Shanghai Xintiandi

Shanghai Xintiandi

Another one of the must visit/ 'hang out' places in Shanghai is this area of cluster of restaurants, cafes and bars - Xintiandi. This is the place where lots of expats and even local execs hang out.

First time goers will definitely be awed with its welcoming atmosphere with fountains and all.

And there's a fair bit of stalls and even shops around the area selling many medium to high end Shanghai/ China souvenirs.

There's also the rather high end shopping centre. And as with Christmas period, they have this big huge tree displayed outside.

The same tree from the inside of the mall.

I went in and looked around the mall. It serves quite a fair bit of restaurants and there's a rather posh cinema too.

It has all these hands of the stars who has graced the cinema - from Jackie Chan to Jay Chou.

This cinema in Xintiandi is one of the 'international' cinemas in Shanghai, where they have English subtitles. And so I thought I could try their cinema and watched a movie in this rather posh cinema.

But I didn't when I heard the prices - yes, it's just as 'posh' - 90 yuan!

And so I decided to go somewhere else to take a breather.

Looking around I thought I'll head to somewhere that prices are similar to home... so I headed to the coffee bean instead, which menu and prices are all similar, except for the cafe's size! (there's just so much empty space).

The smoking room itself is just as big as the other outlets - well this is China, where size really does matter!

Actually this is one of the coffee cafes I've been to while in Shanghai. I like hanging out in these cafes because apart from 'hiding from the cold', they also have good magazine racks with Chinese to English magazines... btw, do you see something familiar? Haha!

*There is a popular Chinese restaurant at Xintiandi which is really crowded and serves good Chinese cuisine (it's at one of the corners near Shanghai Trio shop). But you got to go early as they close bout 9+. Bookings are best, though I think small groups can walk in.

*There is also a Shanghai museum which is like a traditional Shanghai old house which visitors can take a look into old Shanghai lifestyle.