I'm going to Beijing, Jiangxi province and Shanghai. Aside

eat as much as you possibly can

>>1192127
I'm planning on having roast duck at least twice, what dishes would you recommend?

>>1192131
That would be a looong list.

I would just say, just keep your eyes open, and try to see where most people eat at lunchtime and dinner time, go with the flock.

I do not remember a single bad dish.
Not my style? Yes, that happened, like I didn't end up sitting in restaurants where I saw the eyes of the fish or chicken stare at me from the pot, but that's just me, I'm picky. But there was always another popular one right next to those that would sell something that looked entirely "safe" (read: no bones).

Another thing in general: please be open. Know that you always have a McDonalds nearby that you can fall back on, but do not enter McDonalds if you can avoid it. Get used to the idea that there will be rice everywhere.

There will be tons of different dumplings all over, that's a good one for breakfast, just find one that suits you. There's everything from red beans to elaborate dishes inside. (The soup ones!!)

Noodle soups... There are endless variations. I'm for the Guilin Rice noodles, which is not native to the East coast, but can be found there, too, and it's like... Think something between spaghetti and pho. So, so good.

Hot pot... the cold weather is perfect for hot pot. The rest can be eaten alone, for hot pot collect some people and go crazy.

What I thought was a nice Chinese custom is that they always have their tea bottles with them, which they can refill in any public area basically with hot water. So don't wait like me till the end of the trip, just go buy one at the start if you also like the idea.

Etc etc

bump for interest

most Chinese travel guides are hopelessly outdated, and wikis are only good for referance

>>1192131
Zhajiangman is the traditional Beijing noodle dish. You can find it everywhere for cheap and it';s pretty good.

But just go and get lost, part of China's appeal is being totally alien to everything.

roasted ducks is famous, but if you don't have a local guide of some sort and don't speak/read Chinese, you are not likely to find the best one as the most famous roasted ducks specialty restaurant is just alright and pricey. So doing it once is well worth it, as you can get a test how the real thing tests like and see the varieties of derivatives they can be made with one duck. But more than one times is just, well, expensive dinning unless you like it very much.

Beijing is food heaven for meat lovers, a lot traditions, has lots multi-culture and religion (Islamic) influence for hundreds if not thousand years, you can not go wrong with their kosher offering (lots of lamb dishes), and the traditional Beijing copper pot lamb hot pot is something the locals are very proud of. If you like pork, there are also some great pork shoulders and such in Beijing, the style is very distinctive to those of Chinese BBQ sold in state side (southern, namely Cantonese style) so it is worth to at least give it a try.

For Shanghai, what that call Benbangcai is the traditional local style that developed within the past hundred years when all the riches comes to Shanghai, so its definitely something interesting. But if you have time to take an adventure out of Shanghai via high speed rails, you can find lots very interesting food in Jiangsu province in cities like Najing, Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Yangzhou, there are also a lot culture heritage sites in those cities that will be wroth the time to check out.
JIangxi province is famous for its "3 cups", "ginger tea flavor", and "multi-flav/ home" styles of dishes, a safe bet will be there chicken dishes and fresh water (fish, crawfish, shrimps)produces, if you are adventurous you can also try their frog and things.. but at least give 3 cups chicken a try.

Over all, noodle dishes of all places are all very distinctive and should be tried, veterinarian dishes, especially tofu dishes are also a must.

>>1192126
If you're going to Beijing and Shanghai and you have a day I can recommend two day trips

If you have some spare time/money take the train to Xi'an. It's 5 hours each way by high speed rail, round trip will run you 150, but it's worth it. The Terra Cotta Army is even more amazing in person and in general Xi'an is just a beautiful city

If you're in Shanghai, go to Hangzhou. This one is super easy, it's <1 hour by train and I think like <20 bucks round trip. And Hangzhou is one of the most beautiful cities I've been to in China. Lots to see there, the West Lake is a must see.

As for Beijing, try not to hang out for too long in the Winter, smog is pretty bad during this time of year. Summer Palace, Forbidden City are both must dos but Tbqh the Great Wall is definitely worth seeing but the section of it in Beijing is overly touristy and crowded. Also stop by Tienanmen Square, and if it's not too crowded and see Mao's Memorial Hall and the NPC.

But also going to echo >>1192136 and >>1193160

Don't follow a guide for China. China is beautiful and amazing and very foreign to what you're used to. Try some noodles, try some street food, don't let people scare you off. Fish is usually very good in Shanghai (albeit boney), in Beijing try the Peking Roasted Duck, but just be don't go somewhere overly touristy for it or it'll be a rip off!

In Shanghai definitely try the Baozi, it's fried dumplings with soup and they're honestly delicious. If you do make it down to hangzhou, try their green tea, they're very famous for it. And when in doubt, I've never had a bad or expensive bowl of noodles in China. Look for 面 for noodles and try everything you can!

Shanghai is great for clubbing on the weekend if that's your thing. Dada, El Baron, Mansion, Reel2Reel are particularly loose.
Go to the bund at night.
Propaganda museum is cute.
Street food is delicious.
as >>1193276 said, a day trip to Hangzhou is a great idea too

Watch out for the awful drivers

>>1193500
>Dada

Fuuuuucck

In a past life, I used to go there all the time. I picked up so many girls there. I still have a "Love Bang" CD that they gave me one night. I have literally never listened to it.

>have never heard of the other places
Damn now I feel old

Jiangxi has some decent mountains, e.g. San qing shan. They're not as famous as some of the others in southern China, but also not as busy