Shanghaiist

Racial profiling at Shanghai's Tomorrow Square?

Kenneth Tan — 2008-07-19T13:24:26+07:00

A guest at Tomorrow Square on People's Square has alerted us to this document entitled "Safety measures for the tenants of Tomorrow Square for the Olympic period" posted in the building. The document starts off quite innocently like this:

Recently, while the security situation has become of great concern both internationally and domestically, anti-China movements have become increasingly bold, with Tibetan and Uyghur separatist groups openly declaring war, proclaiming that they will use violent measures to achieve their purposes. The United Kingdom and the United States have already issued safety warnings to citizens travelling to China. With the 3.14 Tibet Riots, the 3.7 Southern Airlines terrorist act, the 5.5 bus explosion on line 842 in Shanghai, the 7.1 Zhabei police station attack and the appearance of numerous reactionary slogans everywhere, Tomorrow Square needs to tighten up its safety measures since it is a landmark building on People's Square located next to the Municipal Government building. This is to ensure the safety of the building and all its tenants and to prevent any unforeseen circumstances. It is with this in mind that we have established the following "Safety measures for the tenants of Tomorrow Square for the Olympic period" which will be enforced during the Olympic period (July 16th 2008 to October 31st 2008). These measures will be updated in accordance to any extraordinary event occurence or new safety warnings issued by government authorities.

We looked through the rest of the document and found most of the measures to be pretty standard ones like what you should do if you see a suspicious-looking package but the following two did strike us as being unnecessarily, erm, racist:

Whenever anyone that can be identified as "Tibetans", "Xinjiang Uyghurs" and "Qinghai Hualong Hui's" enters the building, please report them to the security department. Security guards will persuade them to leave the building, or follow them till they do so.

During the Olympic period, Tomorrow Square will reduce the number of exits and entrances according to the safety requirements. For now, we have provisionally decided to close the side door next to Starbucks in order to prevent Tibetan street hawkers and unauthorised individuals from entering the building. [Note: The term used to refer to 'unauthorised individuals', "社会闲杂人" could also be understood as "social undesirables" within the context.]

We doubt Tomorrow Square's security department received clearance from their corporate communications department before posting this up. Anyone seen similar "safety measures“ in your building?

Original document put up in Tomorrow Square.
Above: Photo of Tomorrow Square from It's Tony

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Hotel restrictions on foreigners now being enforced?

Wee Ling Soh — 2008-07-19T12:10:48+07:00

Photo by centralasiatraveler

Sometimes you wonder if China will finally make up her mind, flip-flopping over wanting tourists, then keeping them out even if they have got Olympic tickets for security reasons, going even to the extent of driving foreign residents out. But what next for the foreigners who weren't sent home or for the remaining handful of tourists who thanked their lucky stars for having made it into China? Among other things like worrying over where to get their daily intake of greens, the latest problem seems to be if hotels will take them in.

Shanghaiist reader Ryan Howley told us about his experience getting rejected by hotels in Shanhaiguan and Qinhuangdao:

I went to Shanhaiguan (山海关) with my friend last week and we were hoping to find a hotel when we got there. Turns out, only three hotels in the Shanhaiguan area could accept foreign guests (外宾). This is according to many locals and backed up by several visits to different hotels. We were about to eat the extra cost and stay in one of those three... when they asked for our marriage license (I'm a white male, she's Chinese). We'd need two rooms to stay...

Qinhuangdao (秦皇岛) nearby was the same. According to the people we talked to, it is in place during the Olympic time period. Some thought it was the whole country, others thought just Olympic cities, but all said it was in effect for Qinhuangdao and the surrounding cities. (Qinhuangdao is hosting some Olympic football games) We were also told the police regularly checked rooms and would shut down a hotel for the rest of the Olympic period if it was found to violate the order.

Funnily enough, we had a similar experience when we were in Yarkand (莎车), Xinjiang last month where no hotels, motels or guesthouses would take us even though we know for a fact that Yarkand is thousands of kilometres away from any of the Olympic venues, all citing government restrictions “for the safety and comfort of foreign guests” .

In Yarkand, only three hotels were licensed to receive foreigners, and coincidentally they also had the highest room rates in town — RMB 100-200+ per night. Maybe not much in Shanghai's context but definitely a massive dent in the pocket for the budget-conscious backpacker accustomed to RMB 30-50 dorm beds and almost certainly overpriced in sleepy Silk Road towns.

Another hotel in Kuqa (库车) refused us entry, stating a PSB regulation that supposedly says "foreigners are not allowed to stay in dorm rooms with Chinese nationals and must stay in standard rooms", but apart from that, we didn't encounter further hotel restriction issues in all the other Xinjiang towns we were in.

To this end, we didn't manage to locate any relevant legislations online, but as with the recent visa and foreigner registration issues, we suppose the hotel restrictions are not new but they are now enforced more strictly as the Beijing Olympics approach. Anyone else with a similar experience elsewhere in China? Let us know in a comment below.

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Wear your rubbers tonight: Typhoon Kalmaegi is headed our way

Dan Washburn — 2008-07-18T18:32:40+07:00

You have been warned. ("Rubbers" is another term for "galoshes.")

Google's English-language Shanghai map gets major upgrade

Dan Washburn — 2008-07-18T18:10:32+07:00

View Larger Map

Remember when Google's English-language map of Shanghai was, save for some groovy satellite pics, pretty much blank? Remember that? You should. It was like a week ago. Anyway, thanks to a tip on our Contribute Page, we learn that the map has gotten a makeover. To do this, looks like Google has teamed with MapABC, that same firm that does Google's Chinese maps and the same firm City Weekend is experimenting with for English maps on their site (see here).

We haven't used Google's new English map much yet, but on first glance it doesn't seem as feature-rich as Chinese-language maps of Shanghai or Google Maps of cities in the US. The few searches we did on Google's English map of Shanghai didn't work out too well. But it's a promising start, and it's nice to know we aren't being ignored anymore. We hope for more user-friendliness in the future.

China's top 10 golf courses

Maggie Rauch — 2008-07-18T15:50:28+07:00

US-based Golf Digest magazine has released its annual list of what it considers to be the China's top ten golf courses. According to the magazine's editors, if you're looking for China's best courses, forget Shanghai, Beijing or Shenzhen – go west to the laid-back city of Kunming.

