Shanghai - the most beautiful city in the world

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

China's Fastest Changing Cities

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

Getting Rich First: Life in a Changing China

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..."

In the 'The 'me' generation' chapter (which I quickly skipped to) it talks about kids and teenagers growing up in a New China, which, frankly, isn't too different to kids growing up in the West.

"...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..."

Then it goes on to talk about pop culture and media influences, particularly from Japan.

If it sounds interesting to you, go check it out!

Go to China

I just found this website.
GO TO CHINA

There are some great photos and basic information on there, check it out!

New theme parks in Asia

New theme parks in Asia

include...

- Joy Valley Theme Park in Shanghai will be the biggest amusement park in China. The 87-hectare Joy Valley Theme Park, expected to open in 2010, includes a hotel, a conference center, and theatre, and is expected to receive five to seven million visitors every year.

- Shanghai’s Chongming Island will build the country’s first theme park for bicycles that will include bike paths, competitions, and entertainment. Three cycling stadiums are planned, including one for motocross. The park will also include a training school, a gallery, and a bicycle museum.

- Overseas Chinese Town, a new park in Sheshan, will add the country’s first wooden coaster, “Fireball,” in 2009. The coaster will stand 108.25 feet tall with a first drop of 103 feet. It will feature 3,819 feet of twisted track and reach a top speed of 56 mph.

- Kids City in Hangzhou allows children ages 5 to 10 to experience adult professions. The indoor entertainment and education park offers more than 50 professions, including pilot, doctor, police officer, and lawyer.

- Outside of Shanghai in the neighboring city of Zhouzhuang, a $40 million park will open to celebrate the theme “5,000 Years of Chinese Culture.”


Well, with the plans of Disneyland on the way there will be no shortage of things for tourists to do when they come to Shanghai. The fast rate of development of China and the whole northern Asia region is kinda scary thing!

China's tallest building... is a dragon?

Link

CHINA'S tallest building, to be built in Shanghai, will look like a coiled dragon, according to its designer.

The US firm Gensler and the Shanghai-based Architectural Design & Research Institute of Tongji University will soon deliver more details about the skyscraper, whose construction is planned to start this year, the Oriental Morning Post reported yesterday.

A dozen overseas and domestic firms offered designs for the building from April 2005 but Gensler's "Dragon" finally defeated the "Bamboo Shoot" from Britain's Foster & Partners.

The top of the new skyscraper will look either like a turned up dragon tail or an inverted Olympic torch, according to the report.

The 580-meter-high Shanghai Center will top the city's skyline and form an impressive triangle with the 420-meter-high Jin Mao Tower and the 492-meter-high Shanghai World Financial Center in Lujiazui finance and trade zone in Pudong New Area.

A project company with 5.4 billion yuan (US$786 million) in capital has been registered in the city. The Shanghai Chengtou Co, the Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone Development Co and the Shanghai Construction Group are the shareholders.

Once it is completed, the super highrise will have 118 stories and exceed Taiwan's 501-meter Taipei 101 to become the country's tallest building.

It will also be taller than the 555-meter-high Burj Dubai, which is still under construction.

Live in Shanghai

I just found this site which looks pretty interesting and helpful for newcomers!

Shanghai: The Endless City

Excerpt from Shanghai Daily

Urban experts' 'endless' approval for Shanghai

By Yao Minji 2008-6-5

MANY expats, upon arrival for the first time in Shanghai, are stunned by this ever-changing metropolis. A common compliment is that "Shanghai looks no different to New York except for the Chinese characters on the skyscrapers."

But does that mean Shanghai is becoming a faceless city like many other big cities? German urban planning expert Wolfgang Nowak gives a definite "no" with the support of a newly released 512-page hard-cover book titled "The Endless City."

"The Endless City" compiles thinking, dialogues and discussions from the project on six major international cities - New York, Shanghai, London, Mexico City, Johannesburg and Berlin. It was edited by London Design Museum curator Deyan Sudjic and LSE urban planning professor Ricky Burdett.

"...the problems illustrated in the book are universal ones that the general public also care about, such as the city's security, the environmental problems, and the future of cities," Nowak tells Shanghai Daily. "So I hope ordinary residents also read the book, think about the problems and become active in their cities."

