Shanghai China Snippets

September 9, 2005

A Mission | Incompetent Chinese Websites

Filed under: Chinese Multi Media,Uncategorized — Shanghai @ 5:44 am

I admit, I am biased, have been on the internet way too much in my life and tend to be more cynical than the average person can stand. So on forehand forgive me but I get more and more absolutely sick, tired and frustrated with the English sections of Chinese websites.
Provided of course there is one or rather it still exists.

I just went to the website of the China Open, a pretty big tennis tournament in Beijing. Actually it starts tomorrow. The 10th. I am sure the organizers regard themselves as very international, scientific and therefore have an English section. Nothing special as it is an international ATP tournament, right…

Well wrong, just check out their “tournament guide“. Ohh, it is last years, the one of 2004. So I click the “schedule of play”, I am sure they finished working this out as it will be hard to let the players choose themselves tomorrow who they want to play.

I click and I click and well, I can continue with that for the rest of the day but still go nowhere
Utter incompetence for an event that aspires to become a grand slam.

As I am at it I will create a new category called “Incompetent Chinese Websites”. After a year I will check them again and evaluate if they have improved.

Let’s go one step further, let’s benchmark China’s development with the state of the English sections of their “International” websites

Comments (3)

Shanghai News | The Best Tidbits of the Day

Filed under: China News — Shanghai @ 12:18 am

Traffic is hot here. New subway lines are being build while cars are doing their best to clog up every road there is. I remember being on my way to the airport a few weeks ago and actually being stopped from entering the ring road. Road closed, too many cars was the message.

It will get safer on the new line 4 (opens in the end of the year) in Shanghai as all stations get safety partitions. (source: Xinhua)

There is supposed to be a new Shanghai traffic website where you can find the best route of the day. In good Chinese tradition the mentioned website (probably using Chinese language), operational since yesterday, is inactive at the moment. Too many traffic jams I guess but in case they will be able to revive it, here is the address.
Shanghai Domain

Interestingly enough the domain was registered many years ago, 1999 to be exact so they were thinking long term at the time. If they would have done the same with the real highways it would have been even better.

(source: Shanghai Daily)

Update: It’s weekend and the website is reachable. I guess less traffic helped (Site is only in Chinese by the way)

Comments (2)

September 8, 2005

Watch International TV in China

Filed under: Chinese Multi Media — Shanghai @ 4:44 am

I am listening and watching BBC World right now while I am typing this . Thanks to some research done by Fons of the China Herald into the peer-to-peer media streaming world.

Besides that it’s interesting to see P2P used for live tv streams I am actually pretty happy with the fact I can watch some real news instead of CCTV-9.

I know, I know, it probably isn’t the most Intellectual Property friendly software.

Then again , my excuse is that I would love to pay for it, the Chinese cable company just doens’t offer it.

Fons tested two services and based on his experiences I am using Sopcast which seems to be more crash friendly. It works like a charm.

Sopcast
PPLive

Comments (3)

September 7, 2005

Pang le | Shanghai Doorman

Filed under: Shanghai Life — Shanghai @ 1:03 am

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.

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August 30, 2005

Cigarette Vending Machine Banned in China

Filed under: China News Soft — Shanghai @ 7:25 am

I read it in China’s English mouthpiece, I read it on international news websites and even in Dutch Newspapers which quoted, probably verbatim, Xinhua, another great source of information.

What did I read. Something totally remarkable and irrelevant.

China, the world’s biggest market for cigarettes, ratified an international treaty aimed curbing tobacco-related deaths, announcing immediately afterwards a ban on tobacco vending machines

As long as I live in China I have never, really never encountered a cigarette vending machine. Not in Kunming, not in Beijing, not in Xian, not in Lijiang, not in.. any place I visited or lived and believe me, I used to smoke more than the average Chinese man.

So where do you buy your cigarettes then if there aren’t any vending machines around the corner, you may ask.

Small shops like the flowerist, the phonecard salesman, the 24-hrs shop, supermarkets big and small, “real” cigarette shops that are plastered on every corner, actually any shop that sells anything definitely also sells cigarettes.

It’s so easy to get cigarettes I actually quit.

sources:

China Daily
China ratifies WHO anti-tobacco treaty

Forbes
China ratifies anti-tobacco treaty, to ban tobacco vending machines

Comments (1)

August 28, 2005

Do Not Marry Shanghainese Women

Filed under: Shanghai Life — Shanghai @ 3:21 am

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

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August 18, 2005

Pirated Maps | Shanghai Gets Tough

Filed under: Chinese Multi Media — Shanghai @ 5:05 am

Shanghai is getting tough on the piracy of maps.

Mapping authorities in the city announced yesterday they will provide cash rewards of up to 100,000 yuan (US$12,346) to those who provide “valuable clues” to help ferret out the producers and vendors of pirated maps.
They also said they will begin selling genuine maps at major downtown locations using automatic vending machines.
“Pirated maps not only disturb legal business, but also mislead buyers,” Lu Weijun, a spokesperson for the Shanghai Institute of Surveying and Mapping, said yesterday.
He said the high rewards will help collect information about who is printing pirated maps and increase public awareness about the importance of intellectual property rights.
It’s not difficult to find pirated maps for sale at long-distance bus stations, ports, scenic spots and book stalls where people, particularly those from outlying places, often visit, officials said.
According to officials at the institute, at least 1 million pirated maps are sold in the city every year, accounting for one-third of all maps sold in Shanghai, which has greatly impacted the map publishing business.

I guess when IP infringements start to hurt locally, it may have a positive effect globally.
What product is next?