Sheshan Golf Club was the only Shanghai course on Golf Digest's list, coming in at third best. Kunming, capital of southwestern China's Yunnan province took three of the top six spots on the list. Here are the results:

1. Spring City Golf & Lake Resort (Lake course), Kunming, Yunnan province

2. Spring City Golf & Lake Resort (Mountain course), Kunming, Yunnan province

3. Sheshan Golf Club, Shanghai

4. Shenzhen Golf Club, Shenzhen, Guangdong province

5. Tiger Beach Golf Links, Haiyang, Shandong province

6. Lakeview Golf Club, Kunming, Yunnan province

7. Jian Lake Golf & Country Club, Shaoxing, Zhejiang province

8. Trans Strait Golf Club, Fuzhou, Fujian province

9. Pine Valley Golf Resort & Country Club (Old course), Beijing

10. Mission Hills Golf Club (Norman course), Shenzhen, Guangdong province

Kunming is home to the top two courses – both at Spring City Golf and Lake Resort. Designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr, Spring City's Lake course was named best in China, beating out Spring City's other championship course, the Jack Nicklaus-designed Mountain course.

Kunming reappears at the number six spot on the list with Lakeview Golf Club, which has been the site of the Yunnan stops of the Omega China Tour as well as the Faldo Series Asia.

Shenzhen is the only other city with multiple courses in Golf Digest's top ten – Shenzhen Golf Club was named number four, while Mission Hills Golf Club's Greg Norman-designed course came in tenth.

For more China sports news, check out China Sports Today.

Image: Spring City Golf & Lake Resort

Report: Beijing bars told to ban black people during Olympics

Shanghaiist — 2008-07-18T15:08:14+07:00

by Dedric Lam

In a couple of weeks Beijing will turn into a party town and Sanlitun is predicted to be the epicenter of the Olympic night events. The South China Morning Post has however reported that the bar owners in the area were asked to refuse service to black patrons. The article reports:

Bar owners near the Workers' Stadium in central Beijing say they have been forced by Public Security Bureau officials to sign pledges agreeing not to let black people enter their premises.
"Uniformed Public Security Bureau officers came into the bar recently and told me not to serve black people or Mongolians," said the co-owner of a western-style bar, who asked not to be named.

We checked twice just to make sure: This story comes from the SCMP and not The Onion ... in 2008 ... as the world awaits the ultra-harmonious "One World, One Dream" Olympics. Did you hear that? That was the sound of our jaw dropping.

But something about this report doesn't gel. Could this possibly be true? Could it possibly be enforced? Given the strong national ties that China has built with African nations in the last two years coupled with the fact that many Olympic athletes (and their families) hail from African descent — not to mention that such a policy would be despicable and horrendous PR for a country looking to improve its image — it sounds like, perhaps, some racist in the Beijing government went out on his own on this one.

We hope strong denials from Beijing are in the works.

Will Kobe Bryant (pictured) be barred from enjoying a celebratory drink in Beijing?

No more spam texts!

Hilary Faxon — 2008-07-18T13:45:25+07:00

Tired of getting harassed via mobile phone? According to China Tech News, it's possible to end your misery today with a visit to wap.12321.cn to download new anti-spam software just launched by MIIT. We can't actually see exactly how this works, but we'll let you readers scope it out and report back.

Watch out guys: China's hacker Barbie army on the rise!

Hilary Faxon — 2008-07-18T13:15:19+07:00

Any kid on the playground knows that if the boys get together and make an exclusive club, sooner or later the girls are going to try to join — or at least beat the guys at their own game. The ageless dynamic is playing itself out right now in the high-profile world of Chinese hacking, a career that brings its more successful members money, power and something akin to super-stardom in the eyes of normal netizens.

The global prominence of the Chinese hacker has risen in the past several years, in part because of alarmist U.S. media reports of guerilla breaches of high-security American government servers, like this one by CNN last March. But the international image of the Chinese super-hacker — a scrawny, nerdy Asian boy crouched over the screen — is quite different from the playful pictures on Xiao Tian's blog. Nineteen-year-old “general” Xiao Tian is the leader of the 2,200-strong Cn Girl Security Team, an all-female hack squad giving the guys a run for their money.

Members of the group have even established their own trainer websites, where aspiring computer-crackers can hone their skills — for a price. Like most else about the burgeoning field, it’s all about capitalism. At least that’s all that can currently be proven, though reports of pay-offs and incentives by the Chinese government have raised international fears of a nationalist cyber-army. Whether the community is more PLA or WOW may be uncertain, but it’s clear that girls are joining, and leading, the ranks.

Photo from nic221

Government response to Weng'an Incident: Redefining crowd control

Thalia Kwok — 2008-07-18T12:28:58+07:00

Local officials are still trying to strike the proper balance between transparency and the traditional Chinese methods of information dissemination (or lack thereof) which we have all become so familiar with — namely, "monitoring," "controlling" and "blocking."

If the government had been open about the details of the "unusual death" of the girl in Weng'an on June 22nd, could it have prevented the destructive mass protests nearly a week later? That is the question asked by Ma Jun of yWeekend, translated here.

Thanks to Chinese citizen reporting online, news of the incident in Weng'an traveled quickly. Here is where the beginning of several breakthroughs in official coverage took place. Instead of simply scrambling to block any and all mention of the incident (although a fair share of that did still take place and Chinese netizens worked up new ways around it), this time around officials made more effective use of what amounts to PR control.

More than a dozen teachers who were familiar with the Internet were selected and transferred from the county schools and they acted systematically and purposefully to dispel rumors and calm people down with comments on the Internet... An official with the emergency handling command center also explained, "Apart from Weng'an county, all other counties and cities in the Southern Guizhou Prefecture assigned 5 Internet commentators each. Each day, they consulted the Xinhua news reports and other recently published information, and then they use a variety of flexible methods to guide Internet discussion."

The second breakthrough in methodology came when just one day after the mass protest took place, it was covered by Xinhua news. Compare this to the past where several days would pass in complete silence while officials assessed the situation before issuing a formal statement. Finally, local officials arranged for outside media to interview principals involved to help dispel rumors and calm the angry citizens. Granted, the interviews took place with officials looking over their shoulders.

