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Diomed
Reacher
Joined: Jan 30, 2008
Posts: 273
Status: Offline
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 Posted:
Jan 26, 2009 - 05:53 PM |
 
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Good
- Cheap movies
- Low rent
- 24hr McD's (that delivers)
- street food
- 1 liter beers
Bad
- No queuing, ever
- Traffic lights are there for decoration only
- Toxic air
- "Rip me off" etched into my whitey forehead
- 24hr McD's (that delivers) |
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fortune_nookie
Reacher
Joined: Apr 07, 2003
Posts: 341
Status: Offline
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Jan 26, 2009 - 07:35 PM |
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I have been here 7 years this March. I think the list would be different 5 years ago.
There are some things you just get use to after a while that were annoying as hell in the beginning but sooner or later fall off the radar.
The Good:
1. Lack of crime (surprised I am first at saying this, but there are not too many places in the western world as big as Shanghai that you can walk around at 2AM and feel safe)
2. Cheap living expenses (rent, utilities, food, etc; although I spend a fortune on my ‘western’ delights)
3. Friendly people (once you get to know them and live in the neighborhood for a few years)
4. Family (married to a Shanghai Lady)
5. The city in general and the opportunities, variety of venues, food, attractions, shopping….
The Bad: actually more a list of the things, I just can’t get use to, not necessarily bad:
1. Disregard by locals for just about everything except themselves, thank you Confucius
Peeing in public
Line cutting
Bratty kids (really bratty, not just the normal type)
2. Crossing the street (green man is barley a suggestion, 110,000 people killed last year in road accidents, WHEN will they learn how to drive?)
3. Environment in general including questionable hygiene everywhere
4. Quality of just about every locally made product, especially household items
Light Bulbs that don’t last
Bathroom fixtures that constantly break or rust
Locally made tools are useless
5. Sorry, and I will take crap for this but.... Expats, and I am one…. More so recently, the quality has gone down in recent years and I notice there are more from 2nd and 3rd world countries that think they are entitled to God knows what?. |
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Shangstar
Fire-eater
Joined: Feb 07, 2008
Posts: 2782
Location: Spitland
Status: Offline
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Jan 26, 2009 - 09:01 PM |
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don't understand your number 5 on list of bad things! Does it matter where expats come from? I'd call the UK a 2nd or 3rd world country, and there appear to be plenty of immigrants from that island coming over here for a better life....... |
_________________
Charles Darwin: Differences between humans are differences in degree, not differences in kind |
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maudou
Newbie
Joined: Feb 13, 2009
Posts: 9
Status: Offline
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Feb 13, 2009 - 11:14 AM |
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OUaH Lurker!! you are hard with them! |
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virtual_barman
Reacher
Joined: Dec 16, 2005
Posts: 313
Status: Offline
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Feb 13, 2009 - 11:29 AM |
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Shangstar,
Come on Mate. UK may have it's problems, but it still a significant developed country. I think a lot of people come to Shanghai for opportunities, but the vast majority are looking forward to getting back.
Just look at the list of worst things and honestly say whether any of these apply to England........OK, I will give you the bad dentists. |
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marvster
Reacher
Joined: Nov 22, 2005
Posts: 233
Location: ...Shangers :)
Status: Offline
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Feb 13, 2009 - 12:30 PM |
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BAD:
- Pollution
- Noise
- Etiquette (especially when eating food with bones!)
- Spitting
- Taxi Drivers that smell
GOOD:
- Cheap Metro transportation/Taxi
- Nightlife
- Food choices
- Cheap Massages
- Being in Shanghai  |
_________________
..life is too short..cherish every moment... |
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lydia2008
Lurker
Joined: Nov 23, 2008
Posts: 30
Status: Offline
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Feb 17, 2009 - 07:51 PM |
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Bad - smoking everywhere. |
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leeas123
Seeker
Joined: Sep 18, 2008
Posts: 66
Status: Offline
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Apr 29, 2009 - 10:10 AM |
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bad:
the incessant beeping
lack of variety of entertainment (from shopping to clubs)
manners and etiquette
lack of care and attention (from customer service to building designs)
selfishness
good:
variety of cuisines available
cheap and tasty foods (though of dubious quality)
cheap transport
lack of crime
relatively cheap rent
would be interesting to see what others say about the city they came from. |
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Swiss-James
Post Roaster
Joined: Jan 05, 2007
Posts: 4323
Status: Offline
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Apr 29, 2009 - 11:05 AM |
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| Shangstar wrote: |
| I'd call the UK a 2nd or 3rd world country, and there appear to be plenty of immigrants from that island coming over here for a better life....... |
2nd world means communist / allied with the USSR, 3rd world means countries that receive aid from abroad.
