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August 2007 - Posts
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Normally the water itself here in China is enough to make your skin start to blister and peel and fall off, but in a shallow pool at Dianchi Chuntian, a wonderfully relaxing (and affordable) hot springs spa in Kunming, Yunnan Province, it's swarms of hungry fish that seek out your skin — the dead stuff, we were assured — and ingest it. It's meant to be healthy, for you and the fish.
Wikipedia tells us that these "doctor fish," or garra rufa, are popular in Turkish spas, and can be especially beneficial for people with psoriasis. (In Chinese the fish are called mei ti yu, 美体鱼, or "beautifying fish.")
The dead skin that flakes off the bodies of visitors to Dianchi Chuntian must be among the most delicious and nutritious in the world — because the fish in the pool are huge (compared to all photos we have seen, including Dianchi Chuntian's own pamphlets, that make the skin-eating fish look like tiny minnows). That didn't stop us from hopping in the pool, for some reason. And before long, we were up to our necks in water and fish ... and fish poop (all that delicious skin has to go somewhere). It tickles a lot at first, and then only kind of tickles after that. This is perhaps the only situation we can think of in which Speedos (or some other kind of skin-tight trunks) would be a good idea — we spent a lot of time trying to make sure fish didn't swim up our shorts.
A couple of questions you might be thinking:
Would we do it again?
Sure.
Is our skin healthier now?
We have absolutely no idea.
Can you drink beer while fish suck off your dead skin?
Yes. Budweiser. Big bottles (600 ml). Around 15 kuai, we think.
For those headed to Kunming, entry to Dianchi Chuntian is RMB 86 per person, which includes a whole bunch of hot springs, pools and tubs. You can stay as long as you want (the place doesn't close until 2 am), or you can rent a room (with your own hot spring). There are plenty of other add-on massages and treatments you can purchase (all priced reasonably) and it is very easy to spend an entire day at the spa. It's RMB 28 to become fish food. And yes, guys, there is a huge gold penis near your changing area. Here's the address, courtesy of GoKunming.com:
Dianchi Spring Spa
滇池春天温泉会馆
1290 Dianchi Lu
滇池路1290号
Tel: 8066094
For those of you stuck in Shanghai, SH tells us that you can find these fish at a place called Shanghai Orient Rome Bathhouse — a “super, five-star, large-scale place” — at 1420 Jiangning Lu, near Suzhou Creek (东方罗马浴场, 江宁路1420号). Tel: 6660 0666.
More photos here.
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From tigerbalm06 [h/t CDT]:
The Chinese are crazy about their pizza. They are also suckers for gimmicky break-dancing. In the city that invented Peking Acrobats, this is what you get when you combine the four. This combo result was captured at Mr. Pizza in Wudaokou. Gladly, I got my pizza before they danced with the dough.
Some pretty cool stunts there eh? Unfortunately the above-said pizza restaurant serves some of the most inedible food around, imho, and we doubt we'll be back anytime soon.
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The North West Food Court is a casual sit-down spot – highly local, moderately clean, poorly staffed – with a rather varied menu. Prices range from 1 RMB (for a Fried Crispy Pancake) up to 58 RMB (for a Big Plate Of Chicken).
 The person who recommended this restaurant said the qí shān sào zǐ miàn (岐山臊子面), pictured above, are a must-order. The name is poetic rather than descriptive, one possible translation is ‘shy mountain noodles’. The Chinese, in naming dishes, often avoid pragmatic descriptions which inadequately convey the taste of the delicacy on offer. We're not sure how bashful these particular noodles are, but they are indeed super. Carrots, chilies, ginger, tofu and mushrooms combine to give this deluxe noodle dish a life of its own. Though the flavours are complex, they don’t overpower and, instead, remain delicate and surprisingly refreshing. Best of all, if you don’t like it, you’ll only have lost RMB 9.
There are two more must-try items on the menu. The Xinjiang noodles (RMB 10) come in three parts – hand-pulled noodles, vegetables in a spicy tomato sauce, and tomato and egg soup – and are outstanding, as are the lamb kebabs spiced with cumin (RMB 6) (zī rán yáng ròu jiá mó, 孜然羊肉夹馍). Both are great value for money, we can’t shout about them enough. The Lanzhou noodles are also pretty good. True, you can get pulled noodles on any street corner in Shanghai but the humble flavours drawn from the sliced beef in this Gansu Province variety make it stand out from the rest. Also, if you're a keen meat eater you should try this lamb dish: shǒu zhuā yáng ròu (手抓羊肉). It's a little more expensive, 36 RMB. You'll get a plate of roast lamb cut into strips, a small bowl of sauce, plus a plate of chopped garlic and chilis to add to taste.
See all these dishes in photos here.
The restaurant has an English menu and a Chinese one; and rather unusually, the prices on the English menu are lower, though only by RMB 1 to 2. Perhaps those English menus are just old and they wanted to avoid the cost of reprinting? Regardless, although the prices at North West Food Court are low, the quality of the food is anything but.
North West Food Court. Two locations: at Jìngān Sì, 333 Běijīng Xī Lu, near Chángdé Lù; or, Basement Level 1 of the shopping centre in Xújiāhuì at 580 Tiānyàoqiáo Lù, near Línglíng Lù. Daily from 10am to 10pm.
Cross posted from http://www.likealocal.cn/
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On Friday, if you happen to be looking for a chill night of music that is frequently plopped in the shoe gazer genre (sucks for those of us too fat to stare at our own shoes), then elusive Shanghai band 33 Island will be entertaining a captive audience (people staring at shoes) along with musical comrades, Muscle Snog at 4Live. If, by chance you aren't into shoes, or gazing at them, then tonight will be a little slow, making it a good night for some quite self reflection. Or then again, maybe not.
