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10/14/08

Permalink 12:55:06 pm, by msittig Email , 76 words   English (US)
Categories: Bus

Bus drivers and traffic rules

Shanghai blogger Wang Jianshuo explains bus drivers' flagrant disregard for traffic rules:

Bus drivers don't follow the traffic rule as strictly as other car drivers. They just drive wildly, and policemen tend not to care about them. Why? I saw some cases when the policeman stops the bus, and the whole bunch of people on the bus surrounded the policeman and protest to ask the policeman release the driver.

Good news for passengers of public transportation!

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10/12/08

Permalink 11:42:07, by shanghaiz Email , 172 words   English (EU)
Categories: Ways we Live

Superstruct Shanghai 2019 and beyond

Imagine yourself and the world 10 years from now. Imagine the challenges you face and how the world has evolved between now and then. Now, paint a picture with your ideas and words and you have an interesting game.. Superstruct.

This game supposedly will run for the next 6 weeks. You can find more info for at http://www.superstructgame.org. Check in out. Anyone can play, but it takes a certain amount of willingness and time to learn the line of thought and respond with creativity and imagination.

This blog will post stories written as if we are in 2019. If anyone in the Shanghaiexpat community wants to participate, sign up at the Superstruct site, let me know your username and you can post your 2019 stories here, that then can be fed into the superstruct game.

Will be posting more here about how to get into the game and looking forward to others who want to have a try to build superstructs that can influence our chances of survival other the next few decades.

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10/08/08

Permalink 02:07:10 pm, by yu888 Email , 865 words   English (US)
Categories: News and Comment -Yu, Living in Shanghai

Thoughts about “home” and Shanghai

After nearly 6 years in Shanghai, I have become very accustomed to many of the issues many expats complain about as I learned to “pick my battles” while living here. But I recently took a two week trip home to work on my family responsibilities, I began to realize just how much I actually missed about living back at home in what is known to many inn the world as Silicon Valley.

The first thing I noticed was of course the weather. It was a bit nippy in the morning but the sunshine and blue skies certainly helped my daily mood while I was back. The mild weather 17-27 the entire time I was back, was quite welcoming. There was almost no rain and wen it did, it happened mostly in the evenings or over night.

“Bless you!” A funny observation when I sneezed at the neighborhood Starbucks… several people answered with “Bless you”. Just an example of how nice some people can be and such a contrast from many of our experiences here in Shanghai. Of course this has a lot to do with Shanghai being Urban and Silicon Valley being suburban as well as the American to Chinese culture differences. Nonetheless, it was refreshing.

I miss driving. As environmentally friendly it is to take public transport, I thoroughly enjoyed the nearly 2000 miles (3218 km) I logged while back. Gas prices rather sucked at between $3.59 and 3.79 a gallon, setting me back some $300 and change. But nonetheless, I found the driving most therapeutic, especially compared to being on the road in China.

Along the same lines, people are driving slower and much more aware now about fuel consumption. I am glad the recent spike in oil and gasoline prices have finally waken up the American public to become more aware and even responsible for their gasoline consumption . There are thousands of Hybrid cars all across the roads in the Bay Area and a noticeable move towards trying to get more fuel efficient automobiles. It is about time. Unfortunately for American car companies, they have been caught short with their recent push to bigger SUV’s now stopped in their tracks, only Ford seems to have enough inventory or compact and subcompact fuel efficient cars to keep selling them. The rest of the sales are likely going to Japanese and Korean nameplate cars.
24-hour supermarkets. Wow, do I miss those. Especially one’s where the staff and shoppers are nice. It was good to be able to get things after a long day, say at 11pm or later. Shanghai needs a couple of these, though admittedly there are so many C-stores around so I guess, some of those midnight needs can be met easily. Still, there is nothinglike doing one’s grocery shopping in the near-empty aisles of a Safeway after a long day.

Along the lines of food, it was nice to get my dose of good Guacamole, chips and Chevys, good cheap burritos , and great Phô! And Zachary’s pizza…ahhhhh! I think I am hungry…

Customer service, and I emphasize service with a smile! It is nice to go places and not have to meet up with frowning faces of old Shanghainese Ayis and others with that same demeanor. My local Starbucks, restaurants, department stores, Target, Trader Joes and even book store…all staffed with professionals who understand customer service. SO refreshing!

But before everything it sounds like all is so great here, I noticed many other things about what is happening back in Silicon Valley…and in the States in general that truly sadden me.

The unemployment rates are rising and rising and do not look to have an end in sight as the ripple effects of the banking and finance crashes affect how much money people have and spend. With people so over leveraged, any speed-bump can cause thousands to experience financial distress. This is especially true in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area in general as the mean home price is well over $600,000 even after the recent drops by nearly 20%.

Despite drops in economy, the cost of goods is still so high. Housing in the bay area is not the only thing expensive. A basic meal out per person is costing what it nearly what it runs me for a meal at a western restaurant here in Shanghai, though certainly there is much better selection there.

