Rush Hours in Metro Line #2

Oh. Check out the rush hour of Metro Line #2:

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Image in courtesy of Liuzhijian. I guess I have the permission to reproduce it here, isn’t it Zhijian?

More pictures of the Metro Line #2 can be found at Liuzhijian’s blog – Do You Take Metro to Work – Rush Hours at Metro Line #2

I also took photo of Many People in Metro.

MSN Messenger Virus

It is said there is a new MSN Messenger Virus spreading quickly in China. It will send out this file to all contacts on MSN Messenger. Be warned of this kind of virus.

Sending SMS in MSN Messenger

I also found a new MSN Messenger Addon MSNOK to send SMS (Short Message System). It is not free – 0.1 RMB per SMS. Other tools to send free SMS include Netease Popo, Yahoo! Messenger. (All Chinese site and software)

Font Changed Back

After switching to bigger font for exactly one month (proposed on Sept 10 and switched on Sept 11), I finally changed the look and feel back to its original view based on reader comments. It is nice to try new things but it is also right to roll back to the old status. In case I miss this version later, let me archive the file here:

Bigger Font is a Failure

Too tired today due to long MSN conversation chat. Just a small piece of note today.

It seems the larger font I changed is not a positive move. I saw people suggesting to change it back to original view. I think it reasonable. When professional look conflicts with readability and usability, I may need to choose the perfessional look. I am going to change back this week. Any comments?

Xujiahui Station Changed Face

As a side note, the Xujiahui Metro Station changed face these days. It added many new guidance board with vivid color and stick the direction signs onto the floor. It is great. Its usability is almost as good as the MRT in Hong Kong. The new direction system will be installed on all stations of Metro Line #1 soon.

The extension of Metro #1 is almost finished and I see the new line on the direction board of Xujiahui Station already. The new terminal station of Metro Line#1 will be Gongfu Xincun.

Bloggers Came Back

As the end of the long vacation, bloggers also returned to their blogging life. Claire completed her trip in Cambodia. Eric returned to Beijing from Hong Kong via Shanghai. Even Isaac started to post some entries after disappearing for about half month – I was wondering what happened to this hard core blogger. The blogging sphere becomes a little bit more interesting after the long vacation, although it is clear that more and more people have recovered from the blogging fever and go back to their lives, leaving the blog they just started untouched for more than one month…

Where to Start an IT Company?

A friend of mine asked me where to start an IT company, Beijing or Shanghai?

I am thinking of going back to China to setup shop to develop business software. Between Beijing and Shanghai Which city is better city to do so in your mind? Some of factor I can think, such as cost of operation (cost of people, office, etc), IT infrastruture (connectity) and human resource (good programmers). Your opnion is greatly appreciated. Thanks again.

Beijing is the answer that hits my head immediately after I read it. Before I start explaining the reasons, please be aware that this is only my personal oppionion based on the limited information and experience I have. There is no simple yes-no answer to such a big question, since there are too many facters: the project you want to do , the market, even the whether, so everybody have different answers to this question.

Although I love to live in Shanghai, my answer to this specific question regarding environment of an IT company is still Beijing.

Market

Beijing is the place with almost all head quarters of government (I know the term of captial, I mean the head quarter of all its departments), and many nation-wide companies. People may argue that some multi-national companies are moving their Asia Pacific headquarters to Shanghai, Beijing is still most popularted area for head quarters. Think about China Telecom, China Mobile, SinoPEC, Petro China… The huge businiess bodies are all in Beijing. So do the IT venders like Microsoft, HP, IBM, Oracle, Cisco….

People and Cost

There are more universities in Beijing than in Shanghai. Many of my friends in IT industry moved to Beijing since there are more opportunities there. The average salary in IT sector seems to be higher than that in Shanghai. This may affect the choice.

Operation Cost

I have no clear idea about the office rental cost of the two cities. I guess in any city, there are expensive office like the Corperate Avenue near Xintiandi to some so-so place at around 5000 RMB per month. In Beijing, maybe there are more cheap places to choose from since it is so large and you don’t have to operate near the Tiananmen Square.

IT Infrustructure

The IT infurstratur of Shanghai and Beijing are very similiar, I think. They are ADSL, Cable Moderm, Dialup to T-1 connectivity in both city. So it is not a factor already. The IT infrustructure is very advanced in China in big cities since it all uses the latest technology with not much legency systems.

Social Network

This is the biggest difference. There are very good circles in China, with friends from all part of the industry to gather. People rely on personal relationship very much in Beijing to do business. The relationship is stronger in Beijing than in Shanghai.

As a result of all these factor, there are much more IT companies in Beijing than in Shanghai. There are many success story, like Lenovo, in Beijing but almost no such story in Shanghai. I cannot tell the who is the leader of IT industry in Shanghai. There are many companies, but none of them is as famous or successful than those in Beijing, even Hangzhou.

Again, Shanghai is still a charming city, although it may not be a green house for IT companies.

