Flavours: Chocolate, Vanilla, Tiramisu, Hazelnut, Yoghurt, Coconut, Mint, La Creme Milano, Coffee, Rum & Raisin, Green Tea, Spicy Chocolate, Lemon, Stracciatella (milk with chocolate chips), Pistacchio, Blueberry.

Sizes: 500cc (1-3 flavours), 750 cc (1-4 flavours), 1000cc (1-6 flavours)

The gelato comes in a styrofoam box sealed with La Creme Milano’s sticker. It doesn’t keep well beyond two weeks, but that hasn’t been a problem for me since my order of 500cc usually gets finished off in 1-2 days. I love the creamy richness of gelato. The reduced fat content compared to regular ice-cream is a bonus!

Enjoy and keep cool in Shanghai’s blistering summer!

Instructor mapping out the cut

Want a designer haircut but don’t want to pay for it?

You can sign up to be a free hair model at Vidal Sassoon Academy. They need hair models for haircut and color services on a seasonal basis. The “students” who will be cutting or coloring your hair are not exactly students, they are experienced apprentices taking the Vidal Sassoon course to upgrade themselves. Nevertheless, due to plenty of to-in and fro-ing from the student and the instructor, be prepared that each session will take approximately 4 hours.

In exchange for your time (and for being a willing lab rat), your hair cut/color is absolutely free! Most students (and paying customers) walk out of Vidal Sassoon sporting fresh and sharp cuts, known as the “Vidal Sassoon cut”. With the instructor always a shout-out away and ready to fix errors (if any, and if you still have the hair length), you’re in good hands.

To book an appointment (a.k.a to offer your head of hair as a living mannequin head), call the academy to find out what session is next. There are different types of cuts and color sessions, such as the classic cut. Student cuts are usually done on weekdays.

Vidal Sassoon Salon & Academy Shanghai
沙宣(上海)美发研修中心

Address:
Unit 2, Bldg 16, Xintiandi, 181 Taicang Lu
太仓路181弄北里16号楼2单元, 近马当路
Phone: 6311 2151

On Wednesday, 18 April 2012, I received a message through the contact form of this site:

Your Name: susan
Email: susan.bunnell@live.com
Website: http://
How did you discover this site? google
Message: hi
i saw your blog about taobao.i need to send 1000RMB with alipay to a chinese seller
if i pay you in paypal usd can you help me?
thanks

Thinking it was a genuine reader of my site and a fellow member of the foreigners in Shanghai community just needing help, I replied:

Hi Susan,

I can help you but how do I know this is legitimate? (No offense but not sure if you’re a spammer)

Susan:

what does legitimate means?
me and my husband need to buy a copoun and card from a chinese seller which is 1000RMB
i used google translator
why should i spam for that low money? also i will paypal to you by gift/personal
regards

It sounded genuine to me, but I was hoping she could transfer it directly to my Chinese bank accounts instead. So I replied:

Ok I can help you with it.

Is it more convenient if you did an ATM transfer to me though? Through either Bank of China or ICBC?

Susan:

do you have master or visa card which be able to transfer worldwide? if yes i can do it ,
otherwise i just have paypal

I didn’t want to involve my credit card and decided the transfer via PayPal should be safe, so I agreed and gave her my PayPal account email address.

On Thursday, 19 April 2012, I received the following from Susan:

my husband sent you 158$ for 1000RMB and 45$ for show our respect and thanks to you
Randy, you have sent $158.00 USD to [my name].
Randy, you have sent $45.00 USD to [my name].
the alipay account i want you to send 1000RMB is:

h675273@rppkn.com
TINA WO

while sending please put from susan&randy
and give me transaction details when sent

thanks alot

I checked my PayPal account and did see the amount just as she said. I thought that once the money is in my PayPal account, it means it’s mine for keeps. So I proceeded to help her with the Alipay transaction as promised.

Susan:

wow,thanks alot
if i need this service can you do it?
i need another 1000RMB if its possible,this time will send 50$ token fee:)
thanks

I thought another 1000RMB wouldn’t hurt, and yes I was tempted by the pretty generous token fee. On the other hand, I was also naively wondering whether it could be a long-term co-operation. (What the hell was I thinking?)

