Results tagged “vietnam”

Since we're probably going to be spending more time than we ever thought we would in that Channel One mall (thanks to that Soma indie Chinese summer series... oh, and the realization that there is an H&M that close to where we live), we figured we might as well check out the food court we've been hearing all about. Specifically, its pho place, since Vietnamese is big now and we're still on the lookout for decent pho fare.

Xinhua reports:

More than 1.17 million people have been affected in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region by floods triggered by continuous heavy rain that started on Saturday.

Continue reading "34 dead and 1.17 million people affected in Guangxi's flood of the century"

"Coca-Cola Co plans to seek approval under China's antitrust law for its $2.5 billion bid for top domestic juice maker Huiyuan, the final obstacle to what would be the largest foreign takeover of a local firm."

We know that this sounds like an April fool, but China could be facing a rice shortage. No, seriously. We told you a few days ago about KFC upping their prices; now the cost of the other staple in Shanghaiist's diet, rice, could be facing a hike due to fears over supply. For the moment, the government has frozen the price of rice — as well as that of other goods such as cooking oil — in an effort to curb food costs following their 23% leap in February, but has not ruled out price rises in the near future. They have also announced that farmers will receive increased prices for both rice and wheat as China attempts to avoid the rice production problems currently engulfing some other Asian states.

Shame on the French. Yes, it needs to be said. They left a legacy in Shanghai of some crumbling old buildings—now home to rusty bicycles, stray cats and hanging laundry—but for all their years masquerading and womanizing, they neglected to pass on the basic skills of making baguettes, crepes, pastries and cakes.

It’s cold, it’s wet. It’s the perfect time to catch up with the overseas movie scene. Coincidentally, it’s Oscar season and a whole slew of ‘good’ films are just appearing in the shops here. A widely heralded good year for quality films (2007) has come face to face with the WGA writer’s strike, now into its third month in Hollywood. The Golden Globes were reduced to an hour long press conference announcing the winners. If the strike over future royalty rates on downloaded films isn’t resolved soon then the Oscars are next. The big stars are already resigned to making the most of the British Baftas.

We've been somewhat faithful readers of Foreign Policy for awhile and noticed that they had a couple of articles that either mention or focus on China in their recent issue. Jeff Chang has written an article called It's a Hip-Hop World where he talks about how globalized hip hop has become, and, in this context, mentions Shanghai. More worrisome than a bunch of seventeen-year-olds in baggy pants is information we found in the article on...

Hong Kong Triad T-Shirt Gets Fashion Label in Hot Water [Asiaone.com] The arrest of 18 employees of a Hong Kong lifestyle and retail chain over a controversial new line of T-shirts '14K' bearing the name of a well-known triad gang spurred an apology from the store's founder.Pakistan - Besieged Musharraf plays for time [Asia Times] Having opened a can of worms by declaring a state of emergency, Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf is now in...

A few weeks ago, we introduced a coffee service that delivers Yunnan coffee to your door. Now, Shanghai coffee lovers can get their beans from Vietnam sent to them as well, courtesy of HaoHaoCoffee. We asked founder Matthew Newhook a handful of questions about Vietnamese coffee and his service, and he was kind enough to respond:

One of Shanghai's greatest vocalists will be moving away for good, we are sorry to say. Arlene has been here about as long as your correspondent, over 4 years, and we've worked together a lot. She's a great singer and she'll do well wherever she ends up (first she's going to Dubai to play with jazz pianist Billy Marcus, who used to play in Shanghai at the Portman jazz bar, and then she's moving to Vietnam!). Next Monday, she will be celebrating her time here with a final performance at the JZ Club, and she hopes you all can join her for this festive occasion! It promises to be a lot of fun, as she will also be releasing her first CD that night, which she recorded in Shanghai earlier this year.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick on Monday praised Vietnam as a "tremendous success story" in fighting poverty but said institutional reforms were needed as it seeks middle-income country status.

Despite squandering a two-goal lead, China battled hard to put themselves within touching distance of a place in the second round of the Asian Cup after drawing 2-2 with regional footballing powerhouse Iran last night.

Kaesong, North Korea: The managers of this capitalist enclave in communist North Korea are appealing for the world's support, saying their experiment in free markets can pave the way for regional peace. Kaesong supporters are aiming for the city to emulate Shenzhen, the special economic zone bordering Hong Kong, which kick-started China's economic boom, and say this will narrow the huge economic gap between North and South Korea with the help of foreign support.

Image of Yang Huiyan, now China's richest person, from China Daily.

From The Search Engine Journal we discovered that Baidu won an intellectual copyright infringement case against some major music companies. From Interfax:

Last night, we got a look at the latest entry in Shanghai's sports bar scene -- The Oval -- and while it is still a work in progress (they will be in "soft opening" mode for the next few weeks) the place definitely shows a lot of promise. It's a new (the wood floor still shines) and huge (800 square meters and two levels) space on Dingxi Lu, near Yan'an Xi Lu, about a 15 kuai cab ride from the Plaza 66 part of town. The Oval has 16 flat-screen TVs and a big projection screen, viewable from the balcony and the main floor, is said to be on the way. There's a TV in the men's bathroom, too -- but what we like best are the private booths with flat screens and couches. You can reserve these areas if you are, say, a poor blogger who can't afford your own flat-screen TV and invite friends over to watch, say, the baseball playoffs after you get back from your honeymoon in Thailand.

When a local high school backed out of a trip to our friendly local sex museum, Shanghaiist got all over it. But, we like to think ourselves as -- dare we say it -- “Fair and Balanced”. When there is progress made, we’d tell you about it, too.

• While we're just happy to have any kind of electricity, Shanghai residents can now ask for "clean power."
• China Digital Times blocked?
• Construction on the Shanghai-Beijing high-speed train line may begin this year.

Two days into the Spring Festival and Shanghaiist has already developed “cabin fever”. While most of our friends and colleagues have left for Vietnam, Thailand, London, Sydney and Harbin respectively, we’re having to make do with a week in our apartment, listening to the distant (and not-so-distant) snap, crackle and pop of fireworks, and waiting for the latest cold spell to kick in.

Recently the bird flu has been all the rage, making appearances in such diverse locals as Vietnam, the Ukraine, and a quarantined parrot in England. And, of course, China; specifically Anhui (isn’t that kind of close to Shanghai?). People are scared, and the only known possible vaccine, Tammiflu, has become rarer than a virgin in a hair salon. What is one to do?

Chien-Chi Chang has the distinction of being not only a member of Magnum Photos, widely considered the most prestigious photo agency in the world, but also of being the only the only full member of Chinese ancestry (Chang is from Taiwan, a citizen of the US).

The Shanghai Daily recently ran a story about a privately-owned drug rehab center in the city: