I always feel sad and nostalgic when I think of the past...
Look at these photos of the Shanghai of "yesteryear"...
more
Just got an email.. so it seems I have won some type of Blog Award. My first! Woohoo!
I found this really beautiful and moving promotional video about Shanghai (promoting it for the 2010 World Expo)
The cities with the most beautiful skylines in the world rated by National Geographic are as follows:
1. Hong Kong, China
2. Chicago, USA
3. Shanghai, China
4. New York City, USA
5. Tokyo, Japan
6. Singapore
7. Toronto, Canada
8. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
9. Shenzhen, China
10. Seoul, South Korea
11. Sao Paolo, Brazil
12. Sydney, Australia
13. Frankfurt, Germany
14. Dubai, United Arab Emirates
15. Seattle, USA
16. Pittsburgh, USA
17. Guangzhou, China
18. Dallas, USA
Photos by: randyi66, spiky247, Diamond Header and kl loth on Flickr.
Sorry I have been away for so long. To make up for it though, I have one heck of a crazy post for y'all.
I have stumbled upon something very very interesting, by chance.
I have discovered that there is a twin sister of that giant, crazy, colourful tree/flower sculpture thing in Gubei!!
I'm sure many people (both residents and tourists) have passed that sculpture wondering what it's doing there.. It seems like it's in the middle of nowhere (which it sort of is, at the junction of some very busy big roads/freeways) on a big patch of grass. It is definitely eye-catching, some may say gaudy but personally, I like it.
The bright colour breaks up the horribly grey polluted sky...
It seems that everyone has seen the sculpture but nobody knows anything about it.
Until now!
Like I said, I found the twin sister in Lyon. And have managed to dig up some info about it (excuse dodgy translation):
The bouquet of giant flowers is a work of Korean Jeong-Hwa Choi, entitled “Flower Tree”.
It was exposed on the place Antonin Poncet, near the quays of the Rhone, at the time of the 7th biennale (September 18, 2003-January 4, 2004). The sculpture circulated since, in particular with the royal saltworks of Arc and Senans in 2004, before integrating the public domain of the Town of Lyon (deliberation of July 13, 2006). The common one wished to acquire it because of the passion of the Lyoneses for this work which they have a long time, like you, kept in their memory. Currently, the sculpture is in the course of restoration to find all its colors and to remake its appearance at the same place as in 2003. It will remain there during all 9th Biennial Contemporary art (September 19, 2007-January 6, 2008) then will join a site whose localization is not decided yet.
Over the years, the living sculpture, "The Flower Tree" is one of many symbols of Lyon. The Tree Flowers was installed in place Antonin Poncet during the Biennale of Contemporary Art in 2003. The sculpture was created by Jeong-Hwa Choi and is the reason the sculpture is located in place Antonin Poncet (because it has chosen the place for his sculpture itself). The sculpture is made of stainless steel and painted with polyester resin and measures 6 meters with a total of 85 flowers of polyester resin.
Now it seems that the public has become a fan of The Flower Tree. I asked a few questions to people who passed the statue to see the reaction of the public and each person said they liked the sculpture and thought it was pretty. I also asked if they thought it was an obstruction in a beautiful place with Lyon Rhône on one side and the hill Forvière on the other, but they said they did not think it was an obstruction of anything and instead, he added color and interest to the sector. One person said, "[The Flower Tree] brightens the landscape of the 2nd District because the colors of the sculpture has bright colors that are not found in winter. For my part, I find it pretty."
However, not everybody was happy with the sculpture. In fact, it was the Commission Supérieure des Monuments Historiques who originally opposed the installation of the sculpture. The Commission said the tree was to flowers "misrepresenting an exceptional" and was "too modern highly intellectual."
Personally, I agreed with people so I did a survey. I pass by the tree flowers almost daily and, in my opinion, the sculpture is a living work of art that gives a bit of joy and color to the neighborhood and the majority of people who view the work of Jeong-Hwa Choi each day.
World Airport Awards
The winners for 2009 are...
