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
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..."
China could become first nation to make Internet addiction a medical disorder
China is expected to become the first country in the world to officially classify internet addiction as a mental disorder. Chinese government officials would be required to register the term with the World Health Organization, which has seen an increased interest in internet- and game-related addiction.
Around 253 million of China's 1.2 billion population use the internet, with the number expected to grow as remote parts of the country build necessary infrastructure to support the internet.
Dr. Tao Ran studied at least 3,000 patients over a four-year period to help him classify internet addiction, which will be a condition similar to alcoholism or compulsive gambling.
A person who spends at least 6.13 hours online each day can be considered an addict. InterActiveCorp research indicates 42 percent of young internet users feel they are addicted to the internet, while only 18 percent of American youth feel they are addicted.
Around 50 percent of internet users in China are between the ages of 18 and 30.....
I love watching the bicycles cruising down in their own lanes, whilst the rest of us are stuck in traffic on a bus or a taxi. I dread to think of the day when there are no more bicycles being ridden in China.. that would be a sad day indeed.
It's funny how the West is only just realizing the benefits of bike riding whilst China has always known about this little 'secret' - it's fast, it's cheap, it's good for you and for the environment...
Read the news story here
Woohoo! About freakin' time...
Direct China flight lands in Taiwan
July 4, 2008 - 10:27AM
The inaugural flight of the first regular direct service between mainland China and Taiwan in almost six decades has landed at Taoyuan international airport, outside Taipei.
The China Southern Airlines Airbus A330, piloted by airline president Liu Shao-yong, touched down at 8.05am (10.05am AEST) with 100 mainland tourists among 258 passengers after a 100-minute flight from Guangzhou.
"This is a sacred moment. The two sides of the strait are like members in one family. Flying over the strait to Taiwan is like coming home. It feels good," Liu said after landing.
Several fire engines splashed water over the aircraft when it was on the tarmac in a welcome gesture.
"We were lucky to be on the plane since many people were fighting for seats on the inaugural flight," said Wang Yu, a Chinese businessman from Zhuhai in southern China.
Wang, in his 40s, said he would take his wife to noted scenic spots like the National Palace Museum, Mountain Ali and Sun Moon Lake.
Taiwanese businessman Tsai Chang-lung and his wife also took the flight.
"It is my wife's gift for me for my 50th birthday. We are happy to enjoy this historic moment together," Tsai said.
There will be a total of 36 round-trip flights across the Taiwan Strait weekly, operating from Friday to Monday. They will fly between six Taiwanese airports and five mainland ones.
On Friday alone, there will be 18 round-trip flights.
The deal will increase the number of tourists making the trip from both sides to 3,000, which is expected to give a much-needed boost to Taiwan's sluggish economy.
China still sees Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary. But ties between Beijing and Taipei have improved markedly in recent months.
Taiwan banks can now exchange Chinese currency, limits on Taiwanese investment on the mainland have been eased, and some Chinese media outlets which had been banned on the island now have clearance to work.
AFP
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.
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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!
China has beaten the U.S. as the world's second-biggest exporter, despite that the world's trade growth is expected to slow to a 6-year low of 4.5%, according to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Apr. 18, 2008 (China Knowledge) - China has beaten the U.S. as the world's second-biggest exporter, despite that the world's trade growth is expected to slow to a 6-year low of 4.5%, according to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The country's merchandise exports surged 26% to US$1.2 trillion last year, which made it pass the U.S. to be the world's second biggest exporter, just after Germany.
It is the first time that China's trade exceeded the combined trade of Japan and South Korea.
Last year, China made great progress in overseas prospecting and developing nonferrous metals and noble metals such as steel, copper, nickel, bauxite ore etc.
I'm getting really really tired of all the Western countries being ignorant and making up sh|t about China. It really is a joke.
I just stumbled across a Facebook group. This is what it said
Chat rooms monitored. Blogs deleted. Search results re-routed. Websites blocked.
Try to search for blacklisted sites like Amnesty International in China and you will get an error message or be re-routed to an authorised government site.
