Ens on 王建硕的博客

DuduCam: Multi-Angle Magic Made Simple

Sun, 26 Jan 2025 23:15:38 +0800

DuduCam revolutionizes the way you capture life’s moments by transforming multiple smartphones into a synchronized multi-camera studio. With DuduCam, create professional-quality videos from every angle, automatically edited into stunning compilations.

Key Features:

Seamless Synchronization: Connect up to 12 smartphones instantly through our peer-to-peer networkSmart Angle Detection: AI-powered positioning system automatically identifies camera angles and optimal shooting positionsAuto-Edit Magic: Advanced AI algorithms cut between angles for the perfect shot sequenceReal-Time Preview: See all camera feeds simultaneously while recordingOne-Tap Control: Start and stop all connected devices with a single tapIntelligent Scene Detection: Automatically switches to the best angle based on action and audio cuesPro-Grade Export: Export in up to 4K quality with professional color grading presets

Syncam: Multi-Angle Video Recording Made Easy

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 14:02:06 +0800

Capture Every Perspective, Every Time

Have you ever wished to relive a moment from every angle, just like in the movies? With Syncam, you can! Syncam uses multiple iPhones to record the same event from different perspectives seamlessly. Whether it’s a concert, a sports event, or a precious family gathering, Syncam turns your moments into a cinematic experience.

Yesterday Once More

Sat, 09 Nov 2024 00:15:57 +0800

When I check the status of my hosting, I found the blogs of my old friends on https://home.wangjianshuo.com. They are still there, after almost 20 years! You can take a look at what these beautiful people are 20 years ago:

MVM (currently he keeps blogging at zhengziying.com)

Claire

Elfe

HoldSpeak: Revolutionizing Typing with AI

Fri, 08 Nov 2024 11:17:20 +0800

Yifan recently developed an incredible app called HoldSpeak, and I’m excited to share it with all of you today.

HoldSpeak is a game-changer for anyone who spends a lot of time typing on their Mac. It’s an AI-powered voice-to-text application that allows you to type three times faster than you normally would. Imagine being able to write emails, chat messages, and even code without ever having to touch your keyboard!

SynCam Privacy Policy

Tue, 26 Mar 2024 17:13:00 +0800

Effective Date: Dec 1, 2024

Last Updated: Dec 1, 2024

Jianshuo Wang (“we,” “our,” or “us”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting it through this Privacy Policy. This document explains how Syncam (the “App”) collects, uses, discloses, and safeguards your information when you use our services. Please read this policy carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your data and how we handle it.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Information You Provide Directly

Account Information: If you create an account, we may collect your name, email address, password, and other registration details.

PicNGo Privacy Policy

Fri, 26 Jan 2024 23:19:00 +0800

Last Updated: Jan 20, 2025

1. Introduction

Welcome to PicNGo. We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your information when you use our multi-angle video recording application.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide

Account information (email address, username, password)Profile information (optional profile picture, display name)Payment information (processed through secure third-party payment providers)User-generated content (videos, recordings)

Burning Man is a Vacation from Ego

Wed, 20 Sep 2023 22:22:57 +0800

“Is Burning Man over-rated?”

This question has been lingering in my mind during the first afternoon and the second morning of Burning Man, when I looked at the dusty desert, the African-like infrastructure, the nomadic tents in disarray, and the people of all colors dressed in strange costumes.

“Is Burning Man over-rated?”

Seven days from now, if someone asks me that question again, my answer will be a resounding, “Fuck you, you mother fucker!”

Sobre mi

Mon, 11 Jan 2021 16:01:57 +0800

Me llamo Javier. Tengo 43 años. Vivo en Shanghai en la calle Wulumuqi y la calle Anfu.

Me gustan perros y gatos. Tengo un gato negro y blanco que se llama Mira. A Mira le gusta pollo mucho, y le gusta dormir. Entonces, Mira está muy gordo ahoy.

Shanghai es Hermosa Hoy

Mon, 04 Jan 2021 15:04:19 +0800

Esta son dos fotografías de Shanghai. Dime en un edificio antiguo en la Bund.

Los edificios no son aquí 40 años antes.

Pudong en Shanghai

Este la Bund. Los edificios son aquí 100 años antes. Shanghai fui muy moderno en 1930s. Fui el más grande en la este del mundo. Hay un rio que se llama Huanpu. Rio Huangpu es un rio muy bien para transporte. Muchas barcos están en el rio.

Mi primero blog en español

Sun, 03 Jan 2021 23:44:27 +0800

Hola a todos!

Este es mi primero blog en español. Tengo un blog en Inglés por 18 años, y ahoy es el tiempo por español.

Voy a escribir algún en el futuro.

Buenas noches!

Wangjianshuo's Blog App on Apple App Store

Sun, 05 Mar 2017 17:44:00 +0800

During the weekend, as part of my process to learn Swift 3, I wrote a small application to show all the blog posts, and comments of Wangjianshuo’s Blog. Here is the link to download the App:

https://itunes.apple.com/cn/app/wangjianshuos-blog/id1210226590?mt=8

All the few thousands post and about 40 thousands comments are quickly available on your iPhone. Try it out.

Solute to Hackers

Sun, 05 Mar 2017 15:21:54 +0800

Look at this piece of code at the header of Hello Dolly plugin by Matt - maybe the first plugin of the WordPress system (you can always find this piece of code in any WordPress installation. Look for it in the /wp-content/plugins/ folder). Think about why the plugin has something to do with music! Think about why the description reads that way. What do you sense from a developer’s code?

Tickets System for Parents and Kids

Sat, 20 Feb 2016 19:26:02 +0800

This is the application that you and your kids can use to track “Tickets”

What is Ticket?

A ticket is an agreement between Kids and Parents.

隐私政策条款

Thu, 29 Jan 2015 23:52:00 +0800

隐私政策条款

最后更新日期：Jan 2025

欢迎使用「百姓寻TA」。我们深知个人信息对您的重要性，并始终坚持最小化数据收集原则。本隐私政策条款（“本条款”）详细说明了我们如何收集、使用和保护您的信息。

百姓寻TA

Thu, 29 Jan 2015 23:46:00 +0800

在快节奏的时代，为什么我们需要一款"慢"相亲应用？

在这个讲究"快速左滑右划"的时代，dating app 似乎都变成了"选妃"游戏。而我们想问：在寻找人生伴侣这件事上，真的需要这么赶吗？

Blog is Dead - Let's Move On

Fri, 24 Oct 2014 20:11:13 +0800

Ruanyifeng brought a message to me. He said I was too quiet for too long on the blogshpere. In a typical blogger manner, I response publicly (nothing identify a blogger better than talking publicly on blogs when the mobile phone or other communication channel is easily available).

I have announced that I stopped regular update to blog on my 10th year’s anniversary. I joined many people who have predicted that blog was dying. Now should say, I have joine the people who witnessed the death of blogging.

Aspen Photos (Password Required)

Sat, 20 Sep 2014 12:55:09 +0800

Antigone After Party

Antigone After Show

Delegation as Productivity Tools

Fri, 03 Jan 2014 13:01:22 +0800

This sounds very useful:

Delegation can be one of your best productivity tools!

There are many good practices, and we keep learning. What is the best way to remember these quote, and turn that into good habit?

http://www.quora.com/Productivity/As-a-startup-CEO-what-is-your-favorite-productivity-hack

1 Comments

我在小宇宙上听到王老师将web3，觉得很好

— 奥松 · 2022-08-06 14:49

Baidu's Deal Is Proof That M&A Will Flourish in China

Wed, 17 Jul 2013 12:02:06 +0800

Baidu’s $1.9 billion acquisition of app store 91 Wireless this week made me smile, because it solved a Chinese mystery. I’ve always wondered: Why do Chinese Internet giants try to copy the success of other companies, instead of simply buying them out?

Tech companies in the U.S. have long been willing to acquire promising up-and-comers, instead of simply duplicating them. But, until recently, it didn’t work that way in China.

Anyone Still Read Blog?

Tue, 02 Jul 2013 23:12:45 +0800

I am just curious: is there anyone reading this blog at this time? Obviously blog is the “old” way of communication. If you are still here, would you please raise your hand so I can see you? (Well, leaving a comment seems better way for me to see you).

Thanks.

45 Comments

YES!

— ra · 2013-07-02 23:52

I still read when there is something to read.

— Tom · 2013-07-02 23:18

I'm following your blog for 3 years. Thanks.

— Sherry · 2013-07-03 10:18

Not many people, but at least there are still some. :-) So warm to be still surrounded by some one. :-)

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2013-07-03 12:01

— oldmonk · 2013-07-03 00:49

Dude, didn't open my google reader for a long time... nor your blog.

— Robert Mao · 2013-07-03 02:49

I am still here :)

— garga · 2013-07-03 04:49

I do. Maybe I'm too old (37), but I don't see how twitter and other casual social media can replace the blog format. Blog entries are like diary entries or short essays -- places with room for thought and reflection. These formats are timeless and not coupled to a particular technology. I fully understand when people say they don't have time for creating such things (and I was amazed and inspired about your persistence), but just saying that they are "old" seems a bit like an excuse to me ... And a second thought that occurs to me is about the readership. I keep a personal diary very similar to a blog. I'd be very uncomfortable sharing it with the world, even though some entries might be of interest to others. So my readership consists of one person, and that's enough for me to keep on writing. It helps me reflect on my life. So I guess my question to you would be, for whom are you writing your blog?

— Tam · 2013-07-03 06:02

My hands are raised up...

— Xiao Xin · 2013-07-02 23:20

Yes, still read it. Also, I agree with Tam, although everything evolves and so do methods of communication I also cannot see Twitter/Facebook/G+, etc replacing longform platforms. Not yet.

— Vadim · 2013-07-03 15:14

I set up an feedburner for this blog and subscribe it to its email. It's here
http://feeds.feedburner.com/wangjianshuo/lsMV
Hope FB service went un-noticed during Google's product review.

— leafyoung · 2013-07-03 16:44

heads up. reading this blog via RSS reader.

— Joechin · 2013-07-03 22:16

OF COURSE!

— Ben · 2013-07-04 04:07

— xiang zhou · 2013-07-04 10:09

i'm always here

— lily · 2013-07-04 11:42

raise up.

— Hai · 2013-07-05 10:28

— niuhuifei · 2013-07-07 17:20

Hands up :)

— eclipselu · 2013-07-07 23:19

Always here.

— Donglei · 2013-07-09 18:33

Yes :)

— linuxsand · 2013-07-09 22:02

yes, I'm check-in ever now and then

— ILH · 2013-07-10 05:57

读的；blog还是让人思维更清晰而系统的地方

— shaozhfieng · 2013-07-10 10:36

Yes - via GReader before (now The Old Reader). BTW, the RSS feeder of your blog seems dead now...

— XQG · 2013-07-10 12:19

...still here.

— RSSKitty · 2013-07-12 11:39

Yes! Did add you on Weixin too.

— abjp · 2013-07-12 15:59

BTW, do you think you can make it as a RSS feed like olden days? so that we can follow more closely :)

— Donny · 2013-07-14 10:41

Yep, still reading it. Had some problems migrating from Greader but I'm here :)

— Fabrizio · 2013-07-17 21:22

特意上来举手^-^

— meteorlxk · 2013-07-20 22:35

still read the tech blog

— ljinliuj · 2013-07-25 10:56

i'm in...

— stone · 2013-07-29 12:36

I'm new, I'm in, and I will follow.

— trustice · 2013-07-29 20:21

me counted

— Daniel · 2013-08-13 17:31

me look to

— hegelen · 2013-08-22 01:18

yes.

— zz · 2013-08-27 02:32

Can't you just check the no. of pings like everyone else? i have fat fingers and don like to raise my hands

— k · 2013-08-27 14:16

yep. Has not checked in years.

— md · 2013-08-31 06:45

hands up....

— Kumar · 2013-09-08 17:55

i'm here

— lily · 2013-09-30 13:49

Yes! :)

— Zhong Zhong · 2013-10-03 12:10

Yes, once in a while.
Moved away sometime ago, so I really appreciate the chance to see how things are going back there. Thanks for keeping it going.

— Kasey · 2013-09-17 12:44

Yes, I'm here. I was the student of your .net lesson in 2000 :>

— Xiaoye · 2013-10-08 21:49

当然，偶尔会读一读。

— 苹果 · 2013-10-16 11:19

I'v just read the article about Baidu's aquisition of 91 wireless, very good analysis and I 'v learned from it. I just did not think about to reply it, but I feel it is necessary to say something here:)

— huiying · 2013-10-29 16:46

从BBS到博客到微博再到微信,成也内容败也内容。不知道下一个热点是什么,但是我现在已经很少上微博了。我还是更喜欢一个纯粹的阅读平台，当N多的心灵鸡汤，网络营销充斥了微博微信平台之后，这个平台也就毁了。

— yangjiayuan · 2013-11-21 02:27

Me too! Ten years after you asked, of course, but still....:-)

— Carroll McNeill · 2023-09-11 23:22

Heading to Nice via Paris

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 20:30:08 +0800

I am packing to head to Nice via Paris. Great trip ahead. I am very excited to join the Cannes Festival of Creativity.

2 Comments

Regarding your complaints about the US visa office in Shanghai: don't complain about being treated like a terrorist, the gov't is just trying to protect themselves and other innocent people from terrorists. Until we live in a perfect Utopian world, just take off your shoes and belt; and don't complain about the wait times because your Chinese embassy makes me buy a plane ticket to another state for a visa and wait all day in the outside weather! You have to pay 10 RMB and some phone charges? I have to pay $759 for a plane ticket!

— Melisa · 2013-06-20 15:38

Is there any pics share with us?

— trustice · 2013-07-29 22:05

I Got my Weixin Public Account

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 17:27:36 +0800

This is my Weixin Public Account. I started to get interested in new widgets and new technologies - the same way as I did many years ago.

2 Comments

trying to follow your blog using Weixin... but just realize it is in Chinese :-)

— Donny · 2013-07-14 10:40

I've added you. will keep reading both Chinese and English.

— trustice · 2013-07-31 22:14

Comment to my eBay Article

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 21:15:04 +0800

I got 80 serious comment from my post on eBay on LinkedIn. Here is a copy.

Daylon S.

Design Founder of CuriousCore / CuriousCatch @Mark L: Those are some pretty big assumptions you’re making there. Have you worked in China before or with a Chinese Internet company? Like (1) 4m George K.

Arbi A. SALES - International Business Development | LION | +6.5K / +22M Connections | It all boils down to culture, nationalism, language barrier, internet censorship and localization; A Far Eastern prospect’s likes and dislikes can not be as easily dictated based solely on the US consumer data. Local companies know the culture, speak the language and use chopsticks for lunch; multinationals however tend to force-feed using their tried and true spoon feeding method. How do I know this? I am a Middle Eastern, my ex was Taiwanese, we met in Canada and moved to Taiwan. I don’t want you to run a company in China; just try to attend a Chinese funeral and a wedding ceremony back to back, then talk to me again about cultural common points. As a sales rep working for a Taiwanese company, we would take our western clients to “Fried Bees Lunch” just for fun! My Taiwanese colleague nearly got killed in Cologne, Germany as a result of not being able to digest Tar-Tar. A product as strongly tied to the local culture as Google, Ebay …. must learn to follow the rules when dealing with a +5000 year old culture. Like 30m

How **** can Win in China?

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 07:00:52 +0800

How about Censorship?

Censorship is another widely spread out excuse for the failure of the Internet giant. Not true. It is part of the reasons, maybe 10%, but not all. There are examples of Google, and Facebook. Yes. They were blocked partially or completely, but that is the only only fatal attack they face. LinkedIn was not banned, but it didn’t grow as fast as people think. eBay was not banned, and majority of the Internet companies were not. Although they survived from the first challenge - whether people can use it - they didn’t survive the sequential challenge that both local and international Internet companies face: the challenge of a good product, the challenge of a first-class team, the challenge of marketing, and the challenge of competition. Lift the censorship is the first step to success, but not last step.

Dinner with Adam Lashinsky in Shanghai

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 23:29:18 +0800

I am a typical ENFP - Perceiving type, and I hate plans, and I love last minute meetings. Interesting, I found many of my journalist friends are of the same time - Lynn, Alexandra, and this one: Adam.

This was what happened. There are some random email going back and forth these days between me and Adam, and one email reads:

Adam: “Where are you?” Jian Shuo: “Shanghai, China. +8 time zone” Adam: “I am in Shanghai. Want to catch up?” Jian Shuo: “Sure. I am on my way to Grand Hyatt lobby”. Adam: “See you”.

Why eBay Failed in China?

Thu, 30 May 2013 21:33:00 +0800

Let me give you some background information. Almost all US Internet companies failed in China in the last 10 years. Yahoo! entered China by acquiring 3721.com (some argued it was a keyword based search engine that dominated the space before Baidu.com came out), and turned it into nothing, before Yahoo! China was sold to Alibaba. eBay acquired EachNet.com, the largest C2C website, and spent few hundred million dollars on marketing, and successfully turned its market share from 90+% to less than 10%, and then sold it to Tom Online. Google entered China and with years’ of efforts only to turn its market share from 30% to 10%, and claimed to move China site to Hong Kong. Who else?

I am Back

Sun, 26 May 2013 15:31:46 +0800

It has been uneasy three years for me. The blog was affected by the unstable mood of myself, and was a honest, and solid reflection of who I am - good times, and more importantly, the bad times.

I am back to blog again. This is different from the previous back. It has been quite some time since I last blogged - that is exactly 4 months ago. It was quite dramatic in the last four months, and I experienced things. This time, it was a calm back, and I don’t think I can easily defeated, or went down. The confidence was rebuilt, and I am sure this new version of myself is better, more confident, and more lovely.

Religiously Waiting

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 01:56:13 +0800

I am going to meet my friend on Sunday and he mailed me and told me where to meet and then he added:

I will religiously wait for you

To do something religiously always yield power that others don’t understand and cannot imagine.

2 Comments

If your friend was speaking English, "Religiously" generally means do to something over and over. I watch my favourite show, The Simpsons, religiously every week.

If someone waited for you religiously they would have to wait for you every day or every week. Otherwise they are just waiting for you patiently.

If your friend was speaking Chinese, then never mind.

— Altavistagoogle · 2013-02-05 13:48

Hi, everytime I visit time blog Chrome tells me it's unsecure. Anything need to be fixed?

— Luis · 2013-05-01 20:21

Richmond

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 01:31:19 +0800

Two nights past and I basically haven’t seen London yet.

2 Comments

Is it the Melbourne Richmond or London's? doesn't look like Melbourne's to me~

— Jeremy · 2013-03-06 02:11

Richmond is charming

— joe · 2013-03-08 12:44

Job Posting from a Friend

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 01:53:10 +0800

I generally don’t do this, but Yang Meng is so special to me so I promised to post a job for him to my expat community, although I warned him not many people are still following this blog. :-) Here you go.

Make life better. Get in on the ground. Start a career at Anker.

Started by a few ex-Googlers in 2009, Anker set out with one goal in mind: to design reliable, affordable yet inspiring products which we would use ourselves. Today Anker has 100+ employees globally, spread among Changsha, Shenzhen, San Jose, Tokyo and Beijing.

Learning from ARM

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 04:22:11 +0800

Long time no blogging, right? Here is the new stuff. I am writing in the conference room at Goldman Sachs Private Internet Conference at Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.

I just finished a great talk with Tom Lantzsch, from ARM. It was a 1:1 - that type of session you register and spend about 30 minutes with people you want to meet alone. I regret a little bit to request that session when it is approaching because I suddenly realized that I don’t have any intersection between my business and chip design business, and I worried that it may end up with nothing essential and waste both party’s time, and it turned out to be exactly the opposite. Here is a brief note about what we can learn from ARM.

Flying to Puket

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 06:51:26 +0800

I am at Pudong airport and get ready to fly to Puket - my first trip to Thailand, and one of the few trips to southeast Asia.

2 Comments

你好！我是19saitoy。
I saw your blog. I went to thailand once but I didn't go to puhket.
I am a student in JAPAN. Please check my blog too.
http://blogs.yis.ac.jp/19saitoy/
\

— 19saitoy · 2012-11-27 08:53

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- ARAB SWIFT CODES
swift codes banks numbers in united Arab emirates
http://arabswiftcodes.com/?cat=16

— arab swift code · 2013-01-20 13:10

jswang@microsoft.com Still Available

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 09:35:50 +0800

I sent an email to jswang@microsoft.com, my old email at Microsoft.

Can you receive this mail?

This was my email alias many years ago.

Jian Shuo Wang

Very soon, I got mail like this:

postmaster@microsoft.com

to me

mail.microsoft.com rejected your message to the following email addresses:

jswang@microsoft.com (jswang@microsoft.com)

**mail.microsoft.com gave this error: User unknown **

The email address you entered couldn’t be found. Please check the recipient’s email address and try to resend the message. If the problem continues, please contact your helpdesk.

Started to Use MarsEdit

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 12:36:45 +0800

After switching to WordPress from MovableType, and after switching from Windows to Mac, I need to find some software to blog on my laptop. Here is MarsEdit. I saw some good comments from Quora on it, and here you are. This is the first post from the client.

Knowledge vs Resources from Friends

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 12:13:46 +0800

Mr. Systrom, now 29, offered this as a parable for the roomful of would-be entrepreneurs who came to hear him talk at Stanford last spring: in the intensely competitive start-up scene here, success is as much about who you know as what you know. “Make sure to spend some time after the talk getting to know the people around you,” he told his audience.

He is right in both China and US. But in the valley, although people provide connections, most people provide knowledge and advice, just as Adam D’Anglo did for Instagram, but in China, people generally expect resources.

I am in Hong Kong

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 00:34:16 +0800

Arrived in Hong Kong and stay in Causeway Bay.

4 Comments

Well the ad I saw was in Chinese, and this here is a Chinese ad on the side of a bus,
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/c80.0.403.403/p403x403/576502_354878704597446_1079505037_n.jpg

— solopolo · 2012-10-04 13:27

came here because i saw the kijiji hk ad on tv, are you still working there?

— solopolo · 2012-10-01 15:20

really? Kijiji entered Hong Kong for English speaking country. We rebranded Kijiji China to Baixing and I am still running it - 7 years.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2012-10-01 22:42

Dear Jian Shuo Wang!

I'm a student in Institute for Media, Design and Archirecture in Russia. Our group are going to visit Shanghai. I've found your blog that is refer to our research
We are interested in in free media companies, social media development, innovative hi tech companies for managing information, Internet start up incubators. If you could help me to find the key persons and places that wouild be great! May be you be yourself could meet us. See forward for your reply!

Alexandra

— Alexandra Simonova · 2012-10-26 16:53

Some of My Old Photos

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 15:33:27 +0800

I took a lot of photos with people I met, and many of them are good friends, but I never spent the time to organize them in a good way. Here is my attempt to make it happen.

Sanjeev Singh and Jian Shuo Wang. January 18, 2012 at Facebook Office in Melon Park, CA. Sanjeev was creator of Google Mail, and FriendFeed.com. I visited Sanjeev in Facebook after FriendFeed.com was acquired by Facebook, and had wonderful lunch together in the newly opened cafe.

UK Visa Application Form

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 20:07:55 +0800

GWF016188269

Please review the answers you have given in the application below.

If you need to change an answer simply step back through your application pressing the ‘Previous’ button until you reach the desired question. Note - If you change an answer you will have to complete the application from that point on, as the questions asked are dependent on your answers.

If you are satisfied with the answers you entered click the ‘Next’ button to continue with your application.

New Generation of Tech media in China

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 17:50:20 +0800

I am trying to collect a list of interesting media that is raising these years, and it is very different from the last generation. It is typically created by an experienced media industry person, but jumped out of the old framework. Here is the starting and I will keep updating the list.

The Founder by former Chief Editor of China Entrepreneur editor Niu Wenwen
Huxiu.com by former chief executive of China Entrepreneur editor Li Min

10 Year Anniversary of Blogging

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 23:00:11 +0800

Today is the 10th anniversary of my blogging.

Starting from Sept 11, 2002, with my first blog, I have been blogging for ten years. I cannot believe it! Ten year doing one thing everyday seems crazy for anyone, and I am surprised I am that crazy guy.

However, the bad news is, I realized that I am not as calm and as peaceful as 10 years ago. With the increase of age, and increase of responsibility, it is harder and harder to sit down at the desk, and write something. Email flys in; mobile rings; Weibo checking; Yifan calls…. More importantly, within my mind, thousands of things flying to different directions. I heard something this morning: with the increase of age, especially after 35, there are too many distraction that few can stay calm and concentrated. It needs a lot meditation and understanding of what is important than the younger time. I believe I may entered another stage of life after 10 years of blogging. Look at the frequency, topic, and depth of the blog entries I wrote in the last three years, and I can clearly see the path of the declination in frequency, decrease in interestingness, and decrease in depth. I am full aware of it, and I know it is the competition of attention for me. The competition just get stronger when I am connected to more, and it is the time to cut something from my life.

IP Only

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 11:42:11 +0800

I created my first plugin when I created my CEO Blog. The problem is obvious: I am going to have a CEO blog where I can share my thoughts with the team frequently. I tried to write a different blog, and I found it is just impossible to maintain two. So I decided to put it on to my own personal blog.

Although most of the articles are public in nature, I do have something that I hope to disclose to the general public later. I don’t want to have complicated OAuth based verification. A simple IP based restriction is good enough. There is no simple solution so I wrote one myself.

I Won't Drive to Hangzhou Again

Sun, 02 Sep 2012 23:16:00 +0800

I am back from Hangzhou, and I would say, I will never drive to Hangzhou again.

Hangzhou is only 45 minutes away via high-speed rail, and the transportation to and back the railway station is so simple for me, and the only bottle neck is to get to hotel from the Hangzhou railway station. It takes for ever to build the metro in Hangzhou. Despite that, I should enjoy the relaxed time in Hangzhou via taxi, or local cars, not driving. I am very tired after the long trip.

Language Matters

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 23:43:04 +0800

For some reason, I enjoy learning languages, no matter it is the language of daily life sense, or computer sense.

I can read and write in:

Chinese
English
C/C++
Java (a little bit)
JavaScript (Not to compare it with Hax)
PHP
ASP/VB/VBScript
C#
Propositional Logic
Mathematics

I am looking forward to learn more. Some language I started a little bit (but I put some serious effort behind) are:

Italian
German

Approaching 10 Years of Blogging

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 23:23:01 +0800

I am approaching the 10th anniversary of my blogging - 10 years, and one article almost everyday. Should I be known as a 10 year blogger after 100 years?

I am thinking about what to do at the tenth anniversary. Do you have any ideas?

4 Comments

I wish I can suggest for a party, but I don't think that I can be able to attend. So, let me say this:Congratulations! You did a great job, your blog had inspired many people at many needs. Thank you and please continue blogging.

— Miao, Jun · 2012-08-28 09:58

Develop a app so that your fans like me can read your article in the first time....

— Eric-wu · 2012-08-28 12:46

难以置信的一件简单但伟大的事情。

— 孙波 · 2012-08-31 23:17

每天一篇，坚持10年。。。

— 毕扬 · 2012-08-31 23:27

Aircraft Spotting at Hongqiao Airport

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 00:27:22 +0800

I am not a professional aircraft spotter, but I am also amazed by the scene of an aircraft roars and lands at airports.

The best place to do it I know is at G318 (at K16+). It is easy to find if you follow the 沪青平 highway and you will be guided by the big noise of the aircrafts.

There are lines of this, and flushing one after another, creating a guiding line toward the runway.

Hackers I Know

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 17:28:53 +0800

I became aware of few hackers these days.

Paul Graham - sure. He knows how to hack
Aaron Swartz - 26 years old this year, but he has created so many interesting things since he was a teenager.
Tom Preston-Werner, founder of GitHub

Read their articles and found out how good they are.

Reading Good Code

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 12:34:35 +0800

I read some code by FriendFeed guys. They are great. The Tornado code is neat. You can take a look here:

https://github.com/facebook/tornado

One of the test I ask my developer is, do you feel comfortable to open source your code. If they do, they are pretty in good shape.

ISO 8601

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 13:15:28 +0800

I am genuinely interested in numbers, and specs. I must be the strange person in other people’s mind, but I am just so excited to see things like numbers. For example:

CVC 22651

When travelling in California, I really love the CVC 22651 printed on the TOW AWAY plate, and traced to the following document: http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc22651.htm

ISO 8601

The smart guys want to solve a problem of how to represent date across the world (both west and east and both computer or human). So they invented something like:

Notes of Hiring is Obsolete

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 10:56:04 +0800

Here goes my notes on Hiring is Obsolete.

Wisdom comes from facts. Everything is getting cheaper. (Computer of the same power? Automated services?) Cost of startup should only be people.

(Nerds have better things to do) => (Nerds are unpopular)

if( (Undergraduates are Undervalued) == true)

invest(undergradutes());

if((Smart people speaks stupid things) == true)

dont_ignore_people_do_stupid_things();

value = people_to_user();

compensation = company_estimate();

compensation = average(values);

assert(difficulty(valuing work) > 80%);

class bigcompany :

def init():

Elastic Search Solved a Problem

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 22:25:49 +0800

{ “ok” : true, “status” : 200, “name” : “Gardener”, “version” : { “number” : “0.19.8”, “snapshot_build” : false }, “tagline” : “You Know, for Search” }

These lines of response from Elastic Search at http://localhost:9200 seems so nice. I smiled when I saw this response, and I said to my self: “Hack! Those guys at elastic search really solved a problem.

They defined a problem in their statements, and they solved the problem. Doing a lot of things should be easier and easier - that is the thoughts of typical hacker. Why should I even need to download something to my server to run search? I may further ask the question. I believe some hacker out there will solve this problem.

Baixing Internal Graph API Alpha Launched

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 19:59:28 +0800

I pre-released Baixing Graph API internally at 1801. I am going to release it to the public on Sept 6, 2012. (One of the key driver to make anything happen is to make it public first, and let the pressure push you to make it happen).

I am Back to the Code World

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 22:50:02 +0800

I am happy to be able to code for few days, in a closed office.

Why a CEO code? Because I love it.

Is it all? Not really.

I was educated thousands of times by everyone that “you should not code”. A CEO should not code. The more neutral version was: “A CEO of a company of your size should not code”. But after few years, I realized that the traditional wisdom is wrong.

Bad Programmer Destroys Wealth

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 15:13:05 +0800

After code review, I understood why people say bad programmers destroy wealth. Their productivity is less than 0, which means they are creating bugs and drag the team to fix it. I consistently saw really bad and buggy code here and there, by one programmer who is not at our company. But the code there is guaranteed to be bad, and buggy. Interestingly, bad programmers are very productive if you measure by lines of code they created. So identify them! Early!

Typhoon is Over

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 08:37:08 +0800

This year’s Typoon is over in Shanghai. Actually some nice changes happens this time.

Typhoon hits Shanghai almost every year. Although not seriously, it does impact the lives.

This year, the biggest difference is not the typhoon itself. Yes. It is stronger this year, but the biggest difference is the government.

The Beijing’s heavy rain claimed lives of nearly 100, and Shanghai government acted very proactively. They started to use the post-SARS type of effort to inform residents about what is coming. They also shutdown parks and some public events. At least, this time, due to the recent pressure of the press, and Internet, they are doing reasonably well.

Learning Git

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 11:14:23 +0800

I am learning GIT.

A new frontier for me to learn. GIT.

Technology is actually driven by tool makers. Think of the few generation of advancement: Weaving machines in Florence, Herring cutter and commercial boats in Holland, stream engine in English, electronic and information technology in US - all of them are tools. The advancement of tools help human develop and advance.

GIT is such a tool. I started to use version control with SD (SourceDepot). That was a very good tool developed back in 198x, before git appears in the horizon.

Nanjing, the Capital of a Republic

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 19:28:12 +0800

A danger of travel is that we see things at wrong time, before you have the opportunity to build up the necessary receptivity so that new information is as useless and fugitive as necklace beads without a connecting chains. - Alan de Botton

This time, I visited Nanjing during the weekend, and I had some preparation to get the receptivity, and tried to use a connecting chain to guide what to see. The topic will be the government of Republic of China, a historical term in mainland China, and a current term in Taiwan.

Drawings of Interiors

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 21:49:52 +0800

Let me continue to post my drawings in Italy. This time, the topic will be interiors of buildings. I drew something of what is inside of a building.

Below: The terrance of the hotel (MMV Resort) in Cannes.

Below: Tino steak house in Firenze. Drunk some wine, and was not really conscious at that time. You can tell from the messy strokes.

This one was even worse. I was almost completely drunk, and I am impressed that I could still draw something in that mood.

Confessions of a Failed Programmer

Sun, 05 Aug 2012 16:14:29 +0800

I love to write code. That is not a good news for a CEO who has a business to run, but I just cannot stop loving writing code!

Why?

The story started in 1986, when I was in grade three in primary school. There was a small computer calendar booklet in my home, among tones of others on electronic engineering.

I read it and was amazed by the idea that computers were so smart that they can calculate 1000 times faster than human brain, but at the same time, they were so stupid that they could only do very limited plus calculation at the bottom. That was the early years of my exposure to computer. The lesson learnt is, if you want your kid to grow into some type of people, just buy some books on the topic and put it within the reach of the kids. See what happens!

Drawing of Nature Series

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 21:59:23 +0800

After drawings of churches, interiors, streets, this series is about nature - the trees, sea, and mountains.

This is at Milano, the big part near the fort.

A sketch of the Mediterranean at 5 Terra, Italy.

This is the view from top of the mountain, where our B&B hotel is.

Subtle Impact of a Scheduled Meeting

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 13:08:06 +0800

I am trying to do a full day black out on Wednesdays. It turned out, because of previous appointment, there is one meeting slip to the calendar, so I have take the meeting at 2:00 PM.

Having been super effective this morning, and facing an approaching meeting, I am aware of the psychology change. I started to loose productivity about 10 minutes before …

(Bing! Here they come and interrupted my posting and now the meeting is over)

Reading Note on Richard Hamming's

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 09:36:11 +0800

Below is a reading note on Richard Hamming’s lecture: You and Your Research.

Age: Why most productive things were done young? One of Richard’s explanation was: “If you do some good work, you will find yourself in all kinds of committees and unable to do any more work”. That is the first problem. The second problem is, when you are famous for doing some good work, you can only work on great problems, not small. I was so shocked to know how small the idea Pierre Omidyar, eBay’s founder, had for his next startup. Very few people would understand the once-famous-founders’ second startups at the very beginning.

Why? Visa from Guangzhou

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 08:08:01 +0800

I renewed my visa to the USA. When I got my visa, it prints:

Issuing Post Name: Guangzhou

That comes with a small incident during the submission. When I filled my DS-160 form, I naturally put Shanghai as the application city, but the form was rejected after we sent the passport along with the application. I was instructed to change the port from Shanghai to Guangzhou. No reason was given.

Well. Fine. As along as I can get my visa done, I don’t really care about it, although I feel that US Embassy may owe me an explanation of why. In a sense of justice, actually they don’t owe me anything, but as a customer, or “whomever concerned”, I am curious enough to feel certain that they owe it.

Peace State of Mind

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 07:24:33 +0800

Paul Graham is so sensitive to capture the small but important stuff in life - I call it Fengshui, but just my way. Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule.

Productivity

In the article, I started to understand why I am sometimes much more productive than other. By “some times”, I mean at least a quarter, some times a year. In blogging, for example, pre-2009 years are much more productive than 2010, and 2011. Why is that?

Drawing of Street Views in Italy

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 21:49:27 +0800

I posted some drawings of churches before. Here is another series of street views.

This is a street view of Cannes, France. The only drawing in France.

Below: The mall near the Milano Duomo. There are many luxury stores there.

The square of Venezia - the building of a hotel.

This is the San Macro Plaza in Venezia. The tower is the symbolic sign of the city.

Shanghai's Clear Sky

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 20:50:32 +0800

Shanghai these days is amazing! Look at the photos I took during the weekend. It is just amazing. I just cannot understand why Shanghai’s sky can be so blue and clean. I have never experienced Shanghai like this since I came here. Anyone has any idea?

Some joked that it is because of the wave of bankrupt of factories and fewer factories work. I seems to be a joke, but I started to suspect whether it is partly true.

Relief for Procrastinators

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 08:42:15 +0800

There are two persons in this world that helped me to gain peace in mind. Both them are alive, and not older too much than me, and ironically, both appear on the same day at the Cannes Lion to give lecture, which I both missed. They are Paul Graham, and Alain de Botton. I believe we share a lot of things in common - maybe all of us are ENFP in personality type; we all like writing; and we all love to think.

I Love New Hotmail Design

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 11:04:13 +0800

Saw the Weibo of Teach Liu Run and learnt the Outlook.com, a new interface for the old Hotmail.com. It was great. I love it much better than Hotmail.com or the even worth name Windows Live Mail.

What I love is, it cut all the things the end users don’t care. They cut, cut, cut, cut, cut to an extreme that only leaving a subject line, and a big area for people to write on. That is so cute. An application should behave this way.

Traveler's Schedule

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 08:11:22 +0800

Paul Graham had another article back in 2009 about the Maker’s Schedule vs Manager’s Schedule.

That is a very good observation. “What you do changes very hour” is exactly why people complain the company is getting inefficient. People complaining about the meetings, but actually, they are not complaining the total time spent on meetings, they are complaining that the meetings cut their time into smaller chunk that does not work. Paul even went so far to claim that founders should resist, or at least postpone to become managers.

Sun Rise Observation in Shanghai

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 06:30:37 +0800

From WolframAlpha, I know today, the sun rises at 5:08 AM. So I waked up earlier, and put myself to the top of my 18-story building, and wait for the sun rise. We are used to observe sun rise or sun set at sea, or on top of mountain, and now, observe it from on of the top floors of a skyscraper in Shanghai provides a nice alternative.

I am actually amazed by how accurate the prediction is (well, it is not weather, and for sure people can predict it). When I am going to the take the photo below, my alarm clock set at 5:08 started to ring.

Drawing of Churches in Italy

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 11:20:52 +0800

Inspired by Allen de Botton in Art of Travel, I started to draw some pictures along the way. The key is not the result of the drawing (who cares if I burn it afterward), it is about the process to spend time to appreciate what is before you. You spend half an hour really focus on the object before you and observe!

Here are some of them, with my note.

Italian Humorous Traffic Signs

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 08:49:33 +0800

Italian are born to be humorous. In many cities I visited, the traffic signs were changed a little bit. You can see the creativity of the people there. Unlike graffiti, I feel this modification of public property is humorous, decent, and not offensive. It even can be designed as standard signs to demonstrate the characters of the country. Enjoy some of them.

Below: Smiling Pedestrian This Way.

Below: Leonardo da Vinci not Allowed

Surrounded by the Crazy to be Normal

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 08:08:12 +0800

I don’t say we cannot fight against the crowd, but it is really hard and cost a lot of energy. In the Silicon Valley, when you meet those technical guys, the investors, and entrepreneurs, you are surprised to see how crazy they are:

They use the new technology that you never heard of.
You rush to production and change the server architect, and rewrite the code like crazy.
They gather and talk about something that people in other places never heard of

My Rome

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 07:54:56 +0800

Roma (or Rome) is definitely considered as one of the most beautiful cities. I was excited to spent a quick 24 hours in the city, with about half in Via Dei Condotti shopping street with the girls.

Sitting back in my reading room, and recall what I saw in Roma, and how I feel about it, I started to get stuck. I stayed in a hotel (Mercure) in the northeast side of the city near Plaza Bologna. I visited some famous places like Vatican, Trevi Foundation, Plaza Venezia, Colosseo, or Spagna steps. It was totally an eye pleasure trip, but I still feel there is a wall between me and the city. On the other side, the great meal with local Brother Xiaoyou near Santa Crocs Gerusalemme, and the ice cream fighting in the 100-year old ice cream shop seems more vivid to me, when we barely had consciousness after some nice wine. Why sight seeing is the critical part of the trip but memories with people are another big (if not bigger part)? What is the difference?

Why a Week in Travel Feels Good

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 07:47:01 +0800

The question is, why I feel happier during one week of travel. I dig into it and get the following thoughts.

One week, one goal. If the board meeting is OK, the week is OK. Others are just nice to have. What a wonderful week!
One week, everything taken care of. No electricity bills, no broken washing machines, or air/con, or what so ever.
Lonely time. If you choose, you are in a city alone, with no one even know what you are doing. Even at a hotel room - the sense of loneliness is just beautiful.

Wrap up my Italy Trip

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 07:23:02 +0800

7:18

This is a way belated blog. I have been back from Italy trip for a month, but I barely wrote anything about it. It is the time to do some reflection on the trip, what I saw, what I learnt, about Italy or future trips.

I will create a new category called Italy. My plan is to finish it in one day, today, with all the pictures, and thoughts. I struggled a little bit about how to date the entries, because I typically don’t back date anything. Back dating causes two problems: 1. The entry are very unlikely to be read. 2. That is some small form of dishonest, because that is not the date the post was actually written but reader’s expectation is that. The attempt to back date it is, the whole end of June and early July was empty, and I should fill in the blank with what actually happened during that time for future reference.

Hottest Weibo Ever

Sat, 28 Jul 2012 17:24:05 +0800

I wrote a Weibo two hours ago. It reads:

@王建硕：看到今天事态发展，相当痛心。大家越界了，严重的越界了，开了个不好的头，不象厦门等地的理智。用暴力获取自己要的东西，会使用暴力上瘾。别人的错误不是自己的错误的理由。目的正确永远不能证明过程的正确。如果用现有的思维继续前行更远，中国可能进入下一个可怕的暴力为王的轮回。转发(3015)|评论(1030)今天 15:02

Literally translation:

@Wang Jian Shuo: Seeing the development of the situation today, felt the pain. We crossed the line, seriously crossed the line, and started a bad beginning, not as restrained as Xiamen. If you use violence to get what you want, you will get addicted to violence. Other party’s wrong deed is not the reason of your own wrong deed. Right goal always cannot prove the rightness of process. If we continue to follow the current thinking too far, China may enter into the next terrible violence-ruled circle.

Caught in the Web Movie

Sat, 28 Jul 2012 07:09:40 +0800

Image credit: mtime.com

Chen Kaige’s new movie Caught in the Web is surprisingly good! Wendy and I went to theater yesterday to watch the film. I am deeply shocked by the rare deep thoughts and humorous illustration of the subject. I’d highly recommend everyone to see the movie. It is simply one of the best one I saw in the last few years.

The Theme

The current Chinese society is at a very tricky time if you look at the long history of China. The conflicts from different groups of people, the conflicts between traditional value system to the newly created one, and the deep impact of Internet, new media, social, and mobile - everything is evolving in a much faster pace than any year I have experienced. The confusion of the new generations (well, every new generation is always confused, for few hundred years), the social tension, and understanding, all mixed together to orchestrate a pretty decent scene, for artist, novelist, writers, journalis, directors, and actors to catch, and to illustrate.

Suspicious Equipment on Top of Roof

Sat, 28 Jul 2012 06:05:37 +0800

Let me share something interesting this morning. On top of our 18F residential building, I observed two suspicious equipments. They are suspicious because they tried too hard to look like a typical air-condition outlet. They are obviously not. Look at the front. The hole for the fan, and the grids are all drawn. On the side, they also tried so hard to look like an air-con.

There are two of this pointing to the south east direction.

A Travel Document Just for Taiwan

Sat, 28 Jul 2012 05:26:39 +0800

People in China have to have a lot of documents, from the government.

Besides National ID, Residential Permit Booklet (Hukou Booklet), which everyone has, there are two special documents that are interesting.

One is Pass for Travel to Hong Kong and Macau. That is a special document with the same format and content as a passport, but just for travelling to Hong Kong or Macau. Mainlander still needs a visa, but it is politically incorrect to call it visa. It is a notation, and you have to get it before you travel.

Tough Questions for Some People

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 11:26:55 +0800

When I was filling out US Nonimmigrant Visa DS-160 form (my visa expires again), and I saw the following questions.

Have you, while serving as a government official, been responsible for or directly carried out, at any time, particularly severe violations of religious freedom? Yes No

I know there are many government officials need to say Yes, but I believe they can just lie and choose No.

Another one:

Have you ever been directly involved in the establishment or enforcement of population controls forcing a woman to undergo an abortion against her free choice or a man or a woman to undergo sterilization against his or her free will? Yes No

Driver: A Life Worth 190 RMB

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 05:59:32 +0800

I was on a taxi, and there are pedestrian crossing the road without observing the red light. The driver was very angry, and claimed that if he wants, he just run over the guy, and that only cost him 190 RMB.

I was shocked and asked why? He explained that the insurance covered 80% of any accidents of the taxi driver, and they have a mutual fund of all taxi drivers to cover the rest 20%. So he is free of any payment. The only downside for him personally is, the insurance fee will increase 190 RMB the second year.

Early Wakeup Bankrupted

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 20:52:46 +0800

My early wakeup practice went bankrupt today, after 4 days.

I wrote Jet Lag Builds Early Raiser before:

Jet lag is good thing for me. Whenever in US, or back to Shanghai, jet lag drives me wake up earlier and then I became an early raiser for some days. Thus I have enough time to write more blogs (helping me to get clearer idea about my world, and comprehend the message I got). It is just like an effective “Raise Early” medicine. But the problem is, the effect gets less significant along the day, and I will fade into normal life.

We Design Our Life, at Least for Travel

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 09:56:48 +0800

I met with many people during the trip, and many of them were so interested in China, so that they even sent their kids to Chinese language school, but they never went to China. I asked why, and they said, they were thinking about it. I always encouraged them to come to China - anyway, it is just 12 hours of plane ride away.

The interesting story of Two Monks’s travel story suggested that well preparation, and a lot of money does not guarantee a monk to get to Nanhai from Sichuan. The one who take action made it.

Technical Thinking is Not Necessarily Technical

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 09:47:28 +0800

During a meetup organized by my friend Amy, I met Chris. He is a technical guy - very technical. Besides his work at a high-tech company, he did a lot of things technical. This is what Amy told me.

His grass is greener than all his neighbors, because he really took the soil into the lab to analyze what’s in it, and what is lacking for grass to grow. He added a lot of ingredient and makes it better.

Unbelievable Blue Sky

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 20:44:17 +0800

This is amazingly blue sky in Shanghai. Look at the cloud and the sky. Impressive! I would say that it is the bluest sky I saw in Shanghai in years.

Interestingly, the radio program started to notice this too (for sure), and comment about it. They forecast that the blue sky will last for one more day and rain is coming on Thursday.

3 Comments

wow! It could beat the one in US!

— Yu Zhu · 2012-07-25 06:27

The sky is really fantastic these days, I can not help taking pics even when I am driving!

— Climb · 2012-07-25 15:13

Yes. This one is particular stunning. The white cloud is very like fake one hanging there.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2012-07-25 07:23

Early Morning at French Concession

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 08:46:15 +0800

I waked up early in the morning (5:30 AM), and drove to the french concession. The best time to visit Shanghai is very early in the morning. Here are two buildings. One is at around 140 Fuxing West Road, and the second is on the Wukang Road. Looking at the buildings, and you just feel beauty out of it.

4 Comments

This article may be interesting to you (if you are able to access it)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huangpu_Park
At any rate, a mixed blood city can be best described as 'Melting Pot'.

— stephen · 2012-07-28 04:11

and Stephen, I am happy to see you back. After switching to Weibo, and other social media for about a year, I realized that blog is still the most beautiful form of expression and reading. So I am back and I am happy to see you back too. How are you doing these days?

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2012-07-27 09:12

Stephen, I had written a Chinese blog on this topic: http://home.wangjianshuo.com/cn/20090515_aeaeeieae.htm A mixed blood city called Shanghai. You may want to read it, and I will talk about the story in the future blogs. To be brief, although everyone in China outside Shanghai can take the pride and avoid talking about the history, people in Shanghai are culturally born with a Chinese mother, and a western father, and that culture is in the blood, so people have a mixed feeling toward the beautiful heritage (it IS beautiful), and the rape that happened 100 years ago.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2012-07-27 09:02

Fuxing Rd and Wukang Rd used to call Route Lafayette and Route Ferguson respectively, I am surprised you still use the term French Concession as most younger Shanghaiese regarded this colonial history as infamy together with the structures at the bund, only the local elders have the vivid memory of the past. Can you please tell me the present general point of view towards this 'unfaithful' history of Shanghai.
At any rate, glad to see your blog is strengthened.

— stephen · 2012-07-27 00:28

Daylight Saving Time - My Way

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 07:23:07 +0800

During this west coast travel in the States, I started to think about daylight saving time (DST), in my own way.

The whole idea of daylight saving is, there are many more additional hours of daylight in summers than winters. Since we always define 12:00 as noon when the sun is at the highest position, there are two hours of more daylight in the morning, and in the evening.

The other fact is, people tend to extend activity to the evening, instead of morning. The evidence is, lighting (candles, or electronic) are most used at evening than in the morning. Most people just don’t wake up in the morning, lit the light, and do something. Modern activities, like movies, sports, entertainments, after work life, and even education tend to leverage the hours in the evening.

US Nonimmigrant Visa Application DS-160

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 11:07:21 +0800

Edit Personal Information

Name Provided:

WANG, JIANSHUO

Full Name in Native Alphabet:

王建硕

Other Names Used:

Telecode Name Used:

Sex:

MALE

Marital Status:

MARRIED

Date of Birth:

18 OCTOBER 1977

Place of Birth:

LUOYANG, HENAN, CHINA

Nationality:

CHINA

Other Nationalities:

National Identification Number:

410305197710185334

U.S. Social Security Number:

DOES NOT APPLY

U.S. Taxpayer ID Number:

DOES NOT APPLY

Edit Address and Phone Information

Home Address:

ROOM 501, BUILDING 28

What We Can Learn from Travellers

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 06:35:05 +0800

Travel is a habit changer, and a mind changer. From time to time, I acknowledge the benefit of travel, and its positive impact on me.

Break the Boundary of Time

Travelers may have different sense of time than the residence. I waked up and wandered around the Bund at 5:30 am today, and saw many travelers - who else wake up so early to get to a tourism location? When I was in the valley, because we are running out of the daily schedule, 9:00 am is not that a sharp dividing line between pre-work to work. Sunday and Saturday are not that different, than work days.

Large Wave of Factory Bankrupt in China

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 13:01:07 +0800

When I open newspaper, especially on Weibo, bad news are coming one after another. There are a large wave of factory bankrupt and shutdown starting from this year. The wave spread out from Pearl Delta, to Yangtze Delta, and quickly spread out to the whole China.

Labor Cost as the Last Straw

Most of the news attributed the bankrupt to a lot of factors, including the decline of export orders, and increase of material cost. But seldom can they ignore the fact that the labor cost has increased like crazy.

Have You Been to Shanghai? Think Twice!

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 07:47:58 +0800

I have been in Shanghai for 17 years (I cannot believe it), but I suddenly realized that I haven’t really been to Shanghai. A visit to the Bund and Nanjing Road shocked me. I haven’t ever been there! Never!

Suffered (or enjoyed) from my jet lag pattern from the States, I waked up early in a very comfortable way (not tired, and not sleepy, and just waked up) at 4:00 AM. After writing some blog post, I packed my bag and grabbed a taxi and threw myself to the beginning of the Bund.

Startups should be in Bad Areas - SOMA

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 05:04:22 +0800

I had some quick discussion with Matt during a meeting.

I realized that SOMA (South of Market) has been the new hot place for startups. There are many of the well-know startups there: Wired, Twitter, Dropbox, Justin.tv, BT, Yelp, Zynga, Rapleaf. Previously, Six Apart, and Rojo were there.

Recently, the government is putting a lot of effort there to turn it into a better place.

I said: Startup should always live in bad areas. Because by definition, startups should run very cheaply. Where is the cheapest place to rent? Bad areas.

Different View on New Technology Adoption

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 04:45:03 +0800

In Silicon Valley, obviously there are a lot different views on technology. Although generally they are on the same direction, the minor difference are huge enough. I had conversation with three different people, and their view comes from aggressive, neutral and conservative. Here is the story (without revealing the name, while sorry for not giving the credit).

New Technology! Always! As Fast As You Can!

****I visited a startup, and they are not officially launching their product yet. They are using the latest technology. Here are some:

How Many Times I Visited the Bay Area

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 03:28:14 +0800

I am asking myself the question:

How many times I visited the bay area?

I asked because I was asked, many times.

The first clue come from the United Airlines frequent flyer program. Although I don’t always fly United, it is a good place to get started. Then the blog posting is another very powerful way to trace back. Finally, combined with the US customer stamps on my passport, I basically have some idea.

Wrapping up My Trip to Silicon Valley

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 23:35:40 +0800

Just as the starting and end of every trip to my favorite travel destination, say, Sanya, I am always telling myself that I should come here more often at the first day of landing, and at the last day. Silicon Valley is exactly giving me that feeling and even stronger.

I am sitting at my desk at Days Inn of Palo Alto, and thinking about packing up for flight UA857 back to Shanghai. Looking back, it was a great trip again. Here is a brief summary of it.

Silicon Valley is the Florence in Action

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:03:27 +0800

I was born too late - 450 years late, and I don’t know what it looks like in Florence at Renaissance. I heard at that time, in every coffee shop, and in every room, there are people talking about painting, sculpture, music, etc, and there are some greatest artist, like Michael-angel, emerging in those days in Florence.

But I am born at the right time, and be able to visit Silicon Valley often. I would dare to claim that Silicon Valley is the Florence of today. Look around. You see every coffee shop, University Cafe, Coupa Cafe, or anyone, you name it, there are conversation about startups, technology, and funding of the ideas. In the thousands of office buildings in the area, in every single room, and before every whiteboard, there are people dreaming, talking, writing, and sharing, and building something. There are some of the greatest companies like Apple, Google, Facebook of all ages, and there are some greatest entrepreneurs emerging in this area, one after the other. The technology, especially in software, and Internet, was advanced in amazing speed, and that impact the whole world. Think about it. It is just amazing.

CEO's Responsibility Framework

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 17:03:41 +0800

I meat with a great CEO in his office. Very impressive. He summarized the duty of a CEO and that is very true. The framework is strategy, priority, and people.

Strategy is where to go, and how to get there. It has to be very clear. To get rid of ambiguity is the key. People may or may not agree with the strategy, and we can talk, but at any given moment, and you ask people: “What is the most important thing for the company”, and they should all tell you growth, and if you ask “how you make money”, and the answer should be the same - not now, but these are the options. He believes in meritocratic, not democratic. Being in the company does not entitle everyone to be weighted the same. You have to work hard to gain that credit.

The Art of Elimination of Decisions

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 17:04:20 +0800

I had great time with AG yesterday (I let not to disclose the name before checking) at Red Rock in Mountain View. It was such an inspiring talk. Among them, there is a story about decision making.

He said once, a successful entrepreneur Ben told him about how he made a decision. At that time, he was running a company and are going to raise another round of financing. They turned out to raise 40 million USD at 160 million valuation. Actually, based on the 5 people team, they would have only need to raise 5 million. Why so much!? The answer was quite wise and insightful:

Will Bay Area Become Firenze

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 01:52:07 +0800

I am in the silicon valley. There is no big monuments, no churches, and not even something big enough to see. The whole valley is about interaction between people. When that fade out, Silicon Valley may be another Firenze (Florence, Italy). I visited Firenze few weeks ago, and realized that the city where everyone is painting, sculpturing, and talking is gone. I went there 450 years late. Will Silicon Valley become another Firenze after 400 years, with just the buildings, and the legendary stories of the information revolution?

World Bandwidth is Getting Cheaper

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 01:13:28 +0800

In Italy, I got 3G network for one month, unlimited data and 5 EURO calling at 12 EURO (10 EURO in Venize). In the bay area, I am going to get T-Mobile 1.5G monthly plan at $25. It seems the world bandwidth cost is getting down, except China, right now.

I am in Bay Area Again

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 11:23:38 +0800

I am at T2 of Shanghai Pudong Airport, and ready to get on board UA858 to San Francisco. I will be in the bay area from July 14 to July 19, 2012. Besides some pre-arranged meetings, I’d like to visit more startups during this trip. I visited Google, Facebook, eBay for too many times, and even Apple, and Yahoo!. This time, I am looking forward to meeting more friends from startups - companies with 5 to 20 people and understand the subtle difference between a pure startup and a mid-sized company, and how to push the company psychological age down.

Back from France-Italy Trip

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 22:26:20 +0800

It has been a while. I was on road - Cannes, Nice, France, and varies cities in Italy. Here is a brief schedule of what happened in the last 10 days. Just FYI if you plan the same trip. I will share more photos later.

