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Explore Your New Favorite Breakfast Street Spot in North Jing'an

Sophie Steiner ShanghaiWOWeng 2018-11-30


Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in your Shanghai bubble and never leave your 2-kilometer radius of Xuhui district. It’s just more comfortable there: where you know how everything works, you have your favorite spots, and most people speak a decent amount of English.




While I’m all for venturing out and trying something new, I do acknowledge that sometimes it is just nice to stay nearby. Well, what if I told you that you can experience more local eats and Shanghainese culture while still staying in that cozy bubble of Jing’an? Just a few blocks north of everyone’s favorite new haunts on Wuding Lu and the classics like the Rooster and Sumerian on North Shaanxi, you can find some excellent street food, fantastic noodles and dumplings, a thriving early morning breakfast market, and the best congyoubing in the city.



Despite being just two blocks east of Shaanxi, you may not have heard of Changhua Road, and it’s about time you put it on your radar. This is not a bustling bar street nor a place to stop by when you’re craving some Western fare; in fact, you rarely see any foreigners here.


Rather, it’s an awesome, classic Shanghai neighborhood street that has continued to exist as is without feeling the outside pressure to become more westernized, and for that, I am thankful.



Focused around the newly remodeled two-story wet market on the corner of Changhua Road and Huaian Road, you will find food stands spilling out onto the street, fresh produce carts, an array of eels, fish, chickens, and, as we move into summer, crayfish, hole-in-the-wall noodle and dumpling shops, open air Chinese bakeries, and everything in between.



The chaos gets started fairly early on, around 6am, and continues into the early evening. Cars, bikes, scooters, and pedestrians go wherever they please, regardless of the stop lights and street lines.


Down the shikumen alleys you will see the iconic Shanghai views of clothes hang-drying, mah jong being played, hair being cut and styled (outside, of course), and elderly ayis sitting on the street corner and gossiping about people walking by. It’s everything I love about this city that just can’t be explained to someone who has never witnessed it first-hand.



Along with the authentic vibe, the food on and around Changhua Road is what I always crave when I’m away from Shanghai for more than a week. Here, you can find all the local Shanghainese snacks and favorites that have been served up the same way for years.


Changhua Road Wet Market Breakfast Food Stalls



Start out your morning bright and early at the center of it all on the north side of the Changhua Road Wet Market. Here you will find numerous breakfast stands lined up and selling everything from pork and vegetable wonton soup to jianbing, to thousand-layer bread, douhua and youtiao.




This is my favorite place to bring out-of-town guests so I can show them all of the Shanghai breakfast foods in one spot.



For those with a sweet tooth, make sure to buy Ma Qiu (麻球) (RMB 2), which are glutinous rice balls stuffed with sweet red bean paste and covered in sesame seeds. Otherwise the sweetened Shao Bing (烧饼) (RMB 2) remind me of thin and crispy layered southern style biscuits.



One of my favorite Jian Bings (RMB 4) in the city can be found along this strip of breakfast food spots connected to Changhua Wet Market.



While it’s hard to put my finger on why it’s so good, it really comes down to the expert execution and solid ingredients: a perfectly thin and crispy pancake topped with gooey egg, fresh cilantro and scallions, crunchy mustard pickles, a thick spread of hoisin and chili sauces and, the best part, heaps of fried and crispy wonton skin.


For a Shanghainese classic, opt for a bowl of the Douhua (RMB 3), a soft tofu soup with a pudding-like texture. While the douhua found in Hong Kong and Taiwan is usually sweet, the Shanghainese version comes with vinegar, soy sauce, chili oil, scallions and dried shrimp. Don’t forget to order a flash-fried, hot and crispy Youtiao (RMB 1), perfect for dipping!



Address: Southeast corner of Changhua Road and Huaian Road

Tel: N/A

Hours: 6am-10am


Nanjing Guan Tangbao (南京灌汤包)



Cross the street to find Nanjing Guan Tangbao, a noodle shop that looks no different than any one of the other thousands of noodle shops around the city. I walked by this place so many times without realizing until one day the outstretched arms of the dumpling’s steam, laden with that unmistakable salty, porky smell of xiaolongbao wrapped around my shoulders and pulled me inside.



The Xiaolongbao (RMB 8 for 8) is the star of the show here, with their rich, meaty broth surrounding a delicate pork meatball, all wrapped up in a thin noodle exterior. Bathed in some Shanghainese dark vinegar and chili oil, these bad boys could stand up against some of the top rated xiaolongbao in the city.




Don’t pass on the opportunity to order a bowl of the Congyoubanmian (RMB 8) while you're here. The made-to-order slippery noodles are coated in a thick layer of scallion-laden oil and come out still steaming; another Shanghainese specialty dish cooked to perfection.



If you still have room for more food by that point, the Shaomai (RMB 8 for 8) are loaded with dark brown glutinous, sticky rice before being steamed alongside the xiaolongbao.


If I had to choose, I would always opt for a pork filled dumpling rather than rice, but these shaomai make that decision quite a bit harder.


Address: 85 Huaian Road

Tel: N/A

Hours: 7am-7pm


Babi Mantou



Everyone knows that there are Babi Mantous, or similar versions of baozi shops, on every street corner of this city. Fun fact: most of them are franchised and, no surprise here, not regulated whatsoever, so each shop can look entirely different from the others. On Changhua Road, the best baozi you can buy is undoubtedly the Black Sesame Baozi (RMB 1.5).




The sweet black sesame paste comes out like molten lava, oozing its sticky goodness all over your fingers with each bite. Albeit quite messy, this baozi is worth it every time.


Address: 415 Changhua Road

Tel: N/A

Hours: 6am-8pm


Da Zhong Pin Wei Cong You Bing 大众品味葱油饼



Saving the best for last, you have to, under all circumstances, save room for the congyoubings. I know that A Da Congyoubing is the famous spot in Shanghai where people wait in line for hours for a scallion oil pancake that, to me, tastes like a thicker, yet very similar version of every other scallion oil pancake in the city.



The scallion oil pancakes on the corner of Changhua Road and Changping Road are so yummy that they are worth traveling across the city just to get one, but luckily, you don’t have to! What makes these congyoubings (RMB 4) unique is that the owner cooks an egg into the pancake so the inside is moist and chewy, while giving the outside the perfect crunch. First, they are fried in a hot wok, and then transferred to a makeshift oven that looks like a blackened metal filing cabinet where they are baked to crispy completion.


Seasoned just right with the perfect amount of salt, these crunchy, soft, savory, eggy pancake biscuit bites of heaven make my entire week!


Address: 194 Changping Road

Tel: N/A

Hours: 5am-10am, 2pm-6pm

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