1. Incheon, Seoul, South Korea
2. Hong Kong, Hong Kong
3. Singapore Changi, Singapore
4. Zurich, Switzerland
5. Munich, Germany
6. Kansai, Osaka, Japan
7. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
8. Amsterdam, Netherlands
9. Centrair, Nagoya, New Zealand
10. Auckland, New Zealand
The results of the 'EIU's ten best cities in the world' chart have been released and they go as follows:
Rank City Country
1 Vancouver Canada
2 Vienna Austria
3 Melbourne Australia
4 Toronto Canada
=5 Perth Australia
=5 Calgary Canada
7 Helsinki Finland
8 Geneva Switzerland
=9 Sydney Australia
=9 Zurich Switzerland
Interesting! What do you think of this? Do you agree? Unfortunately I can't find more information about this and where other cities are ranked.
Link 1
Link 2
Link from Forbes
China's fastest changing cities
1. Shenzhen, Guangdong
2. Guangzhou, Guangdong
3. Hong Kong
4. Shanghai
5. Beijing
6. Dalian, Liaoning
7. Nanjing, Jiangsu
8. Xiamen, Fujian
9. Tianjin
10. Chongqing
Internations is a German-based website helping expats from around the world connect with each other. You need to request an invitation to be let into the site but it's very straightforward. Check it out! There are forums, and meet-ups, etc.
I'm back with with another survey list thing. My other posts have been some of my most popular, you can see the results here:
2007 results.
2008 results.
and the 2009 full article here
Top 50 cities
Rank 2009 | Rank 2008 | City | Country | Index 2009 | Index 2008 |
1 | 2 | VIENNA | AUSTRIA | 108.6 | 107.9 |
2 | 1 | ZURICH | SWITZERLAND | 108 | 108 |
3 | 2 | GENEVA | SWITZERLAND | 107.9 | 107.9 |
4 | 4 | VANCOUVER | CANADA | 107.4 | 107.6 |
4 | 5 | AUCKLAND | NEW ZEALAND | 107.4 | 107.3 |
6 | 6 | DUSSELDORF | GERMANY | 107.2 | 107.2 |
7 | 7 | MUNICH | GERMANY | 107 | 107 |
8 | 7 | FRANKFURT | GERMANY | 106.8 | 107 |
9 | 9 | BERN | SWITZERLAND | 106.5 | 106.5 |
10 | 10 | SYDNEY | AUSTRALIA | 106.3 | 106.3 |
11 | 11 | COPENHAGEN | DENMARK | 106.2 | 106.2 |
12 | 12 | WELLINGTON | NEW ZEALAND | 105.9 | 105.8 |
13 | 13 | AMSTERDAM | NETHERLANDS | 105.7 | 105.7 |
14 | 14 | BRUSSELS | BELGIUM | 105.4 | 105.4 |
15 | 15 | TORONTO | CANADA | 105.3 | 105.3 |
16 | 19 | OTTAWA | CANADA | 105 | 104.7 |
16 | 16 | BERLIN | GERMANY | 105 | 105 |
18 | 17 | MELBOURNE | AUSTRALIA | 104.8 | 104.8 |
19 | 17 | LUXEMBOURG | LUXEMBOURG | 104.6 | 104.8 |
20 | 20 | STOCKHOLM | SWEDEN | 104.5 | 104.5 |
21 | 21 | PERTH | AUSTRALIA | 104.3 | 104.3 |
22 | 22 | MONTREAL | CANADA | 104.2 | 104.2 |
23 | 23 | NURNBERG | GERMANY | 104.1 | 104.1 |
24 | 24 | OSLO | NORWAY | 103.7 | 103.7 |
25 | 25 | DUBLIN | IRELAND | 103.6 | 103.5 |
26 | 32 | SINGAPORE | SINGAPORE | 103.5 | 102.9 |
26 | 25 | CALGARY | CANADA | 103.5 | 103.5 |
28 | 27 | HAMBURG | GERMANY | 103.4 | 103.4 |
29 | 28 | HONOLULU, HI | UNITED STATES | 103.1 | 103.1 |
30 | 29 | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | UNITED STATES | 103 | 103 |
30 | 29 | HELSINKI | FINLAND | 103 | 103 |
30 | 29 | ADELAIDE | AUSTRALIA | 103 | 103 |
33 | 32 | PARIS | FRANCE | 102.9 | 102.9 |
34 | 34 | BRISBANE | AUSTRALIA | 102.4 | 102.4 |
35 | 35 | TOKYO | JAPAN | 102.2 | 102.2 |
35 | 37 | BOSTON, MA | UNITED STATES | 102.2 | 101.8 |
37 | 36 | LYON | FRANCE | 101.9 | 101.9 |
38 | 38 | YOKOHAMA | JAPAN | 101.6 | 101.6 |
38 | 38 | LONDON | UNITED KINGDOM | 101.6 | 101.6 |
40 | 40 | KOBE | JAPAN | 100.9 | 100.9 |
41 | 41 | MILAN | ITALY | 100.8 | 100.8 |
42 | 48 | PORTLAND, OR | UNITED STATES | 100.6 | 100.2 |
42 | 42 | BARCELONA | SPAIN | 100.6 | 100.6 |
44 | 44 | WASHINGTON, DC | UNITED STATES | 100.3 | 100.3 |
44 | 44 | OSAKA | JAPAN | 100.3 | 100.3 |
44 | 44 | LISBON | PORTUGAL | 100.3 | 100.3 |
44 | 44 | CHICAGO, IL | UNITED STATES | 100.3 | 100.3 |
48 | 43 | MADRID | SPAIN | 100.2 | 100.5 |
49 | 49 | NEW YORK CITY, NY | UNITED STATES | 100 | 100 |
50 | 50 | SEATTLE, WA | UNITED STATES | 99.8 | 99.8 |
AskMen's 2009 Top 29 best cities to live in list
Check out their article here. Happy reading!
1. Chicago
2. Barcelona
3. San Francisco
4. London
5. Sydney
6. New York
7. Berlin
8. Hong Kong
9. Copenhagen
10. Paris
11. Vancouver
12. Rome
13. Buenos Aires
14. Tokyo
15. Toronto
16. Miami
17. Madrid
18. Vienna
19. Los Angeles
20. Montreal
21. Panama City
22. Portland
23. Lyon
24. Melbourne
25. Tel Aviv
26. Santiago
27. Cape Town
28. Hamburg
29. Edinburgh
Would you agree with this list?
Hope you all had a happy Easter and that the easter bunny brought you lots of surprises.
otherwise known as a Blog List, or Links List.
A few months ago I started to link to other blogs for the first time. I resisted doing this for a long time but then I thought, "Why not?"
They are all blogs I have found myself and would read myself and if the quality of them goes down (or it isn't relevant to Shanghai/expat living) then I am likely to take it down.
So, if you see your blog in my blog roll I would LOVE a reciprocal link back to mine (http://shanghaiexpatlife.blogspot.com) but it isn't absolutely necessary.
I am always adding new ones and if you want to be added, just add a comment to any of my posts, or contact me! It's that simple.
There are actually two lists. The first is just a list of links, the second is live updates (but for some reason it doesn't accept all URLs so that's why only some people's blogs are listed in the second list).
Happy reading, everyone!
(Pictobank)
(Pictobank)
(Flickr/Tomo.moko)
(Flickr/Rintak)
(Travelpod/NinaVersteeg)
(Getty images)
(Newsobserver)
(Guardian)
(ShoppingBlog)
(TheSpec)
(Guardian)
(AP photo)
Just read over at Bibiliew about the world's largest Barbie store right here in our very own Shanghai, on Huaihai Road. Check it out! (the article and the store).
You know China is doing well when Mattel decide to open their flagship store in Shanghai and not New York!
The design of the store is genius and reminds me of the Apple Stores... a lot. All that glass and modern architectural styles.. love it.
