Probably moving to MN, going to visit for 2 days: what to do? (St. Paul: hotel)

[Mayo bound]

There's a good chance i'm moving to rochester this summer to start a job at mayo. I'm taking my fiancée there next week so she has some idea of what to expect weather wise and culture wise, and we're also going to spend 2 days in minneapolis. I want to show her what a great city minneapolis and St. Paul are. What should we do?

We are both Chinese, and moving from NYC. We are particularly interested in knowing the areas with asian ethnic restaurants and grocery stores. Also interested in other activities we can do in the winter. So far, I am planning on: 1) mall of America, 2) eat street, 3) walk around the skyway. If it were summer, we would def go canoeing, walking around lakes, etc., but not sure what to do in the winter. Any other suggestions? Asian areas in St. Paul? General things to do in St. Paul? Places with nice views? Nice restaurants downtown? We are not really
into bars or clubs but would consider going somewhere special. We are staying at the W foshay hotel. I really want my fiancée to get a good impression.

Thanks!

[Min-Chi-Cbus]

Try Como Zoo/Como Lake in St. Paul as well (both free). St. Paul generally has more of the Asian presence in the Twin Cities, including a modest Chinese population (my friend who is Chinese said that population was about 20K, when he told me about 10+ years ago). The Asian population in the Twin Cities region is primarily SE Asian though, so that's mostly what you'll see in terms of Asian culture here.

[1stpontiac]

Grand and Summit Aves in St. Paul would be good. Lots of great restaurants along Grand, and Summit has the great "old-money" architecture. Its also always an active area, too, so its got a fun vibe of shoppers on Grand, and walkers, runners, puppies and babies on Summit.

Its supposed to be pretty nice next week (30s rising to mid-forties by the weekend), so I wouldn't rule out a walk around Lake Calhoun or its neighbors either. You can always stop in one of the restaurants or coffee shops along Lake street to warm up afterwards. Tum Rup Thai is just a few blocks away and is pretty fantastic.

[fwsavemoney]

Definitely go to Little Szechuan (the West End one) - delicious food! There are plenty of Chinese grocery stores on Nicollet Ave. The biggest one, supposedly in the midwest area, is United Noodles - it is not on Nicollet Ave but close. I am not chinese but have a lot of Chinese friends. There is a pretty large Chinese community here.

[Mayo bound]

Thanks for the great ideas!

Sorry for accidentally posting twice when I changed the title.