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Heavy Snow in Shanghai > no worries about breaking the window by removing the ice. i grew up in pittsburgh where > during the winter i'd often have to take snow and ice off the window and i can tell you > the windows can take a lot of abuse. Yepp, here in Germany we are used to scraping the ice from the windows "full stroke", as many people have no own house and garage to keep the car over night. Often, when you wake up in the morning after a cold and snowy night, you can already hear "strange noises" from the street, itīs the other people "treating" there cars, who donīt want to loose to much time getting to work. Also, no need to really carefully heat up, here often, you start the engine, set heating and ventilation to max, route it on the windows and hope that that stuff will go away as fast as possible (while you still start scratching, especially on the side windows, that will not get so much from the internal heating). Many cars have electric heating for the rear and even the front window, but this will be heavy on the battery, especially on a cold day. I hate to do all that on such a cold day. After a short while, all your sensation in the fingers go away if you donīt have really good gloves. Good that we did not yet have one this winter. Joachim |
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Boston for Dummies and More. > I think proper English would be we "brewed" some coffee. Clearly >These street are quite (quiet, quaint?) QUIET! （这些路很安静） = not much sound, not too much traffic，not too busy !? BUT: There are quite a number of such roads = not few （这种路不少） Joachim |
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Planning to Travel to Tokyo > I just got the news anyone who transit at Tokyo airport can stay in the city for up to > three days without a visa. Is it true? Interesting! I just checked the Japanese Gov website on Visas etc. and you can find info on that on http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/02.html#c Especially it says: If the passengers of an airplane or ship that lands at an airport or seaport in Japan wish to enter Japan temporarily for shopping or rest, they can receive special landing permission from the immigration authority at the port of arrival even if they do not possess a visa. and later (ii) Permission for landing in transit for departure at a neighboring port Permission is granted to foreign passengers of an airplane or ship proceeding to another country via Japan who wish to enter Japan from their first port of call and then move to another port of call in a nearby area for departure. This permission is granted when a foreign passenger wishes to depart Japan within three days. Hope this helps! Joachim |
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Pudong Airport Maglev in Depth >suppose we dont stop an alarming thought went through my mind,the breaks are electromagnetic what if the power fails. >Gavin, I am not an expert on this, but I GUESS they should have some features to make sure it does not cause big problem >during emergency. It is the first commercial line and people should be very careful to operate it. Rubrik/Rubric: Technik/Technology (Power failure) Frage/Question: What happens when the power fails? Antwort/Answer: When the power from the mains fails during driving, the levitation and guidance system is supplied by means of onboard batteries which are charged without contact during driving. Therefore, the vehicle will use its existing "momentum" to glide to the next stopping area. Should the next stopping area be too far away, the vehicle stops at one of the auxiliary stopping areas provided for the purpose at regulation intervals along the guideway. The vehicle is stopped with the aid of a non-contact eddy current brake which is also supplied from the onboard batteries and brakes the vehicle to a speed of 10 km/h. The vehicle is then lowered onto skids and stops after a few meters. An emergency stop on the open track can be ruled out. Joachim |
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Pudong Airport Maglev in Depth >Do you know anything about the maglev's safety features in the event of, loss of power, derailment or earthquake, for > instance. In the event of loss of power, the maglev car can stay levitated up to an hour on own batteries, only the driving force will be absent. In the case that fails, it will sink on the rail base where it will glide and slow down. "Derailing" in the classical sense is not possible (in contrast to the japanese type, that rides on kind of "tires" till levitated due to the dynamic forces at higher speed), because the car is made that way that it "wraps" around the rails. However, in case of major earthquake with major damage to the guide rails anything can happen, but that will apply to any kind of system! See also http://www.transrapid.de/en/index.html (I think I already cited this here somewhere!) Joachim |
