in a soft but chewy manner.  Honestly, when I was growing up, I found it a bit of a disconcerting texture.  Tong Yuan can be filled with some kind of sweet filling.  The kind I’m most familiar with is the black sesame paste, which also looks appealing to the Western eye in my opinion.  It can also have red bean paste, chopped peanuts, and other stuff (so says Wikipedia).   Here’s some recipes I found on RasaMalaysia and KQED.

Yuan Xiao also comes from Yuan Xiao Jie (元宵节, Yuan2 Xiao1 Jie1) which means Lantern Festival.  So I guess it is Lantern Festival today.  Here are some other (much better) photos of Tong Yuan to whet your appetite.  (Note: I was able to find these on Flickr from Shanghai without launching my VPN!  Thank you, Great Firewall for allowing me to freely access Flickr!)

Tang Yuan in a bowl with clear sugary soup (from avlxyz):

Tang Yuan in black sesame soup (from qwazymonkey):

Tong Yuen in a Peanut Soup (from faykwong):

Black sesame filling inside of the Tang Yuan (from roboppy):

Tongyuan in a red bean soup (from wowyt):

Here’s Tangyuan in a white soup:

Photos courtesy of Flickr licensed under Creative Commons:  avlxyz, faykwong, qwazymonkey, roboppy, wowyt

Rumors of Censorship Persist

There have been quite a few reports commenting at length on 2012 pandering to Chinese audiences, making the Chinese out to be the saviors of humanity, and thus escaping China’s censors. Interestingly, there are rumors amongst Chinese that the movie they’re seeing is still edited, that scenes involving flooding of China (one specifically being Tiananmen Square) were cut. Having seen the movie in a Chinese theatre, I can attest to several scenes that looked tampered with, where dialogue seemed to jump, but I’m not sure if those were just bad edits by the filmmakers. Therefore, I can’t confirm the validity of those rumors and suspect them to be just that: rumors. That, however, is what’s so interesting and says tons about mainland Chinese self-awareness, that they may be bitter enough with their own censors that they’ll propagate, believe, and perpetuate such rumors. I’m with them. I almost wanted to return my ticket if I was paying to see an incomplete film. Principles, man, principles!

Pandering to Chinese Audiences

Rumors of censorship aside, the other big issue is the aforementioned “pandering” to Chinese audiences, the alleged portrayal of Chinese greatness and benevolence. Uh what? Did we watch the same movie? I didn’t see squat that made China look good. Let me address the big plot points these reports mention:

‘The task would be impossible if given to any other nation.”

I didn’t see Americans “exclam[ing] that entrusting the Chinese to build [the arks] is the wisest decision“. I saw business as usual, that being China continuing to be the world’s factory. It’s not so much the wisest decision as the obvious decision. It wasn’t China being the “savior to the world, prying it from the edge of impending doom,” it’s just that China is the only nation with enough man-power to possibly build humanity-saving arks in under two years. Who else would you give the project to if you needed tons of labor, secrecy, and expediency? The United Auto Workers union? A Chinese even quipped, “Wait, I thought Americans wouldn’t trust Chinese product quality? Why would they have us build them?” OMG, they used lead paint in these arks! The Chinese are waging chemical warfare against us even in the end of days!

The People’s Liberation Army descends from the skies to offer help to Americans

I didn’t see the People’s Liberation Army helicopter dropping down to offer help. I saw it landing only to pick up those who possessed the one billion euro green boarding pass, as agreed, and no one else. Sure, he saluted, but that’s what soldiers do. If your “400-seat threater broke into a full-house applause“, believe me, it had little to do with how the movie positively portrayed the Chinese and everything to do with simply seeing your country and people making an appearance in a big-budget Hollywood blockbuster. Don’t forget, that saluting PLA officer (who, by the way, spoke remarkably American English) took the rich fat Russian and his fat twin sons but then proceeded to leave the “American survivors” to freeze to their deaths in the freakin’ Himalayas! Yeah! Go China!

