This piece was first published in the Sizzling Summer Reading (#10) issue on May 24th, 2007.
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Technorati Tags: 2007, blogging, China, cityweekend, column, theblogger, writing, 中国
This piece was first published in the Gobi or Bust (#9) issue on May 10th, 2007.
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This piece was first published in the MIDI Music Festival (#8) issue on April 19th, 2007.
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This piece was first published in the Hip-Hop Nation (#7) issue on April 5th, 2007.
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Technorati Tags: 2007, blogging, China, cityweekend, column, theblogger, writing, 中国
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There is really no more to say. This incredulous story from The SMH.
A Chinese woman survived a fall from a sixth-floor balcony after she landed on a large pile of excrement dug up by workers clearing a septic tank, state media said.The unnamed woman was stretching to hang washing when she lost her balance and fell from the balcony at her home in the southern city of Nanjing yesterday, the semi-official China News Service quoted a local newspaper as saying.
The woman suffered only minor injuries after the 20cm heap cushioned her fall, the agency said.
Workers had been dredging the tank after complaints by local residents, it said.
Picture taken from On Smith's Comicsblog.
Technorati Tags: 2007, blogging, China, april, Shanghai, shanghaiist, 上海, 中国
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These days, Shanghaiist is rarely surprised about anything that happens in China. However, we did think that this news story did come from a little out of left-field. A Henan-based investor group is constructing a 21-kilometre (13 mile) long metal Chinese dragon as a tourist attraction. The dragon's body forms a nine-metre (27-foot) high wall running along a ridge-line, with the dragon's head rising 10-metres (30-feet) above the surrounding land. This project plans to cover the metal structure in 5.6 million pieces of white marble and gilded bronze to form the dragon's scales which Xinhua reports should be "symbolic of the country's 56 ethnic groups". The dragon construction is planned to finished by 2009 to mark the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China. The investor group states that advertising space on the giant serpent also will be sold and tourists can pay to have their names and other messages inscribed on the walls of galleries located inside.
All of this sounds super-tacky to this little Shanghaiist.
So where is this monster located? In the Shizu Mountain National Forest Park, just outside the Henan capital, Zhengzhou. National Forest Park... hmm.
Not surprisingly, there is a little controversy. The (forever-blocked) BBC News reported that there are moves to stop this incredulous construction situated on top of the Shizu Mountain National Forest Park due to environmental concerns. Here's an excerpt of their story.
The Henan Environmental Protection Agency says it has sent a team to investigate the project that started without the necessary environmental assessments, Xinhua news agency reported."If the project fails our assessment, we will order it be stopped or the demolition of the completed part," an unidentified official with the administration was quoted as saying.
An online survey showed more than 90% of respondents disapproved of the dragon, Xinhua said.
"The planned dragon is like an expressway which will damage vegetation, affect the landscape and destroy the local ecological system," Wu Mingzuo, director of Henan Ecology Society, was quoted as saying.
"Shizu mountain is a symbol of Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor, who is considered the earliest ancestor of China," the Shanghai Daily quoted Dai Songcheng, director of the Henan institute of culture, as saying.
"Such an immense structure on the mountain top is disrespectful to Huangdi."
Shanghaiist also believes this is a little disrespectful to the concept of a National Forest Park as well. However, there is the suggestion that the dragon structure could help minimise the impact of sand storms on the nearby capital. USA Today's Weather blogger had this to say about the concept.
The weather connection is that the 13-mile long dragon sculpture could help protect the city from the tremendous sandstorms that blow in from the north each spring. Located south-east of the Gobi Desert, the city of Zhengzhou is apparently quite vulnerable to sandstorms. Although the sculpture doesn't seem that tall in the photo, it may very will be high enough to protect the city. Sandstorms rarely rise more than 50 feet above the ground, in contrast to duststorms, which can rise much higher in the atmosphere.