However, I do have a love/hate relationship with Barbie. I loved playing with her as a young girl but I did resent the fact there was no Asian/Chinese Barbie, and the fact that all dolls were blonde and blue-eyed back then in the 80s. And let's not get started with her incredibly unrealistic body proportions! She makes Dolly Parton and Pamela Anderson look normal. I was watching some news report about her 50th anniversary and Mattel was saying they are empowering women, not de-powering them as everyone thinks and that's one of the reasons why Ken and Barbie broke up. 'Cause you know, Barbie doesn't need Ken, right? Who needs Ken when you have millions of friends and clothes, and fancy cars, houses, horses.. and money coming at you every day Paris Hilton style? (that is tongue in cheek of course). Whatever. If I had a daughter I wouldn't persuade or dissuade her from owning a Barbie though. She'll probably grow out of it eventually, like I did. I try not to take these things too seriously like all the feminists out there ;)
Official Barbie Shanghai Flagship store website
Address: 550 Central HuaiHai Road
More articles:
International Herald Tribune
The Wall Street Journal
All Roads lead to China blog
GMA News
Gold Sea
UK Telegraph blog
So, the latest craze sweeping the internet is the legend of the 草泥马 / cao ni ma ('grass mud horse'), an alpaca like creature, fighting censorship in China. I have been keeping myself amused reading all about Male and Gebi...
Growing up, I didn't hear my parents swear a great deal but even when they did I didn't know they were. I mean, I didn't know the literal meaning of the words they were saying and it wasn't till much much later that I did! so when I read this (Modern Chinese profanity) I was very shocked and surprised... (warning: not for the easily offended or prudish). It also explains why there is a Canon G7 and G9 (and now G10) camera but no G8.
Anyway back to the 草泥马 / cao ni ma (which sounds like another phrase I heard my father say when he was driving (but that's another story)) I think the plushies are adorable... pity it's not a real animal, but that's not the point, is it? Of course the YouTube videos/songs are much funnier if you understand Mandarin and the double meanings of the words but the China Digital Times site explains it well. I have re-posted the lyrics and video (second video here) from their site.
There is a herd of Grass Mud Horses
In the wild and beautiful Ma Le Desert
They are lively and intelligent
they are fun-loving and nimble
They live freely in the Ma Le Desert
They are courageous, tenacious, and overcome the difficult environment
Oh lying down Grass Mud Horse
Oh running wild Grass Mud Horse
They defeated river crabs in order to protect their grass land
River crabs forever disappeared from Ma Le Desert
在那荒茫美丽马勒戈壁
有一群草泥马，
他们活泼又聪明，
他们调皮又灵敏，
他们自由自在生活在那草泥马戈壁，
他们顽强勇敢克服艰苦环境。
噢，卧槽的草泥马！
噢，狂槽的草泥马！
他们为了卧草不被吃掉 打败了河蟹，
河蟹从此消失草泥马戈壁
Sara from The Fresh Air Fund has contacted me regarding her charity.
"We rely on donations to keep our programs strong, and helping children is a cause that I am sure your readers would be interested in.
Of course, we're always looking for hosts and any help would be fantastic. Together we can help make sure these children have everything they need!"
THE FRESH AIR FUND, an independent, not-for-profit agency, has provided free summer vacations to more than 1.7 million New York City children from low-income communities since 1877. Nearly 10,000 New York City children enjoy free Fresh Air Fund programs annually. In 2008, close to 5,000 children visited volunteer host families in suburbs and small town communities across 13 states from Virginia to Maine and Canada. 3,000 children also attended five Fresh Air camps on a 2,300-acre site in Fishkill, New York. The Fund’s year-round camping program serves an additional 2,000 young people each year.
Been a bit flat out and have not had time to add to my blog.. but one of my readers contacted me asking to be a 'guest blogger'. I've never had one of those before and there's a first time for everything so why not? :) here is her essay.. enjoy.
An essay on Chinese Hip-Hop by Rachel Wiggett
Discovering Chinese Culture through Chinese Hip Hop
One of the things I love most about travelling is getting the chance to learn about and experience living in a new culture. There are many things that set cultures apart from each other. Whether it’s their food, customs, traditions, or folklore, every culture has things that make them unique and special in their own ways.