Saturday is looking much better as Gary and the Lab crew take over 4Live (yes, I happened to be mentioning the same bar, again) for a night of experimental free styling, with djs and live instrumentals in what will be sure to impress while hopefully getting more than a few asses up and shaking. 021 that bar way out in Yangpu, way past Live Bar, will be hosting local folk artist Ecke.
Insomniacs and friends of insomniacs, rejoice. Logo's weekly STD party (seriously, don't sit on the toilet seats) partners an eclectic mix of djs and bands for a late night (starts at 12am) of fun. Pirates, just down the road from Logo will be holding a Rehab night of dirty electro, techno and rock for those in need of a good musical enema.
Friday - August 30th
33 Island & Muscle Snog - 4Live - 10pm (40rmb)
Saturday - September 1st
Pharaoh Party - 4Live - 10pm (30rmb)
Ecke - 021 Bar - 9:30pm
STD Party - Logo Bar - 12am (20rmb)
Rehab - Pirates - 10pm (no cover)
021 Bar - 2F, 2893 Yang Shu Pu Road, North Bund Commercial Centre.
Logo Bar - 幸福路13号，近法华镇路
Pirates - 幸福路137号, 近法华镇路
4Live - 8号桥- 建国中路8号7号楼
Abe Deyo is Shanghaiist's Music Editor. Email tips, recommendations, news and gossip about Shanghai's music scene to music at shanghaiist.com.
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 Experts in Mongolian studies who have spent the last year compiling Genghis Khan's code of laws, which is believed to be the world's first constitution say the legendary Mongolian conqueror banned homosexual acts. Under article 48 of the code, the experts say, men who "committed sodomy shall be put to death". Other acts punishable by death under Khan included "damaging grassland with unauthorized excavations or starting fires".
Diving deeper into the interpretation of the law, experts at the Research Institute of Ancient Mongolian Laws and Sociology said:
...the ban was put into place because Genghis Khan wanted to expand the Mongolian population, which was about 1.5 million at the time. The rival Song Dynasty, which dominated today's central China, was 100 million strong, Xinhua said. Khan's 13th century empire stretched across Asia all the way to central Europe.
Geneticists say that Genghis Khan was probably the most virile man ever, and that as many as 16 million men today carry his Y-chromosome. This was in no small part due to his "40-year policy of systematic rape of female prisoners" while he pillaged across Asia.
Meanwhile, it appears the ancient Chinese were much more accepting of same-sex behaviour than their Mongolian counterparts. Of the 25 emperors of the Han dynasty, for instance, 10 of them were known to have male lovers. For more on the subject, refer to Fridae.com's excellent treatise on Same-sex Love in Ancient and Modern Chinese History [Part Two]. The author, Dr Tan Chong Kee, asserts that it was not until China began to allow the entry of European Christian missionaries in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, did it open up to European influences and power, and start to imbibe modern Judeo-Christian attitudes towards homosexuality.
Related links
Shanghai Daily: Genghis Khan banned gay sex
Forbes: Report: Khan Banned Homosexual Acts
The Times of India: Genghis sired army of 16 million
Fridae.com: Same-sex Love in the The Warring States and Han Dynasty
Fridae.com: Same-sex Love from the Jing Dynasties to the Ming Dynasty
Photo from tomterry.
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 For those of you using Feedburner to manage your RSS feeds and wondering why you haven't been able to read any of your favourite blogs, it looks like it might have been GFW'ed. CNet Asia's Little Red Blog says the Feedburner block was only temporary, but we're still unable to access any of our feeds at http://feeds.feedburner.com. It also recommends that we check out FeedSky, which it says is China's number one RSS feed service, but we're not convinced -- you mean the net nanny is so stupid as to allow a Chinese RSS feed service bypass all its blocks so netizens here can read Blogspot blogs?
In other censorship news, two virtual police cartoon icons will start popping up every 30 minutes on key Beijing gateway portals so that pricks who have nothing else better to do civic-minded Beijingers can report "malicious information or pornographic websites". Through helpful measures such as these, Beijing police have shut down 224 pornographic websites and deleted nearly 130,000 pieces of malicious information on the Internet so far this year! Hoorah! That leaves us with another 999,776 porn websites and 870,000 pieces of malicious content to tackle!
Meanwhile, a Southern Metropolis Daily report says that 40 banned pornographic novels including the following have all disappeared from Baidu and Google (h/t to EastSouthWestNorth):
江湖淫娘 The Promiscuous Woman of Martial Arts
紅樓綺夢 The Wet Dream of the Red Mansion
不良少女日記 The Diary of a Bad Girl
東北風情熟女之惑 The Temptation of the Mature Woman from the Northeast
我的性啟蒙老師 The Teacher of My Sexual Initiation
倚天屠龍別記 The Heaven Sword and the Dragon Sabre: The Other Story
神雕外傳之郭襄 The Return of the Condor Hero: The Other Story of Guo Xiang
Oh really? Go google them for yourself! Yet another gem on EastSouthWestNorth is its list of banned keywords on eMule which the author quite rightly says is the "best entertainment in town" and you will probably "keel over from laughter" if you understand enough about mainland China today.
Photo from keso.
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The $2.4 billion Venetian Macao Resort Hotel is finally open for business on Macau's Cotai, and can you believe our local Blue Frog is somewhere in that building? Las Vegas Sands claims the 10.5 million square foot Venetian — twice the size of the Las Vegas original — is the largest building in Asia. Sands' next casino in Asia -- which at US$3.6 billion will be one of the costliest casino-resorts ever -- will open up in Singapore. But reports have come in that the development cost will swell by up to US$1.44 billion due to an Indonesian sand ban. Fuelled by strong growth in gaming revenues, the Macau economy has ballooned 28.9% in the first half of the year.