China among the first nations to save those poor refugees

I didn’t see China as “among the first nations to open the gates” of its ark towards the end of the movie “to admit more refugees” (aka, the rich bastards whose own scheduled Ark #3 was damaged by a collapsed roof during the latest tremor and thus rendered unusable). We don’t even know if China had its own ark, as it seemed to be only a contingent of the people and nations aboard one of the eight arks headed by and represented by one of the G-8 nations. For all we know, the Chinese in that group of nations on that ark could’ve said, “Hell no! You crazy?!? Don’t open the gates!” but were nevertheless overruled by the others. It wasn’t a benevolent “China” that proactively did the compassionate thing versus a refusing selfish “America”, it was general human compassion winning over general selfish self-preservation. Heck, it was a black American who played the role of humanity’s conscience, was it not?

Seriously, what else was there in 2012 that could be misconstrued as being pro-China? Nothing really. In fact, the usual Hollywood romanticized ascetic Tibetan Buddhist monks probably got more screen time than the Chinese. Of course, I don’t think there were any egregious portrayals of China and the Chinese (at least on the surface, and a Tibetan grandma chopping off a chicken’s head off-screen for dinner doesn’t count, PETA) but what’s all this nonsense about 2012 praising or pandering to Chinese audiences? Give me a break. Anyone, Chinese or otherwise, presenting this movie as “pro-China” is egotistically reading way too much into an otherwise dumb but dazzling movie. Sorry.

Still Worth Watching

That said, Roland Emmerich’s 2012 is still  marginally better than, say, Alex Proyas’ Knowing. Both are 2009 films about the end of the world but only the latter descended into preachy pseudo-religious pseudo-science (yeah). The former just remains steadfastly focused on delivering edge-of-your-seat digitally-generated calamities with a half-hearted reminder that 1) life isn’t fair, and 2) who gets to live on says something about us as a society. Oh, and the kids in the latter were a lot more annoying.

2012 is about 2 hours and 40 minutes long, available in mainland China theatres in English with Chinese subtitles. Note that there are several portions of the movie where the characters speak other foreign languages, which are subtitled in Chinese but not English. Despite the cliched plot, as a special FX movie, 2012 is still worth plopping down some cash to enjoy on the big screen of a cinema.

Trailers and Previews:

Unfortunately, I really should’ve known that the “18RMB for four pieces” described in Shanghaiist’s review meant chicken wings instead of actual, I dunno, fried chicken breast, thigh, and leg (er, drumstick) pieces. Of course, insofar as it sounded too good to be true and actually turned out to be so, I totally blame Shanghaiist editor Elaine Chow, the deceiver, who repeatedly wrote “fried chicken” instead of the far more accurate “fried chicken wings.”

*shakes fist*

The place was fairly busy with only one recently vacated and still dirty table as we walked in. A busy joint is actually a good sign, especially when it isn’t even normal meal time, suggesting its worth eating…at any time. Stylishly decorated, the small restaurant featured a number of flat screen TVs and plenty of Super Junior autographed memorabilia. Apparently the world’s largest boy band (pictured above) endorses Kyochon’s chicken. I suppose that’s a one-up on the other Korean fried chicken chain, BBQ Chicken (with BBQ standing for Best Believable Quality…no joke.)

Despite having 4-5 staff in the front, we ended up having to wave down one of them, a stocky but friendly looking Korean chap who didn’t really speak either Chinese or English to clear the table so we could sit down. When it came time to order, we were disappointed to learn from the surly and impatient waitress that of the three main flavors they offer (Soy Sauce, Redhot, and Honey), they’re out of the Honey. My inner sweet-toothed child roared in rage. We settled on a 35 RMB order of eight Soy Sauce fried chicken wings, a 10 RMB Soy Sauce fried chicken drumstick (they do have drumsticks, for 10 RMB each), a 10 RMB Redhot drumstick, and two Cokes at 6 RMB a pop (heh, that was punny).