Henan's capital Zhengzhou sounds more and more like a bit of a wacky place to hang out in. Apart from building giant dragon sand breaks, the fun-loving residents of Zhengzhou have been up to quite a number of activities recently like giant face sculpture competitions and organising baijiu-influenced nude runs for the sake of the environment. Oh, then there's the odd student hullabaloo, and don't try and be a HIV/AIDS activist there either, you might embarrass someone.
Technorati Tags: 2007, blogging, China, march, Shanghai, shanghaiist, 上海, 中国
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Chinese news portal CHINA.ORG.CN reported today that the controversial construction of a giant dragon inside Shizhu Mountain National Forest Park was halted by local government.
The local authorities of Xinzheng delivered a written statement to Xinhua which simply said, "We attached great importance to the project after the media reports. The departments of land, environmental protection, and other bureaus have ordered Zulong Company to halt the project because it does not have official approval."On learning of the local government's decision, Li Shumin, president of Zulong Company, the private developer behind the project, told Xinhua that he was considering filing a lawsuit to retrieve the millions he had invested in the project, although he did not specify who exactly he planned to sue.
With this in mind, check out the prophetic words of journalist and blogger Chris O'Brien.
It is another example of the chaos that reigns far away from Beijing’s influence. Not even the local authorities know what is going on. Apparently, the project was halted for not going through the correct planning procedures back in 2003. Xinhua has reported that the dragon is already under threat as it appears to constitute a serious breach of environmental regulations. The local environmental department has only just managed to get out of the dark:The Zhengzhou environmental protection administration said they had learned of the project through media reports.
And someone is of course lying:
A Henan newspaper quoted an official with Xinzheng City as saying the dragon is a business project and has nothing to do with the government. Zulong Company vice president, Li Xiong, told the media that the dragon project had support from the government.
Meanwhile, China looks like a crazy place to the rest of the world and the politburo has to find an excuse not to attend a 60th People’s Republic of China birthday party in Henan.
Well, at least Henan is looking a little like a crazy place as we speculated yesterday, but when we read Danwei's article this morning our suspicions about Henan were confirmed.
Dai Songcheng, director of the Henan Institute of Culture, is quoted in these reports as saying, "Such an immense structure (Shizhu Mountain Dragon) on the mountaintop is disrespectful to Huangdi." Incidentally, Zhengzhou is also home to the 106-meter high, 200 million-yuan statue of Huangdi and Shennong...A dedication ceremony is scheduled for 18 April (2nd day of the 2nd lunar month).
Shanghaiist is a little puzzled as we thought Australia was the home of The Big things, but it looks as though China is well on its way to usurping that crown.
The Shizhu dragon was to be completed for the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China but now looks as though it could end up as some half-completed stone dragon white elephant.
Also on Shanghaiist
Giant dragon to save city from sand, then accept advertising job
Picture taken from the China.org.cn website.
Technorati Tags: 2007, blogging, China, march, Shanghai, shanghaiist, 上海, 中国
Click here if you want to comment or read comments on the original article. I also took the photos for this story, and these can be viewed on Shanghaiist's Flickr page.
A crane in use at the Boss & Winner construction site buckled this afternoon in Shanghai.
The crane is currently hanging across the top of the roof of the constructed building, and doesn't appear to have been secured in any way. There was no one visible on the construction site when we were there earlier this evening.
It is unknown if there were any fatalities or injuries. There were no ambulances at the scene when we arrived.
The greater part of the section of Jiangsu Road between Yuyuan Road and Yan'an Expressway was closed to pedestrians and traffic. Police and firefighters are on the scene. Also, there appears to be a number of rescue vehicles including another crane setting up on the closed portion of Jiangsu Road opposite the Agricultural Bank of China branch.
Traffic to Jiangsu Road from Changning Road was diverted through local side streets, which also included reversing one-way traffic on Zhenning Road. There were plenty of gawkers. Traffic is still pants around this area. Avoid it if possible.
UPDATE: Shanghai Daily is on the story — and they say the collapse happened in the morning:
Tower crane collapse halts traffic in downtown By Chen Yiqin 2007-3-28THE arm of a tower crane fell from the top of a 28-floor building and is stuck dangling off the side of the building, disrupting morning traffic in Shanghai's downtown Changning District.
The steel wire on the crane's arm snapped around 10am, and the arm crashed into an elevator pillar on the site. The arm was hanging 90 meters above the ground.
The police have cordoned off the area along Jiangsu Road, the section from Yuyuan Road to Xuanhua Road.
Another crane, with a 10-ton lifting capacity, has been sent to the site to remove the broken tower arm. The police said the crane should be fixed later this evening.
No injuries have been reported, but traffic in the area is still backed up.
Technorati Tags: 2007, blogging, China, march, Shanghai, shanghaiist, 上海, 中国
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Here at Shanghaiist, we think the Letters from China blog has been busy carving their own blogging niche by reporting on yet another novelty condom available here in China. Not content with sharing the news that police warrant card and Lei Feng frangers were to be found in China, they have now identified the big bopper — Chairman Mao condoms:
Recently, a sex shop near the Nanyuan Road bus stop in Suzhou has chosen a surprising tactic: it is selling condoms in packages bearing the image of Mao Zedong. The shop even puts those condoms near naked models and fake penis. Many people see it as ergo [parody] and profiteering from Mao Zedong. One wonders whether the disgraced designers and merchants have lost their humanity?
Mao was by some accounts a bit of a root rat, so there appears to be a modicum of defence surrounding the manufacturer's choice of the leading helmsmen for their product.
We hope that novelty condoms like these help to lower the rising incidence of sexually transmitted diseases here in China, namely syphilis and HIV. Want to know why such things are on the rise here? Fear of stigmatisation of STD carriers is reported to be one major problem, as is the neglect of public health concerns. One area we may think is worth investing some money in is sex education, which may go a long way to help clarify some misconceptions about unprotected sex and STDs.
In contrast to the plethora of Mao trinkets available around China, we think this is a much better gift for our friends back home. We also think now the true believers can screw the rest of the population (just like the man pictured on the box used to)!
Also on Shanghaiist
Extra! Extra! Benzo taxis, CCTV condoms and cotton pickers
Done with the eulogy? Bring out the strippers!
Trannies in condom halter tops and anti-theft underwear
We're No. 1! Shanghai kicks ass in condom use
Excuse us while we go burn condoms for our dead relatives
Condoms for some, miniature Chinese flags for others
Tip and picture taken from Letters From China blog.
Technorati Tags: 2007, blogging, China, march, Shanghai, shanghaiist, 上海, 中国
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This morning, Chinese language news portal 163.com had a great scoop, and revealed the future planning for Shanghai and China's Maglev railway system.
Shanghaiist's Chinese ability is sadly limited, but using the new-fangled internet technology we reported on earlier this week, we were able to get the gist of the 163.com article.
The article reveals that the current 30km long section of the Pudong Airport-Longyang Road Maglev line will be extended to eventually form a giant T network. The first stage of the extension is planned to be finished in 2009. Firstly, a 37 kilometre extension will connect the Pudong International Airport to Hongqiao Domestic airport and pass via the World Expo 2010 site. The Maglev will also meet up with the Shanghai South Railway station, and the planned Beijing-Shanghai High Speed Railway station at the Hongqiao Airport. The second, and biggest Maglev extension (104 kilometres) will connect Hangzhou to Shanghai. In total, the whole Maglev network will be approximately 200 kilometres long.
A little further digging around on this announcement revealed that Shanghai blogger Wang Jian Shuo had this morning dug up a rail, metro and maglev route map that outlines how Shanghai's mass public transportation system could potentially develop into between 2008 and 2012. Wang Jian Shuo also linked out to a new site to this little Shanghaiist, the Shanghai Metro Fan bulletin board on which we discovered (care of Google Translation tools) a few, lively discussions on the regarding this recent transportation development.