Nowak is particularly interested in the development of cities because he believes everyone will reside in cities by the end of the century.

The editors picked the six cities mentioned because "they are of particular relevance for a better understanding of urban practice."

In addition, editors Sudjic and Burdett believe Shanghai to be one of the cities that will go through some of the greatest changes in the 21st century. Lagos, Kinshasa, Mumbai, Deli, Dhaka and Jakarta also fall into this category.

"It is projected that by 2030, more than 4 out of every 5 urban dwellers will be in the developing world, so this will have huge implications for the global economy," the editors write.

"At the same time, mature cities such as London, New York, Berlin and Mexico City need to ensure that their future growth reconciles their layered history of planning mistakes and prioritizes sustainable transport and inclusive, contained growth."

Nowak gives examples of Shanghai, a city which "still surprises" him even after four visits.

"When we walk in Shanghai, we see a city of the future, with great public security, large streets, increasing public transportation, people from all over the world and a culture supported by 5,000 years of Chinese history," he says.

Nowak believes other cities could learn from Shanghai's rapid development, public security and planning of the Pudong airport.

On the other hand, he suggests Shanghai could take lessons about the green lifestyle from many older cities such as Berlin, where environmental protection has become part of everyday life.

"Moreover, Shanghai is a city that has still kept its character while developing surprisingly rapidly.Many new cities have become the same under the large trend of globalization. And even some old cities are facing the same problem.

"In Berlin, we are still struggling to reconstruct our history and culture, because lots were destroyed after World War II."

For Nowak, Chinese cities like Shanghai and Beijing have done well in combining modern development with the essence of the city, instead of simply making the old look new.

Not having been to New York City, I have always thought of Shanghai as an Asian NYC. So I may be wrong, but I know that there are many other people out there who think the same thing. There is the buzz, the liveliness, the HUGE population and density, the huge gap between the rich and the poor, the multiculturalism and more. You can't describe it. You just have to LIVE (t)here to EXPERIENCE it.

My sister lived in Shanghai only 3 years ago and I can already see so many changes since I visited her then. Even in the one year that I've been here there have been huge changes - notably the completion of THREE new subway lines, and the new terminal at Pudong airport. I do wonder though, with so many rapid changes going on... if I ever come back to Shanghai in the future will it be unrecognizable? Will all the little things that make it 'cool' be obliterated in the strive to become more futuristic, more Western, more affluent? I guess only time will tell (although I guess I already answered my own question).

Part of why I love living in Shanghai is the crazy feeling that somehow you're in a time warp. You're kind of living in the past and in the future at the same time. I'm sure there will be a time when those old men pulling the tricycles loaded up with 50 billion kilograms of styrofoam boxes, cane chairs, recyclable cardboard packaging, plastic water bottles or whatnot will be gone and then I can reminisce to my kids, "When I was your age and living in Shanghai..."

If anyone is interested in skyscraper cities there is a great forum here.



And you can buy "The Endless City" book here

Shanghai says big 'Gidday' to Sydney

Link

SHANGHAI and Sydney, Australia's biggest city, signed an historic agreement this week that will open the door to a myriad of business opportunities.

Morris Iemma, the premier of New South Wales, of which Sydney is the capital, revealed yesterday he had signed a "Friendship Co-operation Agreement'' with Shanghai authorities which he says will open the door to many significant possibilities.

He told more than 200 guests at the NSW Premier's China Business Mission "Gateways to the Future'' function at the Portman Ritz Carlton that this new relationship would extend to business, tourism, research, education and culture.

Mr Iemma led a 40-strong delegation of New South Wales businessmen and academics into town this week to seek out business and other opportunities in the country that is Australia's biggest trading partner.

He told guests at the function 25 different Australian companies and nine universities were represented within the delegation.

Mr Iemma said China had a long history of investment in New South Wales but the relationship between Australia and China is more than 150 years old.

More recently however Sydney and NSW had become major tourist and education destinations for Chinese people, he said.

In announcing new relationships between the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales with Chinese universities this week, he said more than 85,000 Chinese were attending educational institutions in NSW.

Meanwhile, Iemma expressed deep sympathy for victims as he pledged AU$600,000 (US$576,210) to the relief fund.