6/20 Fly from Shanghai to Dubai to Nice, France Stay in MMV Resort Registration of Cannes International Creative Festival Have coffee with the delegation Attend the Cannes Lion Award ceremony Have dinner at restaurant near the Dame

Wendy and I was in Monoca

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 21:50:37 +0800

Photo by olivetree2010

This may be the only photo we had there. :-)

The Most Unprepared Trip Ever

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 19:07:36 +0800

I am about the leave for Cannes, France. This is the most unprepared trip I had ever had. I was in full day meeting for two days, and till now, I don’t know exactly where the place is, how to get there, which airline of flight, and what we are going to do there. Wendy is working to put everything together, which I am completely not aware of.

Is it a good thing? If it is, by what means? Not? By what means?

Microsoft Zizhu Campus

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 22:58:17 +0800

I visited the Microsoft Zizhu campus, and met with many old friends - I didn’t expect to see about 10 persons who joined Microsoft around my joining, and they are still there after more than 10 years.

I was a little bit sad though to see the current Microsoft is more like the Yahoo! Sunnyvale campus, than the office in my memory. The building quality is not good enough, and that surely does not justify the long distance from the downtown.

Visibility Shocks People

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 21:52:25 +0800

Blue Sky in Shanghai

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 22:26:32 +0800

It is so rare - there are blue sky and clear air. I took this photo out of the window of our 18th floor office in Xujiahui.

Whenever I see city scene like this in Shanghai, I am thinking about climbing to the top of a skyscraper - either World Financial Center, or JW Marriott with my sketch book and draw something of this city.

1 Comments

It's going to raining.....

— Michael · 2012-06-06 13:57

World As I Travelled

Sun, 03 Jun 2012 17:02:45 +0800

I wrote about the Chinese provinces I visited. It is the time to do a summary about the world as I travelled - the foreign countries I set my foot on. The life is a long journey, and many people believe it is endless, and they always have a chance to visit every country of the world. Not likely to happen. If that is something I really get interested, set a plan for it.

Happy Birthday to Yifan

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 12:14:32 +0800

Happy Birthday to my little Yifan. He is 5 years old today!

We first went to the Century Park, Yifan’s favorite.

Then had dinner at Kerry Center.

Birthday Party

At home, we had the birthday cake, and Yifan invited his best friend Xuanxuan to join us.

Happy Children's Day at Baixing

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 22:22:00 +0800

This was the first family day we organized. More than 10 kids visited our office, and had a wonderful party together. Below are photos taken by @摄影人-红姐. Kids are obviously happy to see both other kids and their parents on afternoons of working days.

Chinese Provinces I Visited

Thu, 31 May 2012 21:50:43 +0800

Xiaoliang wrote that majority of people in Israel visited 12 countries before age of 35. Let me count how many Chinese provinces I visited.

Heilongjiang
Harbin. I visited there as interviewer when we went there to recruit from Harbin University of Science and Technology
Liaoning
Dalian. Visited there many times for business, and jus for tour.
Beijing
Visited this city for at least 30 times. The most frequently visited city other than my home city.

Mangzhong Finished, and We are Happy

Wed, 30 May 2012 22:05:11 +0800

This photo marks the end of a project, and it seems everyone is happy about it. In case you are curious, I was standing on top of a table when taking this photo.

Unnatural Community Means Failure

Tue, 29 May 2012 15:36:55 +0800

I am quite amused by Alexis Madrigal’s story How Google Can Beat Facebook Without Google Plus. This is one of the best article talking about the deep reasons why a product succeed or fail.

California City

****He mentioned California City, CA. Although it is the largest city by land in CA, it only has 15K residents - 1/10 of the number in residential area I am living. The California city has all the infrastructure a great city needs to have, but, it is just an empty city. People gather because of other people, not the infrastructure.

Yifan's Hair Cut

Mon, 28 May 2012 22:59:34 +0800

Yifan grows up, and he is not afraid of hair cut. He is cooperative tonight when I brought him for haircut. He acted as grown-ups. Look at the photos:

It is just one week away from Yifan’s 5 year birthday. His mom said, I lost another job - to hold Yifan to have him haircut. I said: we are going to lose more and more functions that Yifan really needs you in the days to come.

Sunday Dinner with Yifan

Sun, 27 May 2012 21:28:36 +0800

We had Italian dinner at Coolzey Pizza at Huashan Road. The benefit of living in Shanghai, despite of high living cost, is access to all kinds of food, if you want to explorer.

We are away from the downtown Shanghai for too long, and since Wendy is driving, I can take some photos of the skyscrapers.

P.S. In the afternoon, Yifan met with his other classmates, and they played football for long enough - to be hungry.

Yifan's New Drawing of Owl

Sun, 27 May 2012 21:17:20 +0800

We basically didn’t send Yifan to any pre-school education other than his kindergarten, to give him enough time to explorer what he loves at home. He showed great interest in drawing, go, singing, and making stuff using paper and Lego. So we started to bring him to drawing class and see if he loves it.

Chengshan Road Under Construction

Sat, 26 May 2012 22:32:17 +0800

After completed for few years, the Chengshan Road surface is under construction. The big machine had get rid of asphalt of the surface, and waiting for the new surface to be laid out. So, currently, the road surface looks like this:

It will be few days like this, and it caused big problem with the traffic. It reminded me of the most advanced asphalt paving system I have ever seen. It combined the two steps into one, and the road is instantly new with the asphalt. Shanghai should learn from Weihai.

Yifan has a Visitor

Fri, 25 May 2012 22:25:44 +0800

Yifan’s best friend at kindergarten is Xuanxuan, our neighbor. He had Xuanxuan visited us tonight. The two kids spent great time together drawing trains, and building trains using Lego. Two kids can talk and can share happiness, and can understand things that only makes sense in their world. China really need to think about changing its one child policy. I don’t know how this half century recorded in history.

Bottle Opening Fee

Thu, 24 May 2012 20:26:38 +0800

Many restaurants in Shanghai charge a bottle-opening fee for any wine brought by customers themselves. The typical amount is 50 RMB per bottle. I didn’t know the reason of this pricing and thought it was too expensive.

Recently, when I compare the purchase price and the retail price of the wine, I started to form a theory that they charge for 50 RMB, because that is the typical margin for them to sell a bottle of wine there. For example, a bottle of wine priced at 100 RMB/bottle are likely to have about 50 RMB as purchase price. Does it make sense?

Talents are the Key to Success

Wed, 23 May 2012 19:03:29 +0800

This is a pretty dumb statement. Everyone knows it. Everyone says it. Every textbook have it. Every leadership session talks about it. Every…..

But common sense is not common, and some times it does not make sense. (Jian Shuo Wang’s invented the second part of this phrase).

I sat down with Quanzhan this noon to afternoon to talk about the talent. It is not surprising for a research organization of Tencent, talents are the No. 1 priority. The selection standard, the talent, and the retention are something that makes a great workplace and a winning business.

Accumulation Calories Burning and More

Tue, 22 May 2012 22:42:59 +0800

Accumulation Calories Burning

Nike+ is a great product. It turned running into something interesting. I started to accumulate my calories burning history from March and that is the main driver for my running. Blog posts are the visible mileage of my writing, and the thinking behind it. It is said:

If you cannot messuare, you cannot improve

Either blog posting or Nike+ is a way to measure, and to improve, because numbers are the few things in this world to have a clear direction, while ideas, and wish are pointing to many directions.

Losing by Spending Money

Mon, 21 May 2012 21:28:26 +0800

When we spend money, we thought we bought something. But recently, I realized it may be losing, in many cases. Here are examples.

Buying a Car

Ever since I bought my car, I felt more and more disconnected with this city. I don’t talk with people on the way home, and I don’t see anything new. I don’t observe, and I don’t hear anything. I am losing many things.

Hiring a driver

TEDxShanghai 520 Event

Sun, 20 May 2012 20:23:57 +0800

I attended the TEDxShanghai event today (May 20, 2012) at the Shanghai Concert Hall.

TED means Technology, Entertainment, and Design. It was started in mid-1980s, and kept the vision of “Ideas worth spreading”. The famous TED main conference in California charges 7500 USD for each participants, and is sold out soon.

TEDx is independently organized TED event. It is brand licensing model, like franchise. It is non-profit - all profit needs to go back to the TED organizing itself. There are strict rules of each TED event - the rules makes the TEDx events pretty consistent with the main TED theme.

Baixing Office Pictures in May 2012

Sat, 19 May 2012 19:06:53 +0800

At weekend, I am staying in the office of Baixing.com and took some photos of the empty workspace. After moving to this building (Haoran High-Tech Building on the campus of Shanghai Jiaotong University) for 5 years and move to the 2nd floor for half years, the office is finally fully opened. We occupied the first half and expanded to the second half recently. People often ask me what the office look like. Now, let me give you a tour.

My 3 Words for 2012

Sat, 19 May 2012 00:21:58 +0800

It is almost the middle of the year, when I read Elliot’s blog entry: My 3 Words for 2012, where he got inspiration from Chris Brogan. For an ENFP, to-do-list is not my style. I would rather have a theme and put everything around that Guiding Pillars. With a theme, it is more like a pull not a push, and that is the mode of life I enjoy.

Here are my three themes: Talent, Do, ( ). I am leaving the third to later time.

Finally on WordPress

Fri, 18 May 2012 22:17:54 +0800

If you see this message, it means you are reading a website created by WordPress.

After considering moving from MovableType to WordPress, to actual migration, I am finally there! Congrats to WordPress. You just won me from the MT camp.

Yifan Loves Taking Photos

Thu, 17 May 2012 00:02:42 +0800

When Yifang got a chance to take photos with iPhone, he will carefully point to any object that got his attention and take photos of it. Everyday, he generate a lot of “garbage pictures” on my iPhone.

However, I decided not to delete them. I am going to keep them forever, at least to safely transfer the photos to Yifan when he grows up, and he can make the decisions later. I created a folder called “Yifan’s World” in my laptop, and drag all the pictures he took there. Here are some samples of what he took.

Spam Enters China

Wed, 16 May 2012 23:32:30 +0800

I am not talking about email spam, or comment spam. I am talking about Spam from Hormel - the lunch meat.

I am not sure if it has been in China market for a while or not. I just saw it on the table of my dining room few days ago.

I am happy that people are rich enough not to have to each spam every day.

Remote Access to iMac at Home

Mon, 14 May 2012 23:02:28 +0800

I have a iMac computer at home which is always on. I want to find ways to access this computer from office. Here is my technical note when I did my research about how to do it.

Migrating MovableType to WordPress

Sun, 13 May 2012 22:15:09 +0800

This is a migration guide I wrote solely for the benefit of myself. Although I don’t think I need it the second time, to have a detailed reproduce steps written and modify to reflect the actual steps are the basic skills of a support engineer (by training).

The Problems

The basic export/import stuff works for MovableType to WordPress - pretty straight forward. There are only three minor issues that prevent the smooth transition.

Thinking about Switching to Wordpress

Sat, 12 May 2012 12:39:37 +0800

I am a one with emotions. I have been using MovableType for almost 10 years - daily. There are many great memories with MovableType. I know their founders (well, met briefly during my first Silicon Valley trip), and I know many of their people (well, early employees, not sure if they are still there). They even hosted a 6 year blogging anniversary for me in their office. I am using MovableType daily for so long. To be short, I loved MovableType, and the team.

Over Optimistic and Over Pessimistic

Fri, 11 May 2012 23:14:36 +0800

Based on my observation on the International companies in China, which failed, or failing, they are swinging from the over optimistic mode to over pessimistic mode. eBay is an example, and Google is another.

They start with big ambition to get the whole country in few months, or 1 year, but it quickly find out that it is mission impossible and then they quickly switch to the over pessimistic mode and claim the failure. They are actually not.

New Traditional Industry Leaders Meetup

Thu, 10 May 2012 23:46:22 +0800

This is an interesting gathering - a group of CEOs of Internet companies in Shanghai agreed to meet quarterly. We joked the industry has become a new “traditional industry”, because it has been labor intensive, unlike the traditional internet business model.

Here is the final photo:

From the left to right are:

Afu, CEO of JJDD.com

Zhang Tao, CEO of Dianping.com

Bill Yao, CEO of PPTV.com

Mike Liang, CEO of Anjuke.com

The Question to Ask on Dinner Party

Wed, 09 May 2012 23:29:16 +0800

Check out Auren Hoffman’s blog post: TPQ - Thought Provoking Questions. This answered the question about “The Awkwardness of Meeting Someone in Person” I mentioned yesterday in this post. It is the lack of a good question.

Dr. Andreas Weigend’s TPQ was, “What was your biggest surprise in the last year?”

I got another one, it is asked by Adams Lashinsky: “How you can make big money in the next 20 years?”

The Top of Paul Graham's List

Tue, 08 May 2012 22:03:51 +0800

A short quote from Paul Graham’s to do list in this article The Top of My Todo List:

Don’t ignore your dreams; don’t work too much; say what you think; cultivate friendships; be happy.

Paul continued to be the most amazing writers that I read - he have some genuine thoughts, and guide him and many of his startups. I would highly recommend you to read his blog.

The Awkwardness of Meeting Someone in Person

TnDao, Shanghai's TED

Mon, 07 May 2012 22:02:16 +0800

I attended the TnDao forum. It was great.

TnDao forum was inspired by TED, and was initiated by Mr. Dai Jianbiao and many other great people like Miss Jian Fang, and Mr. Jian Changjian. It is a monthly talk of great people and offers an opportunity for few hundreds people to escape from their busy lives to get inspired by new ideas, especially from different industries.

You can get more information and the past video from http://tndao.com.

Longjing is My Favorite Village

Sun, 06 May 2012 23:29:20 +0800

“40-year-old is the time to form one’s value system”, He Ying meant it when we had coffee tonight, after I am back from Hangzhou (the fourth consecutive weekend).

The mountain area of Hangzhou is very good place for exercise, to drink, eat, to stay and to think. Among the villages, I love Longjing 龙井, Manjuelong 满觉陇 and Yangmeiling 杨梅岭 most. I climbed the mountains, and drinker the tea, and rate it as my favorite village in China. (Well, this is a very biased view, since I only visited very few of them. But anyone has the right to do the rating anyway, right?)

Going to Hangzhou Again

Sat, 05 May 2012 12:30:31 +0800

After being in Hangzhou for three consecutive weekend, I decided to go to Hangzhou again, today, with Wendy and Yifan.

This is an action to break the laziness and make some difference in the normal life.

IF, I mean everyone can imagine the IF part, we set our home in Hangzhou, and we will commute to Hangzhou every weekend. I know many people, at least 10 of them, have their home in a different city and they have to do the same thing as we do today, for years. Many of them have homes in Shanghai but work in Beijing or Shenzhen, or Hangzhou.

Shanghai Real Estates Still Under Control

Fri, 04 May 2012 22:38:57 +0800

The Chinese government always have more methods to control whatever they want to control. They can control how many child you are allowed to have, and it is not surprising to see how many houses you can buy.

According to the House Purchase Restriction order:

For local residents who already have one apartment, and non-local residents who have been paying tax for two years, they can only purchase another one.
For local residents with two or more apartments, or non-local residents with one or more apartments, they are not allowed to buy any houses/apartments.

Interior Drawing Practices

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 22:04:50 +0800

Here are some photos of my drawing of what is inside a room.

It is a little bit better that the previous drawings.

7 Year Anniversary of Baixing

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 23:33:17 +0800

It is an exciting day. Looking back of the 7 years, I cannot imagine how I can be luckier to have a group of really talented, committed, and passionate friends to work on this. 7 years is not a short period of time. That is almost 1/7 of one’s entire working life. This group of people stayed with each other, hand in hand, and marching forward - to change the world.

Changzhou

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 20:17:37 +0800

I am in Changzhou.

So far, it seems amazing. The city is clean and nice - just as an extension of the whole Biyun or Liangyan Area of Shanghai. It is just amazing.

Planning Ahead Ended with Packed Days

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:18:44 +0800

I am planning ahead and started to put appointment one or two weeks ahead of time. Some of the meeting appointment is even a quarter away.

This practice ended up with very packed day. In the last few days, my schedule is like a meeting every two hours or one hour. I actually had 5 meetings today.

The upside of this type of scheduling is, it put the most important things on the calendar first, and you make sure you the important things done first, instead of urgent one.

Connect with People We Know

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 22:38:00 +0800

Here is the challenge. Just as scaling the organization, as I grew, well, to 30-some, the relationship network I accumulate over the last 20 years started to reach a scale that is hard to manage the old way. Maybe that is the reason why time flies faster and faster. Think of Yifan - he only has about 10 person relationship he needs to manage right now (at the age of 4, parents, grandparents, teachers, and a girl-friend). I have at least 1000 people in my address book that I had once kept pretty close relationship along the way.

Big Surprise: How Much Apple Product I Bought

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 17:44:18 +0800

One of the biggest surprise in 2011 was how many Apple product I bought. I had never imagined that before. Here is a list:

iMac as the main desktop computer in our reading room.
MacBook Air 13’ as my main laptop.
MacBook Air 11’ as Wendy’s main laptop
iPhone 4 for my main phone
iPhone 4 for Wendy’s main phone
iPad first generation for me
iPad 2 for Wendy
Time Capsule as main wireless router, and main NAS

Scaling An Organization

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:04:36 +0800

I love technology, and enjoy scaling a system. You build the right architecture to allow scale out - using more computers to provide more processing power.

Talking about a company, we have to scale it as well. It is an art of scaling a human organization. To make a scalable system work for the people is much more complicated than in technical world.

When an organization grows, easy things started to become difficult. In technical world, insert a record into a database, serving a page view - any newly-graduate computer major can do the job. Inserting 1 million record per minute into the database, or serving 1 billion page views per day? Not easy. For the organization, it is the same. Communication within 1 0 person team is very different from 100 person team.

Network Infrastructure in My Home - After 10 Years

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:22:36 +0800

I wrote an article about 10 years ago (on September 13, 2002) named:

Network Infrastructure in my Home in Shanghai

Time flies. So many things changed since I wrote that blog ten years ago.

I was at age of 25 at that time, and now I am 35
At that time, I was an engineer at Microsoft who likes and good at writing technical articles like Knowledge Base Articles. Now, I am an entrepreneur who only cares about the network to be working than anything else.

What is CEO's Job

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:59:29 +0800

What a CEO should do? I have to recommend an article from Ben Horowitz again (the second time in a week): How Andreessen Horowitz Evaluates CEOs.

Here is some note I took away from the reading. You should definitely read it too, by yourself.

According to Ben, he thinks the CEOs should do two things:

Does the CEO know what to do?
Can the CEO get the company do what he knows?

Shanghai New Traditional Industry Gather

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:24:35 +0800

New Year Gather

The interesting part of life is to set traditions. We now have a new tradition: to meet quarterly within the community of Internet entrepreneurs in Shanghai. Here is the first gather:

They are the CEO of dianping.com, 61.com, 51.com, pptv.com, jjdd.com, some of the most important internet websites in China.

Beautiful Life

Alan de Botton is really my favorite writer. I am re-reading his “Consolation of Philosophy”, and it inspired me a lot. On Consolation of Lack of Money, he wisely quoted Epicure about the natural and necessary needs of human. It turned out that those does not cost a lot of money, like running, is natural and necessary, while expensive houses and fame are not. We really need to switch the paradigm of this world.

Pudong IKEA is 500 Calorie Away

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:42:33 +0800

I just got Nike+ and started to test run with my iPhone. The first experiment is to understand how much calorie a typical running route cost. So I picked southbound of my home.

It turned out that the Pudong IKEA store is exactly 500 calories away from my home. That means, if I want to increase 33% calorie burn, or get rid of what I got from a dinner, I should just decide to visit IKEA.

Highly Recommend Ben Horowitz's Blog

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:35:08 +0800

Here is a list of articles on the left side of Ben’s Blog. I found out all of them - every single article of them worth reading. You should, if you also run a company.

Why We Prefer Founding CEOs
When Smart People are Bad Employees
Microsoft Buys Skype
How Andreessen Horowitz Evaluates CEOs
How to Minimize Politics in Your Company
Peacetime CEO/Wartime CEO
Nobody Cares
What’s The Most Difficult CEO Skill? Managing Your Own Psychology
Taking the Mystery out of Scaling a Company
Four Things Some VCs Do That I Don’t Like
Why Startups Should Train Their People Thanks Richard Lim for sharing the first article with us.

P.S. John Morgidge, CEO cisco, once said

Pretotype - Inspired by Alberto Savoia

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 08:51:32 +0800

Yutong sent me the prototype book by Alberto Savoia. In the first page I saw this quote:

Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn once said: “If you are not embar- rassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.”

Very nicely said. Thanks Yutong.

Obviously, anything that sounds right must be put into context, and the tough part is, the author often ignore that part, and only tell you the conclusion. Just as the “Little Horse Crossing the River” story, the Ox, and the squirrel told completely different idea but they forgot to tell the horse that the depth of the river was relative to THEIR heights.

Epicureanism

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 23:45:10 +0800

There is a section in the book The Consolations of Phylosiphy covering the topic of Epicureanism. May spend some time to understand it.

We setup Sonos system at home. Good speaker with an iPhone type of system in it.

And Wendy fell in love with the new Kindle.

Hmmm.

3 Comments

which kindle?

— ecodelta · 2012-01-30 01:45

Which kindle?

— ecodelta · 2012-01-30 05:40

Kindle Touch Wifi.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2012-01-30 08:01

Long Long Road Ahead - G40

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 10:42:09 +0800

G40 is the code for Shanghai - Shaanxi National Expressway. It starts from Shanghai and run about 1500 km and goes from about 31.23°N, 121.5°E to 34.27°N, 108.9°E. That is almost one time zone difference (15 degree).

It is pretty handy to get back to Wendy’s home town Nanyang from Shanghai. Along the way, we started from G42 and went across G15 and G2 in Shanghai, G25 and G3 in Nanjing, G35 in the middle of no where and G45 near east of Xinyang, G4 at Xinyang and finally G55 in Nanyang. That is basically the traverse of the China National Highway System.

Why We Like Hotels

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 09:30:50 +0800

We finally arrived at hotel at Nanjing, after 7 hours of driving. “We love hotels” Wendy and I agreed, not to mention our little hotel lover, Yifan. He just started to run around and play with all kinds of things.

Here is the question: why we love hotels?

It is empty. There are drawers but nothing in it. There are enumertable number of items even in the washroom: soap, shampoo, lotion, tooth brush. There are desks, but basically nothing is readable on it. There are TV - yes. If they remove the TV, it can bring more sense of emptiness.

Visiting Bay Area in Mid January

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 11:16:31 +0800

Travel news! I am visiting the bay area from January 13 to January 19, 2012.

I want my readers to know the news, and if you want a meet up, please drop an email to me at jianshuo at hotmail.com

Drove to Hangzhou and Back, in a Day

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 00:16:24 +0800

To have a travel companion is very important to long distance driving. I drove to Hangzhou, 2 hours, this morning from 9:30 to 11:30 am (well, in Hangzhou, it took another 30 minute in traffic), and back in two hours (7:00 to 9:00 pm) with Jim, Jack, and Jiangfeng. The trip was nice with a car full of interesting people. :-)

P.S. It is OK not to speak Cantonese…. :)

Jian Shuo, Yifeng, and Keso in Same Photo

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 00:11:01 +0800

Finally, one of the three very similar Chinese IT bloggers got into the same photo, for the first time. It is also my first time to meet Yifeng in person.

5 Comments

Yifeng Ruan?

Wow 这个跟他博客上面的照片怎么不太像

— GLORY · 2011-11-06 02:41

是啊，没想到一峰这么瘦。

— Rory · 2011-11-06 19:47

博主，你们的广告做得怪有意思的，比58之前那个扯着嗓子喊得好多啦。不过网页设计的到没广告那么简洁了。不过我是门外汉，就是说说自己的感受。还有就是见到阮一峰庐山真面目啦。

— lesley · 2011-11-07 09:27

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— deepa · 2011-11-29 21:33

Excellently written article, if only all bloggers offered the same content as you, the internet would be a much better place. Please keep it up!

— SMC solenoid valve · 2011-12-01 14:52

Culture Shock in my Own Country

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 00:16:44 +0800

When foreigners enter a difference country, they feel the culture shock. However, I found out that even in China, I sometimes feel the culture shock myself, from time to time.

Regional Culture Shock

China is large, and China differs a lot from region to region. The recent trip to Xi’an is pretty shocking in some ways - how people see entrepreneurs, and how people value their fixed income jobs - very different from Shanghai.

Back to University

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 23:56:42 +0800

We had a nice university recruiting event tonight at the East China Science and Technology University. It is successful because the company is well presented, and the Q&A section was good. If any of you have missed the event, you can simply contact us with your resume at eduhr@baixing.com, and I am looking forward to hear from you.

Here are some random notes of today. (As Paul suggested, some times to spend time to record the random note is helpful to relax, and get more unstructured inspiration. I added, the other way to do that is just to draw - follow what you see, and don’t care what is drawn on the paper).

Wrapping up YLF Xi'an Trip

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 23:13:20 +0800

I am wrapping up this year’s YLF trip on the flight from Xi’an to Shanghai. I said farewell to my dearest friends today, after singing the song of all kinds on friendship last night. From time to time, I assert the necessity of the trip most of the time when I wrap it up. Obviously, these three days are very worth the time.

Cross Industry Knowledges

Photo by Ron Xu

Songs are One of the Culture Gaps

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 23:56:31 +0800

This year’s YLF ended tonight, with a mad karaok until mid-night of both the Chinese and American participants. It was so fun to sing a Chinese song and an American song alternatively. This is the second time YLF went to sing together in my memory.

Music is Universal, Dance is, but Popular Songs are Not

This is my observation of this interesting event. The music is universal. When the music started, no matter it was Chinese or English song, people just started to get excited and swung, and danced with it. That is the mutual bounding between the people. We never feel we share the same humanity as much as when we are dancing with the same music.

Reflection of My 5 Years of YLF

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 19:06:44 +0800

This is the summary of what I talked during this year’s YLF about my personal experience of the program

The theme of this year’s YLF is YLF Time Capsule - what I am going to put into the time capsule to be opened in the future to help understand the present. I actually will put something that I took out of the time capsule I started about 5 years ago. It is a list of articles I wrote about YLF. You know, I am a blogger. I write daily, in the last 10 years. I have about 70 entries mentioning YLF out of the 3000 entries, which means YLF is at least 5% of my life. The actual impact is even higher than that. I am lucky to be able to read the articles and understand how it got started, and how the magic happened.

Jade Valley Winery in Lantian

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 23:38:35 +0800

YLF has unique connections. The second day conference were held in unique places. June connected us with Shui Lu An where she helped to preserve, and Haisong and Phil connected us with Jade Valley Winery, where we held the nice discussion in the afternoon and dinner.

Photo by Ron Xu

Image taken by Ron Xu

Jade Valley Winery

Jade Valley Winery is one of the most unexpected encounters during the last few years for me. In the middle of the mountains of Qin Range, and beside the villages that cannot be more common in the area stood a Stone House, a residence that is built with the modern architect. We also visited the Jade Valley Resort - a well designed and constructed site at the top of a hill, facing the G40 Shanghai - Xi’an Expressway, and a large grape land.

YLF in Xi'an

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 23:20:20 +0800

I cannot believe it that it is the tenth anniversary of YLF (Young Leader’s Forum). It is the biggest personal commitment I made during the last five years to take three days out of the 365 days I have (about 1%), and it is also the best rewarding time I got. It is so amazing to spend time with the really talented people from both China and US, and from many sectors (business, architect, lawyer, dancer, education, journalism, military, space program, government officials, artist, publishers - you name it). Although I do hope I can be with the company in my daily work so much (exciting things going on there), I always told me that this is the best long term investment in myself, and even in the family, and the company around me. It is basically about making personal connections and make myself a better person.

Arrived at Xi'an

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 23:57:27 +0800

Wow. What a busy day. With two meetings in two places, and many meetings in the office. I even left my laptop in the Peace Hotel (and finally found it), and still have no idea where I left my jacket. When I am at the flight to Xi’an, I was completely tired. I met Haisong, who introduced me to Jan and later to YLF on the plane. We talked a lot, and when we get to the Kempinski in Xi’an, it is already the mid-night. I happily escaped from starving to death by eating a bowl of noodle. When I finally sit down and think about the day - hmmm… It is the first time I travel without watching taking off and landing from the plane window, and the first time I basically didn’t see any scene or observe the architect of the hotel, and the first time not interested in looking out of the window of the hotel. It is the time to sleep.

Blog is Better than Microblog of me

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:31:11 +0800

Disclaimer: I am only talking on behalf me, and stating a fact that just works for me. Not anybody else.

More Honest to One’s Self

There is some benefits about not being that public. Weibo or twitter is really good at spreading the message to as many people as possible, but it is too public that you can hardly have time to be quiet and be honest to yourself. Writing a blog, if you are too concerned about the public response, chances are, you are not writing anything that worth recording. We often fell into the trap to believe we are somebody. We try to act everyday to be a “proper” person, but it turned out that no one really cares about you as much as ourselves. Well. One experiment I did for almost years is, to publish my mobile phone number to this popular blog - check the home page and look at right. So far, basically nothing happened. We are way too concerned about privacy, about this and about that. But if we are not honest with ourselves, blog is not a blog. It will be a personal propaganda to the world.

Try to be a Good CEO

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 00:17:39 +0800

Whenever I felt frustrated, and felt there were so many balls falling and so little time, my friend just smiled and told me: “Welcome to the world of a CEO”.

Yes. That is the experience to be a CEO. As an entrepreneur, you are facing the challenge that only the people who were in that position can understand - the loneliness, and the excitement - oh, boy, nothing in this world is comparable to that. I show my full respect to every CEO in this world - even my competitors, even former Apple CEO, former Yahoo! CEO, and former whatever company CEO who ended their career in a way of public failure - they have all the due respects, not to mention the greatest CEOs of this century - Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Jack Welch. We are just the same kind.

A Note of the Sunday

Sun, 23 Oct 2011 23:07:33 +0800

Sheshan

The Mount She (It is pronounced as Sheer, not as the female pronoun), is the closest mountain to Shanghai (it is at the Qingpu District of the city). It is maybe the only climbable nature thing in this city. Wendy and I decided to go there and climb the mountain. It is not far from our home in Pudong - 51 km. We climbed the mountain - it is lower than most of the buildings in this city - less than 90m. Within 20 minutes, we went to the top and get to the ground, pretty confused, and disappointed by how low the hill actually is.

Happy Birthday to Me

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 20:42:38 +0800

Tomorrow is my birthday. I am happy to turn 34 (or some people say, to be 35).

I just felt that I have passed the age to make birthday resolution now. It has been great year for me - experienced many ups and downs, and grew a lot. I just feel I am surrounded with great friends and mentors each year.

Happy birthday to me.

P.S. I realized that I posted a “Happy Birthday to Me” every year since I started in this blog - from 2002, to 2010. It is almost a behavior art to write the same thing every year - for 9 years in a row.

Tomorrow is Steve Jobs Day in California

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:33:08 +0800

California claimed Oct 16 is Steve Jobs day. It is a well deserved honor. I don’t think Steve ever cares about it when he was alive, and when he knows his days were limited.

It reminded us the saying that “What matters is not what the world give us. It is what we offer to this world”. Steve offered a lot, and he is remembered.

Sometimes, people need such inspirational moment when a great person leaves us as wake up call. It serves as a north star to help us understand what matters, via the life of another great person. That last time I was shocked, and moved, and in deep thoughts were almost 6 years ago (the flower I left in that space).

Upgraded to iOS 5 on iPhone 4

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 08:51:33 +0800

With a night of download and a hour of installation, my iPhone 4 now runs iOS 5, the newest mobile operating system. The most exciting feature of iOS 5 is iCloud, and I am testing it right now.

First iCloud Experience

So far, the iCloud Experience was good - the photo stream feature basically delivered what it promised, but it is not as fast as I expected it to be. The photo will appear on my computer about two minutes after it is taken - not immediately. Should Apple strive to make it happen? That will be more intuitive (a typical demanding user).

Memorial to Steve Jobs

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 02:57:54 +0800

These are the picture of the memorial of Steve Jobs at the Apple Store at 14th Street in New York.

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

New York and a Memorial

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 01:42:48 +0800

When I am talking about the feeling of New York, something reminded me of the feeling. That is a memorial in Berlin - the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. I don’t want to connect New York with murder, or holocaust, but from the architect perspective, you can see something in common.

When people get in to a maze of poles, and look left, it is an alley, and to the right, it is the same. People just want to escape. Look at this. Is it the same as standing at 31th street, and 6th ave?

Bye Bye Big Apple

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 22:27:36 +0800

Wendy and I am at JFK airport, wrapping up the four day trip in NYC, the big apple. When we said bye to our friend Sam, where we stayed with during this trip, the two small worms of this big apple is leaving. Yes. I did feel the reason why people call the city big apple - in the city, there are basically hard to see the sky (especially in mid-town), and we are just here wandering from street to street, and drink, and eat in the shops, and rest in a small apartment in the big city - just like worms. The city is so sweet, delicious, and attractive, to the small worms in it. Now, the two worms are leaving the Big Apple.

New York is not the City For Me

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 13:21:19 +0800

New York is a financial center. It is a paradise for finance industry, artist,, fashion designers, and many other people, but may not be the best place for Internet startups (so far, I only know foursquare.com, gilt.com, theladder.com). Most of the people I met so far are in financial industry - hedge funds, trading desk, PE, leverage financing… The terms I don’t understand. Time is New York is not be happiest time in my life so far, although the view is amazing. From personality type, I just feel I belongs to the places like bay area better, than NYC.

Courage

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 12:06:33 +0800

It takes courage, to be the leader of something big. Jobs taught us so.

NASDAQ, Bloomburg, NCUSCR, and More

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 12:47:19 +0800

Another exciting day in New York. Although I didn’t pack my schedule as busy as I did when I was in Silicon Valley (most of the business meetings were completed yesterday), there are still a lot interesting things to do in New York, especially when I have unbelievably kind friends here who took great care of me.

NASDAQ

The day started with a visit to the NASDAQ Open Bell ceremony at 9:30 am. I was actually quite impressed by the way NASDAQ worked. At the Times Square, if you locate the NASDAQ Tower (very easy to see), and there is a glass room at the street level. That broadcast room IS the place to ring the bell. I thought it would be a place inside the building with a lot of people trading (the typical scene found in the NYSE, and Shanghai Stock Exchange), but they don’ t have that. As a completely automated system, the National Association of Securities Dealers Automatic Quotation (NASDAQ) does not have a physically marketplace (just like Baixing.com). The tower (called Marketsite) is just a terminal of the real system - just as millions of terminals saw by millions of people worldwide. It is actually a broadcast room. Sherry told us that more than 100 TV programs were broadcast exactly from that room.

Wangjianshuo's Blog Meetup in New York

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 12:15:31 +0800

It is official, and it is, as always, last minute, that I am going to host a small Wangjianshuo’s Blog Meetup in New York on Saturday (Oct 8, 2011), which is tomorrow, at 5:30 PM at the following location:

Starbucks

665 Broadway (cnr. E 2nd Street)

New York, NY 10012

It will last for one hour until 6:30 pm.

About the Meetup

This blog has been running for 9 years, and we have meetup from time to time. The first was in 2003 in Shanghai, and few times later (like this one in 2008). It also happened in other places in the world, like San Francisco, and Palo Alto. This is the first time it comes to New York. But as always, as a person who is incapable of planning anything in advance, it is always in the last-minute announcement style.

From Downtown to Midtown

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 13:21:08 +0800

I am using the small screen iPhone to write this blog. Sorry for being brief.

New York stimulate my desire to make more drawings. I did and I will share when I can upload a picture. Check my Flickr account to see it now.

The New York did lost a lot when the twin towers of WTC are gone. I share the pain of New Yorkers. Buildings are missed, not to mention the humans.

Arrived at New York - the Big Apple

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:34:25 +0800

I just got to New York via a late flight DL2040 at JFK. I am at the 29th St. and 5th. Ave now with wonderful view from the window of my friend Sam.

Something big happened today. Jobs died. The inevitable moment finally arrived and no one is prepared. I will collect news paper tomorrow to keep the historical moment and show solute to this great entrepreneur.

The protest at Wall Street continues and I happen to be in the city. Will check it out.

Wrapping Up my SV Trip in Oct 2011

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 14:30:09 +0800

I am sitting at the small lobby of Camino Inn and Suite (at 1984 El Camino Real in Mountain View). It is almost 12:00 PM. The 2-star hotel typically offer free in-room wifi, but for something, it does not work today. So I spent the last night of my Silicon Valley trip in this empty lobby. As Alan de Botton put it: “The beautiful loneliness of travel”.

Drawing of the hotel lobby by Jian Shuo Wang

Shall I be Back with Blog?

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 14:06:28 +0800

I tested to work on Weibo for some time, and it is good for instance publishing, and it did consumed much of my time. Now it is the time to do some reflection of the experiments, and understand what is the next thing to do.

Shall I return to blog after pausing for some time?

I think the answer is “YES”. You may be happy with my final decision. Here is why.

Questions on Innovation

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:59:29 +0800

I got a list of questions to probe people’s innovation ability. Here is the list, and I think it is well thoughts and written.

Finds new ideas by relating out-of-industry trends and patterns to the business.
Creatively solves challenging problems by drawing on diverse ideas or knowledge.
Often finds solutions to problems by drawing on solutions or ideas developed in other industries, fields, or disciplines.
Frequently connects ideas from industries or situations unrelated to our business (often through analogy).

Reflection of the July 23 Highspeed Train Accident

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 23:12:47 +0800

It has been almost three weeks after the Highspeed Train D3115 and D301 crashed. As always, I felt hard to sit down and write about the event that is happening around us, especially for events like Tibet, and Wenzhou train accident that I don’t have any direct information. Any conclusion based on the unverified information can lead to the wrong direction. Now, when everything settles, and people are about to forget about the event, and be ready to go on without looking back, it is the time to do some reflection of the events, and record some of the thoughts. My hope is, people will be able to look at what is going on in the current China after 50 years, and what a normal person sitting before a computer in Shanghai is thinking. (Time Capsule?)

Soul Searching - The Deep Trace of the Reason

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 22:51:37 +0800

The term soul searching comes from the book The Facebook Effect, on page 180 of the chapter 9, 2006.

The astonishing success of Facebook’s photos application led to a bout of soul-searching at the company. What was it, Zuckerberg and his colleagues asked themselves, that made photos so successful?

Soul Searching

Soul searching means the deep trace of the reason why something worked. It is easy to be happy about a great feature, and a successful campaign, but it is way to easy to just stop tracing the deeper reason of the product. Just like the photos application of Facebook. It is a simple application without most of the features other photo sites have, but it is soon becoming the most successful photo application on the Internet. What is the driver for that? Why is that? Why, Why and Why?

Baixing is Moving to New Office

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 13:46:54 +0800

From Monday, majority of the company will move into a new office on the second floor of the building we are in - the Haoran High Tech Building inside the Shanghai Jiaotong University Xuhui Campus. It has been 4 and half years since we moved into the building’s 18th floor.

The new office is much bigger, more beautiful, and more energetic. Thanks to Hua and Jia and many people to make it happen. Here are some photos of the finished area. The other half is under reservation, and will be ready in few months.

CEO Lessons

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 23:06:10 +0800

From time to time, I meet with people who work in big companies, and thought the achievement of the company in the past are their own. That is pretty funny. As a CEO, there are many news things that people in other roles don’t think of. And of cause, as a CEO, there are many things need to be learnt on the job, since no university offer CEO lessons in undergraduate.

High-speed Train Crash, 33 Died

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 00:16:04 +0800

I wrote a lot about high-speed train.

Shanghai to Hangzhou Highspeed Train

Faster Bullet Trains in China

Not to mentions the tens of articles on Maglev.

When I dreamed about going to Beijing via high-speed train, and thought highly about the mega-project, the train crash last night which killed 33 people really put me into deep thoughts - another type of thoughts.

(If you are not aware of the accident, see the photos here)

Daily Report

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 23:56:52 +0800

Daily report is a great way for people to do some meditation, and review what happened during the day. In my company, many new hire write daily reports, as communication and summary. What about my daily report?

Breakfast

Breakfast is one of the details we need to pay attention. In my so many years of running a company, free breakfast is the single highest ROI benefits I have ever tried. It helped the team to save time, foster communication, and increase the level of happiness. We should do more things to make the breakfast and other small benefits like this better. Free drink is another benefits that wildly spread out in the bay area among Silicon Valley hi-tech companies, and recently are the free meals (with nice chef)… We should increase the standard of the company to the next level.

Traffic Rules in Shanghai

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 18:48:16 +0800

Disclaimer: I am trying to tell a joke - a humorous way to illustrate the problem of Shanghai’s traffic. Do not treat it as a tourist guide. It may cause serious danger, damage, or death.

Traffic rules you have to follow in Shanghai.

Yield at Red Light. Red light in Shanghai does not mean stop. It means yield. When pedestrian observe red light at cross street, they must stop first, look left and right to make sure there is no cars, and they cross the street. BTW, do the same thing for green light.

Will MacBook Air / Mac OS X Lion Release Tonight

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 21:39:42 +0800

What an amazing change! It has been a long time since I have ever expected the launch or release of something. Mac OS X Lion and MacBook Air are what I am expecting now. There is rumor that they will be released tonight (morning of US time). What was the last time I was so excited for something? Windows 2000 release?

I’d like to show my respect to Jobs, who have left Apple, according to him, to really think about the value of life, and back to Apple. I am sure because of his health condition, money and fame are no longer the reason for him to design, but he really made it possible to create something that is so wonderful. He is just great.

One and Half Hour Round Trip to Chongming

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 22:36:18 +0800

I did the experiment. To show my family Chongming, I drove from my home at 5:00 PM and went to Chongming via the Shanghai Yangtze Bridge and Tunnel, and get back to home at 6:30 PM. It takes about one and half hour to make a round trip to Chongming.

What an amazing trip. I love the wide 3 lane tunnel that crosses the river, and the 10km bridge. It cost 100 RMB for round trip, but compared to the silly round Lujiazui tour bus, the trip is more recommended for people who want to experience the Mega side of the city. It is another Mega Project in China.

Find What I am Good at AND Enjoy

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 00:22:43 +0800

From time to time, we need to do a refreshment about what we are good at, and what we enjoy most. Why that matters? It is the foundation of our life, and it is what we can enjoy the process and contribute more.

2 Comments

I cannot agree with you more,Jianshuo.Yesterday I just watched the movie "3 idiots",and there are something concerning this issue.Farhan in the movie likes cameras,but his father thinks mechanic is far more promising,so he forced his son to have mechanic as his career.Fortunately,Farhan find what he really wants.

I don't know whether you've watched it or not,so I recommend it to you!

— Liu Dongyang · 2011-07-16 12:04

@Liu Dongyang, I watched the movie as you recommended. Very long one, and I took few times to complete it. It is very nice, and well illustration of the idea, although a little bit exaggerated

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2011-07-18 22:46

Frequency of Changing Lanes

Sat, 09 Jul 2011 14:42:00 +0800

Something to observe - in Shanghai, the frequency of changing lanes on the road is very high, if not a constant action. People will shift from one lane to another, and to another, and back and forth, all the time.

The frequency of the same action is so low in the bay area. Generally people need to change lane just few times in the whole journey. For example, get onto the University Ave, follow the one lane street, and choose the lane going to US-101 later. Keep the lane on the right before getting the ramp exit, and then follow the lane to hotel. That was a typical route.

Awareness of Time Zone

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 07:53:25 +0800

We don’t need to take care of time zone issue when we don’t travel, and have no contact to the world outside our own.

But the world changes. We fly around the world, and we have conference calls instantly connect the both side of the ocean - effectively confusing us about the time zones. In this article, I want to share some of the useful tips about remembering time zones.

Never Squeeze Buffer Time for Travel

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 04:04:04 +0800

Now it is official: I will get to airport for any travel 2 hours before departure. That is the law now.

The past experience shows that the practice works well. There are several reasons.

A long line at check-in counter, and a slow attendant/a slow customer, or both can easily cost 30 - 60 minutes (As I did this morning at American Airlines SFO counter).

Other things may happen. Just before I returned my car, I realized that I didn’t fill in the gas yet. So I exit at a unfamiliar exit of US-101, only to find myself lost in the curry roads. After get a gas station, they do not accept my credit card (expected), but the counter was closed due to July 4 holiday (surprise!). Then I need to find another one.

Why I WILL Return my MacBook Air

Sun, 03 Jul 2011 01:36:22 +0800

The topic of buying a MacBook Air, and Why I Won’t Return my MacBook Air is getting more and more interesting. When I am thinking through it, I surprisingly find how a single decision relates to a broad range of topics, including the valuation of time, decision making process, losing face, desire for the better. Let me examine these one by one.

The Value of Time

The key reason I won’t return the MacBook Air is about time. Waiting for another two weeks, and also bear the risk of initial shortage of supply, or even longer if I want to ask someone to buy it from Palo Alto and bring it to Shanghai to save about 10%? Or imagine enjoy the new laptop right now at desk of my hotel, at SFO airport, on plane (I heard the battery last for 7 hours which fit into my schedule), show it off to Wendy and try to hide it from the sight of Yifan?

Why I Won't Return my MacBook Air

Sat, 02 Jul 2011 14:24:57 +0800

Here is an interesting story, the most interesting one I got in the last few days.

I bought myself a MacBook Air. I was happy, excited, and cannot wait to open the box, and use it. I posted a blog article, and happily fell asleep. The second day, I wake up, only found the crucial truth, which my readers told me in my blog comment section: “wrong decision”, “stupid”, “return it to store”….. Not because of the product is not good, because a new version of release of Apple MacBook Air is expected to release in two weeks! The new model comes with Thunderbolt, faster CPU, and Mac OS X Lion operating system.

I Bought Myself a MacBook Air

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 16:17:36 +0800

I passed by Apple Store in downtown Palo Alto, and bought myself a MackBook Air 13’’ 256G notebook. I have been a fun of iPhone, and want to continue my explore to other Mac product. I wanted to buy iPad 2 initially, but at second thought, I may use a laptop more frequently iPad - a physical keyboard is the key to me.

Sense of Relief

I am currently a proud Apple user. How strange it is if you put this into perspective - I have been working in Microsoft for 7 years. It is not politically right to use Apple product, or Linux product. Now I am a big fan of PHP, Linux, cheap scalable servers, and enjoys Apple. Of cause, for search, Google.

God is Favorable to People in Bay Area

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 15:48:07 +0800

I am here for few days. The bay area is always nice - sunny (except yesterday, when it rained a lot). The view of the bay area seems to be very stable, at least for a visitor like me. I don’t see new buildings, and I don’t see too much changes, event the name of the shops on the University Ave, in Palo Alto.

The change of this place is all about the inside. The up and down of companies, the shift of talent from one to another (like to Google, and to Facebook), and the sentiment of financial marketing all change greatly, and that changes (part of) the world. You just don’t see it from the buildings, and environment.

Don't Trust Travel Agencies

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 23:31:12 +0800

I need to change my flight back to China earlier.

I called ctrip, where I booked the flight (I should do a better job in getting around them). Their term:

Sorry. We cannot do it since it is international flight. You have to give up your back leg, and book a new ticket. If you just change the date, you need to pay 1500 RMB change fee. Let me check what a single trip ticket from San Francisco to Shanghai is. That can be very expensive

Hello from SFO

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 16:03:56 +0800

Hello, I am here, stayed at Foster City, CA this time.

The trip was long. I transferred at Los Angeles International Airport via American Airlines. I didn’t write it before, but I really like San Francisco over Los Angeles, and I enjoy SFO much better than LAX.

Los Angeles

Interestingly, my impression of Los Angeles was all about being hungry. The last time I did the trip with Wendy from the south up to LA on I-5, the only reason we took exist at the downtown was, we were so hungry because we didn’t have lunch and it was 3:30 PM. So LA has been a place to eat when we are hungry. Later, when we spent the last night at LAX, it was the same. We wanted to have dinner, and since we stayed near LAX airport, we took the shuttle to the airport hoping to get some thing to eat. Again, to our disappointment, most terminals won’t open for people who are not traveling.

I am Going to Sillicon Valley

Sat, 25 Jun 2011 17:32:42 +0800

I am checking my Checklist for US Trip I prepared a long time ago. Interestingly, I found around July 1 is the most frequently traveled date I have for US trip. This time, since I booked later than I should, UA858, the flight I don’t enjoy too much, was fully booked. So I am trying a new airline - America Airlines. The departure time is as late as 21:45 so I deferred to packing till now, which is 5:00 PM already.

Surround Yourself with Passionate People

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 21:35:55 +0800

I first read this sentence in Zen Habits. Leo, the writer of the blog, is obviously a passionate person.

I had a good conversation with Ann in Starbucks at Liangyang area. From time to time, I meet with people like her, and get excited myself, even when talking about my own stuff. For example, Bob Kagel is one of them. When talking with him, well, to be more exact, to be talking to him, and with him listening and asking questions, you get passionate about what you are doing. That is a magic. He once mentioned that the less control you seek, the more powerful you are. It is that type of passionate people. Mark Zurkerburg is another type of passionate people that you don’t feel it when you talk with him. He is so shy, just like Ben of MovableType. But that type of person also impress me a lot by how “insistent” he is for certain things, which he has passion in.

IKEA Beicai Store Photos

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 00:19:11 +0800

Yifan wanted to visit IKEA, so we went there, the new store, which is opening on June 23, 2011. Here are the photos.

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang on iPhone 4

Excercise Make People Happy

Sat, 11 Jun 2011 18:44:22 +0800

One rule I learnt from blogging was, you have to enjoy the process of writing it, not the result of have something written. For the exercise, it is the same thing. Keeping fit is the goal, and being healthy is the destination, but you have to enjoy doing that, and that is the only way we can keep doing it for a long time.

I did some swim today. Good…

Chongming via Shanghai Yangtze Bridge and Tunnel

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 00:19:26 +0800

I visited Chongming with Wendy and Yifan today, so I experienced the Island and the Shanghai Yangtze Bridge and Tunnel. Both are great.

Shanghai Yangtze Bridge and Tunnel

This is another Mega Project in China. The whole project is 25 km long, with 16 km bridge (9 km bridge and the rest are land road), and 9 km of tunnel.

Cost

It cost 50 RMB single way to use the bridge and tunnel. That is about 100 RMB fee to visit Chongming each time. The bridge and tunnel integrate the island to be part of Shanghai.

Art - Water Drop

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 23:54:26 +0800

Enjoy my photo of water drop series.

4 Comments

beautiful. strong iphone/apple feel :)

— gengmao · 2011-06-07 02:07

you moved to Compound 11 now?

— wicen · 2011-06-08 16:46

Nice sun roof...............

— stephen · 2011-06-09 04:25

This is a good hobby for you, Jian Shuo! I still remember your "tree in water" image :-)

— Carroll · 2011-06-13 07:02

IKEA Beicai Store to Open on June 23, 2011

Sat, 04 Jun 2011 23:46:46 +0800

After visiting the crowded IKEA Xujiahui Store, I am happy to learn that the IKEA Beicai Store will officially open on June 23, 2011.

The BeicaiStore is just 4 km away from my home. The store is basically the same size of the Xujiahui store, and has a equally good location - at the intersection of Hunan Highway and the Middle Ring Road. I am looking forward to visiting the store as soon as it opens. (Well, even for the first day, it is expected to be crowded, based on my experience of the opening of the Xuhui store).

IKEA, Xujiahui Store Shanghai is Crowded

Sat, 04 Jun 2011 17:05:19 +0800

Wendy, Yifan and I visited IKEA this afternoon, or to be more exact, attempted to visit IKEA but failed because of the crowd.

Below is the picture of the people lining up at the 30 counters, to pay for their items. Yifan and I got an ice cream each and left.

Small IKEA! Expensive IKEA!**

About 15 years ago, when IKEA just opened its first store in Shanghai, it was a very small one at the first and second floor of an office building near its current Xujiahui Store. At that time, everything seems so expensive to me (as a college student). They WERE expensive. The Billy Bookcases cost a big portion of my first month salary in 1999, and now, it cut its price to half, due to increase of its sale volume, and maybe change of supplier.

People Don't Obey Rule Set by Others

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 23:05:18 +0800

It is about 11 pm now, and the people are still gathering outside on the Jinzun Road. They have surrounded 7 policemen for few hours tonight.

The Road

The road outside our residential area is a small street leading to the river side. It is a branch road for people in this area only. Due to the parking space limitation, many people park their cars on the both sides of the street. There are about 100 cars there every night. Since there is no through traffic, and the security level in that area was pretty good, people feel comfortable doing that. This peaceful use of the road parking has been lasting from the day one the road was built - about few years ago.

Yifan is 4 Years Old

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 21:52:15 +0800

Haha! Yifan is 4 years today! The family celebrated the birthday for the young man.

Happy Birthday, Yifan!

In the last four years, Yifan brought so much joy to the family. I just realized that it is the children that the parents owe a lot, not the other way around. Thanks for being the source of happy (and angry, and trouble some time) for us.

Yifan got a small strawberry birthday cake, four balloons (which he loves a lot), and a lot of food he likes. He also got red bag from grandparents. When he saw the 100 RMB note from the envelop, he was very happy and screamed:

Categories of My Blog

Mon, 30 May 2011 23:01:43 +0800

I have put the about 3000 blog entries into many categories. Here is a list of all the categories I created, and you can explore more about the content of this site. I am also trying to write in a balanced way that I can cover most of the categories within a year.

View of Chengshan Road and Jinzun Road

Sat, 28 May 2011 22:48:48 +0800

I got to the top of the first row of the buildings to take some photos of the Chengshan Road, and Jinzun Road area. About 5 years ago, there is nothing in this area. The both roads didn’t not exist, and the area are occupied by farm land, and village. Here is what it looks today.

Along with the building of Paris Spring department store, and the restaurant section, the chain restaurants followed quickly. Here are the stores appeared there:

My Secret Weekend Picnic Place

Sat, 28 May 2011 20:02:04 +0800

I admit I hesitated a little bit before I want to share the place. It is my favorite place to picnic, which is within walking distance from where I live. The best part of it is, no one knows about it, so it is always “one-family” picnic camp ground. Anyway. Let me share the secret with the hope that others may also be able to enjoy the great place.

Culture Park

All Apps Crashes after iOS 4.3.3 in iPhone

Fri, 27 May 2011 20:47:36 +0800

I cannot believe Apple can have such a common and show-stopper bug. It did happened.

After I upgrade my iPhone to 4.3.3, all my downloaded application (from App Store) crashes. I can only use the native applications.

The solution was also amazingly simple:

Delete any App, and download it again from App Store again. Restart that App.

Not only that App works, all the app works normally. If you want more certainty about the steps, I delete Instagram and reinstalled it. Then it worked.

The Possible Death of Fixed Line

Thu, 26 May 2011 00:48:53 +0800

Why? Because of telemarketing.

I have been using my phone number since 2001. Everyday, I got a lot of phone calls. Most of it comes from fixed lines. Most of them, if not all, start with “Are you Mr. Wang? May I interrupt you for a moment. We are a company ….”. They are real estate agencies, credit card companies, securities company, etc.

I have formed a pattern recognition that all calls from fixed lines are telemarketing calls. I started to natually skip any phone calls that is from fixed line to my mobile. From time to time, I pick up some randomly to check the reliability of this rule. So far, there is no false positive.

I Went to Karaok

Wed, 25 May 2011 23:09:20 +0800

I went to Party World (originally the Cash Box) with the team tonight. OMG. When was my last time to visit Party World? I suspect it was in 2002 - about 9 years ago in Puxing Park. After that, I don’t remember I have went to sing Karaok. It may be too far memory for me.

For the songs, I don’t know most of the songs people sang. “When did this song come out?” Often the answer was “Last year”, or “2008”… I am not interested in songs. Does it mean aging (while, just a little bit?)

Xizang S. Road Tunnel

Tue, 24 May 2011 23:17:13 +0800

It has been quite some time since I had the relaxed time to update the construction of Shanghai. Today, I am going to talk about the Xizang S. Road Tunnel, which opens many months ago.

It opens along with the Renmin Tunnel, and added it to the many of the tunnels, and bridges along the Huangpu River. It starts from the Xizang S. Road in Puxi and connect with the Gaoke W. Road at Pudong. It is the tunnel I am using everyday, instead of the previous Lupu Bridge, or Nanpu Bridge. It provided a traffic free shortcut between my home to Xujiahui.