Photo from Gregoire Glachant [Official site].
Share with us how you see Shanghai, or China! Simply post your photos on Flickr, tag them with "shanghaiist", and we'll select one favorite image per day. Or you can simply email your photos to photos[at]shanghaiist.com.
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 We received the following email from a reader this morning:
I was very surprise to try to connect to the english version of the
DELL website in China. here is the answer: "Please kindly be informed that Dell China English website has been shut down."
Do you have any news on this? i order my dell 5 months ago on this website, without any problem in english). What will be the interest of removing one language for dell? too much
order from foreigner in China? Weird...
Well, we cannot for the life of us fathom why Dell China would find it a good idea to close down its English website, and to direct English-speaking customers to the Hong Kong website. Certainly takes more effort to take it off than to leave a perfectly functioning website there, but what do we know? We called up the mainland China toll-free number that is quoted on the website, but by the second stage in the number-dialling game, they had already lost the English-speaking customer, so if you really really really want to buy a Dell PC, you don't even get to speak to some customer service person in Mumbai now. Certainly there must be enough expats in all of mainland China and decision-makers among them to constitute a decent market? Just plain strange behaviour from the world's second PC maker, don't you think?
Thanks to reader Jean Gerard!
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 The People's Congress is expected to pass an Anti-Trust legislation today, the first of its kind in China, and one, 13 years in the making. For those that are law buffs, Fortune has a nice article here, with some in-depth analysis. We, not exactly students of jurisprudence, have only one question in mind. Will the powers that be stop China Mobile from charging us extortionist rates? Where are our free "night and weekend" minutes? Where are our free "in network calling"? Ok, that's more like three questions.
China's Ministry of Finance issued 600 billion yuan (US$79 billion) of 10 year notes yesterday, first to the Bank of Agriculture. BoA then immediately resold the bonds to the People's Bank of China(PBoC), the nation's monetary policy board. Hmm, high stake money laundering? The issuance is the first in a three part sale. Two more issuances of 600 billion yuan and 350 billion yuan will be forthcoming. All proceeds will go toward funding a state run investment company, modeled after Singapore's Temasek Holdings. The company has already made its first investment back in May, a USD $3 billion splurge in US private equity giant Blackstone(BX). The stake is already down 20% or USD $600 million. Here's to better luck next time.
Lastly, a senior official from the aforementioned PBoC said that the central bank is committed to "actively curbing food prices". Let's see, in years past, the same body has vowed repeatedly to rein in run away real-estate prices and curb lending and liquidity flow, and yet China's real-estate market continues to bubble up and loan origination volume goes up 20 percent plus year over year. Oh my god, food prices are going to fly, time to start hoarding! And by the way, wouldn't the Department of Agriculture have a better handle on adjusting food prices? Just a thought.
Crossposted to Whampoafn
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 Ching Cheong, the Hong Kong journalist who was chief China correspondent for the Singapore-based Straits Times, is ailing in prison somewhere in the Guangdong province right now. On 22 April 2005, Ching was apprehended by Chinese security agents in Guangzhou, where he was to meet a source who had promised to give him a copy of a politically sensitive manuscript on former premier Zhao Ziyang. It took one and a half years before he was eventually prosecuted (for spying on behalf of a foreign intelligence agency and for divulging state secrets) and sentenced to five years in prison.
The detention of Ching has sent a shiver down the spine of Hong Kong's journalist community many of whom believe press freedom has gone down south since the return of the territory to China.
In the latest open letter by the Hong Kong Journalist Association to President Hu Jintao, the HKJA says Ching Cheong's health is deteriorating and has urged for his release under medical parole. From the letter:
Mr. Ching Cheong has been suffering from arrhythmia. Recently HKJA learned that his illness has deteriorated rapidly in jail. Irregular heartbeat occurs daily now. The Chinese herbal medicine which he is taking constantly keeps his blood vessels from dilating, a condition which will cause further problems later.
In addition doctor has also found polyps in Mr. Ching Cheong’s intestine. This problem has not been taken care of. These polyps may become cancerous in few years time, thereby endangering his life.
According to his Wikipedia entry, Ching started his career with the pro-China newspaper Wen Wei Po (文滙報), rising through the ranks to become vice-editorial manager. After the Tiananmen incident however, Ching and around 40 other journalists resigned from the newspaper in protest.
Picture of old Hong Kong newspaper article announcing the imprisonment of Ching Cheong from 1of@kind.
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People who have made the news this week
 Zhang Huimin, 8
Little Zhang Huimin, who stands at just 1.25 meters tall and weighs a mere 20kg, has run from Sanya, Hainan all the way to Beijing, wearing out 20 pairs of shoes and covering a staggering 3,560 km in 55 days. That's an average of 1.5 marathons per day! Her goal is to win the marathon at the 2016 Olympic Games (and only God knows for now where that will be held). See that man next to her on the motorbike? That's her father, and her trainer who has made her wake up everyday at 3am for training since the day little girl could run. Starting with 3 km a day since she was three, Zhang was hitting 23 km daily by the time she was seven. Experts have lambasted the father for putting the girl through such a gruelling training programme which they say is not only difficult for most adults but will undoubtedly do the little girl's body great harm.