The Cokes arrived quickly but it took a good long while for the batch of eight Soy Sauce fried chicken wings to be served. Starving, the chicken wings were decidedly scrawnier than chicken wing offerings elsewhere but they did taste excellent. With its health benefits explained on the paper place-mats, the soy sauce is combined with garlic for a distinct and delicious combination of, er, soy sauce and garlic flavor. All eight were quickly devoured with the devourers remaining decidedly far from being satiated.

Sitting there twiddling thumbs, the single Soy Sauce drumstick was eventually served. In terms of meat per RMB, the drumstick is a better value over the chicken wings, but the chicken wings have more flavor with every bite. We waited forever and a day for the final Redhot drumstick but it refused to come. We know they prepare their food fresh after it’s ordered but the wait was definitely abnormal here. Eventually, our hunger thoroughly unsatisfied, we flagged down a server, which was the same Korean dude, and communicated that our Redhot drumstick hadn’t arrived yet. We said we didn’t want to wait anymore and that we’ll just pay the check without that item. He nodded and ran off, to be replaced by another employee who brought our check, explained that our order must’ve been given to someone else accidentally, but that they’re going to charge us the full bill and make us wait for the Redhot drumstick that they’ll bring out in a moment.

Which, in all fairness, they did. The thing is, as delicious as all of it was, it had already become an unpleasant dining experience, what with all of the lulls in eating action. The arguably crude service attitude by one of the female staff didn’t make things better, something we might not have noticed had we been stuffing our faces with delectable chicken pieces instead of, again, sitting there patiently trying to pacify our angst-ridden appetites. We paid the 67 RMB bill and walked out…

…straight into the nearby KFC where I proceeded to order a 13.50 RMB double-decker chicken sandwich.

Kyonchon is about mid-range in price, with each person probably spending about 50-80 RMB for a reasonably filling meal. Although the service was less than desirable this first time around, I’m definitely willing to give it another shot. When I do, I’ll anticipate possible setbacks by ordering larger quantities right off the bat.

客怡村 (ke yi cun)
大拇指广场
芳甸路199弄 11号 （近丁香路）
021-5033-8396

Kyonchon Chicken has restaurants in Southern California and New York, but this is the only restaurant so far in China.

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of watching 风声, Feng Sheng (English title: The Message), an espionage thriller based on a 2007 novel written by Chinese author Jia Mai, set in World War 2 Japanese-invaded China. Not only is the Japanese-controlled puppet government battling resistance from Chiang Kai-Shek, their officials are also being gruesomely assassinated by his spies, something very quickly, and very effectively, established at the beginning of the film.

Enters a lone Japanese commander who takes it upon himself to counter this “insurgency”. He identifies the assassinations to be coordinated by a spy codenamed “Magnum” who is getting intelligence from a mole planted in the puppet government. This mole also has a cool codename: ‘The Phantom”. Because spies always have cool names.

In order to smoke out this mole, Commander Takeda sets a trap by passing down a false message to be transmitted. When it becomes apparent that this message is passed on to the resistance as intelligence, Commander Takeda is then able to narrow down the suspects to the only five individuals to have came into contact with the false message:

• Jin Shenghuo, played by Ying Da, the portly bespectacled man director of the military office through which the message was relayed.
• Wu Zhiguo, played by Zhang Hanyu (also in The Founding of a Republic & Assembly), a veteran soldier who has survived three bullets and serves as captain of a commando unit.
• Gu Xiaomeng, played by Zhou Xun (also in Painted Skin), a lowly dispatcher responsible for sending and receiving morse code transmissions.
• Li Ningyu, played by Li Bingbing, a UPenn Wharton graduate and expert at codes, cyphers, and cryptology.
• Bai Xiaonian, played by Alec Su, the effeminate secretary of a certain Commander Zhang for whom the message was sent to.