Speaking at the NSW Premier's China Business Mission function in Shanghai, Iemma said the "heartfelt sympathy" of everyone from New South Wales went out to the earthquake victims and their families.

Iemma also praised the way China had handled the earthquake crisis.

Life of an expat wife

My blog used to be called "Life of an expat wife". I've been thinking a lot about my life in Shanghai over the past year. I think people think that my life is either "really good" ("Wow, you must spend all day getting manicures and going to the hair salon - erm, no. I've been to the hairdresser twice and gotten a manicure only 3 times in the past year) or "really bad" ("Oh, I could never live in China, it's dirty, polluted, crowded, people spit..." - just deal with it, people!) but in fact it's neither. Like most people's lives it's both good and bad, and has ups and downs. I know I complain about random things in my blog (mostly my health problems or the weather, I think?) but if I really wanted to I could complain even more about random stuff, but who the heck wants to read that?

I just did a google search for "Life of an expat wife" and this (my) blog is the first link that pops up which is quite surprising! As well as that I found some other interesting links.

Hardship of an expat wife in Suzhou

Even though I don't live in Suzhou I could relate to almost everything single thing that the author (Linda Ho) wrote about. The English teaching thing is a good point. I don't know how many people have suggested to me that I teach English at an English school. Well, I want to just plonk them over the head! I look Chinese. I look like a local. They don't care that I was born in an English-speaking country and was educated for my entire life in an English-speaking country from pre-school till university. Or that I can spell better than most Caucasian English-speaking people. Everyone has the same story. They've either experienced it themselves or they know of someone who has experienced the outright blatant discrimination and reverse-racism when it comes to hiring overseas Chinese people for English-teaching jobs. It's hard to get a job and even if you get one, they'll treat you like scum and pay you less than a Caucasian person, even someone from Eastern Europe who barely speaks any English let alone can read/write and teach it! Ugh. Plus I didn't move to Shanghai so I could earn 1/6 or 1/8 of what I could earn back home! And doing something that would add nothing to my career at all since I hate teaching and have no aspirations to be an educator or anything like that. Really!

Another thing. we don't have a driver or a car, and the apartment we live in although deemed outrageously expensive by the locals is only 1/3 or 1/2 of what most expats are paying. Some expats would also be paying 6-10 times (or more!) than what we are paying.

I was coming home from somewhere the other day in a taxi and had a conversation with the driver the whole way home. He started asking me where I was from (and I really really hate that question because I don't know how to answer it, people always seem to have pre-conceived ideas about what they want to hear anyway) and I told him I'm from Taiwan (I'm not really of course, but my parents are). He said he thought I was Korean or Japanese. When I told him I'm 'Taiwanese' he said, "But they're Chinese too! They're the same!" Alas, I was too tired to get into some big political debate with him (LOL).

Then he just started talking and talking non-stop and seemed really bitter. I ended up telling him I was actually from Australia (usually get the 'huh?' look and the "But you don't look Australian!") and he said he had some friends who moved there. He said, "You must have a pretty good life here if you're bringing your Australian dollars with you." Erm yes, well, kind of. He said, "If you have money you can have a very nice life in Shanghai".. I said, "If you have money, you can have a nice life anywhere!" to which he agreed.

Then he told me he earns 3000 RMB/month (the average for Shanghai so I've heard) and has lots of health problems from sitting down for 12 hours a day, and stress from having to know all the roads/streets in Shanghai and dealing with traffic. I started to feel sorry for him and all the other taxi drivers because I (stupidly) thought that being a taxi driver would be an OK job to have, if I was a local.

When we were almost at my apartment, he said, "Do you live in... (apartment compound name)?" and I said, "Yes" and he said, "Oh I knew it. Because a local would never be able to afford to live there..."

Every single local we've spoken to says that our apartment is so expensive but hubby and I don't feel like it is! For one thing, it's only about half of what we were paying in Sydney for an apartment (similar size, 2 bedrooms) that was 45mins out from the city! And like I said, other people are paying 2-3 times the price and I don't think their apartment is any better, only the location is probably more central and maybe their building is slightly newer but their space certainly wouldn't be bigger and I doubt their view is as nice as ours. I'm very very happy with our apartment and love it. I also like that there aren't billions of buildings like some compounds that have 10 or 20 buildings. Like what the-? It's like a mini-city!

