November 21, 2006
Welcome to Shanghai Hills!
On the website, there's information about the hotel, world's highest observatory, shopping and business areas that will comprise the center. As for the name, we found this explanation:
Concept
The world has entered a new era, evolving from an industrial into a knowledge-based society, and into a society that wants to live in harmony with nature. People’s behavior, values and business styles have also experienced tremendous changes. The shapes of our cities must adapt to these new trends.In our long search for a suitable model for the cities of this new era, we finally decided on the concept we named ”Hills.” Our “Hills” concept embodies diverse meanings. Physically, “Hills” take full advantage of existing topography and history, restore lost greenery and create urban environments in which nature and humankind coexist in harmony. Symbolically, “Hills” express a stage from which new perspectives, new ideas, and new visions are generated. These are gentle sloped “Hills,” ideal for strolling and which engender pleasant conversation. There are spots which everyone can enjoy in perfect safety, including children and the elderly. Our “Hills” include, within efficient vertical layouts, the various elements needed to provide a fully rounded urban lifestyle. Our “Hills,” therefore, become destinations where people from around the world come together to enjoy the wealth of information, knowledge, culture, and business opportunities.
There's a bit more after that and you can read the whole thing here.
The Chinese name is a bit different: 上海秀仕 (Shanghai Xiu Shi). On the face of it, if you say xiu shi it kind of sounds like "hills" the way that ai laohu you sounds like "I love you." On the other hand, take a look at the characters involved -- 秀 (xiu) can be used as part of 秀才 (xiu cai), which means a gifted scholar or writer. Shi is a character that refers to officials and officialdom, as in 仕途 (shi tu), literally, path of the official, or "official career." In this sense, the name has more to do with "human capital" than mounds of dirt that never grew up to become mountains.
You can with their little introductory movie here (though we've been having some technical issues with that) and there's another flash/movie thing here, which again our internet connection makes difficult to appreciate.
Also on Shanghaiist:
Skyscraper Envy: Shanghai to whip out another big one
Image from Shanghaihills.com
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if you say xiu shi it kind of sounds like “hills”
*slightly* on the tenuous side with that one.
remember that the first character in the chinese name for Houston, Texas is "xiu"--as for the name Hill, as in Christopher Hill asst secretary of state it's usually something like Xi'er. I guess that would have been more consistent, but they were obviously going for something a bit more fancy as far as the meaning and symbolism, etc.
oh, but i guess the extra 's' at the end of Hills would make it different, in chinese, than Hill.
Houston, well it might be the same, but that doesn't make 'xiu shi' sound any more like 'hills'. Unless someone had a reeeally bad lisp. Or massive tongue.
Chinese is the clumsiest language in existence, and it cannot properly be considered a modern language as it has no alphabet.
I cannot believe that they would give such a stupid name to such an expensive project.
1. There are no hills in Shanghai.
2. It sounds like a housing development.
Go figure.
Why didn't they just call it the Bottle Opener and be done with it.
lol! Shanghai Hill has nothing to do with the chinese name. The building company, Mori Buildings named many of their projects with "something" Hill. One of the most famous ones being the Roppongi Hills in Tokyo Japan =)
I'd just like to add that the name "Shanghai Hills" even goes against the very name of the city of Shanghai which was so named because it was built upon mudflats and means something like "on the water."
You would think that what is surely to be an iconic building would at least be consistent with the spirit and history of its surroundings.
It seems that the name "Shanghai Hills" has yet to be approved, so hopefully the city planners will have better sense than the developer.
Interestingly, the building was originally planned with a circular cutout at the top, but it was changed to a quadrangle for historical/political reasons:
After the project was revived in 2003, the builders had to alter a key design feature - a circular cutout near the top - after complaints that it resembled the rising sun on Japan's flag, a symbol reviled by many Chinese because of Japan's brutal occupation of the country in World War II.
What's this 'Hills' business? I thought the world was flat.
I followed the link on Austinist to this story on Shanghiist and was glad to see a discussion on proper pronunciation and word meaning. Here in Austin, Texas such comments would raise charges of being a Grammar Nazi. Sigh!
Historically throughout the world there has been a correlation of higher the altitude above the flood plain the higher the income and wealth of the residents. The American sociologist Vance Packard wrote about the correlation in 20th century America.
In the 1st Century B.C.E. when the Jewish High Priest Families were resettled in the Jerusalem “Colonia” throughout Galilee on the orders of King Alexander Jannus, they were settled in cities 300 meters to 500 meters above the low ground, the Har Medigo or Plain of Medigo.
I live in a section of Austin called University Hills, and while it is 7 miles from any university, it does have hills of 50 to 80 meters above the creek and is close to 100 meters above the Colorado River. It was established in the 1960s.
Nowadays in America new “Hills of …..” are as likely to be on plains as in any hills.
In the Shanghainese dialect, "shi" (仕) is pronounced like the English "z" as in the ending of "Hills."
Ever wonder why Chevrolet is written 雪佛兰 (xuefolan)? Because the Shanghainese reading of 雪佛兰 is almost identical to the American pronunciation of Chevrolet.