Results tagged “hongkoudistrict”

• Ugh, you thought shanghai weather was hot already? Apparently its supposed to have entered the hottest part of summer just yesterday. Also, there will be thunderstorms. Fun. [Shanghai Daily]
• Paul French decries the destruction of old buildings in Hongkou thanks to the World Expo. Sigh, not everybody can have the semi-fabulous fate of Taikang Lu and Xintiandi we guess. [China Rhyming]
• On the upside, 13 of the city's parks are going to be upgraded this year (most likely for the same reason old buildings are being destroyed). On the list are Changfeng Park, Shanghai Botanical Garden and Shanghai Zoo. [Shanghai Daily]

It's good to know the good members of the Shanghai police force are rolling up their sleeves and hitting the mean streets in an effort to protect us from all the ills of modern China ... like shops that sell bubble tea. From the Associated Press:

Our brothers and sisters at Londonist breathed a huge sigh of relief yesterday — they no longer have to redesign their logo. They will remain, for the foreseeable future, the city with the biggest ferris wheel. Pop open the champagne, guys! They have Shanghai to thank. Our idiot city planners have decided to scrap plans to build a "spinning giant":

That's the way it was back in the 1930s and 40s. They even had a board game to that effect -- it was called "Shanghai Millionaire" (pictured). We learned about this Monopoly clone via the weekly newsletter of market intelligence firm Access Asia. You can read the current newsletter here, but be warned that it will switch to the next newsletter at the end of the week (how about an archive, guys?).

A man was pulled from a taxi and beaten to death with bamboo and wooden sticks after reportedly failing to pay his bill at a restaurant in Hongkou District. This happened in the early hours of April 19. Two of the three suspects were caught 10 minutes after the beating took place. The third attacker is still at large.

It makes sense that drunk driving will be an increasingly big problem in cities like Shanghai. More people are driving. Police rarely pull people over. There are tons of targets on the streets. The whole "face" thing makes people less likely to admit they are too drunk to drive. And finally -- bai jiu will get you shitfaced. Wang Jianwei saw this trend as a potential business opportunity and set up Dongfang Car Service Co. in Hongkou District. His company provides "substitute drivers," who, as the the Shanghai Daily puts it, "take drunks and their cars home." One problem: In the first two his company has been in operation, only one person has used the service. He's already thinking about shutting it down.

A stunt man playing the role of a man jumping to his death in the Huangpu River nailed the scene yesterday -- right down to the dying part. Police would not provide the man's name, only saying that the man was in his 50s ... and that he was dead. The accident occured near Huishan Dock on the north end of The Bund in Hongkou District shortly after 4 pm during filming of a new television show called Yuhuo Fenghuang (Phoenix in Flames) helmed by prolific Hong Kong director Wong Jing (pictured) -- responsible for Lord of the Wu Tang, Naked Killer and many, many movies with the word "Gambler" in the title.