The same thing happens when you search for terms like democracy, Tibet, Taiwan or Tiananmen Square – timed out, connection reset.
The Great Firewall
That's Internet censorship, China's 'Golden Shield Project'. The Government is watching you.
Behind what has been dubbed the 'Great Firewall of China' citizens can be imprisoned for sending emails, posting blogs or passing on information deemed to be sensitive, a threat to national sovereignty or a state secret.
In China the Internet has become a new frontier in the fight for human rights.
Thousands of Internet police
China has reportedly employed between 30,000 and 50,000 special Internet police who, with the aid of Western-provided technology, read private emails, conduct surveillance, remove blogs and block banned websites.
On screen, Internet users looking at China's most popular websites will see a cartoon cyber-police officer appear every half hour. The cartoon officer reminds them not to view censored material.
In Internet cafés users have to give their full name and an identification card before a using computer. Many cafés, which are subject to random checks, have installed extra censorship software to make sure their customers don't break the rules.
New rules are regularly created to keep up with the pace of the Internet. In January this year licence agreements came into force dictating – in reaction to video-sharing sites like YouTube – that all video material on the web must be approved by a government regulatory body.
Breeding fear
There is no list of what is censored or what authorities are looking for – it's kept deliberately vague and is constantly updated – this instills fear and uncertainty in Internet surfers in the hope that, on top of all the other controls, they will censor themselves.
China is helped by the Internet companies – global giants Yahoo!, Google and Microsoft, and Chinese companies such as Alibaba and Baidu – who have signed a pledge with the Government, the contents of which have not been made public.
The pledge allows the companies to operate in China, but only under conditions that involve censorship of their users.
For more information, go to: http://www.uncensor.com.au/
I don't often talk about controversial topics and then when I do I take down my posts, concerned I'm offending people or that I'm somehow contributing to blogger being blocked in China.. meh...
Well my mother was in town for a few days and on Wednesday night we took her to our favorite massage place. As usual we got chatting to our masseurs, masseuses? massage people and the topic of babies came up again. I've had the exact same conversation with them before.. about.. how funny it is that in China you have to pay a fine to have more than one child, and in Australia, the government is paying people to have babies.
Well now it seems that both these rules are being revised.
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China has about 1.3 billion people, 20% of the world's total.
The phrase 'one-child policy' is commonly used in English to refer to the population control policy (or Planned Birth policy) of the People's Republic of China (PRC).
China imposed the one-child policy in 1979 to curb population growth that had rocketed out of control since Mao Zedong's instruction to the nation in the 1960s to bury the United States in a human wave.
After Mao's death a network of rules was imposed on families – more complex than the simple instruction not to have more than one baby – although parents who comply with this rule still receive a certificate and a lump sum on retirement.
The one-child policy promotes couples having one child in rural and urban areas. It should really be called the "one birth policy" because parents are allowed to keep twins, triplets, etc. Two babies were permitted in many areas in the countryside, or if the first child was a female, since Chinese tradition strongly favours sons.
Fines were imposed for rule-breakers, and state officials who have more than one child automatically lose their jobs.
The one child policy does not apply equally to all families. The wealthy elite, party bureaucrats and emerging urban middle class have no difficulty in paying what for them are relatively small fines to have extra children. For the urban and rural poor, a second pregnancy carries the prospect of financially crippling penalties.
The average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime has decreased to 1.8 in China today, from 5.8 in the 1970s, and below the replacement rate of 2.1.
The preference for a boy rather than a girl, especially in rural areas, has also led to a serious gender imbalance in China. According to official statistics, 119 boys are born for 100 girls. By 2020, it is estimated that about 40 million Chinese males may have to live as bachelors.
The policy is controversial both within and outside China because of the issues it raises; because of the manner in which the policy has been implemented; and because of concerns about negative economic and social consequences. However, there are still many citizens that continue to have more than one child, despite this policy.
China’s fertility rate is now extremely low, and the population is rapidly aging, especially in urban areas. Experts have warned that China is steadily moving toward a demographic crisis with too many old people in need of expensive services and too few young workers paying taxes to meet those bills. China is often regarded as having a limitless pool of young, cheap labor, but the country’s biggest manufacturing centers are already facing labor shortages.