 Prof Yu Dan (于丹), 38, now with cleavage
Probably the most popular exponent of Confucius ever, Yu Dan, has found her way back into the media spotlight -- this time in an IHT article which places her at the centre of the current rage for China's ancient philosophies. Her book has sold 4.2 million legal copies and about 6 million pirated versions. But wait a minute, Yu is not even a Confucian academic. She is a media professor at the Beijing Normal University, certainly one who understands that a bit of cleavage will do your popularity good, as this latest picture of her shows. We too ended up buying her DVD's and found her sounding shockingly similar to our pastor back home, except that she was preaching Confucius and quoting Hegel at the same time, and basically anything else that fit her message. Her feel-good version of Confucius has won her flak from people who are jealous of her success classical Confucian scholars, as well as the suicide of one of her students.
 Jin Renqing (金人庆), 63, removed from Finance Minister position
Jin Renqing, who has been Minister of Finance since March 2003, has been replaced by Xie Xuren (谢旭人), director of the State Administration of Taxation, and will be moved to a government think-tank position. No reasons have been cited for Jin's transfer and the man himself gave no public indication of plans to stand aside. Xie, 59, a Ningbo native of humble beginnings with 14 years spent as a worker in a Zhejiang machinery factory, has rapidly risen the Party ranks in recent years. Behind the scenes, officials are currently jockeying for top positions in the Chinese Communist Party, which is preparing for the upcoming 17th Congress on Oct. 15 -- the biggest political meeting in five years.
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 Not content with making cars and computers for the world, China is now on to its next big thing -- aircraft. The long-awaited ARJ-21 (pictured here) is China's very first homegrown commercial aircraft and has been launched amid much fanfare by the aircraft maker AVIC I. Now only a name is lacking, and if you can come up with a creative Chinese name of between two and four Chinese characters before September 28, RMB50,000 will be yours! (Sorry apparently English names are worth nothing).
The state-owned AVIC I aims to rival other makers of smaller passenger jets such as Canada's Bombardier and Brazil's Embraer, and a BusinessWeek report says the ARJ-21 is expected to grab up to "60 percent of the domestic market for mid-size regional airliners over the next 20 years". We have no doubt that will swiftly come to pass since almost all airlines in China are state-owned, but lest you think the China-made jets will only have a market domestically, AVIC I has already delivered the first two of 15 MA60 jets (another of its planes which can seat 50-60 passengers) to Indonesia's Merpati Nusantara Airlines. Nine MA60s have also been delivered to Zimbabwe, Laos, Zambia and the Republic of Congo. A humble beginning perhaps, but who knows where they'll go next!
In other aviation news
1. Change is in the air. In the first acquisition in one of the big three Chinese carriers by a foreign airline, Singapore Airlines and its parent Temasek Holdings will pay about US$930 million for a combined 24% stake in China Eastern. The deal will give China Eastern "much-needed cash and access to a global network, while Singapore Airlines will get a foothold in China's growing market".
2. And even as Air China announced its first half net profit has more than tripled from a year earlier, its President Cai Jianjiang has made comments that it will not preclude the possibility of merging with rivals such as China Southern. In light of recent changes in the domestic aviation market, one wonders how passengers like you and me will benefit from it all. The next thing we know, China Eastern will announce a merger with Shanghai Airlines!
3. And for those of you who have been frustrated by your attempts to use your frequent flyer miles in China, you will be happy to know that Air China and Shanghai Airlines will be joining the Star Alliance and China Southern Airlines is due to join SkyTeam later this year!
Related links
BusinessWeek: China soliciting names for homemade jet
China Daily: Indonesian airline awaits Chinese planes
China.org.cn: Air Travel Trend Opens Up Skies for AVIC I
Wall Street Journal: China Airline Deal Is Estimated At $930 Million
AP: Air China Says 1H Net Profit Up 3-Fold
Shanghaiist: Why have air ticket prices gone up?
FlightGlobal.com: China's growth challenge
Picture of ARJ-21 jet from xmyzl.com
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 Closing Dish: Cafe Transat fought the good fight with its relaxing terrace and inviting happy hours. Unfortunately, it appears that not even a Shanghaiist endorsement was enough for it to sustain the business that this high-rent district demands. We were taking a break at Bellagio on Taicang Lu over the weekend when we noticed that Cafe Transat across the street had closed shop (picture of the storefront on the left). According to the Bellagio staff, the restaurant stopped operating around two weeks ago.
The last few times we visited we were one of the only patrons there. With its mix of international fare, the menu never seemed to have its own identity, although some individual sets were quite good. Here's hoping their replacement can keep the terrace going and give good reason for those of us looking for a good bite to eat to walk the couple of extra blocks from Xintiandi.
In other closure news: We read on Shanghaiexpat that City Diner's Hongmei restaurant has already closed down after only opening around 6 months ago. We called the Tongren Lu one and they confirmed it shut down a couple of weeks ago. That's a quick demise even by Shanghai standards. We'll try to follow up and get the whole story.
And on the web: We first heard about Ben Ross when he was blogging about his month-long adventure as a trainee in a Fuzhou hair salon. His new website is a bit of a thematic departure from his blog; he's trying to ease the act of ordering Chinese food for non-Chinese folks at How To Order Chinese Food. According to Ben there are now 83 different dishes listed, complete with photos, pinyin, and brief descriptions. Should be helpful for Shanghai residents who never bothered with the hole-in-the-wall places right below their apartments because they didn't have English menus.
Eric Hu is Shanghaiist's Food Editor. Email tips, recommendations, and news and gossip about Shanghai's food scene to food at shanghaiist.com
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This week's Adoptable Pet from Second Chance Animal Aid, Shanghaiist's adopted animal charity. From the SCAA:
 Jill is an adorable three-month-old brown tabby. She was just a few days old when she and her sister, Jackie, (now adopted) were discovered by two children playing just outside their compound. Their family already consisted of a cat, dog and a new baby, their mother contacted SCAA for help to bottle feed and rehome the kittens.
