<- Click to filter by commenter
| 37 |
Friends Started to Boycott French Products It is an honnor to be boycotted by chinese dictatorial government like it was to be boycotted by americans during Irak war. THX |
| 36 |
Metron #2 Station Name Change i hate the new names, they are inaccurate, causing confusion among a lot of ppl. esp those newcomers, for example, west nanking rd (former shimen rd)begins at peoples square and ends at somewhere west of jing'an temple. the two ends r all stops on the 2line, the entire line runs below nanjing rd and century ave. those new station names ought to be changed back to what they were.,or adding intersecting rd names will also do. |
| 35 |
View of Shanghai under Clear Sky Well I don't know how different that view will be in 5 years- there is no room left to building anything else! :-) I do have to say, that already this view is very different from 5 years ago in 2002- there aren't any cranes. |
| 34 |
Shanghai Looks Similar to US, But... "Please don't judge everything in China with western value because this country is too much different from US or Europe". Nancy, I could not agree with you more: again, I was arguing how DIFFERENT Chinese cities are from their western counterparts despite some superficial similarities, given historical, cultural and economic considerations. The forces that have produced the Chinese cities we see today ARE very different from the forces that produced many western cities. So I am agreeing with you, and I don't understand why I keep getting told that China is different from the US/Europe. I'm in no way arguing otherwise. Alex and patrick22: I will not disagree with you that China has gone through many profound changes, and perhaps I've been guilty of over-generalizing in my previous post given that the country is its own world with a billion plus people and a huge diversity of conditions, life stories, aspirations, successes and failures. Look up the definition of 'complex' in the dictionary and you will probably find "modern China". :-) But at the same time it would be dishonest not to acknowledge the major role that the state has played, and to a certain extent still plays, in the nature of China's urban redevelopment. There are countless stories to be told about every Chinese city, town and even neighbourhood. Shanghai itself exhibits an immense diversity of development stories depending on what particular neighbourhood or even building you are looking at. All I'm saying is that state-driven mega-projects (Pudong being the huge example in Shanghai) are just as equally a part of China's urban development story as the aspirations of the common person on the street. I'm not necessarily saying the results are good or bad for people, that's not really my argument here (although the amount of resources squandered on some local gov't 'image' projects is quite frightening). I'm saying,for better or worse, the Chinese state at all levels (yes, this includes local officials) is heavily involved in China's urban development, and that political considerations drive the growth of Chinese cities as much as any aspirations for a better life. Like it or not, the Chinese state still completely runs the show and calls the shots. And yes, it is the majesty of these state mega-projects that is used to project China's 'rise', more so than smaller but more real successes, like a family being able to send a member to university for the first time or having enough food on their table. If you read my previous post again you will see that it is as much about the West's general intellectual laziness in trying to understand China (just getting off a plane, taking a picture of Lujiazui, dreaming of a billion consumers and leaving) as a comment on Chinese society or Chinese people. |
| 33 |
Shanghai Looks Similar to US, But... Patrick22, I'm not sure I understand your response to my comment. The whole point of what I wrote was to support Jian Shuo in his observations that the dynamics driving Chinese cities really are very different from the US, for example, and it has everything to do with drastic historical, cultural, political and economic differences. I'm not 'blaming' any gov't at all. Describing what you think is happening is not the same as placing a moral judgement on an activity. But for better or worse, it's hard to disagree with the notion that the Chinese state at all levels has been/is still behind so much of the urban redevelopment in Chinese cities, no matter how 'western/capitalist' they might end up looking. Shanghai's resurgence was no accident- read a bit about the city's recent history in the 1990s - but rather a very deliberate state project, with a massive amount of state funding to back it up. And of course, more recently the growth of Chinese cities has been strongly driven by the collusion of real estate developers/gov't officials and their out-of-control real estate growth machine. The central gov't has recently realized the threat this sort of reckless development poses in the long-term, but I think it's a bit too late: they let loose the urban development 'mania' in the 1990s, and now every local government wants to turn its city into a Shanghai. Have you seen what is going on in Zhengzhou lately? Harbin? Huge new master-planned cities rising solely by fiat of government officials who need to puff up their records and line their pockets, rather than meeting any sort of market demand or taking care of their citizens. It's urban development barreling out of control, and it's the sort of thing that