Most Americans are still so sheltered, with no idea why some others in the world hate America. This Naiveté is part of the charm and also a big weakness in America. Much like Chinese cannot see the outside perspective at times, many Americans cannot understand the international perspective either. To see this as I consider what it would be like to repatriate is somewhat disturbing but I suppose having been able to adjust to life in Shanghai wit its cultural and social quirks, going back to “ignorance is bliss” may not be THAT hard. But maybe I would need to try and make an effort to change things there too.

All said, there are some definite appeals to living back in a “developed country” rather than living with the risks of developing along with a developing country.

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10/07/08

Permalink 02:18:32 am, by msittig Email , 122 words   English (US)
Categories: Metro

The latest craze

kaixinwang

This may be a little obscure on the English side of the web, but it's big in Shanghai so you should know about it. Regarding a phone conversation overheard on the metro:

地铁上一MM电话嗲声嗲气,“今晚你买我伐?”

开心网真靐人啊!

On the subway I overheard a young woman on her cellphone say, in a real Valley Girl voice, "Will you buy me tonight?"

Kaixin Web is really shocking!

The girl on the phone was talking about an application on Facebook-clone Kaixinwang that allows members to buy and sell each other as slaves using virtual online currency. The person who overheard her is implying that, taken out of context by other subway passengers, the young woman could have been mistaken for a prostitute.

It's the Facebook epidemic all over again!

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10/05/08

Permalink 02:12:02 am, by msittig Email , 118 words   English (US)
Categories: Taxi

Like an epileptic watching Japanese cartoons on IMAX

Illegal and underappreciated, "black" motorcycles taxis are also a form of public transportation:

The strap-on helmet handed to me by the illegal motorcycle taxi driver clicks and we take off. Cheery Japanese rock from the 1980’s blasts in one ear while I strain to understand my chauffeur’s accent. He, like all the others, guarantees me that I can find a wife in Shanghai. “But I’m so young!” I yell over the sound of the motor, as I peer down at his broken speedometer, its needle twitching like an epileptic watching Japanese cartoons on IMAX.

A couple chill MP3s at the end of that post, so make sure to click through.

Photo by sunfai on Flickr.

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10/03/08

Permalink 11:22:35 pm, by msittig Email , 303 words   English (US)
Categories: Bus

Bus route name changes and the 958

As the writer of this weblog and maintainer of the Shanghai Bus Routes in English project, a few times a month I get e-mails out of the blue updating me on new routes or asking for directions on what bus to take from Point A to Point B. When the e-mails are of general interest, I will post my answers here slightly edited for context. An example that I just sent off follows:

Recently, several bus lines with character names were renamed with numbers, and it looks like the Shanghai Transportation Authority website, which is my source for the Shanghai Bus Routes in English translations, has not been updated with the new numbered routes yet. I Googled to find that the 958 is the former Shenmin Line (申闵专线) and upon comparison I see that the new line's stops are basically the same as the old Shenmin Line's stops.

Still, for completeness I will translate Line 958's stops here:

Line 958: W Guangyuan Road, Huashan Road - Huashan Rd, Hongqiao Rd (Xujiahui) - Tianyaoqiao Road, Xingeng Road (Xujiahui) - Tianyaoqiao Road, Xietu Road - Tianyaoqiao Road, S Zhongshan No 2 Road - Longwu Road, Longcao Road - New Longhua - Longwu Road, Huangshi Road - Longwu Road, S Longshui Road - Shanghai Botanical Gardens - Gangkou - Longwu Road, Luoxiu Road - Longwu Road, Xupu Bridge - Huaxinshe - Zhongyuanhangxiu Station - Guangang Village - Caojiagang - Chegou Bridge - Jiaohuachang - Wujing Chemical Plant - Chenjiazhai - Thermo-electric plant - Wujing - S Hongmei Road, Jianchuan Road (East China Normal University) - Donghai Institute - S Lianhua Road - Danshuihe Bridge - Jiaotong University East Campus - Jiaotong University Xincun - Humin Road, Heqing Road - Humin Road, Jiangchuan Road - Minhang Auto Recycling

Another example of a new line is Line 636 which passes near my house, and is also missing from the bus route translations. I will keep an eye out for the new lines appearing on the official site and update my translations when they do.

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09/22/08

Permalink 10:54:45 pm, by msittig Email , 98 words   English (US)
Categories: Metro, Bicycle

Bits: Rental bicycles and noise reduction

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Zhangjiang High-Tech Park station is the test point for Shanghai's first commute bicycle rental program. Users can buy a swipe card and add money to it, which is deducted according to the length of time they use the bicycle. http://news.sina.com.cn/o/2008-09-22/035314481036s.shtml http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=374529

The Metro company will be installing sound-proof walls on sections of Lines 1 and 3 in response to complaints by nearby residents. Line 7, which aims to be in operation by the opening of the Expo 2010, will be fitted with noise-reducing track. http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=374576

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