Shanghai's Visibility Depends on Wind

Mon, 23 May 2011 23:32:46 +0800

I am sure I am not the first one to discover it. The rule is, if the wind blows from the east to the west, Shanghai is always as clear and beautiful. The visibility is very high, and I can see both Jinmao Tower, and the World Finance Center in Pudong from my office in Puxi. The wind from the east is from the Pacific Ocean, and it brings fresh air.

Yifan's Drawing of Dad and Him

Sun, 22 May 2011 23:35:46 +0800

Yifan pick up a chalk and drew the following drawing on the floor at home.

I assume the left bigger one is Dad (me) and the right one is Yifan himself. I don’t know where he got the inspiration from. From kindergarden or from some of my drawings?

I just cannot keep it on floor for too long so I take the photo and save it digitally.

Yifan was very happy today because we took him to a Japanese restaurant downstairs to eat the “all-you-can-eat” package. Wendy and I paid for our parts and Yifan is free of charge because he is not o110 cm in height yet. Obviously that was a bad rule since Yifan actually ate more than I did. He was so happy with the food and kept singing for an hour after dinner.

Always Make New Mistakes

Sun, 22 May 2011 22:50:28 +0800

Last night, I had nice dinner with my friend Doug, Haisong and a group of venture capitalists at Lao Maotou (we talked about the silliness of it’s English name, the Cool Dock).

I was impressed by Pascal Levensohn. He mentioned about his belief of his work: always make new mistakes.

I assume the meaning was

Don’t make the same mistakes twice.
Be aggressive and brave enough to try new things, acknowledging the possibility that it may be a new mistake.

The Function of Hair

Sun, 22 May 2011 21:05:59 +0800

I start to realize the function of hair when I don’thave it. The key function is

It helps to keep you warm. It is a raining day and I just cannot walk outside. I actually got cold a little bit. Is it relates to the hair?

1 Comments

Yes, it's the hair. Most of my friends who shave their heads, male and female, end up wearing knit caps most of the time, even when it is not cold outside. I think it looks very cool to have a shaved head, but I've never done it. When I had long hair, in the summer, it was really hot on my neck.

— Zjemi · 2011-05-23 01:55

I Got Shaven Head - Part II

Sat, 21 May 2011 10:50:43 +0800

Some interesting observation. After I got my head shaven, I realized that my world does not change at all. I cannot see any change from my eyes, unless I unintentionally glance into a mirror. Other than that, nothing.

But the world changes more for people around me. They have to get used to a new image of a person.

Isn’t it interesting enough? The change of a person does not has impact on him, but the world around it. I may have changed a lot in the last few years (lucky me. I can trace the change in very details in the 9 years of blogging, and I can see it), but I am totally unaware of it. It is people around me who felt the change. What I can feel is the interaction between me and my friend. Change of hair style (or in my case, with or without it) is more visible than the change in characters. There is no such a thing called personality mirror so my friends may be the only way to act as the mirror so you can discover the change.

I Got Shaven Head

Fri, 20 May 2011 23:33:28 +0800

Don’t be surprised, and Yes, I was serious. I had all the hair shaven today. This was a promise I made many months ago, that when the business of Baixing reaches certain level (I don’t disclose the amount here), I will have my head shaven, as a celebration ceremony. Obviously, the Baixing team got excited about my head shaving. They did it by themselves for me. I am happy to have a great team, that I can share my happiness with. Actually, I didn’t seriously think about it until we had celebration, and after I am home, and watch myself in the mirror. Ops! :-)

Life without Coffee or Tea

Wed, 18 May 2011 23:15:56 +0800

I decided to try life without coffee, tea or spicy food from two weeks ago. So far, I feel great.

I said good bye to Starbucks or Coffee Beans and enjoyed water and orange juice more often.

I also tried to sleep earlier and to try to think more and doing more important but less stuff. By giving some constrains to life, do we lead a more spiritual live?

I will share my answer after I practice for more time.

China may Bypass Lots of Things

Tue, 17 May 2011 23:30:38 +0800

Today, when I had dinner with Bruce, he asked the question about credit card. I had been following credit card usage in Shanghai for many years, and witnessed the transition from very hard to use to very popular today. However, I just realized that maybe Chinese will directly bypass credit card stage.

Something we may ignore is, credit card system was invented well before Internet, or even computer was invented. Since there is no way to trace usage of money in real time, people at that time either use “check”, or credit card - one for debit, and one for credit.

Yifan with Big Case

Mon, 16 May 2011 23:51:32 +0800

Yifan loves to carry anything with wheels that he can handle. So he freed me and Wendy during our trip by taking care of the big case, all the time.

An Even Better Way to Record Life than Twitter

Mon, 16 May 2011 23:35:08 +0800

I thought twitter, and in China, its counterpart (copier) Weibo, was

the best way to record life, especially with the nicely done iPhone

App. I know blogger.com has the ability to allow people send emails to

it, and have it posted. MovableType has a plugin called PostOffice,

that serve exactly the same propose. Now, i am writing an email to an

email address I setup, and it will automatically appear on my blog.

Five Sentenc.es

Mon, 16 May 2011 22:26:31 +0800

To keep an email as short as five sentences sounds like a great idea. Twitter is a way to simplify our lives with fixed amount of characters (with the problems that people write more often than before). Put some constrains to life actually makes it more efficient. What is the constrain you put to your life?

Q: Why is this email(blog) five sentences or less?

A: http://five.sentenc.es

GMail Partially Blocked

Sun, 15 May 2011 21:50:38 +0800

The long-lasting concern that other Google application will be banned in China after Search became a reality. In the recent two months, Gmail has been more and more inaccessible.

I am still not sure what is happening behind, Gmail is just on and off with some functions like “send”, or “view” hanging there for ever. That, I assume, will also promote the usage of VPN in China in the tech space. At least I have to rely on VPN to access Gmail.

Office Renovation Started

Sat, 14 May 2011 12:56:16 +0800

We are starting to design our new office, and obviously, we have great ideas about what the new office environment should look like. Here are some of my note, and I would love my readers to share some insights about what is important for an Internet company office.

There should be combined relax corner with sofa, foods, books and business oriented meeting rooms.
There will be as many places to write on, to stick notes on as possible, since whiteboards, glass boards, and writable walls inviting and engaging people discussion.

Baixing's First TV Commerical

Fri, 13 May 2011 23:47:14 +0800

I’d like to share with you the first TV Commercial of Baixing.

Hope you enjoy it. I enjoy the process of creating the clip with elements of Shanghai architect, the traditional pop-corn machine, and the quick disappearing refrigerator.

No matter what we do, we want to do it with confidence, professionalism, and a sense of hummer.

If you see it on TV, please let me know. :-)

6 Comments

Nice commercial. I'd like to take a look at the opportunities there at Baixing and I just sent my resume to the HR email address. Hope it won't be buried :)

— qingbo · 2011-05-16 16:21

Nice job, pretty cool and impressive. Simple is power, than any donkeys......

— Dennis · 2011-05-18 10:11

I see this every morning on the bus, and I saw a longer one this morning, in which two foreigns also got the bag of money.

— Michelle · 2011-05-18 10:28

Thanks all for your support.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2011-05-18 23:20

Mr Wang, I'm curious as why I'm seeing foreigners on your ad campaign inside the bus and subway. Baixing don't have English interface.

好奇而已....

— Miss_ABC · 2011-06-09 13:03

Same question as Miss_ABC...

— Micah S · 2011-07-11 09:32

Great YLF Dinner in Shanghai

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 00:14:50 +0800

Finally, we had 10 persons for the YLF gather. Todd, and Gregg flew from US, and others from Xia’men and Beijing…

Jian Shuo

Haisong

Greg

Todd

Ming

Hong

Ron

Brice

Sean

Doug

It was always inspiring to talk with the YLFers. We chatted about a great variety of topics, You can imagine to put a group of people mixed of American and Chinese, and career from great architect, to lawyer, to government official, to military, to TV anchor, to investor… what people will share, and especially when many people have spent quality time together for almost ten years.

2011 is New Spring of Internet

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 23:27:29 +0800

I wrote a blog article to forecast the “spring” of Internet will arrive in 2011. It turned out to be exactly true. The only thing I didn’t predict was, I should have used “summer”, not spring to describe what is going on here in 2011.

6 Comments

Maybe fierce summer

— DonDon Lau · 2011-03-31 23:55

Lets hope it is not followed by a freezing winter.

— ecodelta · 2011-04-01 17:58

Just for the fun of it

http://tinyurl.com/4w3trwt

;-)

— ecodelta · 2011-04-01 18:02

I don't know my trully mind,who can lead me out?

— suntree · 2011-04-02 09:41

I don't know my trully mind,who should lead me out?

— suntree · 2011-04-02 09:42

I don't know my trully minds.Who should lead me out?

— suntree · 2011-04-02 09:50

Resuming Blogging

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 23:47:00 +0800

I am resuming blogging. The blog is not dead, just cooler, when I experimented to use Sina weibo (twitter like services). Obviously, the challenge of simpler, and quicker twitter model presented is big for blogging and bloggers. I am embracing both.

I am in Beijing now, and will return to Shanghai tomorrow. It is just a quick visit, so I skipped meeting most of my friends in Beijing.

4 Comments

确实很忙啊

— 凡客诚品4月礼品卡 · 2011-04-01 12:52

Twitter or Weibo can't totally replace some role of blog such as sharing complex ideas and thoughts. I've combined my Twitter and blog too. Everyweek, a blog containing of all my tweets of last week would be published automatically to my blog. Blog and microblog, two ways of recording.

— Chern · 2011-04-02 02:39

Glad to see you back. The great thing about the blog is that people can refer to it in the future. For example when I go to Shanghai I will look at it to see information about places to go. Chern's idea of blogging the tweets is a good way to combine the immediacy of tweets with the legacy of blogs.

of course this is my own selfish view. It's your blog, you are the master!

— TianQin · 2011-04-14 11:17

Planning a trip to Asia in June. Originally planned to spend 10 days in Korea and another 6 in Japan. With the situation as it is in Japan, we are looking for alternative destination(s) for those 6-8 days. We are traveling with a 16 year old girl and 14 year old boy. Girl loves shopping. Boy loves gaming. Any suggestions in traveling with these teens?

— Susan · 2011-04-26 08:31

The Advantage of Traveler

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 07:53:51 +0800

As traveler, every in town loves to meet you since you are there just few days out of the year. For people in their own city, you’d better think of really good reasons before you call.
Traveler arrange their time according to whathe/she want to do, not what others want him/her to do. Most of the time, the traveler’s calendar for the days is blank initially waiting to be actively filled. For people in town, they have to deal with routines even their calendar is blank.

Packing for Shanghai

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:20:46 +0800

I finished my trip in the bay area this time, and am heading to SFO tomorrow morning. Spent some time with my friend Ming Liang, Yang Meng, and He Li, and will be back.

Shanghai, I am coming back.

3 Comments

Hi, Jianshuo

I just come back to Shanghai last night, resume work today...I will keep on read to your blog.

Is it typing error? I think it must be BACKING not packing :)

— Michael · 2011-02-15 09:36

I made a mistake, sorry for my poor english, "Packing for Shanghai" is correct.

— Michael · 2011-02-18 12:39

sorry！ poor english！

— 凡客诚品 · 2011-02-22 22:35

Meet with Craig Newmark

Sat, 12 Feb 2011 15:22:05 +0800

I finally met Craig Newmark. We missed to see each other in 2009, and 2010. Now is the time to sit down and have a cup of coffee in his favorite Reverie Cafe, 848 Cole, San Francisco.

Thanks Craig for taking the time.

Met with Adam D'Angelo and Charlie

Sat, 12 Feb 2011 15:16:40 +0800

Met with Adam D’Angelo, and Charlie - the two great people who founded Facebook many years ago. They are not founders of Quora, the Q&A site that I use frequently recently. (Need invitation? I can help).

13 Comments

i need an invitation,3ks

— wei · 2011-02-12 15:32

would you give me an invitation? thanks

— geo · 2011-02-12 19:56

They are not founders of Quora? It's not a typo?

— notor · 2011-02-12 21:34

"They are not founders of Quora"

↓

They are now founders of Quora

— lan · 2011-02-13 03:14

I need an invitation thank you

— moneywei · 2011-02-15 12:28

I need an invitation, thank you very much.

— Joy · 2011-02-18 13:36

Could you offer me an invitation? Thanks a lot.

— YiNan · 2011-02-20 18:32

I need an invitation, thank you very much.

— Serena · 2011-02-20 21:03

Hi Jian Shuo, any hurdle is set up for the invitation?

— shun lai · 2011-02-22 21:26

Could you send an invitation? Thank you.

— Jimmy · 2011-02-26 16:15

Could you send me an invitation? Thank you in advance.

— Steven Tu · 2011-02-27 00:12

王大哥，我需要Quora的邀请码？Thanks a bunch!

— Oten · 2011-04-06 08:02

Would you plz send me the invitation code? Thanks a bunch!

— Oten · 2011-04-06 08:04

In Google and Facebook Today

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:39:34 +0800

Was in eBay in the morning.

Visited Google at noon. Thanks Zhiheng for hosting,

and met with Adam D’angelo and Charlie of Quora.com,

and spent dinner and night in Facebook.

P.S. My sina weibo backup is here

1 Comments

My brother is back working at Facebook.

— Micah S · 2011-02-11 16:01

Baixing is Sending out 15 iPhone

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 21:22:55 +0800

Let my friends know a marketing program by Baixing. We are sending out 15 iPhone and 35 iPod Shuffle in the next few weeks. Check it out here. Good luck!

In the following two pictures are 20% of the people we have in our company. :-)

3 Comments

i wish baixing.com can also be translated and readable in English.. i wanted much to joing specially with perks like these..so awesomely envied

— momsypie · 2011-01-31 20:10

You can try to use Google Translate - Baixing works extremely well with Google Translate.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2011-01-31 22:38

Baixing is not working well with Google Translator recently...

— Lazor · 2011-04-01 16:49

Death of Blogging?

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 22:52:23 +0800

I am trying to avoid this topic, but as a 9 year blogger, I have to admit that the declining of blog sphere has been an obvious trend, and we have to face it.

The whole Internet is involving quickly. Just like the Geocities.com cannot be hot for ever as its first few years, blogging cannot be as cool as 2001 - 2005. Comparing to the newest media, and tools, blog started to fall short in many aspects.

Harvard MBA Recommendation Questions

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 23:40:11 +0800

I started to help people to give recommendation for business schools. This is the question from Harvard, and I think they are great dimensions to assets people’s ability. This is a list:

Below Average (Button Third)

Average (Middle Third)

Good (Top Third)

Excellent (Top 15%)

Outstanding (Top 5%)

Leadership Potential:

Self-Confidence:

Personal Maturity:

Professional Maturity:

Imagination and Creativity:

Motivation:

Intellectual Ability:

Analytical Ability:

Quantitative Ability:

Teamwork Skills:

Listening Skills:

Ability in Oral Expression:

Beijing use Lucky Draw for License Plate

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 23:28:55 +0800

After 20 years for Shanghai to use bidding for car license, Beijing is introducing a lottery based license plate system. You have to submit application, and try your luck. For the first week, the odd is 1 out of 12. With more and more people joining and the previous participants still in the pool, the chance gets fewer and fewer. If I can vote, I would definitely vote against it.

YLFers Gathered to Pray for Gabrielle Giffords

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 00:55:34 +0800

I didn’t expect a normal Sunday morning started with beeping of many email alerts on my phone. It was from the email threads from YLFer friends that I heard the sad news about the shooting of Gabby and other innocent people in Arizona. I was completely shocked. It turned out to be the headline of all major news sites, even the headlines of Sina.com.cn later this morning.

Gabby was a YLF 2003 Fellow, and so was her husband Mark Kelly. They met each other via the Young Leader’s Forum in Huanshan in 2003. Thier marriage was among the few other unexpected, wonderful side effects of the US-China relationship program. It is also rare that both persons of a couple are friends of the same group of people.

Baixing Campaign to Win iPad

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 16:08:48 +0800

We are sending out 13 iPad, 28 iPad Shuffle in the following 7 days to Baixing’s users. In case you are interested to enter the luck draw, click here.

2 Comments

typo - iPod Shuffle

— qingbo · 2011-01-06 16:45

i've taken part in the campaign~ wish me good luck!! ipad pad ad d...

— justin · 2011-01-07 19:48

Curiosity Keeps People Happy

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 21:21:10 +0800

I am generally happy in 2011, from the first few days of holiday and the first day of working. At night, Wendy and I went downstairs to the Paris Spring shopping mall for a cup of coffee. Two interesting things happened.

Starbucks!

To our greatest surprise, a section of the shopping mall was under construction. On it hangs big Starbucks logo, and big “OPENING SOON”. Below it was “We look forward to serving you amazing coffee, we just have a few things to take care of first.”.

Challenges to Trust

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 17:43:50 +0800

I started to re-think about the Google’s decision to withdraw from China. If the rumor “attack-from-within” turned out to be true, it is a very reasonable action. The company’s culture is built on trust - new hires from intern to employee were given enough freedom based on trust - they can see documents they need to see, and access to resources they need to access, without limit. That was exactly like the time in Microsoft before 2000 (I still remember how shock I was when I was able to see piece of source code few weeks after I got into the company).

Android Seems to be Very Easy

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 22:58:43 +0800

At 3 PM in the afternoon, started to read an Android book (Hello, Android, Introducing Google’s Mobile Development Platform, Third Edition) and started to write some Android application. It turned out everything was simple and smooth, much better than I had expected. It always takes people some time to learn new things, and as a technical guy by heart, I just cannot stop and don’t do some coding on the Android platform myself. It won’t occupy too much of my time, since my time is better used in other stuff than coding, but to get a real sense of a system, the best way is always to do it yourself.

jianshuo@facebook.com

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 12:51:38 +0800

It is obviously a new era.

I was happy to register jianshuo @ hotmail.com email address about 14 years ago, when hotmail.com was just launched one year before. That was the starting point of Internet, and email communication.

Then I got jianshuo @ gmail.com, the main email address I am using today (I still keep telling people the old jianshuo @ hotmail.com email address, and let the mail forwarded to the gmail one).

The New Year Holiday Ends

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 10:47:52 +0800

The last day of the three day holiday of the New Year. Enjoyed the three relaxed day before putting all my effort back to my website. It is shining here in Shanghai. It snowed a little bit when I was in the Liangzhu 良渚 area in Hangzhou yesterday, and I heard it snowed this morning (I found some evidence on my car), but now, it is sunny and pleasant in Shanghai again.

First Day of 2011 in Hangzhou

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 17:25:43 +0800

I am at Farmer’s Paradise at north of Hangzhou with several of Wendy’s friends. The first day of 2011 is very pleasant, very different from the first few days of 2010, when Yifan got cold and it was completely a mess for the family. I sent SMS greetings to my close friends, and received many. New Year is a good excuse to connect with long lost friends, and say hi. That is social stuff (the reason the Poke feature was successful).

Shanghai Pudong Library Photos

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 08:39:09 +0800

The first post in 2011 - good year. Waked up early, shining, cold outside, but warm inside. Sitting in my reading room, thinking about what to share today as the first post.

I posted a blog about the open of Pudong Library, but without photos. Now, I got some.

![](/archives/2011/01/01/shanghai.pudong library-tables.jpg)

Happy New Year, 2011

Fri, 31 Dec 2010 22:03:39 +0800

Happy New Year!

Days pass our lives quickly. When people got busier and busier, days pass even faster. The last day of 2009 was still vividly in my memory, when the bell of the year 2011 rings.

I read through all the posts I wrote in the year of 2010. It was a long year. The beginning of the year was not a good one - my ankle was broken so I could not walk, and Yifan’s forehead was hurt. The crazy Internet control in the winter of 2010 was depressing. That was not a very good start. I have my best hope for the year of 2011, and I believe the year of 2011 will be a very good and exciting year.

Node.js is Exciting

Sun, 26 Dec 2010 23:05:25 +0800

Sign… Sometimes, when I got caught by some interesting and exciting technology, I was completely caught by them, and started to spend hours to figure out how to use them. The new toy for me this afternoon was node.js.

var socket = new io.Socket(‘http://ec2-175-41-189-167.ap-southeast-1.compute.amazonaws.com’, {port:8080});

socket.connect();

socket.on(‘connect’, function(client){

alert(‘connected’);

client.send(‘hello everyone’);

client.on(‘message’, function(msg) {

alert(’:’+msg);

});

Paused Blog for a While

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 21:07:25 +0800

I’d post a blog briefly update about the (long) pause of my blog. Pretty busy recently, so I just feel I am distant from the city life. I am getting back to the normal pace now.

1 Comments

Hi Jianshuo, welcome back, I Wish you and your family a Merry Christmas.

— Michael · 2010-12-24 12:15

Misunderstood Hong Kong

Sun, 12 Dec 2010 00:18:48 +0800

aDuring the last weekend, I stayed in Hong Kong for few days. I found I had some serious misunderstanding of the city.

Hong Kong has 40%+ land reserved. I started to be interested in the Hong Kong Island Trail, a path winding 50 km in the mountains from the peak. A another good reason besides attending meetings, and shopping in Hong Kong is, mountain hiking. It sounds crazy, but it is rare to find that good path.

Tired

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 23:34:30 +0800

It has been two intensive days. I have arranged 11 meetings for myself, and Wang Chen in Beijing and meeting with 20+ people, and a presentation with about 100 people.

Got back to hotel now. Going to sleep now.

BTW, I enjoyed big hotels, and now I more and more enjoy smaller hotels like the Orange Hotel in Zhongguancun area. In US, I started to hate those big hotels with hundreds of hotel rooms. Maybe just 20 rooms or fewer are better for me. I am at second floor of the hotel. Think about the elevator, 20+ floor hotel room, and overseeing the whole city - I hate that now.

I am in Beijing

Mon, 29 Nov 2010 23:19:47 +0800

I predicted that 2011 will be a year with a lot of Startups coming out - the another Spring of Internet in China. I still believe in so. I am in Beijing these days, and I have/will visit many startup companies, like Douban, Qunar, Baihe, Sina, Sohu, Tencent, Google, Innovation-works, and many other media/companies during the three day trip. The Beijing’s weather is not very cold, although it is technically speaking colder than Shanghai, but the atmosphere of the Internet world is still has hot as summer - well, compared to the real peak of Internet bubble, it can be called as late spring. The recent new models like LBS, Mobile Internet, Groupon-clone, and twitter-clone have been enough to fill entrepreneurs and copiers into. One thing that is so unique in Beijing is, these companies are so close with each other in the Zhongguancun area. These big/small companies are lined up side by side with each other within walking distance. That is a unique competitive advantage for this world - just like Silicon valley to the rest of the world. If you ask me to pick only one place that is closest to silicon valley in China, that has to be the Zhongguancun area in Beijing.

Unicom iPhone Cuts My Friend Connections

Sun, 28 Nov 2010 23:17:49 +0800

A very high portion of my friends cannot be connected via the number stored in my mobile phone. They changed their mobile phone number, just to use the Unicom iPhone. They consistently share their new mobile phone with 186 at the beginning of the numbers with me. For more, I simply got “The number you dialed has been out of service” message when I try to reach people.

Will it be significant that a new communication tool, or even just a new client device like iPhone dramatically shift the social interaction? Think about fax number. The impact of the iPhone 4 wave for me in China is, it cuts my friend connections effectively.

Expo Destruction Started

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 21:31:29 +0800

Today on the ramp bridge of Lupu Bridge, I saw some towing Expo Buses were towed by towing truck. These Expo Buses use electricity and need to charge at bus stations from time to time in the expo site. That is the reason they can only be reliably moved by Bowing truck out the site.

The once splendid Expo site is still splendid, but without any visitors in it. A pavilion on the Puxi side is surrounded by green construction nets. It seems the destruction is going to start soon. Bye Bye, Expo!

Baixing Recruiting Event in SJTU

Wed, 24 Nov 2010 21:53:03 +0800

SJTU = Shanghai Jiaotong University.

Baixing.com will hold a recruiting event in Shanghai Jiaotong University tomorrow night at 6:30 PM at Tiesheng Building (铁生馆).

I am very excited to get back to Jiaotong University, where I studied between 1995 to 1999.

If any of you knows anyone in Jiaotong University or other nearby university who are interested in positions in Baixing (http://jobs.baixing.com), please direct them to the event tomorrow. I will be speaking there, and am more than willing to chat with people there.

Taxi as Bottleneck of Hangzhou

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 23:02:21 +0800

The Shanghai to Hangzhou high-speed train just takes 45 minutes to get to Hangzhou, but today, we took another 45 minutes waiting in the long line for a taxi desperately while there are basically no taxi coming.

On the way back, it is also horrible. At round 4:00 PM, there are empty taxi everywhere on the street but none of them would take passengers, because it is the time for them to get back (all of them) to taxi company, and handle over the car to the driver at another work shift. There is basically no way to get to the train station to catch up that really fast train.

10 Years Later

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 21:39:26 +0800

So many things dramatically changes over 10 years, but it happens so gradually that we didn’t pay any attention to it when it happens. Here are some examples.

The IT support in my office was gray haired. When I just started my career, IT support is a profession of young people. Now, when the outsourced IT person appeared in my office, I realized that he is also in his 30-40s. That changed.
Credit card processing is so quick. Now, I don’t bother to use cash since most of the time, the credit card processing is as quick as the same time as swiping card - it is supposed to work that way, but when I just started to use credit card, it easily takes few minutes, waiting for the printing machine to start printing. Sometimes, I have to make some phone calls to the bank and let the bank call center person to teach the cashier how to swipe the card.
The business meal in the Xujiahui area gradually raised to a level higher than Hong Kong, and most places in U.S. The set dish has reached to 58 RMB (8-9 USD) or higher. The 10 RMB box meal completely disappeared from this area.
The CPI has raised to a level that people in Shenzhen started to buy home supplies in Hong Kong, and more people discuss about pork price these days than 10 years ago.

10 Years. Many things changed.

I am Second Employee of Adventure Works

Sun, 21 Nov 2010 22:28:27 +0800

Interesting enough, I got an email reads

Hi Jian Shuo, It is very cool to execute the following statement in SQL Server 2000 if you have the sample database Adventure Works 2000 installed: SELECT * FROM Employee WHERE (EmployeeID = 2); The result would be: 2 Jian Shuo 2 1 Wang 0 509647174 Engineering Manager 1997-12-121964-12-13 adventure-works\Jian Jian@adventure-works.com 1 MQiang Wang 249-433-7659 1 M 1 2 43.2692 2 21 0 1 2003-1-15 19:26:14 {69C8C27C-87DF-45B4-9A46-AB603268AB1B} It is noticed that the first name is stored as “Jian Shuo” with capitalized ‘S’ and a space between “Jian” and “Shuo”, which is your preferred written form in your article before. Also, it is different than other Chinese-liked first names such as “Jinghao”(EmployeeID = 77) and “Jinghao”(EmployeeID = 241), making it the only Chinese name with a first name separated into 2 words in the database. I’m not sure whether this imaginary employee is based on your figure so I’m writing to get your confirmation. BR

Yifan Love to Land Aircrafts

Sat, 20 Nov 2010 22:26:41 +0800

Yifan enjoys the game FlightControl very much. When there is a chance, he will grab the iPad and play with it, and my role is to make sure he hand it back to me within few minutes, so he is not too obsessed to computer games.

Look at how happy he is when he got the iPad!

1 Comments

I remember he just a newborn baby ¡¡how clever , happy and handsom he looks¡¡congratulations¡¡

— maria ezcurra · 2010-11-21 01:00

Facebook Effect - the Book

Sat, 20 Nov 2010 17:53:22 +0800

I didn’t remember that I bought the Facebook Effect book in Singapore, and I ordered it again from Amazon. Today, I found out the book, and started to read it - very interesting one. There are some similar scene with the Social Network movie, but in a much deeper way.

Recommending people who are interested in technology and Internet to watch the movie, and read the book.

Chinese Blogger Conference Changed Location

Fri, 19 Nov 2010 00:10:08 +0800

To hold a conference in China is not easy. Not surprisingly, although the venue was only announced 4 days before the actual event, the venue was canceled due to “well known” reasons. The organizers are still busy working to find another venue to make it possible for blogger flying, or taking train from across the country (some from worldwide) to gather the day after tomorrow. Exactly like the Hangzhou conference, the venue needs to be changed few times before the actual event happens. Good luck!

Chinese Blogger Conference Changed Location

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 23:58:52 +0800

Attending China Blogger Conference 2010

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 23:17:46 +0800

I am going to attend the China Blogger Conference 2010. This year, the conference will be held downstairs of my office - at 55 Guangyuan West Road, Haoran Hi-tech Building, Shanghai, China.

This is the sixth conference. I attended the first one in Shanghai and the second one in Hangzhou. I missed the Beijing one, didn’t go to Guangzhou conference, and completely ignored the Lianzhou one. Since this year’s conference is in Shanghai, I am happy to return to the conference.

People Matters

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 22:51:33 +0800

People are always the core of any company. Enough focus on its people is the essential to the success.

Keep the talent density high enough is to the key.

Be sensitive to the environment and act quick enough.

Always find the right people to do the right thing.

3 Comments

I love your ideas and your ability to speak them out i look fwd to the day i could join one of your conferences... i hope many chinese talented ppl learn from your example!

— Claudia Frias · 2010-11-19 22:25

Fully agree,especially point 4

Find the right people to do the right thing is also essential to the success.

— Frank Hong · 2010-11-23 16:08

Yes, good boss!

— Michael · 2010-12-20 14:04

Mondays

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 23:09:45 +0800

A nice Monday.

The post expo days are much better than the half year - at least for the Pudong section.

Young people always brings energy to the team.

The Asia Games obviously didn’t draw too much attention from the people around me.

The Chinese Blogger Conference was just announced today - the conference will be held on this Saturday, breaking the record of the most rushing conference revere and they didn’t announce venue yet. The only thing people outside Shanghai knows is, it will be held in Shanghai so buy the ticket now. The rushing style of the conference is so interesting.

Busy Days for Blogging

Sun, 14 Nov 2010 23:01:49 +0800

I skipped blogging in the last few days, rare in the 8 years of history. Here are some outlines of what I did.

Went to Hangzhou via the highspeed train for a day - 45 minutes, and the experience was great - better than Maglev.
Welcome to the new hires on Baixing. There are many recruiting events going on and I continue to feel honored to work with the talented young guy got on board.
Played tennis and basketball at nights and Sundays. It is good to get back to sports.
Yifan is doing well. Wendy went to school during the weekends in the last few weeks, so I took the role to take care of Yifan - we hung out in KFC for three hours this morning.
Watched movie “The Social Network” - first on pplive.com, and then downloaded from verycd.com. Good movie, although it is said to be far from reality.
Conducted some interviews and the article to be published was pushed back to the next week because of the Asia Games opening the last Friday.
I enjoyed the ceremony of Guangzhou Asia Games - good one without being too exaggerate on money spending.

Anything else I left?

Expo is Over! Finally!

Sun, 07 Nov 2010 22:36:42 +0800

I was not able to update this blog for quite some time. It has been busy days…

Expo is over. We visited the site on October 30 for the last time. Wendy’s comment: “I started to regret that we hadn’t come more often”. She loves the Italian Pavilion in particular.

What the expo left for the people in this country? I would say: It is the biggest event to educate people to line up. The long lines had became the symbolic sign for this expo. People waited for up to 12 hours to get to a pavilion.

Last Chance to Visit Expo

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 23:32:13 +0800

If you haven’t visited expo yet, you only have five days left before the event concludes on October 31. The good news is, there are relatively much fewer people visiting expo in the last few days since Monday, when the ticket price raised by 40 RMB to prevent final rush.

Wendy went there today and reported back via SMS that they didn’t need to line up for many pavilion (really hot pavilions like China pavilion excluded). That is consistent with the official number of visitor today: 390K (comparing with 1 million in peak time). The expo also successfully reached the goal of 70 million the other day (too accurately executed to believe).

Baixing Classified

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 14:41:37 +0800

function applyTag(){

var s = document.getElementById(’tags’).value;

$.each(s.trim().split(’,’), function(key, value){

if(value == ‘’) return;

$(".datagrid li:contains(’" + value + “’)”).appendTo($(’#completed’)).css(‘color’, ‘red’).append(" " + value + “”);

});

}

Socialism vs Western Democracy

Sat, 23 Oct 2010 21:48:54 +0800

Recently, more and more articles appear in party magazines about the topic of “Draw a clear line between Socialism vs Western Democracy” (source). That brought me to some interesting similar cases.

My friend told me when China first started to import movies from abroad, every movie needs a very long time to get approved. She asked why it takes so long. The person in charge said: It is very hard work to draw a clear line between socialism kiss, and capitalism kiss. If a kiss scene is socialism, it can be approved; otherwise, the scene needs to be cut or the movie rejected. What a joke!

Yifan Loves iPhone

Sat, 23 Oct 2010 13:23:21 +0800

I continued to be amazed by how user friendly iPhone is. Yifan loves to play withy iPhone. His current favorite is to long press the icons on the home screen and rearrange it.

If turned our that everyday, when I want toake a phone call or send an SMS, i found the icons are rearranged so I need to solve a small puzzle to find it either in another screen or hidden in another folder.

Tell Them You are Going to Chuansha

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 23:08:40 +0800

Every time I take ride of a taxi at Pudong airport to my home in Pudong, the taxi driver will educate me: “Next time, tell them that you are going to Chuansha”.

By “Them”, they mean the taxi dispatcher who happily acting as the bottle neck of the long taxi lines, and the long passengers lines. Every passenger will be asked where they are going before they can get on board a taxi (effectively slows down everything). They will then dispatch the passenger according to how far or near the passenger is to their destination. That means huge difference in taxi fare for the drivers, who have waited in the dark parking lot for few hours. You can imagine how powerful the dispatcher, and why they still insists to take the power at the expense of taxi driver’s time, and the passenger’s time - something similar happened in bigger scale.

Shanghai-Hangzhou Express Train

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 00:24:16 +0800

Breaking news. The Shanghai-Hangzhou Express Train will start operation officially on Oct 26, 2010, according to this news report. The ticket selling will start from October 22.

The first train G7401 will start from Shanghai Hongqiao Train Station at 6:32 am, and arrive at Hangzhou at 7:32, with duration of 1 hour.

When the operation passes the trail period, the single way will be 38 km, at 350 km/hour. The interval of trains will be 3 minutes (shorter many metro carts).

Timber Cove, Sonoma

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 10:15:37 +0800

This year’s YLF (Young Leaders Forum, National Committee on US-China Relationships) took place in Timber Cove, Sonoma county, California. I have decided to make time for this great event no matter what. I am back from the three day trip, and have time to post some of the photos I took during the days. Well, the content is obviously 100 times better than the content, and I got great inspiration from the other fellows. Since that is a strictly confidential and off-record conference, I won’t disclose anything about the conference itself.

Happy Birthday to Me

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 03:55:31 +0800

It turned out today is my birthday today.

I didn’t realize it is already October 18, well, Beijing time.

It is the first birthday spanning on both sides of the Ocean. Although I haven’t enter Oct 18 at this side of the Pacific, when I am there, the day will end.

PS. Based on the boarding information I have, when I arrive at PVG, I will conveniently skip the day and will be 2 am the second day.

International Financial Center Opens

Sun, 10 Oct 2010 22:46:28 +0800

Heard the news that International Financial Center opens at Lujiazui (many weeks ago), and it offers free parking, we detoured there on our way to the post office to check out.

Location: It has many the best location in Lujiazui, just between Jinmao tower, and the Super Brand Mall, as shown in the map below (it was not completed yet in the satellite image).

After IFC opens, Shanghai has another top shopping center with the first line brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci… I just feel I entered the world of “The Devil Wears Prada”. Interestingly, I am the dummy who don’t understand the brand. I just cannot keep asking the question, why a bag worth 20K RMB? What is the value the branded product? My guess is, maybe the reason is just like people buying iPhone (I can certainly understand why iPhone justifies its 3x to 4x higher price than average phones).

Blog Writter Blog

Sun, 10 Oct 2010 18:16:32 +0800

Trying to use Windows Blog Writer to create a test post. The new version looks better, although I was completely confused by the Windows Live Messenger new version.

3 Comments

Hi, I was using Windows Live Blog for a blog about Shanghai, as it is not blocked in China. But, I recently found that Microsoft will stop this service soon. They will let people move their blogs to WordPress, but I think that WordPress may be blocked in China. So I will have to figure something else.

But I guess you can continue to use the Writer tool for other blogs.

Wang Jian Shuo, what blog service do you use? Or did you make it yourself?

— TianQin · 2010-10-12 04:45

wordpress is not blocked in shanghai but in other cities (such as my hometown zhen jiang).

Live Writer is good but i don't know how to download.. The download page confused me for a long time and i can't find any download link.. strange microsoft.

— Ding Li · 2010-10-14 17:42

Hello Ding Li, thanks for the information about wordpress.

— TianQin · 2010-10-21 00:47

Qingdao Area Geography

Sat, 09 Oct 2010 23:50:31 +0800

The best way to understand geography of an area is by moving around. In a city, the best way is to walk, with biking as the second choice. For an area, driving is best.

After driving to Qingdao, I understand the area better, and can explain it to you - mainly from the expressway system perspective.

G15

Thanks to the G15 National Expressway, the driving from Shanghai to Qingdao is pretty straight forward - get to G15 by any of the many east-west expressways (G40 to Xi’an, G50 to Chongqing, G60 to Chengdu, or S5 to Jiading District, S32, S4 to Jinshan).

Restart Again

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 19:17:27 +0800

After the 7 full day of rest, I am feeling very refreshed, and excited. Tomorrow is a good day, and I am going to rush back to the field, and to start the exciting journey again. I am back!

My Contact Management Tips

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 23:04:26 +0800

In the current world with most applications like iPhone contact manager, and Gmail contact designed around English names, it is a little bit challenging for Chinese users. Here are my tips:

Design a consistent naming system for yourself. Here is mine.
Whenever someone has a Chinese name, record it in contact manager using the correct Chinese name.
Always input Chinese name as a whole into the Last Name section. It is strange to enter two Chinese characters into the First Name columns, and one character into the Last Name. The worst is when it is displayed, like in iPhone, that last name is in bold font, and there is a space between the first and the last. Not necessary at all.

Running on G15

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 18:25:45 +0800

Wendy is driving.

Yifan is sleeping.

The car is running on the long north to south national expressway G15 (a.k.a Shenyang-Haikou Expressway).

Inspired by the 2200 km travel across the western US, the family drove to Qingdao and back during the holiday.

The G15 is generally empty with just one or two cars ahead in sight for many sections except in Shanghai.

Car traveling is a feasible option for Chinese now.

Using iPhone to Blog

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 23:47:23 +0800

With the help of iMT plugin, I am using iPhone to publish this entry now. Although the iPhone keyboard is more suitable for 140 character of twitter, at least I have some decent tool to blog on the go. I still don’t have any idea how it changes the way I blog. The most possible outcome of this tool is, I simply forget about it soon. The other possibility is, it may turn my blog into a mini blog, or twitter (if you want to use the more popular name for that kind of thing). It will be both good and bad - good to capture the inspiration on the go, but the other side of the coin is, maybe it is not as worthy as before.

Days Like This

Sun, 03 Oct 2010 19:14:04 +0800

I don’t know in the future, when Yifan grows up, will he live in the era like ours? What will he learn about the world we are living in in the October of 2010.

8 Comments

What makes you have this comment today?

— Guff · 2010-10-03 19:43

What was happened?

— zhiqiang · 2010-10-03 23:22

To be frank, today is actually the best time ever in China's 5000 year history. China is at its peak moment. Next couple of decades will not likely see such best moment. In fact, China is on its peak and heading down to a multi-decades of slow growth and worse, potential instability. My point is, your child may not see better times you are seeing today when he grows up in 20 years. Enjoy good times today. The next peak will probably come in the mid century, 2040 to 2050 period, of course, after a troublesome intermediate period.

— jqian · 2010-10-04 23:28

In partiaular for a Chinese , this century sure beats the last century.

— ILH · 2010-10-05 00:19

From a cyclic point of view, when history suffers for too long, it will correct to the opposite side violently. China had suffered painfully more than 200 years before the current revival. It can partially explained last 30 years glorious boom. However, when the boom overdoes or over-extends itself, it can correct to the opposite side for an intermediate period. I believe China today is right at the crux of the boom. From historical precedences we often see, a boom tends to over extend and fizzles into a counter trend correction, which would be the next 20 years period. We don't yet know how extensive the correction would be. From an optimistic view, China will re-emerge from the correction and make new progress after 2030 and onward.

My point is, life tends to be cyclic, too is fortune.

— jqian · 2010-10-05 01:30

China's future will be worse. Move him out of that country before it is too late.

— June · 2010-10-05 15:38

No, it will be much better. It will be more truthful and I as an ABC need a stronger China. I am already happier than I was before because of a more accessible and more vocal China even though I am an American. I need China to be visible, for an echo of my ancestry to be vibrant. It makes me more comfortable to be alive. Your son feel more embraced and more belonging to the world than I ever have in the past.

— Cleo · 2010-10-05 23:15

China suffers from what I call a "moral vacuum", it is a large, diverse, and morally corrupt society right now. If we look at it from this pessimistic angle, China will be spiraling down a path leading to a dystopian existence. On the plus side, there's some hope. People with integrity and sense of righteousness like Jianshuo here.

Politically, China will always be an Oligarchy. It always has been ruled by an elitist group of inter-connected "buddies" and mobsters and this tradition will continue forever. Premier Wen once said during a CNN interview (cannot be seen inside China of course) that he sees a democratic China at some point in the future. He is an idealist on that point I think. Nothing will break the Chinese characteristic of an elitist ruling class. Not even our "beloved Chairman Mao" could do it!

But for now, I am happy to be making my millions, screw the other guy standing on the pile of s**t!

— titi · 2010-10-06 17:42

In Qingdao Now

Sat, 02 Oct 2010 20:31:28 +0800

From Rizhao, 150 km away on the north is Qingdao. Now we arrived at Qingdao this afternoon from Rizhao.

The next station will be Yantai tomorrow.

1 Comments

Great pictures!! Copied a couple for my presentation.

Thanks.

— Jenny · 2011-10-30 11:19

Drove to Rizhao, Shandong

Sat, 02 Oct 2010 10:57:40 +0800

Wendy, Yifan and I am at Rizhao after 9hours of driving via G15 expressway.

Shanghai to Hangzhou via Hangzhou Bay Bridge?

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 23:26:29 +0800

The question reads:

Jian,

I have tried everywhere to find if we can do a trip from Shanghai to Hangzhou, staying overnight and coming back to Shanghai via the Hangzhou Bay bridge. Is it possible if we took an early D train to Ningbo and then made our way over the bridge by bus or cab? Any suggestions you have would be more than welcome.

The short answer is, you don’t to go over the Hangzhou Bay Bridge from Shanghai to Hangzhou. Actually, there is no need to use that bridge from any where in the world to get to Hangzhou.

Shanghai to Hangzhou Highspeed Train

Tue, 28 Sep 2010 23:27:17 +0800

The Shanghai to Hangzhou Highspeed Train will officially launch at the later half of October, 2010. Today, the headline news is, the train experimented to run at 416.6 km/hour (259 miles/hour).

At commercial operation, the train will link Shanghai and Hangzhou. It takes about 40 minutes to get to Hangzhou from Shanghai Hong Qiao Railway Station, running at 350 km/hour (217 miles/hour). The current D-Train, the fastest, is about 2 hours.

Holiday is Approaching

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 22:12:51 +0800

Oct 1 to Oct 7 are the National Holiday in China. In the next few days, the nation will enter the holiday theme. Happy holiday, in advance.

7 Comments

Let me be the first one to wish you a "HAPPY and Wonderful holiday for you and your family".

Hope YIFAN enjoys the holiday time more with this father & Mother.

— Balaji · 2010-09-27 22:19

Happy holiday！

— 淘上瘾 · 2010-09-27 22:30

钓鱼岛是中国的！

— 美瞳 · 2010-09-29 00:16

Yes, another holiday to celebrate one year closer to the end of the current regime. Happy holidays, everyone.

— Давид · 2010-09-29 01:59

That's right, Happy Holiday. And you will also see people with huge suitcases and large appliances on every bus and train.

— Michael · 2010-09-29 14:17

forget about 钓鱼岛

history is sometimes hard to swallow, but necessary, let's move on. the hard lesson learned is we need to wisely solve territorial disputes before they become unsolvable.

— ronin · 2010-10-01 05:06

"And you will also see people with huge suitcases and large appliances on every bus and train." If these trains and buses are moving somehow, its not really holidays for everyone out there in China, isn't it? It seems to be very unique in the whole world, that a country has got holidays for over a week for most of the people. And people who has to work on this specials days, should be paid double and tripple, please! We will see, how long your goverment is having these holidays. I find that a bit spooky. What the hell are you doing all, if you are not visiting a family? Are you takin gthe chance to visite the rest of the world?

— li kebushi · 2010-10-03 09:44

Apple Flagship Store in Shanghai

Sun, 26 Sep 2010 23:05:58 +0800

The second day I am back from Singapore, I had a lunch meeting in Shangri-la, and after the meeting, I went to the Apple Flagship Store in Shanghai.

The store is located near the Grand Brand Mall, just the other side of the Pearl TV Tower. It is at basement of the International Financial Center (IFC) complex, near the LV flagship store.

Here is the entrance - the feeling is just like the glass entrance of the Louvre.

My Friends in Singapore

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 23:20:44 +0800

Here are some nice group photo.

A nice working lunch with faculty and students from School of Computer, National University of Singapore.

After the talk to students.

Meeting with NUS Entrepreneur Alumni at Soc, NUS

Meeting with MDA.

Below is the time of the lecture:

4 Comments

why u always at far end in all photos, JS? BTW, which one is jiang ming liang in your photos?

— James · 2010-09-25 18:49

I assume in Singapore, people value the Chinese courtesy. It is courtesy to the host, and other people to leave the middle space to others, and take the far most position. Similar things are like when people propose a toast, and the glasses touches each other, everyone try to be lower than the other glass to show courtesy.... I am just trying to do that all the time. Ming liang was not able to go there this time.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2010-09-26 11:48

What was talk at NUS about?

— Nirmalya · 2010-10-27 01:26

What was the topic of your talk at NUS? Good to see one of lecture halls I spent some time in recently :)

— Nirmalya · 2010-10-27 01:28

Meetings in Singapore

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 23:07:03 +0800

Meetings include:

Meeting with faculties in National University of Singapore
Workshop on China’s Internet - The room will filled with 300 students with another same size room broadcasting the video
Meeting with Infocomm Development Agency
Meeting with Media Development Agency
Meeting with Temasek
Meeting with NUS alumni
Meeting with computer department of NUS.

There are other smaller meetings in it. I love my Singapore trip. Here are some photos.

Below: A cool demo by a company invested by MDA.

Singapore Pte Ltd

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 23:26:50 +0800

I joked with Prof. Juzar on the way to dinner, that I found myself on the campus of a big company called “Singapore Pte Ltd” these days. Some people joked that the president of China acts as CEO of China Limited Corparation. I felt more so in Singapore. I formed the impression from the interaction with the government agencies, universities, and private sectors, and some ideas comes from the autobiography of Lee Kuan Yew.

Singapore Second Impression

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 23:18:29 +0800

I am at Orchard Hotel at Singapore, on the famous Orchard road.

This is my “second impression” of Singapore - the first impression was about 10 years ago.

Singapore is far from China. I was surprised that there is no time difference after 5 hours’ of flight. Then with the help of a map, I figured out that it is at the same longitude with Kunming in China, only moved to 1 degree north near the equation. That was my major mistake, since I always thought Singapore is somewhere very west.

Beijing Traffic Jam on Wide Roads

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 00:18:03 +0800

Check out how wide the road of Beijing is, and how terrible the traffic jam of today. Thanks to lee who posted this to the Internet:

Yes. Beijing has a problem in transportation now.

Update and Correction

People sent me message and tell me it is not like Beijing. At a closer look, I believe so. Sorry for posting confusing message, and it is the time to re-enforce my rule on this blog: only post something I personally see.

Injected the Measles Vaccine

Sat, 18 Sep 2010 23:22:21 +0800

Following up the question: Shall I Sign for Measles Vaccine, here is the update. We finally signed the letter, and had Yifan injected the Measles Vaccine.

Few days before, immediately after Beijing reassured everyone that it is voluntary, the kindergarten Yifan attended posted a poster and said, it is mandatory. Although they offered a form of two choices, they said any claim not to inject will be invalid, and should be chose again…. The kindergarten closed at 12:00 at noon in Friday, and ask parents to bring their kids to do the injection.

Singapore e-Visa

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 20:47:27 +0800

I was impressed by the efficiency of Singapore government. They issued an e-visa the second day after I submitted the application, although the standard processing time is 3 days - an example of “under promising, over delivering”.

The e-visa is just a printed paper (just needed for airlines to check-in). The real visa is in the computer system, and will be validated with my passport.

The visa fee is 153 RMB (30 S’$). It is valid of two years, and multi-entry.

Why Chinese Citizen Needs Visa Everywhere

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 22:32:46 +0800

I got an invitation from Prof. Tang (via Mingliang and Hua) of National University of Singapore to deliver a talk on a seminar there. Then, I visited the Singapore visa office very early in the morning to get a visa. Every time I apply for a visa, either for United States, Australia, Singapore, or other places, I cannot stop wondering why Chinese citizens need to apply visa for almost every country existing on this planet.

I am Using iPhone 4

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 23:28:35 +0800

Finally, the iPhone 4 we booked at Apple Store in Palo Alto never appeared. Wendy bought one from Hong Kong, and she was kind enough to let me use it (while she uses iPad).

So, consider me as a person with an iPhone from now on.

5 Comments

Welcome to the "dark side"... ;-)

— Norris · 2010-09-15 11:32

How did you get a micro SIM card here in China?

— Jerome Cole · 2010-09-17 13:47

To Jerome: A good question, but we have a good friend - Scissors.

— Edward · 2010-09-19 19:21

How much is Iphone 4 from Hongkong?

— zhy8098 · 2010-09-20 17:30

I also got iPhone 4 over the weekend. Loved it so far.

— Stlplace · 2010-09-21 02:46

Photos of Hong Qiao Railway Station

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 23:18:06 +0800

I didn’t make a mistake here. It is NOT Hong Qiao Airport, it is the Hong Qiao Railway Station.

Before many people know it, the Hong Qiao Railway Station at the new Hong Qiao Airport Terminal 2 has operated for quite some time. It is the new station serving the highspeed trains from Shanghai to Nanjing, Hangzhou, Beijing and future destinations.

Location

It is exactly at the west side of the Hongqiao Airport Terminal 2. It shares the same building with the Hong Qiao Transition Center (Metro Line #2, and Line #10, and future Maglev, if they are lucky to be able to build it), and the T2. You can basically walk from the railway train station to the Hong Qiao airport terminal 2, but it is a pretty long walk. You can also take the Metro for one stop (got the idea about how far it is to talk at the basement of the building?)

8 Years of Blogging

Sat, 11 Sep 2010 23:59:34 +0800

I almost forgot about the 8 years of blogging anniversary if my reader hadn’t notified me about it. We should celebrate it a little bit, right? (Well, as always, I don’t want to be too high-profile of it due to our respect to the people who lost their lives in 911 - The two days are just co-incidentally the same).

8 years - about 10% of one’s life - with daily blogging. Isn’t it crazy?

Urbanization of Shanghai

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 23:39:29 +0800

I posted the urbanization of Luoyang. Let me share some photos of urbanization of Shanghai.

There photos are taken during my flight from Weihai to Shanghai.

It should be an area near Xinzhuang.

8 Comments

em... WJS, your photos made me check the definition of Urbanization on dictionary. I am lost;-)... these are all about "suburbanisation"... nothing urban to my understanding.

— GN · 2010-09-10 14:55

Hi Jian Shuo,

Today is Sept 11th. Happy Birthday to your blog!

- Joe

— jt · 2010-09-11 20:57

interesting photo. so is there a full, car-sized street on each side of the house and no backyard? (I'm showing my suburban american roots) why?

— bryan · 2010-09-14 00:12

I believe we are looking at many small apt buildings or multi family houses. They have driveways and small front yards.

— michael · 2010-09-15 18:50

They need 24 hour convenience stores then. This isn't looking too promising in terms of considerate planning. It may be hard to live in these kinds of neighborhoods for long stretches of time. Are they mostly car owners? Where do the cars park? Otherwise, how do you get out of this place? On foot? Shuttle vans? Are we looking at buyouts in fifteen years when the area (hopefully) becomes more desirable or is the next big corporation just going to bypass this area completely and build an hq/research facility somewhere undeveloped? Are these low-rises built because of the soft marshland of pudong that is allegedly sinking from the weight of skyscrapers? OMG, what is the humidity level of these houses in a few years? Are the walls using drywall or plaster?

— Cleo · 2010-09-17 08:52

They look awful.

— wonton · 2010-09-18 04:01

i bet 90% are empty. most units will be flipped several times over and will never occupied

— LooneyTunes · 2010-09-21 07:56

Sorry to jump in late. There are some misperceptions going on here.

@GN - I know what you mean, but WJS is right. "Urbanization" is the term for turning rural or natural land into inhabited land, no matter the building pattern. "Suburbanization" (which is also going on in Shanghai) means the process of a large city spreading out into suburban style areas.

@Bryan, Michael - not a full car-sized street. You are seeing just a very small lot - street in front, small back yard right on street behind. Hard to tell for sure, but I think these are single family, not multi-family.

@Cleo - I agree there isn't good planning going on here. I *think* this is public/relocation housing for rural villagers whose land has been appropriated for some other purpose (railroad, other urban development, etc.) So few cars, more bikes and scooters. It's low rise because this is far away from the center of the city and that's a cheap way to build (and this is Puxi, not Pudong), it doesn't have anything to do with land sinking. The humidity level everywhere in Shanghai is very high all the time, no need to worry about in a few years :-) It's almost certainly plaster, not drywall.

@Looneytunes - Like I said above, I think this is public housing, not investment housing, so they probably will be occupied and not flipped.

But I agree with everyone, it's a very poor environment, how do you get anywhere?

— ddjiii · 2010-09-30 11:41

Shall I Sign for Measles Vaccine

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 23:56:49 +0800

Yifan got a letter to parent from kindergarten. It is about a sudden action to inject Measles Vaccine for the upcoming nationwide measles immunization campaign. That was a big shock to me.

Only after I got the letter that I realized that it is not just for Yifan. Parents of more than 100 million children in China received the same letter, and the deadline for signing the letter is just tomorrow. There are about 3 days for us to decide whether to accept it.

How Startups Enter China?

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 23:23:51 +0800

My friend asked me a question:

It is stupid to ignore China market for any startup. What is your suggest for startups to enter China market?

My quick answer is: Don’t.

My alternative suggestion is, enter China market by putting your headquarter in China.

I have many successful entrepreneur friends in the Silicon Valley, who don’t have China presence yet (and I suggested them not to do it), and I also know some great American in Shanghai who have amazing business in China. In contrary, I also know many of my local friends who were laid off after working for the Shanghai branch offices for startups in US, or Europe.

Back to Windows World: Silverlight

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 23:56:09 +0800

Tried to build some Silverlight application over the night. I felt I was back to the Windows world, and I have to say, Windows development system has the best architect I have every seen.

1 Comments

专程来踩E文点！

— cndig · 2010-09-08 01:21

Advanced Asphalt Road Paving System

Sun, 05 Sep 2010 12:15:33 +0800

At Haibin North Road 海滨北路 of Weihai, I saw the most advanced road paving system I have ever seen.

The system consists of many big machines, lining up for about 200 meters. It completely automated the work to pave a new Asphalt road. The whole army of trucks moved slowly, but after them, the old broken Asphalt is turned into new and ready to use road.

Weihai by the Sea

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 23:32:49 +0800

This is the second day I am in Weihai 威海. Here is some observation during the day.

Where is Weihai

Weihai is at the tip of the Shandong Peninsula, at the other side of the Korea Peninsula. In that area, there are four major sea-side cities: Qingdao, Yantai, Weihai, and Rizhao.

My Impression

Weihai is a newly raised city. According to the plate number, it is 鲁K - traditionally, the capital city of the province is numbered A, and the cities are then number according to significance. K is not a very top number.

Blue Sky of Shanghai

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 23:49:19 +0800

We are flying to Weihai 威海 this morning. I wake up earlier than before to get the new Hongqiao Airport Terminal 2. On the way, I took some picture of the rare blue sky of Shanghai.

After paying attention the pattern of blue sky in Shanghai, I found out it is a rule that whenever there are wind from the sea (south-east wind), Shanghai will be very beautiful, especially after a typhoon.