So anyway he pulls up outside my building and then said to me, "See that man over there?" (pointing to the security guard) "Well, he only earns 1000 RMB/month."I'm thinking, "OMG you're kidding!" I felt so bad. They work 12/hours a day too :(

Understandably, this taxi driver was quite bitter about the difference between the haves and have nots. I can understand because I've been there. Growing up we weren't poor poor but we certainly weren't rich. We had second hand furniture from garage sales in our house, my mother made our clothes, my parents DIY'd everything, our shoes were always bought way too big so we'd 'grow into them' (I'm sure that somehow contributed to my sister and I both having flat feet and having to wear orthotics later) yadda yadda.. we were never left without necessities though and overall I think we had a pretty nice life as kids but getting older these days it's hard not to feel something about the difference between the rich and the poor. Luckily most of my friends are middle-class like myself, I don't actually know that many rich or poor people, but in Shanghai it's everywhere. It seems everyone is either filthy rich, or dirt poor, you just can't escape it. It's so sad really.


Getting back to the topic, I also found two books about expat wives, which both look like good reads.



Emails from the Edge: The Life of an Expatriate Wife

This book sounds like a great idea for a movie!



Me a tai tai?

This book sounds hilarious. Even the cover pic looks funny (hey she kind of looks like my mother). I need to track it down somehow... :)


So in conclusion being an expat wife in a foreign non-English-speaking country has it's pros and cons, it's what you make of it, really. I'm glad I've had this experience which I wouldn't give up for anything. And it's really nothing like what you imagine it to be... unless you've been there and done it.

---

In other news, my husband told me he donated 2000 RMB to the earthquake appeal through his work. Woohoo! I was proud of him for his generosity (But I admit I also thought to myself that 2000 RMB would be the perfect amount for me to buy that flash I really wanted.. oh well, guess I'll have to wait a while, and those poor people need that money much more than I do). And, he's gone to Beijing today, for a week. I did get my photo fix though. I looked online for the thing I wanted and the prices were about US$60-120, and I got it for a whopping 90 RMB ($12.50). Yay for bargains!

Trip to Shanghai

Link

I found a good 'essay' some woman wrote about her trip to Shanghai. I think it's very well written, informative, with lots of nice pictures too. Take a look!

Shanghai wages increase average of 11%

Link

SHANGHAI'S average salary increased 11 percent on average annually from 2002 to 2006, the city's labor union said today in a five-year report on wages.

Workers in the service industry increased four times in the city during the five years, the Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions said in the report.

The number in the financial industry increased 65 percent while the number of real estate industry professionals has risen 36 percent from 2002 to 2006, according to the report.

The Shanghai Labor and Social Security Bureau stipulated last week that workers at all local enterprises, including those companies making losses, should receive a salary rise this year.

The labor authority also said for the first time that companies running at a loss can also increase salaries for staff members by a minimum of 5 percent.

The city's government raised the baseline minimum monthly wage from April 1 to 960 yuan from 840 yuan.

960 a month? OMG?!

Olympic torch in Shanghai

In less than 2 weeks the Olympic torch will make its way into Shanghai, and I'm excited! (and all the China haters can go and get stuffed =D When I go home I'll try to find and scan and upload my torch relay pic from the 2000 Sydney Olympics when they passed through my suburb and I got up at some ungodly hour to wait for them to come through).

Link

You can track the torch's journey here

Shanghai will hold a torch-lighting ceremony on Donghai Bridge in Nanhui District on May 20 when the torch arrives from Zhejiang Province, Eastday.com said.

Torch bearers will relay the torch across Fengxian, Jinshan, Songjiang, Qingpu, Minhang and Changning and Xuhui districts. They will then take it to Century Avenue and Bingjiang Boulevard in Pudong New Area via the Nanpu Bridge in Xuhui District.

After that, the torch will be taken to the former Shiliupu pier in Huangpu District by ferry. It will then pass Zhongshan No.1 Road E. of Huangpu District.

Another ceremony will be held in Century Square on Nanjing Road E. at the end of the first day, the report added.

On May 21, the torch will be lit near the Memorial Site of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Luwan District, and then relayed to Jing'an, Putuo, Zhabei, Hongkou and Yangpu districts. It will be ferried to Chongming Island from Baoyang Road pier and then ferried to Baoshan District from Shidongkou pier.