keeps central gov't officials awake at night. I think urban development in many Chinese cities, particularly second tier ones, is driven less by genuine 'westernization', 'globalization' or 'marketization' or whatever you want to call it, and more so by officials deciding "well, I want my city to look rich and modern and developed". It's also convenient that selling off all the land to real estate developers drunk on speculation makes THEM rich. In the end, image is just as important in China as substance, if not more. So having a city that LOOKS rich and prosperous is just as good as having a city that actually is rich and prosperous. And it's hard to argue that it doesn't work: you have a lot of foreigners who show up, see some shiny buildings and big highways and decide that Shanghai is "New York" or that every other Chinese city is becoming New York and China will take over the world tomorrow. The Chinese gov't's imageering is so clever because it knows exactly what to show people who don't have the time to dig under the superficiality. And it sure works: the "China Rises" hype has become its own industry in American/European media. How many times has the Lujiazui skyline appeared on a magazine cover/news story about the "New China" or "China Rising"? Countless. It's like the Chinese gov't relies on the modern intellectual laziness of the West to sell itself. But really the processes driving the rise of these cities could not have been more different. And besides, I personally don't think Shanghai looks like New York at all...it's definitely still a Chinese city, and all the better for it! :-) |
| 32 |
Shanghai Looks Similar to US, But... Geez, I think people should give Jian Shuo a break on this one! From what I understand, all he is saying is that just because Shanghai might superficially look similar to other cities such as New York (which I don't think it does at all besides the height of its buildings, but anyways), doesn't mean the same processes are at work. "And the image people see from outside is misleading". Basically, the political-economic forces that have driven the recent urban redevelopment of Shanghai are drastically different than those that produced New York, let's say. Just because Chinese cities have skyscrapers and elevated highways should not lead people to assume they are becoming 'western', or following any sort of western logic. New York is a monument to American-style capitalism and private money, while Shanghai is much more the result of a deliberate push by the Chinese STATE in the 1990s to project wealth, success and the "New China", as much to its own people as to foreigners. Pudong is harldy a free-wheeling capitalist financial centre- it was a master-planned, central gov't-driven project designed to impress. Do you think it's an accident that Lujiazui's 'landmark' skyline seems designed solely to be looked at from across the river? I'm definitely with Jianshuo on this one. Great observations. |
| 31 |
I did Ignore World Cup I agree with you.I also desire a place to play football in Shanghai... |
| 30 |
Rent an Apartment in Shanghai Thanks for your response Shirley. |
| 29 |
Rent an Apartment in Shanghai I am planning to open a business in Shanghai. I would like to know if it is a problem if I have my office in a residential building to save the cost. Would the residents mind their own business and leave me alone? Or would the management of the building cause me problems. I cannot consider the expense of rent in an actual commercial building. Are there many residential buildings where companies open their offices? I have lived in Guangzhou before and it is very common for many companies to have an office in a residential building to save the cost. Please let me know if Shanghai has similar situation. |
| 28 |
Rent an Apartment in Shanghai I am planning to open a business in Shanghai. I would like to know if it is a problem if I have my office in a residential building to save the cost. Would the residents mind their own business and leave me alone? Or would the management of the building cause me problems. I have lived in Guangzhou before and this type of situation is very common. Is it a similar situation in Shanghai? |
| 27 |
Hello From Hangzhou Maybe I lived in a different Hangzhou, but I found it to be pretty big, busy and crowded. The area around West Lake is truly beautiful and serene...but unfortunately, that's a small part of the city. On a nice spring day in 2004, however, I took a long walk northwards following the canal, and that was really beautiful- it got very calm and quiet outside of the centre, lots of parks the whole way, none of the crowds around West Lake. It was like a whole different city, so much more peaceful- unfortunately, where I lived was just beside the elevated highway on Shang Tang lu, and I would hardly describe that as a "slow pace of life". :) |
| 26 |
Beijing 2008 Olympic Mascots Ok, I must apologize. I should have realized that my comment would have set off the usual China/Japan political commentary. But that was not my intention. All I meant was that the characters have that 'Japan Cute' look, especially Ni Ni. And no matter what you think about politics in Asia, you have to admit that the Japanese have had a near monopoly on the 'cute cartoon' look from the late twentieth century on. So, please, for the sake of Wang Jian Shuo's blog, enough about the politics between China and Japan. These are Olympic mascots, for crying out loud! |
| 25 |