Admittedly the trains are late sometimes, but let's not get over-excited yeah? |
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ISpy: Shanghai blog ||  |
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Swiss-James
Post Roaster
Joined: Jan 05, 2007
Posts: 4323
Status: Offline
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Apr 29, 2009 - 11:06 AM |
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Damn- I'm digging up a 3 month old thread- how did that happen? |
_________________
ISpy: Shanghai blog || |
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scottyg
Reacher
Joined: June 22, 2005
Posts: 260
Location: Shanghai.
Status: Offline
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Apr 29, 2009 - 02:32 PM |
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| Quote: |
2nd world means communist / allied with the USSR, 3rd world means countries that receive aid from abroad.
Admittedly the trains are late sometimes, but let's not get over-excited yeah?
Damn- I'm digging up a 3 month old thread- how did that happen?
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It's never too late to come to the aid of fair Blighty! |
_________________
You ever seen the movie Cypher? Well at the end there's a guy called Sebastian Rooks on a yacht with Lucy Liu with her arm in a sling. That's the dream. |
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Swiss-James
Post Roaster
Joined: Jan 05, 2007
Posts: 4323
Status: Offline
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Apr 29, 2009 - 02:40 PM |
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| scottyg wrote: |
It's never too late to come to the aid of fair Blighty! |
Just look at her there. Radiant, majestic, regal.
We're screwed when she dies and that big eared goon steps in. |
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ISpy: Shanghai blog || |
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bilayu
Barker
Joined: Sep 09, 2005
Posts: 130
Status: Offline
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Apr 29, 2009 - 03:02 PM |
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Top 5 worst things about Shanghai: (in no particular order)
1. Shanghainese Women
2. Shanghainese Women
3. Shanghainese Women
4. Shanghainese Women
5. Shanghainese Women |
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OZDave
Reacher
Joined: July 04, 2008
Posts: 342
Status: Offline
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Apr 29, 2009 - 04:58 PM |
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Good:-
- Public transport
- Food & number of restaurants
- Massages
- A quiet compound to lock yourself away in when required
- People are mostly friendly
Bad:-
- Prices of anything imported or good quality;
- Spitting
- People jumping queues & Carrefour lines on the weekend
- Idiots who keep pushing me in the metro to get past when it's my stop too
- Those shoe shine guys who squirt cream / crap on your shoes to try and make you pay them to clean them (not been caught yet but there are so many of those guys near my work). |
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shinrai
Talker
Joined: Nov 07, 2008
Posts: 95
Status: Offline
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Apr 29, 2009 - 10:54 PM |
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Good at:
-having beautiful women
-paying expats
-selling copied, low quality items that last 3 days
-being clueless about almost everything
-bragging about how shanghai is the best city in china
Bad at:
-having beautiful women with serious mental health disorders
-using bank machines (wtf!)
-wearing proper attire at the gym
-driving
-empathy |
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shauni
Newbie
Joined: Apr 29, 2009
Posts: 6
Status: Offline
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May 14, 2009 - 05:02 PM |
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| Shangstar wrote: |
| don't understand your number 5 on list of bad things! Does it matter where expats come from? I'd call the UK a 2nd or 3rd world country, and there appear to be plenty of immigrants from that island coming over here for a better life....... |
Hey what is so bad about the UK Shangstar. I am from there and it has its problems but overall it is a good place to live and it is certianly not a 2nd or 3rd rate country as you suggest |
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young615
Newbie
Joined: June 08, 2009
Posts: 4
Status: Offline
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June 08, 2009 - 02:53 PM |
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Love Shanghai whatever is good or bad. |
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vesper
Talker
Joined: Sep 25, 2008
Posts: 116
Status: Offline
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July 25, 2009 - 03:40 AM |
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Good:
-My Chinese friends have helped me out with some annoying, tedious things--like mailing packages, paying a late bill, etc. Definitely appreciated my first few months here. If a Chinese person is your friend it seems like they will do anything for you.
-Delicious Xinjiang and Sichuan food.