In February 2008 Chinese Government official Wu Jianmin said that the one-child policy would be reconsidered during the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in March 2008, but at that time a representative of China's National Population and Family Planning Commission said that the policy would remain in place for at least another decade.
So that's China. Australia on the other hand...
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The Baby Bonus is a scheme by the Federal Government of Australia aimed at offsetting the expenses associated with rearing a child. The scheme was also introduced as a means of increasing Australia's fertility rate and to mitigate the effects of Australia's ageing population.
In 2004, Treasurer Peter Costello urged Australian couples to have ‘one (baby) for your husband and one for your wife and one for the country’. To encourage this, the Budget that year put in place the ‘Baby Bonus’, a lump sum payment to the parents on the birth of each child. It has risen from $3,000 on commencement on 1 July 2004 to its current level of $4,000 and is set to rise to $5,000 on 1 July 2008. With 259,800 registered births in Australia in 2005, that amounted to eligible payments of around $780 million.
You may get Baby Bonus if:
* you have a newborn child or have care of a newborn child within 13 weeks of the child's birth and are likely to continue to have care for no less than 13 weeks, or
* a child has been entrusted to your care for adoption before two years of age and in the case of international adoptions, has entered Australia before two years of age, or
* you have a stillborn child or a child who dies shortly after being born, and
* you were eligible for Family Tax Benefit Part A (excluding the income test) within 13 weeks of the child's birth or of the child being entrusted to your care, and
* where you are the natural parent, you have notified the Family Assistance Office within 26 weeks of the birth that you have registered, the newborn with the state/territory registry of births. (This requirement does not apply to children born overseas, stillbirths or neo-natal deaths.)
* From 20 March 2008 the payment is $4258.00
* This payment is not subject to an income test.
* This payment is not subject to an assets test.
* Note: For multiple births, Baby Bonus is paid for each child. For example, twins attract two payments of Baby Bonus ($8516).
International empirical evidence suggests that public policies generally do boost fertility, although part of the measured effect may be a timing effect where mothers bring forward childbirth in their lifecycle rather than increasing the number of births over their lifetimes (their so-called completed fertility).
For Australia, the birth rate has edged has edged up to 1.81 in 2005 from 1.75 in 2003 before the revised Baby Bonus was introduced. However we can’t read much into this because the birth rate does jump around a bit—it was 1.82 in 1995 and dropped to 1.73 in 2001. There is some evidence of an announcement effect of the Baby Bonus in Australia—Joshua Gans and Andrew Leigh estimate that over 1,000 births were delayed, by rescheduling of inducement and cesarean procedures, to ensure that the birth occurred after 1 July 2004 in order that the parents were entitled to the Baby Bonus. Although this is evidence that parents respond to incentives in making family planning decisions, it is not evidence that completed fertility rates will respond to the Baby Bonus.
Some say that with more women having their first babies in their 30s, and richer women having more children, the baby bonus is increasingly ending up in the hands of wealthier families, the scheme could be means-tested in the future.
Contrary to this, Shadow treasurer Malcolm Turnbull estimated about 300,000 babies would be born in Australia this year and only a "tiny percentage" would come from wealthy families.
Economist Professor Gregory said the baby bonus remained an inefficient means of improving fertility and the Government should consider treating all family welfare measures as "a whole".
Economist Peter Saunders, from the Centre for Independent Studies, said the Rudd Government must clearly identify what it wanted family welfare programs to achieve after a decade of ad hoc and often contradictory policy.
"It's a mishmash. Is it supposed to deliver stronger families, female workplace participation, equity between families with children and those without? The Rudd Government shouldn't mess around and instead (should) have a serious look at family policy," Professor Saunders said.
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This is obviously a huge huge issue with no right or wrong answers. Personally, I think both these 'policies' were flawed from inception. People shouldn't be told how many kids they can have, and people shouldn't be paid (bribed?) to have more kids IMHO. It's like they had this great idea but as time goes on it's getting more and more out of hand with ramifications they never thought of and now they are thinking, "What do we do now?"
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.
Yikes! My parents have expressed concern I may not be able to fly back to Shanghai due to the snow... My mother thinks I should postpone my flight back. I said, "What?! Are you kidding? It's Chinese New Year.. I'll never get a flight back around that time and even if I could it would cost a fortune." So I don't know what's going to happen but I hope I get back OK. I fly to Hong Kong on the 4th, and am going to check out the city for a few hours before flying back to Shanghai later that evening.
China snow storms cancel 3,250 flights - Jan 31
China steeled for worse weather as holidays loom - Feb 1
From http://www.meta-solution.net/anp/labels/Pirelli.html:
PIRELLI launched “The Cal” 2008 calendar in Shanghai, the 35th edition of the Italian tire maker's famous calendar collection and the first ever shot in Asia.
23 portraits in the calendar were shot entirely in Shanghai by renowned fashion photographer Patrick Demarchelier: the bustling Nanjing Road E., narrow lanes in the old French Concession, the beautiful gardens at the Yong Foo Elite restaurant (the former British Legation) and ancient Chinese style architecture.
11 beauties as raising supermodel Agyness Deane, Lily Donaldson, Doutzen Kroes, Catherine Mc Neil, Gemma Ward, Sasha Pivovarova, Coco Rocha, Caroline Trentini, the chinese actress Maggie Cheung and top models Mo Wan Dan e Du Juan
First published in 1964, the calendar is famous for its artistic portraits of beautiful women and limited availability. It is not for public sale and is given as a corporate gift to a restricted number of VIPs and celebrities including Prince Charles. About 23,000 copies were printed this year.
Pirelli opened a US$97-million plant in China's Shandong Province on Tuesday. Both of the company's two plants in Asia are in China.
"China, for us, represents the future, a new world to explore," said Francesco Tarallo, head of communication of Pirelli. "China and the other Asian markets are the new frontiers for international expansion of the group."
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2005/06/22/2003260251
SMOKE-FREE DINING: The health department called on the public to persuade restaurants to go non-smoking, and is offering prizes to people who are successful
By Mo Yan-chih
STAFF REPORTER
Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005, Page 2
Hoping to increase the number of non-smoking restaurants across the country to 10,000 this year, the Department of Health (DOH) yesterday invited the public to ask restaurants owners to establish a smoke-free environment.
"Since the non-smoking restaurant program was introduced in 2003, over 5,000 restaurant have registered with the DOH as smoke-free," said DOH Deputy Director Wang Hsiu-hung (王秀紅) yesterday. "This year, we invited the public to join the campaign and exercise their rights to say `no' to second-hand smoke when they eat out."
The non-smoking restaurant program's director, Han Bor-cheng (韓柏檉), said that the concept of smoke-free restaurants is a global trend, and more restaurants in Taiwan have joined the movement.
"In Ireland and Norway, legislation prohibiting smoking in restaurants has already been passed. In other Western countries, such as the US and Canada, are making similar efforts," said Han, who is also a public health professor at Taipei Medical University.
"In Taiwan, 88 percent of restaurant owners do not believe that a smoke-free environment will drive consumers away," Han said. "We are seeing progress through this program, so I think it will eventually lead to legislation banning smoking in restaurants."
While local restaurants across the country are not required to prohibit smoking, restaurants of at least 200m2 in size are required to establish non-smoking areas. Violators can face fines of up to NT$30,000 in accordance with the Tobacco Hazards Act (菸害防制法).
Wu Chi-hsiung (吳志雄), president of Taipei Medical University, said that people who eat at restaurants with designated non-smoking areas are still harmed by second-hand smoke. Only by establishing smoke-free environment can customers enjoy avoid being harmed while dining, he said.
According to DOH statistics, 93 percent of people support for a law banning smoking in restaurants. Over 75 percent would support the government if it legislated against smoking in restaurants -- and about 80 percent supported the idea of waiters asking smoking patrons not to smoke.
Since the DOH initiated the campaign two years ago, instances where non-smokers had to put up with second-hand smoke in restaurants dropped from 66 percent to 41 percent, according to statistics from the DOH's Bureau of Health Promotion.
