With testing beginning this month and the grand opening in June, expect to hear more about the Zhangjiang trolley line in the coming weeks. Here's a preview:

Also, a Tudou user has uploaded a couple dozen videos of the new trolleys resting in their Zhangjiang garage. You can find them here, here and here.

WHO Fears Swine Flu Pandemic

According to the Shanghai Daily there were already 93 infections of swine flu found worldwide. Not to mention about 159 people died already from swine flu in Mexico.

Apologies For Frightening The US Citizens

U.S. President Obama was according to CNN news furious about the plane flyover on Tuesday. Finally the President ordered a review. Louis Caldera, director of the white house military office, explained himself by telling he approved the mission to hedgehop and takes on responsibility. The flyover caused quite a political stir.

Number Of Ravish Victims In Zhejiang Provice Rises To 19

On Feburary 13th a schoolgirl in Zhejiang Province accused a KTV club owner of ravishing her. Meanwhile the number of the ravished girls rose to 19. Apart from the club owner, named Chen Weijun, some other adults, as well as a school girl being the one who helped procuring more girls are involved in that case.

China Will Be Enchanted By Flowers

According to China daily: “The Seventh China Flower Exposition will be held in Qingzhou, East China's Shandong province and Beijing's Shunyi district simultaneously from September 26th to October 5th.” Numerous different types of flowers will blossom and transform the exhibition area into a sea of flowers.

Link: http://www.china-speakers-bureau.com

Global China Chat with Sam Flemming

The China Speakers Bureau will be hosting its next Global China Chat on May 14th with Sam Flemming, co-founder and CEO of CIC in Shanghai (http://www.cicdata.com/). CIC is the leading Internet Word of Mouth (IWOM) research and consulting firm in China. CIC is at the forefront of exploring Chinese digital culture, helping brands in China such as Pepsi and Nike to understand how Internet Word of Mouth can be used to impact marketing communications, product research and development, reputation monitoring and public relations. CIC utilizes proprietary Chinese language text mining technology to provide customized reports and insights for companies based on systematic analysis of tens of millions of BBS and blog posts online.

The online chat will focus on the following issues:
* Differences between the internet in China and elsewhere in the world
* How Chinese consumers are using the internet to make their voices heard
* How businesses can leverage marketing ideas from consumers online

The live discussion will be held twice in order to reach audiences in different time zones. The first Global China Chat will focus on Asia and Europe and will begin at 4PM Beijing Time (9AM UCT, 11AM CEST). The second discussion will focus on our audience in Europe and the Americas, beginning at 5PM CEST (11 AM EDT, 8AM PDT). The chats will be hosted by Fons Tuinstra of the China Speakers Bureau, and moderated Maria Trombly and Krista Bolles from Trombly Ltd.

As noted on the CIC website, “Sam has been interviewed and quoted extensively on topics related to Chinese digital culture, social media and the Internet by media sources worldwide including Businessweek, The Wall Street Journal, NPR and Bloomberg TV. He is also a frequent speaker at well-renowned branding and marketing events throughout the world, such as such as Open Web Asia ‘08, The Economist's Fifth China Branding Roundtable and Ad Tech. Sam was also invited to host an Interactive China series on iTV Asia and writes a regular column on IWOM dynamics for Imediaconnection. Sam is highly respected by China's Internet industry experts and is considered the leading pioneer of IWOM in China with his ‘China IWOM Blog’ being seen a ‘must read’ source for timely information on IWOM, PR and Internet marketing in China.” (http://www.cicdata.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=62&Itemid=84&lang=en)

Participants may register now at http://www.china-speakers-bureau.com/blog/2009/04/global-china-chats-on-social-networks.html

Questions for Sam Flemming may be sent in advance to Fons Turnista at fons.tuinstra@china-speakers-bureau.com.

Hi all,

Happy (but wet) Friday! Short message this week, work is just piled up. And the rain…geez. Luckily its just for today, or so says the weather reports I have read. Decent weather expected for the rest of the weekend and other than another day of showeres next week, the long weekend next week is supposed to be good too. So plan your trips now! In the meantime I will be on my perennial search for sunshine.

