If there’s one thing that separates adults from teens in Shanghai, it’s the latter’s love of a crazy drink from Taiwan. Pooja Mehta takes over the Food File and drags a slightly apprehensive Fiona Reilly off to her favorite bubble tea joints. by Pooja Mehta Around Shanghai, the trends for teens are very different from the place I [...]

Ever wondered where the vegetables at your local wet market come from? You’re about to find out … I’ve never kidnapped anyone before, but there she is, elderly farmer Fang Wu Bao with her blue headscarf knotted firmly under her chin, smiling nervously in the back seat of my car. I want to find out where the [...]

Hitting the road and leaving their everyday lives behind has proven a true adventure for a mom and son writing team. Diving with dolphins, discussing the nature of happiness with hunter-gatherer nomads in the forests of Indonesia – imagine travelling the world with your children, taking time to absorb everything that interests you along the way. It [...]

Fiona Reilly takes us to the Shanghai business that is the last bastion of authentic soy sauce, with the Imperial seal to prove it. Master Zhang lifts the black conical bamboo hat from the top of a vast earthenware pot, and the intense, yeasty aroma of soy sauce fills the air. So this is how real soy [...]

It’s just one jaw-dropping spectacle after another when you walk through the gates of the Harbin Ice Festival ‘s showpiece ‘Ice and Snow World’, where everything you see elicits an involuntary ‘wow!’ Harbin builds excitement about its annual Ice Festival from the moment you arrive in the city. Every corner, every roundabout, and every public space is graced with [...]

by Fiona Reilly February 2012 It’s a long way from Shanghai to Harbin by train – two nights and a day, in fact. That’s two nights and half a day longer than flying there. Why on earth then would you do it? Well, because it’s a train, and train travel, even in China, is capable of being a [...]

by Fiona Reilly January 2012 Australian Fiona Reilly is one of Shanghai’s best-known food bloggers. Fiona joins Shanghai family to take us on a gastronomic adventure to find the best food Shanghai has to offer, from street food to Michelin star restaurants. I came to China and I fell deeply and permanently in love with the noodles. [...]

by Fiona Reilly December 2011 This sweet, spiced, warm winter drink made with red wine is the perfect festive treat for the holidays. Ingredients: 750ml red wine 3/4 cup sugar one whole orange 2 cinnamon sticks 8 cloves extra brandy optional Method: Cut the orange in half, squeeze juice into a large saucepan, then stud the orange skins with cloves and place into pan [...]

by Fiona Reilly December 2011 They say that expats are masters at reinvention. And it’s true. But they’re also pretty good at importing the very best and most significant parts of their cultures to their new homes. Some of Shanghai’s German community have done just that, bringing the magic of a traditional Bavarian Christmas market to [...]

by Fiona Reilly November 2011 High-speed rail is fast, efficient and economical and, by 2012, there will be more of it in China than the rest of the world combined. But is it still a safe option for business and leisure travel? “In every other respect this thing was an Iron Rooster. It squawked and crowed and seemed [...]

by Fiona Reilly August 2011 Traveling off the beaten track in rural China with children brings its own challenges  – there are good days and bad days, but every day is an adventure seen through younger eyes, no matter what happens. For our family, travel is as much for the food as for the scenery, and [...]