The torch will then move into Jiangsu Province after a ceremony in Anting Motor City in Jiading District.

The journey, which begun on March 24, will cover 137,000 kilometers, the longest in history, and last 130 days and involve 22,000 torch bearers worldwide.

Unfortunately I can't find a close-up actual map of its path in Shanghai. If anyone has seen one I'd love to know, thanks!

Always traveling...

I've noticed that amongst expats in Shanghai everyone is always traveling - whether it be to a nearby water town village, or to somewhere further like Beijing or to another Asian country or back 'home' to Europe or the States or wherever.. it seems that most expats are on holidays for a lot of the time, several times a year! I think this is definitely one of the perks of living here. It's easily accessible to other places and domestically it's fairly cheap to fly (or you can go by train if you want to go super budget!)

I love travel and love looking and everyone's travel pics on Facebook and drooling over them with jealousy (I have to admit I don't like other subjects as much.)

Random photos

Rail maps at People's Square showing the new lines.. crazy stuff.. the People's Square station has 20 exits!!






View of Cloud Nine mall through a taxi window



Some place I have no idea where but I liked the colour.



Qipu Lu





Gorgeous book cover of a children's storybook



Carrefour today:

If you translate "Spice girls" into Chinese and then back into English it becomes "Spicy Girls" so it's Chinglish I guess. I found it amusing because my mother calls that group the "Spicy Girls" too!





There was some crazy shoe sale going on. 10-20 RMB (about $1.50-$3) a pair! I did take a quick look and the styles weren't too bad but the queues were horrendous and the quality wasn't that great.. but the price is just unbelievable! Only in China, eh?



Something about giving away free bags. Carrefour's bid to help the environment. They are probably warming us up for when they stop giving out free plastic shopping bags. I feel so stupid now thinking it started tomorrow, when it started yesterday! (the 6th). I could've claimed my free enviro bag today but didn't :(



We got new kitchen taps! Yay for Mr Fang.



Some crappy dinner I made - lamb chops, fried rice and lettuce. The hubby liked it, though, amazingly.



I've also added photos to my Paul's post yesterday (the 6th!)

It reached 27 degrees today!

Wow, Spring is certainly in the air. It reached a whopping 27 degrees C today (that's 81 degrees F for you crazy Americans ;))

What did I do to take advantage of this beautiful sunny, warm weather? I stayed inside feeling sorry for myself coughing up yellow crap and nursing my poor painful dizzy head, drinking homemade garlic and honey tea ... ahhh woe is me.

Nanhui blossom festival report

Related post

So I trekked out with my friend yesterday for some blossom viewing. Luckily she has a driver so we had a car, but despite our best efforts it was still hard to find a concrete address or phone number of some sort. So we set off around 11am and when we go to Pudong her driver stopped the car at the red light, got out of the car and asked a taxi driver in the next lane for directions. My poor friend was cringing, and I and the taxi passengers were laughing at his antics, as he did this over and over again!

So, after almost 2 hours we finally arrived there, in the town where Ang Lee filmed "Lust Caution".

We were pretty hungry by the time we arrived so we ate at the restaurant which happened to be there too, and sampled some local dishes. My friends is a vegetarian and I wanted to play it safe so ordered mostly vegetarian dishes too. We also invited her driver to eat with us, he didn't think he was supposed to.

After a hearty lunch of very healthy simple Chinese food we paid the entrance fee (30 RMB) and set off in search of blossoms.

Unfortunately, as I mentioned yesterday, the stupid recent crappy weather has blown many many petals off the poor blossoms so they looked very naked. :( boohoo.

Firstly we went inside the mini museum they had set up inside a straw hut. It showed various primitive implements used in farming and outfits and stuff like that. It was interested but we didn't stay long because we realised the performances on stage would be ending soon so we rushed off to see that...

They had various acts going on on the stage and we had a look at that. It was a weekday so there weren't that many people there...

The stage


Lion dancing


Long dragon


Dancers


I said to my friend - is that christmas tree foil cut-outs on those straw hats? hahaha


Elderly ladies watching


Bee on blossom


Fields of peach blossom trees


Fields of yellow rapeseed flowers


There were little old ladies selling vegetables, tadpoles, etc. There were also people selling guinea pigs and they tried to tell us they were rats or rabbits. What the-? We didn't believe them though. But it's not like they were lying, they were just very very ignorant. It was scary and funny at the same time!