Unfortunately, the family that found Jill lived in the far suburbs of Shanghai and SCAA couldn't get the kittens into foster care until the next day. With Jill hungry and the family without formula, the mother suggested that she could share her *** milk. This was an excellent idea as *** milk is much more nutritious than cow's milk and since one of her three children was only four months old, she had some to spare.
Jill is now four months old and very sociable. She is constantly exploring and fascinated by running water. Jill has had her vaccinations and is ready to find a loving home.
SCAA Monthly Meeting is tonight! Details here. Second Chance Animal Aid (SCAA) is a private, non-profit organization and a community passionate about animals. SCAA promotes pet adoption with twice monthly adoption days and a foster care program (but it is not a shelter). You can help! Adopt a pet, become a foster parent or participate in SCAA's many great events. Go to www.scaashanghai.org to learn more. Shanghaiist is an official media partner of SCAA.
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Punk might not be dead, but it seems that, due to permit issues, the Exploited tour is. What Shanghaiist can't figure out is why the Exploited, in all their anti-government glory, would even apply for permits (many of the bands who come for China tours do it on tourist visas). Any one who has already purchased tickets for the show will be able to take them back to 4Live for a full refund.
In other news, Napalm Death is still set (let's hope they didn't apply for permits too!) to play on the 15th of September at Absolute House. Thrashing in the house of dance. Lets just hope the dice throwing regulars won't let the thrashing long hair affect their concentration.
Shanghaiist is also getting excited for the Beijing Pop Festival, September 8th-9th, with headliners including Nine Inch Nails, Public Enemy, Marky Ramone and the New York Dolls. Held in Beijing's Chaoyang Park this year should have plenty of the frisbee throwing, beer drinking, and beet-red sunburns that are hallmarks of successful music festivals.
For more information check out the Pop Festival's website at www.beijngpopfestival.com.
Abe Deyo is Shanghaiist's Music Editor. Email tips, recommendations, news and gossip about Shanghai's music scene to music at shanghaiist.com.
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The basic structure of the World Financial Tower's observation deck was recently completed. Construction has started on the 101 st and final floor.
Photo from dbmboise.
Share with us how you see Shanghai, or China! Simply post your photos on Flickr, tag them with "shanghaiist", and we'll select one favorite image per day. Or you can simply email your photos to photos[at]shanghaiist.com.
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- Selangor, Malaysia - Malaysia Finds Water Basin the Size of Singapore [Bloomberg]
Malaysia has discovered an underground water basin as big as Singapore, dismissing fears that its most densely populated state Selangor will run out of water in three years, a government minister said.
- Islamabad, Pakistan - Deal reached for release of S. Korean hostages [Washington Post]
Negotiators in Afghanistan said Tuesday they had reached agreement on a deal that will allow 19 South Korean church volunteers to go free after six weeks in Taliban captivity, apparently ending a hostage crisis that has gripped both nations, officials said.
- Jakarta, Indonesia - Study confirms 2006 human-human spread of bird flu [Reuters]
A mathematical analysis has confirmed that H5N1 avian influenza spread from person to person in Indonesia in April, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.
- ASEAN needs 2 bln usd for China-Singapore rail link - officials [Forbes]
About 2 bln usd is required to complete a trans-Mekong Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) rail project connecting Singapore to Kunming city in southwestern China, officials said. The Singapore-Kunming project, which will thread through eight countries near the Mekong River, still has about 550 kilometers (341 miles) of 'missing links',
- Yangon, Myanmar - New protest quashed within minutes [Guardian Unlimited]
Demonstrators on Tuesday tried to mount a new protest against rising prices, but marched only 30 yards before being beaten and wrestled into waiting trucks by civilians who back Myanmar's military government, witnesses said.
- New Delhi, India - India invites bids on fighter jet deal [AP]
The Indian government on Tuesday invited six aircraft manufacturers including Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. to bid on a contract for 126 combat planes worth up to $10 billion.
Photo of Kunming Railway Station from Nils Trebing: ASEAN is looking for US$2 billion to fund a new rail project that will start from Kunming, China and pass through 8 Southeast Asian nations to Singapore.
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Number 3 Baoqing Rd, at the corner of Huaihai Rd near the Changshu Rd metro station, is an old colonial-style house with almost 4000 square meters of attached private gardens. For 55 years, award-winning and state-honored Shanghai painter Xu Yuanzhang and his family have lived in this house, upkeeping the house and gardens that his grandfather Zhou Zongliang purchased from a German owner seven years after it was built in Shanghai's booming 1930's.
But now, with Shanghai's real estate market being red-hot -- the residence including gardens has been appraised at over 26 million US dollars -- and 13 heirs spread across several countries and generations claiming rights to the property, the situation turned contentious. After a court order to liquidate the property and distribute the gains to the heirs, the two grandchildren entrusted with the sale, Zhou Guangren and Zhou Ping, shadily sold the property to a developer for nearly a third of its appraised market value. Meanwhile, Xu Yuanzhang has been served by the Xuhui District courts with an order to move off of the property he now unlawfully inhabits, a court order which will come due on September 15th and which he promises to fight.
The property development company that acquired 3 Baoqing Rd from the Zhou grandchildren has offered Xu and his relatives a fifty-square meter apartment in Minhang, which if interpreted in the most obvious way is a pretty nasty kick-while-he's-down. It's hard to feel sorry for Xu, though, who for all his sentimental pleas to the public would, according to the article linked above, settle for a 150 m² luxury apartment in the city center, RMB 300k to cover the apartment's renovation and an cozy RMB 4 million in extra cash.
