Shanghaiist's Quote of Me

Since I am going to the party hosted by my friends in Shanghaiist.com, I started to browse some old articles from Shanghaiist. They are on my daily RSS feed list, but I didn’t take time to check their old stories… Then I found they have a lot of articles quoting what I said on this blog. Here is some reference by them. Thanks for linking (since link is always a nice gift).

Shanghaiist: eBay to launch PayPal in China this year

eBay has said it plans to invest $100 million in China in 2005, and in five to 10 years the company expects China to become its second-largest market in the world, behind the United States. Earlier this year, eBay launched Kijiji, a foreign-language online classifieds site similar to Craigslist and they have been gobbling up global classifieds sites ever since. Who did eBay tab to run its Kijiji operations in China? Why, none other than Shanghai blogger Wang Jian Shuo.

Shanghaiist: City to help cabbies pay at the pump

Thankfully, Shanghai blogger extraordinaire Wang Jian Shuo tells us. He said 93 octane gas went from 3.96 RMB per liter to 4.26. That means the price is $1.99 a gallon now. But really Jian Shuo, do you need to put premium grade gas in your car?

Shanghaiist: Some people, they go both ways

Very well, but why this particular corner? The warden told us that this corner was “especially messy” because both Jianguo and Ruijin Er are one way, with bicycles supposed to also be one way, though the opposite direction. If this sounds confusing, it is. The two wardens on the corner with the signs were delighted by our curiosity, and said that the program was a rousing success, gesturing at the intersection and saying, “Look, now the traffic’s working, before it was a disaster.” Of course, as they said this, two men on motorcycles whipped through the intersection headed west on Jianguo. Against traffic. Perhaps they went to driving school with Wang Jian Shuo. The wardens, after fielding our questions with what could only be called glee, were of course curious to discover our nationality. Upon hearing that we were American, they stumbled over each other to note that, as everyone knows, America doesn’t have these problems.

Shanghaiist: Shanghai’s cost of living and central heating south of the Yangtze

The cost of living is much lower in the suburbs, but the choices are fewer. In the city, and without housing, you would find it difficult to get by on 4,000 yuan per month and live any type of comfortable Western lifestyle (although it is more than the average Shanghainese makes). Check out Wang Jian Shuo’s blog for more information on the cost of living here.

Shanghaiist: Xiangyang Market crackdown

For all of you who are afraid of accidentally buying fake brand-name goods when all you really want is a pair of socks, this is your day. Having been to Xiangyang Market over the weekend, we heard from one of the ?salesmen? that the yearly crackdown is going on as we speak and that it lasts until Wednesday.Photo from Wang Jian Shuo.

Shanghaiist: To yield or not to yield?

Shanghai blogger Wang Jian Shuo has a funny/interesting post about some bad driving habits he picked up on a recent business trip to San Jose … like stopping at stop signs and yielding to pedestrians. Here is his description of a recent encounter he had with two pedestrians back in Shanghai:

Shanghaiist: How some Shanghainese are cutting back on their water bill

And no, it’s not by flushing less often or turning the tap off while brushing teeth. It’s that other tried and true solution: stealing! In a post about the city and some of its many slippery ethical slopes, Wang Jian Shuo introduces us to something he calls the “Magic Water Saver”:

Shanghaiist: Xujiahui: It keeps growing and growing and growing and …

Apparently, the above photo is of Shanghai’s Xujiahui area. Wang Jian Shuo estimates it was taken sometime in the late 1980s, but he said it didn’t look too much different there as recently as the mid-1990s. We’re assuming the photo is of the main intersection in Xujiahui, but too be honest, we can’t find anything recognizable in the photo. We couldn’t even tell it was Shanghai when we first looked at it. Not really surprising, since this is how Xujiahui looks now:

Shanghaiist: Shanghaiist went skiing last night (in Minhang District)

Our buddy Wang Jianshuo was of course there at the start, and from a look at his photos, well ahead of the crowds. Bizarrely, the Christian Science Monitor had a good piece on China’s indoor skiing options back at the beginning of January: “A Skiing Trip to the Great Indoors.” Some other guy took some photos back in 2002, as well.

ShaWang Jian Shuointroduces us to a local Shanghai restaurant chain called Zhending Chicken. We’ve never been, but we might go now – sounds like an interesting place:

Shanghaiist: Extra! Extra! White House gaffes and more friggin’ Google

Wang Jian Shuo went to Yangshan Deep Water Port … and lived to blog about it.

Shanghaiist: One man’s take on Shanghai’s cost of living

Longtime Shanghai blogger (and head of eBay’s Kijiji operation in China) Wang Jian Shuo has poste

d a comprehensive look at the current cost of living in Shanghai.

Go check it out and see how it compares to what you are paying. Some readers are leaving helpful comments, as well.

UPDATE: Jian Shuo has already added three additions to the post: here, here and here.

Shanghaiist: RMB56.1 billion Maglev extension routes announced

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.

Shanghaiist: China Blog Parade

Wang Jianshuo doesn’t stop at stop signs…but in a city where no one does, does that make it OK? WJS makes a valiant attempt at explaining why drivers break the rules (and here on why traffic in Shanghai totally sucks), but there’s still a lot of debate and criticism on his comments thread.

Shanghaiist: Shanghai impressions: Dianshanhu, Dishuihu, The Shanghai Show and subway news

In the meanwhile, Wang Jianshuo reports from another lake ? the Dishui Lake. He says that Jinjiang Inn, China’s answer to Holiday Inn, which is always “brave enough to open the first hotel in a newly developed area” has opened a new outlet at the lake. He takes a few pictures, and yes, the hotel does look like it is in the middle of nowhere.

Shanghaiist: Pudong gas blast hits international headlines

ADDENDUM: Shanghai blogger Wang Jianshuo (and CEO of Kijiji China) was shocked to read the news because he lives in the neighbourhood and this is one of the petrol stations he often goes to. Thank goodness Jianshuo wasn’t anywhere near the freak accident or Shanghai’s infinitesimally Lilliputian blogosphere would have lost one of its most prolific voices.