Island Life

Cute goats are friendly to humans as they beg for grass. [Photo by zhou zuwei and xu xiaomin/shanghai star]

Chongming cuisine

Chongming island is well-known for its local cuisine, such as braised white goat with soybean sauce, steamed hairy crab, steamed rice cake and a local rice wine.

If you go to farmer's restaurant, of which there are many, don't forget to order these hard-to-beat dishes. The food is served in generous portions, and what it lacks in refinement, it more than makes up for with large servings and simple goodness.

The snowy white Chongming steamed rice cakes with a faint scent is my favorite, every time I visit the island, I take two cakes home with me because they are so tasty - they are however, also very heavy, about 2kg each. Soft but chewy, the glutinous cake containing jujube, assorted nuts and sweet-scented osmanthus are definitely much better than the famous moon cakes. But one piece is enough because they are very filling.

The island is also a good place for a barbeque. Almost every resort or farmer's hostel will offer barbeque facilities. The resort I stayed at has a terrace perfect for barbeques and they have professional cooks. After a day's walking and cycling, hungry people surround the oven, ignoring the smoke and mosquitos to watch the kebabs slowly cook. Watching the meat turn from blood red into a sizzling brown, covered in different seasonings makes the food seem even more tasty.

If you go

Traffic: In the past, people had to spend almost a whole day on the ferry and bus to reach the island from downtown Shanghai. Now, the Changjiang tunnel and bridge (长江隧桥) makes the drive from downtown Shanghai to Chongming around one hour.

Hotel: Chongming boasts luxury hotels like the Hyatt Regency in Chenjiazhen, the first five-star hotel in Chongming island. The island is also well-known for its farmer’s hostel and resorts. We stayed at Honghua resort (上海鸿华度假酒店), which is quite nice, with big gardens, standard guest rooms and reasonable prices. It is close to Xisha and Mingzhuhu. Address: 4897, Chenhai Gonglu. 崇明县陈海公路4897号

Must see: Mingzhuhu park (明珠湖公园) Address: 333 Sanhua Gonglu崇明县三华公路333号 Xisha Wetland (西沙湿地), on the westside of Mingzhuhu park Chenjiazhen (陈家镇), at east point of the island. Dongtan Wetland (东滩湿地公园) Address：Dongwang Road, Chongming崇明东滩东旺路（风车处）