Wow, we have now 769 members as of this week. Amazing that we have this many people considering how little we publicise this group, but that’s cool. For those that want a bit more updates though you can become a fan of ShanghaiExpat.com by joining the new fan group at http://www.facebook.com/pages/ShanghaiExpatcom/74846230644?ref=mf where new info will be posted more often than I post, so click to join.

As for things this weekend and the coming week or so…

Saturday | April 24th, 9pm-late - Temptation in the Garden of Sin @ Sin Lounge happening Saturday Night . Live performers from Ibiza will be doing a performance ; Adam and Even at the Garden at Eden Sin. Live show with special DJ and other promotions this Saturday Night at Sin. Many in the Shanghai Expat community will be attending this to check it out. So those interested please contact Ocean Fu (ocean@shanghaiexpat.com) of Shanghai Expat for VIP table bookings. I believe SHXP will have a table. I will also be there with some friends so come join in the fun!

Little Face on Dong Hu Rd now open serving some 100 dishes. Been meaning to go out and check it out. Maybe some of our members can go and provide us all some feedback?

I DID check out the new Taco Loco on Fuming Rd last week. Their soft taco’s are quite good at 12rmb but the super burrito needs some work still as the large tortillas were a bit stale. (maybe not enough orders yet for the large ones). Sherpas delivers them so maybe you can all get a chance to try them out. Fresh salsa, decent guacamole and decent meat. Only complaint other than the tortilla being bit stale was the Carnitas may have been a bit salty for my taste. Located at 185 Fuming Rd, its pretty conveniently located from Jing An or HuaiHai areas.

Next week I will check out another new place near there that serves crepes. ☺

Speaking of foods, you all really should take advantage of City Weekend’s Gourmet month specials around town before the end of the month. I did try out the offerings at Casa Mia, which is just down the street from my office. Probably would not have gone in but it was quite a good deal and other than the initial cocktail which was rather bland and not suited to my tastes, the rest of the meal was good. Anyhow, may be checking out other restaurants this coming week so maybe I will have more to say about that, but kudos to City Weekend’s events an foods people for putting this promotion together to be a win-win-win deal. The magazine gets adverts, the restaurants get business, and the rest of us get to taste some great places with special offerings this month! More info on Gourmet month: http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/shanghai/events/41437/?most_viewed=1

Tues | April 28th - NextStep, one of Shanghai’s leading networking organizations, is hosting their next regular entrepreneurial networking event NextStep Tuesday, on April 28th. Now that Spring is here, they are set up to be back at Mesa & Manifesto to enjoy the outdoor terrace. FREE -- NS Members ; 50 RMB -- Non-NS Members. Mesa Manifesto is located at 748 Julu Lu, near Fumin Lu.

Fri-Sat | May 8th-9th - Whisky Live Shanghai 2009 @ Shanghai Exhibition Centre / The Whisky Live Festival Arrives in Shanghai! Building on its international reputation as the world’s most established and exciting whisky tasting event. Whisky Live is the world’s premier whisky tasting show, taking place in 15 countries across the world, including the USA, Scotland, France, South Africa, India and Japan. Ticket price Y300 but ShanghaiExpat members can get it for Y100. Location: 1000 Yan’an Road (M), Shanghai Tel. +86 216 438 5820 (office), +86 136 11 60 1491(mobile) or email: winnie(at) whiskylivechina .com

Saturday | April 25- Community Center Hong Qiao Grand Opening CeremonyGrand Opening of CCS Hongqiao! - The Grand Opening of CCS' new Hongqiao Center will be celebrated with an 'Open House & Ribbon Cutting' on April 25 from 5:30pm to 8pm. CCS welcomes SCIS as the Hongqiao Center’s founding partner. Come meet the CCS Puxi team, enjoy food and refreshments and meet other members of the international community.