Appropriately, Commander Takeda and his appropriately evil Chinese lackey, Wang Tianxiang, gather these five to a secluded and thoroughly spooky mansion (think “castle”) to sort out who’s who. What follows is essentially a small game of Mafia (replete with day and night cycles), as each individual must defend their innocence and help Takeda and Wang figure out which one of them is “The Phantom” before any of them are allowed to leave. Their rooms are bugged, they’re observed, and what begins with some questioning soon becomes horrifying torture with hopes of confession.

Overall, the movie aspires to and captures a certain ambiance best described as “film noir”, but it was inconsistent, sometimes even a bit contrived (look out for the singing in German). Both principal characters, the relationship between Guo Xiaomeng and Li Ningyu was also inescapably awkward. The film suggests that they are close friends — “sisters” even — but their on-screen interactions always felt distant and unconvincing in a way that may reinforce the theme of distrust in The Message but also made me wonder if there weren’t some weird lesbian overtones. Of course, that might say more about me than the director.

That all said (and they had to be said), the plot was definitely enjoyable and the movie certainly worth watching.

The Message is subtitled in English and they are decent though, as always, imperfect. Certain scenes such as Li Ningyu’s nude violation scene and some particularly gruesome torture scenes were edited out of the mainland China theatrical release because mainland Chinese people can’t handle boobies and too much violence.

The big question on many people’s minds is: Is this movie going to be a massive propaganda piece about the evil Nationalists (KMT) and a whitewashed version of the Communist Party of China (CPC, aka CCP)?

Actually, that question may be more prominent amongst foreigners and expats than Chinese. “Oh brother, there he goes again”, the peanut gallery groans. Come now, it’s true, and it’s true because — believe it or not — many Chinese already expect the film to be propaganda. They’re keenly aware of the circumstances surrounding it and the bigger question for them is: How many stars can they spot and identify?

Apparently there are 172 celebrities involved. Oh look, here's a poster with some them!

Propaganda Propaganda

But, going back to the question of greater import to my target audience, I’m happy to report that while a few events were portrayed in a noticeably skewed manner, there’s thankfully few — if any — obvious to outrageous rewritings of history (excusing dramatic artistic license). In fact, the movie was far more gracious in their handling of Chiang Kai-Shek and the KMT Nationalists than I expected. (Of course, this was because I feared the worst from this movie, and now I probably owe the CCP responsible for this movie a measure of respect for, well, not living up to my fears.) Unlike so many lesser PRC produced films and television shows set in the Chinese Civil War era, Chiang Kai-Shek and the KMT were not grossly vilified here. They were portrayed, I think, rather respectfully as multi-faceted humans with their human greatness, human flaws, and human mistakes.

Chiang Kai-Shek and Li Zongren, decked out in pimp regalia.

As for the Mao Zedong and the Communists, well, they were portrayed decidedly without much weakness and fault, save maybe being far poorer than the KMT Nationalists. While Chiang Kai-Shek and the Nationalists are repeatedly shown being driven around in fancy cars and pondering the precariousness of their rule within grand villas, Mao & Co. are huddled in mud huts, conserving candles, and laughing about getting stewed meat twice a month. This juxtaposition, of course, serves to make Mao and his band of merry Communist leaders seem the rugged, scrappy, and long-suffering David that eventually brings down the Goliath.

Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong, with dramatic shadows.

Despite the outward trappings of that Goliath, it is also shown as festering and faltering from political in-fighting, widespread corruption in its ranks, and declining popularity amongst the populace, while being abandoned by its American allies. All of these contribute to the eventual collapse of the KMT Nationalist government and their retreat/escape to the island of Taiwan. Chiang Kai-Shek’s famous reflection that the KMT largely screwed itself is also faithfully depicted.

Interestingly to reassuringly, the irony inherent in scenes concerning KMT Nationalist government corruption, and one particular scene of the KMT being publicly denounced for squelching speech and dissent, were not lost upon many of the Chinese in the cinema’s audience. They snickered their acknowledgment of these same problems continuing to plague modern China, under CCP rule, as they plagued China under the KMT over 60 years ago.