Yifan's Happy First Day in Kindergarten

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:03:57 +0800

Yifan’s first day in kindergarten was great. He was very happy when we sent him to the kindergarten. He was singing a song when we stepped into the gate. He went straight to the LEGO in his room.

He cried briefly when his mom left, but basically enjoyed the day. The teacher reported that he ate well, and slept well this noon. Great!

Yifan as Apple Fan

Wendy bought an iPad, and Yifan naturally can play with it. Kudos to Apple Inc. to make it so usable. We bought an Apple T-shirt in Apple Company Store at Apple headerquarter, and dressed him up with the new T-shirt. The front reads: “Hello. I am a Mac”, and at the back is an Apple logo.

Typhoon Hits Shanghai

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:54:12 +0800

Typhoon is coming to Shanghai tomorrow. It will be the first day Yifan go to kindergarten. His teacher in kindergarten sent us SMS that the kindergarten will be closed tomorrow due to typhoon. So, Yifan has one more day at home before he can play his favorite cars in his classroom.

Take care, my friends, if you are in Shanghai or southeast coast of China.

2 Comments

Same here, but teachers still have to work! Jodi and I had to scramble to find a place for our kids tomorrow.

— Micah S · 2010-09-01 00:12

shanghai is more safety than some other place in China.

— zbill · 2010-09-01 14:50

Cost Structure of the Kindergarten

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:46:28 +0800

Yesterday, I posted about the new kindergarten near my home. In the comment section, people are very interested in the low tuition - 180 RMB per month per person. That is just the tuition. The meal per day is 6 RMB, which is about 120 RMB, plus some minor fees. In total, it is not expensive at all. Why?

The Public School Sponsored by Developer

It is a public school. Most private school charges much higher than that. Before, Yifan attended a pre-kindergarten care. That charges about 1600 RMB per month - a pretty normal one. The better private day care charges about 300 RMB per day, which is basically 6000 RMB per month, which I didn’t choose.

Yifan's Kindergarten

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 21:32:35 +0800

I cannot believe it. In three days, Yifan will officially start his kindergarten life. This will be a great milestone for him. The kindergarten starts from Sept 1, 2010 - the official school date for almost all schools, and kindergartens in China. I attended the first parents’ meeting yesterday.

Don’t get confused with Yifan’s current kindergarten. Yifan was in another kindergarten for two months:

Yifan Started His Kindergarten Life

Yifan’s Second Day in Kindergarten

Journalist Should Not Be Director

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 01:01:06 +0800

Last week, I received an interview from ICS (International Channel Shanghai). The program is ICS news.

I regretted that I didn’t insist not to take the interview. I have decided not to take interview from the local media, especially TV media, but finally, I said yes.

Then it comes the filming. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience inn talk show programs from ICS. My favorite is “Culture Matters”, which I have been with their program for 5 times. I enjoyed the style of Sammy who is the host, and also the CEO of Sunny TV. He brought a lot of modern journalism style to the program. For example, they only record 30 minutes in total for the 20 something minutes program. That means, they basically broadcast all the content without too much editing. For other talk show like “Crossing Over” with Hong Huang, it went on well, although not as good as Culture Matter.

Urbanization of Luoyang

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 23:57:49 +0800

My hometown Luoyang is a typical sample of recent years of urbanization process in China.

Situated in the middle of China, Luoyang is a middle sized city. Although the total population is 6 million (too big a number in US to be a middle sized city), the urban population is only about 1 million, with the rest to be rural population.

In the last 10 years, Luoyang changes a lot. When I check satellite image on Google Maps, I found due to some reason, some tiles of the map was not updated to the current image. That provided an interesting view of the past and the current picture of Luoyang on the same page.

Back to SJTU BBS

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 11:48:26 +0800

When you lost an ID that you enjoy a lot, you don’t want to use that site any more. It is the case for me on SJTU BBS (Shanghai Jiaotong University Bulletin Board System). I started to use it when I was a junior there. I used a nick name stonebook for few years, before it was terminated on Oct 26, 2003.

I just registered a new nickname on http://bbs.sjtu.edu.cn: jianshuo. I will return to the Automation department board, SOEIEE board (what a strange name), and others.

Written Chinese Keeps China United

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 23:24:16 +0800

One of my guesses (without any support) is, the written language of Chinese played a very important role in keeping China united as a country in the last 1000 years, although it separates, and then united. Why?

Unlike languages that records pronunciation, like English, Chinese characters is basically a “picture” represents the meaning. Look at the illustration in this blog: Chinese Characters.

No matter how you want to read it, the written language is always the same across China. A simple (over simplified) example are the number one, two, three in Chinese: 一. 二. 三. If you have Chinese system in your computer and can read Chinese, you will find one stroke means 1, two strokes means 2, and three vertical strokes means 3. (Of cause, 1000 strokes does not mean 1000). It is just like the Rome representation: I, II, III, IV, V, or the numerical representation: 1, 2, 3, 4… In different countries, they are read differently, but the meaning are the same.

Mob Violence

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 23:18:32 +0800

In special days like today, we observe violence from the top, and from the peers. Mob violence is at least equally strong as official violence….

2 Comments

What mob violence you were talking about? You mean there are mob violence on the streets of Shanghai?

— jqian · 2010-08-17 00:30

Good, smart post. I've done this as well and I have to see it's great in terms of creating brand and ultimately, awareness.

— Nike TN Chaussures · 2010-08-27 11:42

OOB Today for Three Kindoms

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 23:56:24 +0800

Watching TV Series Three Kindoms today.

OOB for one day.

Minimum Fee 120 RMB for Top of SWFC

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 23:56:54 +0800

The top secret I have about this city is how to Get to Top of SWFC Within 100 RMB. Now, I found out that trick does not work.

The 91th floor of Shanghai World Financial Center is no longer the best value bar in Shanghai. Now, they require 120 RMB per person minimum pay for all afternoon tea guests.

Now, the only alternatives left for me are:

Bottom of the Well at Jinmao Tower. They require 50 RMB / person fee. It is fine, since their juice and tea are 50 RMB.

Now We Have More Interns

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 22:14:50 +0800

Very happy to have offered 4 smart interns for Baixing today.

Two of them are from Fudan University.

One from Shanghai Jiaotong University,

and another from Wuhan University.

Looking forward to work with more interns soon.

3 Comments

Does intern in China receive remuneration during the training period?

— stephen · 2010-08-13 23:14

Yes. We provide salary of 100 RMB per day (about 2000 - 2100 RMB per month). Not high salary, but still higher than the Shanghai average salary.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2010-08-15 00:58

Lucky for those interns who are working for you, at least better than working for Foxconn...........

— stephen · 2010-08-25 22:51

Quora is Growing Crazily

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 22:02:55 +0800

I first learn Quora from Matt, and now, email about someone following me came in like crazy. I got about 120 email like this in the last few days.

The website by few ex-former employees of Facebook, and invested by Benchmark is very interesting. It showed the early characters of a promising website - the feeling of WOW when you first read it.

On my first page, I saw some interesting question answered by interesting people. For example, the best answer voted to “What does Matt do when he was in China” was answered by Matt himself, and the question “What does Craig of Craigslist think about money” also received a lot of answers, out of which, Craig’s own answer was chosen to be the best.

Questions About Trespassing

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 20:41:55 +0800

I have few questions for my friends in US who are familiar with the legal system there. It is about definition of trespassing, and property owner’s right when it happens.

It is about the recent case of Guo Degang, the famous Chinese talk show (well, I know it is a funny translation, but what is the right one) actor. That is maybe the hottest news in the recent days before the media was ordered to stop reporting it. Huge amount of people rushed into debating whether they support Guo, or not, and why, but few people really dig into the details of the fact part. Let me try to repeat what is happening. I want to understand how people in the US deal with it, since there is no exact way to define trespassing in China yet.

Does Shanghai have Beach, Nearby?

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 20:47:28 +0800

I answered the question Does Shanghai have Beach? before: No.

Wendy and I have been searching beach in Shanghai many times. We went to many claimed beach in Shanghai - the Jinshan Beach, or the Fengxian beach. So far, the nearest real beach is at Shengsi.

This time, we continued our search to the north side of the Yangtze River, and arrived at Changshazhen, at Rudong, Nantong.

To our disappointment, there is so no beach there. What we see is very like the scene at Dishui Lake in Shanghai.

Integrity is Hard in China

Sun, 08 Aug 2010 21:20:32 +0800

The integrity issue people pointed out in the comment section of this blog Integrity of Resume is deep rooted in the current system of China. The current system makes it so hard to keep integrity. Here are some examples:

Education. Although questioning authority is a virtue, it is so hard to do so in the current exam driven tests. There are fences everywhere to prevent students to think about. If a student really pursues the truth, and asks questions related to the culture revolution, China’s involvement in Korean war, he will be in big trouble, so is his/her teacher. The reason is political reason.

Integrity in China

Sun, 08 Aug 2010 17:00:13 +0800

My previous post on Integrity of Resume received some very nice comment. That leads me to continue to the discussion about integrity environment in China, and what we can do about it.

It is Impossible to Stay Integrity

It is a shocking conclusion, and I am aware of how much effort I am going to spend to clarify this conclusion without being accused as dishonest person myself.

Universally Hard to Define Honesty

Yangtze River is Now a Yellow River

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 23:36:44 +0800

It is a sunny Saturday in Shanghai, and I guess it is so for the Yangtze delta. Wendy and I wanted to bring Yifan to a new city. After the US trip (1600+ miles in 7 days), we reset our definition of living area. 500 km is the new boundary of what we define as “far”.

After checking out cities as far as Rizhao 日照, which may cost 6 hours, we finally decided to go to Nantong 南通. It is at the north side of the Yangtze River, opposite of Suzhou.

Integrity of Resume

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 22:50:54 +0800

Today, a candidate came to interview at our company. The experience, and the answers to questions looks very promising, but there is one problem: he intentionally changed the date of his employment history by few years. We immediately terminated the interview when we found out.

Integrity is the key to any person, and company. It is by trust that this society works together. No matter how good a person is, if there is integrity problem, that is a big problem. In Microsoft, for example, integrity issue is the biggest mistake someone can make, and will result in immediate termination of employment. The first value of the seven key values of Microsoft is Integrity and Honesty. At least in the few years I was in Microsoft, it was really enforced. I know it is a big deal.

I Love Tech Talk

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 23:10:56 +0800

Thanks Jianqiu to deliver a tech talk on Data Mining at Baixing office. I enjoyed the talk, and enjoyed the way people share knowledge in the format of tech talks.

Baixing is recruiting PM interns these days, and I hope to get your resume if you are in grade 3 in universities. The benefits of being an intern at Baixing is to access to all technical sessions like this one every week.

Phoenix Tree-Lined Streets in Shanghai

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:42:09 +0800

Besides the skyscrapers (not so interesting for the local, but serving as a good opportunity for visitors to take photo as background), the most charming characters of the city of Shanghai is its streets.

The streets in the old French Concession was lined by Phoenix trees, and villas. The villas are typically larger than those in the Silicon Valley, and walled by bricks, and high raised fences above it. There are many buildings along the edge of the streets, and you walk besides the window of the kitchen or leaving room of the residents of the building - a very unique experience only in Shanghai.

Back to Smallness - Fortress Besieged

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 22:51:00 +0800

Marriage is like a fortress besieged: those who are outside want to get in, and those who are inside want to get out

French proverb and quoted in and inspired the title of the Chinese novel, Fortress Besieged.

After being passionate about bigness, and the magnificent, the splendid, and the modern, I started to learn to appreciate the beauty of smallness.

Growing up in the Smallness

Grew up in a mid-sized city, Luoyang, in the middle part of China (with 6 million population), most of the things around me are small.

Pigeon Point Lighthouse

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 21:47:57 +0800

At the west coast of US, there is a lighthouse called Pigeon Point. Wendy and I arrived at that lighthouse at a dark night, thinking we were in the middle of nowhere.

We were driving lonely around 9:00 PM along the CA-1, planing to leave San Francisco the second day. Along the dark route, we only can barely hear the wave of ocean on the left, from deep down the cliffs.

Shanghai is Hot and Humid

Sun, 01 Aug 2010 20:44:44 +0800

After a week of incredibly nice weather, and beautiful sky, Shanghai returned to its gray, hot, and humid nature of summers.

Currently, the temperature of Shanaghai is 35°C, and humidity is 53%. I often pay more attention to temperature (well, this time, the visit to US enforced my attention to this metrics), but generally ignore humidity.

What does 53% means? I need to find out later. According to Wikipedia article on Humidity, “Shanghai and Hong Kong in China also have a extreme humid period in their summer months”. It is talking about weather like today. The 6km SW wind does not help at all.

Lake Tahoe Photo of Me (Some kind of)

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 16:54:02 +0800

Rick posted it on Sina Microblog about this photo. It is a late afternoon near the Lake Tahoe this March. If you watch this photo close enough, you will find the person at the lake is actually me.

photograph by Rick Zhuang

Thanks Rick!

Obviously, Rick has some nicer pictures of the same place without me breaking the beauty of the nature. Good photographer!

photograph by Rick Zhuang

Grand Canyon Photos

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:45:11 +0800

These are the photos I took at the Grand Canyon.

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

2 Comments

Great view! Probably I will never be able to visit the US, but I still like their countryside.

— Uwe · 2010-07-30 22:51

Great pictures !

Did you go on the glass plate that stretches OVER the grand canyon ?

— Mary · 2010-08-01 00:19

Do Travelers Feel People are More Friendly?

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:24:04 +0800

I had a conversation with a participant of Fortune Brainstorm Conference about his recent visit to Asia, namely, Thailand, and China. He was filled with exaggerated excitement about the places he just visited. “I was overwhelmed by how friendly people are. Hey man, you just cannot imagine how friendly they are”.

Hmm Is it true that travelers feel people are friendlier in foreign countries?

For me, for example, I genuinely feel people in the States are very friendly, and people in Sanya, Lijiang, or Daocheng are friendly to me. According to my personal experience, the statement seems to positive. There are for sure cases when people get extremely frustrated during the trip or mistreated, generally, people tend to agree that they love the people they meet when they are traveling. Why is that? How so?

Why People Travel

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:34:49 +0800

I asked this question again and again, why people love to travel.

**Find new things? **

No matter how small it is, from an electronic plug that is different from those in our own country, to a breakfast that offers something you seldom eat in home, the difference reminds us that we are in a different world. Nothing can be more boring when you arrive in a place but you really cannot tell any difference from your home.

The Roads in the West

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:45:31 +0800

Nothing can help me to understand that America is a country on the wheels better than drive along the long free way across the western part of US - the road that extends endlessly before you.

Along the road, we saw different scenes.

Sometimes, we passed the bridges in mountains (I-8 in Arizona)

Sometimes, we cross another road running to another direction

The mountains are always with us

Aspen Airport Photos

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:18:15 +0800

Aspen is a nice town situated in the valley of Rocky Range. Aspen airport, a small airport (the smallest I saw in US, although it is still relatively larger than Nanyang Airport or Luoyang Airport) is very cute. That is the reason I choose to update the photos of Aspen airport first, when I am trying to upload the photos to my blog.

Not like large airport, they manually handling of luggage.

Wrapping up the Summer Trip in US

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 13:20:59 +0800

I am now in Hotel Jerome. With the antique light on the desktop, and piano from Colorado Public Radio (the housekeeper always tune to this channel and open the radio when they finished the house cleaning), it is a pretty quiet and “prestigious” night (This is the word Wendy learn from Amy in Arlington. From then, we used the word prestigious on almost anything that is nice).

The Trip

This is the longest trip I had in the States. The board meeting in July 7, 2010 in Menlo Park is pre-determined, and there is no way to move it within two months, and the date of Fortune Brainstorm conference at July 22, 2010 is also set. It caused some challenges for me to arrange my schedule. There is about two weeks in the middle of the two important meetings. Typically, I will send about a week in the silicon valley meeting varies companies for both business and learning experience, but there is still another week in the middle. It does not make sense economically and logistically to fly back and forth between the two countries within a week. (I did fly back and forth in two weeks to attend the eBay Global Leadership Meeting, and the Leadership eBay workshop in 2006). So I took personal vacation from July 14 to July 21.

Second Day of Fortune Brainstorm Tech

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 13:54:19 +0800

What a whole day. I already waked up enough but still didn’t catch up the first session, at 6:00 AM, the optional mountain trail hike.

I came from the Internet space, combined with the startup space. Today’s session is generally interesting and amazing. The most inspirational part of today’s session is, the people, the company, and the topics are not those I will touch on daily basis. I was dragged out of Internet a little bit, but not too far away - to the Tech world.

Fortune Brainstorm Tech #FortuneTech

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 13:07:58 +0800

Just finished the first day (well, half day to be more exact) of the Fortune Brainstorm Tech Conference. As they stated in the description,

Fortune Brainstorm: TECH is a marketplace of ideas that assembles the smartest people we know - the world’s top technology and media thinkers, operators, entrepreneurs, innovators, and influencers. These leaders inspire a conversation that informs Fortune’s editorial coverage throughout the year.

Brainstorm began in Aspen in 2001, and Fortune is delighted to be returning to our roots in 2010. We know from experience that Aspen is the ideal - and idyllic - setting to exchange ideas and build relationships, the hallmarks of the Brainstorm experience.

Leaving for Aspen

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 08:22:31 +0800

I am leaving Los Angeles airport for Aspen, Colorado.

A small aircraft, flying to a small town, from a very big city, and a noisy world.

Update

Arrived at Aspen, CO. What a small but decent airport. It IS a very nice town. On the whole way from LAX to ASE, I was thinking about the difference between places - the warm and green west coast, the desert like Arizona, and Nevada, and finally the green and beautiful Coloroda again. Why is that?

More Perspective about US, and China

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:14:37 +0800

Travel helps people to understand the world better.

Here are some changes I made during the last few days of west US trip.

Urbanization. California is really urbanized, but in US, there are places like Arizona, and Nevada which rural lands separate cities, just like China.
Whether people obey rules is not dependent on which country the person is, it is based on the overall environment - economical and demographic. I saw Las Vegas is like Shanghai - there are more people stop you and send you cards with naked girls and phone numbers than people selling fake Rolex on Huaihai Road. People horn in busy streets in Los Angeles, just as Shanghai.

I Found a Las Vegas in Shanghai

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:41:52 +0800

American cities are mostly clean, well planned, well organized, and rule-enforced. I saw the quiet small towns like San Francisco, Palo Alto, Seattle. Even in New York, I see the characteristic of American cities - in certain neighborhood, the style of the buildings - especially the heights of the buildings are pretty similar. In smaller cities like Cappuccino, CA, any small change in the exterior of the house needs approval from neighbors, or the city. I never experienced so much constrain about a building in the America. After watching nice community with decent houses, well cut grasses, and trees, it started to be a little bit …. hmmm… boring.

San Diego

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:44:18 +0800

Arrived at San Diego from Sedona, AZ. It was pretty long trip, but Wendy and I was excited about the few hours on road, especially when we see the few miles of desert at the border of Mexico.

My Impression of US Cities

As anyone, before really setting foot to a place, we have some fixed impressions about it. It may comes from TV series, movie, or a photo. People always make mistakes about the impression.

Route 66 and Interstate 40 at Seligman

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 14:01:47 +0800

I am a big fan of the Pixar movie, Cars - the story of a race car, and the historic route 66, the American’s mother road, or the main road.

The movie is a very decent, and thoughtful work with the thought of the impact of modern, and fast life, symbolized by Interstate 40 (I-40), and the old-good-sweet time symbolized by route 66, on the life of the people (like the cars in Radiation Springs town).

Restart the Daily Blog

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 15:37:07 +0800

In the last two months, especially the last month, I didn’t keep my daily blogging int he last 8 years. There are many things to do in the last month, and I think I am completely occupied by my business world - hiring was one of the key job I did. To be honest, I was pretty stressed out.

Now, I feel I am starting to get back to the original energy level, so, I think I am able to get back to the daily blog schedule which I kept for years.

Reserved iPhone 4 at Apple Store

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 09:50:40 +0800

After a meeting from 2:00 to 3:30 PM in downtown Palo Alto, I passed an Apple Store at 451 University Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94301 (650) 617-9000. Sometimes, shopping idea just happened at a flash of thought - I never thought about buying iPhone 4 before, but when I played it for a while, I decided to spend the $599 to get one. That is the difference - if you feel something on your hand, feel its weight, and play with it for a while, and most importantly, when you feel it is closer to you, and you can get it with a small action, you are more likely to buy it.

Jian Shuo is in Bay Area, Again

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 04:28:57 +0800

I am in Comfort Inn in Palo Alto. Just arrived, and had my classic PHO as lunch. Will go to bed to adjust the jet lag soon.

My friends here, please drop me a note at jianshuo at hotmail dot com to arrange meetup! I am looking forward to seeing you.

2 Comments

Ah, I miss my Bay Area and the Pho. Shanghai is nice, but nothing beats the weather, the food, and the nice people of California. ;-D Are you on El Camino Real in Palo Alto?

— Suz · 2010-07-08 11:47

Welcome to China!

— naci · 2010-07-08 16:15

1 USD = 6.79527864 RMB

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 23:50:57 +0800

For the first time in recent years, the RMB went strong and broke the 6.80 threshold. What does it mean to people in China, the States, and other countries?

I am not an economist, and I am lack of basic ideas about how currency exchange impacts the world. Let me explain what I think from an individual who want to think about this issue.

I Forgot the Time when 1 USD is 8.2 RMB

The Bund Tunnel

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 21:24:55 +0800

Half years after the Bund Tunnel opened to public, I had the chance to use it for the first time yesterday.

The Bund

The Bund, and the 30+ buildings along the Bund are landmark of Shanghai. It is where the modern Shanghai got started 200 years ago. The buildings on the west side of the Bund are the most historical, and magnificent buildings of the city, and on the east side, is the mother river, Huangpu River, of the city.

Pudong Library Opens

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 23:55:33 +0800

The new Pudong Library opens.

It is located at the Jinxiu Road 锦绣路, and Qiancheng Road 前程路, walking distance from where I am living.

Here is the map:

Larger view

Their website: http://www.pdlib.com/pdlibrary/index.jsp

You are encouraged to visit that library. It is maybe the best library in Shanghai. Since it is built 10+ years later than the Shanghai library, it is much more modern.

Recently, I didn’t bring camera with me as often as I did, so I don’t have photos again. Sorry for that, but the 5 story building is a huge one with enough parking lot. Everything is free (most of them), and there are amazingly huge amount of books in the reading room. I don’t know whether they have wireless network in the library yet. I will try and report back.

World Cup 2010

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 23:34:34 +0800

I have never been a football fan, and never tried to be one, or pretend to be one. The last time I was deeply impacted by World Cup was still back in 1994, one year before the College Entrance Exam - THE exam that basically determines the future of us. Many classmates climbed out of the wall of the middle school, and put all the pillows in the dorm into the quilt to pretend someone was still on bed.

Deposit Money for Discount - Huge $$$

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 16:20:59 +0800

I uploaded a photo of an advertisement of a Sichuan restaurant onto Facebook (/jianshuo). They were advertising for cash deposit card. If you deposit money (pre-pay) into their card, they give you discount. There is nothing new about it.

However, the tricky part is the amount.

If you deposit 100,000 RMB, you can get 120,000 RMB worth of credit to buy dinner in that restaurant.

I didn’t make the mistake. That is 100,000 RMB, or roughly 15K USD, for dining card.

S16 - Hangzhou - Pudong Expressway

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 22:53:15 +0800

During the three day vacation, the family went to Lin’an, the mountain area near Hangzhou. We used the G60 (Shanghai - Hangzhou) expressway on our way there, and used a new expressway S16 (Hangzhou - Pudong) Expressway back. Let me give you a quick overview of the new S16 Hangzhou - Pudong Expressway.

The new expressway 杭浦高速 is basically parallel to the old Shanghai - Hangzhou Expressway 沪杭高速. They both start from Hangzhou at basically the same place (about 5 km away from each other at the intersection of Hangzhou Ring Expressway (G2501), and extend to the Shanghai direction. The G60 (Shanghai - Hangzhou Expressway) is a little bit northward (1 o’clock direction), and the S16 is on the south (2 o’clock direction).

Train from Shenzhen to Guangzhou

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 21:12:01 +0800

In this Shenzhen, Guangzhou trip, I was impressed by the CRH train between Shenzhen and Guangzhou. The train is the same, but the schedule, and the train station, and the process are very different.

Schedule

Look at this schedule! There are train from Guangzhou to Shenzhen every few minutes from as early as 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM.

D7001 06:08 -07:26

D7013 06:40 -07:46

D7069 06:41 -08:01

D7091 07:10 -08:16

In Shenzhen

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 02:00:07 +0800

I am in Shenzhen.

For the first time, I see the city from top of a high building.

Hong Kong is just one bridge away.

Shenzhen is very like the life in Silicon Valley - green trees, clear sky, and … a little bit boring.

After the Tencent trip, we will appear in Netease in Guangzhou tomorrow.

3 Comments

Hi jianshuo,Guangzhou is meeting its construction schedule which causes temporary inconvenience.Hope you will enjoy your trip to GZ.

— donglei · 2010-06-10 09:56

Re: Donglei's comment. Are you taking the train from Shenzhen? Because construction has turned Guangzhou East Rail Station into a hellhole. The taxi queue is really far away (turn left out of the station and walk several blocks) and there aren't many good signs. Plus, the queue is enormous. The authorities are so dead-set on building lots of stuff for a sporting event that they have become totally inconsiderate for anyone travelling with elderly parents, lots of luggage, a wheelchair, etc. Heck, it's even bad just with rain.

I skipped it entirely. I walked out, turning right out the station, and was lucky enough to catch a cab off the street.

Or maybe you can ask your hotel to arrange a car to pick you up.

— Joyce Lau · 2010-06-10 14:41

From Shenzhen, if you look out at the hills of the New Territories, Hong Kong, on the other side of the river, you can see the small path where I ride my horse! :)

I don't like Shenzhen either. Sure, it has lots of new fancy towers, hotels, restaurants and malls. But the upscale stuff is mostly empty. I went to MixC, and felt like the only shopper there -- all these salesgirls with too much makeup, standing around looking bored. It's like developers just wanted "face," without realizing that 99% of the population don't want to spend 2,000 RMB on a shirt, or 300 RMB on a mediocre upscale Western lunch.

Since Shenzhen was just built up in a generation or so (from fishing village to SEZ in 30 years), it doesn't feel like a real city to me. There is no sense of history, local culture, roots, etc. It tries to look like HK, but it doesn't have that natural buzz and bustle of a city. I find it a bit boring, too.

I like Guangzhou more -- despite the construction. There is a real sense of Cantonese language, food and culture, which makes it unique. I hope you eat well while you're there!

— Joyce Lau · 2010-06-10 14:47

Speak in Fortune Brainstorm Tech

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 11:05:08 +0800

I will be speaking at Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference July 22-24, 2010 at The Aspen Institute, Aspen, Colorado.

I am honored to join other 60 great speakers to discuss the most interesting ideas. This is also my first time to visit any place in the United States not on the east or west coast.

Any of my friends or readers will be there?

2 Comments

Shuoshuo, Aspen is a very nice place. If you have time, you should visit Snowmass nearby, it is a famous Ski resort and you will have a lot of fun there. By the way, I am going to Oklahoma City to start my physician training, hopefully will have time to visit you back in Shanghai in couple of years.

— Ruifeng Guo · 2010-06-15 07:26

Congratulations! Aspen is a nice winter tourist/summer conference town... beautiful though. And, the in and out flights are choppy. Have fun!

— GN · 2010-06-15 09:27

Semi-Erotic Ballet in Argentina Pavilion

Sun, 06 Jun 2010 22:20:15 +0800

This is the third time I visit the Expo site. I don’t enjoy waiting in the long line for hours (up to 4 hours) under strong sun light, I choose some less popular pavilions to get start. My first visit happened to be Argentina Pavilion.

During the noon time, the theater was showing a ballet film. I don’t know the name, but something very strange happened. The film is semi-erotic, and semi-violent at least so with the Chinese standard. The story is a love story, and the 5 minutes long show is about two dancers (man and woman) half naked and artistically show the “love”, before they were shown completely naked in the bed…

Yifan is Three Years Old

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 23:39:37 +0800

Happy birthday to Yifan. Little Yifan is 3 years old today, officially.

We celebrated his birthday with his favorite cake, and brought him to his favorite playground. He really had a great day.

Yifan already grew up to be a big kid. He has his own principle, and his own rules already. Yifan loves to sing songs, and we are so lucky that we have a good singer in the house every day.

ShanghaiExpat Redirected to 114 Page

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 20:05:03 +0800

Mae from ShanghaiExpat need some help. ShanghaiExpat is one of the most popular English website for expats in Shanghai. When their server receives high load, their site is hi-jacked by the China Telecom to their 114 Search Page. They sent the following instruction so I can forward to my readers. If you have problem to access the site, you may find the following instruction helpful. Please also help ShanghaiExpat to spread out the word.

Yifan's First Children's Day in Kintergarden

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 23:22:20 +0800

Yifan was sitting there, has nothing to do, and have a big “Red Army” hat…

I know some people will talk about that hat… Well. Take it easy. Just 3 year old kid celebrating Children’s Day.

6 Comments

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— www.RevistaHomeBroker.com · 2010-06-02 00:02

He looks like me wearing the same hat N decades ago. I guess time hasn't really changed. :-)

— jqian · 2010-06-02 02:00

haha,cute. happy Children's Day.

— zengrong · 2010-06-02 16:38

Yifan does look cute.. really cute...!

Children's day wishes

— Balaji · 2010-06-02 18:09

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— Sudiptaa Paul · 2010-06-02 21:10

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— Samadrita Biswas · 2010-06-12 19:50

Become a Baixing User

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 10:41:14 +0800

Happy Children Day.

A good news. If you are not using Baixing (one of the largest online classified sites and my company), you should do it now.

Using this link to post an ad today, and you can get 25 RMB worth of coupon. You can buy some interesting service like “refresh” on Baixing.com. Hope you enjoy the free gift.

1 Comments

Where can I find the list of "the largest online classified sites" (for Chinese mainland, I assume)?

Do you think we need more sites or just handful good ones?

What is the rank of Baixing?

What are the unique features of Baixing?

— dallas cowboy · 2010-06-12 05:50

Back from Beijing

Sun, 30 May 2010 00:18:27 +0800

The Beijing trip is very intensive. I met with many people:

CHINICT guys, GOAP, Christine Lu…

Li Min

Yumin

Chedong, Ada

Liang Gongjun

Chenjun

Rick

Zheng Yun

Bsun

XLVector

Hongbo

Dongqing

Boyu

Liu Yuan (Kevin)

Wanghua

Kaifu

Cuijin

Dai Zhikang

Peter Zheng

…

Beijing is a media center, I confirm that.

Beijing is the center of Internet in China. Positive confirmation for that.

Travel is life intensified

The new spring of Internet in China is coming, either at the second half of this year or 2011. I am very sure about it after attending the China Webmaster Conference.

I will be in Beijing Thursday to Saturday

Thu, 27 May 2010 00:29:49 +0800

Hey, Beijing, I am coming!

Will have many meetup. Beijing is the center of media and Internet in China, I have to admit, and it is good to be back to center.

I will be at CHINICT tomorrow. If you are also going, see you there. Ping me via twitter - my id is @jianshuo

Gary Wang's Speech

Wed, 26 May 2010 11:37:23 +0800

Just read Gary’s speech on GroupM Asia. Very inspirational, and well written. You should read it.

Like all explorers before, there are plenty of things in the world to concern us and tie us down: money, relationships, families, values, customs, rules and regulations, but since we are here in this pale world to paint some colorful colors, to explore, to create new things, to inevitably break up things, to push the boundaries, and since surely we will get old and get mature and settled down, become one day the establishment to be broken up by the newer generation, and become the dead old man, I know the boundaries will eventually catch up and get me. But when they do get me, I hope to have traveled more distances, and have had a lot of fun.

USA Pavilion at Shanghai Expo

Mon, 24 May 2010 00:05:50 +0800

I was at the USA Pavilion at Shanghai Expo. Surprisingly, it is much better than a tent (as people joked about it when the funding problem was not solved).

They have a nice opening area outside the 1776 Suite (VIP area) on the second floor)

Pay attention to the “hard” word in the posting. Funny. A good way to cure a minor design mistake.

Wendy is Back via FM9116

Sat, 22 May 2010 23:37:49 +0800

I am happy that after few days of Beijing trip, Wendy will finally be back via FM9116, Beijing International Airport T2 to Shanghai International Airport T2.

I am going to pick her up. What a late flight - landing at 23:55.

Similarity among Opposite Opinions

Fri, 21 May 2010 22:21:31 +0800

I found out an interesting fact: there are more similarity among the two opposite opinions than those who share more similarity.

Here are example:

If Tom and John are arguing Linux is better or Windows is better, they share more in common than another guy who thinks both Linux and Windows are good, depending on where to use.

Another example: Tom loves Facebook, and John hates Facebook, but they share much more in common than another guy who has never heard of Facebook, or yet another guy who does not care.

Long Line in Expo as a Biased Filter

Thu, 20 May 2010 01:15:41 +0800

In a meeting this afternoon, heard someone from one Expo pavilion. They have one of the longest lines in the expo site. The interesting finding they have was, the long line has acted as a biased filter. Most of the visitors coming to the pavilion are either labor workers, or old people - people who are less sensitive in time. They also want to attract people with higher education, or at least between 20-40, but they are just big fans of waiting in the line for hours.

I am Hiring an Assistant

Tue, 18 May 2010 09:04:22 +0800

I tend to separate my professional life (as CEO of one of the largest classified sites in China), and my blogging life separate. You typically see a person behind this blog, not a CEO. This entry is a rare exception, because I do need some help from my readers.

Simply put it, I am hiring an executive assistant. The job posting is here on Baixing.com. Obviously, you need to be able to read Chinese to apply for this position, so I didn’t provide translation. General introduction about Baixing is here, with other opening positions.

MeiGuoGuan at Twitter

Mon, 17 May 2010 00:05:31 +0800

Two comment:

The best way to get attention is to give attention. (MeiGuoGuan did, and I talked back).
Twitter Blackbird Pie is nice - a simple to dead tool, but solve a big problem. Are people in twitter intentionally want to embarrass people in the Internet field by introducing really simple, but popular tools?

.bbpBox14081568163 {background:url(http://a1.twimg.com/profile_background_images/96792436/USA_Pavilion.jpg) #C0DEED;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author{line-height:19px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px} p.bbpTweet a:hover{text-decoration:underline}p.bbpTweet span.timestamp{font-size:12px;display:block}

New Media from the State Department

Sat, 15 May 2010 08:32:57 +0800

I got an email from Philippe Reines, about the upcoming visit of Sectary Clinton to the Shanghai Expo site. Obviously I was just one of the many people he sent our his email to - bloggers, and other “new media” persons in Shanghai, and in China.

I was amazed by the message it sends - the State Department is engaging new media (bloggers like me) about the activities from the US government. Although I doubt the effectiveness of pinging each individual bloggers/new media about an update, it is a great move, at least a great attempt.

OOB for Few Days

Wed, 12 May 2010 00:11:17 +0800

Recently, I am busy working on recruiting - getting the best people possible for the Baixing team. Chinese Job Posting is here. It takes quite some time, so, I am going to be OOB (Out of Blogging) for few days to concentrate to the most important job I have. If you happen to be willing to work at Baixing (formally Kijiji China), you are very welcome to send your resume this way. We have exciting positions for Software Engineer, Architect, Marketing Manager, and PR Manager here. The quicker I can fill these positions, I sooner I can get back to normal posting schedule on this blog. :-) We are open to talents across the whole China, and will also be interested in people from other part of this world.

Competence Level

Fri, 07 May 2010 21:32:55 +0800

If we use “I understand” and “I don’t understand” as one axis, and “get things done” and “cannot get things done” as another axis, we draw an interesting competence chart with four quadrants.

I don’t understand why you cannot get things done

This is lowest level. If I know how we can do it, but don’t understand why you cannot get things done, that is a series problem.

I can understand why you cannot get things done, or why you can get things done

Don't Use Hate to Stop Spread of Hate

Thu, 06 May 2010 22:29:36 +0800

Recently, there are astonishing news about killing in kindergarten. In 40 days, 5 incidents in 5 different cities across China, more than 60 children will killed or badly hurt. Look at the killed children, as a father, I am completely frightened, and deeply concerned.

There are many things in common with the Virginia Tech accidents many years ago in US. The desperate killer (also victim of this society in bigger scope out of the case itself) turned to express their hate to this society by killing people - in the recent months, killing of children.

Security Tightened at SJTU

Tue, 04 May 2010 23:15:21 +0800

SJTU = Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

From May 1, the security level of SJTU has been raised to a level I had never saw, heard of, or even imagined in the last 15 years (since I first stepped in the campus in 1995). I saw the different today.

The campus was completely closed with the big automatic fence about the height of my shoulder closed all the time.

For cars, they will check the specially issued permit and an IC card before they open the gate. They have to make sure that your car is of resident on the campus.

The Devil Wears Prada

Tue, 04 May 2010 00:22:14 +0800

I watched the movie on the United Airlines flight to US, so I watched it two and a half times on flight. I love it.

One year later, I started to read the book. Combined with my current thinking of great leader, I started to turn my perspective, and look at the world from the eyes of Andrew Sachs (the assistant)’s boss, Miranda Priestly.

From the eyes of Andrew, Miranda is the devil.

My Plan for Visiting Expo

Mon, 03 May 2010 11:47:14 +0800

I have Expo ticket (normal days), and I am planning to visit it sometime in mid-May, so I can report what is going on inside the Expo site.

Will take some photos.

Any of my readers have been there? How does it feel?

7 Comments

Hi, I've already been there. A little hard to go around the entire place but we did it in six hours.

There's nothing special but the people, which you could see everywhere in China.

Preparing food and water is important cos there are expensive and distasteful in the expo zone (I brought some pears in my bag cos water is forbidden)

Enjoy your expo time.

— FlyChina · 2010-05-03 12:48

The visit was useful. Content was really very informative. From www.gifts4hyderabad.com.

— poulamimajumder · 2010-05-03 14:23

Planning to go mid May too. Someone wrote a one day guide to the Expo http://www.chinahush.com/2010/05/01/a-complete-one-day-guide-to-shanghai-world-expo/

— DC · 2010-05-04 00:12

We shall be here every a few days and expect your extraordinary feeling about Expo and some nice photos. Gee, good time is waiting for you!

— qingtingwei · 2010-05-04 01:28

I have been there...All my reviews are in this site... Feel free to browse...

http://www.shanghaiexpat.com/phpbbforum/expo-preview-review-t109075-50.html

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Here are my tips......

PREPARATION

What you need to prepare before you go.....

Just like most people, our first time on May 01 was really tiring...We are not prepared for the long queue and the walking and standing...Food are expensive and some are not edible... :lol: There is Papa John, Burger King, Starbucks...but not all corners have one...So, you wouldn't know when you'll be hungry and it sucks when you're falling in line then you hear your stomach growling....

So, here is my tip to save you from hunger, dehydration and muscle pain... :lol:

First and foremost, you're not allowed to bring in water....But, it's okay to bring an empty bottle... Just refill water whenever you see a drinking fountain inside. You can bring food like rice meal, sandwich..etc. As long as it's not soup with water... :D If you bring your own food like rice meal or noodles, make sure you don't bring in stainless spoon and fork... :lol:... damn, just those disposable ones are fine...

Here is what we prepared on May 03...

I carried a backpack with these inside...

Picture Link: http://www.shanghaiexpat.com/phpbbforum/expo-preview-review-t109075-100.html

My friend carried her backpack with home made sandwiches packed individually...She made about 10 sandwiches...2 small tupperware of rice with some food she cooked... It's not heavy, actually....

Picture Link: http://www.shanghaiexpat.com/phpbbforum/expo-preview-review-t109075-100.html

We didn't spend much inside the EXPO...I spend 6rmb for a bottled coke for our whole day on May 03.

We didn't get any muscle pain from all the walk coz we have the miracle "Bengay" to relieve the pain so fast that we feel like "wonder woman"... and we're not so tired coz we get to sit while queing... We take turn sitting down on the chair...By the way, the folding chair ain't heavy..It's very light and easy to use...

You can buy the folding stool at Super Brand Mall inside the HOLA store...30 rmb each... :p

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ENTRANCE / EXIT TO THE EXPO SITE

Here is another tip on the entrance and exit to the EXPO site...

For the entrance, I strongly recommend to use Line 9 subway and get off at Ma Dang Road, then transfer to Line 13. The walk is shorter and less exhausting...Might as well be exhaust your energy inside the expo, rather than exhaust yourself going into the expo site...

Almost everyone is going inside the expo from Pudong area by using Line 7 subway...so expect the lines there to be very long....Most of these people can't understand the map from Puxi side..they thought from Puxi it's farther... Technically speaking it's farther to the actual EXPO site...but saving yourself from the long queue is better off...because in Puxi you have the Line 13 which will take you to the inside of EXPO where the Spain, Denmark,..etc pavilions are...or the Thai, Australia, Philippines, Singapore..etc pavilions...

As for the exit...well, it's hard to walk back where you came from...the place is sooo big, but of course taking the Line 13 back to Puxi is nice..but if you're far out, ain't that nice anymore...

So try to do your homework on how you will tour the site... What we did is we went to Africa pavilion last, then walk a bit to the Argentina Pavilion..Right infront of the Argentina Pavilion are small electric golf cart like car that takes you all the way to China Pavilion for FREE... (I'm saying this in case anyone is interested to travel from Zone C to Zone A riding those electric car)

Well, as for the exit, there is another entrance/exit a little farther off the Argentina Pavilion... You can take that route out of the Expo (10 minutes walk)...Right outside, there are many EXPO buses there..One of the bus takes you all the way to Line 7 subway for FREE....

******************************************************

Unless you want to tire yourself, you may opt to take the FREE ferry from the Baosteel Pavilion to the Puxi side (one of our first experiment on May 01)..... Well, I tell you that taking this route out of the EXPO is the worst one.... From the ferry docking station in Puxi it will take you 20 minutes to eternity to get outside the EXPO...Not to mention, another 1-2 hours queuing for taxi outside...or you may spend almost an hour walking very very far away to hail a taxi.... almost everyone is taking this route because they want to experience the 5 minutes FREE ferry thinking they are in good position taking this route to Puxi...

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RESTING PERIODS

Here is a tip for "resting" periods...

The night before your EXPO tour, make sure you have lots of rest... I mean lots of rest...

Go early as 9AM via Line 13, most especially if you want to go inside Switzerland Pavilion riding those hang in the air rides like a cable car thing...Spend your first 5 hours to tour 2-4 pavilions (Switzerland, France, Belgium and UK) You can do this before 2-3 PM and you'll be shocked that YOU DID IT!! yey!!! :lol:

Remember, my earlier tip for the folding stools and sandwiches...those can get you by without exhaustion in the morning....Before you leave the house, put some sunblock lotion on your body and face. Also bring sunglasses and a cap and don't bring umbrella for chris sake!! you already have a stool and a cap, don't make everyone stand besides you to envy you.... :lol:

DO NOT do the "resting periods" from 11:30AM - 2PM... most likely, you'll be joining thousands of people doing the same thing during those times... and it will be hard to find a nice spots with shades to sit down and relax...not to mention the long queue on most of the restaurants...

Try to do "resting" for 1-1.5 hours... even take a nap if you want on the long bench...It's really cooling and nice...

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VISITORS TO THE EXPO

We all know that there are certain amount of tickets sold for the EXPO... even when you hear people say "there are no more tickets" or "SOLD OUT" tickets even on regular days....

DON'T BE FOOLED thinking that "Yeah, I can go on blah blah date so the people will be lesser.." tsk..tsk...

I have learned that big travel agencies like Elong and Ctrip bring in visitors without actual EXPO tickets... the same thing applies to small time travel agencies. They do it by groups of people and they have special place for entrance and exits inside the EXPO...reason why you will be shocked as to the hundreds of thousands people inside the EXPO..

These travel agencies provide their visitors with special EXPO card for souvenir and not the actual ticket you insert into the machine...

Travel Agencies all over China will be greedy and seeing the EXPO as their "bread and butter" for the next few months.. They will be bringing in lots and lots of visitors...so never under estimate any regular day to be "lesser" people in the EXPO....

Just follow my tips above and you'll have a wonderful experience....

— prettyindistress · 2010-05-05 14:13

We went on May 01 and All my reviews are posted in here with pictures...

http://www.shanghaiexpat.com/phpbbforum/expo-preview-review-t109075-50.html

feel free to browse page 4 & 5 , as my tips are all written in there....:)

— prettyindistress · 2010-05-05 14:47

went there yesterday...

Advice to the visitors:

- Do not expect the finish all the pavilions in 1 day. Go to pavilions with not too long queue or moving queue. The famous pavilions have extreme long queue.

- Some pavilions in not worth queuing for hours to get in. Do your home work before you go.

- European Nation, South Asia zone and Puxi side is a better zone to visit. Many pavilions are in these zone and the crowd is distributed, thus reduce the queuing.

- The crowd started to reduce once sunset. Try to go back to the crowded pavilions again. Most likely there are no queue anymore.

- Take the Expo buses. Save your strength.

Good:

- Take the ferry to enter the Expo site. You get to the expo fast and a nice relaxing boat ride cruising on HuangPu river.

- Puxi is worth visiting. Check out the green concept cubes

- Kudos to the volunteers! They are everywhere and ready to assist. And know their stuff well :-)

- Maintaining the Expo sites spick and span... not as messy as some earliest comments we read.

Need improvement:

- A lot of pavilion does not provide any narration explanation. You're on your own trying to understand what is the message they are trying to convey. With the high density crowd, you barely can see and read what is written on the posters. Some don't even has a single poster to explain... maybe I couldn't find due to the high density. Again, do your homework before you go.

- No clear information where can a visitor do his/her reservation for China pavilion. And priority is given to tour group.

- Ferry ride does not provide English narration. Wonder why... Nowadays even the public bus and Metro has English narration.

- Do not provide information about the events of the day by different pavilions or the Expo site. No brochure were given or announcement were made known to the visitor. For example, I know there is a parade... but don't what time and where is the location. Also wondering when I can see the NZ Maori's dance? sigh...

— DC · 2010-05-13 12:12

Back from Jinshan Beach

Sat, 01 May 2010 21:11:18 +0800

Shanghai is near sea, but Shanghai never has a good beach. Shanghai is one of the most richest cities with one of the highest travel demand - so people in Shanghai love to hang around in Sanya, and spent huge amount of dollars on air tickets.

Is there a way to build a beach with sand in Shanghai?

People in Jinshan gave it a try.

查看大图

That is a big area of beach, with nice sand. It is said they shipped the sand from somewhere - Dalian? The water is at least clean, and you can identify the color of blue in the water. There are people sailing in the sea.

Shanghai Expo Opens

Sat, 01 May 2010 00:40:35 +0800

Expo finally opens.

The opening ceremony is exteremely disappointing. I didn’t have any exception for it, but I was still surprised. It is really boring.

The fireworks is outside my window. The CCTV broadcast is on my TV. There IS several seconds of delay from what I see outside my window and what I see on TV.

9 Comments

I watch a little. Actually, I was busy recently and would be an out-man :) Anyway, welcome everyone to Shanghai.

— kang · 2010-05-01 01:27

if i visit shanghai at the end of october to witness the closing ceremonies, where should i stay to watch the closing ceremonies? isn't it the ceremonies are not open to the public?

— rod · 2010-05-01 01:37

I'm going to Shanghai for a few days -- oddly, nothing to do with the Expo, just a coincidence of timing.

If I want to go, can I just pop in for a few hours? Or is it the kind of thing where you have to book tickets far in advance or wait in line for hours?

— Joyce Lau · 2010-05-01 02:45

In watching this extravaganza and government-sanctioned nationwide binge, I have to say once this chinese balloon bursts, it will cause a humungous havoc to the human race the history has never witnessed.

How much money has Greece (in actual bankruptcy today) borrowed and spent in staging that 2004 spectacular Olympics? The seed of self-destruction was already sowed back then.

— shanghai-ren · 2010-05-01 03:22

@rod, not sure if you can get the closing ceremony's ticket. I don't know anyway to get the opening ceremony's ticket yet. It is at least not commercial consideration about who can come, although it is really not that interesting to watch.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2010-05-01 10:26

I saw a picture of the opening... the light text of "brother who". It was funny. I am not sure what the message it was trying to send... seems to me that the gov. (the city gov. maybe) is trying too hard to be cool... it just doesn't feel natural.

— GN · 2010-05-01 14:20

When the live broadcast was going on, what having recently happened in China seemed to be tucked away in the opening stadium full of cheering. The first of May came with the midnight pasting. International Labor Day belongs to the world's people. Expo and May Day both are two big events in China. I don't wonder if Expo can make most of common foreigners very excited except May Day when watching TV. Anyway I have hardly felt excited so far. It is a little exciting for me to do a good job and make a bit progress in everyday life. I don't also know whether the ordinary Chinese outside the occasion were really in high spirits or went to rapture. Nevertheless, if I was on the scene, I could be very excited. If I

— qingtingwei · 2010-05-01 17:52

I guess you wanted to say "I didn't have any expectation for it". Expectation:)

— Andy · 2010-05-03 10:13

I agree that this Expo things is not cool and meaningless.

— Mike · 2010-05-11 13:55

Should Shanghai Host Expo?

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 23:45:54 +0800

Expo is just 4 days away. Is it too late to ask this question?

This Expo is Special

This year’s expo is special from most of the expo in the past. To be honest, I have never experienced previous Expo in other countries. I never heard about it before Shanghai started to bid for it.

Now, it is regarded in all the media as an event as important as the Olympics. Is it true? I doubt it. I especially feel so when government officials pointed out again and again that “Olympics is not government hosted - it is just civil events, and Olympics is just 20 days - expo is half year….” It is pretty funny.

I Promise to Add Twitter Profile Photo, Later

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 21:59:19 +0800

Please read this article first: “Not Happy New Year”.

In that article I wrote in 2006, I did an experiment. To prove that “I can never over-state the importance of the display name of an Instant Messenger (IM) in the current age”, I kept my MSN Messenger displayed name unchanged for half year (1/1/2006 to 6/30/2006) as “Jian Shuo Wang - Happy New Year”, and changed it to “Jian Shuo Wang - Not Happy New Year” for another half year (7/1/2006 - 12/31/2006).

Facebook is .... Scary

Sat, 24 Apr 2010 23:08:48 +0800

I intended to use the word ambitious as many people used in their review after f8, but I really feel scary is the better word - that is more than ambitious - that is super ambitious.

The announcement of Facebook on F8 is very exciting. I just spent a little time to try out these features. Below are some buttons you can try to play with. Be cautious: I need to tell you this, clicking on the like button will tell your friends that you Like Wangjianshuo’s blog, which may be true.

Yifan's Story about Kindergarten

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 22:07:14 +0800

Yifan has been in Kindergarten for few weeks. Here are two stories about his Kinderkarten life. I promise they are interesting stories.

“Exactly Like Kindergarten”

One day we went to a restaurant with Yifan. Yifan has a big dish of food in front of him.

He played all the time when everyone finished the meal. Yifan didn’t ate too much.

One hour later, we decided to leave. We paid the bill, and the waiter began to clean up the table, and removed his dish.

Worried for Expo

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 22:47:27 +0800

The Expo Preview happened on April 20, 2010, ten days before the grand opening.

However, the feedback I got so far is very disappointing, almost scary.

I almost got a ticket but it was recalled - because the security worries about terrist (I started to wonder if they worry about it that much, how to handle the 70 million visitors?)

The feedback mostly concentrates on the fact that there are too many people. It takes about 1 hour to pass the security check, 2 hours to get anything to eat, 3 hours to get some serious food like Dumplin. For the China Pavilion? Most people can only see from the outside. Most of the comments I saw from my friends and people on twitter are - completely massy. Most of the news I saw on Shanghai TV, CCTV was, the first day was smooth and successful. The contrast is so big that I am not surprised.

The World of Leadership of Management

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 22:47:24 +0800

I was in the world of Linux, and C.

Then I entered the world of Windows and project management.

Then the current world is about leadership and management.

I shifted in these worlds consistently, and frequently.

My friends change along the way.

I had Linus, Apple, C++ as my friends,

then I had new friends named MSDN, Don Box and TechNet.

In the recent years, on my bookshelf are Druker, and Welch.

Role of a People Manager

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 23:11:37 +0800

Simply three steps:

Get the right people in the right place.
Set clear goals
Shut up.

12 Comments

Looks more complex.

Inspiration, coaching, especially there is not easy to get right people, most cases are too expensive than you can pay.

— Jeff · 2010-04-20 02:09

Sometimes, it makes sense to find not so right people, then train them to be the right people. The obvious right people are already taken in the market.

— jqian · 2010-04-20 04:57

what is your strategy IF the person refuse to "shut up"? he/she just feel like going against anything he/she sees... Maybe that is so-called freedom of expression.

hehehe...

— DC · 2010-04-20 19:10

@jqian, and @Jeff, that is exactly what I learn from the role of people manager - to get the right people at the first place is the most important thing in organization, not the other way around.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2010-04-20 19:10

Shutup is for the manager. A manager should never micromanage someone, and should always get out of the way of the people, and allow them to try their best to archive the goal, not orders from managers.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2010-04-20 19:30

if you cannot find right person in short time, you have to coach/train people in hand. so training/coaching must be part of the role. Perfection always goes with luck.

— rollback · 2010-04-20 21:44

JS your strategy is right.

Albert Einstein once said:

To be successful one needs to:

Work hard

Play hard

and Shut up

— soon · 2010-04-21 04:31

I agree with the three steps. I guess the third step means making a resolution, especially a great one in a juncture point. But sometimes a manager will suffer a great deal from pain when he is resolving. Giving a true order is often related to the leader's quality and effectively realizing it needs qualified staff. However, the manager seems more important than his clerks.

Actually I don't much know about what you are engaged in now. It's only what I am thinking.

— qingtingwei · 2010-04-21 20:00

I think getting the right men is not as easy as you said . Training or retraining new employees is one of the most important duties for manager .

— David · 2010-04-22 14:13

I think your theory looks good on paper, first of all, there is no such thing as "right person for the right place", only the continuous support and cultivation from the management will enable the stuff to gain job satisfation and excel in their work.

— stephen · 2010-04-22 23:02

I'm not sure #3 should be shut up or follow up.

— Michael · 2010-04-24 11:37

According to me the role of the people manager also includes

* understanding the strength and weakness of your own team members

* start providing guidance to the member to improve his weak area

* do some macro tracking else people will be more relaxed about their own deliverables

— Sami · 2011-02-09 14:13

My Car is Named Bandenger

Sun, 18 Apr 2010 22:18:37 +0800

I have decided to name my new car Bandenger, which basically means bench.

The Nissan Teana is optimized for comfort. It is absolutely better than a bench, but just as the way I named my previous Goudaner, it is a pretty cheap, ugly, and normal name, with the wish that the car can have good luck - people in China, especially in villages, and in old time, like to name their kids by “ugly” names - something like under-promise, over delivery.

Traffic Getting Worse before Expo

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 00:04:45 +0800

The good traffic condition only lasted for few weeks, before it is getting worse. From the slow moving cars on the road, and policemen with flashing police car at every city corner, I got the signal - Expo is no longer a count down number. It is getting real.

People get nervous. There are problems when there are visitor peak that the city cannot handle. There are also problems, maybe a bigger one, that there are not as many people as expected to come.

Metro Line #10 Opens

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 00:24:21 +0800

I cannot keep up with the construction news of Shanghai these days, at my daily publishing schedule.

Metro Line #10 Opens.

There is a station near where I work - the Shanghai Jiaotong University station. It goes to Hongqiao Transportation Hub (Hongqiao Train Station, Hongqiao Airport T2, Hongqiao Airport T1), and goes eastbound to downtown Shanghai, and wind northbound to New Jiangwan Town.

The Metro Line #10 is called by some people The Campus Love Line, because it connects some of the most respected universities in the city: Shanghai Jiaotong University, Tongji University, and Fudan University…

I Started to Get Interested in Economics

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 00:29:03 +0800

Wendy finally decided to take spare time to attend the Finance MBA program of Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business. She has my full support for the decision. Good education makes people wiser, and happier, although I don’t think the degree has too much value.

