Arriving at Shanghai main railway station on an overnight sleeper train from Xian it was good to see easy access to the main concourse and directions to the well organised taxi stands that were simple to follow, after spending time in a few Chinese railway stations over the past weeks we knew this was not always the case.

After Beijing and Xian, Shanghai, even given its size and vast population, seemed less frenetic. Crossing the road while still dangerous was less of an ordeal, queuing was more organised, the crowds in the metro were not as daunting and the interchanges between lines short, unlike Beijing.

You immediately feel that while this is obviously still China there is more of a Hong Kong feel, less police and more relaxed security. There is so much to see but not the huge sites that there are in Beijing just the enjoyment of selecting an area getting a feel of that part of the city, the architecture, the eating, the shopping and perhaps chilling out in a café or bar.

I had wanted to visit Shanghai for a long time and had read much about the Bund, the famous riverside area with grand buildings from the colonial time of the city when the British, Americans and French had their settlements. It did not disappoint, particularly at night when looking at these fantastic old buildings and the brand new skyscraper buildings on the other side of the river in Pudong. The brand new Shanghai Tower is still to be completed but will soon look down on the Shanghai Financial Centre with its futuristic bottle opener top and the beautiful pagoda style Jinmao Tower. Given the queues for the observation deck at the Jinmao I would suggest the Hyatt Cloud 9 bar one floor below, opens at 5pm and gives you staggering views of the city on a clear day.

Close to these towering buildings and with easy access to the metro is the IFC Mall, possibly one of the smartest malls I have ever seen, the range of designer shops is incredible but much more fun is choosing where to eat from the huge selection or choosing a bottle of wine from Enoterra a wine shop where there is no corkage if you choose a bottle from the huge range and drink it in their bar area.

Shopping and food seem to be the main pastimes in the city and as you would expect these both range from very expensive to incredibly cheap (and good). We booked lunch in advance at Table No 1 which is part of Jason Atherton the UK Michelin starred chef’s expanding Asian empire. This is in the Cool Docks area of the river and is part of the industrial chic Waterhouse hotel. The set lunch is a bargain at the equivalent of £18 for 3 courses, the food was outstanding and the service excellent, a really great experience.

At the other end of the scale we had one of the great food streets of Shanghai on our doorstep. Close to the Shanghai Concert Hall and Peoples Square is Yunnan Street, it contains everything, roast duck and pork stalls, dim sun, kebabs, hotpots and seafood places. The best seafood place is on the corner of S. Yunnan Rd. and E. Ninghai Rd., we found it when searching for a cool beer late at night and discovered a place packed with locals eating plate upon plate of delicious looking food. The beer at £1.20 for a large bottle of chilled lager was a winner and we came back regularly afterwards to eat from the huge menu and nothing ever disappointed. Four excellent dishes and four beers cost on average the equivalent of £16. The translations on the menu were wonderful including dishes described as sexual harassment dried bamboo shoot and German groping, neither of which we tried. There were lots of other choices apart from seafood.

Still on the subject of food, we also sampled Hot Pot in Shanghai, although perhaps more associated with Beijing and further North there were a huge number of options in the city and we opted for Hai Di Lao, a national chain renowned for the best service possibly in China – it is used as an MBA study model. In the busy times you get snacks, drinks, shoe shines and manicures while you wait. We went at a less busy time and it was excellent, menus are on IPads and we chose a split hot pot, part tomato broth and part mushroom broth, with half portions of meats and vegetables to cook in the broths. Great quality and good fun and there are many pastes and spices you can add or dip into to suit your taste.

The last must on our food list was the “to die for” dumplings at Din Tai Fung, a Taiwanese chain with places in all the main cities, and yes they are more expensive than other places but boy are they worth it and you don’t get black truffle in your dumplings in most places. The choice and the service were truly top notch.

We managed to fit in some culture as well and the highlight was without a doubt the Shanghai museum, it is said that the citizens of the city do not look back and tend to disregard tradition, an exception being this marvellous museum, designed in the shape of an ancient bronze cooking vessel. The bronzes on the ground floor of the building were truly stunning, some dating back to 21BC, the intricate work and design was jaw dropping. The other galleries particularly the ceramics were fabulous but the bronzes I can still picture.

There will be lots of details on places to eat and visit on the Shanghai page on the web site but sadly it was time to leave the city on another overnight sleeper, this time heading to Hong Kong.

I am a southern European at heart but if I had to live in one northern Europe city then it would be Amsterdam. It has everything that I could possibly want, a wonderful walking city, lovely warm bars, loads of good places to eat, full of great small individual shops, design and style by the bucket load and of course one or two rather good galleries.

I can see why some people do not like it because I suspect they come out of central station walk straight ahead and probably do not see anything but the very tacky shops and dozens of tour boats and at the moment the construction of a metro. This part the Old Centre does contain some gems but you have to seek them out, so persevere.

The secret is to exit central station and go right then head towards the western canal belt of the Herengracht, Kaizersgracht and Prinsengracht and into the Jordaan, or left and along Zeedijk towards the Niuewmarkt. True the latter does lead almost towards the Red Light District but on the way it passes some great traditional bars, and lots of good eating places particularly Chinese. Once you have exhausted these areas you can explore the delights of the southern canal belt near Utrectstraat, and then move to the Pijp for its market, great restaurants and bars. Things are also changing around the harbour area with large amounts of new construction and in the North where previously there was very little to interest visitors there is now the EYE film institute and in the area called NDSM lots of galleries and creative happenings.