I have travelled to many places throughout my lifetime, and one the best ways, I find, to get to know the people in a foreign land is by listening to their music. One of my favorite things to do when I’m visiting somewhere new is to go see live shows. It gives me the chance to mingle with locals, as well as observe and understand their culture through the music they are passionate about.
One of the experiences that stood out most for me though, occurred when I was visiting Beijing in the summer of 2005. I had met some locals my age and they decided to take me out to a hip hop show one night. “Chinese hip hop?” I thought to myself. I had never even heard or knew there was such a thing. Of course, I was very curious to see what it was all about, plus it would be a great way for me to further improve my Chinese after a period of self study through Chinese language learning software.
That show was certainly an eye-opening experience for me. My Chinese friends explained many things behind the history and meaning of Chinese hip hop, which differed greatly from that of the American hip hop I was used to. They told me that when hip hop first became popular in China, most rappers would only rap in English. But over the years, as Chinese hip hop began to evolve and develop its own style, the use of English began to fade and the Chinese language started to infiltrate.
What I found most interesting about Chinese hip hop was how different the meaning and lyrics of the songs were. I had been so accustomed to hearing about: money, violence, guns, and women, in western hip hop, that I was in near shock to find out that these Chinese hip hop artists were talking about their culture, about love, and even about food! Another thing I noticed was how difficult rapping in Chinese really was in terms of rhythm. Chinese is such a unique language, in that word’s meanings can change, simply depending on the pitch you use for each syllable.
Moreover, Chinese hip hop is far from being mainstream, so it doesn’t have the same fortune, fame and glamour stigma attached to it, as it does in American culture. However, I believe this is what makes the artists that do pursue hip hop careers, always stay true to their music.
Ever since I was young, I have always loved music. Rock and Roll, Jazz, Classical, Hip Hop, these are the sounds that have shaped my world, my identity. Learning about Chinese hip hop was a great way for me to learn something new and interesting about Chinese culture. My suggestion to anyone travelling is always learn about the music! It will give your great insight and of course, broaden your musical horizons, which is always a good thing.
Shanghai tourism souvenir design competition wrapped up
I love these souvenirs. How cool do they look? Watch the video and check out the Shikumen door pendant, or Maglev train pen! and course I love the xiaolongbao ( 小笼包 / 小籠包 / soup dumplings) boxes!
Watch the CCTV news report video here.
I accidently stumbled across this gorgeous book called The Pet Dragon - A Story about Adventure, Friendship, and Chinese Characters by Christoph Niemann. It features gorgeous illustrations with the aim of giving children aged 4-8 an introduction to (simplified) Chinese characters. What a great gift it would make!
I'm reading this great book by Duncan Hewitt at the moment. It's called "Getting Rich First: Life in a Changing China". I'm reading the UK softcover version but I imagine the US version is pretty much the same, bar a different cover and ISBN.
I've only just started reading it but I think it is one of the most fascinating books I've read recently, or maybe because the topic is so close to my heart that's why I find it so fascinating?
There are only 3 reviews on Amazon and they all give it 5 stars. You can read the first 6 pages on Amazon but I'll post some more tidbits here:
Introduction
"Sometimes I sit in the café of the Shanghai IKEA - the largest in Asia, or at least it was until they opened an even bigger one in Beijing - and gaze out at the cars, taxis and trucks speeding past on the three levels of elevated highway, and the overhead light railway snaking between them, before disappearing past the 80,000 seat sports stadium into the shadow of the ranks of tower blocks behind. And I can't hep wondering, how did this all happen so fast? Can this city of four thousand high-rises and two million cars really be the same slow-paced town of tree-lined streets, dawdling cyclists and low, European-style houses which I first visited as a student just two decades ago, when the hotel across the highway from IKEA was not just another nondescript concrete block, overlooked on all sides by newer, shinier buildings, but the newly built pride of the city, a palace which seemed to have been transported to this semi-rural suburb as if from another world?...
