off the topic but anyone been to Shanghai or Beijing?
 

off the topic but anyone been to Shanghai or Beijing?
going there on business next week. anything to do? am i gonna get by speaking english? give me some pointers, what to do, what not to do.

ps. i'll pass on sightseeing, gotta handle business during the day and would like to know what to do at night :D . heard all the good whiskeys over there are fake, true? :eek:

Been there, great places.
English should get you by but basic chinese would be helpful.
As for things to do at night, I did mostly sightseeing, sorry.
Since you don't speak chinese, I would suggest making a friend on the plane. Last thing you want is to get caught somwhere lost and you can't communicate.

Just returned from a year in Korea. I visited Beijing for a long weekend. Great place...believe it or not the Chinese food in China sucks. Not very many people speak English. The shopping is incredible. I stayed at the Holiday Inn in Lido and it was a very nice hotel. The are a tons of markets in Beijing and every cab driver knows where they are...Pearl Market (clothes and you guessed it Pearls). The Dirt Market (no, not dirt sales), but they sell antiques and clothes. They love to barter and you can get things for very cheap...only offer them 10% of what they tell you...please believe me! The things to buy are pearls, Northface jackets, polo, fake watches, and handbags. Have fun and they will try to bully you into buying stuff, but hold firm and walk away...they will be begging you to come back. Anymore questions, shoot me an email.

I'll be in both cities in late Sept., early Oct. Restaurant recommendations gratefully accepted! Thanks.

thats funny cause I met a lot of people there that spoke Eng.
huh...so close but different worlds...

Shanghai is a great city, went there during x-mas time, great food and great girls(far better then ones in soutern Asia)!!! As for Beijing, I didn't enjoyed it too much, the food isn't my taste, and mostly boring site seeing(Great wall and Forbidden city).

You gotta check out the bars in Shanghai, the night life is hyped!!

Yeah, I don't like Beijing much but Shanghai is a city I wouldn't mind living and working in. If you stick to bigger hotels and nice areas, English will get you by okay, but if you go out around town, you'll need some Chinese skills.

And yes, the night life is pretty good out there nowadays! Sorry, no specific recommendations though--I've only been in either city twice.