Reviews

Fishing for Afternoon Aperitifs along a Nanjing Backstreet

Just as along many other backstreets in China, Diaoyutai (钓鱼台; fishing stage) plays host to an uneasy truce between pedestrians, cyclists and the occasional motorist wishing they had not been tempted by an apparent shortcut.  Under ordinary circumstances I would...

Apartheid is Ticking in Nanjing, on Coffee and Beer

It’s no secret that Nanjing is awash with venues that are coffee shops by day and cocktail bars by night. Indeed, it would be difficult to avoid them. Many are rather smart and reflect a global trend which I...

A Hot Pot Triumph where Quality makes up for Appearances

There can be few more sure-fire ways to create a successful business than to open a hot pot restaurant. Ubiquitous, universally loved and inexplicably popular all year round, hot pot is the go to for family fun or a...

New Foreign Fave Dares Us with Nanjing’s Spiciest Wings

Wing Station is a fairly new kid on the block but has already become something of an foreign institution. Stephen, the owner, is an affable American. He says that around 80 percent of his customer base is from Nanjing’s...

WeChat Rocks; What’s Behind the World’s First Super App?

Jiangsu TV-dating show, “Fei Cheng Wu Rao” (非誠勿擾), occasionally gets a foreigner on there for a bit of extra spice. Then Kevin Shimota turned up with his bike and tent. Every single prospective girl ditched him.  Not so fast, ladies....

Moments to Savour (but the Restaurant’s in the Back of a Semi)

Given school had a half day as it broke up for the summer holiday, The Nanjinger chose to celebrate with a lunch at the recently-opened Focaccia Pizza Bar. Americans call it a semi. Us an articulated truck. Whether real or...

Wine, Beer, Monty Python, Dali & Vintage Arcade Games (eh?!)

Having been open for around 3 months, Spring Mountain Taproom is one of Nanjing’s newest craft beer venues and perhaps its most unusual. It occupies part of a 16,000-square-metre cellar beneath an old factory in a newly developed chic...

Ice Cream & Oyster Platter is (Probably) not what You Think

More or less stumbling in at random, on one of those can’t-be-bothered-cooking kinds of days, we were glad we chose Oyster Bistro from among the many newish eateries to have popped up in past year or two on Hubin...

Latest News

Iranians in China become more Visible than Countable

These things often start, not with a statistic, but with a voice; Persian heard in a lift, a WeChat...

Why Chinese Men Can’t Quit; Smoking, Face and the State

China has 300 million smokers, nearly a third of the world's total. The imbalance between the sexes is stark:...

US Dept of Justice Says Nanjing Firm Hacked NASA, Senate & More

A sharp new cyber case has put a Nanjing company at the centre of a much wider political row....

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