Will the property be bulldozed and turned into an All Days? Will Xu get to stay in his childhood home or move on to enjoy a life of debauchery in a Huaihai Rd penthouse? Or perhaps stew in his own bile in a Minhang stinkhole? Stay tuned.
Photo by ♥luckjiujiuling.
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 Time to take advantage of the start of the new academic year to learn something new at several upcoming events taking place here in Shanghai.
Kicking off the fall season on August 30 is Pecha Kucha, a night of creative talks guaranteed to pack a punch by sticking to a limit of "20 slides for 20 seconds each". This month's session takes place at the Shanghai Sculpture Space, with a pre-show by Spanish artist Angel de la Peña serving a "free Spanish cocktail" to each attendee. The short-list already includes talks on overlooked issues in Chinese urban planning, finding the best street food in Shanghai, making documentaries in the DPRK, and Australian rules rugby.
Next up is barCamp, a one-day free-spirited digital lifestyle un-conference, taking place on September 8. The schedule is drawn up on the day of, and usually consists of talks on topics like coding, setting up a tech business, digital photography... with a heavy emphasis on discussion and audience participation. The location is the same as last year's, the Tudou offices just off the Suzhou Creek, and if the Xinjiang lunch provided by Gulistan is as good as it was last year then the food alone will justify attending.
Batting clean-up hitter is the Learning 2.0 conference, a meeting of teachers from September 14 to 16 to discuss the reshaping of school to meet the needs of today's increasingly visually-oriented, technologically saavy, communicative and collaborative students. Featuring an impressive list of experienced speakers, talks will focus on topics like using Skype and podcasting to organize distributed learning projects, taking advantage of Web 2.0 tools to teach and learn, and teaching media literacy in an age of wikis, online video and photoshopping. The proceedings will take place at Concordia International School, and registration is a whopping USD 300.
On Upcoming:
Pecha Kucha Night Volume 7 at Shanghai Sculpture Space
BarCamp Shanghai 2007 at Tudou Offices
Learning 2.0 Conference at Concordia International School
Photo by keso.
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 Starting 4:51pm today, Shanghaiist will set aside his blogging, crane his neck out the window, look heavenwards, and try to feel connected to the universe and discover his cosmic purpose. (And we invite you to put aside all the mundane affairs of daily life and join us in this spiritual exercise, wherever you are.) For that, according to the Shanghai Observatory, is exactly when the first phase of tonight's lunar eclipse will start. It is expected to last 3 hours and 33 minutes.
From Shanghai Daily: The eclipse will begin as the Earth's shadow moves across the surface of the moon's eastern edge. It will take just over an hour for the earth's shadow to cover the moon. By 6:37pm the moon will be completely hidden in the shadow and will begin emerging again at 7:23pm.
Also:
Many astronomers are predicting that during the eclipse, the moon could turn a vivid red color. The color will depend on the amount of dust in the earth's atmosphere.
With the amount of dust perpetually hovering over this city, we expect to see the moon to turn scarlet red. Or we may not see the moon at all.
Here's some cool astronomy trivia we bet you didn't know!:
1. Mankind's first record of an eclipse of the Sun was made in China in 2136 BC.
2. Zhengtong, a Ming Dynasty ruler of China from 1436-1449, had the Ancient Beijing Observatory built at the southeast corner of the old city wall. A 46-ft.-high platform held eight Qing Dynasty bronze astronomical instruments. Two were built in 1439 and six in 1673.
3. A "guest star" was seen by the Chinese in 1054. The supernova explosion was witnessed in the area of Earth's sky where today we see an expanding gas cloud that we call Crab Nebula. The "guest star" was so bright it was visible in daylight.
4. Entering the 17th century, the Chinese thought they led the world in science -- until visiting Jesuits demonstrated European astronomy including a clock that predicted the movements of stars. To test the clock, an eclipse of the Sun was predicted by both Chinese and European astronomers. The Chinese-predicted hour came and went with no eclipse. Meanwhile, Western science challenged Chinese superiority when the eclipse occured at the moment the Jesuits had predicted.
For those of you that can't get outdoors for whatever reason, the Shanghai Observatory will webcast the eclipse live at www.astron.sh.cn from 6pm. Do not miss it! The next eclipse is not due until June 16, 2011.
Photo of lunar eclipse from Photogan.
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Netizen "fyliumin" has sent in the following vid to Youku.com with the following comment:
今天去看一个病人，六张床的病房，居然来看望的男男女女有二十多人，只见孩子哭的，抽烟的，大叫的，床下堆满了各式纸箱，大都是亲友送来的外表花哨，内里低劣的营养品。中国特色的看病人模式体现了中华民族深厚的家庭观念，仿佛只有这样才能表示亲友的重视，人堆人围着一个病人拉家长，拉得时间越长，表示越亲密。但这种模式确实不利于病人休养，不利于医院管理，更不文明，反正见怪不怪了。
Today while visiting someone at the hospital, I saw 20-over visitors crammed into a small 6-bed ward. There were men and women, children crying, some were smoking, some were screaming. Under the beds were various boxes -- all presents sent by relatives and friends, full of stuff that look good on the outside but full of cheap nutrients on the inside. The way the Chinese people visit people at the hospital reflect their perspective of family values. It is as though this is the only way to show kinship and closeness -- the more people the merrier, the longer your visiting time, the closer you will appear to be. Such a culture not only makes the environment unconducive for the patient's recovery, it also does not bode well for hospital management. Furthermore it is totally uncivilised. Anyway, what's new?! [Translation by Shanghaiist]
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 Pigs are back in the headlines once again, and with a vengeance. Here is an interesting juxtapose of three pig-related news stories found via the informative China Digital Times.
