Jaunted - Shanghai

Mickey Sends His Passport in for More Pages in Advance of Shanghai Disneyland's Arrival

kjb — 2010-11-11T09:05:37-05:00

Way back in the not so distant past of 2009, we found out that Shanghai was on Mickey’s radar for his latest theme park. Fast forward about a year, and now it seems that Chinese officials have given the green light for Disney to bring its bulldozers into the country to prepare the foundation for the world’s newest Disneyland.

Sure there’s already a park in Hong Kong, but it seems that the biggest prize for Disney has always been to set up a place filled with rides, attractions, and gift shops somewhere within mainland China. After all, things in Hong Kong haven’t been crazy successful, so maybe they’re thinking it will be different away from the water.

Chanel Cements Their Love for Shanghai with a Museum Exhibit

JetSetCD — 2010-10-27T15:15:10-05:00

If you're a fan of fashion, and French luxury brand Chanel in particular, then you may want to consider taking your vacation to Shanghai. Chanel is uber-focused on the Chinese city lately, having brought a special runway show to them plus a whole new flagship store within the just-opened Peninsula Hotel on the Bund.

Come January, there'll be 1/3 more Chanel in the city, with the debut of a "Culture Chanel" exhibition at Shanghai's Museum of Contemporary Art. Last time we were in Shanghai, their MoCA had devoted a few months to shoe master Salvatore Ferragamo, so fashion is definitely a big focus for locals and tourists alike.

American Airlines Gets Shanghai'd!

JetSetCD — 2010-10-07T15:46:03-05:00

Can you name the airlines that currently fly direct between Los Angeles and Shanghai? Hint: it's really easy because currently, there are only two and both are Chinese airlines. Okay, the answer is China Eastern and Air China. Such limited choice for such a high-traffic route, but soon all this will change as it was announced today that American Airlines has been given approval to pick up the route as well.

Previously, AA was codesharing the route with China Eastern, but that's just not enough and thanks to the DOT, American's LAX-PVG route will begin on April 5, 2011. It will be flown on Boeing 777s, boasting 16 First Class, 37 Business Class and 194 Economy Class seats. According to the press release, American is super excited to get over there and devour some xiaolongbao : "These new flights will enrich American's customer service offering to China and will expand American's schedule at Los Angeles International Airport, one of its five cornerstone cities."

American will be the only US airline flying the direct route, so expect some nice, fat flight specials on Shanghai flights coming up for spring! Just be sure to get your Chinese Visa sorted out before booking your trip.

[Photo: boeingdreamscape]

Chow Down During Shanghai Restaurant Week in September

Jennifer Kester — 2010-08-23T13:28:48-05:00

Whampoa Club

Foodies who will be in Shanghai from September 6 to 12 better make reservations now for the second annual Shanghai Restaurant Week.

An extra incentive to hit up the participating high-end restaurants is that you'll get a great deal: a three-course dinner will cost you 238 RMB, or about $35, and a three-course lunch will be 118 RMB, or $17.

But don't expect to be overwhelmed by options for authentic Chinese cuisine. According to CNNGo, most of the 28 participating restaurants skew toward Western cuisine or are in hotel venues, although few of the major Chinese restaurants will take part.

A Shanghai World Expo Alternative: The Barbie Spa

JetSetCD — 2010-06-15T09:08:37-05:00

A Barbie-tini in the Barbie Cafe

Had a long day of walking around Shanghai, visiting the giant World Expo? Add another one-of-a-kind place to your visit then, perhaps with a treatment at the world's only Barbie Spa.

Last year, a Barbie Flagship store complete with Barbie Cafe, Barbie Boutique and Barbie Chocolate Bar opened in Huaihai Road in the Fashion District, but it's only recently that we've discovered that the two-storied, 35,000-square-foot place also contains a Barbie Spa. Order a Barbie-tini and a Barbie body scrub, and let's just hope that neither contains contains bits o' Barbie.

Jaunted Braves The Shanghai World Expo

markj — 2010-06-09T09:35:49-05:00

When we arrived in Shanghai last week we told anyone that would listen that we planned on spending some time over at the World Expo. Immediately, everyone we told had the same ominous look on their face as they wished us the best of luck. Their grim look was followed by stories of heat exhaustion, endless queues, pavilion confusion, and yes, even folks faking disabilities to bypass long lines.

Could it be that bad? Worse, our Shanghainese friends promised. Don't even bother showing up on a weekend, if you go on a weekday get there at 7 AM—2 hours before opening—and prepare yourself for pushing, possible line cutting, and more. Then run to try and get a fast pass, or to make reservations at a couple of the most popular pavilions—China & Saudi Arabia for instance.

Could it really be this nuts? We had just read how the daily visitor numbers for the Expo were lower than expected. However, our contacts informed us that every family in Shanghai had been gifted one ticket to the Expo, and maybe the visitor numbers we heard were tourist numbers, not local.

Ok, so we needed to devise a plan that involved checking out the Expo without losing our sanity. That meant, avoiding the morning "running of the expo".

Play Petanque with Chanel or Strut Shanghai's Bund with Dior

JetSetCD — 2010-05-19T11:00:39-05:00

Karl Lagerfeld comes out for the Chanel finale in St. Tropez

Ever in pursuit of the latest fashion, the world turned its focus to the French designers last week as both Chanel and Christian Dior showed their 2011 resort collections on runways in two very exotic, very different locales. Considering the price of French luxury fashion, you could have a glamorous VIP trip to either of the cities for the price of an entire outfit; so which would you choose? Perhaps we ought to tell you what places had the honor of hosting the shows first...

Chanel, whose designer Karl Lagerfeld has taken his resort girls everywhere from the pool at The Raleigh in Miami to an airplane hangar in Santa Monica over the last few years, chose St. Tropez as both his muse and backdrop. Marching girls down the promenade along the ocean after a night of playing P�tanque with celebrities, Lagerfeld evoked the freewheeling, youthful spirit of the South of France and gave us yet another reason to add the jet-set playground of St Tropez to our bucket list. He even directed an entire mini-movie in the C�te d'Azur town, which you can view after the jump.