Jiangyin Voyage Tips and guide

Contents

The Jiangyin suspension bridge is the closest to the sea of the many bridges over the Yangtze. It connects Jiangyin to Jingjiang.

The local cuisine is rather unspectacular in terms of flavors, but the fish and freshwater shrimp are very fresh and cheap. Just as in any Chinese city, there are thousands of restaurants serving food from all corners of the country and for all budgets. Numerous KFC outlets, but no McDonald's.

• Turkish Restaurant. The expats' favorite! Authentic Turkish food prepared by Uighur cooks under the supervision of the mustachioed Turkish boss. The menu is extensive, the prices fair, and they have excellent hookah (fruit-flavored tobacco) and water pipes imported from Turkey.
  Some taxi drivers know it under the name 土耳其饭店, but most have no idea. Ask them to drop you off at the International Hotel 国际大酒店, then walk 100 m north on Chaoyang Road 朝阳路 until you see WELCOME TO TURKISH RESTAURANT (sic) on an electronic board on your left. 
• Hanlin Korean Restaurant, 韩林碳烤 黄山路, ☏ +86 510-8861 7886. Excellent Korean fare, bibimbaps, barbecue, kimchi fried rice, sushi/sashimi. On Huangshan Road, a little east of the city center. There is also a mediocre Korean restaurant near the pedestrian street. 
• Wawa Jiao, 蛙蛙叫 青果路. The bastardized Sichuan dish called 牛蛙干锅 (lit: bull frog dry pot, a stew made of mostly thinly sliced potatoes, ginger, garlic and of course frog) is pretty popular with the Jiangyin locals and most agree that Wawa Jiao is the best place in town to sample it. Make sure you are not on any kind of diet because it sure packs a lot of oil. On Qingguo Road, 200 m south of the Datonghua Supermarket 大统华超市. 
• Höfbrauhaus München, 德国酒吧 酒吧街. Large Bavarian restaurant at one end of Bar Street. Their homemade brews are tasty, if a bit expensive, and the menu is huge but the portions are a bit on the small side. They sometimes have German or Filipino bands playing live. 

Every restaurant in town (at the exception of the Muslim noodle places) serves booze at cheap prices and for most Chinese, this is where communal drinking is done, as well as in the ubiquitous KTVs. A few pubs are popping up here and there around town as well. Those catering to the expatriate population are clustered on a segment perpendicular to Chaoyang Road 朝阳路 called Bar Street 酒吧街 by those living nearby. Most are uninteresting and run-down, but you can give them a try if you don't mind sipping your overpriced beer in the company of elderly Europeans and the over-the-hill hookers trying comically and desperately to smooch with them. Those that stand out are:

• Seasons Bar. Just because there are occasionally scantily-clad Filipinas singing covers of popular English-language songs. 
• JD's Bar. Typical expat pub. British-run. 

Other small bars of interest include the following:

• City Hunter Pub. On the western end of Shoushan Road 寿山路. Nice little neighbourhood pub, complete with regulars slouched over their drink and grunting one to another, and every surface covered with flags, beer coasters or sports team logos. The barman, Bob, speaks great English and plays Euro/American music videos on the big screen. 
• Havana Bar. Also on Shoushan Road 寿山路. Lacking a bit in the ambiance department, but their beer selection is excellent. Pretty expensive, as can be expected, but the place to go for the best Belgian brews and even the delicious Dead Guy Ale, straight outta Oregon. 
• 798. Near the Sports Stadium 体育馆 on Chengjiang Road 澄江路. Full of people on Fridays, but closes very early. They have by far the most extensive imported beer selection in the whole city (priced between ¥40 and ¥60; Coronas are ¥20), but their staff could benefit from a crash course in elementary beer science, ie keeping the beers cold and having a general idea of what glass to use for each. Other than that, great place to meet rich locals. 

There are also some clubs in the city.

• Boss Club. On 人民东路, by the little bridge. Popular with a very young crowd. 
• Phoebe Club, 菲比酒吧 澄江路. Noisy and flashy. Occasional police crackdowns but highly unlikely to affect foreigners present. Some report that their spirits are counterfeit factory-made stuff.