Even local Chinese reporters like Ma Jun and Wang Weibo of China News Weekly are not immune to receiving the run-around and dealing with "filtered" information. So while officials may be experimenting with loosening their hold on the media leash, it is evidently still too early to let go entirely.

Photo from Sohu News

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Yao Ming back in action for China

Maggie Rauch — 2008-07-18T12:28:34+07:00

Yao Ming made his return to competition Thursday night, in China's Stankovic Cup game against Serbia, played in Hangzhou. Yao, recovering from a stress fracture in his foot, did not start and played only about 12 minutes. He scored 11 points in his first pre-Olympic tuneup, and China won 96-72. Yao shot 7-of-10 from the free throw line and grabbed four rebounds.

Center Wang Zhizhi was China's top scorer with 18 points. The first Chinese player to play in the NBA, Wang's opportunities will likely dwindle once Yao returns to full strength, forcing him to come off the bench. Yi Jianlian was the team's third leading scorer with 14.

For more Yao and China sports news, check out China Sports Today.

Image: Tom Sports

Our dreams of A Tribe Called Quest playing Shanghai crushed

Dan Washburn — 2008-07-18T11:05:25+07:00

From the New York Times:

Foreign entertainers who have taken part in activities that China deems a threat to its sovereignty will not be allowed to perform in the country, according to a new list of rules posted Thursday on the Web site of the Ministry of Culture.
The rules say that the background credentials of performers from foreign countries, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan will be scrutinized carefully. “Those who used to take part in activities that harm our nation’s sovereignty are firmly not allowed to perform in China,” the rules say.

They also call for banning performers who promote ethnic hatred or “advocate obscenity or feudalism and superstition.”

Of this story, a friend of ours in the local music biz said: "Nothing new there. This has always been the case — they just didn't police it very well." Very true. We count four artists listed here who have played in Mainland China in recent years. Sadly, Kenny G is not on the list.

Photo of the Day: Wife, I'm still bigger than you!

Kenneth Tan — 2008-07-18T10:30:39+07:00

[h/t to Peijin Chen]

More photos on the Shanghaiist Contribute page. To see your photos on our Contribute page, use Flickr and tag your photos “shanghaiist”. Or you can email your photos to photos@shanghaiist.com and they will automatically appear on our site (and here).

Exclusively for China: The Meizu M8 iClone

Kenneth Tan — 2008-07-18T08:30:55+07:00

From Gizmodo:

Meizu will finally release the iPhone-wannabe M8 in August, according to a cryptic message board post by CEO Jack Wong. The first version will have 128MB RAM and an unspecified amount of storage, and a second version should ship in October with 256MB RAM and 8GB on-board flash. The funniest part? The M8 will cost around $320, or $120 more than the AT&T subsidized 8GB iPhone 3G here in the US of A. Luckily for them (and us) this probably won't see its way outside of China.

Did you hear that people? We feel fortunate to be part of the exclusive crowd to lay our hands on the Meizu M8 phone already.

Previously on Shanghaiist
iPhone, meet Meizu's M8
Meizu booth at CeBIT shut down by German police
An update on the Meizu M8, the 'Chinese iPhone'
Meizu unveils M8's UI, more fodder for Apple lawyers
iWhat? Here is more Meizu Minione news

Coming in October: M1NT Shanghai, an exclusive club for millionaires and billionaires

Kenneth Tan — 2008-07-18T07:32:42+07:00

If you've got lots of cash to spare, this news will get you wet. A new 20,000 square foot private club is going to open in the penthouse floor of the 24-storey Cross Tower on Fuzhou Lu by the Bund which is soon going to be renamed M1NT Tower after the name of the exclusive club also present in Hong Kong and Cannes. What makes this club special is that it is owned by members who are also shareholders — and not just any Tom, Dick or Harry mind you. M1NT Shanghai is going to have a maximum of 500 shareholders and another 2,000 ordinary members who pay annual fees. According to Marc van der Chijs (of Tudou fame) who's considering taking up membership, M1NT boasts of 7 metre high ceilings, an unobstructed 360 degree view of the city, and a 17-metre long hammerhead shark fish tank (okay, that lucky shark is not going to get killed for its fins). Hopping over to M1NT's website, we found that CNN calls it "the exclusive cocktail club that caters to jet-set billionaires", while Glamour magazine calls it a place where you can "make money while you party". We still don't know how much entry to the club will set you back, but clearly this ain't the place where you'll find Shanghaiist hanging out. For those of you interested in becoming a shareholder, get in touch with them here and you could be part of Marc's party posse real soon.

"Illegal petitioning" forbidden in Jianghua

Adrienne Wong — 2008-07-18T05:20:02+07:00

The China Digital Times leads us to a story in Jianghua, in Hunan Province, where local party officials are hanging signs throughout the city claiming that some forms of petitioning the government are illegal. The signs declare, "If you petition illegally, the penalty is imprisonment," or "Attack those who don’t petition legally," or “Wage a war for standard, orderly petitioning." The Digital Times suggests that this is the local government's response to a central government order: "keep track of key public complaint cases until they are solved." Given the ambiguous nature of the central government's edict, it's no surprise that the signs in Jianghua are equally vague. As the AP reports,

The latest order to resolve conflicts made no mention of specific instructions on how to do so — and appeared to follow an all too common trend whereby the government strives to appear responsive without exposing the party to direct criticism or making officials more accountable to the public.

Shanghai's online shoppers... big spenders

Hilary Faxon — 2008-07-18T01:55:03+07:00

According to a report released by China Internet Network Information Center, online shopping expenditures in the first half of 2008 total 16.2 billion RMB, with Shanghai leading the way in per capita consumption. Looks like China's netizens are doing more than just stirring up trouble.

Beijing nail house attracts attention

Adrienne Wong — 2008-07-18T01:06:57+07:00

A Beijing family is refusing to vacate their home despite a court order to throw them out. The Yu family has been living in the same house (located on Di’anmennei Street, a main road in Beijing) for 60 years, selling roast chestnuts and other snacks to passerby. When they were ordered to move out by last Sunday in an effort to "clean up" the neighborhood before the Games, the family defied the order and have been maintaining a campaign against their removal ever since. The Yu home is plastered with images of Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao, with Communist Party and national flags flying high above its roof. They hope that Chinese leaders will be able to help them resolve this issue. "If they knew about this problem, they would look after us. They would care and sympathise with us," Ms. Yu, one of 14 family members living in the house, told BBC. The Yus say that the 340,000 yuan compensation offered to them is not enough. "In Beijing you can't even buy something the size of a toilet for that," Ms. Yu said.