Amusingly to annoyingly, the film does seem to portray the Mao and the CPC’s ascension to power as being something “democratically” willed by a bunch of “pro-democracy” political parties at the 1949 Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) that established the PRC. This is done by repeatedly emphasizing their involvement and “pro-democracy” namesakes despite the fact that they made up less than half of the delegates (the rest were all CPC). Their opposition wouldn’t have made a difference anyway. As we know today, any of these political parties that survived have survived only in name, controlled and subservient as they are to the CPC.

At one point in the movie, where Mao had largely defeated the KMT and was beginning to establish the People’s Republic of China, one Chinese person commented: “And now Mao becomes the emperor.”

English Subtitles

Those who cannot understand Chinese will be pleased to know that the movie is almost completely subtitled in English. A few captions identifying many of the characters were not translated, but all the dialog is. That said, while the English subtitles are decent, I noticed some meaningful nuance and subtlety lost in the translations. Be prepared to see the word “democratic” thrown around a lot, and for those who are a bit confused by it, just remember you’re thinking of “democratic” slightly differently.

Lots of Commercials

One somewhat random thing I noticed were the massive amount of commercials preceding the start of the film. I’m not talking about previews for upcoming films but a long series of back-to-back 30-second commercial spots for both local and foreign brands alike, much of them being car commercials. This was notable because, in my experience, most movies start on the listed showtime in China, unlike America where most people take for granted that they can be slightly late to the theatre because the first few minutes are usually previews. For The Founding of a Republic, however, there was something like 8-10 minutes of commercials before the film finally started. This is unusual for most movies shown in China and I suspect a lot of companies intentionally purchased commercial time for this particular movie, expecting a whole lot of Chinese people to be hitting the cinemas to watch it. Makes sense, right?

Definitely Worth Watching

The Founding of a Republic isn’t a great movie, but it’s definitely good, having plenty of good acting, good scenes, and an inherently intriguing historical storyline. If you’re familiar with the history of the Chinese Civil War, you should enjoy it, partly checking if they’ve changed anything and partly to appreciate how they portrayed what happen over 60 years ago. If you’re like me, and generally pretty cynical about the CCP’s propaganda, I think you’ll also walk out appreciating the movie for not being the shameless propaganda piece we could easily imagine. Instead, it was a genuinely well-made film that helps us remember one of the most contentious and pivotal moments of modern Chinese history.

More information about “The Founding of a Republic” from the English-language China blogosphere:

• Preview and translated netizen comments by chinaSMACK.
• Translated netizen controversy over the actors’ nationalities by Global Voices Online.
• Review by Elaine Chow of Shanghaiist.

I quickly snapped these pictures as evidence and mentally filed away that I should make this most fortuitous announcement on CNR as soon as possible, lest someone from Shanghaiist beats me to it. After all, they scooped (hah) the Jin An Temple Baskin Robbin’s opening before I did. Turns out, however, that Shanghaiist announced Carl’s Jr.’s plans to expand to China a little under a year ago:

U.S. fast food chain Carl’s Jr. announced it’s targeting to open 100 restaurants in China, a country where they currently have no presence. Fans of its bulging fast food burgers and overtly sexual advertisements will have to hold keep their zippers up, however; the first restaurants aren’t expected to open until March of next year.

Dagnabbit. Well, that means I pretty much have to settle for updating everyone that Carl’s Jr. is apparently behind schedule for a March opening, but at least the first restaurant is being set up as we speak and official proclamation of impending high-calorie burger greatness is up for all to see and take pictures of for evidence.

Sorry for the poor quality of photography. I was shaking from excitement.

By the way, I was at Raffles City to watch the new Star Trek movie on the IMAX screen at Peace Cinemas. Highly recommended.

“Nanjing! Nanjing!“ (aka “City of Life and Death“) is a new movie by Chinese director Lu Chuan about the Nanjing Massacre that occurred when Japanese forces overran the then-capital of China in World War II. If you’re a China basher, you might say it is “yet another” movie about the Nanjing Massacre, evidencing how the Chinese simply refuse to let go of their persistent preoccupation with how the Japanese devils once humiliated their great nation and deeply scarred their people. Either way, it is a movie I strongly recommend you watch, even if it is the edited and cut version being shown in China.

Preceding the movie’s opening, many jaded expats and foreigners were quick to bemoan the possibility of “yet another” propaganda piece timed to whip up nationalist indignation and fervor, ever so coincidentally timed for the 60th anniversary of Communist China. Suggestions that China make a film about the atrocities it committed on itself rained from the peanut gallery. One recommendation: “Tiananmen! Tiananmen!” Zing, right?

What about the Chinese themselves? What did they think? chinaSMACK, as usual, translated some mainland Chinese netizen comments, and the WSJ’s China Journal also translated uh…five. Notable were the nationalistic comments of those who were rather indignant that the movie dared to have a sympathetic Japanese character in “Nanjing! Nanjing”, as if the existence of a single conflicted and remorseful human on the Japanese side amounts to making excuses for the Japanese:

Japan still has not come out to apologize, yet we Chinese have already explained come out expressing our guilt for making this film, what kind of bullshit logic is that! In order to achieve doing something different, they are joking around with historical facts. Listen to the reactions [to the film] of the only surviving comfort woman of the Nanjing Massacre, “At the time, the sights were much more terrifying than those shown in the movie, I have never met a Japanese person that has found their conscience like those in the movie.” Luchuan [the director], 300,000 Nanjing souls will not forgive you, you modern Chinese traitor, for covering up the Nanjing Massacre for the Japanese!

That bloody and tearful bitter history of the Chinese nation, as Chinese of a later generation, we must never forget nor should we forget. Speaking of forgiveness, some things cannot be forgiven. Compassion for the enemy is cruelty to ourselves.

I am extremely angry after watching the movie. It sees the war merely from the perspective of Japanese soldier–focusing on his personal experience and feelings about the massacre…It’s not a movie for patriotic education, but a Japanese movie shot by Chinese director… The Nanjing Massacre was not war, but a brutal crime against international law. So if the movie doesn’t disclose and denounce the crime in this light, I don’t think it’s appropriate from any other angle.

Heh, international law. That’s funny.

Also notable were the comments of those who seemed to be imploring their fellow Chinese to not be afraid of watching this movie and instead bravely face their painful history, you know, as if the Chinese as a society has been repressing this traumatic memory and not incessantly sprinkling reminders of it throughout the education system and popular media. Quite a few expats must’ve chocked on their disbelief, scoffing at the disingenuous notion that any Chinese actually fear facing the horrifying truth of how evil those evil Japanese devils really were when it seemed to them that they routinely relish slathering themselves in it.

Only by facing history can tragedy not be repeated. After so many years, how many people can clearly know the truth of what happened during the war against Japanese aggression?

Strongly ding this up. We Chinese have too strong imaginations, always taking everything and thinking about them in our own subjective ways, often overlooking the truth. We always want other people to face history, yet we ourselves instead are always and ceaselessly avoiding it. Those media should stop talking about Red Cliff all day and give this movie some hype. If this movie does not become China’s most popular/successful movie, then that would be our sorrow/tragedy.

I went to the premiere of the movie, and I think it’s indeed a great movie. If we avoid mentioning the topic simply because it’s painful, who will remember the disaster and learn from it?

Lu Chuan’s “Nanjing! Nanjing!” succeeds largely for the same reasons Feng Xiaogang’s 2007 “Assembly” succeeded: Focusing on the human stories. Both movies had riveting action sequences that were criticized as evidence of the films’ commercialization of historical subject matter to the detriment of, I dunno, teaching some obvious moral lesson about the evil Japanese to the masses.  However, the bulk of both movies were about the personal trials and tribulations of its characters as they sought to fight for their country, survive, save those they cared for, or come to terms with the horrors they witnessed or carried out in the excesse of war.  Of course, whereas “Assembly’ was mainly a narrative about a single soldier’s survivor guilt, “Nanjing! Nanjing!” is definitely as much about the gruesome barbarity as it was about the victims who suffered them. Accordingly, and in arguable contrast to “Assembly”, it includes scene after scene of the madness that enveloped these poor souls in Nanjing.