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Shanghai Metro Map and Timetable > Hi. I will be visiting Shanghai in December. Where can I get information about the current Maglev train timetable? You wonīt need a detailed time table! Service is from 8:20 to 17:30 (8:30 from the airport) every day, at 20 min intervals. Joachim |
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Pudong Airport Maglev in Depth Hi Anthony >when you get on the maglev can you always get a window seat? There are no reserved seats (besides there is a VIP section, that AFAIK only has nicer, spacier seats and costs a bit more). As the train is almost never full (yet), it should be not too difficult to get a window seat. (If you want to be 100% sure, get VIP seats, but I would not) >Also can you bring a camcorder on the maglev? I would love love love to have video footage from inside and out! No problem! I noted no restrictions, MANY people take lots of pictures in the Maglev or videos. >Be neat to visit the maglev store. I would buy alot from there. There is one in the Long Yang station basement near the exhibition on Maglev technology. |
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MyBusStop Project Reloaded > Does Shanghai still use "LU" instead of "road" in English version? Yes, they mostly do, but this simply is because most of the "romanized" signs are NOT English at all, but simply use the "PinYin" rewriting of the Chinese characters! Otherwise, wouldnīt it be consequent to translate the full name and talk about about "Southern capitol road" (Nanjing Lu) etc. ? I think, sticking with the PinYin if its only a name and hence with "Lu" is very OK Joachim |
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PVG: Location of Maglev Station >Why does the Maglev run only from 08:30 to 17:30 hours? There must be a reason, but what > is it? Apparently, nobody really knows why! >At what times are the first and last arrival/departure at Pudong airort? As you write, the first Maglev leaves LongYang at 8:20 and arrives at PuDong at 8:28. I also happened to get on the last one of the day some weeks ago, it departed from PuDong at 17:32 and reached LongYang at 17:40. On that trip,we passed another (last?) one going to the airport. Joachim |
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PVG: Location of Maglev Station >Why does the Maglev run only from 08:30 to 17:30 hours? There must be a reason, but what > is it? Apparently, nobody really knows why! >At what times are the first and last arrival/departure at Pudong airort? As you write, the first Maglev leaves LangYong at 8:20 and arrives at PuDong at 8:28. I also happened to get on the last one of the day some weeks ago, it departed from PuDong at 17:32 and reached LongYang at 17:40. On that trip,we passed another (last?) one going to the airport. Joachim |
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PVG: Location of Maglev Station >Can you provide any more information as to where the Mag Station is in relation to downtown Shanghai And Have you found >any Hotels that are close by and also central to DownTown Shanghai >Thanks for any help you can give me I cannot find any information as to where the station is downtown Haha, you cannot find it because there IS NO station downtown! (Why this is so, might be a whole different thread!) Actually, the Maglev station at Long Yang road is about 5 Metro stops from downtown, depending on what you call "center" of downtown, maybe near He Nan Lu or near Peoples Square. So, there are also no such hotels that are close by and central. BUT, the Metro ride to and from the above station is pretty easy, fast and save. For Long Yang station see here http://home.wangjianshuo.com/scripts/map/index.php?rx=4216&ry=2973&text=Maglev+LongYang+Station For "downtown" (more than approx. 10km from Long Yang station!) see here http://home.wangjianshuo.com/scripts/map/2600.2200.htm The right red circular "Metro" sign is for He Nan Station on the center of the famous Nan Jing Lu, the two left ones belong to the large Peoples Square interchange station. |
