工商法 » Shanghai

Visit This Place!!

Rhodo Zeb — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 16:57:19 +0000

Triangular Building in Shanghai

You know, I never really thought too much about what it would really be like, the Expo I mean.

Of course, for years now there has always been this discussion and that plan, this project and that meeting. But I just never really comprehended what would happen, what the experience would really feel like.

Until now. For a week or so now, the effect can be clearly felt. At first is was less distinct, a few more people on the subway, a few more cars on the road, nothing too clear-cut. But for a week already now, its become clear that the visitors have arrived in force, both from other areas of China and of course outside China. The distinguishing features are becoming evident, by which I mostly mean little things, clothing and so on. And of course, the plethora of accents and dialects. Although I must say so far I have been mostly hearing clean, unaccented Mandarin. Funny how standards are really useful sometimes.

Previously, the only noticeable difference was the staring. Is he a tourist? Maybe here for the Expo? Every searching eye seemed to enquire. It was almost like old times!

But now the real gawkers are here, and I realize this is a huge step forward for Shanghai and China. Its just a wonderful event, and I see the pride and happiness in the eyes of a lot of people these days. They want the world to see Shanghai and what has been accomplished so far.

Man, this is going to be so great. Get here if you can, this is an exciting place to be!

Ergo Space Pig

Rhodo Zeb — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 10:51:56 +0000

Shanghai can be fun sometimes.

Recently I was on the subway at a very light time of the day. Nearby were two tourists or business-folk, Shandong perhaps, with a nice, clean Northern accent. Not far away, in different directions, were two young men, each on their mobiles.

Of course, being Shanghai, both of these young guys were talking loudly into their phones. That’s almost a given.

I like to listen to the accents I hear outside, so I listened to each of them for a bit.

One was speaking his local language, but it was a somewhat recognizable dialect. It was probably not related to Shanghai language at all, but it was within the gambit of the language amalgamation that exists within the center city, that you might come across in some transaction or other. He could have been understandable, if it were necessary, without a doubt, although to say he could speak Mandarin or Shanghaihua proper was unclear. I probably could have a one in four chance of guessing the general area he was from (Subei and Anhui, of course, then Henan and Jiangxi I suppose).

The other guy was speaking something that sounded like it came from the top of a mountain. Nothing he said was the least bit recognizable. It was not Mandarin nor anything else 99% of people in China could understand.

And the one Northerner turned to the other and said, ‘Wow, these Shanghai people sure talk funny, don’t they?’

Buddy, you have no idea.

Blockages: HP

Rhodo Zeb — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 02:30:58 +0000

HP (?) is back up. Wowzers.

Typepad, no. Blogspot, no.

But the balance of power between one software engineer and the GFC is back to the status quo, so that is nice, rather than having to search around for proxies.

Cicadas and Hummingbirds

Rhodo Zeb — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 06:55:29 +0000

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I had forgotten how early the cicadas arrive to serenade us all; at least this year I believe they began before July 4th. Perhaps they are just a bit early this year. I personally associate the cicadas with late summer, and I believe they will be done for the year by September. However on that last point I profess much uncertainty; their arrival is a bit more noticeable than their exit.

You really have to experience the sound to understand: A thousand voices and a thousand choirs, all vying for victory in the suddenly-competitive aural market. Stroll down a winding lane and appreciate being in the center of a whirlwind of sound, each ghostly song somehow distinct from the next.

What human word is suitable for the sound? Screaming? Crying? Screeching? English fails in this regard, perhaps Chinese has a more suitable term. Would it be unreasonable to surmise that Shanghai lingo has a good sound for this? I will have to look into that.

In the evenings the sound only intensifies, as the common noise of life abates, but then finally dies away. In the night, a few solitary souls will sing, for very brief times. And then, come morning, first one, and then the next, and a few more, singing, stopping, listening, singing singing…

***********

The Le Gou (big supermarket, for the uninitiated, and no, that name is not French) at Wuyi Road has got hummingbirds! They must have put up a feeder; I had heard that if you offer nectar, they will come. They have quite a number of them, (hummingbirds, that is, not feeders), flitting around as they are wont to do.

The little things really are incredible. We are just part of their landscape, and they are free to swoop around and over us without a care, and they do! Oh they do.

In open defiance to the natural order of things, they peacefully coexist with mankind, by simply ignoring us completely. I might be inclined to get angry about their insolence, but the darn things are just so cute. Plus, have you ever tried to catch one? Good luck with that.

OG Pic from: www.flickr.com/photos/slow_boat_to_china/1134253239/

Wow!

Rhodo Zeb — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 14:39:09 +0000

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Honest inspections. Controlling corruption. These issues come to mind.

Shanghai has traditionally done pretty well, but this should scare apartment buyers. A lot.

Hope to see some firings based on this. Minxing? Where the heck is that?

For Emphasis

Rhodo Zeb — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:40:31 +0000

I absolutely do not regret my earlier post about Zhabei Qu, and I want to post this to reiterate my strong suggestion that all is not well within that particular kingdom.

In all my time here, literally half of the incidents I have know about involving beatings, open cheating, corruption, and so on have originated in Zhabei Qu.