Discrimination Against Foreigners in Shanghai? I have read this interesting discussion. I am african, and have been living in China for seven years now. I came to the conclusion that, although Chinese people are racists, you can't really blame them for that, because THEY DON'T KNOW they are. For them it is quite normal to place an ad stating that only white people would be considered. China has been closed for a long time, they haven't experienced some things that other countries went through. Also, another problem is, it seems religion has been replaced by money now here, so the market dictates everything. If parents will pay more to have whites teach their kids, the school managers won't do anything to change their minds, it is not their job after all, they will look for white teachers. That's quite simple and straightforward. Teaching is just the visible part of the huge iceberg. But as long as we are in China, we have to deal with it. Otherwise find another place to go. I am sure that with some good will and a small dose of smartness, one can find its way in China regardless of his color or background. I have a created a forum, www.afroshanghai.com, where africans all over China meet, and we also interact with Chinese friends, I believe through communication, as it is on this very website, we can help bridge the differences. Who knows, in ten or twenty years time, things would not be the same as it is today. Peace to all of you. Patrick |
| 24 |
Jia You, Shanghai Metro! These pictures are actually quite tame compared to the crowd that gathers on any London tube platform waiting for the train that has been, as usual, delayed. |
| 23 |
Helping by Hiring Shelly, My big question is: why always the competition?? If China doesn't overtake the West..so what! Hopefully, things will improve for many Chinese people, but I honestly believe this idea of competition will only lead to ruin. Honestly, who cares who has the tallest building? Who cares who has the most BMWs? Who cares who has the biggest economy? Having the world's biggest market hardly means everything becomes ok. China can have the world's biggest market and still have 600 million desperately poor people. I wish China all the best, but I also wish it would stop being so insecure and always comparing itself to 'developed' countries. What does 'developed' mean, anyways? Not much, really, besides that the rich have nicer buildings and the poor USED to have some kind of support. |
| 22 |
Helping by Hiring Shelly, I really enjoyed my time in China and found it an absolutely fascinating country, but I think you are going a bit overboard in your optimism. 500 million migrants moving into cities over 15 years doesn't mean they will all suddenly own suburban homes and a Volkswagen. Rather, I get the feeling that China is, more than ever, moving to resemble many other 'developing' countries (and even many 'developed' ones) where you have huge wealth disparities, the glittering downtowns surrounded by miles of slums. One of the reasons, in my opinion, that Chinese cities appear so 'developed' and 'rich' is largely because they have managed to keep the teeming masses out and can concentrate the wealth among the urban few at the expense of the rural many. That they can also use dirt cheap labour (sometimes so cheap they aren't even paid) to build these glittering cities also helps. I'm definitely a non-believer in the magic of 'modernity' to solve problems. I'm currently living in London, a so-called 'modern' city: go take a tour through the east end and north of Canary Wharf, and you will see extensive poverty that no amount of nice bank towers and luxury condos can fix. |
| 21 |
Run Your Blog with Your Own Domain Name Yeah, Jeremy's right. I got a nice little domain from GoDaddy.com. Their hosting ain't bad either, I only paid $42.00 for my domain and hosting... I'm trying to figure out how to make a nice little blog section on my site. A seperate page from the home page though. If anybody has any ideas how to, email webmaster@plbeane94.com, since plbeane94.com is my domain, then yeah! |
| 20 |
BlueZone's Xinjiang Impression I spent some time out in Xinjiang last summer, travelling at that time wasn't restricted at all. I went to Urumqi, Hotan and Kashgar, as well as a village very close to the Pakistani border in the mountains and had no trouble (I hold a Canadian passport). |
| 19 |
Taxi in New York City I think Dave hit on the pretty obvious. New York in 2005 is like a cleaner, Disneyland version of New York in the 1970s. |
| 18 |
Is the Real Estate Cooling Down? I'm not so sure Shanghai is in trouble. It will continue to attract the usual wealthy elites from both home and abroad. The much bigger problem (and bubble) lies in all the provincial capitals and cities that are trying to become "Shanghais" by building ridiculously large luxury condo complexes that almost no locals can afford to live in (Zhengzhou, Urumqi, Xi'an, Chengdu, Lanzhou). I was actually a bit in shock at the number of huge, abandoned buildings in these cities. Like no one bothered to check demand before building a fifty-floor tower! I think Shanghai's image is a bit too important to China for the government to let things get out of hand, but in many other parts of the country, real estate development seems quite reckless and ill-planned. I remember reading somewhere that a big chunk of China's economic boom is tied to real estate development and construction, so if that's the case we had better hope the bubble isn't too big. My friends (graduate students, young professionals) in Hangzhou complained about