Shanghaiist
This is a mobile version of www.shanghaiist.com.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
KFC Hong Kong serves food from the trash
This video, taken by a deliveryman with his cellphone at KFC's Yuen Long Plaza (元朗广场) outlet in Hong Kong, has been sending shockwaves throughout the territory of late. He recently blew the whistle by telling Hong Kong gossip rag Next Magazine 《壹週刊》 that staff at this outlet would frequently stop kitchen operations, throw away all leftover food, and start cleaning up before the restaurant closes so they can go home on time. During this time, if a customer walks in, employees will pick up the food from the trash and serve it to customers — and this is apparently all done with the consent of the restaurant manager so they can “avoid reheating the frying machine”.
Finger lickin' good eh? According to CSR-Asia, the "outrageous behaviour is said to have been the combined result of young workers not willing to stay long after the official business hours to clean up the kitchen because of the low wages, and the shop management’s demand to make their branch an 'A grade' one by saving costs." In other words, people, if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. If this is what employees at KFC in Hong Kong are doing, we shudder to think what KFC employees on the mainland are capable of. More photos after the jump.
Photos from the Yes Boleh blog.
OMFG ! I cannot believe what I just saw !
Now trying to remember if I ever been to that KFC before...
Posted by Tortue December 27, 2008 6:58 PMFinally the secret recipe is revealed
Posted by EL JEFE December 28, 2008 12:29 AMDid ChinesePod steal The Radical Show?
Aric Queen, former executive producer of ChinesePod, writing from exile, appears to think so. Once upon a time, his friend Frank Fradella flew to Shanghai and approached ChinesePod with a pitch for a new show designed to teach foreigners how to recognise radicals [see video below]. He was told by the Shanghai startup that they didn't have the budget for the show and Fradella flew home a little dejected, but that was that.
Eight months later, ChinesePod released this video below as premium content for paying users [ripped by Aric and uploaded on Youtube]. Frank Fradella classifies the show as “Clearly Derivative, But Not Maliciously Stolen” after having spoken with John Pasden who hosts the below show. Aric,however, will have none of it and is convinced ChinesePod was guilty of stealing.
Read more here and here and make up your own mind about it.
I'm not even sure it's derivative. Every child who learns Chinese starts with 人 as the first radical they learn. Neither Frank or John are original in that sense.
And John, if you're reading this? If you're going to go with the "Radical" 80's theme, you really gotta find sidekicks that are more like "Bill & Ted"
Duuude, Strange things are afoot at the Circle K!
Posted by dedlam December 27, 2008 9:27 PMFrank Fradella doesn't seem to think it's stealing, ergo absolutely no story here.
Posted by moneyinabox December 27, 2008 10:48 PMIt is well cheeky though.
And indicative of a wider problem. By that I mean, companies other than C-pod. I have this experience.
Posted by Andy Best December 28, 2008 1:21 AMHello! Frank Fradella here again! :)
As I've said in several places, while I was originally irked by the similarities, I've talked this over with John Pasden, who is a man of honor and integrity. There was no theft.
As dedlam pointed out above, if you are going to teach how to read Chinese characters, these are likely to be the characters used to start. This is likely to be the format you'd use, if video was going to be involved.
Do I wish I'd gotten the gig? Of course. This is how I make my living. But I'll take the show somewhere else and they'll do theirs and we'll all remain friends.
It's far less dramatic than it all seems.
Frank
Posted by frankfradella December 28, 2008 1:27 AMThe only story is that a privileged meeting with a possible subcontractor was publicized by a former employee. No employment contract? No loyalty? Good luck with that next job.
Posted by EL JEFE December 28, 2008 2:56 AMChinese nationalism and indoctrination 101
If you've ever wondered how Chinese kids are being indoctrinated with nationalistic bullshit ideals from a young age, here's how. This video shows a class of elementary school students reciting a poem entitled 《2009中国加油》("2009, Go China!") written by their teachers on how a triumphant China is rising against earthquakes and the wiles of evil politicians like Nicolas Sarkozy in "pathetic Europe" with a successful Olympics, the launch of Shenzhou 7 and the "iron will" of its people. Watch it with the Chinese transliteration and English translation from China Digital Times after the jump, but be warned, this is spine-tingling and hair-raising stuff. We find it hard to think that teachers in cities like Shanghai or Beijing would make their kids do the same thing, but then again you never know.
2009, Go China!Lead: Snowstorm, freely falling down to earth, like western values
Lead: Despair fills the sky, ice covers the earthLead: Did China retreat?
All: No. The Olympics were a success! We are victorious!
Lead: Hot blood and iron will of Chinese people, lighten up the dark world like burning the holy flame
All: The rivers and mountains, ever more colorful and beautifulLead: Earthquakes, shifting back and forth like the positions of Sarkozy, with his dirty tricks, trying to shake the great China
Lead: Did China retreat?
All: No. The Shenzhou-7 launched. We are victorious!
Lead: Pathetic Europe will never stop the insurmountable force of our great dynasty
All: Just the aftershocks from the earthquake would destroy France!Lead: The happy flowers flourish in the oil fields on Tarim Basin
Lead: The suona [musical instrument] sings aloud in the Tawang district of the Himalayas
Lead: Historically accumulated resentment fill the Ryukyu Trench
All: Smiles in Sun Moon Lake became a miraculous flower in the Pacific OceanLead: Do not waver, do not slow down, do not make big changes
Lead: Do not change the flag, Do not turn back
All: Step ruthlessly over all anti-China forcesLead: The giant ship full of patches, raise up the brand new sail
All: Spirits are high, crash through the waves, the wind is at our back
Lead: 2009
All: Go China
Lead: 2009
All: China the Greatest《2009，中国加油》
甲：大雪，像西方的价值观，自由的飘洒，
乙：漫天哀愁，一地冰碴 !甲：中国退缩了吗？
全：没有！奥运成功了！我们胜利啦！
甲：炎黄坚毅的热血，如炽烈的圣火，燃烧灰暗的世界，
全：万里江山，又嵌上五彩的画夹！甲：地震，像萨科奇的立场，用猥琐的伎俩，摇晃着巍巍中华。
甲：中国退缩了吗？
全：没有！神七飞天了！我们胜利啦！
甲：瘦瘦的欧罗巴，挡不住天朝的金戈铁马，
全：地震的余波也能把法兰西催垮！甲：塔里木的石油盛开幸福之花，
乙：达旺的唢呐奏响在喜马拉雅。
甲：中山世土的积怨填平了琉球海沟，
全：日月潭的微笑成为太平洋的奇葩！甲：不动摇、不懈怠、不折腾
乙：不改旗、不易帜、不回头
全：将反华者狠狠的踏在脚下甲：打满补丁的大船，挂上崭新的桅帆
全：乘风破浪，意气风发！
甲：2009
全：中国加油
甲：2009
全：中国最大
It's not surprising, if, like me, you've worked in local schools. I've sat out in winter playgrounds watching kindergarten students doing a flag raising ceremony and elementary school in Shanghai have long had an annual anti-Japan day.
But, it's also not that surprising to anyone who's worked in education in general. People all over the world seem to have a lot of tolerance for nationalism. Flags and pledges are in U.S. schools right? I saw flags up in schools when I worked in Japan too.
Extreme ideologies like patriotism (allegiance to a political creation, the nation state)should be out of schools. Well, you know, anything can be in schools if we are studying it objectively, but not if we are just rote learning one particular version of it.
I was in Singapore for a bit also, I found the politics there to be equally intolerable. "Minister Mentor" indeed, and to his own son.
We need to get rid of countries pronto and live in Yurts :)
Posted by Andy Best December 27, 2008 5:33 PMI am afraid they do the same in Shanghai.
In communist ideology, education can not be left to parents, society has to educate the ideal person. Indoctrination begins in kindergarden. Horrifying.
It is not about nationalism, it is about socialism. Nationalism is the vehicle to carry socialist ideals here, in order to perpetuate the one party rule.
Comparing this to American schooling displays a extremely shallow understanding of the inner workings here.
Posted by Pirx December 27, 2008 8:07 PMWhen you live in a poisoned Third-World kleptocracy that everyone is desperate to leave, you have to overcompensate by displaying your "pride" in that poisoned Third-World kleptocracy that everyone is desperate to leave. So, extreme nationalism in places like China is really more of a psychological phenomenon than a political one.
Posted by YangBang December 28, 2008 1:48 AMChina's aggressive rise will prompt the world to react and put it down.
Posted by nanheyangrouchuan December 28, 2008 2:08 AMthings like this make it harder to defend china... damn
Posted by rado December 28, 2008 3:43 AMFriday, December 26, 2008
Good news for folk in China using an iPhone 3G from the States
If you have a US iPhone 3G and have been tempted by repeated reminders in iTunes to upgrade to the 2.2 version of the iPhone firmware, you may soon be able to give in to the temptation without fear of relocking your device to AT&T. The iPhone Dev Team has announced that they will be launching a software hack to unlock your 3G iPhone on New Year's Eve. This will allow you to upgrade your firmware and keep it unlocked for use in China or anywhere else with a GSM network for that matter.
If your happen to be going through Hanoi though, you might want to consider a more permanent solution to your iPhone woes. Check out this post in CNET that shows you how the Vietnamese unlock your iPhone. Kids, please don't try this at home.
For those of you who don't have an iPhone but secretly want one and don't mind paying a little more, you can buy an officially unlocked one from the Apple Hong Kong site if you have a Hong Kong address to send it to or buy one from Singapore where Singtel isn't legally allowed to lock the iPhone.
The claimed unlock from the Dev-Team is only for 2.1 firmware and if your phone runs 2.2 firmware, you can't apply it.
Furthermore, if you perform the 2.1 unlock, updating your iPhone 3.G to 2.2 will once again relock the iPhone (as will any future firmware updates).
The best bet is to acquire a first generation iPhone - those are easily unlockable, and updatable to 2.2.
Posted by DaffyDuck December 26, 2008 3:37 PMHmm... a post from the past? Or spreading FUD for fun?
Just do avoid any misunderstanding, Pwnage Tool 2.2 works with firmware 2.2, absolutely no problem at all.
The one thing that never worked was 3G service in the pwned iPhone 3G. It is that function which remained to be unlocked and that is what the Dev Team refers to.
My old SonyEricsson phone has 3G and I do not see what the big deal could be to have 3G on an iPhone, or 3G on any phone for that matter....
How is always having broadband everywhere you go not awesome? Took me forever to load this page on my EDGE phone..
Posted by Bumix December 26, 2008 9:28 PMThere is nothing more anti-climactic than websurfing on the phone, even iPhone.
Posted by Pirx December 27, 2008 1:10 PMI think there is a misunderstanding between unlocking and jailbreaking. The former allows you to use any GSM Sim Card in the phone and the latter allows you to install applications that are not approved by Apple via Cydia or Installer.
3G works fine on pwned firmware 2.2 on my Singapore iPhone. If your iPhone is from the US installing firmware 2.2 via iTunes will unjailbreak and relock your iPhone. If you use a Pwnage tool to do it, it can remain jailbroken.
And @Pirx there are websites that make me climax every time even if viewed on an iPhone.
Posted by dedlam December 27, 2008 2:10 PMI do not know about the iPhones in Singland, but in Chinaland the 3G remains disbaled even after pwning your iPhone 3G.
Posted by Pirx December 27, 2008 2:38 PM3G is disabled because there is no 3G in China yet. The only 3G phones are the ones that are provided for the testing of the TD-SCDMA standard of China Mobile. If you are a China Mobile subscriber even when 3G is publicly launched the iPhone will not be compatible as it is configured for WCDMA that China Unicom will be providing.
the upcoming oPhone from Lenovo is likely to support CM's 3G Standard.
Posted by dedlam December 27, 2008 4:04 PMThursday, December 25, 2008
Happy Holidays from Shanghaiist!
Christmas behind bars in Shanghai
A group of 98 prisoners from the United States, Singapore, India, Nigeria and elsewhere celebrated Christmas by performing Chinese folk songs, yoga and magic tricks at a party organised by the Qingpu Prison Wednesday night. A special Christmas Eve dinner was also prepared for inmates comprising of roast mutton, chicken, potatoes and pizza. According to Shanghai Daily, all foreigners in prisons "are treated almost the same as their Chinese counterparts". In the same breath though, it adds that foreign prisoners enjoy "international living standards" in line with prisoner rights regulations prescribed by the UN, including daily showers, sports facilities and medical services. In case you're wondering about living conditions in there, each ward comes equipped with a showera and houses about ten inmates. Email access is provided so prisoners can keep in touch with their family. They also get to watch English TV news and read approved publications, and if they have enough money, they can even purchase portable radio sets and international calling cards for their own use. And just to make sure inmates don't get too bored in there, they are taught to make handicrafts and given Chinese lessons.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Cafe bombed in Kunming
Scary news just in from our friends at GoKunming:
This morning at 10:30 the bustle of Wenhua Xiang's cafes and restaurants was violently interrupted by an explosion at Salvador's Coffee House.According to a subsequent update by GoKunming, one man, possibly the one with the bomb, has died in hospital. Salvador's is an American-owned cafe that is popular among Kunming-based expats but we'll refrain from making any wild conjectures as to the motive of the bombing for now. Watch this space for more updates.We have spoken with Salvador's co-owner Colin Flahive several times since the explosion and he has confirmed that the explosion was set off by a man who had entered the restaurant with an explosive device.
Flahive said that none of the staff or customers present at Salvador's this morning were seriously injured and that the man with the explosive device had suffered serious injuries.
Few details about the incident are currently available. Salvador's has been sealed off by police, who have been investigating the scene since shortly after the explosion.
This is the first bombing attack in Kunming since the double bus bombings that killed two and injured 14 in June of this year.
Photo of Salvador's Coffee House from Synotrip.
wow. crazy. i hope they can reopen soon. those dudes are chill.
Posted by solfire December 25, 2008 9:55 PMPhotos: Yao Ming vs Yi Jianlian in New Jersey
Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian square off in New Jersey Monday night. Notice how the I Heart China gang was there in full force. [H/t to John Shabe of NJ.com!]
Around Shanghai
- A 23 year old woman has been charged in Minhang District for attempted extortion for allegedly trying to extort 500,000 yuan from her boss after she saw a love letter on his computer.
- Great news for families of migrant workers here: Children without a Shanghai hukou can now apply to the local education administration to receive education.
- Over 100 fare dodgers on the Shanghai subway were caught and fined the maximum penalty of RMB45 during a four-hour crackdown yesterday. Maybe if the maximum penalty were a little higher, people would think twice next time.
- A mouse attacked an elderly Alzheimer's patient and tore off her eyelid while she was sleeping at a mental health clinic in hospital. Her family members now demand that the clinic pay for her plastic surgery because dying with your eyes wide open ("死不瞑目") in Chinese culture means going away with a life full of grievances or regrets.
Video: Partying Henan style
The music in this video shot in rural Henan totally gave us a headache. Steven Lim of Youku Buzz couldn't quite make out whether this was a wedding or a funeral. Well, yeah, as we told you before, things can get pretty noisy and wild at Chinese funerals, with sexy strippers and paper condoms and what have you. Someone needs to fly these girls down to Shanghai and bring them to The Shelter. We're sure it'd be a RIOT.
This is what kids do these days in the absence of recreational pharmaceuticals. If you shake your head for long enough you feel floaty and happy. If you shake for too long, you get a brain tumor and die.
Posted by dedlam December 26, 2008 10:57 AMFace of the Day
Photo by Raymond Deng from the new collection 80 Portraits, 80 Homes.
More photos on the Shanghaiist Contribute page. To see your photos on our Contribute page, use Flickr and tag your photos “shanghaiist”. Or you can email your photos to photos@shanghaiist.com and they will automatically appear on our site (and here).
Awesome portraits! Double Thumb up!
Posted by zideshowbob December 24, 2008 3:13 AMAgree! It is amazingly original for a photographer here to take pictures of wrinkly old peasant Chinese people!!! What next...Hutongs???
Posted by LoveChinaLongTime December 24, 2008 3:55 PMI see a face of beauty, not in the typical sense, but one of a long life with many experiences and a joy about her. I see in her what I can only hope to achieve in my own time.
Posted by Fuzi December 24, 2008 10:52 PMTuesday, December 23, 2008
Photos: Shanghaiist Holiday Party at Cotton's on Xinhua Lu
Thanks to everyone who came out Saturday night to celebrate with us. And a special thanks to Cotton's, American Craft Beer Partners and, of course, Santa Claus for making it all possible. Happy Holidays!
Photos by Robofresh Productions. (For the Santa Claus portraits, click here.)
Yay, it was great. Hadn't sat on Santa's lap since I was a kid lol. Cheers, A.
Posted by apaul December 24, 2008 9:44 AMhappy halloween everyone!
Posted by booggerg December 26, 2008 4:38 AMMusic Video: Frenchman in Shanghai
Frenchman in Shanghai 《上海的法国人》, a cover of Sting's 1987 hit Englishman in New York, by Roubichou Gauthier.
Shanghai to Kunming by train ... in 9 hours?
By 2015 it could happen, GoKunming reports. The journey currently takes 37 hours. According to GoKunming, "the Shanghai-Kunming passenger line (沪昆客运专线) will connect Shanghai and Kunming via the provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou and Yunnan, passing through the major cities of Hangzhou, Nanchang and Changsha. Its target speed is reportedly 350 km/hr."
Discrimination against Hepatitis B carriers in China
Melissa Chan of Al Jazeera reports from Beijing of the discrimination that Hepatitis B carriers in China have to deal with — in school and at the workplace. Most of this discrimination, of course, is rooted in the widespread ignorance about the virus throughout society, and results in Hep B carriers being shunned in the same way as HIV/AIDS carriers are shunned in China.
Shepherd keeps flock in line by showing them wolf picture
This Chinese shepherd has found a novel way to both save money on a sheep dog and to keep his flock in line at the same time — by showing his flock a picture of a wolf! Ananova quotes a man from Xi'an by the name of Du Hebing who tells Huashang Daily he shot the picture by chance:
"After visiting Qinling Wild Animal Park, on the way home I saw a group of sheep walking along the road with a man holding a picture following behind them," he said.Whoever said there was no innovation in China?Du said he burst out laughing when he realised it was a picture of a wolf.
"The man was using the wolf picture to scare the sheep and drive them ahead - it was a really funny scene," he said.
Shocking video of rollerblading teen getting rolled over by a bus
WARNING: This video contains graphic images that may not be suitable for everyone.
Via Youku Buzz: A teenager on rollerblades gets rolled over by a public bus running the red light on the west side of Tiananmen Square in Beijing and dies on the spot. Even more shocking than the accident itself is the highly harmonious handshake between the victim's father and the bus driver towards the end of the clip.
Previously on Shanghaiist
Video: Road accident in Shanghai caught live on camera
Don't you just love watching people get killed? It makes me feel all warm inside.
Posted by Bumix December 23, 2008 9:09 AMYay, the weekly Shanghaiist death film!
:-( :-( :-( :-(
Posted by moneyinabox December 23, 2008 1:27 PMHey money was exchanged and problem solved! What's the outrage???
Posted by LoveChinaLongTime December 23, 2008 2:55 PMI'm never sure who's the bigger loser, Shanghaiist for running these 'Faces of Death' clips, or me for watching them.
Posted by InactionHero December 23, 2008 4:11 PMOh you have to be kidding!! If this bus driver ran the light he should be tried for criminally negligent homicide! I was with a fire dept and rescue squad for 10 yrs but have never seen something so appalling. This poor kid lost his life in an instant and no one says a word?? Geezus, this isnt funny.
Posted by DontBlameMe December 24, 2008 12:21 PMThis disturbed me greatly. I wept.
Posted by Fuzi December 24, 2008 10:55 PMWhy would you post this?
Posted by gibson3 December 26, 2008 2:11 AMyeah people in china do not value life? How can you expect them to when there are so many people there..
Posted by booggerg December 26, 2008 4:41 AMamazing how people just ride past. leave your roller blades at home kiddies.
Posted by hubcap December 26, 2008 12:13 PMAround the Blogosphere
- Adam Minter of Shanghai Scrap says China's block of the New York Times does not matter as much as it once did.
- Chris Gill of Shanghai Eye says he has it from a reliable source that the HSK, the Chinese proficiency examination for foreigners will be scrapped in two years.
- Jenny Leung of China Digital Times interviews Qi Hanting, the student who founded the Anti-CNN website.
- The "Prince" incident: the story of a young man who laments online of how his family lost several billions in assets literally overnight and was left with "just a few million". Translation of the original post and netizen reactions by ChinaSmack.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Yao vs. Yi: Game Three
The only two Chinese players currently in the starting lineup for NBA teams will face off in New Jersey Monday night, at 7:30 p.m. EST (8:30 a.m. Tuesday Beijing time). It is the third meeting, and the first this year, for Yao Ming (姚明) and Yi Jianlian (易建联). The game will air live on CCTV's sports channel.
The Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen broke down in Sunday's paper why this year's Yao-Yi meeting won't match last year's for fanfare--Yao is focused on leading a surging Rockets team that is a serious playoff contender, and seems to see Yi and the Nets as just another opponent that needs to go down.
Yao has had a strong season so far, averaging 20 points and 9.5 rebounds a game. He has averaged 27 points over the last three games and was clutch in a weekend win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. His team has won five of its last six games.
Yi and the Nets are a different story. The team has dropped five of its last seven games, and Yi is averaging 10 points and 6 rebounds. He did notch a double-double against Dallas last Friday, but he's been held to one or fewer field goals six times this season.
Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian image: Tianjin Daily
For more China sports news, check out China Sports Today.
China Tech Roundup: GFW gearing up for holiday season mischief, electric cars and the OPhone
- The International Herald Tribune was all in a tizzy about its sister newspaper the New York Times being blocked in China last week in an article posted on Saturday. This comes after another article that they posted on the preceding Tuesday Olympics over, China said to be blocking Web sites again. According to China web watchers @fuzheado and @ullrich, the NYT had indeed been blocked in Beijing and Shanghai but was now working fine. We get the feeling that the good folk at the Golden Shield Project might just be messing with the NYT for the bad press the previous week.
- Still in the arena of China cyber-policing, a website and an internet user were fined for posting details of a love triangle in which the "spurned wife" committed suicide. This IHT article comments that the landmark case sets a precedent for the cracking down on the online incitement of vigilantes. We have seen other cases of public justice exercised by Chinese netizens as in the case of Running Fan during the Sichuan Quake.
- Chinese auto maker BYD has beaten many major international brands to the punch by announcing the mass production of the first plug-into-the-wall electric car. They say that this advancement is made possible due to the development of an iron battery that can be used 2000 times before degrading and can be fully charged in 20 minutes. Not to be outdone though, Engadget reports that an alliance of 14 US firms including 3M and Johnson Controls-Saft has been put together to bring the highly toxic battery manufacturing back to the US. The Engadget article quotes the Wall Street Journal that "More than four dozen advanced battery factories are being built in China but none, currently, in the U.S."
- Lenovo and China Mobile in a bid to ride on the success of the iPhone and G1 have officially announced that they have reached an agreement to develop their own 3G, internet friendly handset called...wait for it... the OPhone. The "O" in OPhone stands for OPEN as it is based on the Open Mobile System we told you about earlier.
Image by Roger Wo
Amazing how NYT is blocked but I can still get the Washington Post. It's really just business as usual on the internet in China.
Posted by China-Matt December 22, 2008 8:35 PMStupid ass BYU.. a shame to all Chinese. They should go down like Sanlu.
Posted by booggerg December 26, 2008 4:42 AM