Shanghai considered most fashionable city in China

A survey found that Shanghai is the most shi shang (时尚, i.e. fashionable, hip) city in China. OK, to be more precise, the study asked the respondents to tell them what they thought the most fashionable city in China was. The respondents were made up of people in first-tier cities with 3,000+ RMB monthly incomes and 1,800+ RMB incomes in second-tier cities. There were some other noteworthy findings in this study. Like, 50.75% of Shanghai people prefer to be single (only slightly higher than the national average), while the number of people preferring a "weekend marriage" was higher than the national average. The report notes that the number of people that preferred the 丁克 (ding ke=transliteration of DINK=acronym for Double Income No Fuckin' Kids) dropped and now hovers near the national average.

As for what the most fashionable or "in" profession was, 35.07% of Shanghai respondents said "modelling," not of the mathematical variety, but something more akin to those found at a recent private lingerie party held in a shikumen house.

Shi Shang doesn't just refer to fashion per se but also what is fashionable or popular. For example, a recent report said that on the winter solstice (December 22), which is one of the four major days for paying respects to one's ancestors (the other three are not hard to guess), found 990,000 Shanghainese went to visit the departed in various cemeteries and graves around town. The report states that one of the 'fashionable' things to do in a children's cemetery is to bring the kids Christmas trees and Christmas presents, along with the usual cheeseburgers and other stuff that kids like and might find themselves jonesing for in the afterlife. Looks like those PhD students aren't going to win the battle against Christmas that easily.

Photo from 51fashion.com.cn.