Global Tourists Follow AI, Social Media to Shanghai's Neighborhood Dumpling Shops

On a narrow, single-lane stretch of Tianjin Road, Shanghai, a line of more than 50 people stretched along temporary steel construction scaffolding and delivery scooters.

International tourists, some carrying luggage, maneuvered around workers pushing carts of steel pipes to reach the entrance of Lailai Xiaolong, or the small steamed buns.

The 30-square-meter eatery near the Nanjing Road Pedestrian Mall has become a popular stop for foreign visitors as Shanghai's inbound tourism booms.

The surge has been supported by China's expanded visa-free policies, which have made travel more accessible for international tourists.

Shanghai received 9.36 million international visitors in 2025, a 40 percent increase from the previous year.

At this original outlet of Lailai, foreign diners now account for about 80 percent of customers.

"We landed about an hour ago, and this is the first thing we are eating," said Lisa Jarvis, a visitor from London. British citizens began enjoying visa-free entry to China last month, following Prime Minister Keir Starmer's visit to the country.

"I asked ChatGPT where to find the best soup dumplings near me in Shanghai, and this place came up."

The shop, recognized on the Michelin Bib Gourmand list, represents a shift in travel behavior where digital tools and social media dictate itineraries. Travelers are increasingly bypassing traditional landmarks for "hyper-local" culinary experiences.

The queue on Tianjin Road often moves slowly as diners dodge the ongoing renovation work on the aging buildings.

Inside, the space is restricted to about 30 square meters in three stories. Customers share small wooden tables with strangers, often sitting shoulder-to-shoulder.

To manage the overflow, the owner has acquired a neighboring unit to serve as the additional dining area, yet the line consistently remains dozens of meters long.

For Gary Tubb, who traveled with Jarvis, the meal was the first experience of his trip.

"It was better than advertised," Tubb said. "The soup is incredible. We'll remember this and tell everyone."

The restaurant's reputation has grown through digital word-of-mouth.

On TikTok, content related to small steamed buns has surpassed 200 million views. Reviewers on TripAdvisor frequently mention the shop's signature crab roe xiaolongbao, contributing to its 4.5-star rating.

Kitchen manager He Xudong said the popularity among foreign diners developed gradually.

"We didn't become popular overnight," he said. "Our reputation was built step by step through customers sharing their experiences. A famous foreign chef discovered us and promoted the brand abroad, and it grew from there."

Founded in 1994, Lailai Xiaolong initially focused on traditional Shanghai snacks before specializing in crab roe recipes.

The shop maintains a strict supply chain to ensure quality. Every autumn, the team selects live crabs from Xinghua in neighboring Jiangsu Province.

The crabs are processed locally, and the roe is prepared and stored for delivery to the Shanghai outlets throughout the year.

Inside the open kitchen, chefs hand-roll dough and fold each dumpling with at least 16 delicate pleats. This craftsmanship creates a "skylight" at the top of the bun that allows diners to see the orange crab roe before the first bite.

They then fill the wrappers with a mixture of pork and bright orange crab roe before steaming them in traditional bamboo steamers. The shop maintains a pure 2-to-8 ratio of crab roe to meat.

Each bamboo steamer is then steamed for exactly seven minutes and 30 seconds, a precision-timed window that ensures the soup inside – a jelly crafted from old hen and pork bone – reaches its liquid state without breaking the wrapper.

Among the crowd on a recent morning was a Malaysian family of five, representing three generations. The family waited in the narrow street to try the buns based on a friend's recommendation.

"It is very fresh, and the skin is very thin," the father said. "The crab flavor here is stronger than what we have back home. It tastes authentic."

Other visitors discovered the shop by chance. An Italian tourist found the eatery while looking for breakfast on his final day in China. They've already toured Beijing and Chongqing.

"The crab taste is very strong," he noted. "I like the ginger vinegar because it removes the greasiness."

The small steamed buns is a staple of Shanghai's haipai (Shanghai-style) culture, blending local traditions with international influences.

While the dish likely originated in Changzhou, Jiangsu, in the mid-1800s, it became an icon of Shanghai after the Nanxiang brand was founded in 1871.

Over the decades, the dish has been served to foreign dignitaries, including Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and former US president Bill Clinton.

Master chefs in the city typically dictate that a perfect bun must have 16 grams of pork and 12 pleats. At Lailai, the emphasis remains on the "burst" of soup that melts into liquid when steamed.

"People may not understand everything about a place at first," the kitchen manager He said. "But they can understand food. Through that, they begin to understand the culture."

Industry observers said travel preferences are shifting toward more immersive experiences.

"Tourists today don't just want to see a landmark and take photos," said Zhou Weihong, vice president of Spring Tour and a local legislator.

"They want to eat local food, watch how things are made, and ideally try it themselves."

To meet the rising demand from both locals and tourists, the brand has expanded. It opened two new outlets near the Jing'an Temple and Fengshengli areas last year.

A fourth location is scheduled to open on Tianjin Road in May on the opposite side of the original store to provide more seating and a larger kitchen for new menu items like crab roe noodles and rice.

Despite the modern expansions, the original site remains the primary draw for those following social media tips. For some visitors, the meal marked the official start of their Shanghai journey.

"It feels very local," Jarvis said. "If you want to experience something properly, you go to the place where it comes from."