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Traveled to Beijing with China Eastern Airlines Ursula, ni hao! >I am arriving in Shanghai as a stopover for two days on the 5th Jan. I would really like to see >part of the Great Wall and know that I would need to fly probably to Beijing. Is this possible in >the time frame? Would you know the cost or tours if available please. Difficult in that timeframe, especially if you do not know too much about China and probably Chinese. I recently took a guided tour (English and Chinese) from Beijing to the Great Wall (which usually goes to Badaling which is the most crowded part of it and later also visits the Ming Tombs and includes a Lunch). This is a full day tour (takes off very early in the morning from the Hotel (7:00)and comes back to the hotel around 19:00).The price of that tour was 240 RMB and included most entrance fees and the lunch. However, in your timeframe you probably can not get on it. Flying Beijing-Shanghai (or back) takes about 1:50 (if not delayed, beware!), I bought such a ticket in Beijing recently for ~ 750 RMB (one trip), my very first experience buying a ticket in Beijing mostly using Chinese! To the above time you will have to add the times to get from the airports to the respectice city centers or bus stations, about 30-45 min on both sides and the extra recommended time to get to and through the gates (30 min - 1 hour?) I know there are a lot of (public) buses that directly go to the Great Wall from some Station in Beijing, I plan to use one of those next time I get there, but this way you will have no guide with you and you will need thorough planing to get it done in your timeframe, especially when using those public buses you better know some Chinese. Maybe somebody can fill in "the blanks"? Maybe some travel agency offers such a quick tour? Beijing is simply too far from Shanghai! Joachim |
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Shanghai Metro Map and Timetable > I will be staying at Peace Hotel. What should I do after getting off the Maglev? A) Most convenient: Take a taxi from Long Yang Station directly to the Peace Hotel B) Get onto Metro #2 (just adjacent to Maglev Station), buy a 3 Yuan ticket, take the Metro direction Zhong Shan Park (NOT Hitec Station) to HeNanLu Station, Get off and take a short taxi ride to the Peace hotel. C) Only if you have almost no luggage and know your way: Do B) to HeNan Station, walk East on Nanjing Lu, you will hit Peace hotel on the left just before the Bund. It is probably a 8-10 Min walk. Joachim |
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Inside Pudong Airport Maglev Train > Would be a problem to take much luggage that way. Actually, the Maglev is often critiziced for not being good for luggage. Actually I had NO problem, INSTEAD, the Metro has a BIG problem, you cannot get through the barrier (that rotating "spider" where the ticket is checked!) with big luggage especially with trolleys! The first time I managed to lift my stuff over it, the second time I was smarter and could "slide" the stuff below the barrier before getting trough! But no good solution at all! > Note the picture of the switch (turnout) connecting the two roadways. It looks like they have > bendable sections to accomplish this! Yep, they have, actually there are to different types differing in the max. speed you can go over it (in the bended state) and radius of curvature. In the straight-through setting there is no limit (> 500 km/h). All can be learned in the "museum" at LongYang Zhan! Joachim |
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My Map Has Errors - I Know Yes, the map has quite a lot of errors, but is still very usable and helpful! I noted several ones over the last weeks, from slight writing errors ("jin zhang lu/rd" where it should be "jin zang lu/rd"), points off by several 100m up to points totally (and absurdly) off, as I just noticed somebody put a marker "pudong airport" near "xintiandi"!! A method to edit/delete markers would be very helpful. Maybe we can figure out a smart way that would not cause even greater harm when enabled! How is this handled on all the "wiki" sites? Any suggestions? |
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PVG: Location of Maglev Station > Well. It may not be easy for people to find the station. Since there is not sign for the Maglev yet at the International Arrival > Hall. You will get very confused when you get there. This is no longer true. As of Oct. 2004, there are now clear signs pointing to the Maglev in the arrival hall. ( However, the first time I got there, I noticed that where the arrow points right and UP to the upper floor where the bridge is, the escalator there was going DOWN, so I had to err around a bit to find another UP going one! I was in just a bit of hurry, because my plane from Beijing arrived delayed and the very last Maglev of the day was going to leave soon! Barely made it to that one which left on time at 17:32! Pant, Pant! ) Joachim |