((Community Sponsor)) Dry skin? Dry or Brittle Hair? Chlorine smelling showers? We can help! Come by DirectWay and check out the Showerbaby filter which will remove the chlorine from the water before you shower with it. The response is immediate. Come by the showroom at 509 Beijing West Rd, or check out the website at http://english.obusiness.cn/yhhnj/en/water/productlist.jsp for this and several other fine water filtering products.

DirectWay is a proud supporter of the ShanghaiExpat Community! Clean drinking water? Chlorine-free showers? Reduced Detergent use for laundry for eco-friendly washes. Preview the whole line of fine Water filters on the web site at: http://english.obusiness.cn/yhhnj/en/water/productlist.jsp ((Sponsor))

Charity announcements:

Help save the lives of babies in need of critical life saving medical procedures. Two of the co-founders of this foundations are friends of mine that I have only the utmost respect for in that they truly work hard for what they believe in, saving children’s lives, one at a time. Please check out the BaoBei Foundation and donate to a good cause… Give the gift of LIFE! http://www.baobeifoundation.org

Helping Hand Shanghai is distributing an environmentally friendly re-usable shopping bag that can be bought to benefit a choice of Shanghai charities: Shanghai Sunrise, Charity Carnival, Second Chance Animal Aid or Roots and Shoots. Just go to the link for more details: http://www.helpinghandsh.com/ .

Regular event announcements:

Saturday Mornings: The Original Saturday Morning Coffee Meet – this event is an informal place where expats and friends can come and meet old friends and new expats, to compare notes of just simply chat over coffee. Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf at Zhong Shan Park’s Cloud Nine Mall graciously hosts the event and offers attendees a discount on drinks and food during the event, every Sat morning from 10:30-12:30. Informally, many in the group will continue onto have lunch together before splitting off to the many activities of the weekend. A great way to start off each weekend. Feel free to contact me about this event as I personally host this one.

Sunday Brunch at XinTianDi is hosted by ShanghaiExpat at the Coffee Bean there.. This event goes from 12 noon- past 2pm and is also a good place to meet up with those in the community .

Wednesday Night Mixers at Malones has been on going now for four years and running strong. Every Wednesday night, Shanghai Expat and Malones come together to host this mixer as a great place to come for food, friends, and fun. Located on the third floor, the mixer is a private space for Shanghai Expat community members new and old to get together and relax and chat. Runs from 9-12midnight, weekly , 3rd floor loft at Malones, 225 Tong Ren Rd near Nanjing Rd .

Ok that’s it for now. Hope everyone has a Sunshine filled weekend!

二号线又称“爱”号线，在这一穿越上海几大CBD（中心商务区）的线路上，有多少可以让你和爱人越逛越浪漫的地方？今天为你搜罗。

Line 2, also known as the "Line of Love", passes through several of Shanghai's larger CBDs [which are full of young, eligible white-collars]. What spots along the Line are good for falling madly and deeply in love? Today, we collect them here for you:

The original post has more details, but here is is the barebones list:

Zhangjiang High-Tech Park

House of Flour: 535 Bibo Rd, Shanghai Legend 1F-105, Pudong

University of Chinese Traditional Medicine Library: 1200 Cailun Road, Pudong

Century Park

Music Box Museum: 425 Diangxiang Rd, Oriental Arts Center 4F (RMB 50)

Century Avenue

Jiangxia Pool Hall: 188 Weifang Rd, Pudong

Dongchang Rd

Dongchang Road Ferry Station: Dongchang Rd and S Pudong Rd

Lujiazui

Fengmei Huachuan Japanese Purikura: Super Brand Mall 621, Pudong

Banking Museum: 9 Pudong Avenue, Century Financial Tower 7F

East Nanjing Road

First Time I Saw You" Noodle House: M Jiangxi Rd and E Nanjing Rd

China Great Theatre：704 Niuzhuang Rd, Huangpu

Tom's World at Baodaxiang: 673 E Nanjing Rd, Baodaxiang Children's Department Store B1