Despite the mainland version having cut out certain more graphic scenes, so as not to offend the fragile sensibilities of the innocent mainland audiences, what I saw was plenty to ensure that I will never forget just how many inhuman ways of abuse and death were employed by the Japanese imperial army during their rampage across China. It isn’t going to make me suddenly eschew all common sense and vociferously hate all modern Japanese for the ills of their ancestors, but I will forever emotionally remember — for lack of a better expression — just how fucked up people can be given the right circumstances.

However, these scenes of brutality, however shocking or illuminating they might be, are not going to connect “Nanjing! Nanjing!” to its audience. Rather, it will be the numerous scenes of complete and utter humanity that offers audiences a precious opportunity to better understand both others, themselves, and what we’re all capable of. These include the scenes of cowardice and bravery,  defiance and resignation, self-preservation and self-sacrifice. They include the supplication for survival of a portly Shanghai husband and father, the helplessness of a compassionate German forced to give up his charges, and yes, the small things a bewildered Japanese soldier does or doesn’t do. It is this movie’s ability to give those viewers with minds and hearts open enough the opportunity to identify with each of these characters and the scope of gritty emotions they represent that makes “Nanjing! Nanjing!” a Chinese movie worthy of being compared to a spiritual predecessor, “Schindler’s List.”

For the foreigners, do not dismiss “Nanjing! Nanjing!” as a Chinese propaganda film. For the Chinese hyper-nationalists, do not denounce it for not being one. Set aside your preconceived biases and watch the film for what it was meant to be: A tale of the humanity found amongst inhumanity. Go watch it.

In case you’re wondering, my MAN-card did indeed check itself out for most of the movie. I got pretty chocked up even from the early battle scenes, and was shamelessly wiping streams of tears off my face throughout 3/4ths of the film. “Assembly” one-upped “Nanjing! Nanjing!” in the tear-jerk department by having me outright bawling for the second half of the movie. Yeah…what can I say? I’ve got a big heart of gold.

So, what did YOU think of the movie, “Nanjing! Nanjing!”?

City Diner has no lack of competitors operating in the same niche of providing “American” fare. Yet, for the longest time in my book, it handily beat others like Moon River Diner (now defunct), Blue Frog, or Malone’s. It has a great location on Tongren Lu near Nanjing Xi Lu in the heart of the city, and it’s open 24 hours, storied by the countless crowds of late night foreigner revelers.

And then there was the food. Oh man, the burgers were delicious. Big, tall, meaty, well-appointed, and accompanied by scrumptious thick-cut fries. My all-time favorite? Their Bacon Chili Burger. The most humbling?  Their Seeing Double burger (yep, double patties) where friends and I have several times overestimated our hungers only to crawl out, stuffed and made honest, in veritable pain.

Beyond the burgers, and in a land where free refills for soda is mind-boggling taboo, the 18 RMB bottomless soda were a godsend. Sure, a can of Coke is only 2-3 RMB at any convenience store and no one is going to drink 6-9 cans worth in a sitting, but nothing screams “incredible value” like a nice tall glass of carbonated sugar water with caramel coloring delightfully chilled with ice cubes (equally–if not more so–taboo in China) that you know you can refill, for free and at will.

For quite a period of time, the combination of good food, free refills, cozy decor, and free wifi internet made City Diner my second office. I would have lunch meetings and even spend entire afternoons there interviewing prospective employees and sipping on a bottomless Coke. However, about half a year ago, I found myself romping about Pudong more than Puxi, and thus stopped going to City Diner completely.

This past Tuesday, I had the opportunity to stop by for lunch, anxious to relive old pleasant memories.

Except I couldn’t. City Diner seems to have changed a lot more than just expanding to the bottom floor and redecorating its original upstairs dining space. My Lone Star Burger was noticably smaller than I remembered and the patty was not cooked as I requested. When asked for how I wanted my burger cooked, I asked for “5 fen shou” (of 10). In retrospect, I now wonder if the waiter’s incredulous reaction resulted in him overriding my request by telling the cook to make it “well-done and dry.” Suffice to say, the burger was disappointingly tasteless, and even the fries were a bit undercooked.

There’s still wireless and free refillable drinks (now 20 RMB), but overall, I walked away wholly unmotivated to return.

Locations:

• 146 Tongren Lu, near Nanjing Xi Lu, Metro Line 2 Jing’an Temple Stop, Tel: 6289-3699
  铜仁路146号,近南京西路, 地铁2号线静安寺路站
• 3211 Hongmei Lu, near Hongqiao Lu, Tel: 6401-1600
  虹梅路 3211号,近虹桥路

Unfortunately, it equally common for such complaints to be woefully handled or outright ignored. While the standards of China’s service industry will improve over time, especially with continued international cross-pollinating influence, I want to share a success story with one of China’s expat mainstays: Subway Restaurants (赛百味).

I haven’t had Subway in years, but I do remember their delicious Meatball Marinara Sub, on fresh white bread, with extra cheese. Despite Subway having been available in Shanghai here for quite some time, I never dined there. However, a few weeks ago,  while stereotypically grocery-shopping at the Carrefour in Shanghai Pudong’s Big Thumb Plaza, I decided I’d finally pop my China-Subway cherry. After all, they went through all the trouble of opening not one but TWO restaurants in that plaza. How could I not oblige them?

The specially priced 6″ sub-of-the-day for Sunday was the Meatball Marinara…and it was Sunday. Fantastic. However, as the kind girl brought my ready-for-toppings sub to the toppings counter, I was incredibly dismayed to see three naked meatballs in all their greyish boiled loneliness, completely devoid of any red marinara love juice.

My head spun. I looked at her and kindly asked, in Chinese: “Um, is that correct? Shouldn’t there be more ‘Italian’ sauce?” She stared back, blankly, and then asked if I wanted toppings. I tried explaining a bit further to no avail, and just as I felt defeated after opting for lettuce, bell peppers, and onions, she suddenly offered to add more sauce.

That brief promise of salvation was lost the moment I saw her spooning a bit of watery red “sauce” onto my sub before wrapping it up and sending me on my way.

One of my biggest pet-peeves is not just wasting money on unsatisfactory food, but still having to eat that unsatisfactory food to avoid wasting money. You ultimately feel like you wasted a meal, regretting yet another moment of your life you can never get back. That sub wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t a Meatball Marinara. Spurred by this dissatisfaction, I went through the trouble of finding Subway’s website in China so I could submit my feedback on this experience.

I received a reply from an Evan Chase several days later, personally apologizing on behalf of Subway, confirming that a Meatball Marinara in China should be the same as it is in the States, thanking my feedback for helping them improve their operations, and offering two Subway meals for a friend and myself as a gesture of goodwill for the mistake. Having lived in China for so long, this pleasant outcome was like dividing by zero.

I regained consciousness about six days later to take Evan up on the offer, who then asked for my details and the exact time I would like my “complimentary meal” to be delivered “with the service and standards [I] expect from Subway.” 7:00pm please. When the delivery boy got lost, he called at 6:55pm to ask for directions. He arrived at 7:00pm, apologized profusely for my past experience and for being late. Then he handed me two foot-long Meatball Marinara subs, two bags of chips, and two cans of Coke.

Wow.

While I felt it took a few days too long for Subway to respond to my initial online complaint, the way Evan Chase handled the matter was very professional and reassuring. Moreover, the goodwill gesture went the extra mile and, as a customer, I feel warm and fuzzy inside because of it, with meatballs, cheese, and marinara.

Thank you, Evan and Subway, for the excellent customer service.

Links:

• Subway of China official website
• Subway of China’s customer feedback form