Calling on the public to join the campaign, the bureau is sponsoring a raffle in which anyone who successfully persuades restaurant owners to make their establishments smoke-free may win up to NT$100,000.
People who are interested in participating in the program should sign up for the program, persuade restaurant owners to post non-smoking signs in the restaurant, have owners sign a pledge to make their restaurant smoke-free and fax or e-mail the pledge to program officials. They will then be eligible for prizes including refrigerators, DVD players and NT$100,000.
The campaign runs through July 31. For more information, visit the www.health99.doh.gov.tw Web site or call 02-2377-7152.
In addition, people can also participate in the "Help My Favorite Restaurant Quit Smoking" promotion, by casting a ballot for restaurants they think should become smoke-free. People wishing to participate in the online vote can do so at the above Web site. Voters will be eligible for NT$500 gift certificates to smoke-free restaurants. The event runs through July 20.
I was looking for some more info on Dream Mall here in Kaoshiung... and found something interesting. According to this site most of the largest malls are in Asia and by 2010 it is said most of the world's largest malls will be in China.
Shopping Mall, Location - Year Opened
1. South China Mall, Dongguan, China - 2005
2. Jin Yuan (Golden Resources), Beijing, China - 2004
3. West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada - 1981 (what I believed to be the biggest mall prior to my recent findings)
4. Cevahir Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey - 2005
5. Berjaya Times Square, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - ?
6. Beijing Mall, Beijing, China - 2005
7. Zhengjia Plaza (Grandview Mall), Guangzhou, China - 2005
8. King of Prussia Mall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA - 1962
9. South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, California, USA - 1967
10. Central World Plaza, Bangkok, Thailand - 2006
11. Aricanduva Mall, Sao Paulo, Brazil - 1991
12. Chia Tai Square (Super Brand Mall), Shanghai, Jiangsu, China - 2005
13. Dongfan Xintiandi (Oriental Plaza), Foshan, Guangdong, China - ?
14. Mall of America, Bloomington, Minnesota, USA - 1992
15. Sawgrass Mills, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA - 1990
16. Siam Paragon, Bangkok, Thailand - 2005
17. Panda Mall, Chengdu, Sichuan, China - ?
18. Del Amo Fashion Center, Los Angeles, California, USA - 1975
19. Mall of Emirates, Dubai, UAE - 2005.
My thoughts:
1.I have not even heard of this Chia Tai Square in Shanghai. Where have I been? Apparently it is in Lujiazui.. must check it out some time. (hang on hang on hang on.. did some more investigating.. Chia Tai Square or Chia Tai Lifestyles is actually called SuperBrand Mall - which I have been to several times now!)
2. Looks like 2005 was a big year for building big malls!
3. Panda Mall is a fitting name because the Panda breeding and research centre is in Chengdu!
4. China better get cracking on making more websites!
I actually found this link first. It lists "Amazing Asian mega malls" with pictures.
Another interesting article
Yet another interesting article
In Dongguan, a city located north of Hong Kong – sits the South China Mall – the worlds largest retail shopping space. This mall swallows up 220 acres and boasts 9.6 million square feet of retail shopping space, according to a recent story in Bloomberg. By comparison, the South China Mall is more than twice the size of the largest U.S. shopping center – Minnesota’s Mall of America.
The South China Mall indeed must be a site to behold – reportedly including replicas of seven western tourist destinations including: Venice, Milan, Paris, and Hollywood. There’s even a 1.3 mile artificial river – on which visitors can lazily glide in replica Venetian Gondola rides. In fact, the mall’s marketing consultant’s bill it as “Disneyland and Las Vegas comes to China.”
The city with the most billionaires is no longer London, or New York - and even Moscow might not make the top place...
Increasingly, the really big money individuals are in emerging markets. Cities like Shanghai, Beijing, Mumbai and Dubai (pictured) are fast eclipsing their rivals in the West. Moscow has already being doing this for a number of years...
The Chinese billionaires club is growing faster than anywhere else on the planet - remarkable for a country that considered capitalism to be such a dirty word until quite recently.
