Archive for March, 2008
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
Anyone who has ever been taken out to lunch or dinner by a Chinese business partner knows the drill. You sit down and, if you’re male, your host will offer you a cigarette. A failure to accept this cancerous gift is just about ok if you’re foreign, but if you’re ...
Posted in Matthew Plowright | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, March 25th, 2008
During my last trip to Beijing, my wallet was surprisingly swollen with paper money of one jiao, five jiao, and one yuan denomination. This is totally different than in Shanghai, where I get one-yuan paper money now and then, rarely see paper one-jiao notes, and can’t even remember when ...
Posted in Claire Li, RMB, trends | No Comments »
Friday, March 21st, 2008
My Taiwanese friend who used to be based in Shanghai came up from Hong Kong, where she is now living, to visit me recently. She told me last night that all her Taiwanese friends in town are heading back to Taiwan for the vote this Saturday.
“Wait, do they go back ...
Posted in Claire Li, politics | 2 Comments »
Friday, March 21st, 2008
Every week, I receive at least ten junk text messages offering me mortgages, cheap air tickets, and fake graduation diploma. Others notify me that I’ve just won some award, offer to kill my enemies or sell me guns. The latest one, which I received just 30 minutes ago, concerns a ...
Posted in Claire Li, Consumer | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008
I occasionally thank the lord that I'm not really competing with Chinese people for work
Tian Chengping, Minister of Labor and Social Security, said on March 9 that there are 24 million job-seekers in cities and towns every year, including the new additional urban workforce and the people carried over from ...
Posted in economy, Bradley Gardner | No Comments »
Monday, March 17th, 2008
Shanghai Composite Index: 3830 (against a high of 6,124)
Blackstone: 15.78 (against an IPO of 31)
The CEO of Blackstone received $350 million in compensation in 2007, because he is a hero of the new economy.
BGSHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "The Sky is Falling!", url: "http://www.cibmagazine.com.cn/theyuanalsorises/index.php/2008/03/17/the-sky-is-falling/" });
Posted in Stock Market, economy, Bradley Gardner | No Comments »
Saturday, March 15th, 2008
Xinjiekou is all good, everyone thought I was crazy when I asked whether there was increased problems with the Olympics coming up. Though there did seem to be less DVD's than before.BG SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "DVD's went somewhere update", url: "http://www.cibmagazine.com.cn/theyuanalsorises/index.php/2008/03/15/dvds-went-somewhere-update/" });
Posted in 2008 Olympics, Bradley Gardner | No Comments »
Friday, March 14th, 2008
We are officially in the middle of a DVD crackdown. I've talked to 2 DVD shop owners, one has all their DVD's behind a secret door, they said because the police now come by every 1 or 2 months. Another shop which now keeps its DVDs in a secret closet ...
Posted in 2008 Olympics, Bradley Gardner | No Comments »
Thursday, March 13th, 2008
Adam Minter at Shanghai Scrap has picked up on a terrifying story tucked away in the inside pages of the state-owned Shanghai Daily, revealing that half the steel used in construction projects in the city does not meet quality requirements. Yes, that’s right, half. Given the sheer scale and pace ...
Posted in Matthew Plowright | No Comments »
Thursday, March 13th, 2008
Since March 10th, four Shanghai museums and memorials have been made free to the public. Visitors to the Shanghai Museum reached 5,900/day on the first day, double the previous level, and this weekend the Shanghai Museum is expected to see a record number or visitors. Most of the visitors on ...
Posted in Shanghai, Claire Li, social issues | No Comments »