Wendy’s Passion

Wendy’s passion for finance has lasted for years. After reading the incredibly thick book - The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World by Alan Greenspan, she just finished another book about George Soros - another incredibly thick book. Wendy has the passion to talk with me about finance, and economics, just as I was passionate to talk with her about business, and some times even coding and other techs. I didn’t appreciate it as much as she wanted me to. We sometimes beg the other party to spend time just to listen what we learned. Interesting, isn’t it?

Expo is 22 Days Away

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 23:12:18 +0800

First hand photos of the Expo site.

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang using Nokia N78

6 Comments

We are trying to decide when to come to Shanghai this year. We usually come for the month of November. Will we still be able to see the expo sites? Can we buy tickets? Should we come toward the end of October? I read that the last week is one of the prime times, so it will be hard to get tickets then.

Do you have any suggestions? We missed the Olympics and wished we were there if only to participate in the 热闹. We don't want to be in the US wishing we were in China this time.

— zjemi · 2010-04-10 03:04

@zjemi, I really have no idea. But I do know the Expo closes on Oct 31, so November is not a good idea, if you just want to see the four permanent building and a big construction site (well, a destruction site). You will have better idea about whether the ticket is hot or not after May, and you can make decision at that time. Based on the fact that every family in Shanghai gets a free ticket, it does not seem to be that crowded.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2010-04-10 03:16

A few weeks ago, I made a comment in another of Jianshuo's blog entry this tread within the parenthesis:

(I know many visitors will be coming to Shanghai to see the World Expo, but knowing how crowded Shanghai already is without the Expo and the added population, I'm afraid the road condition will be awfully unbearable. The restaurants, markets will all be crowded as well. )

That said, ZJEMI, my advice is that if you are like me who don't like crowded environment, noise, cigarette odor, and long wait for transportation, food, shops, then don't go to Shanghai before summer is over. Try to go in Sept or Oct. Remember many local people don't have the habit of queuing. It bothers me to hell when people cut in lines.

I live in Shanghai right now, but I have booked a flight to go to the States just a few days before the opening of EXPO and the big crowd swarming into this city.

— TW · 2010-04-11 03:50

Congratulations on Shanghai not just for the World Expo, but for beating out London in having the world's longest Metro system.

:-)

— David Feng · 2010-04-11 22:14

Hi! My kids and I will be in Shanghai on April 19-25. Is there a soft opening of the Expo before May 1? Can we have a glimpse or at least picture of the pavilions or the permanent 4 buildings?

— Pilar · 2010-04-12 07:14

I heard there is an opening at the night of April 30, but it is not something as fancy as Olympics

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2010-04-12 11:10

Why I Didn't Understand Social Media

Thu, 08 Apr 2010 23:56:25 +0800

This post is in response to Robert’s request to clarify my status update in Facebook. I said

just realized that I don’t really understand the social media yet.

Robert asked why. Let me share some indicators.

I never took Social media serious

I had a twitter account on February 14, 2007, and sent my first twitter message that day. But I didn’t really take it serious afterward. I dropped some tweets in the beginning and recently, but compared to 1195 blog entries I wrote since than, 869 messages are much fewer. Majority of them are notification of new blog entries. Obviously a blog entry is longer than 140 characters, and takes much more time to write.

My Twitter Dump from March 12, 2007

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 21:21:15 +0800

Here is a backup of all the twitter message I sent out (including my hand-written, and automatic generated from RSS, and some spam my mistake). Thanks to http://www.searchtastic.com (via @jjxiao) to allow me dump everything.

Tweet Date Tweet In Reply To

Apr 26 2010, 12:43 UTC http://shanghai.baixing.com/root/?query=userId:33416061 百姓网空缺职位… http://goo.gl/vhOc

Apr 26 2010, 12:42 UTC 百姓网现在空缺的职位，欢迎大家帮我们推荐合适的人选，或转发。我们在上海，欢迎全国的朋友来上海工作。 http://shanghai.baixing.com/root/?query=userId:33416061

Metro Line #2 Extends to Pudong Airport

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 19:34:07 +0800

It finally becomes official - tomorrow, the Shanghai Metro Line #2 will extend to the Pudong Airport.

This blog started with a simple question - how to get to downtown from Pudong airport about 10 years ago (with a static page). Finally, the easiest answer is available: just take the Metro Line #2 from Pudong airport to downtown Shanghai. This will replace taxi, maglev, and bus as the recommended transportation.

Xindanwei is Cool

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 22:32:47 +0800

I was in Xindanwei this afternoon to chat with @isaac, @popoever, and @aaajiao.

I heard about Xindanwei from time to time, but never related it to Isaac - who is an angle investor to this idea.

The idea is simple: you pay as low as 15 RMB per hour to get an office space there - by hour, or by month, with nice meeting room.

I put it this way: It is a real estate company + a property management company. Well. Isaac put it different: it is a place where people share space, share connection and share knowledge… I admit his version looks nicer.

Nice Technical Blogs

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 10:38:05 +0800

Some nice technical people.

XLVector

Zheng Yun

Qing Bo

Beijing seems still the center of technical people. We have to admit that Beijing is still the Internet center, and is the closest to Silicon Valley in China.

4 Comments

The three people you mention are all graduated from USTC.

Me (xlvector) and Qingbo are roommate in university. :)

— xlvector · 2010-04-06 12:45

xlvector, welcome to my blog. USTC is THE place to have people with good algorithm skills. Will visit you guys in Beijing in my next trip.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2010-04-06 22:03

Curious how you found us... It was only a week ago someone from the US told me the relationship between eBay and baixing and I checked out your blog for the first time.

Looking forward to seeing you soon :)

— qingbo · 2010-04-07 00:16

Robert Mao (robertmao.com) recommended.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2010-04-07 15:38

A Highschool Classmates Gather

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 00:01:01 +0800

Spent the day in Century Park with highschool classmates - three families with two kids. It has been 15 years since we graduate, and we were planning a 15-year anniversary gather on Saturday, May 29, 2010 in Zhengzhou. Visibility is the best way to make things happen, so I put the date on my calendar and on my blog. I was the key organizer for the 10-year anniversary 5 years ago. We planned hotel in Qingdao, and we planned the date, and we planned the communication. The only problem was, we didn’t gather.

Shanghai Expressway Map

Sun, 04 Apr 2010 22:03:42 +0800

It has been a while since I last draw the diagram of Shanghai Expressway. Compared to the old map I draw, I feel I grew up a little bit in the last 4 years.

Here I proudly present the new Shanghai expressway map as of 2010.

©Jian Shuo Wang

Let me give you a little bit explanation.

The Rings

There are basically four big ring expressways in Shanghai - the four blue square.

Movie - Crossing Hennessy

Sat, 03 Apr 2010 23:41:09 +0800

After the busy day, Wendy and I went to theater. That is the rare time we have - Yifan fell asleep at home with his grandparents. We guess he will sleep for a lot time since he was too excited in the afternoon in our office and missed his noon snap.

The movie Wendy picked is Tang Wei and Zhang Xueyou’s Crossing Hennessy.

Credit: the Corssing Hennessy team

In short, this is a great movie. Both thumbs up.

Nissan Teana 2.5 XL

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 22:42:09 +0800

I started to drive the new white Nisson Teana. We still haven’t given it a name yet, but will surely do that in few days. Here are some initial thoughts

Bigger Car is Not Necessarily Better than Small One

For the first time, I realized that bigger car is not as convenient as small car, especially in crowded city like Shanghai. I picked up my feeling of a new driver again - on the elevated highway, I started to complain the lanes are too narrow. At parking lots, I have to reverse the car to the narrow place - before, I always dive into the parking lot without even slow down too much - the benefit of a small car.

Yifan's Song - Night of Military Port

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 22:16:35 +0800

Yifan loves to sing. In kindergarten, he will routinely sing a song for the class before everyone goes to bed at noon.

Here is his newest song - night of military port 军港之夜.

I know, you must be saying: Yifan grows up so fast. I feel so too. Yifan can learn a song in one night, and sing it in an accurate way - much better than his father. Another interesting thing about Yifan’s learning behavior is, he tend to listen to the same song again and again without ever giving it a try. The first time he sings it, he always sings from the beginning to the end corrected. That always surprises everyone.

Expo Taxi and More Blurred Night Shots

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 22:48:16 +0800

More Expo news is coming from this blog. I am reporting 3 km away from the Shanghai 2010 Expo site.

Expo Taxi

I am not a big fan of this idea - to manufacture 4000 special taxi just for the Expo. My proposed plan is to leverage the current taxi system, and expand it. If the standard is not good enough for the expo, why not take the opportunity increase the standard?

Bet is Greatest Tool to Increase Visability

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 20:50:47 +0800

I just made a bet with college in my company. The bet is like this:

The loser will travel to a city in the middle of Hunan province named Loudi (Loudi on Wikipedia), and take a photo before the Loudi Train Station at the end of this month.

Here is the transition plan:

K859 4:54pm - 9:08AM Shanghai South Railway Station - Loudi

K80 - 2:02pm - 4:53am Loudi - Shanghai South Railway Station

Expo is Nearer

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 22:47:03 +0800

Expo is officially 31 days away. I saw the expo site from the Inner Ring Elevated Highway tonight.

They are testing the Expo light effect today. At night, the site is so beautiful. From the gap of two buildings, I saw a pavilion with OIL logo on it. That redish shining pavilion is like a magic box. I didn’t get the chance to take a photo of it.

The Nanpu Bridge is lightened, with color bar on the side facing the Expo site. I do have some blurred picture for the decorated Nanpu bridge.

Bye Bye Goudaner

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 21:55:02 +0800

Tonight, Goudaner left his sweet home in the last 6 years in the night rain. Man is a kind of animal that loves cars. A good car is part of his life. I stayed in the car for a long time before my friend pick him up. The mileage is 79020 KM - in 6 years.

Bye bye Goudaner, and have a great life. I am very sure that you will be take care of very well.

Yifan Fell Asleep by Himself

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 18:45:25 +0800

Wendy posted this in her Buzz:

I left my boy in his small bedroom alone and he fell into sleep ten minutes later after he sang and played his favorite mini cooper yellow car. That’s the good habit got in the kindergarten

I saw the Buzz, and my heart melted down.

I Sold Out my Google Nexus One

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 23:14:35 +0800

One month after I bought Google Nexus One (I Should Not Open Nexus One at Night), I finally sold it out in Baixing.com Second-hand Phone category at a little bit lower price than I bought. If I had sold it the first day when I am got it, I can make a decent profit out of it, but the price of the new phone dropped from 6% higher than US to relative the same price in the last month.

Metro Line #11 Extension Opens

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:59:02 +0800

Metro Line #11 from Jiading 嘉定 to Shanghai opened for a while. Now, one month to Shanghai Expo 2010, the extension of the line opened.

To give you some sense about where the extension is, look at the current full map (I attached larger picture at the end of this blog to give you more detailed view (meanwhile not blocking the screen in case you have smaller screen or read it in other software than a browser).

GM EN-V Unveild in Shanghai

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:27:54 +0800

General Motor unveiled a new concept car - EN-V. That car is expected to hit market in 2030, 20 years from today. EN-V is electronic driven, and there will be a plug to re-charge the car. Once fully charged, it is said to be able to run for 40 km.

Thanks to Xiaojing and Jia to give me this very nice toy - a EN-V model. You can see the details of this car from inside out. Here are the photos:

More Hongqiao Airport T2 Photos

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 22:57:01 +0800

I took the photo of T2 two weeks ago. Let me share the rest of the photos in this blog.

Below is the arrival hall of Hongqiao Airport T2. It is hard to distinguish it from the arrival hall of Pudong Airport T1, and T2. The three halls are very like each other.

In my memory, this is the few decorations I found in the four airport terminals in Shanghai - the paper airplane on the top of the pole.

Travel is Life Intensified

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 22:24:15 +0800

Elliot Ng has many great thoughts. He does not talk too much, but from time to time, I think of something that often turned out to be from Elliot.

Elliot said this before:

Travel is life intensified

As an travel industry expert, his comment is very sensational from a personal level.

I searched for the term “life intensified”, and found out this interesting blog entry: Why I Travel:

Travel is intensified living." The actual sentence reads “Travel is intensified living - maximum thrills per minute and one of the last great sources of legal adventure. Travel is freedom. It’s recess, and we need it

Forward Hindsight

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 00:16:14 +0800

Forward Hindsight is the name of my friend Ashish’s company in Minneapolis, MN. It was because of this company name did I learn the English world: Hindsight.

Hindsight: recognition of the realities, possibilities, or requirements of a situation, event, decision etc., after its occurrence.

I started to love this word, and started to appreciate the name of Ashish’s company - how good it will be to have forward hindsight.

Photography

Experienced Security Guard

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 23:50:52 +0800

Let me record the experienced I had in Pudong airport before I forgot.

At the X-ray security check machine, a female security guard is supervising people to put their stuff into the machine. This is the conversation.

Before I put the bag there, she asked: “Do you have a laptop?” I pulled my laptop out of the bag.

She asked: Anything in your pocket? I used my left hand to pull the wallet from my pocket.

Complicated Roads to Hongqiao T2

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 23:32:16 +0800

The new Hongqiao Transportation Hub (including Hongqiao Airport T2) is a big project, with Airport, Maglev, and train station integrated in the same structure. There are many roads to this big hub, making it one of the most complicated road system in Shanghai.

Let me share with you some photos I took in my last visit to Hongqiao. If you are new to Shanghai, and rent a car at the new terminal, guess whether you know which road you choose to use when you first see these signs.

Jian Shuo Got His New Car

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 23:20:14 +0800

About 6 years ago, I posted this entry: Jian Shuo Got His Car. The little car (I gave it the name Goudaner) has been with me and my family for 6 years.

This week, we got our new car - a Nissan Teana 2.5L XL with V6 engine, and CVT transmission. Today, Wendy went to the dealer to get the new car back (I hope it was myself who went there, as I picked up Goudaner 6 years ago). I quickly had my dinner and rushed down to see it. Then I drove to the nearby department store with Yifan and Wendy - just for a test drive.

HTHT IPO

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 20:57:25 +0800

Hanting, the chain hotel group will go IPO tomorrow (March 26, 2010). The ticker will be HTHT - China Lodging Group.

I am a frequent Hanting customer. I know their style. It is a very cost concious and cost effective company. My gut feeling tells me that they should be doing well after IPO.

I will wait and see the final result, and do some reflection after comparing the final results with my thoughts, and learn more about how to valuate a company better.

I Love the Garage in Hongqiao T2

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 23:34:43 +0800

The highlight of the new Hongqiao Airport T2 is the garage. There are plenty of them - not worried about parking any more.

Where is the Garage - P7 and P6

Look at this diagram below:

The horizontal yellow area on the right is the Hongqiao Airport Terminal 2. The yellow area in the middle is the East Transportation Hub, where the Parking Area P6 (at north) and P7 (at south) is located. At the B1 of this giant building is the Metro Station of Hongqiao Airport T2 for Metro Line #2 and #10 (opened Q4 this year).

Global Village

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 22:12:08 +0800

This morning, I am very happy to host two talented students - Chengyi from Shanghai Jiaotong University, and Echo from Stanford University. It brought me back to the days when we, as a company and as a person, had strong connection with universities.

Internship Cross Borders

Regarding the summer internship program we had been for five years, we just realized that we can accept both students from Shanghai Jiaotong University, and from Stanford - 6000 miles, and 8 time zone away.

Look up! The World Above! - Part II

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 23:30:31 +0800

This is the second part of my series Part I.

Here is my pick of the day: the Shanghai Metro Line #2 Hongqiao Airport Terminal 2 Station.

Long Taxi Lines in Hongqiao T2 Too

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 23:14:49 +0800

The biggest hope for Hongqiao Airport T2 was to solve the long taxi line in Hongqiao Airport T1. I complained about it many times.

Now the 4-times bigger T2 opens. My guess was, it will solve this problem. To my disappointment, the problem is still there - not as serious, but there are still many people waiting in long lines for taxi, and there are even longer lines of taxi waiting inn the parking lot. The only bottleneck is, again, the taxi pickup area - the design of this brand new airport is still far from efficient.

The New Home of Google in China

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 10:11:12 +0800

After the Google official announcement of quitting China (not Google China, but google.cn, the site), I opened Google China homepage (google.com). It has already been redirected to google.com.hk. The interesting sentence on the page reads:

Welcome to the new home of Google search in China

Google is alive and kicking in China.

7 Comments

Yes, but for how long?

I always search through google.nl or google.com and I really do not want China to block the complete sites!

— Anna · 2010-03-23 12:44

I think you might wish to say, "Google is alive and kicking in China."

— Joe · 2010-03-23 13:49

They will just block google.com.hk as well, but it will be interesting to see the government blocking a site that operates entirely legally on Chinese soil (Hong Kong). This show what kind of thugs these people are.

— one · 2010-03-23 19:00

One country, two systems !

— zou5020 · 2010-03-23 19:06

thanks deng xiao ping, thanks the policy of "one country, two systems"!

— lalaland · 2010-03-24 16:47

you guys shouldn't be happy too soon, if the central government decides they want to shut down google in China totally, those clowns in Hong Kong government will be too spineless to say anything.

— one · 2010-03-24 18:48

Today is March 25, why could I still open "http://www.google.cn/ig/china?hl=zh-CN" in my laptop?

— ming · 2010-03-25 11:25

Sand Storm Hits Shanghai

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 15:40:30 +0800

I am happy that the sand storm is over. Yesterday, Wendy and I planned to go out for a walk at around 5:00 PM. It was windy, but the surprising part was, the air is full of dust, and it smelled like being in the middle of cleaning of an old building.

We are still luck. The sand storm from southern part of Xinjiang already hit many provinces including Beijing. It looked much worse than Shanghai.

G60 Shanghai-Kunming National Expressway

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 15:05:09 +0800

Wendy and I drove to Jiaxing via the formal A8 Shanghai-Hangzhou Expressway, and found out that the signs of the expressway have changed to its new name: G60 - Shanghai-Kunming National Expressway (or Hukun Expressway 沪昆高速). Let me tell you more about this national highway.

Name Change Matters

Although there are many criticism about the high cost and convention change of the new National Expressway system, I feel excited about the change (if we put aside the cost). The name gives people better sense of direction.

7 Year Anniversary of Wedding

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:19:41 +0800

Today is the 7 year anniversary of wedding for Wendy and me.

In 2003, I was admiring Kayne for 4 year wedding anniversary, one week after Wendy and I got married.

After 7 years, we are even more happier - than 7 years ago. Wendy and I am together since 1996, much longer than getting married - that is about 14 years ago. In 2003, I can still list what we did together in the last year. Now, I found it harder to make that list - it is easier to list what we didn’t do together in the last 7 years than things we went through together. All the sweet, and pains, we came along together. The same experience made us similar persons, and one family.

Yifan's Second Day in Kindergarten

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:07:00 +0800

Yifan’s second day is not as sweet as the first one.

The day started with Yifan’s cry.

The teacher called in the middle, and told Wendy that Yifan kept crying. He even took the photo of other kid’s mother, and watched for a long time. He gave a big hug to a calendar showing three-person family, and told the teacher that is his mother.

When Wendy picked him up, he sit on the beach, leaning his head to a toy phone. The teacher told Wendy that Yifan has been calling his mom for a long time.

Hongqiao Airport T2 Opens

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 22:30:35 +0800

Tomorrow, the Hongqiao Airport T2 is going to open. I really want to go there and take a look myself, maybe this Saturday. I hope I can get some photos and report back to my readers about the new addition.

A quick overview of the new airport (before my more detailed report).

The Airport

The T2 is west of T1 (the old terminal). It is basically a new airport - 90% of the airlines will move to the new T2 (no wonder they didn’t made too much improvement to the crowded T1 in the past few years - makes sense).

Yifan Started His Kindergarten Life

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 22:13:33 +0800

March 15 is not a normal Monday.

Yifan started his first day in kindergarten today. It is not the official kindergarten yet - that will start from this September, instead, it is 8:30 - 4:30 pm part time school. The official one needs him to be 3 year old.

We worried a lot for the first day - we heard the stories of kids crying for days to get used to the new life. We believe so since we tried to put him into some part time kindergarten before - does not work at all.

Happy Birthday to Goudaner (6th Year)

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:51:02 +0800

Today is the 6th year anniversary of my little car - Goudaner.

I cannot believe it that I used the car for 6 years. I didn’t use it very much - just for commute from home to office. The meter only shows 78K km - 13 km per year. The statics shows I used the car less in the last 3 years than the previous 3 years.

When I celebrated the 3rd year anniversary for Goudaner (Happy Birthday to Goudaner (3rd Year)), I drove for 41K - in the last three years, I drove 32K km.

Yifan's Parking Lots - Part II

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:34:01 +0800

After Yifan built Parking Lots with his glass balls, he started to add eyes to all the cars. Look at this:

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

More interestingly, Yifan fell in love with my new Google Nexus One, and quickly learn how to take photos. Among the 50+ blurred and dark photos, I still can find some very decent photo taken by Yifan, at his 2 and 3/4 year.

Electronic Power Towers

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 23:15:19 +0800

I have a mixed feeling toward the electronic power towers.

It is obviously not pleasant to get close to it, but it is not completely lack of artistic feeling.

I don’t know how many of you feel the same as myself - I have to admit that I enjoy watching and shooting the scene of power towers when I am on the highways…

3 Comments

After working hard to create a proxy for blocked photo on Flickr and Picasa, I finally get back to the original question: nothing can be more inefficient than solving a problem that does not need to be solved.

I give up.

If anyone cannot see my photos, it is because we are all living inside the high great wall. Learning how to get access yourself... I just find out to use code to solve problem is always more time-consuming than expected.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2010-03-14 00:31

The official name for "ELECTRONIC POWER TOWERS" is "Electricity Pylon" or "Transmission Tower".

— NIMROD · 2010-03-14 14:02

I live in Thailand. Your picture display in the post with no problem at all.

It is an interesting picture as I also have interest in these towers, on my trip I noticed that China has lots of towers along the highway, different type and shapes.

The appearance of your photo makes me wonder if it was taken by mobile phone or not, would you mind to tell?

— Karp · 2010-03-17 20:22

Look up! The World Above!

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:52:42 +0800

In busy days, we rush to metro, anxiously wait for trains, and leave trains without looking back. That is our life.

From time to time, we may want to spend some time to look at the world using a different angle. This time, I tried to —

Look up!

Above our head, there are ceiling, and above the ceiling, there are complicated air system, and fire prevention system, and there is a speaker there. Did we really think about where the sounds of background music, or train arriving information comes out in the station?

Yifan's Parking Lots

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:45:32 +0800

Yifan started to build parking lots for his cars with glass balls. Look at this, it is getting big!

Photo taken by Jian Shuo Wang

P.S. When Yifan was sleeping (gradema was with him), I got out for a cup of coffee with my Moleskine notebook.

People Started to Wait at Red Lights

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:40:04 +0800

Taken at Guangyuan Road, and Gongcheng Road

Taken at Guangyuan Road, and Gongcheng Road, at 8:50 AM, rush hours

Look at this photo. That is a normal day in rush hours in the morning. People started to wait for the looong red lights to cross the pedestrian. That was something very new to me. That continued to build my confidence to this city, and this country. As time went by, people will start to learn how to live in a city better, and will form some rules that everyone started to obey.

Baggage Check in Shanghai Metro

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 10:24:05 +0800

The expo is coming. Everything is tighten up.

About few months ago, Shanghai started to check baggage at the entrance of major metro stations. The rule of whether a bag should be checked is not consistent.

I am wearing my black back bag all the time I enter metro. Most of the time, the security just ignore me, and allow me to enter without scanning, just like they treat the small hand bags ladies carry.

This Moment, in Shanghai

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:33:48 +0800

I took metro to attend an important dinner tonight.

I walked over the pedestrian viaduct at the Chengdu Elevated Highway, and the Yan’an Elevated highway - the theoretically central point of the transportation system of Shanghai. If you have some ideas of the Shanghai’s elevated highway system, it is basically a few big circles, called Inner Ring Road, the Middle Ring Road, the Outer Ring Road (S20, formally A20), and the Suburb Ring Road (S30, formally A30). For the Ring Roads, there is one horizontal (east-west) back born road, named Yan’an Elevated Highway, and there is one vertical (north-south) elevated highway called Chengdu Elevated Highway. The intersection of these two highways is, naturally, the center of this big transportation system.

In Market We Trust - Part II

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:17:40 +0800

xge made a very good point under my entry In Market We Trust. That is exactly what I am trying to say about the market - the difference is, xge just gave better examples. Let me continue the argument here.

Intuition

The government decision makers are very likely to make decisions based on intuition, and the planned economy mindset. I, myself, made even more frequent mistakes when I make decisions about the market. I admit that I did several things wrong in my business without respecting the market laws. Here are some examples about the actions people take (basically using xge’s examples).

ROBOCOPY D:\my Z:\ /E /Z

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:45:27 +0800

I have a new computer and I am moving files to it.

Let me just keep a record of the command I use.

ROBOCOPY D:\my Z:\ /E /Z

/E is for all directories, including empty one.

/Z is for restartable mood - which is the most important parameters.

3 Comments

This command reminds me the old day we worked in Microsoft, in which time, this command was used very often.

I did not use it for quite a few years. Time flies by...

— Hu Jin · 2010-03-13 22:27

Hehe. ROBOCOPY! Yes. That is of a long ago history - time flies. I still use it frequently today.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2010-03-13 22:38

This is my digital assets:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total Copied Skipped Mismatch FAILED Extras

Dirs : 11264 10511 753 0 0 1

Files : 159651 126067 33584 0 0 0

Bytes : 105.023 g 76.929 g 28.093 g 0 0 0

Times : 193:18:36 193:11:26 0:00:00 0:07:10

Speed : 118769 Bytes/sec.

Speed : 6.796 MegaBytes/min.

Ended : Mon Mar 22 16:02:37 2010

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2010-03-23 14:35

Shanghai Snows - Heavily, Shortly

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:33:15 +0800

Yesterday, the weather of Shanghai is strange - in the afternoon, it snows when the Sun is hanging in the sky, and at night, it snows heavily and everything quickly turn white, and this morning, it is sunny again, and there is no hint of the snow.

2 Comments

really strange.2012 is coming

— guohaifeng · 2010-03-10 09:45

Its freezing in Shenzhen but compared to Shanghai I guess we are better off. However I bet you have heaters no one thought we would need them here. Definitely a freak cold spell last week it was super hot.

— Nick · 2010-03-10 09:47

In Market We Trust

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:23:03 +0800

The main take away from my Silicon Valley trip is the understanding of “market”. I know, the recent financial crisis can be used as a way to argue the other way, I am still talking about the relative older style of market (like the flea market, and fish market), not the financial innovation stuff.

Hotwire and Priceline

Websites like Hotwire.com and Priceline.com (how I found it) let me think more about how to use the market to allocate resource more efficiently. Without services like Hotwire, hotel suffers from empty rooms, and visitors suffers from high price. They are the bridge to allow those unsold rooms to be evaluated and priced - the price is lower than retail price, which is very likely to be the fair market value of the “unsolde” rooms.

Lining up for Metro - Part II

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:37:28 +0800

This is the second post about lining up in Shanghai metro after I posted the first entry about it (Lining up for Metro?) three and half years ago.

These days, when I started to take metro again, I found out in more and more stations, people started to line up.

The Change Over Time

8 years ago when I started my blog, people never line up.

3.5 years ago, people started to line up in busy stations like People’s Square, and that was the only case I saw it.

Metro Line 7 and 9 Became Full Time

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:46:54 +0800

After I am back to Shanghai, the Metro Line #7 became operating in full time - from 5:30 to 22:31. Before, it only operate between 9:00 - 16:00. That means, Metro Line #7 started to operate in real sense. At the same time, Metro Line #9 started similar full time operation. Both intervals are 6 minutes.

Look at this map I shot in a metro station - that is the current metro map.

Hongqiao Airport Terminal 2 to Open

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:04:24 +0800

Before we are aware of, the city of Shanghai expanded beyond the speed of thinking.

2 years ago, Pudong Airport Terminal 2 just opened. In just 2 years, another giant terminal - Hongqiao Airport Terminal 2 will open on March 16, 2010.

Look at this satellite image. The T1 is small on the right, and T2 is much bigger on the left:

Map credit: Google Maps

According to news report, this terminal will be 4 times bigger than the current T1. I always complained about taxi, especially on Fridays, and they didn’t do too much about it. I guess this time, the taxi won’t be the bottle neck for the new terminal.

Photo in Google, 2010

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:01:52 +0800

Everytime I am in the bay area, if I don’t visit Google, I feel the trip is not complete. So, I was in Google on Monday of my last week in Mountain View.

On the picture, from left to right is Yi Wang, Qiushuang Zhang, Jian Shuo Wang, and Meng Yang.

Photograph by a kind Googler using Nexus One

5 Comments

can't see the photo

— ye · 2010-03-08 21:40

I can see the photo.

— Michelle · 2010-03-09 11:08

haha, look forward to seeing you again Jianshuo! :)

— Qiushuang Zhang · 2010-03-09 13:46

Nice trip! But this homepage seems to have been attacked... lol~

— Xinlong · 2011-10-05 23:01

Really? Attack? What happened? Anyone can describe the virus thing for me? Thanks.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2011-10-05 23:51

ThinkPad to Dell Latitude E4300

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:48:01 +0800

After using IBM ThinkPad X60 for three years, I finally switched back to Dell. The reason I am using “Back” is, my first laptop is a very big Dell laptop, and I am a Dell user for several years, when I worked in Microsoft. Only after Baixing did we start to use IBM. The reason I used “ThinkPad” not IBM is, I don’t know how I should address it - it is no longer IBM ThinkPad.

I am a Hotel Tester

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:24:16 +0800

During this trip, I used a strategy to change to a different hotel every one or two days depending on the price, and my meeting location, to optimize for both budget, and diversity of my stay, and get some idea about what is the best hotel fitting my needs. Here are the list:

2/20 - 2/21 via Expedia, Travelodge Palo Alto, $67, * 3945 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94306*

Yifan's Stories

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 13:46:11 +0800

I don’t know why, when I am back, Yifan put all his toys into two big boxes, and asked his mom: “Would you please hide them so dad cannot find it?” What is in his mind to hide his toys from dad?

In the morning, Yifan kept asking me where I want to take his train to go. His stops are his familiar places like Shanghai, Luoyang, Beijing…. I told him, I am going to Rio de Janeiro. Yifan just smiled and cannot follow the difficult city name. Disappointed, he went to mom and ask where mom wanted to go, and mom said: “Amsterdam” - another way too difficult name for him to pronounce. He just know some simple names. Then he asked grandpa, and the answer he got was Buenos Aires…. Yifan was completely confused. Everyone burst into laughter.

Breakfast Meeting in Shanghai

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 13:09:19 +0800

Are you serious to have breakfast meeting in Shanghai? Think twice before you make the appointment.

I never really understand why people would think of the crazy idea of having breakfast meeting in Shanghai. I received the invitation for some times, but always rejected it.

Why Breakfast Meeting is Good in the Valley

When I am in the valley, I found it so nice to have breakfast meetings. There are some benefits:

Jet Lag Builds Early Raiser

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 09:23:19 +0800

Jet lag is good thing for me. Whenever in US, or back to Shanghai, jet lag drives me wake up earlier and then I became an early raiser for some days. Thus I have enough time to write more blogs (helping me to get clearer idea about my world, and comprehend the message I got). It is just like an effective “Raise Early” medicine. But the problem is, the effect gets less significant along the day, and I will fade into normal life.

My Passion to Second Tier Cities

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:58:23 +0800

In a private dinner at Goldman Sachs Internet and Technology Conference, I was asked to share a great idea with the accomplished investors, CEOs, and journalists. This is my idea:

Put all your money in the second tier cities in China! 10 cities in China is building their first metro system today, and they are connected by high-speed train system already. The Chinese version of Eisenhower national road system is also completed even before the economy stimulate plan, connecting these cities together. With the jump-start transportation system, talents, and capital will flow from first tier cities like Shanghai and Beijing to the second tier cities in the next 10 years. Think about what you can do in these booming cities: real estate, business, manufacture, outsourcing…

Wind Blows West to East

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:43:29 +0800

This trip helped me to understand some basic weather phenomenon - the wind at the surface of the earth.

West to East along 31-37 degree in Latitude

In this article, I asked meteorology question: how come bay area is so warm when its latitude is as high as 37 °, it is warmer in the winter than Shanghai, which is just a little bit north of 31°? As my readers pointed it out, it is because the wind.

The Scare of Shanghai Heals

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:32:33 +0800

One part of travel is to see the other side of the world (like my recent two travels), and the other interesting part is to leave Shanghai for 10 days and get back to see how things change quickly. It is always good to get a reasonable distance from daily life, and when back, you discover more changes than you are always there.

This time, the change is the roads.

In preparation of Shanghai Expo 2010, which is just 2 months away, huge constructions spread out through out the city. That includes new elevated highways, improvement of current roads, and new metro stations. In early or March, many of the constructions are completed, and the scare of the city heals quickly, and perfectly.

Meeting Schedule

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:19:32 +0800

Amy Gussin, Ling Wen

David, Randy

Tina

Du Dan

Siting

Yenug

Richard Lim

Bill Gurley

Martin Tshopps

David Lee

Bob Kagle

Matt Colher

Ron Conway

Alex

David

Michael

Jeremy

Peter Fenton

Mark Zurkergurg

Chris Pan

Sheryl Sandberg

Jaiver

Alex Shultz

Richard Shutserman

Martin Herbs

Selina Lam

Erik Hansen

Yi Xu

Jefferson

Daisy

Yvoone

Ziming Zeng

Peng Linlin

Xiao Li

Daivd

Yang Meng

Qiushuang Zhang

Wang Yi

Gu Yulong

Patrick Mckenna

Travelogue of Tahoe

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:54:59 +0800

On Sunday, we were back from Tahoe with just 3 hours and a half on the road - comparing to the 9 hours on snowy Friday night, it is much better. When I finally find time to sit down, I can start to write a travelogue about my trip to Tahoe.

Where is Tahoe

Although most people in the States should know where it is, it worth some time to tell other readers where the beautiful lake is.

Wrapping up 2010 Winter Trip

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:45:11 +0800

I am back to the comfortable bed in my home in Shanghai. The 10 days trip, as every previous trips, is wonderful for me - just like Alice’s Adventure in the Wonderland.

I did a quick summary in my Moleskine notebook, and found the following data:

People I meet in depth during this trip: 50 (criteria: spent at least one hour together and had in-depth discussion, and I know their background well, and they know mine well)

Jian Shuo Wang in Forbes

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:48:03 +0800

What happens these days. After the New York Times article about this little blog, Forbes named this little me as Nine Young Chinese Entrepreneurs To Watch (picture edition). It is a little bit surprising and embarrassing, since when Hannah Seligson emailed back and forth about the description, I didn’t know it was under this title. The title in my brain is “Lifestyle of Chinese young man”…

Anyway, thanks Hannah, and Forbes for the article. It did generate some congratulations emails in my inbox, but I just want to put a disclaimer here for the record: it is not a real ranking, just some “sample” of entrepreneurs, and I happened to have mutual friends with the kind author.

Skiing in Tahoe

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 06:22:11 +0800

At middle of Mt. Pluto.

Skied for the morning and noon. Tired that I cannot even walk.

Beautiful mountain and lake. Scary trail.

Waiting here so other Stanford guys get to top.

PS. Still have problem using Android soft keyboard. Use backspace a lot.

1 Comments

Ha, we missed each other by about 2 weeks.

Yeah, that blue Pluto trail was really beautiful. I had trouble getting down also.

— Ji Village News · 2010-03-01 00:30

Tsinghua & Jiaotong University Alumni Gather

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:08:21 +0800

I am just back from the Tsinghua Alumni gather. It turned out to have many Jiaotong (or Chiao-Tung) guys there.

Charlies obviously didn’t tell me that I because one of the youngest person in that room, with some alumni leaving university before I was born. I felt embarrassed to be put into the speakers’ seat with two outstanding entrepreneur (Steward) and VC (Jackie). I hoped I was somewhere in the crowd.

I Should Not Open Nexus One at Night

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:48:20 +0800

I made a mistake. I should not have opened Nexus One at night. I just cannot resist the temptation to open it, charge it, and entered my Google Account. Then what happened? I spent about the last one hour, from mid-night to 1:00 AM to play with it.

Just I wrote in I Bought Nexus One, it is like the story of Little Horse Crossing River. How this little horse feel?

Met with Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:51:10 +0800

Spent the afternoon in Facebook office on the California Ave. It is a very nice and promising company with great energy. It is surely not as established as Google is, and I clearly see the rawness of a startup company. Their cafeteria is very utilitarianism, not as fancy as Google, and their office is very open. Everyone has a table, and there is no cubicle.

When we walked along the roads, and someone like an engineer sit down from a weird corner table. Matt didn’t made the introduction, and I felt his face very familiar. Then we chatted a little bit and realized he is the Mark of Mark in Facebook. Then, “Hey, where is my camera?”

Reported by New York Times

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 01:30:47 +0800

Update Feburary 24, 2010

Correction: I didn’t realize that International Herald Tribune is a New York Times newspaper. The report is actually physically printed on IHT, not New York Times. On the web, it is on nytimes.com site.

End of update

Maile dropped me an email to let me know that the report she was working is published in New York Times of Feb 24, 2010. You may want to buy a copy of New York Times today - I will do. The title of the report is: Bloggers Open an Internet Window on Shanghai.

I Bought Nexus One

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:08:51 +0800

I finally bought Google Nexus One.

I know there are many people who said bad things about like, like Robert Mao; and I have other friends who really liked it (although they said it is not as good as iPhone, but still worth trying if I am a heavy Google user). After reading so many reviews, I get more and more confused, and then I thought of a story, the little horse crossing the river. Ant Cow said different thing from little squirrel to the little horse.

Street Names in America is Mystery - Part II

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:52:27 +0800

After I wrote Street Names in America is Mystery, there are many great reply. Many of them are already published in the comment section of that blog entry (problem of scattering content everywhere on the Internet), but many came from Google Buzz, and email. The answers are very good, and I want to share it with you. Thanks my friends for always so kind to help me out.

Song Li -

basically, as long as you do not create a name conflict in your city’s street name space, and it’s not anything nasty, the local resident, i.e. company or real estate developers can choose the name. Say Apple’s headquarter: 1 Infinite Loop, pretty smart name you-know-why.

Busy and Excited

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:28:38 +0800

It was a busy day, mixed with a little bit jet lag. But as always, very excited. I am continued to be amazed by how mature and high-quality of people’s thought here. There are 5 hour long meeting with the greatest people in the field in the afternoon, and then saw great guys like the Jeremy running Yelp, Mark running Second Life, Ron who invested in Google and PayPal as angel investor, guys in Facebook, eBay, Google and other great founders of many famous and nice sites. It is also great to see my friends here with lunch or dinner, or breakfast, or cafe. Besides the great meetings in the US Internet circles, to have the opportunity to connect with the Chinese entrepreneurs in this area is also my favorite. I am happy to be on a panel of GSR’s New Year party, will be at Tsinghua Alumni dinner, and another dinner for Stanford CEO group. The schedule is so full, that I cannot add another 1 hour meeting into it. That is me! An ENFP needing inspiration and tireless seeking for it.

Content Scattered on the Web

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:27:47 +0800

From time to time, editors came to me to ask to republish the content of this blog to other blog sites. I generally agree to the request, and grant free permission. Examples are:

****Wangjianshuo on Sohu.com

Wangjianshuo on Sina.com.cn

Although I do not disapprove the content replication, I do doubt the effective of this, especially when they use editors to check the blog content and publish it onto another web. That is very traditional way of doing magazine. The Internet has evolved, and it is not about media - the carrier any longer. Copy and paste an article to a newspaper or magazine makes sense, but to another website, especially manually does not add too much value.

The Hills of Sillicon Valley is GREEN

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:54:33 +0800

I visited the bay area many times (), but most of them are in summer. I was surprised to see the hills of the valley is green! All the previous visit showed me yellow mountains. With the blue sky, white cloud, green grass land, and cows scattered on the green grass, I drive along the I-280 and wind with the mountains, I just have the feeling of Jacke entering the Pandora jungle. Besides all the great inspiration, and good weather, the bay area can be good tourism destination - very like the mountains I see near Tibet area.

Building Safty by Increasing Vulnerablity

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:56:53 +0800

I thought about it long time ago. In the GSR New Year Part, I talked about this idea with the audience here. Let me record this simple idea.

There are many system that archived safety, not by making it more safe, but by making it more vulnerable, and thus decrease the barrier of usage, and then as a result, increased the user base, and finally archived lower security incident percentage - a more secure system. Let me give you some examples.

US Visa is Simple to Get

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:33:35 +0800

Few weeks ago, Wendy went to the US embassy for interview of visa.

The visa officer asked Wendy a simple question: “What do you do?”

Wendy said: “housewife”.

Then she got the visa!

4 Comments

so easy?

— suzhou · 2010-02-23 16:17

hahaha... tot she is lady boss now :-)

— DC · 2010-02-24 14:15

Hi Wangjianshuo,

I am an American working in China. I've been married to a Chinese lady for four years and we want to go to the U.S. by next summer (2011). We're not sure what visa she needs to apply for or how difficult it will be to get. We plan to return to

China but my health might keep us in the U.S. for some time. We may even decide to stay if it seems necessary. I'm too old now to hire out but we do have house in Bedaihe in both our names.

How difficult do you think it will be for her to get a visa and about how much will it cost? These things are not easy to find out on the internet with much certainty.

— David · 2010-09-22 16:57

I'm not an expert but there are two simple points:

1. If it is her first trip out of China she must get a chinese exit visa. The most quick and simple way is to apply for a short trip to Hong Kong or Macau, they will automaticlly issue and after return this step is done.

2. In past, US visa was difficult to get and had to take months but is getting easiyer for a torist visa.

3. On the other hand, I think a residence visa in the US is difficult to get so I suggest to contact the US Consulate in your provence and ask for information. If you are a US citizen you can get quick service, if she calls she may have to wait in queue very long.

4. One thing I know is some spouse of ex-pats will have a difficult time because the Us is beware of "marriage of convennience" for the purpose of immigration, and they may require seperate intervies to judge if you are really married asking persona questions. But I think if you have been marrie 4 years and can prove such things as joint ownership of a house it should be easyer.

I have one american friend that lived in china several years, married, and now returned to US with his wife. It took several months for her to finally get a Green Card but it was done. I wil try to contact him to ask if there is any special tips, but I know they used s lawyer to smooth the process, bu that can be expensive.

So I do suggest to ask the consualte for advice and think they can explain the process to you, it would be best to get this information first so you know what to expect.

Good Luck.

— Ko · 2010-09-24 20:12

How Stupid I am Not Knowing Priceline

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 03:50:20 +0800

Zheng shared a wonderful tip with me when I talked about my hotel search experience:

In order to stay in mid- and up-scale hotels at good prices in the US, you need to BID on priceline.com. Priceline has two prices, a undisclosed one that you have a limited number of chance to BID (Click on “name your own price” on their site) and a public one that you have seen.

Bidding has some risk of not knowing what hotels you will end up with, but there are sites like

Google Reader Support PubSubHubbub

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:08:36 +0800

One of the most significant steps of the promising PubSubHubbub protocol is, Google Reader started to support PubSubHubbub. That means, a post on this blog will appear in Google Reader (and Google Buzz in Gmail) immediately after I click Save. That is cool. I am happy I finally enabled PubSubHubbub support on this blog the other day.

Again, welcome to the world of real time web.

Update February 21, 2010

P.S. My test shows, this update appears in Google Buzz about 10 seconds after, but it took about 1 minute to appear in Google Reader. Maybe it is because of cache (enemy of real-time web), or high volume?

Learnt What Open House is

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:56:23 +0800

When I read classified section on local business (I am surely interested in this newspaper based offline business), I often saw the phrase: “Open House”, but don’t really understand it. Then Amy taught me today that in Silicon Valley, from 3-5 pm every Sunday, people will put open house sign at their house. Potential buyers can wander around their favorite area, and walk into any house with this sign without appointment.

Hotel Searching Experience

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 23:46:59 +0800

As I commented in this blog entry: Hello from Palo Alto, I cannot bear the noise of Travelodge. I am moving.

So I did some basic research, and here are my findings.

Price Difference

In a mature and complicated business environment like US, when there are so many ways to optimize for the profit of a business, the rating of hotels varies a lot.

The top rated Creekside Inn (and I went there myself when I pass it tonight) is great. Their price varies from $79 of tomorrow, to $135 at weekdays. For the same day, their price differs from $79 via Expedia.com, to $99 on Creekside Inn’s own website, to Hotels.com to $150 in other book site,

Why Restaurant's Menu is Printed Daily?

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 23:36:40 +0800

When people travel, they use fresh eyes to ask silly questions that is not often noticed by local people. That is one reason why people travel.

I have my question of today: When I had dinner at California Cafe at Stanford Barn 700 Welch Road Palo Alto, CA 94304 (recommended by Yelp), I noticed that they have Feb 20, 2010 printed on the header of the menu. That is what we often find out in nice restaurants here in the States (and now in Shanghai).

Street Names in America is Mystery

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 15:18:19 +0800

Street Names in America is mystery for me. Let me randomly put some street names I am familiar with:

Hans St
Serra St
Alma St
Quarry Rd

These are not English words. Does people invent a word and use it to call the place they live, or what?

I at least understand certain types of road names:

Interstate, or state roads that are numbered, like US101, I-280, CA-85
Named after another name, like Oregon Expr, Santa Cruz Ave

Hello From Palo Alto

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 02:06:27 +0800

Just want to wave and tell everyone that I have safely and smoothly arrived at Palo Alto via United Airlines UA858 (seat 41B through Gate 95 at SFO), and drove all the way down from the airport to downtown (via AVIS Pontiac G5 car, via US-101, Oregon Expr, El Camino), and arrived at Travelogue.

This is the airplane that took me here (at the time of the shooting, it was still parking at Gate D77 at Pudong Airport).

PVG to SFO in Febuary

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 23:41:38 +0800

Just packed everything according to a previous check-list - feeling so good to have a reference of what to bring to the States. I will fly to San Francisco tomorrow via UA858.

Looking forward to another exciting trip in the bay area. I am always inspired by the people there. Here I am coming!

Itinerary

PVGUA 858 20FEB 1334 0814

SFOUA 857 02MAR 1157 1745+1

I will basically in the Palo Alto area (Stanford!). Ping me if you want a meetup. Current schedule is very busy, but I am sure I can manage to get few hours out of it.

Test Entry for PubSubHubbub

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:57:19 +0800

It seems everything works now. I will try to test if it appears in Google Buzz in 2 seconds after I press Save button. If it does not work, I will hide this entry.

Xinjian Road and Renmin Road Tunnel

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:22:19 +0800

Before I know it, two other tunnels cross the Huangpu River opened at the end of the last year: Xinjian Road 新建路隧道and Renmin Road Tunnel 人民路隧道. Along with Fuxing Tunnel 复兴路隧道, Yan’an East Road Tunnel 延安东路隧道, and Daliang Road Tunnel 大连路隧道, there are 5 tunnels in the area.

117 Starbucks in Shanghai Already

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 22:47:27 +0800

I am a Starbucks fan, and I have visited all the 12 Starbucks in Shanghai in a Day in 2003.

Now, Starbucks will enter Sweden, and I was called by a journalist in Sweden today to discuss the impact of Starbucks to Shanghai. It was a very interesting and one hour long conversation, which I may share later.

To my surprise, when I look at Starbucks website, I found out there are already 117 Starbucks Store in Shanghai today. More than 100 Starbucks Store appeared in Shanghai in the last 7 years.

The Most Beautiful Shoreline

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:35:49 +0800

This is the most beautiful shoreline I found out during the Hainan trip. It is at Xiangshui Bay (Perfume Bay) at Lingshui County 陵水县, Wanning 万宁, Hainan. With all my courtesy to other great bays in Hainan, like Yalong Bay, or Shimei Bay, the Xiangshui Bay is the most blue, most pure and most natural bay I saw. Let me share some photos.

Below the construction site of a private residential area. I am wondering why the government turned this this 4.2 km long of beautiful bay to a private land that only few people can enjoy.

Fireworks for God of Fortune

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 23:42:50 +0800

There are great fireworks on the 180 degree view of my window right now. According to the Chinese tradition, the 5th of the New Year is the day the God of Fortune will arrive at your home. People need to fire great fireworks to welcome him to arrive.

I paid attention to this tradition only after I am in Shanghai, since I noticed the fireworks in Shanghai on the night of the 4th of the New Year is even more intensive than the New Year Eve!

I have Driven Around Hainan

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:45:22 +0800

Just to report that I have driven around the Hainan island during the holiday.

Day 1 - Sanya to Jianfengling Ridge and stayed at a Taohuayuan Hostel

Day 2 - Jianfengling to Haikou and stayed at HNA Grand Hotel

Day 3 - Haikou to Wenchang

Day 4 - Wenchang to Wanning via Qionghai

Day 5 - Wanning to Sanya and stayed at a B&B (without breakfast)

The whole trip, including some branches of the trip, is 1000 km in distance, and took about 500 RMB in gas, and 1000 RMB in car rental.

Enabled PubSubHubbub on my Blog

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:32:51 +0800

I am excited about the PubSubHubbub project, and was amazed by its simplicity and scalable design.

I finally downloaded the MovableType PubSubHubbub plugin and installed it 5 minutes ago. If it works as it is expected to work, and after Google Buzz and other crawler update my RSS XML the next time, the magic will happen. You will start to see my blog post in real time (well, almost real time by few seconds delay) in your Google Buzz. With more and more services supporting PubSubHubbub, more and more people will see this real time functionality.

My First Car Rental Experience in Hainan

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:18:38 +0800

I just realized the difference between China and US is less and less obvious. Let me give you some signs. The recent development is car rental. We tried our first car rental in Sanya this holiday, and it worked almost as well as in the US.

Price

The price is twice as high as in US: 330 RMB/day (or 50 USD/day) for Toyota Yaris vs 25 USD/day at AVIS. However, that also reflected the price of cars (twice as high) and other related costs in China - like all kinds of difference taxes, and fees paid to the government related to car ownership.

I am on Google Buzz

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:52:04 +0800

If you are also on it, you can follow me by searching me by either

jianshuo
Jian Shuo Wang
Wang Jian Shuo

in the Search of Google Buzz.

So far, I love what Buzz delivers - real time, and deep integration, a quick and handy interface and a solid existing network dug from the email contacts network.

2 Comments

Hi Wang Jian Shuo, I read your post on 12/02 about Google Buzz. I followed the link in your post and clicked the 'try buzz in gmail' button. Do you know of a way to access Buzz if like me your gmail account is with wangjianshuo.com (your kind gift) Regards Rob

— Rob · 2010-02-17 18:32

Google Buzz is not applied to Google Apps yet (domains like wangjianshuo.com), but they said they are going to have that soon.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2010-02-17 20:00

Wenchang to Wanning

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 22:34:45 +0800

Let me upload some photos on the way from Wenchang 文昌 to Wanning 万宁. I just realized Flickr’s image was blocked in China these days. So… use your own ways to access these photos.

My Comment on Yaris

We rented a Toyota Yaris for several days. That was much better than I expected. I love this small car. The storage system in the car is especially well designed. We chose this car just because all other cars were fully booked out, and it turned out to be a good choice. BTW, it is 330 RMB per day.

Very Disappointed in Haikou

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 22:14:09 +0800

I was very disappointed by the city of Haikou. In the most broad sense of classification, Chinese cities can be divided into charming cities, big cities, and ugly cities. In my personal experience, there are two cities in my ugly city list: Haikou, and Changsha.

Look at the view outside the 16th floor of my hotel. Maybe I am here just at the wrong season?

Photo by Jian Shuo Wang, at HNA Grand Hotel 16F

Sanya Bay

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 09:07:26 +0800

Unlike Yalong Bay, the 5-star hotel bay, the Sanya Bay is still highly utilized as a transportation hub. From our hotel window on the 7th floor, we see the whole bay with many boats:

Although it has limited hotel facility, but looking out, the vast area is public ports - noisy, but exciting.

The artificial Phoenix Island raises from nothing with the ambition to beat Dubai. The 7-star hotels are under construction. (I am always confused about what 7-star means. Is it accepted standard?)

Yifan on the Road

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 08:48:52 +0800

To have Yifan with us was less challenging was we thought. Yifan is such a nice boy and he plays nicely with us most of the time. Trip with Yifan makes it harder than just Wendy and me, but it adds so much fan.

Yifan wearing Wendy’s swimming glasses.

Yifan’s second favorite after elevator in Sanya: the electronic trolley car. We don’t have trolley car in our hotel, so Yifan took the chance to touch it, or “ride” it when it is parked. Yifan loves the car so much that we pretend to be another hotels’ guest so he can ride for half minute, before we were discovered. Embarrassing is the father, and exciting is the son.

Jianfengling Ridge in Hainan

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 00:15:25 +0800

Look at the beautiful scene of the Tianchi of Jianfengling Ridge.

3 Comments

wow, very beautiful! I love the last two pics mostly.

— QiHui · 2010-02-13 02:14

Thanks Qihui. That is a very nice place - and looks very beautiful both on picture, and in real.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2010-02-13 08:24

wow, beautiful ... enjoy your holidays!

— Abe · 2010-02-14 23:23

Travelogue - Haikou, Hainan

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 20:00:02 +0800

5 Star Hotel

I am at the HNA Mingguang Grand Hotel in Haikou. This is maybe one of the cheapest 5 star hotels - 450 RMB per night. Compared to the 10K+ RMB crazy price for hotels in Yalong Bay in Sanya, and 800+ RMB village hotels, this seems shocking. Their service and hardware are 5-star hotel standard, at least based on my personal rating system…. Interestingly, they offer to issue boarding pass at the hotel lobby.

I Really Love Interaction of Buzz

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 19:51:45 +0800

If there is anyway that I can post my blog as easy as that in Google Buzz, and get my comment, and reply to it as easy as in Buzz, that would be wonderful. (A typical Twitter message, but it seems not the right length for a blog post on my regular blog. See the difference?)

Regarding Buzz, I commented: “Buzz puts us into further to the center of distraction”.

P.S With all the competing products and services, MovableType (my favorite), was again thrown out of the conversation further. Six Apart had Motion, a similar idea, but far behind what Google offered: just like Notepad vs Gmail…

I am in Sanya

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:30:04 +0800

I started my vacation in Sanya. This is (hmm…. let me count, one, two, three (stayed in villa 5), four…) fourth time I am in Sanya.

We will spend the Spring Festival in Sanya and Hainan. Although it is getting super expensive these days in Sanya, the weather, the sea, and the swimming pool treated us very well.

6 Comments

Happy New Year in b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l- Sanya ! (been there :)

What do you mean by "super expensive" ? and is there a reason for it being more (?) expensive ?

mary

— Mary · 2010-02-11 07:42

Wow! I can imagine the beautiful scene and how happy you feel there with your family. Unfortunately I've never been to Sanya, and I wish I would be there one day with my family in the near future.

— Michelle · 2010-02-11 12:01

so expensive...

— LI, Zhou · 2010-02-11 13:24

oh...jealous... i loved Sanya when i went! hope I can go back someday

— Kate · 2010-02-12 04:48

Jianshuo, wish you, Wendy and Yifan have a good holiday at Sanya! You certainly know more Sanya than me. I only visited Sanya once (with my wonderful wife during honeymoon :-)

— STLPlace · 2010-02-12 10:27

Your trip reminds me of my honeymoon trip to Sanya, Haikou among other places in 1987! Back then honeymoon trip is rare, you spend all your money on stuff and wedding banquet. There were no hotel or resort per say by then. I would like to go back soon!

Is monkey island still there (near Snaya)? I remembered eating at this one good restaurant ( my husband and me were the only guests on that evening) after starving all day becasue there is no clean place to eat between Haikou and monkey island.

Is Howard Johnson Resort Sanya Bay (三亚国光豪生酒店) a good place to stay?

— Jin · 2010-02-13 00:43

8.8 mm

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:45:11 +0800

This is a show of the annual dinner at the beginning of this week.

Here is the transcript in Chinese.

For people who don’t understand Chinese, it is an exaggerated show imitating whose on the TV commercial selling things in Chinese TV stations.

8.8毫米

女：欢迎大家来到电视直销节目，今天我们非常荣幸地请到夏总（热情的观众：鸟人~）。今天夏总给我们带来一件非常特殊的产品，就是我们的往死里点的置顶服务，有请！夏总

Yifan's Latest Picture

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:31:52 +0800

Yifan grows fast.

Recently, he started to ask hard-to-answer questions.