There were also various tables of crafts which you could purchase - chinese paper cuts, candy that looks like it was glass blown, silhouette paper cut outs, pearl necklaces, dolls, miniature toy bikes made of wire, bone carving pendants, etc..

Cute animals made of dried grass blades (each takes 2 days to make!)


There was also the God of Marriage (I believe that's what he is) and we all threw coins into the bowl. I got mine in first go, so I hope that it means I'll have good luck or something.

I had the most amazing time yesterday. I couldn't stop laughing. It was just so funny and so much fun! I guess it helped that I had great company and perfect weather (warm, sunny, little wind, not hot and not cold).

Countering the culture shock

Link

A good article I think. Useful if you are new to Shanghai...

LIFE for newcomers to Shanghai can be vibrant and exciting. More often than not though it is overwhelming and daunting. Luckily, help is at hand, writes Sam Riley.

While starting a new life in Shanghai can be the adventure of a lifetime, for some expats adjusting to living in China can be a difficult experience.

Crashing headlong into a totally new culture and a language they don't speak can be a daunting and sometimes alienating experience for new arrivals.

The Community Center Shanghai specializes in helping expats overcome this so-called "culture shock" by conducting a range of programs designed to make settling into life in this vibrant and exciting city easier.

As well as courses, the center conducts specifically tailored orientation programs for executives of some of the biggest multi-national companies operating in Shanghai...

The center's Puxi director Michelle Wright says it is common for new arrivals to feel overwhelmed by the challenge of performing seemingly simple tasks when they first arrive in China.

"Coming from a Western country to Asia can be very, very different and there is so much new that you are being affected by," she says.

"Traffic patterns, common courtesies are very different, for example. Even the written language is different so you don't have your normal reference points. (But) it's much easier to adjust now than it was 10 or even five years ago because there's a lot more help available.''

Wright says family members or friends of expats can recognize the symptoms of "culture shock," which include outbursts of anger or frustration with aspects of life in China. Other "culture shock" sufferers may become withdrawn and isolate themselves. In more serious cases, some even become depressed...

But the challenges and rewards of beginning a new life in a totally different environment do not stop after the first adjustment period.

Community Center Shanghai executive director Christina Showalter says many people found that after they had adjusted to life in China, a range of new opportunities for personal growth arose.

"Once they have found a circle of friends, become established, eaten in restaurants, gone shopping, been to bars, people tend to look for meaning in their lives," she says.

"People soon find there are so many opportunities for personal growth, whether that be through learning new skills or contributing to the local community."

The Community Center Shanghai will run a free half-day orientation program on Saturday. The course covers a range of topics such as getting settled, hiring household staff and managing workplace challenges.

Shanghai 123 - Orientation for New Arrivals

Date: April 12, 9:30am-2:30pm

Venue: Puxi Community Center at the Sun-Tec Medical Center, Annex Building 4/F, 2281 Hongqiao Rd

Tel: 5175-0519

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China's/Shanghai's new mid-range traditional Chinese style hotels

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JUST a couple of years ago, travellers to China had two options: high end, high-rise chains or grimy youth hostels with squat toilets and snarling service.

But as China booms, so does its hotel industry, and there has been something of a revolution in Beijing and Shanghai, driven in the former's case by the Olympics in August and, in the latter's, the 2010 Expo.

Shanghai

This go-ahead city has more than its fair share of five-star lodgings but, to experience a taste of old Shanghai, avoid the futuristic skyscraper hotels of Pudong and stay in the city's most attractive district, the tree-lined former French concession, or in Jing'an, which is not (yet) as gentrified as other parts of the city. In Shanghai, you won't find hutongs but lilong, or converted alley houses, which date back to the city's glamorous golden age of the jazz-filled 1920s and '30s.

Old House Inn:
A delightful converted lane house, this inn has brought a breath of fresh air to the local accommodation scene, thanks to its small selection of beautifully renovated and stylish rooms at reasonable rates. The hotel's restaurant, A Future Perfect, is one of Shanghai's funkiest.

From 700 yuan; www.oldhouse.cn.