Of the positives coming out of this announcement, there now might be a convenient way to get into Shanghai (albeit not downtown) from PVG and to connect to the domestic airport in Hongqiao. The connection of the major transportation systems is another plus, which reflects the 'Road to Nowhere' situation of the current Maglev line.
While it is great to get caught up on the gadget and technology hype rollercoaster, Shanghaiist is also aware that these plans come at a cost for local residents. Recently, The Spiegel reported that a group of Shanghai residents have appealed to German Chancellor Angela Markel to stop the extension of the Maglev in Shanghai. This from The Spiegel article:
In a letter quoted in the German newspaper Tagesspiegel, the residents write: "The Transrapid project is curtailing the human rights of Shanghai residents, because the rights to health and existence are being ignored." More than 1,000 inhabitants of the Tianyizou housing development in the Pudong district support the appeal, its authors told the newspaper. They are concerned about their health and security, as the safety distance between the houses and the maglev line extension has been set at only 22.5 meters — much narrower than the current Transrapid track. And the residents claim that there has been little notice or information about compensation given to those who are to be evicted.
This appeal is in light that the German Government together with multinational companies Siemens and ThyssenKrup under the guise of Transrapid International have developed the technology to be utilised in this extension.
Besides health concerns, there is also the displacement of thousands of residents to make room for the physical space required for this system. This from Monsters & Critics website:
A sign saying 'Notice of Demolition and Resettlement' is pasted to building No. 69 at the Plum Garden No. 1 housing development in the Xuhui district. An old man, who declined to give his name, gestured towards a group of his neighbours there and said: 'We're sad that we have to go.'
And this:
Thousands of residents in the districts of Xuhui, Minhang and Pudong have already been told that move they must. Many feel taken by surprise. Expressions of opposition have proliferated on the internet.'But the government has ignored the protests of all the people who live here,' wrote residents of 1111 Shuyung Street in the Minhang district.
Some resident's affected by this announcement have jumped on the net and formed their own protest site.
Let us remember the other impacts a 200 kilometre Maglev network could have as well. At the end of January this year, a high-speed bullet train service between Hangzhou and Shanghai commenced operation, with initial speeds of 160km per hour, following upgrades to tracks in April this year, could have the capability of running at 250km per hour. That is pretty fast, but not as fast as what the Maglev is reputedly able to reach (up to 430 kilometres per hour). The 200km Shanghai-Hangzhou journey is projected to take 26 minutes, but the slower train travelling at half the speed may take around an hour.
According to the railway-technology.com website, the Maglev extension is proposed to cost USD$36 million per kilometre. Yep, you read correctly. The original 163.com article also quotes a similar number, but also mentions that the current 30km long section between Longyang Road and the Pudong Airport cost RMB10 billion (USD$1.2 billion) and two and a half years to complete.
From these figures it appears the remaining 170 kilometres of the Maglev system will cost around RMB56.1 billion (at today's exchange rate, USD$7.25 billion). Even though there exists a need to expand China's rail capacity, Shanghaiist thinks that is an awfully expensive way to save 40 minutes on a train journey and we doubt that this money will be money well-spent.
A few other things to consider. We are sure that a lot of taxi drivers out at Pudong airport won't welcome this news. Residents of tourist-swollen Hangzhou may think this is a blessing or a curse, and we're sure the construction of a hyper-electric powered magnetic railway system will of great joy to China's electricity polluters producers.
This is going to be one interesting story.
Related
Shanghai Metro Fans website
163.com
Wang Jian Shuo's blog entry
Proposed future Metro, Rail & Maglev map of Shanghai, care of Wang Jian Shuo's Flickr photos
Railway Technology - Shanghai to Hangzhou Maglev system
Also on Shanghaiist
More Maglev... less Bund Tourist Tunnel
Witness the power of this fully operational Maglev
Shanghai to Hangzhou in 26 minutes
Hangzhou on my mind
Technorati Tags: 2007, blogging, China, march, Shanghai, shanghaiist, 上海, 中国