Long Vacation Ends

End of Vacation

October 7 is not as pleasant as October 1 for me. It is the last day of the long vacation. I finally spent all my seven days luxuriously and tomorrow (Friday) is the first working day after the national holiday. As the cost of withdrawing my vacation deposit in advance, I have to work on the following two-day weekend on Saturday and Sunday.

I didn’t go out of Shanghai this time. I remember in the year 2002, we went to Daocheng. I just started my blog and I recorded the trip in my Daocheng category. It is one of the most interesting travel experiences I have. The next year, the year of 2003, Wendy and I got married we spent the seven days with my family who gathered in Shanghai. This year, I am happy that my family came to Shanghai so I can stay with them. I also worked a lot for many days. It is very exciting though.

Dark City is Better City to Me

Just now, I drove back from the downtown. It was already approaching the mid-night. The lights of all buildings were turned off. There are some seldom light windows on some buildings I learnt that all the scenery lighting system started to work at 6:30 PM till 11:00 PM. I happened to drove along the Bund around 6:20 PM today. The Bund was completely dark – even darker than the nights of the energy crisis, since the road lights were not lit yet.

At around 0:00 AM, when I was driving fast on the Nanpu Bridge, the city is completely dark. I could hardly find the Oriental Pearl and the Jin Mao Building, partly because I was driving so I cannot look for it in the dark night, partly because all the lights were turned off except the twinkle one on the top, so aircrafts do not hit it. The other buildings, near or far, big or small, tall or short, were all dark with shapes that could barely be recognized.

I love this face of the city. When all the colors that lights project on the buildings/towers/squares.. (no matter how you call them) fade out, the city become a better place for people. It is just like the small place I live when I grew up. The moon and stars come out, while they were completely covered by the light on the ground at other times. This appears more nature, more attractive to me than the modern city of Shanghai.

Drive Safely

On the Nanpu Bridge, I could drive at 80 km/hour. The speed limit is 60 km/hour, but other cars passed beside me one by one fast. There are not many cars on the road and it seems safe to driver faster and faster, until something really bad happens. So I always tell me self: the most serious traffic accidents always happen at night.

I am a very skillful driver now. I was very anxious when I changed my lane on the Nanpu Bridge at the begining. Now, I don’t worry about it any more. I am no longer an intern driver – according to my driver’s license. I have to renew the license since it is already one year. I don’t know where to go yet, but I believe I can find out later on some website.

Shanghai Metro Line #1 – Part III

This is the third part of Shanghai Metro Line #1 (part I, part II) and is the last part.

The People’s Square 人民广场 map

If you need to remember only one place in Shanghai, it is the People’s Square. The Bund is more famous and attractive than the People’s Square, but it is know as the center of the city. The city hall is there, so does the Shanghai government (this is very important).

It is the only transition station between Metro Line #1 and Metro Line #2. So there is no doubt that it is the busiest station in Shanghai.

The Shanghai Museum, the Shanghai City Planning Exhibition Center, the Shanghai Art Museum, the Nanjing Road (yes, the most famous road in Shanghai) are all located there. I would suggest people to start the tour to Nanjing Road from this station and walking toward east. It is about 15-30 minutes walk to the Bund.

Bus Stops: 145, 201, 531, 934, 203, 797, 574, 46, 112, 123, 925, 921, 20, 49, 980, 330, 37, 108, 18, 930, 537, 318, 802, 217, 573, 312, 584, 108, 518, 581, 109

Xinzha Road 新闸路 map

Xinzha Road is at the south bank of the Suzhou River. There is nothing to see near this station. Actually, I didn’t visited this station yet. The Suzhou River is expected to be a modern area like the banks of those famous rivers in Europe, but now, it is still a gather place of the poor.

Bus Stops: 210, 316, 801, 19, 64, 518, 802, 916, 46, 108, 930, 531, 203, 201, 537, 18, 318, 217, 312, 15, 315, 21, 231, 939, 136, 869, 933, 253, 36

Hanzhong Road 汉中路 map

Like Xinzha Road station, there is a station here, I guess, because there should be station according to the 3 km per station rule, but there are not many attraction near this station. I didn’t go to this station yet, although I will always pass it when I visit the Shanghai Railway Station.

Bus Stops: 722, 301, 41, 324, 835, 710, 64, 128, 767B, 104, 109, 801, 114, 741, 234, 716, 723

Shanghai Railway Station 上海火车站 Map

This is the terminal station of the Metro Line #1. The extension of line #1 is expected to open soon, but not now.

If you want to travel by train, chances are, you will take the train at this station. It is very crowded with huge number of passengers. Please be advised to take care of your belongings carefully when you step out of the metro train of this station. Look out for thiefs and rude beggars. As railway stations in any cities or countries, the security status is below the average of the city. If you choose a hotel, avoid this area.

It is the transition station to Metro Line #3. There is a very looooong tunnel to go through for transit.

Bus Stops: 106, 516, 928, 306, 515, 310, 115, 942, 592, 912, 823, 929, 508, 817, 517, 117, 305, 744, 866, 859, 553, 78, 927, 95, 104, 41, 13, 324, 328, 308, 329, 302, 322, 941, 113, 315, 64, 930, 584, 506, 109, 815, 801, 802, 768, 63, 106, 837, 319, 13, 563, 922, 516, 223, 58, 301, 573, 41, 844

Finished

Oh. I finally finished a rough explanation of the 16 stations of Metro Line #1. I guess I can add more detailed information to these pages later.