the complete lack of affordable housing despite the insane amount of new properties coming on the market there. The attitude in Chinese urban development these days seems to be "why build one, twenty-floor building when you can build twenty thirty-floor buildings, paint them gold, put a big fountain in front, and then sell them all to another wealthy person who will keep them all empty to inflate demand." :) I think the gov't in Beijing has realized this, hence the attempts at more strict control over land use. If it's so easy for developers to get huge plots of land for nothing through corruption and political connections, there is no incentive to be cautious or realistic in their development plans. And few local gov'ts will disagree, because these sorts of wild mega-projects mean construction jobs, not to mention making their district "look modern and wealthy". Sorry for ranting like this, but I'm really fascinated by Chinese urban development and what drives it. And on a completely different note: Wang Jian Shuo, I'd love to read more of your thoughts on the US, not to mention see more pictures, you have a great eye for city scenes and architecture. |
| 17 |
Rejected by ANA and Postponed Travel Wang Jian Shuo, Sorry to hear about your misfortune! I can empathize with you since, for some reason, several of my flights to/from China involving Canada have had unplanned stops in Tokyo Narita airport. So when I think of Narita airport, problems immediately come to mind. The first was in July 2003, when I was trying to fly from Beijing to Vancouver. Apparently the flight was cancelled (not to my knowledge!) because of SARS, so I ended up on a flying from Beijing to Narita to catch a flight from Tokyo to Canada. This involved me sitting around for hours in the terminal watching sumo wrestling replays on a big screen TV. The second time was when I was flying back to China in September 2003. My plane in Montreal left a few hours late, so I missed my Shanghai connection in Vancouver. So...guess who got sent to Narita airport again?? Me. From there, I managed to catch a flight to Shanghai. The moral of the story is...connections in Japan always mean trouble :). Anyways, I'm really looking forward to your trip to the US, I want to read your impressions and see your photos. I've been there a lot, but since I'm Canadian I guess it's not all that different. Best of luck! PS: What exactly are the procedures for Chinese citizens? Both times that I ended up in Tokyo I never had to go through any sort of Customs. Is the problem that you wanted to stay in Tokyo for a day or so? |
| 16 |
Top 10 Places to See in New York City I agree with JL, one of the coolest parts about New York is the neighbourhoods, many of them little cities in themselves. Make sure to check out Greenwich and the East Village, makes for quite the different impression from Midtown, Downtown, Wall Street, etc. |
| 15 |
Top Three Innovation that Failed in Shanghai Wang jian shuo, I'm at little confused as to why highway names needed to be changed to suit international visitors. In my two years in China, I never once saw a non-Chinese person driving a car (including in Beijing and Shanghai). My guess is that VERY few foreigners are driving on the mainland- so what is the need for non-Chinese road signs? It seems a waste of money to accomodate these very few, select people. If a foreign resident of Shanghai is settled down enough to own a car and manages to nagivate Chinese roads (something I could not manage! :), then I don't think it is too much to ask that they know enough Chinese to figure out road signs. My Chinese is pretty bad, but even I could read most highway signs looking out the window on bus trips. |
| 14 |
Winter in Shanghai This post is right on. I found the winter I spent in Hangzhou (basically the same weather as Shanghai) pretty rough...I could just never get warm, and my clothes would never dry. It was definitely a struggle getting out of bed in the morning! |
| 13 |
PVG: Transition to Hong Qiao (SHA) Carsten, Thanks for the infomation. I think I will try it out. One more question, do you think I should buy my SHA-KWE ticket ahead of time or should I just buy it when I get to Hongqaio. I am flying to PVG from Vancouver and I am not sure that the flight will arrive at 3:10PM. Thanks |
| 12 |
PVG: Transition to Hong Qiao (SHA) Do you recomment taking a taxi from PVG to SHA? My flight arrives PVG at about 3:10PM and I am planning to take another flight from SHA at 6:20PM. If I rush through customs and jump into a taxi, do you think i can make it for the 6:20PM flight? Thanks |
| 11 |
34226 RMB for a Car Plate in May Shanghai slim, Encouraging massive car ownership in any Chinese city isn't very well thought-out policy (at least while they are fossil-fuel based). North America has long been struggling with horrible congestion, sprawl and environmental impact issues. Of course, the short-sightedness of our public officials leads only to the expansion of the road network, which in turns means yet more cars, sprawl, and pollution. I think the big question in China is whether automobile ownership will ever reach similar levels. The economic benefits of a growing automobile industry will be quickly overshadowed by transportation gridlock and major pollution issues. Oil consumption is a whole other story all together. Unfortunately, there is not much leadership coming from anywhere in the world right now in terms of an alternative fuel/transportation revolution. China's population density makes issues like these come to a head light years ahead of countries like Canada, whose sparsely populated expanse lets us get away with a pretty wasterful and irresponsible lifestyle. The most common response I get to this sort of thinking is "well, your countries did it, so why can't we?" I think this is just a dangerous lack of creativity. As China develops in the 21st century, I think it has the chance to lead in innovative urbanization and transportation (the huge population will make this a necessity). In 2004, why bother copying all the stupid mistakes made in North America decades ago? There are different ways to be "modern", and hopefully China can show us that. |
