Related Information Top Chinese Picks Try these restaurants! A Chinese Banquet Chinese banquets can be a bit mystifying to Westerners. For those who want to know more than what the saw in "The Wedding Banquet," here's a brief introduction.

Up until 10 years ago, visitors to Shanghai were confined to China's official version of the greasy spoon, the government-run "friendship restaurant." No more. China has opened up and so have 2,000 new restaurants in Shanghai alone. When Deng, China's great reformer, declared "Wealth is Glorious," he ushered in glorious eating, too.

The best way to eat in Shanghai is to just walk and sample. Few restaurants make any gestures to foreign guests, so your best bet is to go at a crowded eating hour, find an attendant, and walk around pointing at other people's food. This may sound rude, but the Shanghainese can deal with it . Sit down in any of the larger restaurants near the waterfront business district called The Bund, and locals will hover around, hoping for a chance to talk. More often than not, those who approach are older Shanghainese wanting to recapture the cross-cultural exchange they were forced to abandoned when Shanghai gave the West the boot. By all means invite them sit, not just to talk, but to help navigate a meal.

Even with guides, Shanghai's cuisine can be challenging for Westerners. Restaurants have tanks of snakes, fish and turtles in their front windows, and the animals are often brought to the table before slaughter so you can be sure of freshness. Preparation after the fact is often simple, either the animals are steamed or fried. Remember: Just point. Maybe the most famous of the city's dishes is Shanghai Noodles, a simple but delicious dish of braised noodles with pan fried pork (ritzy hotels serve it with barbequed pork, a concession to Western tastes). The noodles are made by pulling and folding the dough until it turns into long, very thin strands. Shanghai's version of Peking Duck is a source of local pride. Accompanied by the standard wheat pancake wrappers and hoisin sauce, Peking Duck in Shanghai is served with the meat separated from the duck skin (in Peking, according to some, the duck is often served with a thin layer of meat attached to the skin). In any case, the quality and crispiness of the skin determines the success of the entire dish. On the richness scale, Shanghai's duck is just shy of a butter sandwich. Small restaurant throughout the city advertise the dish with ducks strung in their windows like lanterns.

Snacking is high art here, and the dumpling is the city's masterpiece. Shanghai kitchens produce familiar pork buns and shu mai, but there are also regional favorites. One, which comes in several variations, is the "soup bun." While it looks like a garden variety Chinese bun, it is really a wrapped dumpling with meat and broth inside, served with a "bendy straw." Poke the straw into the center and then slurp. Be prepared for a scaldingly hot, rich brew. Too bad Shanghai is such a hot city. This would be perfect food for a Canadian winter.