Results tagged “shanghaidiaries”

The first sign of trouble came when it took half an hour to get a waiter to take drink orders. To leave a party of twenty-one hanging dry for half an hour is a restaurateuring felony on the order of cockroach croutons. In fact, the actual wait was longer for some people who had arrived considerably before Mrs. Imagethief and I did. If nothing else, get the beer flowing. After some badgering we managed to get the waiter round to take orders. Apparently intimidated by the idea of keeping twenty-one drink orders straight (an admittedly tall task, but one I've seen managed elsewhere), he worked hard to encourage us to stay away from individual orders and simply take pitchers of beer. Most of us were willing to be persuaded on this front, despite some early enthusiasm for the heavily promoted craft beers served at the restaurant.

Continue reading "Imagethief vs Bubba's"

Would you believe that we get emails fairly regularly from people looking for even the most basic information about the China Baseball League? We wrote a story about the pro league back in 2004, and it's a testament to how little English info about the league exists out there that it's still one of most widely read CBL sources on the internet (it helps that Wikipedia linked to it). And so we have people asking us about everything from how they can play in the league to how they can watch a game ... or even if the league exists anymore (and lately that actually has been a pretty good question). Shanghaiist's last post about the CBL came in July 2005. Shortly thereafter the league saw a change at the top — Tom McCarthy, the American who helped found the league, left, and when he did, information about the league in English dried up (look, their English website still thinks it is April 2005). And throughout last season, the Chinese version of the site sat unchanged, as well. (Tianjin beat Guangdong for the title, for those of you still on the edge of your seat.) We think we're going to give the CBL another chance in 2007, however. They've updated and redesigned their website (they even have a countdown to opening day ... which is Friday). And we're really jonesing to watch some baseball action. The MLB season has started, but our satellite TV is down and we've been too lazy/busy to burn or buy a new card and we doubt our internet connection could handle MLB.tv. And while the CBL is a far cry from the big leagues (or even the minor leagues) there's something nice about an afternoon spent at the ballpark. And where is the Shanghai ballpark? Well, the Eagles are back in Pudong's Congbei Stadium, near the intersection of Yunlian Lu (云连路) and Qihe Lu (齐河路) . Here is a map and public transportation directions (in Chinese) courtesy of Baidu. You'll see that it is much easier to hop in a cab. We called up a college student who we met at a game a couple years ago (his English name is Goose) and he hooked us up with the 2007 China Baseball League Schedule, which you can see in English and Chinese by pressing on the "Continue reading ..." link below. Goose also invited Shanghaiist readers to visit his baseball BBS website. So check out the schedule, after the jump, but keep in mind that Shanghai's first home game isn't until April 20. Maybe we'll see you there? If the concessions situation is the same as it was in the past, we should plan on packing our own beer and hot dogs, not to mention peanuts and Cracker Jacks. Also on Shanghaiist
Beijing Tigers could win China baseball crown today
Wild Pitch? Major League Baseball to open China office
Ouch! China clobbered by Japan in World Baseball Classic Related
Basbeall league gets Japanese help (Xinhua)
In search of baseball's Yao Ming (Shanghai Diaries)
MLB invests in China’s baseball growth (Shanghai Diaries)
Take me out to the bangqiu bisai (Shanghai Diaries)
Buy me some peanuts and … soy sauce rice crackers? (Shanghai Diaries) Photo of Goose from danwashburn.com.

We're still feeling a little lazy over here at Shanghaiist headquarters — good thing other bloggers are picking up the slack. John at Sinosplice posted a nice collection of Christmas songs in Chinese.

Shanghaiist decided to have a look at the Annual Adult Care Expo (or "Sexpo" as many call it). Located at the International Exposition center on Xingyi Lu, with a 30 RMB admission fee, the Expo features just about everything related to sex. Much of this was toys -- fancy dildoes and vibrators. As it was last year, there were several exotic toys that take the brain and physical work out of thrusting a piece of plastic into yourself, leaving you to simply lean back and enjoy the ride.

OK, OK, we must confess we didn't actually taste the pulled pork at Bubba's Texas-Style Bar-B-Que & Saloon, which opened last month in Hongqiao -- because they didn't have any. This, as any connoisseur of this countrified cuisine will tell you, is not uncommon. Sometimes barbecue joints will not have everything on their menu available ... because it's not done cooking yet. A pig's butt needs to spend a decent amount of time in the smoker to get nice and tender. Deal with it. (Or, better yet, call ahead if you have a craving for something in particular. That way you can make sure you aren't making a wasted trip out to Shanghai suburbia.)

If you’re Canadian and you’re coming to Shanghai this August, chances are, we know why you’re here.

Further proof that indie rock is this decade's grunge and thanks to its burgeoning popularity and "hipness" is doomed to die a slow, watered down, homogenized death (and will probably lead to another reactionary slew of Britneys and boy bands in about eight years or so): Vogue China has a story about "indie music" in its June 2006 issue.

