Garden
Ming-dynasty rockeries and koi ponds tucked behind the city's loudest bazaar.
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Xiaolongbao#Food
Jia Jia Tang Bao
Shanghai4.845 min8.9k saved
A no-frills People's Square institution on Huanghe Road, open since the 1990s and still folding xiaolongbao to order with a thin, pleated skin that floods with soup. They open at 7:30am and the pork baskets can be gone by 11; the prized crab-roe (xie fen) version sells fast, so come before noon. You order at the counter, grab a stool, and eat fast — no English, no ceremony.
Good to know
- Best time — morning — Full menu (incl. standard pork) available early; later only pricier crab-roe or closed.
- Nominally ~09:00-20:30 but effectively 'until they sell out' - often early/mid-afternoon.
- Crab-roe dumplings sell out — order them first
- Pay and order at the counter, then sit
- Nip the skin, sip the soup, don't burn yourself
Insider tip — Order a mix - classic pork as the benchmark, crab-roe (xiefen) as the splurge; Liyuan Rd branch is a backup if Huanghe Rd sold out.
Photo: Wilson Hui · CC BY 2.0
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