We first read on the Beijing News that a "Zero-Profit Pork Alliance" consisting of about 150 supermarkets in Chongqing that came together on Aug 10 in a bold move to slow down and reverse rising pork prices has all but collapsed:
The participating stores did surprise consumers with much reduced price tags for their pork products on shelf, running as low as 11.98 yuan/half kilo (or 1.1 pounds). The market pushed the same category of lean meat as high as 15.9 yuan/half kilo just days ago. The stores attracted customers with "zero-profit meat" posters, which were also costing the stores at least a thousand yuan in loss per store daily, let alone profits.
Moralism soon caved in, with many of the stores quietly pulling out of the zero-profit pact, restoring prices slightly back, although not to the all-time highs. Store managers expressed the difficulties in remaining in the cause, although none formally announced they were quitting. Chongqing's commerce authorities hope that the pact will be restored and said that the prices remain relatively high.
Also, it seems pork supply is so high on the priority list of the organisers of that all-important sporting event that is happening some time next year that they have set up 10 pig breeding centers located in different parts of China (one wonders what Muslim and Jewish athletes will eat). However, the locations of the Olympic pig breeding centers are kept entirely secret. "Pigs there are monitored, only fed organic crops, and have to exercise everyday. " According to Niu Shengnan, CEO of Beijing Qianxihe Group, which is the only supplier of frozen, fresh pork and pork products for the Beijing Olympics, the use of growth hormones in pig-rearing was "standard in China, but eating meat produced this way could conceivably cause competitors to fail anti-doping tests". Also:
Liu also said the pigs' feed has no preservatives. The immunization methods for the pigs include using natural herbs and Chinese medicine. To ensure the health of the pigs, they are arranged to exercise for two hours per day. Because no antibiotics are used for pig breeding, the growing period for these Olympics pigs are two to three months longer than common pigs. However, the Olympics pigs will not be sold cheap. Liu said the pork will be 40% to 50% more expensive than the market price.
Chinese bloggers have started to react to the idea of the secret steroid-free Olympic pigs. Blogger bbcjy writes:
The fact there are "Olympics pigs" tells us how serious our food safety issue is. The athletes cannot eat regular pork, otherwise they cannot pass doping tests. But how many people in this country can eat this special pork? The problem of athletes eating pork is resolved. What about the problem of pork eating for citizens in this country? What about our food safety problem? [Translation by CDT]
In the meanwhile, China Daily Times also informs us that the following phrase has been spreading quietly in the Chinese blogosphere:
宁做奥运猪 莫为井下人!
"I would rather be a pig for the Olympics than a human in a coal mine! "
Related links
China Daily Times: Zero-profit Pork Alliance Running Out of Moral Steam - The Beijing News
China Daily Times: Beijing Olympics Pigs: Secret Breeding and Special Supplies - ChineseNewsNet
China Daily Times: Bloggers' Reaction to Secret Steroid-free Olympics Pigs
Financial Times: Secret steroid-free pigs to go on the menu for athletes
Previously on Shanghaiist
Chinese scientists create glow in the dark pigs
Do you know what your pigs are eating?
Photo of pigs on the way to the slaughterhouse by MonkeyClaus.
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This group of women in Guangxi Province's Nanning (南宁) have just completed their state-sponsored training and received their certification as trained maternity matrons (月嫂), who according to our favourite English-Chinese dictionary, are maids -- usually married women who already have their own kids -- that are hired to take care of mothers and their newborns ("Chinese women traditionally are confined indoors for a month after delivering a baby on the grounds that they are particularly susceptible to various gynecological diseases in this period."). Apparently even the recruiting companies have all come waiting like vultures at the certification ceremony, and are paying as much as RMB2,800 per month for a mid-level maternity matron and RMB4,800 for a senior-level maternity matron. That's more than some white collar workers get!
In the meanwhile, some street sweepers in Binhai County, Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, have much less to smile for. They have been asked by the city's urban hygiene administration (环境卫生管理所) to put down deposits of RMB5,000 or RMB8,000 before they can be hired for their RMB380 per month jobs! Star street sweepers who make it pass the probation period can look forward to a whopping RMB520 per month!
From a Yangtze Evening News story, via China Digital Times:
Among the 39 positions, 25 people have paid their deposits, unwillingly of course. Most of them had to loan money from friends or relatives. Over a dozen of other job aspirants couldn't come up with such a big sum and gave up the job. For those who haven't paid up the deposits in full, they will be short-paid every month, by 200 yuan a month, until their required deposits are fully paid.
The good news, the only one maybe, is that after five years the deposits plus interests will be returned to the sweepers. The head of the hygiene agency said the deposits were required to make sure the new hires don't jump ship too soon or have others to fill in their jobs. (This could also bring quite some handsome revenue to his agency.)
Related links
China Digital Times: Need A Street-sweeper Job? Job Deposit Please - Yangtze Evening News
Yangtze Evening News: 江苏滨海招收环卫工人收取数千元上岗金
Readers of this blog who happen to be:
1. between jobs,
2. looking for something openings other than maternity matron or road sweeper jobs,
are encouraged to look for their dream jobs at NewChinaCareer.com.