Amsterdam is not cheap for accommodation and a lot is disappointing and room sizes small, think New York. However a new building on reclaimed land in the harbour has seen the opening of theRoom Mate Aitana,  IjDock 6, www.aitana.room-matehotels.com owned by the Spanish chain Room Mate, it is only ten minutes walk from Central Station and handy for the buzzy Haarlemmerstraat with lots of small independent shops, restaurants and bars. Rooms are large, the staff young, friendly and enthusiastic.

Eating out in Amsterdam offers a huge variety of places, with loads of Indonesian, Chinese, Spanish and other cuisines along with more traditional restaurants and up to ones with Michelin stars. They will suit all pockets and at lunchtime in the winter have a bowl of Dutch pea soup usually accompanied by ham on rye bread, delicious.

Some new and old favourites are listed below.

De Reiger Nieuwe Leliestraat 34 Jordaan area excellent brown bar and restaurant no reservations and no credit cards, this used to be a locals secret but it now gets a mix of regulars and visitors. At the weekend you may have to wait at the bar for a table, but during the week you should be able to get a table. The blackboard of meat, fish and vegetarian daily specials always has a great choice and on our last visit the two fish specials were both excellent. The prices are average by Amsterdam standards and the quality never fails to impress.

Restaurant Vlaming, Prinsengracht 193, www.eetcafevlaming.nl this came highly recommended by locals and did not disappoint for a Saturday night dinner with local friends. Excellent service, very good food and enjoyed the modern style of the design. If there are any small gripes it was the short menu and the fact that mains did not come with vegetables but all in all a great choice. They also have another less upmarket location at Lindengracht 95.

Seasons, Herenstraat 16, www.seasonsrestaurant.nl we came upon by chance and had an excellent meal, we only had main courses but the quality and service shone through. They have a set menu and for early evening diners they do an offer of 2 for 1 on the set menu – a bargain ! Check out the exact times on their web site, booking is recommended.

Sluizer Utrechtsestraat 41 – 45 www.sluizer.nl two restaurants one specialising in meat, the other fish (but both do have both meat & fish choices) they have a modern and stylish appeal and there is also a beautiful conservatory upstairs above the meat one. Excellent menu, great quality food and good service

Tempo Doeloe Utrechtsestraat 75 Tel 625 6718 very smart Indonesian restaurant supposed to be the best in Amsterdam booking essential, very helpful service and an upmarket wine list but quite happy if people stick to beer. They now have a cheaper version next door which is less formal.

New King Zeedijk 115 this Chinese restaurant has a great reputation and does not disappoint. A more modern setting than the nearby Nam Kee the roast meats are top notch and it is reasonable priced, very popular !

BurgerMeester, Albert Cuypstraat 48 has excellent burgers,  it is a very small place, with soft drinks only but the quality and variety is fantastic however there is now competition nearby.

The Butcher, Albert Cuypstraat 129, in the heart of the market only has seats for a about a dozen people but worth waiting to try their top notch burgers, again they only serve soft drinks. There is a very exclusive cocktail bar in the premises only for those who have booked – personally I will stick to the burgers and go to one of the lovely bars nearby.

So neatly moving on to bars there are all sorts but the traditional brown bars, so called because of the brown walls from the days when there was smoking are the heart of Amsterdam. There are lots of other bars including some very smart cocktail bars but for the real experience have a small beer and some bitterballen (breadcrumb covered meatballs). Some of the favourite brown bars are listed below.

Café Chris Bloemstraat 42, reputedly Amsterdam’s oldest bar in the heart of the Jordaan area is a very local bar, but welcoming to the visitors who drop in.

Café T’Smalle, Eglantiersgracht 12 on the edge of the Jordaan is one of the most lovely bars, it has a good selection of food and in the warm weather seating on a deck area by the canal.

Lokaal ‘t Loosje Nieumarkt 32-34 another great local brown café with good beers and a good range of wines by the glass at a very reasonable price, this bar always makes you feel at home. There is a good lunch menu available..

Het Molenpad Prinsengracht 653 one of the nicest brown cafes along the canals, it has been given a facelift but has lost none of it’s atmosphere and the menu has been increased with a number of specials. The soup and sandwich choices at lunchtime are and good, top quality and decent sized portions.

In de Wildeman Kolksteeg 3 Central towards Central Station has one of the best ranges of draught beers in Amsterdam, and is located in what used to be a distillery. Very popular particularly around early evening if it is not too busy seek out Simon who has worked there for 18 years and is a fount of knowledge on all things connected with beer.

Wynand Focking – Pijlsteeg 31 is an old bar and tasting house specialising in Genever gin, it is just off Dam Square behind the Krasnapolsky Hotel, seek it out and if you like the liqeuers then you can buy them by the bottle at the shop next door. It is only open from 3pm to 9pm.

De Pisener Club – Begijnensteeg 4 – make your way behind the leather curtain for one of the original unspolit bars- near the Beginhof. This is a classic Amsterdam bar and the staff are knowledgeable about the various beers that they sell.

In ‘t Aepjen (The Monkey) , Zeedijk 1, a lovely brown bar, rated as one of the best traditional bars in the city, can be very crowded but if you are lucky and get a seat at the bar you will find it difficult to drag yourself away, The staff are always friendly and welcoming.

Check out www.cityhaunts.co.uk for the Amsterdam page for more tips and enjoy the city as much as I always do.