...For an outsider, there's a certain privilege in observing a process which is undoubtedly history in the making. But it can be exhausting too. In 2002-3, I decided I wanted to take a break from working as a journalist in China, and spend some more time in Europe. I soon discovered that the pace of the nation's opening to the outside world meant that having a break from China was no longer so easy. The flight to London was filled with Shanghainese teenagers setting off for summer courses in England; on the streets of English tourist towns, it was suddenly common to hear Mandarin being spoken, and to find young mainlanders working in menial jobs. An English football team, Everton, was now sponsored by a Chinese electronics company. In a bathroom shop in the south of England, the manager explained somewhat apologetically that almost all his products were now made in China. In a family-run umbrella business in Belgium, meanwhile, the owner talked sadly of how the company was about to close its hundred-year-old workshop and start selling the far cheaper products being imported from China. There were Chinese tour groups on the streets of Brussels, and Chinese vendors selling trinkets on the streets in Geneva. And after a long cable-car journey up a Swiss mountain, the staff in the mist-shrouded restaurant at the top turned out to e from Changchun in China's north-east, and Guangdong in the south..."
"...They may spend more time with their grandparents when they're very young, but once they're older, children are increasingly likely to be living on their own with their parents, at least in the cities, where China's tradition of the extended family unit residing together is rapidly breaking down. And with parents likely to be working longer hours than in the days of the planned economy, children are often left to their own devices. As an official at the Child Protection Department of the Shanghai Education Commission once told me: 'During the process of modernising, people's way of life, the pace of life, and the way they communicate their feelings are all changing. And the exchange of ideas between parents and children, for all kinds of reasons, is not as great as it used to be.' It was important to organise more out-of-school leisure activities, he said, 'to fill in some gaps in terms of loneliness or lack of interpersonal contact with have been created by rapid modernisation. By 2006, Chinese state television started showing public service announcements calling on parents to spend more time with their children...
...There's no doubt that many of the younger generation do spend a lot of time online. It's hardly surprising, given that the education system often encourages them to do so. In Shanghai, for example, by the early years of this decade every nine-year-old was, in theory, being taught to use the Internet. And it's not only the well-off youth in the big cities: in almost every medium-sized town in China there are Internet cafés packed with young people until late at night. For some the net provides a chance to communicate and make new friends. But others have become hooked on online games (perhaps it's no coincidence that the world's largest online gaming company, Shanda, is Chinese). In recent years youth organisations and hospitals in several Chinese cities have opened treatment centres for teenagers addicted to the Internet. And youth experts worry that excessive introversion among the young generation is contributing to a growth in delinquency, even violence. These are still less common in China than in many western societies..."
Well for me, I have 2 reasons to celebrate on January 26. It is Australia's national holiday "Australia day" AND it is Chinese New Year on the lunar calendar. It hasn't been Chinese New Year on January 26 since 1933.
So Happy New Year and Australia Day to all!
1. 'So what are you doing this Australia Day ?', 2. Australia Day 1, 3. Under the Southern Cross, 4. CB013121, 5. Happy Australia Day!, 6. 200401, 7. dragon_dance, 8. Chinese New Year Parade, 9. Chinese New Year of Rat
Happy Belated Christmas, and New Year 2009!
I'm amazed that although I hardly write in this blog anymore I still get more and more readers and hits. Thanks to all my readers (who seem to come from all over the world!) I also love getting emails and to those who I haven't replied to: I'm not ignoring you, I've just been quite busy and will reply to you really soon.
Top posts:
1. Hello Kitty Cafe, Taipei, Taiwan
2. 2007 World cities - cost of living survey
3. Carrefour shopping complex, Gubei
4. National Wear Red Day
5. Chinese New Year of rat 2008
Top keywords:
1. life in shanghai
2. carrefour shanghai
3. shanghai life
4. hello kitty sweets cafe
5. hello kitty cafe taiwan
6. hello kitty restaurant taipei
7. i dreamt i was pregnant
8. paul bakery shanghai
9. metro city shanghai
10. china birth rate
Some weirder keywords searched for through Google:
* 5rmb bag at zara china
* "sex and the city" + "think they can become"
* band aids that stick to dogs
* bathtub won't drain due to cold weather
* blood tonic for anemia from freshmart
* bound feet 裤子
* customs drug search perth airport 2008 velcro