Urbn Hotel:
Shanghai always has an eye for the latest trends and the new 26-room Urbn Hotel ticks the environmentally friendly box as well with its carbon-neutral status and recycled materials (the building was once a factory). Guests walk through a bamboo-lined courtyard and past a reception area decorated with antique suitcases; corridors on the four floors are lined with bricks taken from demolished factories, and the wood used on the floors and in the rooms is recycled Chinese mahogany.
One of the two expat owners is from Sydney and they have tried to make the rooms as different from a standard hotel as possible; there are sunken baths, low Asian-style beds and wrap-around couches that are great for lounging and watching a massive TV.

From 1400 yuan; www.urbnhotels.com.

No.9:
If relentless trendiness isn't for you, try staying at No.9, which is more like being in a friend's beautiful and surprisingly rustic '30s house than in a hotel. The Taiwanese owner has converted his grandfather's home and, with only five rooms, it's a world away from most anonymous hotel experiences.
You'll find this delightful B&B, with its walled garden, down a lively back lane where life continues in much the same way it has for centuries. But be warned: taxi drivers can struggle to find No.9 as it doesn't announce its existence and there's no website.

From 700 yuan. 9 Lane 355, Jianguo Xi Lu; phone + 86 21 6471 9950.

Lapis Casa Boutique Hotel:
Guests here couldn't be closer to the action: the hotel is a block away from Shanghai's main entertainment complex, Xintiandi.
This small and elegant place opened in May 2007 after its brother and sister owners spent two years converting the unassuming building into an antiques-filled hideaway. Guests enter through large wooden doors before reaching the stone-floored reception area and corridors lined with lovely stained glass. The 18 guestrooms have different themes, though all are from the past; the favourite (and most expensive) is the corner suite with its 1900s traditional Shanghainese decor, wooden floors, soft lighting and red carpet.

From 1500 yuan; www.lapiscasahotel.com.

Jia Shanghai:
Describing itself as a residence rather than a hotel, the 55-room Jia Shanghai opened at the end of 2007 and has seen a host of stars through its doors (although presumably someone escorted them in as there isn't anything as boring as a sign).
The original structure was built in 1926, but few traces of the past remain inside; instead, like its original sister hotel in Hong Kong, it is cutting-edge design all the way.
The corridors are dark and mysterious but open on to bright, white guestrooms equipped with the latest entertainment systems and small kitchens.
There's a complimentary breakfast served in the arty lobby as well as free afternoon tea and cocktails all evening.

From 1395 yuan; www.jiashanghai.com.

Adapting to different cities/countries

This is a sort of continuation from this post

From speaking to people and thinking about events in my life I've come to the conclusion that there are those people who love change and those who hate it.

I used to think I hated change but I think that part of the reason why I like Shanghai is because it is so different to Sydney. Totally different. There are many people like me who like different places to the ones they grew up in. Then, of course, there are those can only deal with the types of places they grew up in.

My parents are a perfect example. They both grew up in Taiwan and left in their late 20s. My father loves living in Australia and really doesn't like Asia at all. He did a 1 year stint in Germany and really liked that too (apart from the cold weather). He really looks up to Western people, culture, on the most part. Maybe it's because he suffers from this 'reverse racism' thing where he believes that everything in the West is better, white people are better, etc etc. My mother, on the other hand, although she lives in Sydney too, is always yearning to go back to Taiwan (or Hong Kong or China) and visit. She loves the hustle and bustle, the crowdedness, the cheap food stalls on the street, the great shopping the nightlife... My stepmother moved to Sydney a couple a years ago and is always complaining about it. She can't seem to see any positives about living there (despite the fact that there are millions of people around the world who would kill to live there, I'm sure). She is constantly whinging and complaining about how crap Sydney is and how great Taiwan is. ARGH. It's so frustrating. I guess age has a lot to do with it too as the older you are, the less malleable you are to change.

Then, of course, I think that the longer you stay in a place, the more it loses its 'lustre'. What seems like a great place for a vacation may actually be a shitty place to live! It got me thinking that it's like a relationship with a person ;) at first it's fun and interesting, then as time goes on more and more problems arise and you have to try harder to rekindle the interestingness that was there at the beginning!

Just a pointless post that doesn't really mean much to anyone except me.