The list of dollar billionaires in China has grown from a single member in 1999 to 106 this year, a massive increase on last year's figure with just fourteen, according to the Hurun China Rich List released last October.
Ever since I was kid I was brainwashed into thinking "Taiwan good, China bad." "China communist, Taiwan not." Of course I was also told "Australia - safe to cross the road, clean. Taiwan - crazy drivers, dirty." etc, but that's another story...
OK so up until my late teens this is what I always believed. Now, when I had the opportunity to go to China for the first time (in 1997) and make up my own mind I didn't think it was that bad, but of course I could see the differences between China and Taiwan straight away, or China and Hong Kong.
In 2005, my sister was living in Shanghai... Mike and I flew from Sydney to Taipei and my sister flew from Shanghai to Hong Kong to Taipei and met us there. The first time the three of us took the MRT (subway) there, she commented that she couldn't believe that people were actually queuing in an orderly fashion to wait for the train, and that that would not happen in Shanghai. Throughout the trip she made similar comments about the differences between Shanghai and Taipei - not so much the city itself but the behaviour of the locals.
Likewise, when my father recently visited he was making similar comments. But it was much much worse. OMG. He was China-bashing 24/7. I don't even know how I could take it! "The air pollution is so bad" "The plants/trees are not that green." "The people are so rude." "That person must be Taiwanese because they said 'Excuse me' when they pushed their trolley close to us." etc etc. Oh did I mention we went to Carrefour after he told me I should throw out all our rice and condiments because anything made in China was 'bad' and 'crap' and made me buy Thai and Japanese rice, and Taiwanese soy sauce? hahaha.
Despite the fact that he was born in China himself he still (unfortunately) hates China and will probably continue to do so. :( He feels that China is what Taiwan was 40 years ago. Yes time will change everything but who knows how long it'll take?
On the other hand, my mother loves China. She loves the rapid progress it's made in recent years, the buzz, the nightlife, the shopping, the food, etc.
I wouldn't say I 'love' Shanghai but there are certainly good points to it. Just like any other city. There are good and bad points to everything.
It's just a bit much when guests come to visit you and start bashing the place you live in. I feel quite 'weirded out' by it. I just don't know what to say or how to react. Yes the air pollution is bad. So bad it's one of the very few things I can't stand here (along with the incessant smoking everywhere and anywhere), the footpaths are uneven, the drivers are all psycho, pedestrians have no right of way (EVER), etc etc. But frankly, I feel a bit offended. How would you feel if I visited you and pointed out every single negative thing about your city or country?
Now, getting back to the topic, hopefully I'll get to visit Taiwan real soon and make my own comparisons once again now that I've actually lived here (in Shanghai).
I just read here that the Taipei-Kaohsiung high speed rail is in operation. The trip takes a mere 1.5 hours instead of the 4 hours it used to take. Awesome!
When I was in Japan I started making a lot of mental notes and noticed so many similarities between Japan and Taiwan. The breakfasts. The breakfasts I was brought up to eat and my parents are still eat - are very similar to what the Japanese typically eat - rice with pickled vegetables, radish, eggs, fish, and bits and pieces. Also the love of tofu and soybeans and soy milk. (Still am surprised that soy milk isn't that popular in China. It is even more popular in Australia).
Also the delicious tidbits known as 'mochi' or 'moji'... The snacks in Taiwan are amazingly delicious. My relatives that live here in Shanghai are always bringing back suitcases full of food and snacks whenever they visit Taiwan. So many things that floated about in my childhood - I was suddenly brought back in time when I saw the same delicious things in Japan. My eyes glazed over and my stomach yearned to be filled. I wondered if Taiwan 'copied' them or that they were so similar simply because of their geographical closeness. Anyway mochi are (according to Wikipedia) "a Japanese rice cake made of glutinous rice pounded into paste and molded into shape." They are usually filled with delicious creamy sweet fillings like green tea, green bean and red bean. One of the ones I had in Osaka was peach flavoured - makes my mouth water just thinking about it!