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Inside Pudong Airport Maglev Train Hi magz, > As for the noise issue, germans should be blamed for choosing the shape of the maglev train. For a so high speed train, the > head of the maglev train should be duckbill-like rather than the shape it is now. I think they invested in many wind-tunnel test as the energy consumption (air friction) and hence also the noise was optimized over the subsequent generations (at least they claim in their documets). The best shape for a given cross-section (usable width and height in the rear part of the body) is a drop-like shape with the FLAT end towards the wind and the sharp edge at the rear. As the vehicle needed to be symmetric (rides back without turning around) and will also ride on a flat surface, the given shape was probable the best they could get. Very sharp, needle like edges (front of fighter jet planes) are probably only relevant when approaching or even exceeding the speed of sound. (Also commercial airplanes at 900 km/h still have pretty "flat" front parts!) Joachim |
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Inside Pudong Airport Maglev Train Stephen, >I cannot verify your technical reply on Maglev which is contrary to the article from a magazine, >will revert. Those arguments apply to the type of Magle were the "rail" is dumb and passive, but the drive is in the vehicle. Just BECAUSE this might cause big problems at high speed, as the whole power has to be fed to vehicle, the situation is reversed on high speed Maglevs, where the "rail" is active (hence so expensive) and the carriage only does the levitation (actually they say on the website, they can stay levitated up to an hour on the on board battery alone!). In fact, that means that the carriage is not really "driven" by the vehicle directly but it only sends commands to the control room, who accordingly controls the respective parts of the "rail"way (not all are energized at the same time) and controls the vehicle speed via the AC frequency! They say this is an extra factor of savety, if two train on the same rail come so close that they enter the same "segment", they only can run at the *same* speed because they see the same AC frequency, hence no back-on collisions possible! See here (and around that website): http://www.transrapid.de/en/index.html Respectively the noise I really would like to experinece it myself from the outside. Also the German enviromentalists heavily argue(d) against the Maglev because itīs so "loud". However, in the Maglev, the only noise will come from the air friction with the vehicle, the drive does not make noticeable noise. (As from the info I got, its from 0 to 300 Hz, a very audible region, and I did not notice any low frequency, sine-like sound on the trips!). SO, it can only be QUITER than any other system at the same speed which will also cause noise from vibrations etc. in the wheels. Joachim |
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Inside Pudong Airport Maglev Train High Fei, > I have one question though: what are roles of the Maglev hostess? Are they similar to the stewardess on airplanes (i.e. > serving food, beverage)?? Actually, on the short 8 minutes trip there is nothing served and it seems the hostesses are only there to look good and are often photograped smiling with the passangers when the speed hits 431 km/h. However, they will announce when another train going the other way is passing (the Shanghai line has two "rails"). IMHO THE MOST EXCITING experience, especially the first time when you do not know what to expect (I wonder why WJS did not mention it, maybe there was no such train on his trip, I had it in 3 of 4 trips): In a sudden you experience two not too loud bumps on the train at at an interval less 1sec, and both ends of the other train have already passed. WOW!! On my 2nd trip I took care to grab the moment visually, but its only a shadow that passes at > 600km/h (Actually they seem to prefer to do it in an area where both trains are not at maximum speed, yet the German website claims they already tested the passing while one train already hit 501 km/h and the other one was around 430 km/h) I think they also have the hostesses to demonstrate and "test drive" that you really could savely serve food and stuff at 430 km/h, as I said above, no problem walking around at max. speed, the center aisle is wider than one might think, because the seats are pretty wide, in airplane "economy class", they would probably cramp 6 or even 7 seats in the same space! Joachim |
