Results tagged “shanghaiexpo”

Twenty four provinces and municipalities of China unveiled their plans for the Expo at a meeting yesterday. Now we're sure that each province is going to try and outdo each other, but Shaanxi seems to have already taken the cake: they're building imperial robots!

We've talked about some of the sillier commercials we've seen on Chinese television, but every now and then, one comes along that actually wows us. This one, by CCTV, is pretty stunning and hopefully will set the bar for tv ads to come. A dollop of ink is dropped into water and transforms into various Chinese painting staples, before moving on to some of the country's achievements and a shot of the Shanghai skyline in watercolor. Cool!

We're hearing rumors that Shanghai's premier street of sleaze may have finally gotten the red stamp. A tipster rode by Tongren Lu earlier today and found that a big Expo wall had been put up in front of it. Simple renovations or did the Jing'an authorities decide that ladies of the night weren't what they wanted the city to sling - even if it's always been a big hit with the foreigners? UPDATE: We went to check it out ourselves last night. It seems that the strip is still alive and well - the Expo work is happening to the building next to it.

Remember that People's Archive photo competition being hosted by the Shanghai Corporate Pavilion that we told you about way back when? If you submitted something, you might want to check to see if your photo has won.

What's black, crude, and older than even China? Oil! Everyone's favorite spoil of war has a glitzy new pavilion inspired by Beijing's water cube, and funded by China National Petroleum Corp, China Petrochemical Corp and China National Offshore Oil Corp. Highlighting the history, functions, and even odors of the natural resource, the "Oil Cube" is sure to be a major attraction for tourists from oil rich and poor countries alike.

Shanghai art-punk band Top Floor Circus (顶楼马戏团) is out filming a new MV for a song that ought to hit close to home. Called "Shanghai Welcomes You" (上海欢迎你), it's an alternative Expo anthem and a parody of Beijing's Olympic theme 上海欢迎你. Shanghaiist contributor Jake Newby translated some of the lyrics on his new music blog (which, by the way, also features more about what Top Floor Circus is up to in the city):

Since this news is coming from an official, take it how you will, but apparently the Shanghai World Expo is supposed to break even or even make a profit, despite costing twice as much as the Beijing Olympics. The total budget for the Expo is 28.6 billion RMB, which includes 18 billion RMB for construction and 10.6 billion for five months of running costs. The city expects to recuperate those costs through construction bonds, ticket income and sponsorships, as well as some re-exploitation of Expo land after the event (some of which will turn into low income housing). Though even if it didn't break even, the Expo would be totally worth it, Shanghai party chief Yu Zhengsheng said. "Shanghai can take a big step to settle the traffic problems of local people by holding the Expo," thanks to the 420 km of new metro track it will have installed by next April. Source: Shanghai Daily

"China has surpassed the United States to become the world's largest Internet market by number of users, a research firm said on Thursday."

Have you got an opinion? Shanghaiist has started publishing opinion pieces from readers on selected weekends, so if you feel like you've got something to get off your chest, email it to us at info AT shanghaiist DOT com and if we like it, we will publish it under this column.

We are all for this whole harmonious society thing, but when someone sent us this link on popular Chinese message board Tianya today, we couldn’t help wonder ... just what exactly is harmonious these days. We didn’t look at the images posted in the thread (we warn you, don't do it if you don't want nightmares), but they were screen captures from a video uploaded to tudou.com on March 25 (after we protested, the site deleted the video today, but you can still see a small captured image on the uploader's profile.) This user, named "fenluodeiren" posted a video named "黑白双杀" (or "killing white and black"), which basically is about how four guys, allegedly from Hunan, skinned one black and one white cat while they were ALIVE!

Heading near the Shanghai Expo site today? Might want to hold your breath. This from the International Herald Tribune, originally by way of AP and Xinhua:

There's a definitely a buzz for fans of Chinese cinema with the release of Jia Zhangke's new film Still Life 《三峡好人》. In Shanghai and probably the rest of China, the film's theatrical release comes on December 14, the same day that Zhang Yimou's new film Curse of the Golden Flower. And while from the standpoint of the box office returns, it seems pretty clear who the winner will be, Jia doesn't at all seem flustered by the lackluster box office performance that his film has seen in the limited screenings that have happened over the last few weeks.

The World Expo Shanghai is almost here! Yes, that's what we'll be saying in December 2009. Until then, we are relying on titbits of information fed to us by the Mayor of Shanghai.

City Government approved the detailed construction plan for Shanghai Expo

Continue reading "1641 days to go ..."