The story of nail houses (homes whose residents refuse to move, leaving their homes sticking out like a nail) in Chinese cities is not uncommon, with the battle over a home in Chongqing last year making headlines. But with China under the world's scrutiny less than a month before the Games, Beijing officials acknowledge they want to resolve the issue without being too heavy-handed. "Our principle is to put people first," said Meng Qingli, a local official.

Portraits of China

Wee Ling Soh — 2008-07-17T19:07:03+07:00

Take a little time to check out an interesting series on the ordinary man and woman in China (plus a few other non-commoner types including tycoons and an internationally-renowned avant-garde artist) by Swiss photographers Mathias Braschler and Monika Fischer. Commissioned by The Guardian, the duo spent six months on the road, traveling 20,000 miles to 31 provinces across China. Navigate on the interactive map to view portraits by the region, the short description by the side also helps to offer a little more insight on each portrait. Go here for more on the story behind the scenes. [Source]

The report on Chinese obesity... supersized!

Hilary Faxon — 2008-07-17T19:00:43+07:00

We've talked a lot about the growing issue of Chinese obesity in the past few days, and Al-Jazeera seems to agree with us that it's a serious problem. This video (see the second part, after the jump) delves into Beijing's changing culinary culture and how China's booming economy is bringing a corresponding weight jump, with 200 million Chinese reported as obese. From street food to fast food, Al-Jazeera takes a look at why the Chinese are getting so fat. Between this and cancer, looks like they have a lot to worry about.

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Grandpa Hu (胡爷爷) hosts Wenyuan children

Sue Anne Tay — 2008-07-17T18:52:33+07:00

President Hu Jintao recently hosted some very special guests at the Zhongnanhai compound, the Party and government headquarters. A group of young school children from Wenyuan, the epicenter of the earthquake in May, were flown to Beijing for a grand tour of the capital and to meet with none other than Grandpa Hu (胡爷爷).

In this video*, President Hu is seen strolling through the scenic Zhongnanhai grounds with a visiting Russian delegation, and suddenly greeted by jubilant young children running into his arms.

Grandpa Hu told the children how brave they were to endure being trapped under the rubble and how proud he was that they helped each other pull through the ordeal. Study hard, he said, and grow up to be upstanding citizens to serve your village (乡) and country. Can you do that? He asked. YES!!!! The children screamed in response.

President Hu also examined the still visible wounds - bluish bruises and healing scars - the children sustained during the earthquake. Thankfully, none of the inspection degenerated into Putinesque shenanigans.

There is no doubt the visit looked overly orchestrated, as is often the case. Nonetheless, looking at the star struck children beaming from ear to ear, and remembering how vulnerable they must have been a few months ago, melts the cynicism in all of us.

This Beijing visit is only the beginning. The children will be flown to Moscow and hosted by the Russian government for a cultural exchange program. In predictable fashion, with the Russian delegate standing behind him, President Hu told his young comrades to befriend and learn as much from their Russian friends, as part their roles in further enhancing Sino-Russian relations.

Picture perfect, you might say. Better yet, PR perfect.

* Video is only in Chinese, our apologies.

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Friday: DMC China Finals @ Zhijiang Dream Factory

Ryan Pollack — 2008-07-17T18:50:04+07:00

Turntablism, also known as scratching, started as an integral part of hip hop in the 80s and has expanded into numerous other genres. At its basic level, turntablism involves manipulating a record and crossfader to create quick chops, fades, cuts, and stutters in the music. True artists juggle beats back and forth, switching between numerous songs at lightning-fast speed. Not only does it sound amazing, it's also extremely badass to watch a DJ manipulate a record in his own fashion and create an entirely new piece of music on the fly.

The DMC World Championships are the world's premiere showcase of turntablism. Each year, the contest ends with one winner being declared the best turntablist in the world. This Friday, the Zhijiang Dream Factory (芷江梦工场) hosts the China DMC World Championships finals, where 20 DJs from 15 cities (including DJ HBD from Shanghai) fight for the right to represent China in the world finals in September.

Expect nothing less than the most insane turntable trickery you've ever heard in your life, leaving you to wonder how human beings can move their hands so fast and still be in rhythm with the music. Special guests DJ Shortkut (Beat Junkies) and Swift Rock (Vestax World Champion) will be on hand to liven up the party. If that's not enough, use your ticket to get in free to the afterparty at The Shelter, where Shortkut and Swift Rock headline alongside V-Nutz, Fortune, and The Lab crew.

Friday July 18th: "China DMC World Championships Finals" at the Zhijiang Dream Factory, located at Room B 4F, 28 Yuyao Lu, near Haifang Lu, Jing'an. 余姚路28号B座4楼
近海防路. 50 RMB starting at 8 PM. Afterparty starts at The Shelter (5 Yongfu Lu, near Fuxing Xi Lu) at 10:00 PM.

More information:
http://www.dmcdjchamps.com/

Interview: Paulo Magalhães, Founder of Postcrossing.com

Hilary Faxon — 2008-07-17T18:47:11+07:00

Modern Internet connectivity meets old-school snail mail charm in Shanghai resident Paulo Magalhães’s popular website Postcrossing.com, which allows users to send and receive postcards from friendly strangers all around the globe. Founded in July 2005, the site grew wildly popular as fans passed the news by word-of-mouth and now boasts 50,000 users in 182 countries. On the occasion of its third anniversary, Shanghaiist caught up with the Portuguese innovator just as Postcrossing hit its biggest milestone to date — one million postcards exchanged!

Tell us about your website, Postcrossing.com. How did that get started?