Having never purchased a real Gucci product, we have no idea whether "hang dry" is mentioned in the product care instructions as what to do after hand washing your handbag with a bar of Omo in the sink outside. We have to assume it is, since we highly doubt any owner of a Gucci handbag would fail to follow the rules, considering how expensive Gucci merchandise is. We couldn't see the labels on the other items hanging on the line -- a windbreaker, some panties and a pair of porn shorts[1] -- but we are assuming they were Gucci, too. As we said, we are not very familiar with Gucci's product line.

We can think of many locations in Shanghai, and certainly China at large, where hand sanitizer dispensers would be quite useful. Plaza 66, where we spotted this one this morning, is not one of them. We've never seen a hand sanitizer dispenser like this before ... anywhere. People tell us that some hospitals in the US have them now, and come to think of it, Plaza 66 does give off a similarly sterile vibe. It is nice to know, however, we can finally browse our Louis Vuitton and Bvlgari bacteria free. The dispensers would probably serve more purpose outside Plaza 66 -- we saw a guy let loose an impressive snot rocket near Cartier yesterday. It's scenes like that that make us wary of shaking hands.

OK, that's a little misleading. This happened in Jinshan District, which might as well be Anhui Province. But still, a buffalo was shot and killed along an expressway in the outskirts of Shanghai on Thursday. They couldn't get the obviously lost (and huge ... 500 kg) animal off the road, and then, reportedly, the buffalo started to charge police cars. They ended up calling in a sharpshooter. It's a really sad story:

China has lifted its ban on beef imported from the United States ... and that is perfect timing, because right now Shanghaiist doesn't feel like ever eating China-raised meat again. Why? We read this story, translated from the Chinese Broadcast News Network (Zhong Guang Xinwen Wang):

We suppose no kind of intellectual property theft should surprise us anymore, but we must admit to being a little taken aback when we discovered that a Berkeley, California hot dog chain with just six locations had gotten the royal treatment right on People's Square. We learned of this transgression from Slums of Shaolin (blocked in China), a blog about Shanghai. Top Dog, according to a Shanghaiist contributor who did his undergrad work at Cal-Berkeley, is an "East Bay institution." Basically, that means lots of students get drunk or high and eat Top Dog hot dogs late at night (one location is open until 3 am). In Shanghai, across from Fuzhou Lu, we have Mac Dog, and while the silly name is different, the logo is exactly the same. (They all kind of look like Mr. Hanky to us.) If you are still not convinced that Mac Dog is a rip-off of Top Dog, check this out:

Nadnerb, a commenter on our "Center of Shanghai" post from yesterday, pointed out that the trapezoidal building in this Google Maps satellite shot was the old Jingwen Flower Market:

We just noticed a street food that may not be new, but it is new to us. We spotted it last night just outside our neighborhood (we were walking to dinner at Guyi ... fantastic Hunan cuisine) and made a mental note to check it out today. What caught our eye on Weihai Lu near Yan'an was the vertical spit and the man shaving off juicy slices of pork (gyro style) with a long blade. We had not seen this before in Shanghai, but then again we didn't see our first Tujia pizza stand until last weekend.

We headed over to Shuffle Bar for the first time last weekend, and we have to say we were impressed. It's been described as "warehouse-y but clean," and that's about right. The atmosphere is raw enough that you can bring your indie-and-or-punk-rock friends without losing your cred, but it's also the kind of place where if you drop your jacket on the ground you probably won't have to throw it away. (They actually have a coat rack ... rock 'n roll with manners.) Shuffle Bar is one of the only places in this city dedicated to live music, and for that reason it deserves our support. They have shows -- mostly local bands -- nightly. We just hope the location (Xingfu Lu No. 137, 上海市幸福路137号 ... not really close to much of anything) doesn't hurt Shuffle's chances for success. But if Tang Hui could thrive out there, maybe Shuffle can, too.

According to SH magazine's Jarrett Wrisley, there soon may be no reason for Shanghaiist to move back to the States. Why? BBQ, baby!

This Xinmin Evening News story (in Chinese) tells of Mr. Zhang, a labourer from outside of Shanghai, who arrived in our blurry city to find work. He correctly thought it was pretty cool to be a security guard, even if there is an element of risk involved. The recruitment methods of one company caught his eye, which effectively rents out guard dogs to other security companies and guards. If you are an employee of this company, you can earn an extra 200 RMB by simply recommending other people to fill positions as security guards. (Our pal Mr. Zhang earned 600 RMB this way.)

So, Chinese pop star Wang Lee Hom says his new album Heroes of Earth is "chinked-out." We wondered if this phrasing would offend some people. "I don't find 'chink' offensive," one Chinese-American we polled said. "I think it's stupid, but I think Wang Lee Hom is stupid." Curiously, this person did seem to know a lot about Mr. Wang: "He's actually American ... upstate New York, Rochester about ... went to Williams, Berklee School of Music ... has studio in Boston ... born 1976 ... MVP of his high school baseball team ... three years running ... little brother at MIT." We interrupted: "You are reading this from a website, right? Please say you are reading this from a website." He said he wasn't. We got freaked out and ended the conversation there. (But from the image attached to this post we can also assume that Wang also likes to ski ... with 1980s hair and clothing.)

When we first visited Dandong in Liaoning province, our heart kind of went out to the little North Korean kids swimming in the Yalu River. Now we really feel sorry for them. Dandong's Xinjulang Paper Factory has been pumping 12,000 tons of concentrated waste into that river every day. The State Environmental Protection Authority has told the plant to stop production. This is all part of China's effort to publicly shame its worst polluters "amid concerns that the country's environmental problems have become so serious they are undermining economic growth and social stability":

Shooping down pristine white slopes has been a recreational option for Shanghai residents since the Yinqixing Indoor Skiing Resort opened back in 2002, but it has taken all that time for Shanghaiist to actually get its all-weather, gore-tex gloves on (Xiangyang Market – 50 kuai) and hit the 45m-high slopes that are apparently "covered in snow of a depth up to 50cm". Well Shanghaiist got a very close look at those slopes, and they are indeed covered in a whole mound of sugary, quicksand-esque snow the likes of which we have never seen in our lives before. It quickly became apparent that one’s board or skis served as the proverbial ladder across a thinly-iced pond, but no need to panic, so long as you’re over one and a half feet tall.

Shanghai Star -- which looks seriously f*cked on both of our browsers -- has a story about the uncertain future faced by two of Shanghai's old Russian Orthodox churches. The Mission Church, at 55 Xinle Lu, used to house a bar/club called The Dome, but has sat empty since that place closed nearly two years ago. And then there is St. Nicholas Military Church, 18 Gaolan Lu. Its latest tenants, restaurant/bars Ashanti Dome and Boca, were kicked out in October. (There were rumors of Boca opening elsewhere, but we haven't heard anything about that recently.)

Fireworks may be dangerous and all, but they sure do make for a wild, wild night. Here's hoping you all are recovering nicely and have a plan to enjoy today's unusually excellent weather. Some Chinese New Year links:

Shanghaiist received the same email press release about the new book Billions: Selling to the New Chinese Consumer that Danwei and China Herald did. The book is written by Tom Doctoroff, Greater China CEO of the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency. And the press release includes a list -- “Twelve Facts About the Confucian Consumer” -- that was "compiled by JWT to coincide with" the release of the book. Are all Chinese consumers Confucian consumers (whatever that means)? Are all Chinese consumers the same? Of course not. But they, obviously, are different than your average Western consumer, and we believe Doctoroff is trying to explain to his (mostly Western) audience just how they are different. We are publishing JWT's list below. As Danwei said, some of the items "ring true." Others can, and should be, contested. We'd love to hear what you have to say about this list, especially our Chinese readers:

... drum roll please:

Since Shanghaiist kicked off in July this year, we've inflicted opinion after opinion on you, our faithful readership. Here comes a whole bunch more.

Soon, all of our living rooms will look the same. Our hot-dog-shilling friends at IKEA are planning a China takeover. They are opening a new Asia distribution center in Shanghai and plan to have 10 China stores within the next three years. IKEA -- famous for "affordable solutions for better living" -- already has stores in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. New stores are planned for Chengdu, Shenzhen and Nanjing. In 2006, IKEA plans to open its first two outlets in Japan, as well.

That's a phrase all men yearn to hear. Wish granted! ... thanks to some brilliant minds in -- you guessed it -- Guangdong province. According to a very vague Xinhua photo caption, a condom-in-a-can (or, if you prefer, it's sexed-up official name: "Nanometer-silver Cryptomorphic Condom") has been approved by Guangdong's "drug administration," and somehow that means it can now be sold throughout China. The man pictured is the proud owner of a spray condom in Hubei province's Yichang.

Watch out! The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) is moving toward "real professionaliztion." Their grand scheme, called the "Polarstar Project," launches this Sunday with the start of the 2005-2006 season, the league's tenth year of existence.

The summer of 2005 just wasn't the same in Shanghai. Neither was the spring. Nor the fall. Why? No Cotton's. Cotton's, one of Shanghaiist's favorite bars -- thanks in large part to its great outdoor patio -- was forced to close by an unscrupulous landowner at the beginning of this year. (More on why you should boycott Shane's here and here.)

The Ferrari Store on Madang Lu is rarely crowded. In fact, it is usually empty, save for its red-uniformed staff. And this makes sense to Shanghaiist -- why would anyone pay $30 for a baby bib? But yesterday was a different story. There were cars on the patio, and a couple hundred people crowding around them. This can mean one of two things: either a taxi hit another bicyclist ... or there's an F1 race on this weekend. While we're fairly certain a taxi hit a bicyclist somewhere in Shanghai yesterday (likely several places) there is not a website to confirm it, and there are several websites about the 2005 China Grand Prix.