Once he pointed to a No-Smoking sign, and asked me what it is. I said it means no smoking. Yifan asked me what is smoking. I said to have cigarettes, and he continued to ask why people have cigarettes….

Yifan loves train. His favorite entertainment is to ride Metro with us. He will stand and wave to every train and say “Byebye!”

People are Basically Good

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:19:29 +0800

What is the true meaning of this sentence:

People are basically good

That is the founding principle eBay was founded. Someone said it was John Locke (a person I am having strong interest in today) said that, although I suspect that. It is the base of many faith.

My naive question is: what is the true meaning of it? What is the philosophical meaning of it?

Anyone wants to point me to a good book about this?

Spring Festival 2009

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 21:17:12 +0800

This is the holiday schedule for China:

Holiday starts from: February 13

ends at: February 19

February 20 (Saturday), and 21 (Sunday) are working days!

P.S. Started to exercise in the gym downstairs. My food IS recovered.

11:04 PM

5 Comments

My food IS recovered? Is it foot?

— Michelle · 2010-01-31 23:04

I think Jianshuo was trying to say his "foot", which was injured 2-3 months ago, has recovered. Good for you, JS!

One thiny I don't understand is why the Chinese government doesn't announce its national holidays one year or even 3 months ahead? It often waits until less than one ago prior to the big holidays to let its citizens know when the holidays begins and ends. Knowing it early makes it much easier for folks here to make holiday plans, particularly for those having to travel far domestically or to overseas. Another thing beyond believe is the airlines jack up its prices to ridiculous levels. I checked United's airfares last week. Flying from PVG to LAX departing after 2/11 was over US$5,000 round trip in economy. I was told it's full Y fare. One way from PVG to SFO in First class was over $12,000USD when I check it yesterday.

— tw · 2010-02-01 11:15

NICE!

p.s. I never understand the logic behind switch the weekends for "holidays"... only two days, give people a break! What can you get out of the first weekend after the new year anyway... I think most people would be much happier if they get those two days as the part of the "holiday".

— GN · 2010-02-01 12:55

I hate the practice of working on the weekend to make up for the vacation too, that's why at my office we don't do it!

Most factories already stop working from around Feb 9 to Feb 22, because all the migrant workers need time to get home.

— Anna · 2010-02-01 20:06

I agreed with Anna , there is no work in the vacation.Man is not machine ,they need rest for natural life.

— Bahamas Vacation · 2010-07-05 14:45

Long Lines for Avatar 3D IMAX

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 23:04:56 +0800

I was in the Raffles City today, and saw the long lines for Avatar 3D IMAX in the Peace Theater.

Peace Theater is the only cinema with IMAX in Shanghai that shows Avatar. There is another IMAX cinema in the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, but they would rather keep showing the 3D Moon Walker and other tech movie, despite the fact that IMAX is in huge demand in Shanghai because of Avatar.

Started to Walk

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:24:31 +0800

Walking in Shanghai is a nice experience. I started to walk to everywhere whenever time allows - following Vince’s leads and best practices of loosing weight by walking.

I have gave up exercise for too long, since I broke my ankle. Hope to have some time to make up the time lost.

In Shanghai, and with my current walking pattern, I can use Google Maps on my mobile phone to search the driving path from point A to point B, and get the distance. Multiple the distance in km by 10 is the actual number of minutes for me to get there.

Trend Against Semantic Web

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 22:36:44 +0800

Semantic web is one of the hottest trend in 2009 and should continue to be so in 2010 (like in this article: Top 5 Web Trends of 2009.) We talked about this during the dinner time with Gao Xiang of Hubs1, and other great guys.

I personally don’t see huge potential of semantic web.

X.400 vs SMTP email address

If you compare the two implementation of email address,

X.400 representation:

G=Harald;S=Alvestrand;O=Uninett;P=Uninett;A=;C=no

Notes on Harvard Justice Course Part 3/4

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:47:39 +0800

Quote from the section 3, part I of Justice - What is the right thing to do.

Taxation = Taking of Earnings

Taking of Earnings = Forced Labor

Forced Labor = Slavery (You are not longer the 100% owner of your own life - taxation means the state is a part owner, or a share holder of you).

Slavery = Against Principle of Self possession (we are the owner of the individual person - wholly)

My Favorate Road - Xingguo Road

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 00:03:28 +0800

I love to walk on small and quiet roads like Wukang Road and Xingguo Road.

There is something special in this area: you can walk besides other people’s window!

That is unique compared to the current “Residential Area” design. That made us feel that we are still in a small town, not in city.

The road is quiet - no wonder a shop on this road cost just 1/6 of resident house on this road.

How to Access Twitter and Facebook in China

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:29:12 +0800

I setup my connection to Twitter and Facebook via SSH tunnel again. When the original tools to access Twitter, and Facebook failed, I just lost interest to setup proxy. Now, I am back and just accepted the 109 Facebook friend request. (My rule: Accept everyone in jianshuo@Facebook, but be very selective on [Kaixin001.com](http://D:\my\6.video\Wangyifan.Video - all video\100VIDEO). Here is how I did it.

The process is pretty straight forward, but it is not free.

Avatar

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:49:59 +0800

Just completed 3 hour journey of Avatar. Amazing. Some thoughts:

When to good words conflicts, which takes priority. When justice conflicts with the home country, Jack didn’t hesitate to betray his country - in this movie, betray his own race.
Wendy said: If I were Jack, I won’t be back too - how good it is to be the hero, and be strong. I said: That is why people love to play online game like WOW.

Google in China - Business Decision?

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:15:11 +0800

Google’s announcement risking to quit China is controversial in nature. Not only in China, but also in the States, even in the high-tech camp, Microsoft, and Yahoo! hold different opinions.In fact, it is people’s reaction to this news that shocks many people, in both camp. Let me add my observation by starting from the easiest question:

“Is Google’s announcement about its China operation a business decision, or not?”

The critics about Google’s action that occupied the dominating position in Chinese (government approved) media is, it is all about money, and Google is mixing business with politics… In short, Bad! Ugly!

My Brain Does not Work Well

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 23:01:07 +0800

There is too much information for me to consume these days.

My brain does not work very well. There are many things I want to comment on but don’t know how to start, like the Google’s case, Baidu’s case, and the recent news happening to many companies.

I just feel I cannot find quiet time to sit down to think about all these. The busy hours at work and busy schedule seem to be pretty hard for me.

Snow of Beijing Airport

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 23:38:46 +0800

When I arrived in Beijing, it just snowed. Look at the Beijing airport.

The picture was taken when I just left the gate of my Hainan Airlines aircraft.

3 Comments

下面是我对GOOGLE事件的持续看法：

《为什么GOOGLE会遭受这种毁灭性的打击？》

1月16日，跟GOOGLE发表退出中国声明已经两天。关于此事的情况我又有了新的了解。据GOOGLE搜来的消息，有安全专家发布了一些GOOGLE受到攻击的技术分析。当然，这篇报道是一篇非专业性的文章，所以，作为普通读者的我还是能够明白，文章中所说的意思是，GOOGLE受到的这次攻击技术含量很高，按文章的说法，是属于国防工业级别的，其证据是，加密的手段需要通过集程化的运作，这种运作，在安全领域需要一种环境来执行，而个人黑客，没有必要作这种外包装式的动作，不会将主要精力放在这种加密到完整的程度。就算没有这篇技术分析文章，我是否可以判断，这次攻击的级别一定不低。所以令GOOGLE感到吃惊。那么这是外因。

接下来说一下GOOGLE内部的安全机制。

一个公司总会有个安全机制，对于GOOGLE这种计算机公司来说，它是怎样管理自己的安全的呢，比如说微软，比如说，有某些秘密配方的宝洁公司，这些高度机密的东西，一定会有一套安全系统在进行保护。但，我在某回复看到，似乎GOOGLE采取一种信任的态度，给予自己的员工以级高的权限。所以问题就发生了。对于一个优秀的员工来讲你当然可以信任它，但是，对于一个打入GOOGLE商部的商业间谍来说呢？首先我很怀疑GOOGLE中国公司的内部机制是否完善。在硬件上，GOOGLE可以把美国的一套全部都搬到中国来，但问题就主要是发生在人身上，要知道，优秀的硬件过来了，甚至优秀的管理方法过来，但人不去执行怎么办。我试问，在GOOGLE中国的高层中，有哪一位是值得GOOGLE去深信的。是可以代表GOOGLE 的利益去维护整个公司的。要知道，即使是一个公司的高层，有些人并不是以公司为重，而是以公司发给的工资为重。所以GOOGLE在中国的公司的高层中，有哪些人是受到GOOGLE的信任的。一但中国部缺少这样一个GOOGLE的监理。那整个GOOLGE的中国公司就会有别于美国GOOGLE从而产生出另外一套潜规则出来。这是我对外企在中国办公司特点的一个看法。所以，当一个由GOOGLE出资，却由一些不信任的中国领导人领导的GOOGLE公司，其变味也是很正常的事情。不然的话，那个商业间谍是怎样混进GOOGLE公司的呢？所以，GOOGLE如果只想作好人，而不提防坏人，那摸这次挨搞也是活该。试想，一个员工就可以让公司的系统走向毁灭，随着GOOGLE的壮大，人越来越多，越来越杂，你怎么可以相信每一个人，也许GOOGLE在想，我招进来的人，进入我这样一个优秀的公司，这样好的待遇，它们一定会努力干活的，好了，现在进来的不是普通的人，而是间谍。所以，对待普通员工的那一套跟本就不能适用在间谍的身上。间谍来不是享受你公司的待遇的，而它们是一种工具，进来就是为了搞破坏。你对它再好又有什么用，间谍终归是间谍。所以，在GOOGLE的中国公司，在公司层面缺少美国总部那样的管理，导致了这种人渣混进去的可能。这就是内因，也许，面对外部来到的强大攻击，GOOGLE再怎么着，总能组织力量去进行反搞，但是，如果自己内部出了问题，也许外部一次小小的打击都会让GOOGLE一命呜呼。这种内贼是很可怕的，即使你有再高的安全级别，但防外不防内，所以，我想像GOOGLE在这一次遭受内外夹攻的情况一定非常要紧。那么，现在来分析动因。

首先，如果仅仅是一个商业间谍，对GOOGLE进行源代码的盗取活动，那么会对GOOGLE造成毁灭性的打击吗？即使GOOGLE被间谍成功的盗走了源代码，但是，你要发动对GOOGLE有致使性的攻击，你还需要许多条件。不然，你无法将GOOGLE一招致命。所以，你也许就会问，是谁，为什么要这么作。

GOOGLE通过合法手段进入中国从事互联网信息产业的经营，信息产业，是中国极为敏感的地带，通过这次的GOOGLE事件你就可以查觉得，仅在两天时间之内，互联网的传播及效应是惊人的。如果一带互联网发展得更为成熟有效，那么，我国对信息产业的控制又会怎样呢？所以，作为一个世界强大的信息公司入主中国互联网，是一件极为危险的事情，一切事情要将之扼杀在摇蓝状态，GOOGLE通过合法手段成功登陆中国互联网。想通过这种合法手段以争取到中国网民的认同，从长远来看，一个美帝国主义的商业公司这样进入到一个可以让中国极为敏感的地界，这是无法让人忍受的。不知道，是否有人拿得出，GOOGLE在中国法律上面经历过的事情，就可以证明这些。显然，我说到这里就存在一个意识形态的问题，事情就是这样，就好比，你不备案虽然不等于你违了法，但我就是要备案，这样我好控制你。但是GOOGLE不那么好控制。作为一个如此强大的公司，进入到中国的互联网市场，是一个怎么都让人不安的事情，如果一但有一天，这个家伙不听话了怎么办，我能对它怎样，GOOGLE拥有雄厚的技术力量，所在中国互联网的根基越来越强大，GOOGLE的服务器偏布全球，这对于互联网的封锁与管理来说是一个极大的潜在风险。因此，GOOGLE必须退出中国。在我看来，一般某些人要搞人的时候，它很在意外界的舆论，所以，表面上是对20家公司发起了攻击，其实是掩人耳目，因为你搞不走ADOBE，但你可以通过此举搞走GOOGLE。中国这种人渣的作事方法就是，它通过说来取得你的信任，所以，你会发现，它不管哪样说，其目的就是一个，就是取得你的信任。对付这种人只有一个办法，就是实践是检验真理的唯一标准。所以，我也想告诉王建硕，很多人都可以说，很多人都有不同的看法，但真理永远只有那一个，只是人的主观意识并不能看清它，而越是能接近真理的人，就越会成功！别人会找到你的思维弱点，对你进行忽悠。所以，这个时候就考验你，在实践的过程中不断的思考。这是件很智慧的事情。中国古人之所以强大，就是因为它们不断的找寻真知。在实践之前，大部份人都会失去耐心，与长途的耐力。摆在你面前的就是你害怕失败。万一这条路是不通的怎么办。那没得法。那你只有等别人成功了以后再来模仿了。

GOOGLE到底要不要退出呢，如果不退出的话会怎么样？我的分析如下：GOOGLE在中国仍然找不到合适的总管。GOOGLE无法在中国找到信任的人。从而领导中国的公司。从这一点上来讲，GOOGLe始终无法在中国建立一个值得信任的团队。其二，GOOGLE退出之后，是否有能力继续发展在中国的市场呢？如果GOOGLE收回战线，从而加强内部力量，通过互联网的技术含量是否能够继续发展中国市场，这我不知道，所以，我抱有希望的事情就是，希望 GOOGLE能发明一种技术，可以继续为中国用户使用GOOGLE的服务。这是我对这次事件关注的重点所在，我希望通过这件事情从而导致GOOGLE开发一种面向中国用户的应用。道理简单，一，GOOGLE不想放弃中国市场，但决定从美国本土发展。二，与其在中国互联网发展，不如在美国互联网发展。除非中国完全切断中美两国间的互联网。我一直劝GOOGLE不要本土化，你在美国是怎么作的，你在中国就怎么作。要知道，你在美国时作的那一套导致了中国用户对你的粉丝，为什么来到中国反而到是为了所谓的本土化从而放弃了你本来吸引中国用户的真正的东西呢？我个人觉得，谷歌公司并不让我感到满意。其浓重的中国那种杂乱与不沌洁在中国的谷歌反应了出来。所谓与中国互联网同行的合作，我反而看作是一种同流合污。看看中国互联网的垃圾们吧，你GOOGLE公司居然还要和它们合作！GOOGLE如果坚信自己是在作正确的事情，为什么还要和那些作不正确事情的人来往呢？所以，GOOGLE重新审视自己在中国的发展是好事。

GOOGLE也不应完全太过于关注中国市场，GOOGLE应该站在美国的互联网上，先开发出真正好的应用，在美国本土获得改变互联网信息应用更好的方法，中国市场迟早是你的。因为我讲死中国人发明不出好的互联网应用，因为我讲死中国的互联网只会模仿。因为，中国的互联网垃圾，人心更垃圾。它们只在乎利益，在乎别人的看法，不坚持真理，有钱就是大爷，它们没有信仰与原则。所以，中国互联网永远开发不出好的应用，所以GOOGLE放心好了。只要你能作得出好的东西，中国人总会对你产生极为强烈的需要。那就是解决互联网信息的结构处理，筛选上的问题，因为放下中国问题不谈互联网本身还存在很多问题。解决这些问题，是否也算是一个成功之道呢？

— 超级考拉 · 2010-01-16 21:11

GOOGLE有可能不走了，因为GOOGLE大概重新定义了在中国的布属，比如像对待外人一样的对待中国区这边的人事。

— 超级考拉 · 2010-01-17 19:55

评论一下GOOGLE退出的谍报风云版

我最初看到GOOGLE退出的谍报风云版是在王建硕的博克回复里。这则消息是很能考校人的新闻。相当于小道消息，或传言。非常的能忽悠人。无论这则消息是真是假，有一点我可以肯定，就是它能够有助于中国的网民提高自己的判断意识。我想社会舆论水平的提高就是要不断的通过类似事件一点点帮助人们思考。所以，一种成熟的自由言论形式应该博采众长的，纳而析之的。所以我决定写这篇文章，来接受这个忽悠。

传言的内容是这样，话说，在GOOGLE中国部的人员里面有一个卧底，在GOOGLE招人的时候，这个卧底得以顺利进入，之后，卧底开始使用手中的权限深入到GOOGLE的内部进行了非法行动，对GOOGLE造成了极大的伤害，由此，得出结论，GOOGLE的这次退出跟被卧底了有关。

这篇传言写得会声会色，其实提供了大量你即无法判断，但又令你深信不疑的线索。其直接导致的后果就是你傻了蒙了，不知道该相信谁了。所以，给人造成很大的困惑。我说过，实践是检验真理的唯一标准。在我们没有得到很多已经条件的情况下去求得答案是件很费神的事情。所以，着手已经条件是解这道题的思路所在。既然这篇文章我拿不到条件，那么我就退出来，退到一个更大更明确的条件环境下来。那么你就可以看到，这篇传言的目的不外乎就是在考校你，GOOGLE 与中国政府的关系。从而引导你得出一系列推断，但请注意，是推断而不是事实。就我个人来说，我是相信政府是会对外资企业进行某种程度的控制，但问题的关键是，这种控制是否会起到破坏作用。基于这一点我很容易相信这篇传言中所描述的一切。那么换个角度来考虑，如果这个传言是真的，那么GOOGLE该如何应对。如果GOOGLE不离开中国，它会想什么样的办法来杜绝此类事情的发生呢？第一步肯定是对所有中国谷歌部门的人员进行权限管理，使这些人使用一套分离的系统。用备份系统来操作，虽然这会降低系统效率，但这会提高安全性。第二，重新调整谷歌中国公司的作用，由原来的开发型公司，转变为市场销售处，由以开发为主，进而转变成以销售为主。这样，即可以保住在中国的销售前沿，又能防止关键技术外漏。所以，如果GOOGLE不走的话，它将着手解决的唯一问题，就是安全问题。由于这次安全问题给GOOGLE造成了较为严重的警示，使GOOGLE对中国市场本来就不确定的策略更加雪上加霜。如果GOOGLE不走，除了要解决已经存在的安全问题，面对GOOGLE搜索被过滤，以及今后，GOOOGLE在中国的市场策略，及GOOGLE搜索引擎如何卖出广告，这些都会涉及到GOOGLE的一个原则性问题，那就是GOOGLE的价值观问题，GOOGLE的一切行为都是按照其价值观念进行，包括业务，开发，市场，对合作伙伴公司文化的定位等，然而，在中国的遭遇却让GOOGLE无数次的感觉到，自己的价值观念正在被中国的环境扭曲的改变，GOOGLE不得不放下自己的核心价值观念反而去适应中国的国内标准。这种所谓的适应让GOOGLE很不舒服。在对中国问题的决策上也让GOOGLE感到恼火。因此，GOOGLE不走的话，它要给自己列出一个问题，那就是，如果我不走的话，我如何继续扩大我在中国市场的份额？难道要像其它那中国互联网上的垃圾公司一样，靠打弹出窗口广告来营生吗？而之所以，能够留住GOOGLE的另一重要原因就是中国的消费者，显然，GOOGLE自己觉得自己在中国消费者心目中的位置还不错。如果 GOOGLE被持续搞臭，那么它的离开则是必然，所以，当GOOGLE不断被搞臭的时候，我可以想像GOOGLE离开的心境是怎样变化的。所以，我曾见意，如&#

26524;GOOGLE即想按照自己的价值观念去作事，又想开发中国市场的话，只有通过退出，然后在技术上打开一条通向中国互联网的通道，那么GOOGLE 就可以解决上述问题，或许，这些需要的是时间，GOOGLE目前的打算应该会留有市场部的人员继续保持中国市场广告业务方面的处理工作。为了不让中国政府赶自己出去，也会保留经过审查内容的搜索结果，不然的话，就不会有人买GOOGLE的广告了。与此同时，GOOGLE要以新产品来获得中国市场的消费者，新产品中包括一种更容易利于中国消费者们相互联系的工具，必要时，这个工具还可起到破网的作用。GOOGLE的突然撤出肯定不现实。只要GOOGLE能够按自己的价值观念作自己本来自己的事情就可以，到时候，中国再请GOOGLE出去也不要紧不晚。是主动走，还是被别人赶，我觉得被中国赶走还好一些，因为只要GOOGLE本着自己凭良心没作错事的事实在那里，就算被赶走的话，也会获得中国网民的同情。所以，一方面如果GOOGLE不走的话，肯定要继续搞臭它，另一方面，GOOGLE作为防守，应该杜绝内部的安全隐患，见意放入专门的美国特工对公司内部进行检查。就像沃尔玛一样，招聘了特工对自己的员工进行监视。因为，这是中国，是一个真假难分的地方，我不提防好人，但如果是坏人来了，我一定会防它的。我想，这次的事情也算是给GOOGLE上了一课吧。

— 超级考拉 · 2010-01-17 23:15

Crazy Week in 2010

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:45:41 +0800

No one predicted that we started 2010 in such a chaos way. Following the suspension of many Internet sites in China, Baidu was hacked on Tuesday and stopped serving for 11 hours, which made Internet traffic shuffled upside down because of the big traffic distribution role Baidu played.

Soon after that, Google issued the announcement about uncensored Google.cn. I was at first thought the ball became at the government’s hand, then I was surprised the Google didn’t wait the government take the initiative to shut it down. They simply started to prepare the post-mortem of the office without any real pressure from the government.

Google's (Right) Choice

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 22:51:36 +0800

Today’s biggest news is Google’s blog about stopping censoring its content on Google.cn, and considering quitting from China. I typically don’t comment immediately about any news, because often, I need more time to under the situation better (as I stated here). But for this topic, I have been thinking it for a long time. I know what I am going to say about this, when it happens.

The Nature of Google’s Choice

Back from Snowy Beijing

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 23:46:21 +0800

Wendy and Yifan greeted me at Hong Qiao Airport - so good to avoid the terrible long line for taxi, and taxi driver’s unpleasant look for short distance to my home. Wendy observed: “You are always very happy after you visit Beijing every time”. That is absolutely true. Beijing, more like Silicon Valley, brought inspiration to me. As an ENFP, inspiration and new ideas are the necessary food for my life.

Met with Xiaolai in Beijing

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:52:46 +0800

During this short Beijing trip, after had great conversation with Keso in his home, I had a nice dinner with Chedong, Zhou Jun, William Gao, and Xiaolai…

Xiaolai is a very interesting guy - the few people who really think independently and deeply about stuff. He shared the video: Justice - What is the Right Thing to Do:

Even without watching it, I know I should love it - the hard journey to seek what is justice, and morally right (as I kept seeking in this blog in the previous articles: The City and Its Moral Boundary, Bad Behavior, Its Reason, and Future). I am happy that there are some people around me who think about this philosophical question, although most people would discourage me by saying: “Get real. Do some business, and don’t just sit there and think as a God”.

Two Consistent Internet Companies

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 23:46:19 +0800

Hollywood.com

From time to time, I receive a newsletter from Hollywood.com, in the last 13 years. I remember I subscribed its newsletter in the early days in 1996 - when Hotmail just started, and not bought by Microsoft. At that time, there are just few well known websites for me. I just started to try to use it, and often visit the following sites:

Harvard.edu, Whitehouse.gov, CERN and Hollywood.com - basically any famous name plus a .com or .gov.

Book Earlier for Cheaper Ticket? Not So in China

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 22:14:16 +0800

Yangle asked:

Alright folks?

There’s been some really awesome and helpful stuff here - thanks! :)

I have a question that is probably quite obvious - if I were to book an internal flight in the UK (where I’m from) then I would book it really really early - possibly months in advance if I could - so I could get the cheapest fare possible. Is this the same rule for Chinese domestic flights? Or can you book them just a month or two in advance and get the cheapest fares? I’m wanting a round-trip from BeiJing to GuiLin end of June, beginning of July time.

I Don't Like 2010

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 20:04:22 +0800

The first few days of 2010 does not show good sign for a new year.

In personal life, Wendy and Yifan got cold, and many people in the company got cold. I just spent the full day at hospital - people mountain and people sea there, and waited for few hours for injection for Yifan (Hospital is Badly Needed).

Meanwhile, although it is not the coldest winter, I felt the freezing cold. I am very sure that the starting of 2010 is making history. People are not aware of the meaning of historical events when it is happening. The significance reveals only afterward. BossTown has been so kind to invite me to join their program to talk about Ten years of Internet in China, and let me predict what the Chinese Internet space will look like in 2019. I expressed a polite refusal to attend the program, since today, I am not in the mood to forecast the future of Internet in China, if there is one.

My Advice to Entrepreneurs

Sun, 03 Jan 2010 17:30:55 +0800

Occasionally, friends ask me for advices of their startup. I am flattered but shy away from giving any advice, since I just started the journey about 5 years ago myself, and I have more lessons from mistakes than tips for success to share. Now, let me give it a try (shamelessly pretending that I know this topic).

Try to Use Bad Words to Describe Your Business

It is not rare to see people describe their products, or services using many good words - the best, the cheapest, the highest in quality, or the newest… In my opinion, the chance to success with any thing more than one good word is small. Let me give you an example.

Metro Line 9 Opens

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 23:19:19 +0800

The Metro Line #9 east section opens yesterday. The newly opened section starts from Xujiahui Station and ends at Century Ave Station. It connects with the rest of the already opened Metro Line #9 and arrives at Songjia New Town, at the west most part of Shanghai.

I visited the Metro Line #9 newly extended stations this afternoon. Here is my report.

Insensitivity of New Lines

When Metro Line #1 opens, there are just about 10 stations. I know every single station so well. I even wrote guideline about each stations:

Lego Duplo Car for Yifan

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 23:02:35 +0800

I spent the whole morning and noon time with Yifan. We built LEGO train, car, and buildings together. The only LEGO we had so far is Set # 4960-1: Giant Zoo. It contains building blocks for a zoo, but Yifan is not as keen to animals as to cars. So, we just left all the animals along, and started to build cars.

Look how I did to help Yifan to build the car. I did most of the part, and Yifan was busy helping me on logistic - he is very good at finding similar items for me.

New Year Eve 2010

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 21:31:41 +0800

The year of 2010 arrives. Happy New Year!

I never expected I could welcome the new year the way I did. To be short, I ended up helping to deliver milk tea at the New Year’s Eve. Let me tell you more.

Unexpected

Wendy and I brought Yifan to celebrate the New Year. Yifan happily played in the Metro station and enjoyed watching metro trains.

Wendy’s milk tea shop was doing very well, but no one ever expected that the huge volume of people after 10:00 AM. Many shopping malls close at mid-night, and many people waited till 0:00 AM to celebrate that wonderful moment with their loved one. Then, the small shop is suddenly short of hands, and there are long lines of people waiting there.

It Snows in Shanghai

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 14:20:19 +0800

It snows in Shanghai! Heavy snow since abou 10:00 AM to now (3:09 PM).

3 Comments

saw the snow! it was beautiful!!!

but the sad thing was that it didn't last long..

— 萱 · 2009-12-29 14:38

Happy New Year, Jian Shuo!

— Carroll · 2010-01-01 14:03

Carroll, Happy New Year to you and Jim!

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2010-01-01 22:04

Freezing Winter for Internet in China

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:09:26 +0800

My friends Lv Xinxin comes from Beijing today and we had a nice lunch with other friends from websites. We chatted a lot about the status of many of our friends - most of them run websites.

Xinxin brought me back to the year of 2005. I said so, because 2005 is the Spring for Internet in China. The global Internet recovered from the Internet bubble crisis in 2003 to 2004, and in China, the real beginning was 2005. Many websites emerged at that time, and we had interesting gathering so frequently at that time. I got to know Xinxin at that time, and I got to know many of my current friends in the Internet space in that year.

Merry Christmas 2009

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 22:49:52 +0800

Merry Christmas!

There is not too much Christmas feeling this year. Does anyone feel the same? I just feel this Christmas in Shanghai is a pretty plain and simple holiday, unlike other Christmas.

Anyway, for all my friends who celebrate Christmas, Merry Christmas, especially to my friends outside Shanghai (hope you have better atmosphere there).

7 Comments

Merry Christmas to you from America, where in the Washington, D.C. area we still have two feet of snow from last weekend on the ground...

Happy 2010 to you and your family.

Larry Blow

— Laurence E. Blow · 2009-12-25 00:44

Merry Everything to you and your good family, Jian Shuo. We had a call from our older son last night saying that he might be able to come home for Christmas this year after all, so at the moment, I'm a very excited and happy Mom :-)

Please give Yifan a gentle little hug for me, OK? He may not know who I am (yet) but hopefully he will be able to feel the love.

Big hugs and much love to you and Wendy too!

— Carroll · 2009-12-25 02:03

Merry Christmas!

— GN · 2009-12-25 11:14

It's been a lovely Christmas in Hong Kong.

Maybe the lights on the highrises are not as spectacular, either because of cost-cutting or environmental awareness. It is unseasonably warm. And the shopping / dining is not quite as frantic, because of economic worries.

But there's been good Christmas spirit this year.

Yesterday, I had Christmas Eve lunch with my mom, dad, brother and sister-in-law. We didn't spent alot on gifts (not as much as in past years) but it was fun opening everything wrapped up beautifully in ribbons and bows. It was nice being together.

Last night, my brother and his wife went to Catholic Mass.

Meanwhile, I waited for my husband to come home, and we had a Champagne toast.

Today, unfortunately, I'm working. But my husband (who works as a chef) prepared a great Christmas dinner for the staff here.

When I get home tonight, we'll open our Christmas stockings. (OK, we couldn't hang them by the fireplace or tree, since we don't have either in our Hong Kong flat -- but it's the thought that counts!)

Tomorrow, Boxing Day, we're having a HUGE family reunion with 26 people in my ancestral village.

I'm not very religious personally, but many of my family are Christians. Either way, it's a big holiday for many people in Hong Kong.

I wish you and your family the best.

— Joyce Lau · 2009-12-25 14:33

Hi, we have a party @ 12.27 afternoon near Dongchang road line 2, contact me if you're interested :) Merry Christmas!

— Isaac · 2009-12-25 15:51

I took some photoes about Christmas trees from Shanghai, some are from office park , some are from shop. http://www.flickr.com/photos/16779604@N03/sets/72157622942752437/

More and more expats live at shanghai now, that is why Christmas become so popular now.

— Forrest · 2009-12-26 00:31

Merry Xmas! Feliz navidad! Shengdanjiekuaile! from mexico city!

— Claudia Frias · 2009-12-26 10:16

Lego 3001 (Brick 2 x 4)

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 10:14:16 +0800

We started technical days with a great name - Lego Day. Yes. The Lego means the Denmark toy manufacture Lego.

We bought Lego 66284 Build and Play Value Pack that consists of 5573and 5576.

Among all the bricks, obviously, LEGO 3001 is the star. A simple brick that is manufactured the most, and most easily found in every corner of this world. It is the spirit of create something and make it really good, instead of creating many different functions but none of them is as classic as Lego 3001 (I am talking about website design and almost all business).

Vulnerable Line 1 and Shanghai

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:30:35 +0800

The big news today is the crash of two metro carts at Shanghai Railway Station of Metro Line #1. The accident around 7:00 AM stopped that segment of Metro Line #1. Massive people were impacted. My observation:

one of my colleague got to work at 11:40 - after trying very hard to find a way to get here.
The metro has problem and all the ground transportation becomes a mess.

Where is PHPMapReduce?

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:58:10 +0800

Anton Vedeshin hosted a project named PHPMapReduce on SourceForge, but without any update yet. The name is so attractive that many people, like me, want it. MapReduce is such a good architect that can solve many interesting problems, but Hadoop is, like many Java application, too big. We need something like that in PHP world.

If PHPMapReduce still does not come, I may want to write a MapReduce framework myself and share it with the open source community.

Preview of Shanghai Expo Site (Photos)

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:34:50 +0800

On December 19, 2009, Wendy and I visited the Shanghai Expo Site. The last time I visited was back to May 11, 2009 (Second Impression of Shanghai Expo Site). This is the third impression of the site.

To be short, my impression is, the Expo is getting real. When you see the pavilions standing there, and people busy working on it, you know the expo is really not far away, although you always can easily understand conceptually, that it is just 130 days away.

Great Progress of China Pavilion

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:12:14 +0800

The Shanghai Expo is 130 days to come. Thanks to the invitation of Peter and Lina from Australian Pavilion, I had the chance to visit the Expo site way ahead of its opening.

Here is the photo I took at the foot of the China Pavilion of Shanghai Expo 2010.

Image by Jian Shuo Wang

Above is the fresh red facade of the China Pavilion - the Oriental Crown. At the right lower corner is the surrounding buildings to the main architect.

Preview Australian Pavilion in Shanghai Expo

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 22:14:55 +0800

Visited Australian Pavilion of Shanghai Expo 2010 this morning with Wendy. I’d like to thank Peter, Lina and Sarah for the invitation and great accompany. As a blogger, I am always excited to be part of the development of this city, and share my first hand information with my readers worldwide. The Australian Pavilion project team obviously has been very nice to me to allow me to take a closer look at what is going on inside that highly secure guarded and mysterious Expo site. You will see my photos of the whole tour of many other pavilions (photo from outside) here: Preview of Shanghai Expo Site (Photos). Now, let me show you one of my favorite pavilions on the site: the Australian Pavilion.

Thanks Wikepedia

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:17:43 +0800

I read Jimmy Walls’ letter on [donations to Wikipedia](

http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Appeal/en). A very good one.

I donated $35 to the Wikimedia Foundation to show my little help to them keep the good work, and sharing information. I am a proud supporter of Wikepedia, and hope you can do it too. You can donate with Paypal.

3 Comments

Thank you, Jianshuo, for this nice reminder.

I probably use Wikipedia every day, and I have never given then a cent. Now that you mention it, it's pretty selfish of me. I will send them a small Christmas gift.

I hope you have a nice holiday season with your family.

— Joyce Lau · 2009-12-19 00:48

I donated $25 a year back. I definitely think we should donate as you rightly pointed out. We use it so much.

Happy holidays to you and your family.

— Sekhar · 2009-12-19 12:13

I wiki everyday, it makes me look wiser. However I was fired by Microsoft 2 weeks ago and is running in saving mode... Figured I'm gonna donate when I get my next job.

— Felix Wang · 2009-12-19 20:53

No Domains for Individuals in China

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:58:24 +0800

In the recent years, regulations come out like jokes. Everyday there are some national level regulations coming out to shock everyone - just like the jokes does, but not that fun.

From 9:00 December 14, 2009, no individuals in China can register a domain name in China. The interesting thing is, it is just a regulation for the Chinese domain registars. Anyone can easily register a domain via Internet from foreign providers like GoDaddy.com.

I am not Computer Science Major

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 23:18:55 +0800

When I have to write algorithms related code, I feel the limitation of my knowledge. From time to time, I need to turn to Wendy for help. She does not like to code as I do, but she completed 6 years of under-graduate and graduate study in Computer Science from Jiaotong University. I didn’t. My major was Automation, not pure computer science.

I have been puzzled by this for three days. Is there any chance that my readers can help me to solve this puzzle?

Yifan and Questions

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:23:50 +0800

In his current age, Yifan loves to ask questions all the time. The typical types of the questions are: “What” and “Why”.

Sample questions:

What is this?

What is on this?

Why this stone is red?

Why this brick is missing?

Why there is no gas hole on train?

Why are you standing here?

Why look at me?

Why….

Obviously, he is trying very hard to form an inner mapping of the external world in his brain. He is exploring curiously, and learning happily.

Yifan and Mobile Phone

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:14:09 +0800

Yifan found mobile phone easier to use than pen, computer, and chopsticks.

His morning routine is to grab my mobile phone and started to input numbers. His favorite is 8. He enters 16 eights (the length limit) and asks me to help him clean it up. Later, when he learned to use the clear key to clean the numbers, he loves the mobile phone better.

His mom recorded a nice folk song Jasmine by herself on her mobile phone. At night, Yifan loves to have the mobile phone, and play the song of his mom. Wendy and I cannot keep from laughing when we hear him play the song again - a big relief to Wendy. Thanks for the new technology. I asked Wendy: “Do you think he can fall asleep with the mobile phone”. Wendy said “no.” She is right. After Yifan is tired of the high-tech equipment, he still reaches out to the low-tech mom to sing for him, so he can feel safely fall asleep.

Early Wake Up

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 07:59:05 +0800

Following up yesterday’s post about common sense “Go to bed early, and wake up early make you a health man”, I went to bed at 10:00 AM and wake up at 7:00 AM. Spent about an hour to write some sample code (so good to use less lines of code to archive more). Then I did some planning work for the next few weeks. Yes. It seems right and nice to have the future life in control.

I Would Have Written Less if I Had More Time

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:34:17 +0800

Paul told me that Mark Twain once said “I would have written less if I had more time”. What a great idea - echos what I believed in the programming space: Less is More in Coding.

Common principles are very common looking. Like the old saying to tell people to “Be good”! Commonly looking, and you don’t even noticed that people said that. The good idea is to follow the common principle, since it is more likely to reflect the truth.

Weekly Routine as Big Stone

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:08:25 +0800

One concept of 7 habits in Habit 3: Put First Things First is to put the big stones in life into our daily life first, before thinking about other smaller stuff. What I learned from Leo of Zen Habits was, to give every day of the week a name, and you focus on that on that day. Leo has 7 days in a week (I do too), and he assigned names like day of health, the day of productivity to each day, and he writes a blog on that topic on that day. This is actually a powerful idea. If you follow it, after few months, you will find yourself writing pretty balanced topics across all the categories, not just few of them.

Metro Line #7 Opens (with Pictures)

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 22:22:29 +0800

Metro Line #7 finally opens yesterday on December 5, 2009, at 9:00 AM. I took this afternoon taking the Metro Line #7 and took some photos.

Overview of the Metro Line #7

Shanghai Metro Line #7 is an orange line - the color of this line. It goes from Meilanhu on the northwest of the city to Huamu Road on the southeast. The completed line #7 will have 33 stations, but currently, only the stations between (including) Shanghai University and Huamu Road are open.

Less is More in Coding

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 17:00:45 +0800

There is a saying within eBay that the lines of codes of eBay is more than Windows and Linux combined. Well… It is not a compliment from where I stand. The less the code is, the more powerful it can be.

With OOP (Object Oriented Programing), and the right level of abstraction, code can be very simple, very concise, easy to read, but remain more flexible and powerful. I spent the last few weeks rewriting some code with one principle in mind - just to push the limit to have less code. I have successfully turned a 2000 lines code into 250 lines, and another few thousands into 250 lines. I just feel 250 lines of code is a magic number to accomplish a lot. My goal of writing PHP code is, put less than 7 lines (ideally 3 lines or 1 line) into a function, and as less function as possible, while still maintain a very high level of flexibility and functionality. I believe one day I will share some sample codes.

Retaliating and Forgiving

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 10:55:03 +0800

It seems this Sunday morning is a perfect time to do something mental work (Yifan and Grandpa are in the park, and Wendy is in university studying). I want to continue to think about the topic of retaliating and forgiving as I first mentioned in this article: The Reason to be Friendly - Part II.

I am not a big fan of hate - I am always so. It seems more natural for me to forgive, but not so easy to retaliate. (Strange person, isn’t it?) But the game theory and the X, Y game I played the other day is a time changer, and I started to see the need for retaliating (or a better way to put it, the need for balancing retaliating and forgiving).

More Thoughts on Win-Win Strategy

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 10:30:38 +0800

Continuing the discussion about Prisoner’s Dilemma, which leads to the win-win strategy of the 7 Habits course, I think further about the win-win. Basically, it is another application of the Game Theory.

In a zero-sum situation, it is pretty hard to find a win-win. The best is a compromise, since the resource is limited and fixed. The more you get is the more the other party loose.

The non-zero-sum game is more often in our life, but this fact is very easily ignore. Basically, it is about the total of someone’s gain, and others’ lose is not zero. It can easily become negative total or positive total. The best example for this is a couple: one won’t be happier if the other party is sadder.

The Reason to be Friendly - Part II

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 10:15:26 +0800

Continuing with the discussion I had yesterday, the key to the Prisoner’s Dilemma is the round of the game.

If there is only one round, it is obvious that everyone should simply choose X - since although you loose $1, it is better than being the only Y loosing $3.

If there is 10 round, except the last round, for the other 9 rounds, cooperate and having Y seems a good idea. Although by theory, there is no difference, but most people only think one step future (like this game).

The Reason to be Friendly

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 21:29:34 +0800

I just finished the training of 7 habits of highly effective people of Right Management by facilitator Jessica Cao. To be short, it is a wonderful training and better than what I expected. The most impressive game in the training was the XY gambling game. That gives me the true strength about being friendly and doing the right thing, despite of other people’s behavior. Let me share the game with you.

Yifan Loves to Sing

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:15:55 +0800

Yifan grows up quickly. Recently, he started to find a tune by himself, and created the lyric. He even gives his own first song a name: Ma Ni Ma.

That sounds like:

Ma ni ma ni ma ni ma ni la,

ma ni ma mi ma mi ma….

Whenever he is in good mood, his little song will fill every corner of the room. Amazing!

3 Comments

That's a very sweet post. I hope, someday, my husband and I will have a child to love, too.

— Joyce Lau · 2009-12-03 23:22

:-)

— Carroll · 2009-12-04 01:34

：-D，呵呵，真可爱，小逸凡 :)

— cheery · 2009-12-04 13:48

Congratulations to Eric and Apple

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 21:46:05 +0800

Eric and Apple got married today. Just got back from their wedding in Portman Riz-Carlton Hotel. Congratulations!

If you are not familiar with the name Eric, MVM may be helpful - http://home.wangjianshuo.com/mvm.

Obviously many girls and boys will be sad to see the handsome, and talented Eric, and the smart and decent Apple to both get married.

Pedestrian in Hangzhou

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:15:50 +0800

Hangzhou is a city full of innovation in public transportation.

Look at what they did to traditional pedestrian in Hangzhou!

They put an arrow on the right side of the pedestrian to indicate the side for people to walk.

What do you think?

Other innovation includes

LED display board to show how far the next bus is from the bus stop.
Dynamic car lanes that changes according to traffic

Coins or Paper Money

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:48:05 +0800

We talked about the network effects of a real society many days ago. Hopefully, that explains why Chinese don’t use voice mail, calendar, or classified. We talked about it in YLF 2009 conference, and there are people who don’t agree with what I said.

Then I have another great example. When I was in Chengdu, no one uses coins. They always use the paper money of 1 RMB. Everyone hates coins. Why? Not for a rational reason. It is just because when you have a 1 RMB coin, you cannot spend it. People won’t accept it, and they ask you to change it to 1 RMB paper money. Just because you cannot spend it, you don’t accept it, and because you don’t accept it, others cannot spend it. The stronger the current feedback loop is, the harder it is to break.

Did you Observe the Decline of Blogging?

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:57:45 +0800

In November, I just feel some changes in the blogsphere. It seems to me that blogging activities are getting declining in the past month. I check my Google Reader few times a day in Oct, and every time I can get many updates, but recently, I check it daily and still didn’t get too much update. I didn’t change the feed source. It turned out that people blogged less. Did you observe the same decline in blogging?

November Turbulance

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:42:11 +0800

November 2009 is the month with most turbulance in blogging in the recent year. The frequent travel to Xiamen, to Chengdu made regular blogging harder than ever, and recenty, I was highly devoted in defactoring some of the code of the production environment. I found out code is really what my passion is at. I love to code any way, especially the design pattern, and defactoring. Hope I will have time to sit down at my computer to get videos, pictures of my trip out of my camera, and camcorder, and upload some of them to this blog. Please be patient for another few days.

Back from OOB in Chengdu

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:35:39 +0800

Sorry that I didn’t post it earlier. I was out of blogging to Chengdu with the team in the last few days, and just got back to Shanghai. The continuous trip made blog posting hard, especially in a relaxed, and fun city like Chengdu. We had great fun, and return to hotel after 2:00 AM. I will make up some post to tell you more about Chengdu.

2 Comments

Hello,

Lucky man, Chengdu is definitively my favorite city in China!

monsieurma

— monsieurma · 2009-11-16 19:43

For those who don't have a chance to visit Chengdu, explore it here:

http://www.gochengdoo.com/en/gallery/

— Adam · 2009-11-17 10:24

Xiamen Photo

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:32:06 +0800

Let me put some photo I took during my Xiamen stay here. I do not remember how many times I went to Xiamen - this is the second time I visit Xiamen this year.

2009 - Young Leaders’ Forum 2009

2009 - Baixing company outing

2008 - 3rd China Webmasters’ Conference

2006 - 2nd China Webmaster’s Conference

200x - Microsoft Channel Meeting

200x - Microsoft Company Outing

Gulangyu:

Xiamen island:

Back from Xiamen via Spring Airlines

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:13:37 +0800

I wrote about Spring Airlines three years ago. At that time, the low cost airline just celebrated its first anniversary. Now, it not only broke even, but also made decent profit, and grew very fast. I am a Spring Airlines fan. Let me tell you why.

I Always Fly China Spring

Recently, I really enjoyed flying with China Spring. Wendy, me and Yifan fly back to Zhengzhou via Spring Airlines, and fly to Xiamen and back via Spring. The 99 RMB flight ticket is very attractive. But there are more than that. As a business person, I appreciate what Spring Airlines did.

Concluding my YLF Trip in Xiamen

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:45:21 +0800

I am currently in a small hotel called Yoyou Inn (photos) on Gulangyu. We have finished the 3 day of YLF 2009 Forum in Xiamen, and the three day extension trip, and got back from Zhangzhou, Quanzhou to Xiamen.

In the later 3 days, I was always on the road roaming from one city to another. Not just our American counterpart, I, myself, hasn’t been to other part of Fujian other than Xiamen an Fuzhou. Although I tried my best to avoid saying “China is blah-blah-blah” on this blog, I still make the mistake to pretend I know what China is on this blog. Obviously, the part I saw with our American YLFers is not exactly the China in my mind.

Day 2 of YLF 2009

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:08:28 +0800

During the discussion at night, we started to talk about voice mail - why there is no voice mail in China. I happened to write a Chinese blog about it more than one month ago: The Network Effect of Technology Application. In that blog, I argued that Chinese don’t use voice mail because of lack of network effect. Voice mail is only useful when more people (at least more than half) will actually check their voice mail if you do leave one, or people will often check their voice mail only when you get at least one voice mail once every year! (I setup an answer machine with Wendy’s and my greeting at home, only to receive one valid voice mail during the first half year before I gave it up). The reason there is no network effect (no other people using that technology) is because voice mail emerges far ahead of mobile phone, and people in China just frog leap from no phone to mobile phone. The same situation happened to Video Recorder in VHS format - the tapes of video. Chinese directly entered VCD era - the first home video system in most Chinese families are VCD. The same for fax machine, and newspaper classified. Oh. I remember I also wrote about it in an English blog: Why People don’t Use Voice Mail in China and later, Whole Society is the Biggest Network Effect.

Day 1 of YLF 2009

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:20:13 +0800

Day 1 of YLF 2009. Just finished the morning sessions, and the afternoon will happen in Gulang Yu (the tomorrow’s afternoon session will be in Nan Putuo Temple). The morning session was wonderful - the success and failures. My notes about the topic is, it is all about dimension, and the diversity of the standard, and acceptance for the failure. Will write about it later when we are back from the afternoon and night session.

Luggage (Me) is Still in Hongqiao

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:37:47 +0800

My Spring Airlines 9C8807 to Xiamen is further delayed to 18:20. I am still at Hongqiao Airport waiting to get on board at a restaurant. Yesterday, I just read Feld’s suggestion: Pretending You are Luggage when you are traveling by air. I agree. Luggage never complain and is never in a hurry. The reception at the outdoor grassland of YLF will start soon, and this big luggage is still in Shanghai. Hmm…. Don’t complain. Drink some water, and continue to pretend I am a luggage.

Flying to Xiamen for YLF 2009

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:22:47 +0800

I am flying to Xiamen tomorrow to attend the YLF 2009 (Young Leader’s Forum). Very excited and cannot wait to see the great people there.

I will be in Xiamen from November 4 to November 11 with the main session from November 5 to November 7, and the extension trip from November 8 to November 10.

1 Comments

Looking forward to your update on YLF 2009. Eager to know whom the "great people" you are to meet there, and what you are to discuss on.

I had an interesting dream last night: I was sitting in the last row on a bus, and the guy sitting beside me was - Kaifu Lee - one of a few persons I admire so much! Is he attending this forum too? Are you seeing him there?

I know he is your good friend. It's really odd for me that you didn't mention him in your blog in the past several months, during which so many things happened to him. I had thought you would start even another series for him and his new adventure. Anyway, I know your rule. Your blog. You deside what to talk.

— Adam · 2009-11-04 22:34

Milk Tea Business

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:23:01 +0800

It has been few days after Wendy opened her milk tea shop. Let me share some of my thoughts for this small business.

My Position

I support Wendy with all my heart, but I intentionally keep a far distance from the business. There are several reasons. First, it is Wendy’s business, not mine (well, although legally speaking, I am also an owner). I know it is her dream to own a shop, and I let her do it without interference. Second, to run a shop requires a lot of time and energy, and I have my business to take care of. Sometimes, to put a firm line and won’t over commit is a must in today’s world. It is more of a joyful journey than a serious business anyway. I want to be a helper and observer, more than a participants. If I retire one day, I may be very happy to join in, and deliver milk tea to customers. That would be very interesting (more interesting than sitting in an office).

Closer Look of the Moon

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:34:15 +0800

Now we are closer with many things with the help of technology. The moon is not that far away from me with the help of my new Sony HDR-CX500E. Look at the photo below. I took it myself.

8 Comments

Your new toy is not bad. Can see the Crater Baily clearly from the photos - the largest one near south pole.

I still remember the excitement when I saw lunar craters for the first time through an astronomy telescope in my junior high school. I was fascinated by the magnificence and mystery of the universe during those a few years, and dreamed I could work in an observatory after growing up. Dream is dream after all. All those astronomy knowledge in my brain is fading away, and fewer & fewer stars can be seen in the city nowadays due to air pollution. Children living in the cities can hardly understand why the galaxy is also called Milky Way. I once had a chance to spend a few nights on a peak of Tianzhu Mountain in Anhui (altitude about 1500m). I'll never forget that splendid scene, a twinkling "river" running across the dark black sky. At first I thought it was a cloud, until later I realized it consisted of unnumbered dim stars. Do bring your camera and take some starry night photos if you are to stay in mountains one day.

— Adam · 2009-10-31 00:08

Ooooo. That's pretty amazing.

— Molly · 2009-10-31 01:34

Wow. I can never do that with my camera!

— Yee Shian · 2009-11-04 01:13

JSW: great pics! does your Cam come with an attached telescope?

— JT · 2009-11-04 11:42

Hi! Jianshuo, I've got the same question with JT. The moon in your photo is like that one I observe through the telescope. It's not like the moon we see with the naked eye. By the way, how are you in Xiamen?

— Michelle · 2009-11-04 14:38

I think that's just the "zoom in" function of the cam.

Usually you need to use a tripod when you shoot a dim object while zooming in. Otherwise you can't hold the cam steadily and the photo would be vague, coz the zoomer also magnifies vibration of your hands. Another solution is to adjust the ISO setting of the cam to a very high value, so you will only need a very short exposure time, during which little vibration could happen. But not every cheap cam can do this. I don't know if Jianshuo had used any of these tricks. If not, he may have the potential to become a good sniper.

I do have a question too: why the 2nd photo is yellowish. Did Jianshuo change the "white balance" setting?

— adam · 2009-11-04 18:54

The answer is simple - it is just the zoom in feature with no add-on. The camera comes with 12X optical zooming, and 150X digital zooming.

What impressed me a lot was the 3D Stabilizer. Even with 150X digital zooming, the image is still very stable. You can even use the camera to shoot the moon on the moving car without too much problem.

The stabilizer is just like the lens floating in oil. You shave it heavily but it makes the move very soft and smooth.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2009-11-04 23:16

To answer the other question about the yellowish moon - it is because I changed the exposure (not white balance) to show more details of the Moon.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2009-11-04 23:17

Wendy Opened a Milk Tea Shop

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:12:42 +0800

I know this may be very surprising news for most of my friend, but it is not a joke. Wendy (if you don’t know her yet, she is my sweet wife) opened a Ding Tea (a Taiwan brand) milk tea shop at People’s Square in Shanghai. The grand opening is today (well, not an extremely grand opening, but a warm, crowded, and nice opening).

The Location

Here is the location of the shop:

My Identity in Community

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:30:19 +0800

I am participating in the Baixing community heavily, but not using my own identity - the CEO of the company. I am trying to build the community feeling from a normal community member. I am struggling in my thoughts whether I should use an ID like jianshuo in community, and let people know that I am the person (CEO) of the site, and the person to contact if they find anything wrong.

Failed to Bid for Shanghai Plate

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:59:20 +0800

My regular readers (I mean from 5 years to 6 years ago) know my struggle to get a Shanghai car plate.

A Car Plate = 27200 RMB in Sept 2009 September 19, 2009
Shanghai Car Plate is NOT Investment January 20, 2008
Seat-Belt? Oh. No. Thanks! October 29, 2007
Congrats Victor for Getting Car Plate - at 46500 August 19, 2007
Shanghai Car Plates IS Investment August 6, 2007
Controversy Car Plates July 24, 2007

Finally, I decided to join the tens of thousands of people to bid for a Shanghai plate. Unlike many others though, we are not very eager to get one. Our attitude is just to join the bidding, and if the price is OK, we get it. If now, we give it up.

I am Back from Eye Vacation

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:23:09 +0800

I did keep my promise not to use computer during the last two days. My eyes are much better today since my OOB (Out of Blogging) for Eye Vacation. Need some time to catch up the conversation here. Give me some time. :-)

OOB for Three Days

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 01:26:16 +0800

I feel I over used my eyes in the previemts days.

Need to give my eyes some rest.

I promised Wendy and myself not to touch my computer this weekend.

3 Comments

Wish I could do the same. Unfortunately, I can't do my job without computers. Yes, there also has to be two of them. Nowadays, I wouldn't know how to live without computers. Enjoy your computer-free days.

— Molly · 2009-10-24 01:54

Well, this reminds me of a interesting group in douban. It is "你为什么不关掉电脑去做爱..."，but when you click in，it actually is "你为什么不关掉电脑去做爱做的事". (The Group name is too long to be completely displayed) There are a lot of people doing the same thing: Swearing they wouldn't touch the computer for ...

And when I was in college, most of us sit in front of computer in spare time. It was really boring, but we didn't know better way to kill the time. But when sometimes the Electricity was cut off for regular inspect, things were different: We played cards, sitted around chatting, and a buddy next-door played guitar in the dark...

the good old days.

— Sonic · 2009-10-26 10:58

Try the Bates Method for your eyes.

— Cheng · 2009-10-27 01:37

Phone Works Better than Email

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 23:28:10 +0800

How silly it is. I finally decided to recover my oldest ebay account with ID jianshuo.

That was an account created 7 years ago, and suspended 5 years ago. I submitted the online request. As expected, nothing happened - no reply - after few weeks.

Then I gave them a call: +1866-643-2959. It worked very well. They promised to send the activation email to my new email address.

Phone works better than email, always for large companies.

French Concession and Shanghai's History

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:51:12 +0800

Just when I opened a new entry before me and wondered what to write to day, Stephen left a comment, which can be a very good topic to start a discussion.

I was reading the website of the restaurant where you celebrated your birthday, to my surprise the restaurant features “French Concession” as a selling point. Since the Shanghai public concession has been abolished since last government, is people today still fond of the past history or they prefer the infrastructures left by the foreigners before the war?

Happy Birthday to Me

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:20:04 +0800

I am turning 33 today. Another birthday and a sunny Sunday.

Had a nice dinner at Lapis Thai.

17 Comments

HaPpy BiRtHdAy to U!

— Michelle · 2009-10-18 22:13

Happy Birthday. It is the same day as my partner's, Robin, 罗彬. He will be so happy to know he shares his birthday with you, because I pass on lots of your blog posts about Shanghai. We are eating birthday cake for breakfast and watching a Chinese

movie and imagining that we are in China. It is raining outside, but our imaginary Chinese world is much sunnier.

— zjemi · 2009-10-18 23:27

Every year I think for sure I will send you a "Happy Birthday" message before you post about it...and every year (so far) I have missed doing that. Shame on me!

I hope you have a wonderful day, feel well-celebrated, and are able to enjoy many many more such celebrations in the years to come!

— Carroll · 2009-10-19 02:32

Happy Birthday!

— lang · 2009-10-19 08:04

Happy birthday.

Though one day later :)

— cube316 · 2009-10-19 11:57

Live long and prosper.