Me:

Hi Susan,

Can I ask if this is going to be an ongoing service or is it just another 1000RMB?

I will need to work out my finances and make arrangements if this involves bigger sums of my RMB being “converted” to USD.

But to answer your question, yes another 1000RMB is no issue.

Susan:

hi
i know it may be hard for you,i really sorry.but hope this be last time
i sent you 158$+50$ to your paypal
please send 1000RMB to : tonyli@sharklasers.com
when done let me know
thanks alot

I did think the email domain name was weird, and checked it out. It’s an anti-spam email address which was strange for a Chinese person to be using.

Me:

Hi,

Can I ask out of curiosity what these payments are for? Both email addresses are pretty unusual for Chinese people.

Susan:

hi
i buy a game coin and service from these
they live in taiwan
that is all
regards

With that, I made the second Alipay transaction thinking I made a little money as well as helped a foreigner in distress.

That is, until I received the following email from PayPal two hours later:

Dear [my name],

An unauthorised account activity claim was recently filed against the
following transaction.

Sender’s name: Randy McNew
Sender’s email: dadds65@yahoo.com
Transaction ID: [transaction ID]

Transaction date: 19 Apr 2012
Transaction amount: $158.00 USD
Your transaction ID: [transaction ID]
Case number: [case number]

We need additional information from you within the next 7 days. Please log
in to your PayPal account and go to the Resolution Centre to see the
details of this case. There, you can enter any information regarding this
case that will help us fight the reversal on your behalf.

Thanks,

PayPal

And 3 other emails like this one, reversing the charges for all 4 transfers that Susan supposedly made to me on behalf of her husband.

I’ve called Alipay resolution centre in attempt to reverse my payments to these two accounts, but because it was an immediate payment, there’s no way to do so.

As for PayPal, I’ve attached my entire email thread with “Susan” in PayPal’s Resolution Centre but my hopes are not high. I’ve been swindled 2000RMB.

Folks, beware. Payment can be reversed on PayPal, and I learnt this the hard way. I know, I know, it all sounded too good to be true, I let a moment of greed take over all sensible thought. This incident keeps replaying in my head and I think about what should have rang alarm bells. Anyway, there’s no use crying over spilt milk, and I hope this serves as a lesson to myself as well as prevent others from falling into the same or a similar trap.

There are plenty of other scams going around in China. A couple that I know of are:

The phone call for help

Someone calls you and acts like you guys are friends. The next day he’s stuck in a traffic jam on the highway and needs some emergency money to get back to Shanghai or wherever.

The credit card company call

Someone claiming she’s a representative from the bank calls you to tell you your credit card was swiped for a large amount in some hotel somewhere.

Have you ever encountered a scam in China? Share in the comments.

A friend’s birthday is today/tomorrow and you haven’t got them a cake? Just order one from 21Cake. They deliver in Shanghai within 5 hours (except Tiramisu)! With the variety of flavors and on-time delivery, it sure beats buying those last minute cakes from mediocre bakeries.

The cakes are sold by pounds, and comes with utensils — knife, candles, spoons and small paper plates (with thoughtful handles to hold the plate while having the cake).

It’s the time of year when you need to extend your employment permit (and likely your Residence Permit as well) in Shanghai. For those of us who need to do this by ourselves, here’s a guide that I hope will help make things easy and clear.

Instructions from the bureau itself can be found here in English, and here in Chinese.

Documents You Will Need:

1. 1 completed Application Form for Extension of Alien Employment Permit (downloadable here) (You may want to print it out and complete it beforehand because there are no forms at the Administrative Centre, and you need your employer’s company stamp)
2. A copy of your current employer’s valid Business License (营业执照),  (1 copy will be submitted at this stage, but you might want to make 2 copies as you will need to submit this to the Exit-Entry Bureau when you apply for your Residence Permit)
3. Copy of labour contract with current company, signed by both you and your employer, with company stamp
4. Existing Alien Employment Permit
5. Valid passport and residence permit (original and copy. Meaning you need to make a photocopy of both your passport photo page and the residence permit page)
6. If there are other things that is to be amended in your Alien Employment Permit book, e.g. your residential address, then you need to attach the temporary residence form that you get from the police station (派出所). The copy is acceptable, as you need to submit the original to the Exit-Entry Bureau when you apply for your Residence Permit
7. Current employer’s User Card (用户卡), if the employer has previously applied for this card with the Administrative Centre. It looks like this:

