The Best Of Chinese History

Shanghai / Go See
en av Munck & Zemanova /  Aske and Christina, 17. jun 2009

When you travel far and for a long time your priorities tend to change. You begin to trim off the obligatory must sees, particularly in the big cities where the lists of attractions are overwhelming. Quite honestly, we cannot be bothered to visit some lame sight merely because a guidebook has listed it as a sine qua non on any given tour.

In our case the tourist waste basket is full of museums, because so many cities have so much history, and history – unfortunately – tends to be presented as if it were really just files in a bureaucrat cabinet: grey, dull and ghastly lit. A welcome exception to the rule is the Shanghai Museum.

The centrally located building which looks almost like a dim-sum-box is situated right on the People’s Square where the visitors are led straight to the entrance atrium paved with wall to wall polished granite.

We wander about the 14 galleries that the museum curators have carpeted and lit dimly, muffling the sounds and making it more easy to focus your attention on the objects on display without being disturbed by the other visitors.

One of the most fascinating exhibits is the absolutely overwhelming collection of coins and bank notes – more than 7,000 of them made of gold, silver, iron, bronze, and copper. Not least thanks to a private collector who has generously donated his huge collection of coins from the old princedoms along the ancient silk trade route to the museum.

We dwell on the sight of some of the first printed private bank notes. Small works of art, ornamented with lavish splendour, promising that the banks will pay the bearer the stated amount in gold.

The permanent collection of the museum consists of more than 123,000 objects, covering everything from calligraphy and textiles to porcelain, jade and ancient imperial seals.

Among the most treasured exhibits are the bronzes from the Shang and the Zhou Dynasties, not to mention the impressive collection of furniture from the Ming and the Qing Dynasties – whose functionality and purified and simple lines and shapes still act as an inspiration for today’s modern Asian design.

Thousands of visitors pass by the museum every day, so we had been told to be ready to queue. When we arrived, however, on a rainy Monday there was hardly anybody there, and we had almost all the galleries and the small tea house on the first floor to ourselves.

SHANGHAI MUSEUM, 201 Renmin Avenue, Shanghai.

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The Best Corner Of The Forbidden City

Peking / Go See
en av Munck & Zemanova /  Aske and Christina, 16. maj 2009


Photo: Hiroki Toyosaki

The Chinese tour groups are everywhere in the centre of Beijing. Their sheer amount is overwhelming, quite frankly. Every single one of them consists of about 30-40 tourists (the average bus load, we figure), wearing identical coloured hats or raincoats so that no one gets lost. They stick closely together and talk and laugh loudly – really loudly – almost all the time.

The groups are waiting to enter The Forbidden City - the emperor’s vast palace grounds that until recently was strictly off-limits for mere mortals. For almost 500 years it was the absolute power centre both politically, ceremonially and symbolically.


Photo: Mag3737

Not surprisingly, today The Forbidden City ranks among China’s biggest tourist attractions, and this is definitely not a place you go if you need some time by yourself, away from the raucous crowds that clog almost all sights in The Middle Kingdom.

Everywhere you have to queue from entrance to exit with huge groups and screechy voices explaining the sight’s history in Mandarin, French, English, and German. Unless…you are familiar with a way of getting the sublime architecture of this World Heritage site all to yourself.


Photo: Walter Parenteau

Because if you are in the know, you will be able to find a quiet spot where you can rest on a bench almost all by yourself and bask in the sun as you let your legs off the hook for a while and maybe even sneak in a little catnap and dream yourself back to the days, where this was the innermost sanctity of the emperor, his advisors and concubines.

The Forbidden City was established in the beginning of the 15th century, and 980 of the original structures have survived to this day, from the 1920ies under the administration of the Palace Museum. The huge palace houses a gargantuan collection of artefacts from the Ming and Qing dynasties many of which are on display in the endless number of red pavilions.


Photo: Cresny

Here’s what you do. When you enter the grandiose Palace Museum you simply hold to the right (eastwards) and steer clear of the bustling hoards of tour groups that almost always intersect the site right down the middle.

To the right, however, you’ll find the small pavilions that used to serve as living quarters, library, temples, theatres, gardens, and even a tennis court. Today it has all been turned in to museums necessitating an additional fee of measly 10 yuan, which surprisingly enough appear to have a dissuasive effect on many tourist wallets.