— wonton · 2009-10-19 12:24

Happy birthday:)

— Ray · 2009-10-19 14:27

Happy birthday! Though a little late. ^^

— Sam · 2009-10-19 18:53

Happy birthday to you!

— Mike · 2009-10-19 22:24

ha! happy birthday jianshuo! but i'm reading it a day late.

— shan · 2009-10-20 06:15

:) 生日快乐，建硕，:)

— cheery · 2009-10-20 19:42

Thanks everyone!

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2009-10-20 22:49

I was reading the website of the restaurant where you celebrated your birthday, to my surprise the restaurant features "French Concession" as a selling point. Since the Shanghai public concession has been abolished since last government, is people today still fond of the past history or they prefer the infrastructures left by the foreigners before the war?

— stephen · 2009-10-20 23:19

Happy birthday

— LIDETING · 2009-10-21 19:00

Happy Birthday to you!!!!!!

— Jenny · 2009-10-22 06:13

Jian Shuo,

I wish I knew it was your birthday, as I was seeing you the day before it. Anyway, happy 33rd.

Best,

David

— David Lee · 2009-10-22 09:07

Happy Birthday!

— dincer80 · 2009-10-29 15:34

Sony CX500E is Wonderful

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:42:14 +0800

After using Sony CX500E for a while, I have to say, I am extremely satisfied with this camcorder. Just like the Sony P8 camera, this Sony product is perfect, and I always feel I am lucky to choose it. There are several reasons.

The SteadyShot feature is amazing. I can take video when I am walking, even running a little bit, but the final result is just like the camera were mounted to a tripod - very clear.

Shanghai View from Shangri-la

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:52:56 +0800

Shangri-la hotel has a nice view. From its 29th floor, you see the whole Puxi area. Let me share some of the photos I took (using my newly bought Sony CX500E). Please note that there is a green glass between the camera and the outside.

Below: the newly built white building on the right hand gives Shanghai the feeling of Hong Kong - there are similar style building in Hong Kong.

Safe Travel in China for 1 Year Kid

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:35:18 +0800

Jian Shuo,

I am visiting China for 2 weeks in November/December. I noticed your posts on traveling with Children and thought I would ask questions from an expert.

We are bringing our 1 year old daughter. We are planning on going to Beijing and (guilin or Hangzhou or Shanghai or Xian or…), Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

Do you have any recommendations of how to arrange kid friendly travel from abroad and how to make sure that things are good for our baby?

Recording of Memories

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:46:55 +0800

Will life under camera be better than without one? I guess the answer is yes, just like life with blogging.

After play with Sony Handycam CX500E for two nights, I said this to Wendy: “You know when we should have bought this camera? 1996!” That was the year when we just met.

Look at this sweet family!

P.S. I am trying to recover my account on eBay - that was registered on Nov-13-01 in China - a 8 year account with eBay. It was suspended…. Hmmm….

Finally Bought Sony CX500E

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:28:35 +0800

After posting my intention to buy a camcorder, Wendy and I finally bought one at “Buy Now” computer market at 7550 RMB. The list price at BestBuy is 8499 RMB - Jia doubted why people want to buy at BestBuy. I believe many people will do it. Wendy and I almost bought it, and later though, if a taxi drive to another place can save you 1000 RMB, who not bother?

China Telecom is ADSL Spammer

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 14:57:49 +0800

Look at this screen:

This is the screen users using Shanghai China Telecom ADSL see when they dial up and first visit a website. The ad is so dominate and changes the way the original page is displayed. It appear for few seconds and then disappear.

In the wild west Internet, what ever behavior is possible, and allowed.

22 Comments

This IS pretty wild. There are companies in US do this if you only reg. your domain with them and want to us their hosting for free. I don't think any paid plans nor internet providers are allowed to do this...

How does it work in China? China Telecom is a internet provider... right? Is there such a thing as hosting company... or you have to use China Telecom as hosting company? Also, I never quite understand why is that the internet providers (China Telecom and others) don't offer email accounts when you sign up with their service. Most people I know use mail services like yahoo, hotmail, vip.163 etc.? Can you get email addresses with your own url... xxxx@wangjianshuo.com?

— GN · 2009-10-11 17:15

I hate this. I hate it. The problem is that if you want broadband in Shanghai, this is kind of what there is. Does anyone have any experience with cable internet?

— ddjiii · 2009-10-11 18:28

Firefox pluging against it?

— ecodelta · 2009-10-11 20:40

i have experienced this a couple of times before, but it always disappear, so it's ok~

— yee shian · 2009-10-11 21:13

To clarify how this works, China Telecom is injecting ads into pages when you try to access them (via an iframe). This can happen on any site, seemingly at random: so there's nothing the website can do, and it happens regardless of the browser being used. Pretty nasty. Normally, refreshing the page gets rid of it.

— Matt · 2009-10-11 21:33

@ecodelta, there is nothing we can do on the firefox side. China Telecom, as ISP, can do anything they want. Many ISP do illegal stuff, but since they are backed by the government, there is no way to sue them.

For example, they can give you web page of Baidu when you type in Google, or change whatever content of a web site on the fly, or more commonly, block sites so you cannot access it.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2009-10-12 00:23

This defect caused by domain hijacking from China Telcomm, you can get issue analysing and solustions after searching the key words "电信 DNS 劫持".

http://www.williamlong.info/archives/604.html

http://www.williamlong.info/archives/605.html

附:投递者的解决问题步骤:

1.电话10000,讲解有广告,明确告诉客服,我是投诉"增值业务部门"增加的强行广告;特别要强调是投诉增值业务部门,特别告诉他们不要转到ADSL运营部门去了.

2.投诉电信PUSH业务.这个业务叫PUSH 强推广告业务,电信增值业务部门正在招标和测试.所以特别要强调,请把我的adsl帐号用测试名单中去掉.特别强调从push 广告业务测试中去掉自己.

3.多次要求投诉增值业务部门,告知该强行广告是强插到他人网站了.如果客服搪塞说是网站广告,请严厉的告诉电信客服,我自己的网站也被强行插入广告了!

4.多打几次,我前后打了7次之多,成功排除了我家和公司的强插广告.

5.每次注意记下客服人员编号.

6.该PUSH业务本身具有过滤用户功能,且记录了adsl用户的用户名等信息的,可以过滤不对某用户插入广告.我们下一步目标恐怕要是抵制不法厂商推出这种解决方案给电信单位.

— whocare · 2009-10-12 01:15

What about using your favorite anti-GFW proxy/vpn/tunnrel strategy. It may also work against such tricks from China Telecom.

Such a system can be even installed within Chinese internet, within the boundaries of the GFW,

Comply with Chinese....Ahem.... regulations, maybe even good speed, but tunnel through Telecom's dirty tricks.

Would such strategy work?

— ecodelta · 2009-10-12 03:09

If it works, maybe an business oriented IT-man can implement it as pay service inside China.

"Enjoy our legal, pure, unadulterated, honest and crystal clear Internet access. Available for low a monthly fee. Test free for 15 days"

(Access Restrictions to "Unharmonious" websites still apply. Comply with state regulations ;-)

I have Even service name proposals

"Blue Skies Internet access"

"Clear River Internet access"

"The green internet access"

"Harmonious surfing"

etc

:-)

— ecodelta · 2009-10-12 03:55

It's not a news.

China Telecom did this several years before, in ShenZhen.

You can find some blogs about it, for example:

http://www.williamlong.info/archives/335.html

So, we all knows that China Telecom is a gangster, for many years.

— skymountain · 2009-10-12 10:13

Hate this too, very intrusive ads are everywhere on most Chinese commercial websites/software, thats why I refuse to use "Storm" media player (although apparently it plays every media filetype that exists) or YouTube wannabe sites like Youku (glad YouTube isn't blocked where I am).

— one · 2009-10-12 17:56

no ads on dongfangyouxian - tv cabel internet :D internet speed is slow tho its like when you play cs and connect shanghai server ping is around 60 or so

— Max · 2009-10-13 23:13

@ecodelta:

"What about using your favorite anti-GFW proxy/vpn/tunnrel strategy. It may also work against such tricks from China Telecom. ... If it works, maybe an business oriented IT-man can implement it as pay service inside China."

Someone is already doing this business.

See this: http://www.expressvpn.com

US$12.95 per month - not cheap! They should appreciate GFW if they can really earn big money on this.

— Adam · 2009-10-15 15:11

@Adam

I was thinking of a service inside China. Within the boundaries of the GFW. Not really for censorship circumventing, but to get rid of local internet providers dirty tricks.

Some of the advantages would be to comply still with CH internet 'regulations' (from the local 'law' point of view it should be safe) greater speed and probably cheaper price.

Still heavy weights like China telecom & others, through the pull they have with gov officials, could make life not easy for such a provider, but it may introduce a competitive element in the market that could at least help to reduce the annoyance of their dirty tricks.

On the other hand. I think that one of the obstacles to bring down internet censorship in China , besides socio-political reasons, is what to do with all the infrastructure, departments and people working for the GFW, specially in this time of crisis.

Something that could help is to offer it internationally as a service. Internet access for schools/children, companies (some IP issues here) and public organizations that want to prevent access to problematic webpages to its users/workers: download sites, p&o&r&n material, phishing web sites and prevent intrusions software.

The GFW department surely have the infrastructure, experience and personnel....

The GFW(tm) as cloud service ;-)

Of course, one of the business areas would also be to offer censorship services to other authoritarian (and maybe not so authoritarian...watch late UK and France regulations) regimes across the world.

There is already a proxy service that provides the full GFW experience from outside China. If anyone just want to live the experience of surfing through an 'Harmonized' internet, just go there. :-)

— ecodelta · 2009-10-15 16:12

I don't know how feasible this is, but it'd be interesting if "satellite broadband" technology (similar to satellite phones) could be used to get around the censorship in China. Seems to me that minimal infrastructure is required (so the government cannot easily block things) that you'd only need a satelite dish or something like that. The difficult part is how you can market this and I think private satellite dishes are still illegal?

— one · 2009-10-15 18:17

@ ecodelta

There are already some other ISP's in China, such as Netcom, Chinatietong, and some cable tv. I'm not optimistic about their future, as China Telecom is such a heavy weight. I think "Free from dirty tricks" can't be an attractive selling point for those competitors. Dirty tricks like spammer - most Telecom consumers would just tolerate it rather than bothering to transfer to another ISP (I heard those competitors usually perform poorer than Telecom on technology aspect.) Dirty tricks like blocking unharmonious webpages - none competitor can survive this if only it's in China. I guess low price could be their only strategy.

You are so kind-hearted, worrying about future of GFW. Get reassured. GFW belongs to the public security department. We have millions of laid off workers, but none laid off policeman. Infrastructure? That's just a few coins comparing with huge amount the officials have consumed on their feasts & travels. And most importantly, I don't see any possibility to abort the GFW in foreseeable future. On the contrary, I think they are investing more men & money on this project, to cope with netizens which is growing on not only quantity, but also proxy skills.

Something off the topic, but I think interesting:

I recalled a news I read many years ago, saying someone is developing a new technology, which provides extremely broad band internet service through public electricity facilities. That means people can plug their computer wire onto the electricity receptacle then start surfing. No need for special internet infrastructure. What a great invention! I was just starting to use the dial-up narrowband service at that time, and wish this technology get popularized asap. But it's like a pebble thrown into the sea. Now I realized it's such a natural outcome. How can we expect the Telecom (or counterparts of other countries) to send some engineers to help developing that new project? We should just pray they don't send an assassinator. And maybe there is already a technology that can turn seawater into petroleum, but it's lying in a safe in the headquarters of ChinaPetro or OPEC.

— Adam · 2009-10-15 18:43

@one, I am not optimistic about "satellite broadband". Even things like prostitution - something that not any other equipment is needed (no ADSL, no receiver), just a man (with money), and a woman (with body). If the government wants, they can crack it down.

The issues is not the technology requirements, it is legal framework. The current system already effectively ban people to say the two number ending with 4 and starting with 6, why they cannot ban anything physical?

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2009-10-15 18:47

@ one

satellite broadband - Interesting idea! But:

1. Price must be as high as satellite flies.

2. My sister used to have a satellite dish (for TV), but was confiscated later. It's illegal.

3. Watch out for assassinator. (See my above post)

— Adam · 2009-10-15 18:51

Obviously the government just want to monopolise everything as far as possible. They put anti-competition laws in place a few years ago and use them as circumstances suit (to protect state monopolies and the so-called "ethnic brands"), just look at how they blocked Coca Cola from buying Huiyuan Juice few months ago.

It'd be naive to believe these laws were introduced to ensure fair competition as I can't see any attempt to break state-monopolies like those huge oil companies and banks that are the biggest on earth thanks to the state-subsidised monopolising power. Prices just go out of control and services remain bad.

A friend of mine just came and visit me in London and she bought like 10 boxes of milk powder, which cost about ~70RMB each (900g), for her aunt's new baby in China. She was telling me that milk powder like that cost like ~160RMB each (and it's a Chinese brand, not anything imported) in her hometown. I think it'd be crazy if what she told me is true, the average income in her hometown might be a tenth of that in London but basic neccessities like baby milk powder costs twice as much as in London !

So in China, the rich gets richer and the poor will just burn in hell forever. Everyone just use every possible means to get rich and become previleged and make sure themselves are not the ones who burn in hell.

Let's just hope the right technology will be available soon enough so that people can get out of all this advertising, censoring bullshit and start relying on offshore satellite broadband providers with just a small receiver that you can easily hide at home.

— one · 2009-10-15 20:19

@adam

"You are so kind-hearted, worrying about future of GFW."

Yes, I am kind hearted ;-)

"We have millions of laid off workers, but none laid off policeman"

Maybe that is a secure job in authoritarian states, specially in time or crisis. That is something that job seekers and new graduates should consider when approaching the job market in CH.

" I don't see any possibility to abort the GFW in foreseeable future."

So it seems to be. China is even becoming more and more isolated from the rest of the world. Twitter out, Facebook out, YouTube out, to name a few; and others get ON/OFF restrictions

Not a good thing. They may hope the CH market if big enough so no need of external competitors. Not a good strategy. Isolation is dangerous, others can race technologically ahead before you notice what is really going on.

Some never learn the lessons of history.

"On the contrary, I think they are investing more men & money on this project, to cope with netizens which is growing on not only quantity, but also proxy skills."

Yes, that seems to be the case. Some glitches detected several months ago seem to be because a "software upgrade" in the system.

" which provides extremely broad band internet service through public electricity facilities."

I also followed that development. The problem is that the layout and devices along the electric network is far from standard, some of the installed equipment along the line may interfere with the signal.

Although possible from a physics point of view it would require a significant investment to iron out all problems

"can turn seawater into petroleum,"

You can get Hydrogen from water. You get energy and possible source to manufacture hydrocarbons, but only feasible when nuclear fusion reactors become a reality.

Let see what the guys at ITER (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITER) can achieve this time ;-)

— ecodelta · 2009-10-16 02:24

@ one

I just came across this:

http://www.ts2.pl/en/Internet-in-Iraq-and-Afghanistan

To my surprise, there really is "satellite broadband". Although not in China, this technology has already come into commercial operation!

Seems I'd better update my ken more frequently. New techs develop faster than I expected.

— Adam · 2009-10-19 18:39

i am really glad I've found this information. Nowadays bloggers publish just about gossips and net and this is really annoying. A good blog with interesting content, that is what I need. Thank you for keeping this web-site, I will be visiting it. visit this site

— internet service provider · 2012-05-16 15:51

Is there Monthly Ticket for Expo?

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 10:34:18 +0800

I want to get a monthly ticket for Expo so I can visit the site any time I want, but only to find out they don’t have such ticket type.

They offers the following types:

Daily Pass

3 Day Pass

7 Day Pass

Night Pass - good after 17:00 everyday, sold on site (90RMB)

It seems the 7 day pass is attractive, but 3 day and 7 day pass are not available for sale now. The price for 7 days will be 900 RMB, and 3 days be 400 RMB. Available to public from Jan 1, 2010.

Some Social News at Q4, 2009

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 23:53:36 +0800

Every 10th of the first month of the quarter is the date for me to wrap up the last quarter, and really start this quarter.

Today is a Saturday, and it is weird to just work for two days and there is a weekend tomorrow. Expecting to meet old friends tomorrow.

At bed room, we changed the direction of bed by 90 degree. Yifan was so naughty to fall from the bed to the ground - wasn’t hurt, and it is not a big deal, but we were scared again, and put the longer edge of the bed along with the wall.

100 Century Ave on Top of SWFC

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:34:24 +0800

This is the photo of the 100 Century Ave on the 91th floor of Shanghai World Financial Center. I wrote about it few days ago. Here are photos.

It is a very good place to look at the top of Jinmao Tower.

A little bit northwards. I was surprised that I can actually see the sea, and the Chong Ming Island from the tower.

This is inside the cafe - tall roof, but pretty crowded - limited seats are available.

Nice Weather this Holiday

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:31:43 +0800

During the national holiday of 2009, I took some photos when we drove along the Nanpu Bridge, and along the Bund.

I had never seen so many policeman on the Bund before - every street corner is like this. It seems this was the most dangerous national holiday.

As always, the buildings built by capitalists and bankers were decorated with communism and socialism banners:

The river front of the Bund area is completed closed. Visitors must be very disappointed to visit the Bund without seeing the Huangpu River.

I got my Expo 2010 Ticket

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:38:52 +0800

I got my ticket for Expo 2010 today.

Here is the photo of the face and the back.

The ticket is good between May 1 to Sept 30, and Oct 8 to Oct 24.

8 Comments

How many people are expected to come for the Expo? I'm planning to come and see. Should be interesting.

So for 160 rmb you can go unlimited times during this time period? That's not bad.

I'm also looking forward to seeing the cleaned up Shanghai. Last year the Bund was very messed up, should be very nice soon.

— Greg · 2009-10-10 13:21

@Greg, 160 rmb is for ONE day!

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2009-10-10 13:58

haha,

so early to get ticket .

— luwei · 2009-10-10 18:47

Is there an unrestricted entrance pass, do get those if they are available. From past experience one have to go back many many times to be able to enjoy the Expo experence . It really worth the money.

— loretta · 2009-10-11 02:09

i am planning to return to shanghai for the shanghai expo nxt year!

— yee shian · 2009-10-11 20:14

Hi: I ´m writing from Argentina. I read tickets for May 1 to May 3 are sold out. Is it true?

Thanks

— yuri D. · 2009-10-28 21:56

HI, I am arriving in SHanghai on APril 27th and staying until may 10th. Will I be able to get an expo ticket for that time?

— Alejandro · 2010-04-03 04:39

Sorry Alejandro, I have no idea. My GUESS is, you still can get it at door, but who knows the real situation at that time. At least, they sell night ticket from 7:00 PM. You don't need to reserve for that. That is the bottom line.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2010-04-03 19:03

Surface of Roads in Shanghai Recovers

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:26:41 +0800

For the Shanghai Expo 2010 the next year, Shanghai government has tried everything possible to make the city look better. Although most of the efforts are just once in few decades type of thing, like painting the facade of most buildings, it does have some positive impact to this city.

Most of the roads are re-constructed. The tiles on the pedestrian roads are changed, and lift the shoulder of roads - the reason my ankle was broken two months ago. Now, many roads enter into a stage to wrap up the mess with nice bitumen.

Bye Bye, GeoCities.com

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:54:16 +0800

Geocities.com is going to close two weeks from today. It is the end of an era. When you know something you were so crazy about, but not important any longer, is going to be shutdown, you know you are old enough. :-)

Imagine, what you feel after few years, if you know Google.com is going to be shutdown, or more likely Facebook.com, twitter.com, or other super popular websites today. Geocities.com was the Facebook.com in my university age.

End of Long Holiday

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:24:22 +0800

This is another long holiday - the end of the 8th free day.

Wendy asked me “What we did in the last National Holiday?” Good question. I had no idea. Checking the blog entry of Oct last year, I realized that last year was just like this year - seven days of free time with no particular activities.

This is life - normal life does not leave any mark in memory.

Kongming Lamp - Hundreds of Them

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:59:30 +0800

I heard about Kongming Lamp, but never really saw it myself. Kong Ming Lamp, or known as Kong Ming Lantern, or Sky Lantern, is made of thin paper, and heated by a candle, so it flies to the sky with the heated air.

The previous few days, when I am at my home, I saw some “airplane” with only one single red light - very different from the airplane. I thought it was helicopter. When I see more and more of it, I even thought it is a big military action.

Installing Windows XP on Dell

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 21:54:12 +0800

I am installing a new copy of Windows XP on my Dell desktop computer (with service tag: JG7PR1X).

Regarding installing Windows, it was one of my favorite many years ago. When I just joined Microsoft in 1998 as an intern (Hey! It is Microsoft!). That was years before Windows 2000 was launched, and we were still using Windows 95. One of my daily job was to install Windows. At that time, many cases need environment to reproduce the problem, and we don’t have fancy stuff like Virtual PC - we only had ghost, but most of the Windows environment don’t have a ghost file. I am very good at installing a Traditional Chinese Office onto a Thai Windows, just to reproduce some weird problems. I may have installed Windows 100+ times in one year.

Get to Top of SWFC within 100 RMB

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 19:38:53 +0800

Here, I’d e to share a secret place with budget visitors. This is really the secret locals know.

Top of World Financial Center

The Shanghai World Financial Center (SWFC) is now the highest building in Shanghai and China. Standing at 492 meters high, with 101 floors, it attracts huge number of visitors to the top observation deck.

It costs 150 RMB per person to get to the top of it. Expensive, but tourists are not as cost sensitive as in their normal lives. Look at the long lines to get to the top!

Load All Articles on Category Page

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 11:06:14 +0800

I added a little function for myself - not necessarily everyone will love it. My last discussion about Full Content on Home Page of my Blog actually turned out to a conclusion that my readers love its current design (or to better put it, hate change). So I will try not to change stuff too much.

On the category page, I used to have a list of all the articles in the category, with a link to the original article, and excerpt. It is nice for people to read that article, and the comments(!).

Foot Starts to Recover

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 09:30:55 +0800

The ankle is recovering well. Now I can start to use the right food to walk a little bit in the room. When I am out, I still need to use crutches to go further.

Hopefully, after the 8 days of holiday, I will be able to go to office without crutches.

The life of being a temp handicapped person almost ends. I feel I have get used to this time, and feel a little bit unease to be completely independent. :-)

Useless Time

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:57:50 +0800

Zhou Guoping is a wise man. Wendy bought a book of him, and I am reading a piece of it. He described the value of “useless things”, and “useless time”.

A story was about parents playing with kids on the beach. The traditional view is the parents is accompany the kids, but his view is, the kids are guiding the parents to discover happiness - the water, the sand, the grass, and the ants! Children are really good at enjoying themselves for something that is perceived by adult as useless, but it is those stuff that people often enjoy themselves best.

Imbalance of Male and Female in China

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:33:26 +0800

Look at this group of interesting data:

Year | Male % | Male # | Female #

1976 50.92% 20,491,797 10,435,196 10,056,601

1977 50.86% 17,931,155 9,119,685 8,811,470

1978 50.55% 18,831,591 9,519,345 9,312,246

1979 50.45% 18,924,822 9,548,059 9,376,763

1980 50.64% 18,393,809 9,315,481 9,078,328

1981 51.00% 19,122,938 9,752,137 9,370,801

1982 51.02% 23,100,427 11,786,950 11,316,732

1983 51.21% 20,065,048 10,275,677 9,789,371

1984 51.53% 20,313,426 10,468,201 9,845,225

1985 51.88% 20,429,326 10,598,460 9,830,866

1986 51.85% 23,190,076 12,023,710 11,166,366

Watching the Military Parade

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:28:45 +0800

9:30 Lay back in my sofa and waiting for the military parade to begin at 10:00.

9:35 CCTV is broadcasting the scene of many cities in China in real time - it takes a lot of resources to do it!

9:43: The 60 years of history is a big V shape, with the ending point much higher than the starting point. In the 60 year review, no one ever mentioned the “missing 20 years”. It seems China directly jumped from 1955 to 1977.

Parade Tomorrow

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 22:57:32 +0800

The 60 Anniversary Parade will be on show tomorrow morning.

But, I still don’t really understand the need for a military parade.

I understand that many people want a celebration, but what is the military function of the parade? Anyone wants to share some idea?

I am confused not only by the Parade tomorrow, but also the parade in France, and other countries. It seems there are just small number of countries still doing that.

60 Anniversary of ... Motherland?

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:11:29 +0800

Tomorrow is the so-called “60 anniversary of the motherland”. It was called 50 anniversary of the motherland 10 years ago, and people just let it go, but this year, with the popularity of blogs, and social media, more and more people are challenging the idea: Is the motherland of China just 60 years old?

I would support to change it to “60 anniversary of the regime”.

In 1 and half hour, the traffic control measures will be implemented in Shanghai. Several roads and buses are blocked. But we are much better than Beijing. Just had a phone call with my friend in Beijing, and they are busy moving out the building. The whole building near the east 4th ring will be shutdown shortly.

2009 National Holiday Schedule

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:04:47 +0800

In China, it has formed a tradition that every national holiday from now on will be from Oct 1 to Oct 7 - 7 days. This year, since there is a Middle Moon Festival during that period, the holiday is extended to 8 days.

So, the quick schedule is: Oct 1 to Oct 8 = holiday.

The complicated schedule is about the date before and after it. Since the holiday is just 3 days, and they tried to leverage the 4 weekends before and after the 3 holiday to make it up to 7 days, the national wide schedule is very wired:

Village Li - My Primary School

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 22:38:10 +0800

My school mate Nie Xiangfeng took some photos of the primary school we went to (we are both primary school, and middle school classmates). Very nice picture - obviously it means a lot to me since I have never been back since 15 years ago.

Below is the playground and the buildings of the primary school - how come after 20 years, it never changed a little bit?

Photograph by Nie Xiangfeng

Photo of Rush Hours

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 23:32:01 +0800

Wendy took a photo of rush hours on Huashan Road. Look at below:

Photograph by Wendy Fan

That is the bonus of living in a big city.

The Founding of a Republic

Wendy and I went to theater to see the movie The Founding of a Republic - the politically important movie. It is about the beginning of the domestic war and the end between 1945-1949, a movie to celebrate 60 anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.

Overestimation of Bad Things

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:06:16 +0800

In my favorite book “Stumble Upon Happiness”, Gilbert described an experiment seeking for the answer of this question: “Whether people are happier to lose one leg, or winning 1 million prize in lottery”. The result seems to be obvious, but objective survey of people who lose a leg in car accidents, and people who won lottery after one year show the difference is not that obvious (with people losing a leg just slightly unhappier than the lucky winners). Why is that?

Nice Discussion on Politics

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:49:28 +0800

I’d like to draw people’s attention to the follow three thread where there is great discussion happening. I admire people’s thoughts in the comments section. Please join us if you are interested.

Does Policital System in Taiwan Work? 24 comments so far.

Millionaire Country Singapore. China? 12 comments so far.

Life in Beijing Must be Interesting 33 comments so far.

Be patient to read the long thread. There are some very nice thoughts in it.

Recovered Old Files on Wangjianshuo.com

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:05:05 +0800

My frequent readers won’t be able to notice the difference between two domains: wangjianshuo.com and home.wangjianshuo.com. They are different in many ways:

History: wangjianshuo.com started in 2000, and it is far before I started the blog.

**Authoring **tools: Between 2000 and 2002, I never heard about blog, and I was a FrontPage support engineer in Microsoft in early days, so I used FrontPage - not very good in today’s web 2.0 terms, since after you authorized the pages, it is static. I didn’t change the content for a long time.

Does Policital System in Taiwan Work?

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:36:48 +0800

This is a discussion in the previous article: Millionaire Country Singapore. China?. There are many comments on Taiwan and I liked it. Take the Wonton’s comment as an example:

@JS:

Be very careful of what you wish for. I don’t want to go into details but in Taiwan, politics has degenerated into a bad soap opera. While it is true there is democracy, the system has open it’s doors to many fools and crooks. The voters have no idea who to trust. And the media is forever ready to pounce on gossip leaving the leaders no time to do what they were supposed to do. I don’t know what kind of “great hope” you saw in Taiwan’s “experiment”. Was it the wrestling kung fu brawl in their parliament ? There is no such thing as being “ahead” or “behind” in political processes. The only thing that matters is weather it works or not. Yes, while you rejoice in knowing that the crook president is behind bars, what about the 8 wasted years of screwing up the country ?

Nothing to Record Today

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:16:20 +0800

From time to time, I have days like this without a specific topic to write about. So, let me rest for one night. Time to go and play with Yifan.

3 Comments

Nothing is something. :)

— Jackie · 2009-09-21 23:52

peaceful day. Isn't that a good day :-)

— DC · 2009-09-22 00:21

Yifan rules!

— Shrek7 · 2009-09-22 06:52

Millionaire Country Singapore. China?

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 23:12:21 +0800

My reader Soon sent me an email about this topic:

Singapore is a country rises from rags to riches and become the 3rd richest country in the world. A fervent autocratic and capitalist country. Can China repeats the same feat? Can you put this in your blog and let your readers debate? (more)

What is your thought? Here is mine.

Don’t Compare China and Singapore

With all the due respect to Singapore, I just don’t want to compare China and Singapore. You can compare Singapore and Shanghai, or Hong Kong, or we can compare a system, but on the macro level, Singapore and China may not be the good subject to compare.

A Car Plate = 27200 RMB in Sept 2009

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 19:10:47 +0800

The car plate bidding this morning resulted in the lowest bidding price to be 27200 RMB for one car plate in Shanghai (news source)

I kept tracking the car plate since 2003. I wanted to buy a car plate at the very beginning, and then choose a Hangzhou plate. Now, Wendy and I started to think about a Shanghai plate. We planned to participate in the bidding this month, but just didn’t take action to pay the required 2000 RMB bidding deposit. Maybe the next month.

Group Rental Appeared in my Neighborhood

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 18:45:45 +0800

My neighbor knocked at our door this afternoon, and asked me to look at an apartment upstairs. They are transforming the apartment into a group rental suite.

What is Group Rental

It is like shared rooms - many people share the same apartment to lower the cost. But it is not exactly shared room. It is a very professional business. It transfers some good apartment into a new type of suite - separate the rooms into several independent rooms and rent it out separately. The biggest difference between group rental and shared room is, either the number of people living in the room (low end group rental), or the change of the house structure (high end group rental).

Stay at Home During Oct Holiday

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:39:08 +0800

It seems the travel plan is just a plan. The doctor told me to keep the foot out of the ground for another two months. That means, I cannot use this foot to walk for three months. There is a Chinese saying that “any injure to the bone needs 100 days to cure”. That seems, unfortunately, true.

So, I am thinking about other things to do. The most possible thing to do during the holiday is to stay on bed, and really take care of the foot. The doctor also criticized me harshly about stilling going to work during the past month. He said what I need to do most is to stay on bed, and keep the foot higher. The X-Ray of the injured place does not look good either - the leak on the bone is still clearly seen.

Life in Beijing Must be Interesting

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 19:41:58 +0800

There are always surprises for people in Beijing. The residence just survived from a troubled Olympic Games the last year, and they welcomed the 60th anniversary of this country.

I hosted a friend today, who just get here from Beijing. She was happy that she choose flight of last night, since the Beijing airport will be closed for two days, and she can only fly back on Saturday night. That was of short notice, because they didn’t really disclose when the biggest rehearsal will happen.

CMB, HSBC, CITI Swift Code

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:48:41 +0800

I love to study all kinds of “code”, since it is a perfect combination of society and computer technology. I don’t like to use addresses that is readable by human, since it is not accurate, and a computer code of whatever kind is attractive to me. I have studied the code on Shanghai taxi, Chinese car plate and PNR on all airline tickets.

SWIFT Code

SWIFT standards for Society of Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (source). It is just like an international post code for banks to identify another bank.

No Taxi at Huaihai Road

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:43:19 +0800

It is so hard to get a taxi. Wendy and I were at the Huaihai Road and Xizang Road at around 9:00 PM tonight. We waited there for about half an hour but still don’t think there is any possibility to catch a taxi. There are people on both side of the streets waving their hands to every car - no matter it is a taxi, or non-taxi, but for a long time, there is no taxi stopping at all.

Yifan, Dad and Mom

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:53:06 +0800

These are the photos Yifan and I took one week ago:

Below: Yifan loves to be with his dad - laughs all the time:

Photograph by: Wendy Fan

Below: Yifan loves to watch Qiaohu (Clever Tiger) - a DVD program produced in Shanghai. As always, he has his red car with him - all the time:

Yifan is genereally a happy boy and loves to laugh at many things, including dad waving at him, or simply see his dad jumps from one sofa to another.

Small Cartoon Policeman at Each Website

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:28:31 +0800

My reader ecodelta asked:

I have one question. What are those small cartoon police at the bottom of the website? To denounce violation of copyright by TV viewers? Strange…. I am confused ;-)

He was referring to the two small policemen icons at the bottom of http://ppstream.com/. It is not just for their website. If you browse Chinese Internet more often, you will find it everywhere. It is standard requirement by the police department for most Internet companies.

I Need Some Change

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 23:21:06 +0800

I am not happy these days. Something terrible happens in life, one after another.

I broke my ankle first, and one month later, Yifan’s head is hurt. (well, I am very cheerful when my ankle broke - a very good experience for me, but I was mad when Yifan got hurt)

My mood falls down to lowest point in the recent years.

When things that is completely out of your control happens, people are more likely to be religious. Should I turn to a temple or church to find out some cure? Hmm… Wendy has already suggested me not to think that way.

Bought a TCL Internet TV

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 22:23:58 +0800

Wendy and I have been watching small screen TV for a long time. We have been talking about it since we moved in our new home in 2001. Interestingly enough, we are never too materialism to buy big TV, big car, or big nice bags. The current 29’’ TV worked pretty good for us for a long time. These days, we just started to think about it: isn’t it nice to have a bigger TV?

How about my Foot?

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 13:06:31 +0800

It is about 4 weeks after I put cast onto my foot. I was supposed to remove it as early as last Thursday, but I was in hospital most of the day with Yifan. I posted removing the cast to the next week.

Thoughts About Life

A Good Video Camcorder

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 14:20:36 +0800

I have postponed it for a long time - I really need a good video camera to take videos for Yifan. We are not using the pretty early model of flip. What do you recommend me to buy?

My current choices are either a Sony HDR something, or a Flip UltraHD. I want to make the decision quick, and getting back with a good camera to record the precious life we have with Yifan.

7 Years of Blogging

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 23:11:10 +0800

Today marks the completion of my 7 years of blogging, and this entry is the first one in my eight years since I started blog on Sept 11, 2002. In the last 2557 days, I wrote 2498 entries on this blog, leaving just 59 days blank.

There is nothing to celebrate, since I am in the worst mood after Yifan was hurt yesterday. Obviously compared to the pain of the families of 911 victims, it is nothing, and every time I mark anniversary of my blog, I should have showed respect to the people who lost their loved ones in that disaster.

Yifan's Head was Hurt

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 23:45:04 +0800

Sept 10 is a bad day. Bad day!

Yifan fell over, and hurt his head at 8:00 this morning. We sent him to hospital and have doctor sutured the wound. My heart was completely broken. The wound was about 1cm long on Yifan’s forehead, and took 5 surgical sewing.

This is the toughest day for me in the recent years. I worry so much that there will be a scar left on Yifan’s head. We tried everything we can to avoid that. But nothing is really that helpful after it happened.

PubSubHubbub is Interesting

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:41:23 +0800

Was away from tech for a long time.

Noticed Brad’s new protocol PubSubHubbub.

I told Wendy the name of this protocol. She, as I expected, was quite amused by the pronounciation of the name - pub - sub - hub - bub.

It is used for real-time publishing. I have asked Jim to do some research on it. Althoguh there are not too many people using this protocol yet, I would see the protential of this interesting idea.

Go to Sleep Early Today

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 22:00:17 +0800

Good night!

I am going to bed at 9:30 PM.

Look! Shining Stars!

1 Comments

good night!

I'll go to take a shower.

— luwei · 2009-09-06 22:36

Giving Way to Firefigher. Surprised?

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 20:37:18 +0800

I saw many people (11,963) in Kaixin0001 reposted the following video.

In the survey attached, 12,346 people participated, and expected the admire to civilaization level of Europe and thought it is impossible in China.

The Movie Up

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 20:04:29 +0800

Went to Kodak Super Cinema at Metro City with parents today to see Disney and Pixar’s new 3D movie - Up. Very good movie! The cinema delivers 3D effects, which is good.

It is another proof that a good movie does not necessarily mean “exciting” or “new”, it is all about old human feeling of love (and sometimes fear or hate) - the humanity.

Recommend people to go to cinema and see it.

Procedures of Hospital in Shanghai

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 23:13:01 +0800

As always, I can only say about Shanghai (or the limited hospital I visited) not China, because I didn’t visit hospitals in most cities, but I guess they should be the same.

Since I saw a comment on my blog yesterday complaining about the complexity of the hospital procedure, let me explain it briefly. Although I am not the guy to change it in any way, I am the right person to help people at least get informed what it is like and what to do to enter a hospital in Shanghai

Technology and Fairness

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 13:26:47 +0800

I read an article about Craigslist and found a particular opinion very interesting. Here is the quote:

Universal search subverts craigslist’s mission to enable local, face-to-face transactions; it increases the risk of scams and can be exploited to snatch up bargains, giving technically sophisticated users an advantage over casual browsers

How interesting. Many Internet and new tech application tried hard to make things easier and more convenient for people, but in a marketplace like craigslist, that convenience and ability to “snatch up bargains” is not necessarily a good thing. By giving the power to a small group of people actually hurt other people.

Communication is Key to Any Success - Part II

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:24:59 +0800

Let me re-post this article: Communication is key to Any Success. It is still true.

1 Comments

Let me left a message again to support it .

BTW, It seems that there is no link to the reader's message for a long time.

It's a little pity.

— Balon · 2009-09-05 17:30

Ten Characteristics of Great Companies

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 20:15:45 +0800

Feld posted an article about Ten Characteristics of Great Companies. Nice article. Among the ten, if you ask me to pick three, here it is:

Great companies make lots of money but leave even more money on the table for their users and partners.
Great companies don’t look elsewhere for ideas. They develop their ideas internally and are copied by others.
Great companies are led by entrepreneurs who own a meaningful piece of the business. As such, they make decisions based on long term business needs and objectives not short term goals.

Is This H1N1 Flu?

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:49:17 +0800

More and more people got flu these days. I have so many people around me to have flu: one after another in office, and about half already got flu. one colleague has 4 out of 5 people in the family to get flu. Yifan get flu, and is still coughing. I am not feeling good this morning but better this afternoon.

Most of the people visited hospital and confirmed it is not H1N1 Flu, including Yifan, but I just started to suspect why the flu got spread out so quickly? I never experienced flu infection as strong, and as fast as this.

Free Wireless in Starbucks Shanghai

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:10:05 +0800

I am sitting in Starbucks after talking with my friends. From mid of this year, Starbucks started to offer free wireless service partnering with China Mobile. (news)

Although only 80% of 120 Starbucks stores in Shanghai now provide the service, the most visited Starbucks stores have that access:

Grand Gateway Store I
Grand Gateway Store II
Metro City Store
Huashan Greenland Store.

It is not completely free. You need to have a mobile phone (not sure whether it has to be China Mobile mobile phone) to access it. You need to enter your phone number after you connect to CMCC-Starbucks wireless network, then the user name and password is SMSed to you via mobile phone. Then you can access the service on your laptop.

I am Dreaming about Visiting India

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:45:16 +0800

Just had nice dinner of my Indian friend Pranay and Jiby. We spent two days together, when they visited us in our office.

Over dinner, we talked about a lot of politics, and shared about the change in China and India. It is interesting to see how the current Chinese system of a powerful central government can do whatever they want to do, and sacrificing individual rights for growth, and in India to sacrifice development for democracy. I do not agree on the general perception in India that China grows just because of one strong power. Will talk about it later.

MP4 is Cheap

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:35:27 +0800

I am not a big fan of MP4, or movie or music, but today, Wendy surprised me with some good hi-tech toys - the MP4 players that have been popular in the market for several years in China.

Our favorite is a MP4 player with many functions - Mahdi. It has 4GB of storage (many has much bigger than this), and can play HD MP4, display pictures, play music and record sound. The screen is very big - like two typical mobile phone combined (I mean the size of two phone, not their screen). The price is 299 RMB (40 USD). It is not bad at all.

Hospital is Badly Needed

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:22:41 +0800

Yifan got fever from Saturday. Not a very big deal - just the typical fever because of getting cold. However, I took the chance to get to a world that I haven’t touched too much before.

Yifan started to be hot at round 5:00 AM in the morning. Wendy and I got up and sent him to Huashan Hospital. When we approached the hospital, we saw about 100-200 people lining up already. It is obvious that they have been there for a while. They waited just to get a “number” to see an expert doctor. The big gap of healthcare resources and people’s demand for such services is obvious. Among the hundred people, there are 10-20 agents greeted us and asked if we need to “buy” a “number”. They make a profit by getting tickets from either inside the hospital or wake up earlier to line up.

House Price Again

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 23:05:14 +0800

It is a house price topic again since it has reached to a level of craziness that many people don’t understand. To claim it is hard to understand is easier than really try to understand it.

I have two basic judgment.

1. House is like Silver + Stock

Houses are the combination of two basic functions. 1) a place for people to live; 2) an physical representation of wealth. It is just like silver in the early days before the paper money.

Goal Driven vs Discovery Driven Life

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:46:16 +0800

From time to time, I reflect what I am doing and can find a strong tendency of living a “discovery driven life” in myself.

Sometimes, after doing a lot of things very excitingly, I found out I didn’t have a goal at the very beginning. I tend to discover the dots first, and then find ways to connect these dots together afterward, instead of having a prediction, a projected line, and drive things along that line and reach the goal. In MBTI analysis, it is a typical difference of P type of people and J type of people. Me as an ENFP tends to do things like that.

Shanghai for Disabled

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 23:57:20 +0800

I am a part-time disabled person now. I use crutches whenever I go. Let me report my two weeks of experience as a disabled in Shanghai.

Wheel Chair? No. Thanks

I did get a 300 RMB nice wheel chair but I only used it outside my home for once. It turned out that Shanghai is not a good place to use wheel chair. There are slops at the pedestrian at cross road, but it seems no one ever tested it. The gap (about half cm) is just too big for a wheelchair to pass. Wendy pushes the wheelchair to get me up to the pedestrian, but got stuck there. If she pushes harder, I will fall out from the front since it is stuck anyway. The only solution is for me to leave the wheelchair, jump aside, helped me to pull the wheelchair up, and get to the pedestrian, and then sit down. After several places like this, I gave up wheelchair.

Yifan and Cars

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 22:57:18 +0800

Yifan is a big fan of cars. He loves all kinds of cars - the real car running on the streets, his toy cars (he has a lot) or cars on TV, magazines. He especially loves red car. He knows the cars by brand and can tell you the brand all the time. His favorite so far is Audi, followed by Mazda.

He loves everything related to car. He washes his car all the time, and leaving the table a mass with water.

IBM vs Dell Laptop

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 22:42:37 +0800

When we read about books about several years of transition of competition, we take it for granted that some brands can quickly take over the other brand, but in reality, since that happens slowly, we are also slow to recognize the shift. IBM laptop vs Dell laptop is an example.

Previous Perception of Quality and Service

I always consider Dell as the brand of “bad quality + good service”. The image was there since I started to use Dell desktop and laptop in 1998 in Microsoft. Dell’s computer parts break easily, but they offer second day on site service, and they are happy to exchange any part in their service period. I especially love their “service tag” design.

Always Not Good Enough

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:19:51 +0800

Or the topic can be “Always Stay Humble”.

The best time I feel focused, and archived is when I was in middle school. Let me share the story that I have never shared in the last 17 years with you today. That was triggered by another great book I read many times Good to Great.

The Middle School

The best school I entered in my life is my middle school - much better experience than the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The middle school has as long history as my university - the Luoyang No 1 Middle School.

Whole Society is the Biggest Network Effect

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 22:38:09 +0800

I chatted with Doug on this the other day about the difference between people in China and US. I have written on this topic in many articles:

Why People don’t Use Voice Mail in China

Do You Have a Calendar?

Why Classified is NOT Popular in China, Yet

The Slow Move

You will find that people in US seem to move slower than people in China in all of the cases, just because most of the things are new to Chinese, and people in China can directly by pass voice mail and get to mobile era, by pass calendar and directly do real time planning (via IM and mobile), and no possibility for newspaper based classified in China forever.

Craziness of Real Estate Market

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 17:50:27 +0800

Well. It’s me again, to complain about the craziness of the real estate market in Shanghai. I have talked about it many times in my previous post about real estate.

Let’s talk abut the recent round of rise of real estate market.

There is a new residential area called Xing He Wan 星河湾 near where I live - in Pudong, at Jinxiu Road and Long Yang road - within walking distance. They just opened to the market at 50,000 RMB/sq. meter. The market responded like crazy, and all the apartments were sold out in the first 3 days. That means 10 million to 20 million RMB (or 1.5 million to 3 million USD) per apartment there.

Talked with Friend about Money

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 17:14:08 +0800

Spent the morning, noon, and part of the afternoon with Wendy and my good friend. We talked a lot in a corner of Starbucks, and then moved to a quiet restaurant at Zhongshan Park area. Here are some of the points mentioned.

About Wealth. He is in the stage that wealth is not a problem. People don’t need to have too much money to sustain a good life. 1 million RMB per year maybe the top range for any moderate successful people to spend - excluding people who put an equal sign between money spent and their value to this world. I would tend to agree.

Reading Books - Built to Last

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 11:11:52 +0800

I don’t remember this is how many times that I read the book Built to Last. The first time I read it was still in the old Microsoft days. The last time I read it was among the time I was in deep passion for Fengshui, and these days, Xiaoliang falls in love with this book, thus I read this book again.

Interestingly. The book itself didn’t change, but the inspiration you got from it changed a lot. For a lot of things, if you are not in the position to think about it, you don’t understand it at all.

Full Content on Home Page of my Blog?

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:21:04 +0800

I am thinking about putting the full content of the last 20 articles onto the homepage of my blog, just as most of blogs. The goal is to help people to glance at what is the recent articles on this blog without clicking into each article. Is it a good idea? I know for many, it does not matter since they read through RSS. I have full content delivered via RSS anyway.

Good Morning, Shanghai

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 08:21:37 +0800

Another early morning. Good morning, Shanghai. Or good afternoon San Francisco, and good night, New York. Ops. For London, I’d rather don’t say anything since it is late night and people are sleeping.

Just finished another conference call, as one of the hundreds of conference calls I had. I found it interesting to have conference calls - for people from around the world, having different time zone, and different places to talk simultaneously over the thick line of phone. Well. I should not have been amazed by the telephone technology in this Internet era, but when you really think about it, this is quite amazing.

What if Someone Cut my Tree?

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:24:41 +0800

I was asked the question in a family gather in the States on July 4 about “what happens if your neighbor gets to your garden and cut your tree?” I answered: “I will jump to their garden and cut their trees, and if I can break their window, that is even better”.

I was kidding, but the bitter reality in China today is, that is maybe the only solution left.

Yifan's Drawing of Fish

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:56:20 +0800

This is the picture Yifan drew in the last few weeks. He enjoys to draw big circles like below:

Drawing of Yifan at age of 2

Drawing of Yifan

Like it?

4 Comments

fish or pollywog? enjoy... :-)

— MX · 2009-08-19 22:13

Yifan is endlessly adorable, how could God send such a cute angel to you! By the way, will there be a meetup this year in Shanghai ? If there is one, could you bring Yifan there ?

— Michelle · 2009-08-20 10:04

I love how it has become possible to save each and every one of these works of art on the internet so we can enjoy them across continents and oceans. And someday you will be able to look back on all these entries, with Yifan at your side to marvel for himself at how much his talents have grown.

Precious moments, and priceless memories :-)

— Carroll · 2009-08-20 10:46

спасибо за такую информацию

— zapad · 2009-08-23 18:26

Values, Profit and Backgrounds

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:19:47 +0800

Recently read an article of Jeremy aboutWhat is the difference between a good product and a good company?.

I like the way it describes the two different company. Below is my extension of the idea, not necessarily what Jeremy wrote in his blog.

A company that create value but cannot make profit.
A company that create profit that does not provide value

The interesting type is the second type of company. One class is arbitrage. In China, there are so many arbitrage opportunities with fast development of everything, and there is opportunity everywhere. If you want, you can capture that opportunity easily. However, there is a nature end of life for these projects when the arbitrage opportunity closes.

Google Translate for Blog Articles

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:18:47 +0800

This entry is at request of my friend Jackie. He found there is translation of many of my articles on my blog: Franch, Chinese, German… He understood it is translated using Google Translate API, but don’t know how to do it exactly. Here is the trick (sorry for posting for too late).

Below is the script behind the scene. I am away from code for many years. The last time I touched PHP code was in 2007 (ops. The last time I touched ASP, or .NET code was in 2004).

B for Parking Garage

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 15:06:33 +0800

Yifan surrounded me the whole morning. He got curious about my laptop, and tried to reach out to touch the keys. He particularly love the key of B. He presses B hundreds of times, and keeps saying: “Parking Garage! Parking Garage”.

I thought it is just another random word popping out of his mouth. 10 minutes later, he explained it very serious me: “On the Elevator! On the Elevator!”

Then I realized he did realize the character B, since the parking garage is marked as B in my elevator.

A Tale of Threee Cities

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 22:18:58 +0800

After posting my blog entry of Jian Shuo Wang on Channel Young, I stumbled upon the online video of the program on SMGBB. Share with my friends. If you participated in my blog meetup on August 30, 2008, you should be able to find yourself in the video.

Hmm… Look at how much spare time I have when my foot was broken. I didn’t have too much time to post it online. I remember I promised people during the meetup that I will try to post the video if I can find it one day.

Update about my Foot

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 21:09:28 +0800

This is the third day since my foot was wrapped gypsum and bandage. I have stayed at home for three days. Hopefully, I can get back to office Monday noon to have my regular lunch meeting, and the regular dinner with the team. There is actually not many things I can do except keeping my foot away from any additional shock.

Wheelchair

Wendy got a wheelchair on Baixing (link) at 300 RMB. Nice wheel chair but Shanghai is not a good place to use it.

Risk Assessment of My Zhiyong Series

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 19:12:41 +0800

As many people pointed out via comment and via email about my recent series of article: The Significance of Xu Zhiyong, it is very risky for anyone in China to touch the topic of Zhiyong. So it is appropriate to do a risk assessment for myself to publish the articles.

Risk about the Website

If you search for Xu Zhiyong - the name in Chinese in Google, or Baidu, there is no (zero) result. Most of the related articles have been deleted in Sina, and other websites in China. Many of the other websites outside China have been blocked in China and cannot be accessible.

The Significance of Xu Zhiyong's Case

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 14:45:15 +0800

After talking about the significance about Xu Zhiyong’s work in the series The Significance of Xu Zhiyong, we need to go further to understand what the cracking down and detaining of Zhiyong means to the Chinese society.

It is a Clear NO

Despite of the high visibility and all activities under the current legal framework of Zhiyong, the organization (or the company) was shut down, and Zhiyong was detained by the police. It is a clear no to people who want to improve the society in a “under the Sun” type of activity, and may force such organizations to go underground. Underground organizations can easily result in violence. That is even more harmful.

NGO as a Company in China

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 17:52:04 +0800

I know many NGO organization, and I am personally involved in some. It is hard to get registered with the Internal Affairs Bureau. I tried to setup Coffee Bean Club to help students to get access to successful people, but it was not possible to register, so my choice, and many other NGO’s choice was to stay unregistered.

Unregistered Organizations

To have many organizations unregistered is not a good thing for all the parties. For the founders of the organization, since it is not legally recognized, it is very vulnerable, not just to the government inspection, but to all type of criminals. For example, they have to use personal account to keep organization money ($#%#!), and they cannot legally hire people, and they cannot do anything outside the power of several individuals. For volunteer organizations, it may be OK, but there is no growth. For the government, it is not good since they cannot provide services, and cannot take their duty to make sure everything is fine. For others the organization is interacting with, it is the same to deal with a gangster organization - no legal protection.

Zhiyong and People's Congress

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:31:56 +0800

Zhiyong as a Representitive of People’s Congress

One symbolic case is, Zhiyong run for a seat in People’s Congress in Beijing. I opened my eyes so widely when I heard about it. “How can it be possible?” I asked.

Zhiyong is a practical idealist. He is so “naive” to believe that it MAY work. He then run for it (not many people even think about it), and since he is the first independant person to run for it, and did some work to help people to know who he is, not surprisingly, many people choose him, because he is the only person they know. His initial idea is to become a representitive of the People’s Congress of Haidian District of Beijing, and then run for Beijing and finally be able to run for the National People’s Congress, but his attempt just stopped in the Haidian district level, since the Beijing’s People’s Congress Representitives are elected by the representitives like Zhiyong at district level. It means, they need many people like Zhiyong to make it really work, but now, there are just one person who are really elected in that district. It is impossible for other “appointed” representitive to elect him or any other people elected representitive.

Under the Legal Framework

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:48:58 +0800

This is part of a series article named The Significance of Xu Zhiyong

What Zhiyong Accomplished

I am not a dedicated investagive journalist (and I don’t have the skills), so I won’t bother to list the accomplishment of Zhi Yong and his Open Constitution Initiative. Let me just provide several links to public media so you can read and get some idea.

It is really rare that People’s Daily website published a sympathic article (quoting Global Times): Baby milk powder victims lose legal proxy

Gypsum is a Life Changer

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:35:40 +0800

Exactly as Carroll predicted, the unexpected loss of mobility changed my life a lot.

How Loss of Mobility Changed my Life

Waking up in the morning, and facing the reality that I cannot happily go to work, I told Wendy: if you really want a vacation, go to a hospital and put gypsum around your foot (eventhough nothing happens to it), and you get the peace you are longing for for many years.

The Significance of Xu Zhiyong

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 23:18:39 +0800

I am starting to write a series article around the case of Xu Zhiyong. As my typical reaction to many event, I don’t want to jump to something that just happened without gathering enough information. Basically, facts are the hardest part in China, and after gathering enough facts, I still need to sometime to think about it, before I form something. Now, several weeks past after Zhiyong was brought away by the policeman, I want to start to write something. The series of article is called the “Significance of Xu Zhiyong”. This is the first article.

Broke the Bone of my Foot

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 22:30:21 +0800

Interesting. I fell down at the edge of the road, and my right foot was hurt. I thought it was not a big deal but after visiting PLA 85 Hospital and did X-Ray exam, it turned out the fifth right small bone was broken - well, not a serious broken, just a leak at the end of the bone.

Anyway, it is a bone break, and the doctor put gypsum around my foot, and ask me to stay home without going anywhere, and don’t step out of the room. It makes 4 to 6 weeks to recover.

The City of Tongchuan

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 23:54:17 +0800

I am in Tongchuan - I am flying back tomorrow morning.

Tongchuan is a typical city in west China: it is not a capital, and it is not very small - the second (at least from the order of vihecle code - Shaan B) largest city in Shaanxi - just like Luoyang in Henan.

It has too major issues.

A City When Resource is Used Up

Tongchuan developed several decade ago because of the coal storage. The coal fields are the major economic source of the city. A large portion of the city population still speaks Henan accent, because the huge labor needs from the miner factories.

BossTown Tonight

Sat, 08 Aug 2009 21:12:48 +0800

I heard the BossTown of Kai-Fu Lee will be on air tonight at CBN at 9:00. I was a small potato in that show - one of the three observers to ask questions.

Update 11:41

It turned out that they misspelled my name again. My name is 王建硕，not 王健硕.

I cannot receive CBN in Tonghucan (just Oriental Satellite TV), but I watched it at http://www.smgbb.cn.

I am in Tongchuan (Near Xi'an) Today

Sat, 08 Aug 2009 00:23:26 +0800

I am flying to Xi’an via flight FM9203 on August 8, 2009, and will be back on Monday. Maybe cannot access Internet during my trip, but will update when I am back.

I lived in Tongchuan 铜川 from 1.5 years to 3 years old (just in the age of Yifan these days) with my uncle. I treat it as my second hometown. I am visiting my uncle there. He is in hospital, and I hope he will recover very soon.

My Passion for Humanity

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 23:22:50 +0800

This article actually echos to what I wrote more than one year ago on my Chinese blog The Tragedy of Humanity, and Love for the Guilty. If you can read Chinese, I’d suggest you to read it. My thought about the guilty and humanity never changed since then, and I don’t know how to translate many of the words in that article. Here are some additional thoughts about it.

