I Love China

That’s all folks. The Shanghai World Expo still has a couple of months to run before it ends on 31st October but as of now, they’re not selling any more standard day and 3-day tickets. As far as I can gather, it’s because there are still many people who have tickets but have not yet used them and the organisers are concerned they might all just show up at the same time!

WoAi still has a couple of tickets and will therefore be visiting before the Expo ends. I got an email from the British consulate informing me that I can visit the UK pavilion without lining up for 4 hours. Although I’ve heard there’s not much to see inside, the only way to get a decent photograph of the exterior is by standing in the open public space that is within the pavilion area that is surrounded by a wall. So I plan to pick a nice day and then go snap a few shots as well as visiting a few more places I didn’t manage to see on my first visit back in May.

VUE bar at Hyatt on The Bund has for many years been without doubt the bar with the best view of Shanghai by night. In my humble opinion, Flair at the Ritz Carlton in Pudong has inherited that title.

Last night I braved wind and rain from typhoon Kompasu and popped in for a few cocktails with 3 lady friends. As with almost EVERY 5 star hotel in Shanghai, the place itself is spectacular while service is still years behind. When I announced to the hostess I needed a table for 4, she just shook her head apologetically and said they were full.

Back in the days when I was still wet behind the ears, I would have turned around and went somewhere else, but 11 years in China has hardened me. I walked straight passed the hostess and found a place by the bar and invited the ladies to sit down. Within minutes, a table for four had left, leaving the table vacant for us and we moved over before proceeding to cocktails.

Why the hostess seemed determined to turn us away I don’t know. Any competent hostess would have offered us a place at the bar and then offered to seat us when a table became available. It seems the default response is always to convince the customer to go away. But anyway, I won’t let that spoil what was otherwise a lovely evening.

During the Expo, lights on the Bund and Pearl Tower go out at 11.30pm, which is already better than the usual time of 10pm, but it was sad to be plunged in to darkness so abruptly, so I’d advise you to go earlier and enjoy the lights with your drinks.

Drinks are standard 5 star hotel prices, so you’re looking at around 100 rmb per drink with service and it’s worth noting they open at 5pm so don’t show up at lunch time hoping to get a daytime view.

58/F, Ritz-Carlton Pudong,
8 Shiji Da Dao,
near Lujiazui Huan Lu
(right across the street from the Shangri-La Hotel)
Tel : 2020 1778

The whole city is awash with talk about the typhoon that’s supposed to pass close to Shanghai today. Even my taxi driver this morning kept looking at the sky with a puzzled look on his face as he looked in to the perfect blue skies. I’m afraid I’m quite cynical because we rarely get typhoons in Shanghai and the last “big” one that was a huge news story here ended up being nothing more than some light drizzle and a pleasant breeze.

But hey, better safe than sorry, so take all your plants (and underpants) off the balcony and lock up your children (schools and kindergartens are apparently closed today).

Don’t cancel your evening dates though. The typhoon is predicted to be closest to Shanghai around noon, so whatever happens at lunch time is about as bad as it’ll get. I’ll be out with not one, not two but three gorgeous Shanghainese ladies this evening, so I don’t care if I have to roll up my trouser legs or swim through flooded streets in my business suit, I’m still going out!

I saw this the other day in a shop. I like it because Tommy paws at things in exactly the same way as this cat.

When I lived in London we used to complain about the traffic. You’d often hear someone complain they’d been stuck in traffic for an hour. In China of course, all the numbers are bigger – bigger GDP, bigger number of mobile phone users, bigger population, bigger number of cities and bigger traffic jams. In fact, some drivers on the Tibet to Beijing expressway have been stuck for 9 days, in a 100km jam, with no end in sight.

Imagine the telephone conversations : mum, I’m stuck in traffic, might be a few weeks late for dinner.

New readers here may not realise that photography is one of my great passions. Well, it used to be. But between work, partying and keeping this blog thing going, I haven’t had much chance to take many pictures.

From my office window, I am lucky enough to be able to see the unique Pudong skyline, and on a clear day, when the sun sets in the west, the light reflecting off the tall skyscrapers looks amazing. Sadly, Mondays to Fridays, I can’t do much about this as I am stuck at work, so yesterday I decided to brave the hordes of (mostly) Chinese tourists as well as the sweltering summer heat and wandered over to the Bund with my trusty Canon 5D.

Don’t be deceived in to thinking this was a quiet Sunday stroll. The picture doesn’t capture the millions of tourists standing behind me and to my right and left, all trying to take the same impressive skyline shot. I literally had to fight my way through this crowd to get the shot I wanted, so you guys had better be grateful!

You can see a bigger version of the photo here.

He may be over five years old but he’s only just learned how to speak!

I like to play pool from time to time, so the other night I was enjoying a few frames with a friend but was distracted by the guy on the next table. He had a Bluetooth earpiece attached to his left ear while playing pool with an attractive  young lady. I’m wondering if someone can help me out here because I am at a bit of a loss to understand why anyone would do that. Surely if the phone rings you can either answer the phone, or if you really want to keep playing, you could put on the earpiece when a call comes in and continue playing (although it would be a bit weird in my opinion).

I should add that in the 3 hours I was there, he didn’t receive a single phone call! Are those things so ergonomic that you hardly know you’re wearing them? Are there people in England also do this? Ladies do you find this makes a man more attractive?

Here’s another classic early WoAi “blog” entry from January 1979:

“Dad said we are not allowed to buy sweets anymore without asking him because we ate sweets just before lunch. The sweets were Tooty Frooties and Freshen-Ups”

I think it’s hilarious I felt it necessary to specifically mention what the sweets were that resulted in my dad’s candy crackdown.

Does anyone remember Tooty Frooties and Freshen-Ups? Rowntree’s Tooty Frooties were launched in 1963 and were chewy fruity sweets with a polished crunchy sugar coating and contained fruit juice and no artificial colours or flavours.  (Rowntree is now owned by food giant Nestle). I believe Freshen Up was a gum that had liquid in the centre that squirted out in your mouth.

In 2007, China overtook Germany to become the world’s 3rd largest economy, but now, it’s officially the world’s number two economy, having overtaken Japan (the second largest economy since 1968 – the year I was born) in quarter 2 of 2010. The US is still by far the world’s largest economy, but let’s see how long that lasts. China would need to expand its economy by another 200% to catch the current US level, which is 10% a year for the next 20 years. Of course that assumes the US economy doesn’t grow at all, which is unlikely, but it’s exciting to think that if I keep going to the gym, eat lots of vegetables and avoid breathing the heavily polluted air, I could possibly live to see China become the biggest economy in the world!

Wo Ai Zhong Guo!