Photo: Dbaron

But the 10 extra yuan are a bargain, as you’ll almost certainly have the place almost to yourself, leaving you free to explore the warren of buildings and alleyways in a serene and placid atmosphere, making you almost forget that you’re in the middle of boisterous Beijing. And all of a sudden it is not that difficult to understand why the emperor only rarely and reluctantly left The Forbidden City.

THE FORBIDDEN CITY, The Palace Museum, Beijing.

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Tokyo's Crated Cake Craze

Tokyo / Go Eat
en av Munck & Zemanova /  Aske and Christina, 4. maj 2009


Photo: Nep

There’s a big crowd gathering in front of the display windows at the upmarket Matsuzakaya department store in Tokyo’s posh Ginza neighbourhood.

Dozens of people are gazing dazzled at a baker putting glazing on a huge cake fixed unto a slowly revolving spear. He then delicately removes the cake and cuts it into small wheel like pieces that are instantly cooled, wrapped, put into boxes, and sold to the patiently waiting customers.

It’s a baumkuchen – or as the Tokyoites call it bamukuheno – a persistent cake craze in the Japanese capital, that for some years have drawn a steady throng of customers every single day.


Copyright: Aske Munck

Even though there’re about 40 people queuing before us, we decide to put our patience to the test. We’ve heard much about the wonders of the bamukuheno, especially the ones from Nenrinya, Tokyo’s top purveyor to the people of this so-called king of cakes.

But when we try to join the end of the queue, a polite cake-queue usher points us towards the stairs where the rest of the customers another 20-30 people are waiting, the line having been cut in two to free the shopping mall entrance from the sugar craving hordes and allow for free entry and exit.

The wait, however, as everything else in super efficient Tokyo proves to be very brief. Not least due to the fact that Nenrinya has cut down the choice to two kinds of cake (white or chocolate) in different piece sizes, all explained to you by eager and polite staff, so you can make your choice while you wait in line instead of clogging up the busy counter.


Copyright: Aske Munck

The baumkuchen is – as the name reveals – a European conception and literally means tree cake. The name refers to the numerous rings in the cake, created as many layers of batter are brushed onto the spits, slowly giving the cake its body and robustness.

It’s a time consuming process which explains the relatively elevated price. Minimum price tag is 750 yen for a small piece, whereas the cheapest ring size piece will set you back 1,050 yen.


Copyright: Aske Munck

While waiting we consider which size we should opt for as it’s really difficult to assess how much cake it will take to soak up the minor tsunami of mouth water that has slowly been building up as our nostrils have feasted on the Christmassy scent of the baking cakes. We opt for a regular ring size, though, deciding it’s big enough to last for at least two days.

We decide to make the cake star in an improvised hotel room afternoon tea for two, and it is tasty. Unbelievably so. Releasing hints of vanilla as you crush the many thin rings of sugar coating, hidden within the fine layered cake.


Copyright: Aske Munck

We quickly learn, however, the trouble with eating a corner of a round thing: there are none. The entire cake disappears before our very eyes in a matter of minutes. Our ephemeral slice of paradise gone, in an uncontrollable saccharine feeding frenzy, leaving us both bewildered, contemplating whether we should go back to Ginza for more.

NENRINYA, Ground Floor, Matsuzakya, 10-1 Ginza, Tokyo Chuo-ku.

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Movie Tourism At Park Hyatt

Tokyo / Go Sleep
en av Munck & Zemanova /  Aske and Christina, 27. apr 2009

We’ve always found that there’s something strangely fascinating about experiencing a place for the first time that you’ve only seen in a movie. Taking a stroll along the Canal Saint Martin in Paris’ 10th arrondissement where ‘Amelie from Montmartre’ hangs out or gasping from Vertigo at the sight of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur that Catherine Zeta Jones and Sean Connery climbs in ‘Entrapment’, or simply enjoying the kitchy lobby of The Mirage Casino being robbed in ‘Ocean’s 11’.

It’s the same welcome feeling of déjà vu we sense when arriving at Park Hyatt in Tokyo. The Kenzo Tange designed towers in which some of the most memorable scenes and superbly understated dialogues take place between Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson in Sofia Coppola’s breakthrough film ‘Lost in Translation’. Not least in the restaurant cum bar The New York Grill on the uppermost 52nd floor of the modern skyscraper complex minutes from Shinjuku Station, the busiest rail and subway hub in Tokyo.


