Some weeks have been spent elsewhere. The moment I entered the gate my always smiling doorman grinned and said “hui lai le” , “you came back..” After which an even more enthusiastic “Pang le” followed. He didn’t shoot me, he just showed his appreciation for my gained weight.
September 7, 2005
August 28, 2005
Do Not Marry Shanghainese Women
Divorces in Shanghai are on the rise. 39% more than last year.
Analysts say that newlyweds ended their marriage due to erupting clashes and unstable relationships. Also, the new marriage regulation implemented last October in China makes marriage and devoice easier than before, as the couples require only household registration and identification cards for both marriage and divorce cases.
More freedom, more choices and less embarassment are factors in this. Especially the social pressure to keep up face and stay together is probably getting less. Aso the choice of a spouse may play a role.
The ….. marriage between a Shanghai man and a woman from outside the city remains stable, with 20 couples divorced in 2004. But marriage with a local Shanghai woman ended with a higher rate of divorce, statistics shows.
So beware…
source: Xinhua
August 9, 2005
Expat Shanghai Advertising | Think Deep
For your convenience Cityweekend Shanghai (one of the many expat magazines here) apparently gives free ad space in their personals for the more entrepreneurial relations.
August 3, 2005
Shanghai Traffic
I was walking the street and as normal trying to avoid all sort of vehicles bumping into me. All went well. At times the little green man was lighting up and I had to wait until the red guy was back before starting to walk. Other times I was stuck in the middle of the road and pretended to live the life of a traffic agent.
Occasionally I heard a shout from behind which made me freeze at the spot so the bike could continue its way on the sidewalk. There were even moments I hid between other pedestrians when crossing the street so they would be my buffer. I must admit that is not very brave behavior but I am sure my insurance company loves it.
Then it happened. I was crossing yet another street, then backtracking and decided to give in to the BMW that wanted to use the same stretch of the road. The BMW stopped though. The driver nodded, gestured with his hand that I should continue my journey on the zebra crossing.
This made me very insecure, was someone playing a trick, was this a Chinese version of candid camera. If I did continue, would the car suddenly accelerate? I calculated my chances, nodded back friendly and gestured him to go first. It’s too dangerous to get used to this kind of politeness.
July 29, 2005
Supermarkets in China | My Favorites
Lately a lot of visitors ended up here because of searches in Google for “Walmart Shanghai”. I wrote a very short post about their coming here a couple of days ago. – see my post ‘Walmart Shanghai is coming“
I thought I make a list of my “favorite” supermarkets in China.
1. Mom and Pop Shops
In Shanghai these are the shops that make a neighborhood lively. Run on 20 square meters or less, some specialized in all forms of nuts, the next one selling anything you might need one day, from a new water tap to cigarettes. If you ask for it they definitely will also have some phone cards in their drawer.
As the building craze continues here in Shanghai they slowly disappear. Instead huge apartment buildings, made of pure concrete and ready to crumble down in about 5 to 10 years take their place.
New high rises means less shops, less life in the street besides people going and returning from work. If you go to Pudong you can see what the rest of Shanghai may be one day. Huge dormitories and no shops around. There, you have no other choice then get into the car and drive to a supermarket
(more…)
July 27, 2005
What Kind of Job
A friend’s daughter was asked what she wanted to be once she was a grown-up. She took her time to think about it. Others suggested some jobs, like doctor, journalist etc. Her reaction, Neehhh, too tiring.
I don’t know whether this is universal or not for kids these days. I only know that when I was that age “tiring” was not one of the benchmarks about my possible future job. It is now though.
Making computer games was something she would consider. She is 10.
July 7, 2005
Shanghai Podcasts
Podcasting seems to be the next big thing.. at least for a very few “in the know” people right now. More than a month ago some bloggers and other podcast enthusiasts had dinner to talk about radio shanghai. (see chinaherald for the first steps …)
This was in the end of May and since then not much happened it seemed. Last wednesday we had another meeting and Tek explained the technical details to us. How to make a recording and how to publish it in a feed. He is actually the first and only one who started a real Shanghai podcast, called “3 minutes in Shanghai“. Check it out.
I might start a very small podcast myself in the future but for now keeping this blog up to date takes up enough time.