Application Procedure:

1. Bring these documents with you to Shanghai Administrative Center for Employment of Foreigners (上海市外国人就业中心) in the building called Shanghai Talent Center (上海人才大厦). Address: 77 Meiyuan Road, 4th floor. It’s close to Hengtong Road, and just across the street from Hanzhong Road station (汉中路), Metro Line 1, exit 2. Business Hours from Monday to Thursday: 9: 00AM-11: 30AM, 1:30PM-5:00PM. Business Hours for Friday: 9: 00AM-11: 30AM, 1: 30PM-3: 30PM. Tip: Queue numbers are still issued during lunch time.
2. After submitting your documents, they will issue you a pink sheet of paper stating the date of collection. If there’s no issue, your Alien Employment Permit should be ready in 5 business days.
3. On the collection day, hand over the pink sheet to the person at the Collection Counter. You will be handed a pink envelope that contains your updated Alien Employment Permit which you will need to submit to the Exit-Entry Bureau for your Residence Permit.

You’re now ready to apply for your Residence Permit.

Tip: If your Residence Permit is for more than 365 days, you end up paying 800RMB. Many of us end up paying the 800RMB instead of 400RMB (less than 365 days) even when we exceed the date by a couple of days. Here’s how to work around it.

Your employment contract is what determines the expiry date of your Alien Employment Permit. This in turn affects the expiry date of your Residence Permit. So make sure your employment contract expires before 365 days.

(Image source: Sinoway Travel)

Want to take a day trip or weekend trip by train?

(Only in Chinese) Find out the timings and prices online and even buy tickets in advance (they deliver, but I have not personally tried):

(Also in Chinese) Or download the iPhone app 智能列车时刻 to check the train schedules:

If you’re taking the high speed train (高铁), you’ll be able to order from Ctrip (available in English) as well.

When buying tickets from the ticket counters, remember to bring your passports and request to have seats next to your travel companions!

Happy travels!

Buy clothes, shoes, bags, jackets, hats, and all sorts of accessories at Qipu Road (七铺路), which sounds like “cheap” said with a Chinese accent, Shanghai’s famous and infamous wholesale shopping area. More popular with local retailers who sometimes get their stock here at wholesale prices, these shops also offer single item sales. Don’t let the chaos stop you, there are good quality clothing there for a fraction of the price in retail shops. Warning: Bargaining powers needed.

Although the whole Qipu Road stretch is full of malls packed with hundreds of small shops, you will easily spend half a day in one mall alone (if you’re a shopper). A good mall to start with is the Qipu XingWang Clothing Market (七铺兴旺服饰市场), which joins with the adjacent Shanghai XingWang International Finery City (上海兴旺国际服饰城) in an enclosed bridge at the 2nd and 3rd floors. So if it rains, you can go from one building to the other using the connecting bridge in these two buildings.

The connecting bridge between the two buildings on Qipu Road

At Qipu XingWang Clothing Market, this is how the building is structured:

B1: Shoes, luggages, Bags. You’ll be able to find imitation branded shoes and bags here as well.

1st Floor: Very local clothing and accessories. Always start bargaining from 30% of the asking price.

2nd Floor: A mixture of local and export clothing. Start bargaining from 30-50% of the asking price.

3rd Floor: This is where I’ve found the most good quality items, even branded originals at a fraction of the retail price. Prices are a little less elastic here, and the sellers here are not that interested in bargaining with you than the lower levels. You can find Japanese, Korean, and many American brands on this level. Whether they’re imitations or the real thing, that’s up to you to judge and mind.

4th and 5th Floors: I usually don’t bother. Kinda random wholesale clothes, supposedly export quality.