The site rests on a simple idea: send a postcard and receive one back from a random person, somewhere in the world. It started as a small pet project I drafted on my spare time when I was finishing school. I love to receive mail, especially postcards. Knowing there were more people with the same preference, I decided to find a way that we could all exchange postcards using the internet as the platform for this offline hobby.The result was a project that is used by people from 8 to 80 years old, across many different cultures, religions and backgrounds. A lot of the users become penfriends and keep corresponding with each other. And there's at least one report of a wedding — one for an Aussie guy and a Finish girl who met through Postcrossing.

We’re sure you’ve sent and received a ton of postcards yourself —what have been your favorites?

I welcome pretty much any type of postcard. I especially like smart and funny cards, and I love the ones that reveal some interesting detail about a location I never heard of.

From Shanghai I like to send the night views of the city — the lit-up high rises are quite stunning.

So you guys just hit your 1 million mark recently. What plans do you have for the site next? Any new features in the works?

The next goal is obviously to have 2 million exchanged postcards and to reach all countries! Besides that, there are some ideas cooking to give users more features. One we are pursuing is the ability to create and order custom postcards right on the website with users' own photos.

Sweet! Speaking of site features, we looked at the stats on your site and saw that Finland appears to be the largest nation of postcard senders! How do you explain that?

I don't! Initially I though it was just a nice hobby for their long cold winters, but summer time is just the same. I can only deduce it's in their social background to love to send and receive postcards from all over the world.

Your site allows people to catch a glimpse of places all over the globe. But what about your own travel experience? What first brought you to Shanghai from Portugal?

I have liked to travel and live in different places for some time. Being an European and having lived in the USA for a while, I figured Asia was a sensible choice to explore next. Shanghai couldn't be a bad option to start with.

Living in China provides adventures even in a simple visit to the supermarket. I like that — a position away from the comfort zone, which forces the exploration of something new every day.

What do you most like and dislike about living here?

The pollution is quite a major drawback: looking the horizon can be demotivating. Oh, and the hot and wet summers – I don't think I'll ever get used to them!

But on the bright side, you can find pretty much anything in this city if looking hard enough. And probably at a very decent price.

So you’re sticking in Shanghai for a while longer. Do you have any plans for new ventures in the city?

Currently I'm working for a web development company here in Shanghai. There are plans, but they’re secret!

If you know of any other Shanghai-based dot.coms that we should hear about, drop us an email at info AT shanghaiist DOT com!

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Rewards for whistle-blowers in Chongqing

Shanghaiist — 2008-07-16T19:03:58+07:00

By Dedric Lam

In recent years the government has taken a serious stance into curbing the rampant corruption that is still common place in various levels of the government. Although they have a long way to go we have seen some headway in recent years.

In 2000 when a former Vice-Mayor of Guangxi, and more recently in 2007 when the former Head of Food & Drug Safety were executed for taking bribes, Big Brother has made it clear that it is taking real steps to stamp out corruption although unlike Hong Kong, China still lacks the independence of the ICAC that can investigate corruption without fear of political retribution.

The most recent turn of events demonstrates that different levels of government are taking new steps to catch corrupt officials that might further damage China's international image. In Chongqing 730,000 China Mobile users received an SMS enticing them to dob in an official to collect a reward of between RMB3,000 - RMB500,000. The free Hong Kong newspaper The Standard reports that

Calls have flooded in to a hotline over the past couple of weeks, including several valuable reports of unsavory activities that are being probed.

We don't imagine that we will see a spate of executions in Chongqing but putting some fear into a system that has centuries of history of taking bribes and giving the people a voice can't be all bad.

Tough road for China's beloved women's volleyball

Maggie Rauch — 2008-07-16T15:00:07+07:00

Among the home crowd, women's volleyball (女排）is one of the hottest tickets at these Olympics. With the exception of badminton and table tennis doubles, it is the only team sport where China has any history of Olympic success, winning gold in China's first Olympics in 1984 and again at the most recent Summer Olympics in Athens.

It also boasts one of China's most likable sports stars, the 1.97-meters tall Zhao Ruirui (赵蕊蕊). In addition to being a major presence at the net for China, baby-faced Zhao is fun to watch because she clearly thrives on competition and enjoys the game, which is not commonplace in a country where the state chooses which young athletes play which sports.

Coming off of gold in Athens, and returning top players like Zhao and Feng Kun (冯坤), expectations are high for Chinese women's volleyball in Beijing. But there will be nothing easy about the team's road to any medal, let alone gold.

The FIVB (Federation Internationale de Volleyball) World Grand Prix, which concluded in Yokohama, Japan, over the weekend, showed just how fierce competition is in this sport, with the top six teams all serious medal contenders. China finished in fifth place. Brazil won the tournament with a 5-0 record; Cuba took silver at 4-1; Italy won bronze with a record of 2-3. Also finishing ahead of China was the United States, led by China's 1984 gold medalist Lang Ping (known in the United States as Jenny Lang Ping). The United States beat China in a five-setter in head-to-head competition (25-23, 25-19, 22-25, 21-25 and 17-15). China also lost to Italy, Cuba and Brazil. Its only win came over Japan.

The field for the 2008 Olympics is broken into six-team pools. China's includes Italy, Japan and the United States. China's round robin schedule is as follows:

August 10, 8:00 p.m. v. Bulgaria (Capital Indoor Stadium)
August 12, 8:00 p.m. v. Venezuela (Capital Indoor Stadium)
August 14, 8:00 p.m. v. Japan (Capital Indoor Stadium)
August 16, 10:00 a.m. v. USA (Beijing Institute of Technology)
August 18, 8:00 p.m. v. Italy (Capital Indoor Stadium)

The best of the above games will be the last three. China should definitely be among the top four teams from that pool, which will put them into an eight-team single-elimination playoff, with the losers of the two semifinal matches playing for bronze. Tournament play begins August 20 at Capital Indoor Stadium. The bronze and gold medal matches will be played August 24, also at Capital Indoor Stadium.

Image: Zhaoruirui.com

For more Chinese sports news, check out China Sports Today.