-Amazing photo sets with costumes for weddings, engagements or whatever. I have no idea how they talk their boyfriends into such things.
-Manicures
-Their English is better than my Chinese. 
Bad:
-Underwear selection. I have to go to a copy market to buy a thong? However, the default push up bras here changed my life.
-Don't respect personal boundaries: 6-10 phone calls a day is just creepy.
-Chinese girls often don't wash their hands after using the bathroom and throw their sanitary items and bloody toilet paper all over the place.
-Racism against other Asians, Chinese minorities, anyone with dark skin...thinking that anyone who is 'American' must be blond and blue-eyed.
-Creating office job listings: Must be female, sexy, under 30, such-and-such height, from ____ country, single...also able to operate copy machine. |
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johnqh
Barker
Joined: Feb 19, 2007
Posts: 143
Location: San Francisco, US
Status: Offline
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July 25, 2009 - 04:01 AM |
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Take out driving....once my taxi driver fell asleep and still drove a straight line. |
_________________
Computer people never die, they juse run out of memory |
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crystalhy101
Squeeker
Joined: July 29, 2009
Posts: 10
Status: Offline
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July 29, 2009 - 04:50 PM |
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My selection
Good:
1. food
2. welcom new and difference
3. competition
4. hospitality
5. cooperation
Bad:
1. traffic
2. awareness of environment protection
3. stock
4. soaring house price
5. gossip |
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PetPirate
Talker
Joined: July 27, 2009
Posts: 102
Status: Offline
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July 29, 2009 - 05:18 PM |
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Been here 10 years.
Good:
1. Openness / lack of ego with good local friends and family
2. Can buy anything I want in markets -- from random computer parts or quality cameras, to electronic components, or bits of engine -- any time I want.
3. Good food. Eating things on sticks and swilling beer sitting on kiddie schools in the street.
4. Hot women. Married now, still counts.
5. Never getting in a real fight despite acting like a prick occasinally.
Bad:
1. Utter incapability of driving properly
2. Mindless bureaucracy
3. Homogineity of opinion on current affairs -- debates are boring. Also, easily manipulated national pride
4. Whining expats listing what they hate about Shanghai.
5. "Meiyou banfa" and "Because this is China" = laziness left over from the cultural revolution |
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stephenwoods
Newbie
Joined: Aug 01, 2009
Posts: 1
Status: Offline
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Aug 01, 2009 - 03:48 PM |
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5 Best things:
Food
Museums
Metro System
Much lower living costs than in the U.K
Convenience
5 Worst things:
Weather: unbearably hot and/or humid in summer or you get soaked in the endless thunderstorms. Horribly cold in winter, only in spring is weather comfortable
Many people are rude, People don't seem to have good manners. I especially hate people barging in front of me in shops
People spitting
People staring
People, normally middle aged men, shouting into their cell phones on the Metro |
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Chahinsc
Talker
Joined: July 05, 2006
Posts: 84
Location: Shanghai
Status: Offline
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Aug 01, 2009 - 05:05 PM |
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| heretoday wrote: |
I can't say there is anything bad about Shanghai. I just love it.  |
You're obviously new in town. |
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canuckian
Rocker
Joined: Aug 12, 2007
Posts: 666
Status: Offline
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| Posted:
Aug 01, 2009 - 06:09 PM |
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| Post subject: Re: Top 5 and Worst 5 things about Shanghai |
Good at:
(1) Lies
(2) Faking/pretending
(3) Show off
(4) Pointing finger
(5) cuisines
Bad at:
(1) Abiding the rules
(2) Driving
(3) Patience
(4) hygiene
(5) Team work |
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helloasia
Talker
Joined: Mar 15, 2008
Posts: 120
Status: Offline
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Aug 01, 2009 - 09:59 PM |
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| Post subject: Re: Top 5 and Worst 5 things about Shanghai |
| AIB2 wrote: |
Chinese are good at:
1. Dishonesty, cheating and stealing
2. Emitting body odor
3. Racism
4. Cooking rice
5. Kung fu
Chinese are bad at:
1. Personal hygiene
2. Anything that does not result in personal gain
3. Basic dental care
4. Acting like a civilized society and having common decency
5. Anything requiring originality or real intelligence |
AIB2 nailed it IMHO. I doubt they are even that good at cooking rice (isn't that what rice cookers are for?) or kungfu. |
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