| 10 |
SARS is Back in China I like your attitude about Sars, calm and confident. The last thing we need is a repeat of last year's panic. Back then, I worried more about people's crazy reactions than actually catching the disease itself! :) |
| 9 |
Drive-Ins in China Do you think Shanghai is taking a more responsible approach to traffic control and transportation issues? I've been there twice and never felt overwhelmed by the traffic or number of cars on the road. In fact, for a city of its size it all seemed rather orderly. Beijing, on the other hand, was a complete traffic nightmare (and also a lot more polluted than Shanghai). Any thoughts on the different approaches taken by the two cities in regards to balancing car ownership with traffic and pollution issues? |
| 8 |
Just Few Steps Away from My New Car I'm not so sure Shanghai will (or should) get rid of the high license fee. In a city with such a huge population and high density, it is absolute planning suicide to encourage everyone to jump in a private car. Sure, encouraging car use stimulates the automobile industry, but at what price? Many cities around here are already starting to resemble giant parking lots. How many more cars can they realistically let on these roads? People are always complaining about traffic gridlock and the number of vehicles, and yet fail to connect this to private car ownership. With 1.3 billion people, we are playing a whole new game here. Sorry Wang Jiang Shuo, just my little rant after sitting on a bus stuck in traffic for an hour :) |
| 7 |
Reviewed by ChinaHerald.net I think your blog is great, it provides really good info on Shanghai. Your sections on transportation and the airports really really helped me out. Thanks! |
| 6 |
Pudong or Puxi I say go for Puxi. Pudong looks deserted as far as I can tell, not exactly the exciting life. It's impressive to look at..from across the river. But it honestly seems more like some giant urban planning experiment than a real, liveable city. I guess it might someday be lively and exciting...but I don't really know if you want to wait 15-20 years for that :). Puxi all the way! |
| 5 |
Foggy Shanghai Visibility in Hangzhou was also really limited today, although I don't think it was fog- unfortunately, it seemed a lot more like pollution. I don't know why, but over the past week the air quality here has been really bad (the week before was beautiful). |
| 4 |
PVG: From Pudong Airport to Hangzhou Hi, I'm currently living in Hangzhou, and soon I have a friend and sister coming to visit me, which means I will have to do several back and forths between Hangzhou/PVG. I'm very grateful that you have listed the times for the express buses to Hangzhou for the airport. But I have another question; do you know if it's possible to take this bus FROM Hangzhou TO PVG? It seems it's pretty hard to get info on long distance buses in Hangzhou. |
| 3 |
PVG: From Pudong Airport to Nanjing Recently I am a frequent traveller from Pudong airport to Nanjing. My office is in Nanjing but in last month I have to visit one of my customers in Dalian several times. (Since everyone in my office prefer China Eastern, we only order tickets from this company.) Everytime the trip is compact and 1-2 days long, always first day arrival while second day leave. But almost all times I could only take flight to Putong first and find some way home later from there to Nanjing. My suggestion is, if you arrive Putong at night, the best choice is to find a hotel and take the train next morning. Everyday morning there are three fast and comfortable train to Nanjing at 7, 8, 9 a.m. The trip will take you about 200 minutes to reach your destination. My preference is the first train at 7 because I could appear in office before 10:30, a reasonable time to begin the work for that day. Contrarily, I do not suggest to take the train as soon as you get to the train station. It is already late, and even more you could calculate the time you enter your home if you catch the train after 9 p.m. The most unfortunate thing is to buy a ticket without seat number while the train itself is slow and stop for every little station on the way to Nanjing. (I took this kind of train when I was a graduate student. Such a terrible journey!) btw, Jianshuo, thank you to open up the new site for Pudong airport. I have so long time no visiting your blog. |
| 2 |
My Wireless Dream Sounds great. I think the wireless gateway may be more suitable for home use. I mean such product that can act as ADSL modem as well as wireless hub so that one at home could access the home lan and outer network anywhere. |
| 1 |
Living Cost in Shanghai Well, some day I will write some words on living costs in Nanjing. Shortly, 1,500 RMB per month will let a people feel comfortable in the city. The figure includes renting apartment, food, spending on communication and traffic, etc. |