I have seen Zhabei chengguan stop by the fried noodles station on the corner to collect their nightly twenty Yuan. Now you might argue that other districts also demand a payment. But I have never seen it, not once, and I talk to the vendors regularly, so I think I have a sense of this issue. And let me tell you, I have not been spending an inordinate amount of time in Zhabei Qu. As if.

By the way, in Shanghai with its persistent inflation, that fried noodle station is a staple of life for a significant portion of the (largely immigrant) population. So the chengguan, those heros of the revolution, need to get right on top of that industry, now don’t they.

That is how easy these people can be bought. That is their quality; 20 kuai. Such cheap goods will not satisfy you, but they will provide the services as advertised.

These bastards sell their authority for 20 kuai on a nightly basis, like a common whore. When will their leaders be called out?

Never fear, this is modern China. It is just a matter of time…

Avoid Zhabei District

Rhodo Zeb — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:45:38 +0000

I have been thinking about writing this post for some time, and while I hesitated, I should have known something would happen to make the decision easy.

Zhabei District is the lousiest, least safe, most corrupt district in downtown Shanghai. Avoid it like the plague. The so called police there, well known for having no respect for others whatsoever, have just arrested and beaten Zheng Enchong. Again.

Locals all know what a shithole Zhabei District is, I will tell you that much. When the Yang Jia case occurred back in 2008, everyone just laughed at the thought of a couple of police being killed, and no one was surprised that it happened in Zhabei. That’s how poorly people think about Zhabei District.

Scumbags. Avoid Zhabei District, they are as corrupt as can be. Zhabei District equals corruption.

Pieces of shit. Beating up an old man, wow I bet they feel all proud of themselves right about now.

But they know that if they get a shiv stuck in their kidney from the next person (and there will be a next person) in an alley somewhere, no one will shed a tear for thugs like that. Hopefully one day Shanghai will clean up that district by firing the top officials. The sooner the better.

The Plum…Hail?

Rhodo Zeb — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 08:32:42 +0000

I heard extremely heavy rain outside this afternoon, and naturally assumed that the Plum Rains were here, and had decided to make an impressive entrance. A few minutes later, I looked outside.

Hail?? In June in Shanghai? What the heck is going on here? Now *that’s* impressive!

I feel like that time early last year when I woke up and saw *snow* outside. That was a first; it almost never snows here.

Anyway, I am rolling with it, and calling for locusts tomorrow with frogs beginning, at the latest, by nightfall.

Shanghai Inflation

Rhodo Zeb — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:33:41 +0000

I was a little shocked to see higher prices at the large supermarket the other day. Coffee up 10%; OJ up 20%. It seems like prices are still going up!

Then I saw this article by Jian Shuo: Pudong House Price Rise Sharply:

During the Spring Festival early this February, the apartment near where we live was about 13,500 RMB per sq. meter. To put it into perspective of US standard, you can safely assume it is a 100 sq. meter house with 2 bed rooms, one living room, one dining room, and it costs 1,350,000 RMB.

Today, we find out the price has raised to 17,000 RMB per sq. meter, based on real transaction price. The same apartment of 1.35 million RMB is now 1.7 million RMB, 25% increase in a very short period of 4 months.
…..
I guess this happens because of the relaxed financial policy the central government put into place. The house agents are pretty sensitive to any policy that affects their business. They said, they can settle all finance related requirements for you if you want to buy a house. For example, they can help those who cannot get mortgage to get it, and they can get 80% of mortgage amount of a house for people who already have many apartments. The previous policy set very high bar for these type of risky borrowers.

That obviously works. When the buyers have financial leverage to make the purchase, the house market is activated, and ridiculous thing like 25% increase in 4 months happens.

Which is real funny, because we just did that, with disastrous results. Not that this is wide-spread or anything in Shanghai, I am most certainly not predicting a collapse of the Shanghai house market (as much as I would like to see it happen), but it is a bit amusing.

黄梅天马上来喽！

Rhodo Zeb — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 07:07:21 +0000

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Today’s rain reminds me that the Plum Rains are almost upon us. So go buy a good umbrella! Or two! You will need it/them!

For the uninitiated, the Plum Rains are seasonal, and usually arrive in the middle of June (I believe), so this should still be a bit early. I believe that this applies to the entire Jiang Nan area, but I am not absolutely positive about that.

In good years, you will have one or two days of heavy rains, and then a bit of a respite, a day or more, before the rains return. In bad years, its more like 5-6 days of straight, pouring rain. Not a lot of fun.

In really bad years, you won’t have much rain at all. That sounds like a good thing, except its not good for the farmers around Shanghai, and also the rains help cool things off in the city. So no rain means a very early, hot summer. Not a good thing in Shanghai, where the summers are already so hot.

While you are stuck inside, you can eat the seasonal yang mei, 杨梅 , pictured above, and also the well-known Lychee. The yang mei, notably, can be soaked in strong alcohol (baijiu, of course) and then eaten, as an alcoholic snack.

Both these fruits have short seasonal availability! Check em out while you can!!