Photo: Jeroen020

After a small labyrinth trip through the hotel, changing elevators a couple of times, we’re greeted at the elevator door and shown to a table in the restaurant. And wow, the view is so breathtaking that we hardly notice the stylish décor, the cool open kitchen or the other guests for some time. When we finally return to our senses and manage to pull our eyes from the magnificent panorama over the evening skyline we realize that we’re sitting smack in the middle of a luxury enclave of steel, glass and wood, crowned by the huge windows that make out the outer walls top to ceiling.


Photo: Loremipsum

Around us a there is a pleasant mixture of trendy Japanese and shopping weary foreigners, sipping wine and cocktails in the black and chrome interior.

Rumour has it that the hotel is a favourite haunt for local movie stars and CEO’s, so we scout around – but can’t see any. Could be that they’ve settled for room service this Sunday evening. A small army of waiters exit the kitchen in a constant flow, carrying lavish portions of duck, fresh seafood and of course the world famous Japanese beef.



Photo: Shyuhan

Our waiter brings us a couple of Asahi beers, and we sit and sip and enjoy the ambient mood which is surprisingly laid-back for a luxury hangout of this category.
The price tag is – obviously – a tad elevated, and after 20.00 – when the live band starts playing – the management slaps a ridiculous 5,000 yen (around 40 euro) cover charge in your face – even if you’re an in-house guest coming to have dinner.

Might be worth it if you’re just visiting, but instead we decide to save the money and splurge on a room to get the full experience. Not a bad decision as the view from our room over the brightly lit Tokyo skyline is just as good as from the New York Grill.


"For relaxing times – make it Suntory time" Photo: Paulamarttila

Instead of running up a huge bar tab above we make good use of the mini bar, filled to the brim with Suntory Whisky. Because apparently, Park Hyatt has decided to live by the slogan that Bill Murray tirelessly repeats in the film: "For relaxing times – make it Suntory time". Most certainly so.

NEW YORK GRILL, top floor of Shinjuku Park Tower, 3-7-1-2 Nishi-Shinjuku; Tokyo.

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People Watching In Giant Scramble Crossing

Tokyo / Go See
en av Munck & Zemanova /  Aske and Christina, 22. apr 2009


Photo: WordRidden

When arriving in Tokyo you sometimes feel as if you've parked your spaceship on another planet entirely.

The gargantuan outdoor plasma screens on the building facades, the huge neon signs that fill up the vacant space above the pavements, the thumping and ubiquitous music, and - of course - the inhabitants. The Japanese are so stylish, so perfectionist, yet so over the top that we keep bumping into lampposts when trying to walk and observe the strange creatures that pass by on the streets of the Japanese capital at the same time.


Copyright: Aske Munck

This is why in Tokyo it's imperative to quickly find the best spot from which to engage in some serious people watching - safely seated.

Such a place is Shibuya, an area which also houses one of Japan's most busy subway stations and which is also known as one of the country's foremost fashion centres for young hipsters. It's also one of the crowded places for a night on the town with plenty of cheap eats, bars and - of course - karaoke joints.


Copyright: Aske Munck

As soon as we step out the metro on an ordinary Monday afternoon we are awestruck by the sheer number of people in the street. A huge wave of people is moving across the streets in all directions and you're unable to pin point the source of this steady stream of people or exactly where they're going.

We seek shelter at a familiar face, Starbucks, across the street from the Hachiko exit. From the upstairs floor you can sit and contemplate the buzzing crowd from a safe distance with what is clearly the best viewpoint over the Shibuya crossing.


Copyright: Aske Munck

The crossing is reportedly the world's most busy scramble crossing, where vehicles in all directions are stopped at the same time to allow pedestrians to safely cross the street from all points simultaneously.

Like steadily flowing tides they are shored up, until they are suddenly released from all sides, instantly inundating the entire crossing at a tremendous speed, but always without any serious head-on collisions. And in style. From the so-called cos-play gothic lolitas wearing almost Victorian outfits combined with the ever popular childish look of porcelain dolls, to flamboyant men and women dressed in second-hand 80ies fashion and girls in bright our even fluorescent clothes, decorated from top to toe with cute jewellery and brightly shining accessories.


Copyright: Aske Munck

Some women even mix traditional Japanese clothing with more conventional Western clothes and sometimes a beautiful kimono wearing lady straddles by in her wooden sandals, chatting away on her cell phone.

We sip our American lattes and look at a company casting young women for a TV commercial and a camera crew doing interviews. They appear almost as small immobile stones in a flood of people, and like water people move around them and swirl on in the continuing stream of faces filling all corners of the gigantic crossing.

Definitely a place to visit when trying to get the hang of Planet Tokyo.

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