Man detained five months in China's first sexual harrassment case

Kenneth Tan — 2008-07-16T13:58:20+07:00

"The man, a manager surnamed Liu, invited one of his new female staff into his office in southwestern China's Sichuan province to ‘discuss work matters’, but then told her he wanted to be her boyfriend, the Beijing News said, citing a local newspaper. When the woman turned Liu down, he turned off the lights, held her by the neck and kissed her, the report said. ‘Miss Chen screamed out and fought back. Colleagues next door heard her and dialed (the police),’ the newspaper said." [Reuters]

The Beijing-Shanghai rivalry

Hilary Faxon — 2008-07-16T13:45:11+07:00

The Beijing-Shanghai rivalry received some international media attention earlier this week, and the prognosis wasn't good. The
Washington Post writes that while Shanghai has the global industry, business and sophistication stemming from early European colonialism, Beijing has the upper hand, at least in this round. The two reasons: the government and the Olympics. The historic city of emperors, modern capital and center of CCP power, Beijing's status as China's political hub is undeniable. As for the Olympics, for all the hassle (most recently here, here and here) they cause, they bring major opportunities to a city that is preparing to bask in the spotlight. The projected intensity of the global gaze only increases after Monday's announcement that this year's games will, for the first time, be streamed online in real time.

Despite "losing" this bout of the ancient inter-city competition, Shanghai (as always) doesn't lack for confidence: Beijing may be getting all the attention, but Shanghai's got all the attitude.

For all their bravado, Shanghai's 20 million people know it's true: They have missed out. Nevertheless, they cling to the belief that, compared with their own polished and cosmopolitan selves, Beijingers are like country cousins -- warmhearted, perhaps, but bumptious, ill-mannered and prone to drinking too much rice wine in their dusty hutongs.

"Shanghai has always been a more cultured city than Beijing," said Wang Huijiu, 41, who runs a small antiques shop just off the Bund, the avenue running alongside the Huangpu River where European banks built their elegant Asian headquarters before World War II. "The British came here. The French came here. They all left their imprints. And so Shanghai is more open than Beijing. Beijing people are a little crude."

Sore losers? Perhaps. But it's that intensity that can get Shanghai back on top.

Photos from latigi and Marc van der Chijs

'Special inspection measures' at China airports from July 20

Dan Washburn — 2008-07-16T12:35:52+07:00

This just in from a reader tip. Via the easternmiles.com newsletter:

In order to guarantee safety of civil air transport during Beijing Olympic Games period, Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has decided to implement special inspection measures in Beijing Capital Airport, Shanghai Hongqiao and Shanghai Pudong Airport, airports in Qingdao, Tianjin, Shenyang, Qinhuangdao, Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan, Jinan, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Hefei, Changchun, Harbin, Huhehaote, Dalian, and airports inside Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and Tibet Autonomous Region from July 20, 2008.
According to relevant supervisor of CAAC, extra security equipment will be deployed at terminal entrance of the above-mentioned airports; all persons entering the airports will be subject to security check, including those who come to the airport for send-off. Person who carries explosives, inflammable and combustible substances illegally into the airport will be severely punished by relevant departments in accordance with related laws and regulations, and consequences of any delay resulting from such action will be assumed by the law-breaker alone. After completing check-in formalities, passengers will need to pass security check once more before entering isolated departure zone.

The "including those who come to the airport for send-off" part caught our eye. Wonder if that goes for airport pick-ups, too?

China's cancer death rate rises 80 percent in 30 years

Adrienne Wong — 2008-07-16T12:34:38+07:00

Caijing Magazine shares some startling statistics on cancer in China, where smoking, poor diet, water pollution and environmental problems have caused the nation's cancer death rate to rise 80 percent in the past 30 years. The statistics come from an exhaustive survey conducted by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Science and Technology. According to the survey, cancer is now accountable for 25 percent of all urban deaths and 21 percent of all rural deaths. Although the rising cancer death rate has long been attributed to an aging population, this recent survey still found that the nation's lung cancer death rate rose 261 percent after adjusting statistics for age.

Smoking is the biggest contributing factor to cancer death rates in China, which boasts 350 million smokers and another 500 million affected by second-hand smoke. Combined with the air pollution from emission-producing cars, lung cancer is the No. 1 killer in cities, with the World Health Organization estimating that lung cancer in all of China may reach 1 million cases annually by 2025. Other deathly factors are obesity--bad diet is second only to smoking as a cancer cause in China-- and polluted drinking water.

Photo by noamgalai.

Sapphos on the Shanghai subway

James Creegan — 2008-07-16T12:29:51+07:00

Following on from the story of a straight couple's clinch on the metro in January, the latest video doing the Chinese internet rounds is an all-girl couple getting frisky on line 2.

In an attempt to justify this blatant voyeurism, we would say that we find the online reaction (as translated by ChinaSmack), to be the relevant and fairly positive aspect of this story:

"If this happened everyday on Shanghai’s metro, Shanghai’s would no longer have a traffic problem. I think everyone would give up their cars"

"Shanghai Metro, one step ahead of the rest of China."

Photo of the Day: Sleepy Shanghai

Kenneth Tan — 2008-07-16T12:24:12+07:00

Photo by NoLimitsTw

You too can help make fast food faster

Shanghaiist — 2008-07-16T12:20:38+07:00

By Dedric Lam

With the world looking at China leading up to the Games, China continues to make a concerted effort to meet the social standards of Western developed countries. In addition to public service announcements teaching people to be civil to each other, the powers that be (in this case the Jing'an Municipality) have have even gone as far as launching a volunteer guerrilla campaign to bribe people with small gifts to clear their tables at McDonald's and KFC.

The Shanghai Daily reports;

The newspaper found that most KFC and McDonald's customers at outlets along Nanjing Road W. don't take garbage to trash bins before leaving.
However, 40 out of 50 people said they were willing to clear their table before leaving.

What will be next, teaching people that pyjama's are only to be worn in doors?

Original Chinese Article here

Thursday: Old Skool House Music @ The Shelter

Ryan Pollack — 2008-07-16T09:00:16+07:00

Ah, 80's music. No, we don't mean that 80's music. We mean Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy inventing new art forms at dueling nightclubs in Chicago. From their respective perches at The Warehouse and The Music Box, these pioneers of music transformed soul, disco, R&B, and funk into what's now known as house music.

Midway through the 80's, many Chicago DJs and clubgoers started experimenting with creating their own rhythm tracks. DJs would play these homemade tracks, and (in short) this is how house music was born. Hardy was no exception, often getting the hottest acetates and tapes. A roll-call of major Chicago producers including Marshall Jefferson, Larry Heard, Adonis, Phuture's DJ Pierre and Chip E. all debuted their compositions at The Music Box.

On Thursday July 17th, local 4/4 hooligans Void bring these styles of sound to The Shelter. The event features Nat "Pumpmaster" Alexander, Shanghai "Sureshot" Shultra, Santo "Freakin" Shino, and The Aquatic Acid Kid, Zoomin' Fish Zhao. It's a flashback you'll never forget, especially if you've never jacked your body before.

It's a soul thing; a spiritual thing.

Thursday July 17th: "Box" at The Shelter, located at 5 Yongfu Lu near Fuxing Xi Lu (永福路5号，近复兴西路). 10 RMB gets you in the door starting at 10 PM.

BOCOG's list of restricted items

Maggie Rauch — 2008-07-16T00:05:22+07:00

If you're attending any Olympic events, leave your suitcases, long-handled umbrellas and walky-talkies at home. These and several other objects were on the list of forbidden items released yesterday by BOCOG (Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games). The list on BOCOG's Web site is preceded by four repetitive paragraphs iterating the necessity of these regulations and explaining that similar measures were taken at past games.

Things on the list that could cause some confusion include "hard-packed drink and food" (no glass bottles? no lunch boxes?), "unauthorized professional videotaping equipments" (what are the guidelines to determine when a video camera is professional?) and "wireless devices that interfere with the electronic signals of the Olympic Games."

Here is the complete list:

Restricted articles include hard-packed drink and food; fragile articles; musical instruments; carry-on bags, suitcases and handbags which are too big to carry to the seats; flags of countries and regions not participating either in the Beijing Olympic Games or Paralympic Games and other flags over two meters in length or over one meter in width; flag poles of over one meter in length; banners, leaflets, or posters; unauthorized professional videotaping equipments; knives, bats, long-handle umbrellas, long poles, sharp-ended stands for cameras and video cameras, and other objects that may cause harm and injury to people; animals (with the exception of guide dogs); vehicles (except for strollers and wheelchairs); unauthorized walky-talkies, loudspeakers, radios, laser devices or wireless devices that interfere with the electronic signals of the Olympic Games.
The rule deemed the following behavior as inappropriate: smoking at a non-smoking area; crossing over the guardrail; using umbrellas or standing up for a long period of time in the seating area, thus obstructing the field of vision of other spectators; and flash photography.

The rule banned weapons and equipment including guns, ammunition, crossbows, and daggers; fireworks, firecrackers and other flammable materials; corrosive chemicals and radioactive materials.

For more China sports news, check out China Sports Today.

Pencil This In: What's on this week in Shanghai

Adrienne Wong — 2008-07-15T17:50:08+07:00

Tuesday, July 15
After a grueling day at work, head to the new Bulldog for Mojito Tuesdays — free flow mojitos for ladies all night, no cover. Judging from the success of its grand opening on Friday, Bulldog draws a crowd you don't want to miss. 1 Wulumuqi Nan Lu (across the street from the American Consulate)

Wednesday, July 16
Get a taste of Shanghai musical flavor at the Blues Room with a classic Battle of the Bands showdown between locally-based Shanghai bands: Mortal Fools, Joke For Nothing, Hard Queen, Awaken, and Crazy Mushroom. No cover. Starts at 9pm. 146 Tongren Lu, near Nanjing Xi Lu

Thursday, July 17
Arch Cafe is hosting a showing of the Diving Bell and the Butterfly, a French film about a magazine journalist who suffered a stroke which leaves his entire body paralyzed with the exception of his left eye. Watch a fantastic French movie while enjoying Arch's famous burger and fries. Free, starts at 8pm. 439 Wukang Lu, near Huaihai Lu and Xingguo Lu

Friday, July 18
Yuyintang is having a Qipulu summer-trash party with 10RMB beers and 4 DJs — R3, Adept, Yen and Fish. If you can wrestle your way through the crowds at Qipulu to score a hot summer-clearance outfit, Yuyintang will discount your cover to 10RMB. 1731 Yanan Xi Lu, near Kaixuan Lu

Saturday, July 19
SmartShanghai is predicting a huge night at The Shelter this Saturday with its "Plugged In, Amped Up!" show starting at 10pm. DJs from Taiwan, Beijing, Singapore and Shanghai (including Liman and Freaky Squeaker) will play all night. Arriving early is recommended. 5 Yongfu Lu, near Fuxing Xi Lu

Pencil This In is a regular feature on Shanghaiist. Want to post an event or keep up to date with what's going on in Shanghai? Don't wait around. Use Shanghai's Upcoming.org listings. Got the inside word on something coming up? Let us know. Drop Shanghaiist an email at tips[at]shanghaiist.com.

Photo by shadesofgrayden.

China's Olympic full circle

Adrienne Wong — 2008-07-15T15:50:55+07:00

In the wake of political decisions by Western heads of state to attend (U.S. President Bush and French President Sarkozy) or not attend (British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and German Chancellor Angela Merkel) the opening ceremony in Beijing next month, the New York Times's Lynn Zinser reminds us of a political statement that China made to send its team to the Olympics for the first time, twenty-four years ago.

On May 8, 1984, the Soviet Union announced that they were leading a boycott of the Games in Los Angeles, California. The Soviets said the boycott would keep 100 countries away from the '84 Games, and China was at the top of the list. After four days of deliberations with a U.S. envoy, China decided to defy the Soviet Union-led boycott and attend the Games, their first-ever. Peter Ueberroth, the leader of the Los Angeles organizing committee in 1984, believes to this day that China's decision to come "saved the Olympics." Writes Zinser:

As the world prepares for the Beijing Games in August, that moment is all but lost in the history of the Olympics, when the winds shifted and carried the Games away from a political bludgeon in the cold war to the combination of athletic and commercial success they have become since. Ueberroth, now 70 and the chairman of the United States Olympic Committee, will lead the American team into China with a deep sense of gratitude.

Agnes Mura, a U.S. envoy sent to Romania, "said she would watch the Beijing Games with a keen understanding of their significance." As host of this year's Olympic Games, China has come full circle.

Photo by makunmakun.

Amnesty ads stirring up the Chinese internet

Adrienne Wong — 2008-07-15T14:30:24+07:00

Photo courtesy of Danwei.

