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Secret Shanghai Shanghai Business Travel Primer

by Shamus Sillar | Published June 2007 | See more Condé Nast Traveler articles

Created in partnership with Portfolio, Condé Nast's new business magazine, our city business guides offer guidance for business travelers hoping to maximize their productivity (and enjoyment) while on the road. Stay tuned for more guides in the months to come.

Last year, almost 50 foreign companies set up their Asia-Pacific headquarters here, joining General Motors, McDonald's, and FedEx. Entrepreneurs, CEOs, large-scale retailers, and high-profile chefs are all flocking to the Pearl of the Orient-now the world's largest cargo port-giving the city an effervescence that it hasn't felt since the decadent 1930s. Back then, the city's central park, People's Square, was a racetrack. Now a new band of gamblers have arrived, hoping they've backed the right horse and looking to join China's merry band of 320,000 millionaires.

Where To Sleep
Shanghai is a tale of two cities, divided by the Huangpu River. Pudong, in the east, is the space-age, steel-and-glass financial district where 20 years ago farmers tilled the fields. The Grand Hyatt is the world's tallest hotel, for now (a higher one will open atop the 101-story Shanghai World Financial Center next door in 2008). Still, nothing can detract from its woozy 33-story atrium, enjoyed by Bill Clinton, John Galliano, and Kate Moss. The Shangri-La has a luxurious new $138 million tower-recent guests include Henry Paulson and the Trump siblings-and the slender, sophisticated St. Regis comes with butler service. Across the river in Puxi, the city's expat hub, the Portman Ritz-Carlton offers extras such as a luxury boat that can be booked for private events. Giorgio Armani prefers The Westin-it's a stone's throw from his flagship Bund store. 88 Xintiandi is a low-key alternative in the shopping and entertainment precinct of Xintiandi, with kitchenettes for longer stays.

Where To Eat
Three on the Bund is a restored neoclassical building where tycoons like Chen Tianqiao (China's Bill Gates) and Yahoo's Jerry Yang lunch by day and celebs such as Ed Norton and Naomi Watts arrive at night. Most noteworthy of its four restaurants is Jean Georges, where the foie gras brūlée may be the sweetener needed for a stubborn client to sign. Local cuisine has its detractors, who say that it's too oily and sweet, but a bite of the crab dishes at Whampoa Club-also in Three on the Bund-will muffle their moans. Across the river in Pudong, Yé Shanghai's new outlet in the Citigroup Tower has exceptional xiaolongbao (steamed soup dumplings) and a fine river vista. Atop the Pudong Shangri-La is Jade on 36, where the designs of Adam Tihany have as much flair as the French avant-garde food-imagine sardine tins full of fluffy seafood mousse. Crystal Jade, in Xintiandi, is the city's best Cantonese eatery, with perfect hand-pulled noodles. Local movers and shakers come here on Sundays, ties off, chatting over dim sum with family and friends. The weekday lunch hour sees the expat property and banking sets pour into sandwich-and-smoothie joints such as Element Fresh and Wagas.

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