The Metro line serves as a route to chain the important points of the city and I hope by describing the points, readers can get some idea of the city.

Edward’s Photo Life

Edward is my colleague a MCS. He is a serious photographer with powerful digital canon and extreme passion on equipments and taking pictures.

I read his blog today and found some very interesting post. He is also in Shanghai and he sits near my cubicle. I guess the city from his eyes is also attractive to people who are moving to Shanghai.

At mid-Sept, he used the camera on his SmartPhone to catch the scene of a chief caught by police man. It bring my camera with me most of the time but I always feel I should bring it more frequently when I see something suddenly happen.

His photo of Cocacola and CNN very impressive. It convinced me that a better camera is still important to a high quality photo.

The best part is the F1 photos. Thanks to his longer lens camera so he can caught more details of the racing cars than I did.

There are many other interesting stuff on that site. Part of it was written in English and the other in Chinese. Enjoy the nice blog.

Shanghai is Cooling Down

The temperature of Shanghai dropped by more than 10 °C these days and it becomes very cold at morning and night. The autumn comes to Shanghai. Wendy and I have caught cold these days due to the sudden change in temperature. I am still not used to wear jacket. The summer didn’t go in my mind but the Autumn does arrive. Please take care and bring more clothes if you come to Shanghai.

It is clear and the sky is blue – very nice whether to take pictures and go outting. It is 16 °C to 26 °C already and is becoming colder everyday.

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Tomorrow Square near the People’s Square. Photo by my brother Jian Feng Wang, who is visiting Shanghai these days

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Details of Jin Mao Tower. Photo by my brother Jian Feng Wang, who is visiting Shanghai these days

P.S There are parachuting from Jin Mao tower at 2:00 PM tomorrow afternoon. I hope I will be there to see people jumping from the top of the Jin Mao Tower – of cause they have all the protection they need.

Ideas on Chiba in Japan?

My friend is going to relocate to Chiba, Japan for a while. It is said the small port is near Tokyo. Does any body in Japan can help to describe what the city looks like. My friend is very intereste in to know:

  • What about the meal cost of this city?
  • Is there anything that need to put into consideration before accepting the offer?

Thanks!

Wayback Wangjianshuo’s Blog

I didn’t remember I have blog interface like this onNov 25, 2002, and I have no idea about the first version of Wangjianshuo’s blog like this: Sep 22, 2002. I even have page like this on Mar 27, 2003. All these interface looks so nice to me. I wonder if they are even better than my current design. :-D

Thanks to the WayBackMachine, the Internet Archive to keep record of the history of the website for me, otherwise, I guess the design will got lost permenantly and I will never have a chance to review those old designs. The Internet Archive even keep almost all the link clickable and you can see the content of the whole website on that day!

National Holiday Begins

This is the real time information broadcasting on National Holiday status in Shanghai, brought to you by Wangjianshuo.

:-D I take the advantage to live in this city, which is the destination for millions of visitors and travelers in the next few days. The National Holiday is one of the most important (and among the longest holiday) in China, starting form Oct 1 to oct 7.

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If you can choose, do NOT come to Shanghai these days – since it is the most crowded season in this city. If you can choose, DO come to the city these days, since it shows the most exciting and beautiful side of the city.

How Many Visitors?

Here are some numbers.

There will be 7.12 million people riding bus every day, the Metro are expected to transport 1.50 million people with peak of 1.85 million during the 7 days. According to news report, 4 million visitors will arrive in Shangha in the long vacation.

Imagine how many people in 16 million people metropolitan!

Shops and Restaurants

Unlike other countries, most of shops and restaurants open during the holiday. Many of them even extended the business hour. The national flag is every where on the street and flowers bloom at every corner.

Transportation

The transportation is a little bit irregular. The intensive traffic control has been announced. Vehichles are not allowed in the restricted area (a very large area) from 5:30 pm to 11:00 pm. The Metro may close some stations – I guess the People’s Square station will be closed and only allow transition between Line #1 and #2. The most reliable transportation on Oct 1 – 3 is by walking. Good news is, it is very interesting to see people with national flags in hands and big plastic toys.

Temperature

It is very comfortable here in Shanghai today. The temperature drops a little bit and it feels like autumn. It is notable that the temperature difference between noon and morning/night is significant. It is really hot at noon but cool down immedately after sunset.

Again, welcome to Shanghai at the special season.

More Information

Note: All the information provided above is my personal experience from the last several years of national holiday in Shanghai. Unless I quoted with a source, the information may not be accurate and is not personally confirmed. Although I am pretty confident that my experience of the last year may be more accurate than any news report available, but do take it for your reference only.

P.S. If you wrote me recently, you may need to expect a longer delay since I received many emails these days. I suggest you to either post the question under relative entries or post it on the BBS (not formally announced yet). So other experienced visitors to Shanghai can help to answer your question and the anwers will benifit more readers.