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Zhejiang Satellite TV's Citizens Take Action 《绿原公民行动》has uncovered the most extraordinary story of a woman, Wang Xiaocui (王晓翠) who has been rescued from an underground hole in Lin County, Lu Liang District, Shangxi Province. Barely 2 square meters in area, the hole was home for Wang, and this was where she would eat, drink, sleep and take care of ALL her bodily functions everyday for six long years.
As it turned out, Xiaocui was bought by her husband, Guo Runxiao (郭润小) from someone else for RMB6,700. In his youth, Guo was marked an Outstanding Person by the Shanxi Province for academic excellence, but was eventually imprisoned 13 years for rape. By the time he was released, he was already 45 and no woman would marry him. Hence he decided he would buy someone to marry and have children with. Guo saw that Wang was highly educated, smart, good in foreign languages, but she was also mildly mentally disturbed. Nevertheless, he married her and even went on to have two children with her - a 6 year old son and a 4 year old daughter who was born in the hole. But as her mental condition worsened over the years, Wang would start breaking everything at home and hit her children, and it became apparent to Guo that he would have to house her elsewhere.
With the help of the local police, the news crew eventually rescued Wang out of the hole, but not without much coaxing since she had stayed in the hole for six years. They put clothes on her and cleaned her up. At first, even her children would not even come close to her but over the course of the next few days, she had the chance to hug them for the very first time.
On hearing of the heart-wrenching news of her daughter, Wang's 70-year old mother broke down and cried. She said she was the smartest of her kids, was very introverted, and would not say much to people around. However, Wang suffered a severe setback when she didn't make it to the university. She was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia, and her family went around borrowing up to RMB80,000 to pay the doctors to get their favourite daughter well again. To cut the long story short, Wang was married to several men one after the other and even had children with some of them, but was eventually divorced or sold away because of her relapse. This was how she ended up with Guo Runxiao.
This is the first of a 5-part documentary of the rescue of Wang Xiaocui. Parts 2, 3, 4 and 5 can be found here, here, here and here. Wang is currently receiving psychiatric treatment at the Kangfu Hospital in Shanxi Province's Luliang City.
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Photo from wookiddy.
Share with us how you see Shanghai, or China! Simply post your photos on Flickr, tag them with "shanghaiist", and we'll select one favorite image per day. Or you can simply email your photos to photos[at]shanghaiist.com.
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- Shanghai's booming subway [LA Times]
The Chinese metropolis was even later than L.A. in building its system. But it is already big, with plans to make it the biggest within a decade.
- Shanghai: Art Deco capital - for now [The Telegraph]
Just as Shanghai's priceless architectural legacy is gaining overdue recognition, it faces new threats from developers, reports Richard Spencer.
- Don't exaggerate product quality issues--China [The Inquirer]
Concerns about the quality and safety of products made in China should not be exaggerated because these comprise less than 1 percent of all Chinese exports, according to Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai.
- German Chancellor to discuss Darfur with Beijing [Radio Australia]
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she'll discuss Darfur and human rights with Beijing leaders during her upcoming visit to China.
- NKorea building fence along border with China - Yonhap [Forbes]
North Korea is constructing a fence along its border with China to stop an exodus of its refugees, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.
- Endurance athletes worry about pollution in Beijing [IHT]
If pollution levels in that city are not abated in time for next year's Olympics, experts say, conditions for the marathon and other endurance events will be much worse than at a track and field world championships last Saturday.
- Beijing drug cheats face London 2012 ban [The Telegraph]
Under tough new rules announced yesterday by International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, any competitor banned for a doping offence which carries a suspension of six months or more will have to wait eight years for another chance to enter the Games.
- China's balancing act [The Seatlle Times]
"China's government doesn't want Chinese firms to make products that can kill you. But, by making economic growth the paramount goal of state and party, it has created the conditions by which firms may feel compelled to make those kinds of decisions," writes T.M. Sells.
Photo from Joon Ho.
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 We just got word that Blue Frog will be opening a restaurant at the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel on August 28th. From their press release:
blue frog bar & grill is strategically located on the main casino level of The Venetian, which opens its doors on August 28. The stylish 6,500 sq ft, 200 seat venue, will offer all-day dining from breakfast, lunch and dinner to afternoon snacks, wines and cocktails.
“While incorporating the classic elements of blue frog design, the atmosphere will be more dramatic and theatrical, in keeping with the glamour, glitz and excitement of Macao’s casino strip,” said Bob Boyce, founder and CEO of blue horizon hospitality group, which operates seven blue frog bars and restaurants in Shanghai.
blue frog bar & grill features a western-style menu with predominantly American inspired dishes – gourmet burgers and imported steaks, as well as a selection of salads, soups, pastas, appetizers and snacks - all prepared to order from only the finest and freshest ingredients, and served in generous portions.
Shanghaiist thinks this is definitely a smart move for Blue Frog, considering the fact that Macao has already supplanted Las Vegas as the world's biggest gambling destination. It's also a smart move for the Venetian, as it offers something familiar but still distinctly western for its guests from Shanghai. With Chinese restaurant brands such as Little Sheep (小肥羊) and South Beauty (俏江南) having moved or preparing to move overseas, Blue Frog opening in Macao represents another step in bringing locally grown establishments to an international audience. The interview Shanghaiist conducted with owner Bob Boyce back in 2005 is a good illustration of how far the restaurant has come along in the past few years.
We're looking forward to the inaugural Macaoist Happy Hour at the Venetian in a couple of years. Meanwhile, those of you in Macao on the weekend of November 10th will just have to settle for Blue Frog's weekend-long opening party, which they've advertised as the Blue Frog event of the year.
Eric Hu is Shanghaiist's Food Editor. Email tips, recommendations, and news and gossip about Shanghai's food scene to food at shanghaiist.com
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