Tips:

1. Go on weekday mornings to avoid weekend crowds, and bargaining is more successful, especially if you’re the first customer of the day (believed to bring them luck or something)

2. For export clothes (3rd floor), knock off about 20% of their asking price. E.g. if the seller wants 100RMB, ask for 80RMB. For items in the 1st and 2nd floors, offer them 30% of their asking price, and don’t add on to your price easily. Even if you do, maybe add 5RMB.

3. Don’t follow the touts. They get a cut from the sale made at the shop they bring you to, which means the price you pay is marked up even more.

Opening Hours: Opens early in the morning and close about 5-6pm.

Getting There:

Take metro line 10 to Tiantong Road Station (天潼路), exit 1.

168 Qipu Road, 七铺路168号

View Larger Map

One booth is called Ding Gua Gua (顶刮刮), and another one called Gua Gua Le (刮刮乐), next to Metersbonwe. They are about 200-300 metres apart on the Pedestrian Street.

Gua Gua Le (刮刮乐)

A 20RMB Scratch & Win card

There are 10-30RMB cards. Different cards have different winning methods. Some require you to scratch and see if you match the same numbers or icons to win the designated amount of money, whilst others require you to move across a number of icons according to the number of moves you scratched. If you land on a prize then you win the amount of money stipulated.

Good luck!

The Ah Niang Noodles Shop (阿娘面) at Sinan Road is only open during meal times for about 2.5 hours each time, and the snaking queue outside it everyday is testament to how popular it is. The process of queuing, getting your order taken, finding a seat, and finally getting your bowl of noodles is about half an hour to an hour, depending on the time you arrive and how many other customers were thinking of having Ah Niang noodles for their meal too. Going near the end of the mealtime seems to be a better bet as the crowd dissipates.

The snaking line outside Ah Niang Noodles Shop

Popular choices are the yellow croaker fish (or Huangyu Mian 黄鱼面) for 22RMB a bowl, and noodles with crabmeat and roe (Xiefen Mian 蟹粉面) for 39RMB a bowl. Try mixing in the preserved vegetables and shredded pork side dish (咸菜肉丝浇头) for added flavour (only 4RMB).

Huang Yu Mian 黄鱼面 （22RMB)

Xie Fen Mian 蟹粉面 (39RMB)

The Ah Niang noodles shop is cleaner and bigger than your regular greasy spoon, but not quite what we’d call a restaurant. Nevertheless, there’s an unspoken system in place. If you’re eating with another person with you, it’ll be more time efficient if one of you joins the line to order while the other joins the crowd inside the restaurant itself to pick a strategic spot to stand around waiting for eating customers to finish.

The three steps to enjoying your Ah Niang Noodles:

Step 1: Mix in the side dish and enjoy your Ah Niang noodles

Step 2: Finish the delicious noodles

Step 3: Slurp up the delicious soup

Address: 36 Sinan Road, by Nanchang Road 卢湾区思南路36号(近南昌路)

Open Hours:

Breakfast: 7 – 9.30am

Lunch: 11am – 1.30pm

Dinner: 5 – 7.30pm

Shanghai Ah Niang Noodles 阿娘面

After experiencing 5 winters in Shanghai, I have to say my trusty down jacket has single-handedly been the only jacket that kept me relatively comfortable in the face of the brittle cold winters.

Just last year, Bosideng opened their flagship store on Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street in Shanghai. Previously, there were only little Bosideng corners at departmental stores. The down jacket designs are no longer as plain and old-fashioned (think: for grannies and grandpas) as they used to be. They have done a good job redesigning their apparel to make down jackets look pretty trendy, thus repositioning themselves as upmarket and fashionable. The store is big and variety is aplenty.

Bosideng being more trendy

Bosideng down jackets

There are different series under the Bosideng group, namely Bosideng (波司登), Snow Flying (雪中飞), Kangbo (康博), and Bingjie (冰洁).

There was an October National Day holiday promotion (60RMB off for every 200RMB) at the store, but even after the discount, it’s still cheaper to buy online either from the official Bosideng online store, or from taobao. You might want to try out the down jackets at the store, and once you find one in the style and size you like, take down the item number and find it online to enjoy savings.

Address:

1st-3rd Floor, 463 Nanjing East Road (on the Pedestrian Street) 黄浦区南京东路463号曼克顿广场1-3楼(近置地广场)