Shanghaiist: Welcome to Shanghai Hills!

jonathan

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 12:45:43 +0800

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.

ConanTheLibrarian

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 09:33:39 +0800

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.

Palermo

Fri, 24 Nov 2006 22:23:52 +0800

What's this 'Hills' business? I thought the world was flat.

skyboxxx

Wed, 22 Nov 2006 14:25:53 +0800

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.

skyboxxx

Wed, 22 Nov 2006 12:44:30 +0800

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.

mawi

Wed, 22 Nov 2006 11:03:07 +0800

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 =)

hdp

Wed, 22 Nov 2006 10:23:27 +0800

Why didn't they just call it the Bottle Opener and be done with it.

skyboxxx

Wed, 22 Nov 2006 10:14:05 +0800

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.

Nick

Wed, 22 Nov 2006 01:29:24 +0800

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.

peijin

Wed, 22 Nov 2006 00:09:54 +0800

oh, but i guess the extra 's' at the end of Hills would make it different, in chinese, than Hill.

peijin

Wed, 22 Nov 2006 00:08:25 +0800

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.

Nick

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 23:47:56 +0800

if you say xiu shi it kind of sounds like “hills” *slightly* on the tenuous side with that one.