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Inside Pudong Airport Maglev Train Hi Stephen > Perhaps you never realize the Maglev needs consistent supply of power from ground, at high speed, the contact point of > power supply can easily or prematurely worn out. The same problem also applies other high speed trains currently using > overhead transmission. I did (not) realize, because it does not work that simple way!! There are two types of Maglevs, the low speed ones indeed work like an old fashioned e-tram or e-trolley bus with constant overhead transmission! Instead, high speed Maglevs as the German type and the Japanese type derive ALL their energy at higher speed from the AC field that also drives them. At higher speed there is NO mechanical contact to the "rails" in the Shanghai Maglev at all at 431 km/h. In case of energency breaking it can also still make a "soft" landing from battery power in case the contact would fail! The "Transrapid" has electrical contacts that allows it to start and to work when stopped. In move these contacts are fully detached! So no mechanical problems from this point! At LongYang station there is a very good museum in the base floor that explains all this, I highly recommend the visit. All exhibits are explained in Chinese and English, unfortunatelly the movies are only in Chinese. I have photographed quite a lot of the posters in that exhibit room, I could post some! >The noise pollution generated by Maglev is 2.5 times over other trains associated with high building cost makes Maglev >economic unfeasible to build in large scale. Also not true (according to the figures the Maglev people give, maybe they cheat?)! They claim, that at >400 km/h the noise if still just par to the best ICEs or TGVs at 300 km/h, which is about the same noise an old fashioned train already emits at 50 km/h! |
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Inside Pudong Airport Maglev Train Hi there, > Nevertheless Maglev still suffers from mechanical deficiency What deficiencies? > When you showed the pictures inside the Maglev, it looks like you are just sitting inside an airplane. When you showed the > picture of the speed of the train, it is no wonder there is no space for passengers to stand. Not true, there is quite a lot of space around the exits and where you can store larger pieces of luggage! The description of speed by Wang Jian Shuo is a quite bit misleading, actually itīs a very smooth ride, even at 431 km/h, you can easily walk around. The central aisle is wider than what you usually get on an airplane. The nice hostestesses are almost always walking around the whole 8 minutes the trip takes! (There are no special crew seats as an airplane) Other People get up and walk to the speed sign to have their picture taken together with the 431 km/h display! (Just returned from Shanghai, also yesterday, on October 12!, I got on the first trip from LongYang at 8:20) |
| 5 |
Starbucks in A Day >starbucks is one of the worst coffee shops in the world, it is the McDonald's in coffee business; >simply in terms of coffee quality, it is extremely strong, acidic and not always fresh; i don't >understand why so many chinese people dig into it. Try avoid it at all time. If Carribou's is >available in China, try it. 100% agreement, I also donīt understand why itīs so big in the States, it simply seems to be a matter of advertisement. I remember together with a friend from Hungary getting extremely expensive coffee at the Starbucks in the San Diego Hilton, after tasting the first drops we both threw it away! You can have very strong and stimulating coffee that is neither acidlike and bitter, but not at Starbucks.... |
| 4 |
XGAO's RJRI Retired > To be "polite", when you leave a French, don't fotget to say to him/her:"傻驴", hehe... 哈哈！And when leaving Germany I highly recommend using "去死" ("Tschüss", Bye bye) to be "polite" to us here...... |
| 3 |
XGAO's RJRI Retired > RJRI is what the computer is named. XGAO, can you explain why you chose I over A? Couldnīt it be, because "I" in English pronounciation is just like 爱 in Chinese pronounciation, 对不对？ 不过，"RJRYI (人见又人爱)" must be either "RJYRI (人见又人爱)" or "RJRYI (人见人又爱)" to be consistent! |
| 2 |
Difference Between Quanqiutong and Shenzhouxing Hi "Trivial" thanx for the comment. I have a GSM phone, so CDMA is of no concern. Speaking of "famous countrysides", will Ruyitong still work in Chengde, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Nanjing, Wuxi or probably smaller places around the Tai Lake area? (Thatīs as far as I plan to go from the really big cities on this first trip!) If it already has problems there, while Shenzhouxing has none, I think I better will buy the latter card already after arrival at Beijing airport. At around RMB 100 itīs not expensive! |
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Difference Between Quanqiutong and Shenzhouxing Hi Jian Shuo, I will soon go from Germany to China for my first time. From a colleage who stayed in Shanghai for several year I got what looks like a China Unicom "Ru yi tong" prepaid card. She said she could use and recharge it easily both in Shanghai and Beijing (the places I will go too). I wonder why you donīt mention that kind of card in this thread. Any comments how it compares to "Shen Zhou Xing" and others? |