Results tagged “minhang”

• The WSJ has a summary of the pajama controversy in the wake of Expo city "improvements". Our take: Who cares? Let Shanghai people wear their damn pajamas. It'll finally lend some authenticity to this whole show already. [WSJ]
• Oh joy of joys! The Haunted House of Suzhou Creek: Shanghai Nightmare is staying open for 8 days past Halloween. In case you wanted to extend the fun. [ChinaTravel]
• Adam Minter's had quite a week. First he ran into one of the most honestly named Shanghai restaurants we've ever seen pictures of: Hong Kong Gimmick. [Shanghai Scrap]

Months after a building in Minhang literally fell over during construction, the infamous complex has finally been given safety certification by government officials. Of course, living in a newly constructed complex that's already seen a building fall down doesn't inspire much confidence, but it hasn't seemed to deter would-be residents: many of the people who bought flats in the collapsed building decided to take unoccupied flats in the building next door, even though there's a chance of structural damage from the accident. Then again, after a building falls down, you would imagine government inspectors would really inspect the complex. We're just sad we missed the tour.

As shameful PR fiascoes tend to do here, the collapse of a Minhang apartment building has now spawned a new set of regulations, to be implemented on October 1. These new construction rules will focus on safety and compel developers to check on the structural integrity, appearance, function and overall quality of apartments they build, according to Xinhua. Homeowners can refuse to pay for units that don't produce a certificate guaranteeing the quality of their apartments and authorities are allowed to hand out fines and create fault records for uncooperative developers. But people are already finding fault with the new rules - namely with the fact that developers are the ones in charge of policing themselves. As one real estate lawyer said, "How can people be their own judges? It is obviously problematic for developers to conduct quality checks on buildings that they constructed... Supervisors cannot be credible either because they are paid by the developers. The government should find an independent third-party."

• Should You Look For Work In China? [Forbes] "The New York Times recently ran an article about young Americans flocking to China for job opportunities because job prospects are so bleak in the U.S. The article made it sound as if it's easy to find a good job there even if you don't speak Mandarin or know much about Chinese culture. Is it really that easy? The answer quite simply is no."
• Lead poisoning sickens 600 kids in China [Salon] "The number of children sickened from lead poisoning has risen to more than 600 in a northern Chinese province where authorities shut a smelter earlier this week thought to have caused the contamination, state media reported. More than 80 percent of the 731 children living in the two villages near the Dongling Lead and Zinc Smelting Co. in Shaanxi province have tested positive for lead poisoning, nearly double the number reported earlier this week."
• InMusic Festival review - checkit! [China Music Radar] "In China, most events of this scale are announced and then never happen. We expected this would be the same, particularly given that InMusic can barely publish a monthly magazine, no matter organize a multi-day, multi-stage festival with international caliber acts. Yet, being a supporter of the need for more successful festival events in China we were hopeful. As the days approached it became clear that the festival was actually going forward and so with curious anticipation we secured our tickets, packed our tent and headed out of Beijing…"

2012 could be your special year. Construction began yesterday on metro Line 12, which will connect Minhang district with northern Pudong, passing through Xuhui, Luwan, Jing'an, Zhabei, Hongkou and Yangpu along the way. Most eye-popping line: "Nineteen stations on Line 12 will connect with 16 other Metro lines." Line 19 (still in planning stage) being one of them. It doesn't seem too long ago that there were only two metro lines and there would be a mad dash for open seats at Shanghai Railway Station, because that is where Line 1 began. It doesn't seem too long ago, because it wasn't. By 2012, Shanghai is supposed to have 13 metro lines covering 500 kilometers. [Shanghai Daily]

Despite getting docked 10 points by Xinhua (the state-run news agency is reporting a score of 79-68), the U.S. Olympic basketball team cruised past Russia in the team's first defensive struggle leading up to the Beijing Games. Kobe Bryant led the U.S. with 19 points, much to the delight of the crowd at Qizhong Tennis Center in Pudong. The AP reports: "The sellout crowd of 14,523 at this arena built for tennis clearly favored the U.S. team, and Bryant clearly was the fans' favorite. Besides the familiar 'MVP!' chants, fans booed when he was called for an offensive foul in the second quarter, and generally oohed and aahed whenever he squared up to take a shot." Team USA plays Australia at 8 pm on Tuesday, also at Qizhong. Tickets appear to be available, starting at RMB 500 a pop.