Shanghai's sky is falling

We think we've finally figured out why so many people here carry umbrellas. They're not for sudden thunder showers. They're not for keeping skin fair and white. They're for keeping crap from falling on your head. From the Shanghai Daily:

A small piece of metal fell from the sky and crashed into a warehouse belonging to Shanghai Krah Electronics Co Ltd in Songjiang District at 9:40am yesterday. Nobody was injured by the arch-shaped piece of metal, which is about 9 centimeters long and 6 centimeters wide.

As the company is located near Hongqiao International Airport, authorities suspect the object might have fallen off an airplane. Officials from the Civil Aviation Administration of China have taken pictures of the piece for further investigation.

OK, maybe an umbrella wouldn't have helped much in that situation. But, seriously, we'd like to see a statistic for how many people in this city die each year because something (or someone) fell on them. There's a lot to watch out for. A couple years ago we read about how skyscraper windows often fall to the ground in Shanghai:

A recent survey showed that more than 10 percent of skyscrapers with windows covering the entire facade have problems.

Several glass windows have fallen from the buildings although no injuries were reported.

And earlier this year, we read this:

According to statistics, Shanghai had the largest concentration of skyscrapers in the world in 2001. And, the number of skyscrapers in the city has grown considerably since then. Shanghai now boasts 2,000 buildings designated as "tall," with more than 140 of them towering above 100 meters.

Tian Wei, an architect from the Shanghai Architecture Association, says wind speeds increase greatly along narrow roads between high buildings, as wind currents often form mini whirlwinds around skyscrapers in densely developed areas.

"If attached high up on a building, some advertisements and decorations, if not well fixed, might be blown off and fall to harm people on the street. But what's more, strong winds are making the movement of both people and vehicles terribly inconvenient."

And that's just the big stuff. When we lived in an apartment high-rise, we watched our neighbors toss all kinds of crap out their windows: plastic wrappers, chicken bones, dirty water ... and, of course, human phlegm. And you thought the water that drips from air conditioners was bad.