Despite having been to Taiwan about 10 times now I always look forward to going 'back'. Every time I discover something new :) and every time, reality hits as I realise that everyone is getting older :(
Been having soooo much trouble accessing my Blog for the last few days, weeks.. Just then I finally got back into it and the language was back in Chinese - ARGH. Either my computer is stuffing me around or the Great Firewall is/was. Anyway.. these are posts I wrote ready for posting before.
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China - the land of the fakes! Piracy
OK we all know about China's fake industry - LV handbags, Chanel sunglasses, Gucci wallets, Ralph Lauren Polo t-shirts, North Face jackets, DVDs, etc etc..
Little did you know that China has fake EVERYTHING. If this isn't enough to scare people off I don't know what is - hahaha.
Here are some fake things I have heard about recently.
1. Fake eggs
See this link
Makes me sick thinking about it but hopefully we haven't bought nor eaten any fake eggs!!
2. Fake Colgate toothpastes (which are genuine Colgate!)
Although there is a Colgate factory in China, apparently the ingredients of the toothpastes are not the same as in the US, Australia or other Western countries. Apparently there is a dangerous ingredient inside. Great! Just when I thought a reputable global brand meant that something was 'safe' and when we had bought about 6 tubes when we first arrived... <_<
3. Fake Apple iPhones
This one is quite ingenius actually. And note the Windows chime... hilarious! The Chinese have rebadged the iPhone as tPhone and included a removable battery plus a host of other extra features. At first glance it looks exactly like the iPhone too. Check out the YouTube video.
and now...
4. Fake "Harry Potter" books!
See this link
I am soooo angry words cannot express how mighty pissed off I am to find one of my favourite websites, flickr.com is now blocked in China too.
Last night I accidently typed in flicker.com without realising my mistake and saw that some cybersquatter is trying to sell it, and rejected the latest offer of US$600,000. What an idiot.
Meanwhile, after I realised my mistake and went to the correct site, strangely, none of the images were displaying. None At All. Not my own, none in a search, NONE. I immediately assumed it was my computer or ISP being slow or something and just left it....
...to try again this morning, to find that it was still like that. I got suss. I got very, very suss. I went to my trusty Shanghai sites to find that it had gotten blocked by China. Interesting, it is also blocked in parts of the Middle East. If you do a google search you can read more about it.
Geez!!
As if it isn't bad enough that every time I find something through google for a wikipedia article I have to circumvent their blocking by going to answers.com first, and as if it isn't bad enough that I even have to go through another site to access this blog, my own blog, (and any other blogger blog, as well as livejournal blogs), but now I can't even view my own photos on Flicker!
Bastards.
There are always ways around this though. It's just a pain having to use them but better than nothing.
Someone has already invented a Firefox plug-in to view flickr here.
Why I like Flickr
* I love photography. I love looking at the beautiful, awe-inspiring photos from people's everyday lives, holidays, events, everything. I have only a handful of pictures up there but always planned to put more up when I got my next computer upgrade.
* I love that I can search for random things and find a RECENT picture of it. If I go through google images I have to search through tonnes of crap to find anything half decent of what I'm looking for. Some examples of things I searched for... when I was planning our wedding I looked for bouquet, cake, invitation, dress, veil, etc ideas. When I am holiday planning I liked to search for hotels as I can actually see what the room looks like inside for real, not some fake glossy brochure type outdated photo that is on the hotel's website. I like to look for places to go to, or things to do. I love I can search for almost any keyword and turn up a bunch of really interesting photos on that topic.
I just realised I don't know if that plug-in works for Mac or not. If it doesn't I'm going to cry.. booo hooo... :(
PS - if you are interested (which I doubt you would be unless you are in China), you can read more here on the flickr website for updates.
Aahh it had to happen sooner or later. China has banned blogger/blogspot right now so I cannot even view my own blog. Luckily I was already prepared for this and found out I can use pkblogs.com to view and edit my site. It's a bit of a hassle but better than nothing!
Let's hope the big bad censors hurry up and go away and find better things to worry about than someone's blog. It's a bit unfair to censor a whole blog site (with thousands of blogs on it) just because of a few worrying ones, don't you think? :(