People's Square

Yifeng Model Shop: 457-459 W Nanjing Rd, Huangpu

West Nanjing Road

gz Coffee Shop: 1025 W Nanjing Rd, No 162

Scream and Shout Labyrinth of Darkness: 2-68 W Nanjing Rd, New World Mall 10F

Jing'an Temple

Poplar Kids Republic Bookstore: 262 Yuyuan Rd

Mr. Coffee: 121 Urumqi Rd

Jiangsu Road

WELOVE Hotel: 33 Wanghangdu Rd 4F

Zhongshan Park

Yidong Park Museum of Art: 780 Changning Rd, Gate 3 in Zhongshan Park

Royal Garden Restaurant: 780 Changning Rd, Zhongshan Park

Loushanguan Road

Hongqiao Greenbelt Tearoom: 2238 W Yan'an Road, Changning

 
[Editor's note: Jodi and I held our wedding at the Royal Garden in Zhongshan Park.]

21.04.2009

Coffee makers could hurt customers

PHILIPS recalled about 6000 coffee makers of the type HD7810. It is said they could hurt user under extreme circumstances, although nobody has been hurt yet.

China Expo volunteer hiring starts in May

On the first of May the recruitment of 70.000 volunteers who are going to look after the visitors and 100.000 volunteers for jobs outside the Expo side starts.

Chemical tanker - group released

Last Year Somali pirates were kidnapping the chemical tanker Stolt strange with his 23 members on its way to India. According to the Seafarers they were just released.

China’s great wall is even longer then always thought

According to new researches China’s great wall it stretches 3800km more then previously thought. The researches are going to continue the next 18 months.

Steven Hawking is very sick

The world famous physicist Steven Hawking is suffering from ALS (Amyotropic Lateral Sclerosis). It was diagnosed about 40 years ago, but now the state of the wheelchair-bound Hawking got so worse that he has to stay overnight in Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge.

Tacos.

Or rather a taco. I had a really good one last night at a new little place i walked by. Here i was thinking i was meeting my friends for a Shanghainese dinner at BaoLuo on Fuming rd when i got greeted by a staff member of this new place and i saw at the corner of my eye, the menu board listing "Taco 12rmb" ! The place looked a bit like a well lit juice bar but I figured i was a bit hungry and still had half an hour to wait so what the heck. The place is called Taco Loco and is already delivered by Sherpas! Their menu is simple: Soft tacos, Burritos, Super Burritos, and Quesadilla; all available with beef carne asada, grilled chicken, or pork carnitas. they have fresh salsa and greens, and offer sour cream topping. MMMMM! At 12 rmb, the soft taco was decently filling for a snack and a great intro to their Steak carne asada offering as the meat was good quality and tasted quite good! Cannot wait to go back and see how the Burritos are, which include rice, black beans and even guacomole! :) Located at 185 Fumin Rd ; they deliver nearby their store free by calling 51032348, or via Sherpas for longer distances. Oh they offer a selection of Fresh squeezed juices as well.

New English Paper?

As i got to the metro station on the way to work today, a gal was passing out a free paper to all the non-chinese looking people. I took a quick look and it was a new English paper called the Global times. Given that I look too Chinese i suppose, I was not offered a copy, but still, its good to see more selection out there. You can take a look at their website though to get a feeling that they are serious and want to push this paper. Good luck to them. http://www.globaltimes.cn/

Eco-Design Fair report

I attended the Eco Design fair last weekend as an exhibitor for our water filters, but also as an attendee as I walked through the 40+ exhibitors' displays and checked out eco-friendly products. I still really like the business called Live Green, who sells natural fiber cloths and eco-friendly gifts and products online. Last show they had one booth, this show they had FOUR! Amazing selection fo stuff. i liked the solar mobile charger pack the best as it allowed the sunlight or be stored in a charge pack and then plugged into virtually any mobile phone or mps player with some dozen different power attachements. Another was their vesion of the washer ball, a spring loaded wash device that gently pounds the clothing in the washing machine eliminating the need for detergent. Here is the site for this biz: http://www.livegreen.com.cn/en/index.asp

Sadly not all the stuff mentioned is on the English site so you may want to just check the Chinese page for more info.

And last but not least a cool video link courtesy of my good friend Li: