Olympic condoms are faster, higher, strongerAttention, all y’all who want to capture some of that Olympic vitality: 5,000 official condoms distributed to athletes during the Beijing Olympics are finding their way to the auction block November 29 for
ahem
hard core collectors. The bidding price for the condoms, in special packages printed with “faster, higher, stronger,” (the Olympic motto), will start at 1RMB. Officials believe that most of the condoms were not in fact used, but taken home by participants as souvenirs - let’s hope these are the ones up for bid.
No Sharks for Yao MingOh no, it looks like Yao Ming hasn’t bought the Shanghai Sharks after all. Instead, all they’ve signed on to be is an “entrusted investor” for the next five years. Despite agreeing in July to transfer stakes in the Sharks to Yao, it seems that those stakes will now be sold on the open market. But those who worry that this just means even more disappointments for Sharks fans needn’t: Yao has said that even though he’s not the owner, he’ll be doing everything he can to improve the team’s performance.
Google Pollution Maps of ChinaA blogger out of Fujian has compiled an open-source google map that places major pollution sites around china. While similar sources have existed in the past, this is the first one that allows other users to contribute sites with pollution problems. The map, which was created by Guo Baofeng, has attracted a lot of interest on Chinese BBS' and Forums: check it out while you still can, because you never know when it could suddenly disappear.
Syphilis boom fueled by richer migrant workersThe Chinese economy boom has helped increase numbers of both great and not-so-great things. On one hand, you've got rising literacy rates, development and internet penetration. On the other hand, you also get more pollution, city overcrowding and... syphilis. According to the World Health Organization, cases of the STD are now growing by 30% a year, and it's all because of migrant workers who now make enough money to hire more prostitutes. All the more reason to take up Zhang Feng's proposal and give them sex toys, eh?
Cold Front almost over alreadyShanghaiist has spent the past few days bundled up inside to avoid the front that has chilled our city virtually overnight. Good news, though: temperatures are supposed to rise to 20 degrees Celsius tomorrow, and should be even warmer by the weekend. It'll be as if this cold spell never really happened, right?
Report: Shanghai Disneyland almost a done deal (again)With the recent news about Beijing giving Disneyland Shanghai the go ahead, it looks like it's only a matter of time before the mouse lands in town. After a recent meeting of the City's International Business Leaders Advisory Council, Mayor Han Zheng declared that a decision could be announced as early as next week. But between the lines, we all know that's code for unequivocal approval, right? After all, it's not like the Shanghai government would announce a greenlight on Disneyland and then snatch it away last minute. Oh wait.
iPhone now in China, whoop de doo.So the iPhone was finally launched in China after much rumor mongering and fanfare and... well, it seems like most everyone who wanted an iPhone already has one. While the launch party in Beijing was a rousing success, actual first day sales were nowhere near as wild as in the U.S. or Japan. About what you could expect, we guess, from a crippled product (no WiFi) that came months and months after it was released elsewhere. Especially if it has turned out to be actually more expensive than its gray market brethren.
Annual disposable income increases by 8% in ShanghaiDespite fears of the great economic recession destroying China's economy with the rest of the world, the average disposable income for Shanghai residents rose 8% since last year to 21,871RMB per person. That only counts for city residents, but even those not lucky enough to have the right hukou have still seen their annual salary raise: the average income for city dwellers is 15,051 RMB, which is 4.4% higher than last year. We've got some ideas, but what do you think all that extra pocket cash is being spent on?
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