A new ad campaign for Amnesty International has Chinese Netizens seeing red, according to The Wall Street Journal. The campaign, designed by TBWA Worldwide, features Chinese athletes being tortured by Chinese authorities. It reads at the bottom: "After the Olympic Games, the fight for human rights must go on." WSJ reports bloggers demanding the boycott of all TBWA ads, as well as suggesting that all Chinese employees at TBWA resign from the company. Amnesty International allowed TBWA to run the ads once so that they could be entered in the Cannes competition, where they won a bronze award. According to Blogging for China, Amnesty has now claimed no involvement with the dissemination of the ads, pointing out that its web address was incorrectly listed on the ad (it is Amnesty.org, not Amnesty.com). However, according to Blogging for China's DJ, the organization knew the wrong web address was a minor error.

Ironically, TBWA is also responsible for a different set of ads in China, on behalf of sportswear behemoth Adidas. Those ads feature Chinese athletes supported by crowds of fans, and can be seen here.

Matsuri Food Stadium overwhelms (not the food)

Eric Hu — 2008-07-15T10:00:01+07:00

Jarrett Wrisley first wrote about Matsuri 123 in a post on Shanghaiist earlier this year. We thought we'd check it for ourselves and share our thoughts.

Some of the more indisputable comments about the Hongqiao/Gubei area is that it is a mecca of sorts for great Asian cuisine. The large concentration of expats from neighboring regions have created demand for authentic and high quality Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese fare.

The owners of the Matsuri 123 "Food Stadium" apparently decided to tack themselves in a different direction, eschewing quality and taste for an in-your-face carousel of Japanese selections wrapped up in a garish bundle of kitsch. The restaurant consists of 12 sub-restaurants, each specializing in a different Japanese cooking style (sashimi, udon, yakitori, tempura, etc). We have to give the concept some credit, if not for the curiosity factor that succeeded in drawing us in for weekend brunch, then for the funhouse aspect that the hordes of prepubescents running around the joint clearly loved. We usually like kids, but not when they're on their 5th scoop of green tea ice cream and looking to play bumper cars with the staid adults juggling three bowls of hot, miso soup on their trays. This is clearly a family destination, at least on the weekends, with enough decorative distractions and huge floorspace for parents to let their kids roam dangerously free.

Our point is, be careful when considering Matsuri as your next all-you-can-eat Japanese stop. Mushy tempura, dry tonkatsu, limp nigiri can be found many places in Shanghai, but only choose this purported food stadium if you're in the mood for a carnival. We're not exactly slamming the place; we could see ourselves coming back with less discerning friends, as some of the hamachi sashimi and udon were quite tasty. But for those looking to sit down and divert their attentions to decently cooked and presented all-you-can eat, it's better to head in another direction.

Matsuri 123 - 4/F 951 Hongxu Lu, near Yan'an Lu (虹许路951号4楼, 近延安西路) Phone: 6262-7123, Hours: Mon-Fri 5:30pm-10:30pm, Sat-Sun 11am-2pm, 5:30pm-10:30pm; Price: 128 RMB for lunch, 198 RMB for dinner

Eric Hu is Shanghaiist's Food Editor. Email tips, recommendations, and news and gossip about Shanghai's food scene to food at shanghaiist.com.

Sugar in Xintiandi closes for renovations

Thalia Kwok — 2008-07-15T08:30:58+07:00

Just received notice that Sugar closed for renovations on Sunday, and will remain so until further notice. Here is a note from Aimee Groom, Marketing Director of Sugar:

We thank our loyal customers and partners for their ongoing support and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

The Friday Party series of 7 Deadly Sins events will be on hold during this time, having finished on a high with sin number four and “Sloth”; a successful night of revelry and pajama-clad high jinks.

The Friday Party, Girls Club and all our other regular events and promotions will be back later in the year with a brand new shine and Sugar sparkle… they say that absence makes the heart grow fonder so we look forward to a very happy reunion later in the year!

Sugar on the Bund is still set to open soon at 5 on the Bund, but until then it looks like we will have to find alternate means to satisfy our sweet tooth.

Speed-Dating event hosted by Sugar and ShanghaiExpat.
Video by ChinaOnTV.com

No pirate paradise for Games visitors

Sue Anne Tay — 2008-07-15T06:55:00+07:00

Talk about taking the fun out of a quintessential part of the China experience! Chinese authorities announced that there will be a round-the-clock drive to stamp out pirated movies, music and software in Beijing and other cities hosting Games events. China has for years faced complaints from Western companies and politicians that it does not fight hard enough against piracy. We believe it is not possible to completely eradicate this thriving business but for the period of the Olympics, we know better than to underestimate the will and determination behind an edict passed on down from above. Reuters reports that sweeping checks across Beijing in shops, hotels and sidewalks have already dampened the usually brisk business.

17-year-old Chinese girl beaten and raped; Video on Chinese web

Julien Bertrand — 2008-07-15T06:00:17+07:00

From aujourdhuilachine.com:

The Chinese web is astir with the news of a video showing a 17-year-old girl being repeatedly beaten by a group of girls and raped by four boys. A year after the actual events, a daily Chinese newspaper relates the story.

On July, 3rd, a Mr Xiong contacts the Chinese daily newssite nndaily.com and tells them about the video: "I hope you will look into that." A journalist watches the video, showing a girl being held down by a group of girls. Attached to the pics, a message: "Today I watched 7-minute video clip, apparently put together by students from Kaiping school. The sequence shows a girl undergoing sexual violence..." Among the students, the journalist counts 6 girls and 4 boys, and two of them are naked. They use the Kaiping dialect (Guangdong province). The journalist also spots the school uniform. One may wonder why it took so long for the police to get hold of such a video: apparently, it had been online since January, after being exchanged via cell phones. (Note: Graphic picture after the jump)

The following facts have been reported: the young girl had made some unkind remark to the girls, who found her in an internet bar, dragged her outside, took her clothes off, beat her up, then brought her to a hotel and called up 4 boys. While the boys were raping the victim, the girls held her down. They then proceeded to beat her again, forcing the victim to beat herself and to walk straight.

The 4 boys have since been arrested, as well as some of the girls from the video. As it turned out, some of them have had prior records with the police.

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