Whether it’s cold outside, or you just want a good place to spend the afternoon, these are our favorite Shanghai Coffee Shops. Pull up a cozy seat and watch the local life go by at these cafes.
Tea has a long and important tradition in China. Long before trendy cafés and milk tea chains filled city streets, tea shaped how people gathered, how news spread, and how power moved across continents. To understand Beijing’s hidden tea houses, it helps to understand the weight carried in a single cup. Here’s a list of our favorite teahouses to explore in Beijing.
When people talk about Chengdu, they usually start with pandas and hot pot. But take it from us – that’s only scratching the surface (our founder was born and raised here). Food is the real language of Chengdu. This city lives and breathes flavor, from bubbling hot pot broth layered with depth and spice to humble “fly restaurants” where the chairs might wobble, but the dishes are authentically local.
In the spring of 2020, the world slowed down, but my mind did not. Like so many others in China’s travel industry, Lost Plate’s food tours came to a sudden halt when the pandemic closed borders. With no international guests, no tours, and no idea when things would return to normal, I found myself asking the same question as everyone else: what now?
Shanghai’s parks are more than just patches of green – they’re windows into the city’s soul. Whether it’s a quiet morning with Tai Chi or the lively hum of families and friends gathering, each park has its own story to tell. These spots blend old traditions with modern life, creating havens for locals to unwind and connect.
Some meals are about flavors. Others are about memory. And sometimes, if you’re lucky, a meal becomes a doorway into someone else’s world, where stories and laughter matter just as much as the food on the plate. That’s exactly what I found in a small village outside Yangshuo, where I sat down to one of the most unforgettable meals of my life. But this wasn’t a restaurant in the usual sense. It was someone’s actual home.
Ask any Shanghainese person, “What does Shanghai taste like?” and you’ll likely hear about its rich, soy-infused cuisine, a steaming bowl of scallion oil noodles, or perfectly crisp Shengjianbao. But one dish that truly captures the essence of the city’s food culture is “Baoyu,” or Shanghai-style fried fish.
In the heart of Xizhou, a small town by Yunnan’s Erhai Lake, the scent of baking bread drifts through the air. Inside a modest, flour-dusted bakery, Mr. and Mrs. Yang stand over a charcoal-fired oven, their hands moving with quiet precision – just as generations before them have done. This is the home of a century-old tradition: Xizhou Baba.
Ask any Shanghainese person, “What does Shanghai taste like?” and you’ll likely hear about its rich, soy-infused cuisine, a steaming bowl of scallion oil noodles, or perfectly crisp Shengjianbao. But one dish that truly captures the essence of the city’s food culture is “Baoyu,” or Shanghai-style fried fish.
Planning a trip with the whole family – whether that means toddlers, teens, or even grandparents – can be a logistical puzzle. These curated multi-day trips focus on hands-on activities packed with local flavor (literally) and experiences that are perfect for everyone.