Crime is like Infectious Disease

Blog on My Mobile

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:54:16 +0800

At home, posting via Nokia N78.

Seems a good idea to post OOB in the future.

1 Comments

Recommend using Blackberry

— Lonewolf · 2009-08-08 15:44

I am a Rich Person?

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 22:05:38 +0800

It is a very tough topic, and it is surely controversial. But it puzzled me a lot and I take the courage to share it.

In the last few years, I wrote an article conflict with security guards. The root cause for the conflict is, I think, my hope of a better country - a country with more respects, and with more rules - A country that people respect private property, and a country where people are eventually equal - not because being rich or poor, or the positions they hold. Everyone should follow the rules, and be equal. I saw so many injustices the rich people did for the poor people.

Back to Blogging

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 21:53:48 +0800

Just a notice about why I didn’t blog in the last two days. Hmmm… I found out I even didn’t have time to open a web page in the last few days except web based application like gmail. Pretty busy days. The other reason is, network does not work in my home. Wendy got a new 3G netbook (Dell Mini). But the 3G didn’t work after she brought it back home. Another way to access Internet is gone.

Channel 9 Communication Explained

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 19:47:16 +0800

I wrote the article about Channel 9 of Flight Control Center. I posted the communication between the pilots and air traffic control centers. However, I am not sure of what the message is about. I sent an email to George, my friend who is actually a pilot of the United Airlines. Here is his answer. Used with permission and with little modification. The quoted text is from George.

==================================================

Interestingly, although I heard it is required to use English to do the communication, most of the conversation in the audio is in Chinese. It is the same situation when we fly near Tokyo Narita Airport. They are using a language I am not very sure whether it is English or Japanese - I just cannot get a single word besides the numbers.

Welcome Home, Chris and Endeavour

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 22:40:57 +0800

After 15 days in space, Endeavour Shuttle will return to earth in one hour - it should land in Florida at 10:48 EDT, or 11:48 PM China time.

Chris sent us (YLF) an email describing his departure preparation back to the Earth when he was in the International Space Station. It is the first email I got from the space - very cool. Obviously that very exciting and interesting email is private communication and should not be published, otherwise, I would be very happy to share what Chris experienced in the space on this blog.

Second Child For Some Family

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:44:11 +0800

China has implemented the One Child Policy for more than 30 years. I have two brothers, and I am among the last generation to have brothers or sisters in the last 30 years. If the policy were enforced earlier, there would be no “me”. Well. In China, there is always a grace period between announcement of a policy and enforcing it.

Recent years, it changed. I don’t know exact the date, but for certain family, they can have two children. The criteria are, the both parents have to be the only child in their family. Before, there is a several year gap between the two children. I heard the interval requirement has been canceled.

My Conflict with Safe Guards

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:04:47 +0800

Recently, I found I often run into conflicts with safeguards - the safeguard at my residential area and the safeguard at the place where I had worked. Actually, this is very similar to the story of the mason in my post The World with Different Rules

The Story of the Safeguard

Many weeks ago, I went to Metro Tower to pickup stuff of Wendy. The safeguard closed the entrance to the load/unload area, and do not allow me to stop before the load area. He even ignored the fact that I just paid 30 RMB for parking at the parking lot, and just wanted to drive into the load/unload area.

Back fro OOB in Shengsi

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:27:56 +0800

We were in Shengsi for company outing. Just returned. I left few days blank in my blog - pretty rare in the last few years. I will update about the outing soon.

This is also an interesting time slot that caused a lot of mental tension, and thinking power. I said to my partners that I have almost been converted from ENFP to ISTJ in the last few weeks. It seems now I am at least more introverted than before.

Solar Eclipse Photos

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:29:41 +0800

Note: If you receive an email notification, it is because I just enabled it. You have subscribed to this mail list of Wangjianshuo’s Blog Update at least one year ago (I paused sending out emails in the last year). If you don’t want to receive it, please unsubscribe now.

Below are the photos of the solar eclipse. To be more exact, the darkness, instead of the Sun.

It is very dark outside, but if I don’t mark the time and date, it is exactly another night of Shanghai.

Eclipse Just Ended

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:44:56 +0800

It was completely dark outside. Darker than I thought - exactly a night.

I just feel I got jet lag - eyes told me I should be sleepy, but I am still excited. That is exactly the feeling of jet lag.

3 Comments

I heard an interview on NPR yesterday that since it is Monsoon season in India right now... there won't be much a chance to view the sun, a company was chartering people to view the eclipse above the clouds for $1600 per person for 3 hours... something like that. Is there a market for things like that in mainland?

— GN · 2009-07-22 12:16

an interesting event... even though not able to see how the eclipse happened

— DC · 2009-07-22 15:28

You're so lucky to be in Asia. The next full solar eclipse will be 2132.

I heard in an interview a full eclipse is bad omen in most east Asian culture. With the current financial crisis, the prediction arrived after the fact.

— raymond · 2009-07-23 06:33

We Will Miss the Solar Eclipse

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:01:36 +0800

Ops. It seems we are going to miss the longest and the best total solar eclipse in Shanghai. Look at this picture and you will know how lucky we are to be located in Shanghai:

But being in the central location of the Solar eclipse is just the beginning of the story. The reality is, it is cloudy!

Here is the photo I took this morning.

It does not likely to be able to directly observe the elicpes. I would only guess that it will be dark outside for some time.

Believe Your Gut Feeling

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 23:00:04 +0800

Kai-Fu Lee wrote an article of “Follow your heart” when he left Microsoft and joined Google. I was told the same thing today. To me, that translates to “Believe your gut feeling”.

That is just not Right

Sometimes, we have to admit how weak the rational logic and reasoning are when making complicated decisions. Sometimes, when you have already thought for many times, and have already made a decision, and the decision is well-informed, data-proven, and perfect-logic, you just about to make a decision, but at the last minute, you feel something is not right. It just does not FEEL right. You don’t know why it is that way, but you just have that gut feeling. Can I call it intuition (BTW, I am an Intuition type of person - ENFP)?

Right Lane - Most Important Road in City

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 23:03:24 +0800

The reason I love business world is, you have to reach a level of excellency in digging into details of all the aspects of your business to really be able to deliver a world class product or services. I tend to practice this skill in worlds other than business. Transportation of large cities is one of the area I spent a lot of time thinking. Here is one of my observation.

Xinjiang! Xinjiang!

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 22:35:14 +0800

When the riot (I have to pay specially attention to my wording, although I don’t know what is the best word to describe it) in Xinjiang happened, I was in US. But I don’t think I missed any news than being in China.

Every time, when I don’t write about an important event, it is because I don’t feel I have known enough about the fact. That was the reason Why I Didn’t Cover About Tibet. That is the same reason I kept silence about what is happening in Xinjiang.

Channel 9 of Flight Control Center

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 08:15:30 +0800

Maybe the last key reason to keep me fly on United Airlines is the Channel 9 they offer. I believe most of people even don’t know that there is a special channel at every passenger’s seat: the 9th channel. That is the channel the pilot communicate with the control tower. Recently, most of the United Airlines captain don’t bother to turn it on, but they did turn it on the last time at UA857 from San Francisco to Shanghai. Here are some audio I recorded. Click on any of the dark image to play.

Endeavour Finally Launched

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 08:03:13 +0800

I am very happy that Endeavour finally launched today at 6:03 AM. Unfortunately, after chasing the even for very long, I over slept this morning, and was not able to watch the even live - due to wake up too early two days ago.

Now I am watching the post-launch press conference, and watch the launch again and again, but the replay does not have all the communication between the crew, and the base station, which I am most interested in.

Welcome to China, If Temperature is OK

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 22:42:04 +0800

Are you traveling to China from other countries, be prepared for the temperature check, in the background of H1N1 Type A Flu.

Don’t worry though. Let me describe the process so you have a preview of what to expect.

On plane, you will be required to fill in a form of self-health-claim form. Everyone needs to do it, and claim whether you feel fever, cough or other flue symptom.
After landing at Pudong International Airport, all passengers will be required to remain seated. Medical staff will get on board, and use a laser detector to check the temperature of every passenger. This seems very time consuming, but it is actually very fast. It is just the speed of flight attendants delivering drinks - several minutes are fine.

Shanghai Also has Blue Sky - Part II

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 22:10:29 +0800

I very happily described the very rare blue sky in my previous post here: Shanghai Also has Blue Sky - for One Day. These two days after I am back from Silicon Valley trip, I found Shanghai also has clear sky, thank to the east wind from the ocean. I brought my camera with me (intentionally) just to capture the blue sky. Here are the nice photos. I love Shanghai a lot if the city remains like this, or at least half of the days are like this.

Chris is Going to Space Again

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 06:47:04 +0800

This is on NASA’s website:

T-20 Minutes and Holding

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 05:38:11 AM GMT+0800

The countdown clock at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida has paused as scheduled at the T-20-minute mark. This is a planned hold lasting 10 minutes. At Launch Pad 39A, space shuttle Endeavour’s crew access hatch has been closed, sealed and locked for flight. All seven STS-127 astronauts are safely strapped into their seats and are awaiting liftoff at 6:51 p.m. EDT.

Fast Changing Shanghai

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 22:23:13 +0800

One of my favorite thing involving traveling to US for one week is that when you come back to Shanghai, you find so many things changed in one week. One week means a lot in current Shanghai.

Construction

From the first thing I noticed - the facade of the building under construction near my residential area were completed. Several new buildings (20+ stories high) just suddenly appeared there. Well. They were not built in one week, but it took just one week to remove all the greenish construction wrappers around the building to reveal a beautiful new building.

Back to Shanghai

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 05:08:51 +0800

Quick note: I landed at Shanghai Pudong Airport at 12:30 PM, July 11, 2009. From leaving Super 8 at Stanford at 9:00 AM, July 9, it is 51.5 hours (yes. I surely understand that there is 15 hours time zone difference it it), or 36.5 hours on the road.

Interestingly, United Airlines gave me another “Sorry for inconvinience” card. Am I lucky to receive two cards during the trip? One for bad equipments, and service, and another for delay for 10 hours?

My United Airlines was Cancelled

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:10:23 +0800

Too quick to say bye bye to America. I am now still sitting at a bigger table, and a nicer room at Best Western El Rancho Inn & Suite near the San Francisco Airport (so near that I see flight landing just out of window!).

My flight UA857 from San Francisco to Shanghai was cancelled today. It is scheduled to leave tomorrow morning at 8:30 AM, and arrive in Shanghai at 12:30 PM, Saturday.

End of Noodle Trip

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:03:01 +0800

My recent US trip started to form a routine. It always start with a PHO noodle - the Vietnamese noodle somewhere near the hotel I stay, and ends the trip at Tomokazu Japanese Cuisine noodle shop near gate G100 of San Francisco airport.

Choosing Food

In the bay area, the closest food to Chinese food, including Chinese restaurants, is actually Vietnamese noodle. I didn’t make a mistake here. I did mean INCLUDING Chinese food. Well, actually there is no such a thing called Chinese food, just like there no such a thing called European food. Most of the Chinese food here are Cantonese cuisine, not the food I am used to. I just need 1) Noodle 2) Hot soup instead of cold (iced!) water 3) Salty food, not just rice 4) with meat AND vegetables in it (cooked not fresh vegetables).

Wrapping up my Trip in SV

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:52:49 +0800

I am sitting at my small table in the Super 8 hotel at Palo Alto. Yes. It is a small table, and a small room with noisy refrigerator, and it smells. But, I am happy.

Life as an Entrepreneur

Kissing goodbye with 5-star hotels, business class flight and jumping back to the real life of an entrepreneur, I just don’t believe I could make a better decision. The corporate style of work is just not my style. Let me tell you, Super 8 is really good - not because of it is good (please fix the noise of the refrigerator!), it is because it symbolize the spirit of cost saving, and the place you pay attention.

I Just Love Silicon Valley

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:03:48 +0800

Before 2005, I always tell people - I love Seattle, WA, because of the great trees, lakes, mountains and great cities. At that time, every of my US trip is in Seattle. It turned out that I said that just because I never visited Silicon Vally. This is exactly the reason people travel - never make decisions about what you want most before you explore more places and lifestyle - the type of seeking for something unknown.

Got a Overtime Parking Ticket

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:17:47 +0800

How embarrassing!

I got a ticket for overtime parking in Palo Alto downtown today.

I parked the car into the purple zone. Then I visited Tina and have lunch together. It is the first Monday after the Independent Day. We walked to many restaurants from her list one by one, only to find out all them are closed, and one even closed for two weeks!

15 minutes later, we stopped the Palo Alto downtown guided tour and went to the Japanese restaurant to have Sushi. We had wonderful conversation, but jet lag hit me at about 1:30 PM. I could not stay awake, and proposed to have a cup of coffee.

Why Car Lights in US are Always On

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:36:02 +0800

Just one quick question: why people in California always have their car light on even in day time? It seems waste of energy, and pretty annoying. On the rented car, the light switch default to AUTO, but does it mean to shut it down in automatically in sunny California at day time?

BTW, I inherited this habit of forgetting to close the light when I am back to Shanghai (completely manual lights), and Wendy always reminded me about that.

Inspiration is the Key in Silicon Valley

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:09:50 +0800

Another exciting day in Sunny silicon valley just ended. I would say every time I visit the Silicon Valley, I just love it more and more. The valley is all about new ideas, inspiration, and thoughts about the future. I chatted with Reid, and Jin, and my friends in the Chinese entreprenure community at lunch (with a side trip to Costco to get the shopping list I got from my friends filled). All of the meetings were very good. In Silicon Valley, what the future looks like really matters for many people, and you can just go ahead to talk about it without getting a strange look (like in Shanghai or Luoyang). With Jin, I got very excited about the future of Smart Grid - the power management system, although it may be 5 years or 10 years from now. It seems to me just like another Internet. This is also my first introductionary talk about clear energy. Not to mention Reid’s wonderful mind - some of the tips are still singing besides my ear now.

Tax Rate in China is Low?

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:16:49 +0800

Just get back from the party. We talked about the tax rate in China, and it gave me the impression that the tax rate in China is low.

Business Tax

5% of revenue as operating tax, and 20% of profit - for an Internet company.

For other type, like the trading cmopany, they do not pay according to revenue - they pay value-add tax.

For certified high-tech company, the tax of the first 3 years will be 0, and half of the tax due in the following two years.

Fireworks in Sillicon Valley

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:36:12 +0800

Thanks Carroll to inviting me to her wonderful party again. There are very nice conversation going on and great food, and there are fireworks! Look at the wonderful fireworks and view!

Credit: Photo taken by Jian Shuo Wang.

Credit: Photo taken by Jian Shuo Wang

Drawing of Stanfod

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:13:46 +0800

I should otherwise be sleeping at hotel, if there were no meeting that afternoon. Since I got to the Stanford anyway, it was nice to hang out for a while and take some pictures, and make some drawings.

Hoover Tower

Stanford has a nice tower - the Hoover Tower:

Credit: Photo by Jian Shuo Wang

I was there on July 2nd, when I just landed from SFO airport. I took several minutes to draw what I saw. It is embarrassingly bad drawing

Morning America, and Good Night China

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:00:02 +0800

It is another sunny morning in bay area. So lovely weather, and I am sitting in my favorite (or OUR favorite?) University Cafe. Interestingly, although I love new travel destinations, I always enjoy have meal or cafe at exactly the same location. So I arranged most of my Palo Alto meetings in the same place: University Cafe, 271 University Ave, Palo Alto, CA. I am enjoying my nice orange juice, and expecting my breakfast:

United Airlines is Bad

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:02:56 +0800

I wrote United Airlines is Good 7 years ago, when I just started flying to US. On one hand, my expectation was lower than today, and on the other hand, they were much better in the good economy. The trip UA858 leaving PVG on July 2, 2009 for SFO was really bad. However, this time, I was not the same person many years ago, and I started to investigate this company from the business perspective.

Hello from Palo Alto

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:38:39 +0800

Just landed. Palo Alto is much nearer than San Jose. This is the first time I stay in Palo Alto. The previous many time, I was always in the San Jose area.

Just landed. Stayed at 3200 El Camino Real - the Super 8 Hotel, a cheap hotel that I stayed once the last time. The United Airline UA 858 flight I just finished was the worst experience I had so far. I may write about it. Even the crew felt that it is so bad that they gave many of us a “Please Accept Out Apology” card, and a series number on it. With the card, I can get 10% off from the next international trip, or $150 certificate…

Bye Bye Shanghai for Few Days

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:16:51 +0800

I just packed everything, and a taxi is waiting downstairs to Pudong Airport. I am leaving for San Francisco Airport, and stay in Palo Alto for some days - near the Stanford university, and be back to Shanghai at night of July 10th.

Bye bye Shanghai for a while, and I will be back soon. I don’t expect the trip will interrupt blogging - I will just suffer a little bit of time zone difference, and not sure how to keep the one post per day guideline - so I just post “randomly” when I want to.

Checklist for US Trip

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:47:26 +0800

I am heading to US via UA858 tomorrow. As always, I always wait for the last minute to pack up everything. ENFP is not compatible with GTD.

The first US trip made me excited for weeks ahead of it, and now, it becomes another working day. However, my personality type always welcomes difference, and loves something new, not routine, and travel (including business travel) is the most exciting thing.

The improvement this time is, I made a check list of important things:

I am Moving Back to Puxi

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:06:41 +0800

I have lived in Shanghai for 14 years.

My first two years was spent in Minghang Campus of Shanghai Jiaotong University.

Two years later, I moved back to the Xujiahui Campus of SJTU. That was where my current Baixing office is located - the dorm is about 200 meters from my office building.

In 1999, Wendy and I moved to a cheap apartment in Meilong.

3 years later, we very happily moved to the Vanke Waltz Garden near the Caobao Road Metro Station of Metro Line #1. That was wonderful time. The only problem is the noisy Caobao Road.

Real Estate Price Rises in Shanghai

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:01:29 +0800

The real estate market in Shanghai enters into another crazy period. No matter how many experts or the government official expected the house price will go down, it continued to raise like crazy.

This weekend is another crowded weekend. Out of my window in the apartment in Pudong, I saw batches of house agents bringing their client to visit one house after another. I guess there are about 20 of them.

'It Works' is the Highest Standard

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:38:50 +0800

For a lot of services, especially the Internet services, and new technology, “it works” is the highest possible standard, not the basics.

The other day, I chatted with my friend in Google, and he asked me what is the future of eCommerce in China, and is there any new model that they need to follow.

My guess is, for the eCommerce to work in China, we just need to make some services work, and not neccessarily to be a new model.

Google.com Blocked, Again

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:34:56 +0800

Last night, Google.com/Gmail/AdSense and most of other Google property cannot be accessed in China. The whole Green Dam - Google China - Google.com story has unwind and reveal a clear path of censorship + propaganda. The whole story is very long, and there are thousands of articles (if not millions) on this. Let me quickly record the key event.

The Chinese Government requires all computer to ship with a porn-filtering software, Green Dam by July 1, 2009. The order came out 10 days before the deadline.

I Use Hotmail Since 1997

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:26:16 +0800

MSN China is running a campaign to engage users to celebrate 10 years of MSN service. They offer to give you your registration time if you enter your MSN account and password (well. security concerns here), they will report the registration date and time, and tell you among all users, how many users are earlier than you.

This is a very nice campaign - it engages users because everyone is curious, and everyone wants to spread out the word if they feel they are pretty early bird - like myself. Another even more successful campaign I participated was the Send Your Name to the Mars.

Conversion of San Francisco and Beijing Time

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:28:15 +0800

I do not do as much conference calls as before, and I don’t use an advanced scheduling system called Microsoft Outlook (TM), so I often mass meetings up. After booking three meetings wrong, I decided to really look into the details of how time zone, daylight saving works.

Converting San Francisco Time to Beijing Time

Although there are many tools doing the conversation, I found many tools converted the time wrong, since the new change of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 in US extended one month of daylight saving

Deep Calm

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:29:51 +0800

I love to read Feld’s blog - his blog was introduced by Bo, and is my entrance level knowledge source on termsheet - the best resource on termsheet I can find.

Today, he posted a blog entry with title Deep Calm. I like the post a lot, especially the first simple paragraph.

I’m sitting in the early dawn light in a cabin in Tabernash, Colorado drinking a cup of coffee and getting ready to go for a run in the mountains.

Shanghai to Jinshanwei

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 21:13:39 +0800

I got an email about how to get to Jinshanwei on July 22, 2009, just to watch the Solar Eclipse.

Hello Jian Shuo,

I´ve discovered your blog since I´ve been looking for information about travelling to Shanghai. We have planned our hollidays this year visiting Shanghai so we´ll observe the 22 july total solar eclipse. We realised that one of the best place in conditions to observe the eclipe is on shore in Jinshanwei. The fact is that day, our lodge is located in an hotel in Shanghai and as far as we have to arrive to Jinshan before 9.41 am, I´m concerned about how to cover the distance between Shanghai and Jinshan and how long does it takes the trip, so it happens in a labour day. What´s your opinion? Do you recommend to go by taxi? How much aprox would it cost? If not, better by bus? Where to leave from?. I haven´t found any information about it in the net.

Suggestion about Quitting Microsoft?

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 22:15:11 +0800

I chatted with my friend about whether he should quit Microsoft.

I always believe Microsoft is a great company - the greatest company I saw so far, but I know many people regret quitting Microsoft too late - 7 years for me is too long.

I talked about why more in this Chinese article: Standing on the Shoulder of a Great Company

1 Comments

Explore while you are young !

— kbguy · 2009-06-22 18:52

Back from Nanjing

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 00:14:01 +0800

Meeting

Back from the trip to Nanjing - a government meeting on media regulations. It is maybe the only government meeting I attend every year. The meeting is in Nanjing International Convention Center, in the same mountain area with Zhong Shan Ling. I like that area a lot - the place we should definitely visit more often.

Nanjing Blogger

Most of the photos I saw about Nanjing came from http://lifetea.org/?pg=2. She started blog 5 months before I did (her first blog), and from the first one, I saw a long-long-long-long-time-no-see name: Tiger Cafe. Yes. In the old happy days in 2002, not so many bloggers in this world. Tiger cafe has stopped update in 2004. Christina, me, Isaac, and Robert are still writing our blogs. BTW, Christina and I was not as aggressive as the other two. Their blogs have been blocked by GFW many times - an acknowledgment of the depth of “harmful information” by the government.

Visiting US in July

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:09:05 +0800

Visiting US from July 1 to July 9.

Always United Airlines - haven’t tried other airlines yet.

Always Avis - haven’t tried other car services yet.

Alternatives? Richard suggested JetAirways, but they have discontinued their service from Shanghai to San Francisco.

Moving to Pudong?

It is a tough decision about whether to move back to Puxi near my office in Xujiahui. I moved to Pudong 5 years ago. Now the traffic is really a problem. But, am I ready to move back to Puxi? Seems today, I am making some progress.

Manhole Covers in Shanghai and Beijing

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:43:46 +0800

From time to time, I will post some random photos of this city. There is no particular topic, just to record the daily life, and to keep a record of my life for myself to reference in the coming years.

The Manhole Cover

Below is the current version of the manhole found at the crossroad near my home. It reads: Shanghai Shui (meaning Shanghai Water).

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

Controlling Software is Everywhere

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:27:21 +0800

At client side, all newly shipped PC are required to pre-install a spyware by the government (well. The nature of a software is really about what it does, instead of who installed it). This is just like a fiction.

At the server side, more and more internet companies are required to install a server controlling system to get information automatically to the government of the user information.

It is unbelievable but it is happening these days in China.

I am at facebook.com/jianshuo

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:18:29 +0800

Since I registered my email account jianshuo at hotmail.com, I tend to use the id in most services.

Now, I am

jianshuo at hotmail.com
jianshuo at gmail.com
jianshuo at wangjianshuo.com
http://twitter.com/jianshuo/
http://facebook.com/jianshuo/

Follow me (on twitter), or add me on Facebook. The current policy for me is, I add whoever requested to add at Facebook. I am using Kaixin001.com also, but I absolutely only add people I consider as close friend.

Good Luck Endeavour and Chris

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 22:45:34 +0800

I just dropped a short email to Christopher, who will be on board of Endeavour Space Shuttle, to say good luck. His journey to the International Space Station on NASA mission STS-127.

The launch will happen at 7:17, June 13 US Eastern time, or 19:17 on the same day in Shanghai - it is good that I can watch the launch at home. I just hope the NASA TV connection on my computer works tomorrow.

My Mood These Days

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 22:26:15 +0800

My long time reader xge asked the question under my entry Dogs Unprotected. How about Human?

I sensed a lot of bitterness and anger in many of your recent posts. Does it reflect a real change in you? I wonder if it reflects a real mood change in the general population and what happens if it does.

Posted by: xge on June 11, 2009 2:16 PM

Here is my answer to the questions. I am not happy and I read many other bloggers are not happy these days.

Dogs Unprotected. How about Human?

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 23:39:27 +0800

I actually didn’t believe the news (WARNING: bloody photos of dogs in the report) when it came out:

Before May 31, 2009, all dogs on the 3206 sq. km area of Yang Xian of Shaanxi were killed by the local government, including all dogs in people’s home, and those who already got government permits. Now, the county has became the first one in China without a single dog, and their goal is too keep the county dog-free in the next three years.

Tianzifang at Taikang Road

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 22:05:07 +0800

Let me add some photos to the Tianzifang I mentioned the other day.

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

Tianzifang

Tianzifang is at the lanes of Taikang Road. It developed from local residence area, to a new art zone. The Taikan Road is an area where artist gathers in the downtown Shanghai. Then without people even noticed, the lanes along the Taikan Road developed to a new attraction.

Shi Shi Shi Shi - Chinese Pinyin

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 22:14:34 +0800

As many people knows, there are many different characters mapping to the same pronunciation. Thus, it is very hard to directly tell from a pronunciation what the original character is. Here is an interesting example, written by Zhao Yuan Ren in 1930.

石室诗士施氏，嗜食狮，誓食十狮。适施氏时时适市视狮。十时，适十狮适市。是时，适施氏适市。氏视是十狮，恃矢势，使是十狮逝世。氏拾是十狮尸，适石室。石室湿，氏使侍拭石室。石室拭，氏始试食是十狮尸。食时，始识是十狮尸，实十石狮尸。试释是事。

Gaokao Day 2009

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 21:36:11 +0800

Some interesting things about today.

**Gaokao **

I haven’t realized that it is the day for 10.2 million students to go to the Gaokao (College Entrance Exam) today, until I saw there are some traffic control around some schools. The big signs wrote: “No horn!”.

Yes. It is Gaokao time, the most important day for most students at age of 18. My Gaokao was 14 years ago. Today, it is not very hot in Shanghai, good for them!

Back to Blogging

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 19:59:24 +0800

I OOB (Out of Blogging) longer than expected. I scheduled to be OOB only on June 2th, which is Yifan’s birthday, but later, I missed the following few days. Don’t worry since it is not because of the sensitive day we just passed in China.

Xiaowei of edushi.com came, and we spent the time together with other friends late at night. Then I was on the trip to Dishuihu, stayed there for one night, and just got back yesterday, and now, you see, I am back. I missed blogging on some important things and I will make it up later.

Happy 2 Year Birthday to Yifan

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:51:14 +0800

This entry was made up on June 7th, and dated back to June 2.

These are some photos of Yifan at his 2 year old birthday.

His mom tried to bake a birthday cake for him, but failed in the afternoon. Well. The cake tastes great, just strong in shape. Yifan didn’t seem to mind the shape, as long as it tasted good.

Happy Children's Day

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:39:59 +0800

Happy Children’s Day. We don’t prepare too much for Yifan on Children’s Day, because, Yifan is turning two years old tomorrow!

I will be OOB (Out of Blogging) tomorrow for the whole day (and out of office, and out of computer, and out of anything that I felt important most of my time), and stay with Yifan for the whole day. I believe he will be happy to have enough of his dad’s attention, which he recently demands a lot.

Congratulations to Andrew McLaughlin

Sun, 31 May 2009 23:17:36 +0800

Another piece of YLF (Young Leader’s Forum) news: Andrew is going to be the Deputy Chief Technology Officer of Obama Administration. (Source: Google’s Top Policy Executive to Join Obama Administration).

Congratulations to Andrew McLaughlin to play a big role! Interestingly, I saw Andrew one week before the YLF 2007 in Nanjing in Google’s office, by introduction of Isaac Mao. Then I get back and go to Nanjing, and at the forum, I saw someone with familiar face. It turned out that he is Andrew.

Gulangyu Photos by Wendy

Sun, 31 May 2009 22:33:21 +0800

Wendy gets back from Gulangyu with some nice photos. It compliment to my journey record about one month ago. I didn’t take too many photos the last time.

Photograph by Wendy Fan

ENFP is Incompatible with GTD

Sun, 31 May 2009 11:57:43 +0800

ENFP = Extroverted iNtuition Feeling Perception type of MBTI

GTD = Getting Things Done - a productivity methodology by David Allen

I bought a Moleskine notebook, and attached tags, and wrote my to-do-list on it, and categorize them as GTD suggested. It looked pretty promising at the very beginning.

In a conference, I met my friend Akio Tanaka (who should be of similar personality type as myself), and showed off my notebook. He asked: How long have you tried this system? I admitted that I only started two weeks ago. He said, let’s talk about it after a while.

End of a Holiday without Wendy

Sat, 30 May 2009 21:37:51 +0800

Three days past so quickly, that I need to face a working Sunday tomorrow.

I didn’t feel well at begining (as I said, I felt like caught by flu), but I am fine very quickly, with temperature always between 35 -36 °C (my meter IS working very well).

Wendy went to Xiamen, and Gulangyu Island with her friends. So it is a dragon boat festival without Wendy. I slept for long hours in the last three days. Elliot Ng was right. If getting sick happens to be at the same time of a long holiday, that is a sign that I need some rest. There is a theory in Chinese medicine (which I don’t really believe in) that when people starts to slow down, the body gets a chance to get sick, something it does not have time to do when you are working so hard.

Nikon D50 CHA Error with SD Card

Fri, 29 May 2009 13:01:28 +0800

Wendy just called from Xiamen (she went there with friends) and complained that she got a new SD card, and put it into our Nikon D50, and got error message “CHA” and cannot take photo.

I did some research and confirmed that Nikon D50 is incompatible with any SD card larger than 2G.

P.S. I posted a short message on my twitter about feeling like being caught by flu, and got many response. I am feeling better now.

Happy Dragon Boat Festival

Thu, 28 May 2009 22:11:21 +0800

Happy Dragon Boat Festival to everyone. It is now a Chinese national holiday.

I tend to call it Zongzi festival. Zongzi is the food that everyone eats (well, not everyone, at least not in my family) on this day. It is a pyramid-shaped dumpling made of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves.

The holiday continues tomorrow (Friday), and ends on Saturday. The cost of the three day holiday is, people get back to work on Sunday.

US Congressmen Visit Shanghai

Wed, 27 May 2009 23:15:48 +0800

It is pretty late after I left the Ritz Carlton Club on the 43th floor of Ritz Carlton Portman hotel. US congressman Rick Larson (Democratic, Washington) and Mark Kirk (Republic, Illinois) are visiting Shanghai (news), after they arrived in Hong Kong, and visited Guangzhou, before they fly to Beijing. With the two congressmen is the inimitable Steven Orlins (as we always used the interesting word “inimitable” after the tradition of usage before Chairman Mao).

Bribe for Driver's License?

Tue, 26 May 2009 20:27:11 +0800

Many of my friends are trying to get their driver’s license. The driver’s license exam consists of different stages of exams. Here are my experience:

If you want to Learn to Drive, you first sign up to a

driving school, and pass the Written Test for Driver’s License then Pass the Field and Road Driving Exam. That was pretty straight forward.

However, the straight forward thing is not so simple in Shanghai.

Give Money (bribe) or Not

The Only Beach in Shanghai

Sun, 24 May 2009 22:20:21 +0800

This morning, the whole family went to the Daning Green Land 大宁绿地, at the west of the Shanghai Circus. The reason we went there was, it has the only beach in Shanghai.

Well. I admit that I made a mistake here. It is not a beach. It is just a lake with some sand on the north side of it.

However, it is the only place in the whole Shanghai that I can bring Yifan to really play sand. There are some other man-made beach in Fengxian, and in Jinshan, but none of them are as child friendly as the place we went to.

Hijacked Education by Scientists

Sat, 23 May 2009 12:36:05 +0800

This is a series of articles on education in Shanghai (I tried to avoid big topics like Education in China:

Worry about Yifan’s Education and

Worry about Yifan’s Education - Part II Is China Changeable?

Chinese or International Eduction?

University Education = Hukou in China

Schools Conducted by Gaokao

Hijacked Education by Scientists

After writing for a week about all the pressure the Chinese educational system put to students, let me spend one article to discuss about the output of this system.

Schools Conducted by Gaokao

Fri, 22 May 2009 22:38:15 +0800

This is a series of articles on education in Shanghai (I tried to avoid big topics like Education in China. The previous several articles are:

Worry about Yifan’s Education and

Worry about Yifan’s Education - Part II Is China Changeable?

Chinese or International Eduction?

University Education = Hukou in China

I didn’t expected that my first blog about my thoughts of Yifan’s education led to so many articles about the current education system in China. Sure. I am thinking about solutions, but to help more people to understand how the system works is the first step.

University Education = Hukou in China

Thu, 21 May 2009 23:11:16 +0800

This is a series of articles on education in Shanghai (I tried to avoid big topics like Education in China:

Worry about Yifan’s Education and

Worry about Yifan’s Education - Part II Is China Changeable?

Chinese or International Eduction?

University Education = Hukou in China

Schools Conducted by Gaokao

Hijacked Education by Scientists

After I talked about the choice between Chinese and International Education, let me dive into details about how the current educational system, and why it has failed.

Chinese or International Eduction?

Tue, 19 May 2009 20:49:50 +0800

This is a series of articles on education in Shanghai (I tried to avoid big topics like Education in China:

Worry about Yifan’s Education and

Worry about Yifan’s Education - Part II Is China Changeable?

Chinese or International Eduction?

University Education = Hukou in China

Schools Conducted by Gaokao

Hijacked Education by Scientists

I will continue the topic around which school should I send Yifan to today. As I always did, I am trying to share the options I have, and the dilemma I am facing to help my readers to get some ideas about the tough decisions to make for people in this city. Again, I tried not to generalize it as a question people face in this country. For example, Shanghai and my hometown Luoyang is very different.

Is China Changeable?

Mon, 18 May 2009 23:24:54 +0800

This is a series of articles on education in Shanghai (I tried to avoid big topics like Education in China:

Worry about Yifan’s Education and

Worry about Yifan’s Education - Part II Is China Changeable?

Chinese or International Eduction?

University Education = Hukou in China

Schools Conducted by Gaokao

Hijacked Education by Scientists

谁也改变不了中国的这一现实 (Whoever cannot change the reality of China)

Worry about Yifan's Education - Part II

Sun, 17 May 2009 21:00:51 +0800

This is a series of articles on education in Shanghai (I tried to avoid big topics like Education in China:

Worry about Yifan’s Education and

Worry about Yifan’s Education - Part II Is China Changeable?

Chinese or International Eduction?

University Education = Hukou in China

Schools Conducted by Gaokao

Hijacked Education by Scientists

In the previous article about Yifan, I talked about the choices I am trying to make for Yifan’s education. As some of my readers pointed out, this is a pretty private decision. I post it here, just to help my readers to understand the challenges, and the environment I am living in - not just from the point of view of a tourist, but also from the local residents.

Pudong House Price Rise Sharply

Sat, 16 May 2009 22:10:20 +0800

During the Spring Festival early this February, the apartment near where we live was about 13,500 RMB per sq. meter. To put it into perspective of US standard, you can safely assume it is a 100 sq. meter house with 2 bed rooms, one living room, one dining room, and it costs 1,350,000 RMB.

Today, we find out the price has raised to 17,000 RMB per sq. meter, based on real transaction price. The same apartment of 1.35 million RMB is now 1.7 million RMB, 25% increase in a very short period of 4 months.

Worry about Yifan's Education

Sat, 16 May 2009 01:21:52 +0800

This is a series of articles on education in Shanghai (I tried to avoid big topics like Education in China:

Worry about Yifan’s Education and

Worry about Yifan’s Education - Part II Is China Changeable?

Chinese or International Eduction?

University Education = Hukou in China

Schools Conducted by Gaokao

Hijacked Education by Scientists

Which primary school should I send Yifan to? Every parent wants their child to receive the best education, and there is not standard of what best education is. Here are some choices we have:

Time Matters in Communication

Fri, 15 May 2009 00:57:24 +0800

This week (May 11 to May 15, 2009) is my communication week. I talked with people. Today, I talked 12.5 hours in total (including 2.5 hours with Jack and Jim), and the other 10 with TL, and ZR. Yesterday, I talked about 7 hours with Joanna, and Bobo, and the day before, 5 hours with Vince… Nice to chat with everyone and to get fully synced. The last week, I also talked 9 hours + 7 hours in two days with Matt.

Friendship Binding vs Interest Binding

Wed, 13 May 2009 20:17:32 +0800

For a company, whether it should be bound by friendship (“I really love to work with these guys”), or should it be bound by interest (“I maximize my value in this company in any other company in the world”)? This is a key question in my mind recently.

The easy and simple answer is, sure, you need both, but if you have to decide, what comes first? When there is a conflict, which comes first?

May 12, 2009

Tue, 12 May 2009 23:30:06 +0800

One year anniversary of the earthquake. To be honest, today just slip from my fingers, another crucial way to tell us (sadly) that no matter what happens, the world still keep going…

I spent 7 hours talking today, and had two pretty important meetings in the morning. A long and tiring day. I said communication is the key to any success. I do mean it, and that is the reason I will spend the rest of the month purely on communication.

Second Impression of Shanghai Expo Site

Mon, 11 May 2009 22:29:02 +0800

This is a follow up article after my previous article: First Impression of Shanghai Expo Site

The other day, I visited the Shanghai Expo Site with the Australia Pavilion Group. Before I entered the site, I took a picture of the current Shanghai Expo Land site:

This is the picture of the site on May 9, 2009. If you still remember, in the previous article, I posted a similar photo from a little bit higher than this view point, you will find out the building behind changed a lot.

Australia Pavilion's Construction Site

Sun, 10 May 2009 22:36:35 +0800

I am happy to be invited to the Australia Pavilion’s construction site inside the Shanghai 2010 Expo Site. Thanks to Anna from Ogilvy PR, and Australia Pavilion team. This is the second time I participate in an even of the Australia Pavilion. I feel very involved with the project. (This was my report from the last time when the foundation was completed).

The Location of the Australia Pavilion

I would complain a little bit that there is no map available to outline the exact location of each pavilion on the Shanghai Expo web site. I searched, and was not able to find one (any reader can point to a direction if you know the existence of this map?). By visiting the construction site, I am able to have some rough idea about where the site is.

Communication is Key to Any Success

Thu, 07 May 2009 23:59:35 +0800

Once again, it is proved the importance of communication in our team.

Communication is a very very very important thing in a team, and we need to make sure the trust are maintained among everyone, and information is freely available to everyone. That is key to the success of anything.

To make something work is an art. It includes many factors that multiply by each other. It is hard to say which is the most important one, but communication is definitely a factor that can easily get to a lower score, which affect the people, and thus affecting many things.

Two Nice Photos from Xiaoliang

Wed, 06 May 2009 22:50:59 +0800

Xiaoliang just got back from his Europe trip. I found two nice photos of his recent blog, and want to share with my readers.

Shanghai Changjiang (Yangtze) River Bridge

Recently, Shanghai went crazy to build really big bridges, like Donghai Bridge, and Hangzhou Bay Bridge.

This one is also very amitious - to connect Chong Ming Island to Shanghai via a bridge. Here is the almost completed bridge from airplane:

Make My Blog Faster

Tue, 05 May 2009 16:50:07 +0800

In day one, my blog was very fast. These days, I don’t feel it is as fast as it was long time ago. I started to add more and more elements to this blog, and unfortunately, it slows everything down a bit at a time, and now, it is not as fast as before.

At the same time, I am working very hard in my company to make Baixing.com even faster. These two things can be done in parallel, and I can use some tips and learning from this site and apply it to my blog.

Enjoy the Beauty of Life

Mon, 04 May 2009 21:03:37 +0800

I live far away from office, and it costs me one hour to get to where I work. That is one of the key painful things I have in my life. Wendy and I tried many different solutions from waking up earlier, to looking for an apartment to rent in nearby places, and other ways.

Finally, we give up the idea of buying or renting an apartment near where I work. We decided to really think about what we have today, and appreciate what we have, instead of pursuing what we don’t have. I loved to discuss about the meaning of happiness, but from time to time, we just lost in our own puzzled life, and forget it.

Google Analytics Cookie by this Site

Sat, 02 May 2009 22:16:59 +0800

I am using Google Analytics to track traffic to this site, and thus, it will set first-party cookie on computers of my readers. To help my readers to understand what it is, and whether it contains any private information (someone asked), I am writing a quick guide, although it should be Google’s job to do it.

__utma

Name: __utma

Content: 140862379.1932703144.1241269035.1241269035.1241269035.1

Domain: .home.wangjianshuo.com

Path: /

Sent For: Any type of connection

Balloon and Camera in Outer Space

Sat, 02 May 2009 19:44:16 +0800

Robert Mao posted a nice article talking about two outer space projects.

One is the Teddy Bear project. The pupils in UK made the balloon and shipped it with two teddy bears, and send it to 30 km away from space.

I love this picture also - the pupils put a teddy bear into a plastic bottle to keep it warm in the harsh cold in outer space, and another one wear a plastic head cover - seems to be the bottom of a Pepsi bottle.

Clear Shanghai Night

Fri, 01 May 2009 20:27:31 +0800

It is nice to have a good view outside my office window, isn’t it? It is especially true when it is clear night in Shanghai.

Photo by Jian Shuo Wang

I know there are many photos like these in my blog, but I just cannot help to post the same view again and again on my blog, since I am impressed by the views from time to time.

Breakeven Happiness

Fri, 01 May 2009 20:20:38 +0800

I got a new term called break-even happiness from MC today. Very nice term. Just like a company that can either be losing money or break-even or profitable, the status of break even happiness means the status of not having obvious pains, and no things that trouble you too much, and you don’t have too much extra than that.

That is a nice state to get for any one in a startup company, and that is what we want to archive first. Although there are big return in the future in terms of stock options, we want to make sure everyone is at least happy about their life - to lead a reasonable good life with dignity, and don’t have to worry too much about their family and personal life. So people can be patient with the growth of the company. Nice term! It is nice to apply that to daily life.

China and US is Opposite on North and South

Fri, 01 May 2009 19:43:00 +0800

I talked with a friend today and he always cannot relate Shanghai with finance and operational type of city, and relate Beijing with culture, and media center. I believe that is the tend of thinking for many people.

In US, north may mean economy centers, and mean people are more business oriented, and for south, the people is more straight-forward culturally, and it is not as business oriented as the north.

Why Use the Pedstrain Crossing?

Fri, 01 May 2009 00:05:47 +0800

I talked a lot about traffic rules, and people jaywalking on the street, and even how I drive in Shanghai. All the thought is based on two assumptions:

The international traffic rules are always the best laws possible
We should always follow the laws although in China, most people don’t do itBut after my visit to Xiamen, and to be more exact, in Gulangyu Island, I started to think twice about what I have believed for so many years. The key question is, why we need a pedestrain crossing in the first place, and why people cannot just go across the road as they wish? I know it is crazy ideas but let me explain more.

Jinji Lake - Rebuild Another West Lake

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:34:00 +0800

This post was created one months ago, and only show up today.

For people tired of going to West Lake in Hangzhou or The Humble Administrator’s Garden in Suzhou (I mean, after you visit these two places for more than 10 or 20 times), they may be interested to find out somewhere that si near Shanghai, and offers something new. Wendy and I went to Jinji Lake last Tuesday on our six year wedding anniversary. To my greatest surprise, the Jinji Lake has been turned into a new West Lake type of tourism destination, and a Xintiandi type of clustering of modern chain high-end restaurants, and Around-Century-Park type of high-raising residential areas.

Why People Don't Use Voice Mail in China

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:43:59 +0800

People in China don’t use calendar as often as United States. I talked about it in a blog entry back in 2005: Do You Have a Calendar?. I also talked about Why Classified is NOT Popular in China, Yet. Today, I want to talk about another thing about absolutely no people in China use today. That is voice mail.

Chinese is Unique? No

Four years ago, when I just joined eBay, and had the golden opportunity to witness the fight between eBay and Taobao from an inside on the eBay side. During many in-depth discussion with Meg Whitman when she was in Shanghai, I tried very hard to convince her that China is different. China has a unique culture, unique history, and unique user behavior, and we should treat China very differently.

Two Things Other Tourist Don't Do in Shanghai

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 20:20:53 +0800

When I am asked about three most interesting things that other tourists do not do in Shanghai, I typically give the following suggestion.

1. Transit Between Metro Line #1 and Line #2 in Rush Hours

I know you are tired of the routine scenic spots, and try to dive deep into the daily life of people in this city, a metro ride is a must. To be further visually impressed by the energy of this city, you should schedule your metro ride between 8:00 AM to 8:30 AM. You will not only see what we call “People Mountain People Sea”, it is the type of people and the expression on their face, their pace, what they do in the metro cart, and how huge number of people interact with each other. The scene is shocking for myself every time I experience it. Is there anything more significant to see the largest hub of people in a city with 16 million people?

Shanghai Auto Show 2009

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 19:09:33 +0800

3:00 PM, when Yifan fell asleep, Wendy and I tried to figure out where to spend the precious 2 hours without interruption, we had the idea to visit the Shanghai Auto Show. We should cherish our opportunity to be in Shanghai, and live just 5 km away from the Shanghai International Exhibition Center, where the Auto Show is located.

Is it a Auto Show, a Model Show, or People Sea Show?

How my Fake Boarding Pass was Made

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 23:28:44 +0800

I showed a fake, hand-drawn boarding pass in my previous post: Three Interesting Photos. Here is the complete story:

Dengjia got a blank Spring Airline boarding pass. He draw the pass according to his.

Photograph by York

and it turned out to be this:

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

and finally, everyone saw it and was very happy about it.

Photograph by York

5 Comments

did you use it?

— Nick (@riceagain) · 2009-04-26 01:45

I should have added a comment on the blog: It is just for fun, and there is no way to use it, especially the bar code - no way for computer to recognize the code.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2009-04-26 14:25

Is it supposed to be a April Fool's trick ?

— 福生 · 2009-04-26 15:57

Btw, I know most of you are unable to watch Youtube in China, but I have something to share with you fellas. So I downloaded it to my blogspot. It's a lesson to us not to judge a book from it's cover. Come over and click here Wang,..

http://justmenus.blogspot.com/2009/04/valuable-lesson-learned.html

— 福生 · 2009-04-26 16:02

Hehe. It is that type. There are this type of joke all the way to Xiamen.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2009-04-26 19:08

Another Drawing - Zhangsanfeng's Milk Tea Shop

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 23:55:16 +0800

When I find some spare time and especially there is a cup of nice milk tea before me, I love to draw something. It was inspired by the Art of Travel, and other related books. By drawing, you observe the world more closely than you glance it. The actual result of the drawing is not important at all. It is the ACT of drawing that makes a difference. Here is my embarrassingly bad drawing, but I’d be happy to share.

My Homework for Travel Times

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 23:07:17 +0800

This page is created for an important audience, Miss Zhao Ning from Travel Times. I accepted her invitation to be a columnist of the weekly newspaper. Here is the list of articles pending consideration to be published the next week (with its status).

Jinmao Tower.

Back from BossTown

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 22:19:01 +0800

Just finished recording of this week’s BossTown - the guest speaker is Kai-Fu Lee. It is very challenging task - especially when you have the best debator in International Varsity Debate, Jiang Chang Jian sitting on your right hand, and McKinsey’s Sha Sha sitting on the left.

The show went on very well. Wendy’s observation was, at the beginning, I was too nervous (Wendy went there with me, and sit in the dark area off the stage, and I am happy she went with me). She is right. To have the host several meters away from you present an interesting type of conversation - just like the layout of the International Varsity Debate Varsity… I was a debate in the debate team in SJTU (Shanghai Jiaotong University), and act as the fourth member (same as Jiang Chang Jian) but far from even fluent in speaking. I still prefer the scenario of Culture Matters. As I said, it was a bigger challenge for me, since this may be one of the first media show like this.

BossTown Record Tomorrow

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 22:40:28 +0800

Tomorrow, I am going to be an observer of BossTown, the popular business talk show hosted by YLFer, Yuan Ming. The guest of this show will be long time friend, Kai-Fu Lee, and another observer will be Jiang Chang Jian, from Fudan University (my idol when I was in middle school).

P.S. Recently, very tired, and want to defer longer post to the next few weeks. Maybe it is because of frequent travel, and tight daily schedule to meet with people. I sit much less before a computer screen than before.

Three Interesting Photos

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:46:42 +0800

I haven’t taken metro in rush hours for a long time, so I was surprised to see the current metro volume in Shanghai.

People need to wait for a long time to go down the stairs - without moving at all.

P.S. here is another photo I took from my mobile in Starbucks in Xujiahui (Metro City Store). They just renovated.

P.S. 2: Another interesting photo. For my Xiamen trip, Yiyi gave me the boarding pass like this:

Pudong Airport to Shanghai Expo Site

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:52:11 +0800

When the Shanghai Expo get nearer, I believe more and more visitors will need the information to get to Shanghai Expo Site from Pudong Airport - the main International airport in Shanghai. This article try to explain the options available.

Back from Xiamen (and Why OOB)

Sun, 19 Apr 2009 01:09:12 +0800

This is the last day of my four day trip in Xiamen. I was OOB in the last few days (since April 13, 2009). The four day trip was too intensive that I didn’t find time to sit down to update a blog - I hope I should have posted something like OOB before hand.

The special thing about this photo is, the islands in this picture is Jinmen, and it is under governence of Taiwan.

Another Drawing and Yifan

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 22:54:23 +0800

In Beijing, when I waited for a dinner to start, I brought out my notebook, and draw the following sketch. What is it?

I hope you can recognize the object from the embarrassingly bad drawing. It is the cover of a man-hole in Beijing.

Yifan and Camping

After the long and delayed Beijing trip, whole day of SJTU 113 Anniversary Gather on new Minhang Campus, and a full series of meeting on Sunday, I finally had the time to setup my camp on the same grand again (although I know most of my readers don’t think it is a camping, but for me, it is). Yifan loves it. Look!

Yifan can Count from 1 to 9

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 22:28:31 +0800

Just now, Yifan finished his daily practice of language. Now, at 1 year and 10.5 months, he can pronounce number from 1 to 9 - pretty clear - in Chinese, of cause.

We count how many ducks on his quilt with me. Bingo. My little boy can count to 9.

Note from a happy father.

4 Comments

It's certainly no surprise if the son of Wang Jian Shuo turns out to be good with numbers :-)

— Carroll · 2009-04-13 08:36

Hi Jian Shuo ,

I know you and your wife can speak good English.

and I am just wondering , how about your cute son?

Do you talk to him in English some times ?

— Lu Wei · 2009-04-13 08:39

Well. He is not good at numbers. He just started to pronounce. Now, Yifan enters a stage to be noisy and speak a language from Mars.

We never speak English to him. Don't have any intention to do that in the future, even in far future.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2009-04-13 10:37

that's the so-called "quiet beauty", which is my dream, little jealous about u :)

— tonyliu · 2009-04-18 20:07

New SJTU Minhang Campus - Part II

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 16:46:12 +0800

Let me share some photos of the new Minghang Campus of SJTU. When we studied on this campus, the campus is only 1600 sq. acre. Now, it is almost 5000 - 3 times bigger.

Here is the current map. I did have seen this map when I just entered the university 14 years ago, but never really thought the map and the model can become true one day.

I have been to this campus several times after graduation (here, here, here, and here). This is the first time I started to record in details with a camera.

10 Years Gather Since Graduation

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 23:35:10 +0800

Just returned from a day long gather on the SJTU campus. I haven’t seen most of them since we left the campus 10 years ago.

Photo by Wang Ye. Click on photo to view bigger image

I just have a question: How can it be possible for everyone not to change at all after 10 years? Everyone matches exactly what I remembered 10-14 years ago. I don’t believe that people won’t change. It must be a psychology topic to discuss. I just feel that they are so familiar as if we just graduated the last week.

Beijing to Shanghai via Nanjing

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 01:26:31 +0800

I just left CA177 from Beijing to Shanghai, and arrived in Nanjing Lukou Airport. I know it is ridiculous, I know, but it happened. It was said that due to weather situation in Pudong that didn’t allow safe landing, our flight was forced to land at Nanjing Airport.

Update: 00:30, April 11, 2009

I am back from Nanjing. The airport arranged bus to transfer us to Shanghai. The bus took exactly 3 hours to get to Shanghai from Nanjing.

Fly to Beijing Again via CA933 again

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 01:06:31 +0800

This is the second time I record my trip from Shanghai to Beijing via CA933. It is not as perfect as the last time, but still OK, and worth some logistic recording.

Wake up at 6:30 AM as always, wash and waste some time by sitting on the water closet and check my RSS feed, I finally called a taxi at 7:00 AM. I forget how many times I regret that I would have called the previous night. Qiangsheng taxi does not accept 30 minutes in advance booking. That is possible in the previous night. I have to make the call and the taxi arrives several minutes late.

My First Camping with New Tent

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 22:45:58 +0800

I am a very happy customer of my new Quechua 2 Seconds Air III (Quechua is the brand name, 2 Seconds implies that by throwing the tent into the sky and the tent will be installed in 2 seconds. Air means they have window on the side, and it is called Air Cooling System, and III means three adults can sleep in it). So far, all the promises in the name turned out to be true.

Love Camping

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 23:41:21 +0800

Went for camp near where we live, just near the water below.

Three families joined the casual camping - three couple + 2 children (Yifan missed the camping because he felt asleep at home). We are close friends from junior middle school. Isn’t it nice to have close friend for, OMG, 20 years? Wang Chen brought his tent for us.

At night, we immediately went to Decathlon in Pudong to get a Quechua 2 Seconds Air III.

Favorite Road: Fuxing West Road

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 12:46:51 +0800

This is part of my Favorite Road Project. I want to write about my favorite roads, and then choose my most favorite road in Shanghai

Another road I do enjoy to wander on is Fuxing West Road 复兴西路。

Facts of the Road

District: It is in the Xuhui District at the heart of the historical French Concession.

Direction: West to East

Range: It starts on the west from Huashan Road, and on the east ends at Huaihai Middle Road.

Shouning Road for Crayfish

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:02:46 +0800

I am not so crazy to crayfish as many of my friends. I would rather eat something normal. But Crayfish is quite a phenomenon when there is no crabs to eat.

Recently, the Shouning Road is getting hotter and hotter about THE place to go to eat crayfish. It is the typical Shanghai eatery street - very narrow, very crowded, and not clean at all, but tens of vendors, and shops gather there, along with many people rushing there after work.

I will be in Beijing on April 9

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:25:30 +0800

I am going to Beijing from April 8th, to April 10th.

Currently, my noon to late night of April 9th is booked, and have other meet-up pending for confirmation.

If you want to meetup, please drop a line to me via email (jianshuo at hotmail dot com), leave a comment below, or twitter to me at jianshuo.

I will also hold a Wangjianshuo’s Blog Meetup in Shangri-la hotel lobby, and you are welcome to join from 4:00 - 5:00 PM of April 9th. I will be there. If you want to join, you are very welcome. No registration or confirmation needed. However, my guess is, I will be the only person sitting there with my laptop or my new Moleskine on my lap, and writing something myself. Every time, I just expect that no one will actually show up for my blog meetup, because of some obvious reasons (before was commonly because very short notice period, and this time, because the time and venue are not the most popular choice). But every time, some people come (sometimes just two or three). Check out my previous meetups.

A Peek Inside Someone's Travel Notebook

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:20:59 +0800

A Peek Inside My Travel Notebook, originally uploaded by yusheng.

This is a very interesting notebook with nice travel tips. I am going to create a one page for every travel I am going to make. Moleskine helps people to get back to paper age. Internet and computer are still far less convenient than paper and pen, and becomes very successful as a company itself. The success is admirable.

OK. I will start my travel page from page 200 of my Moleskine.

I Bought a Moleskine

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:43:34 +0800

I hopelessly fall in love with Moleskine notebook in two days, and before I believe it, I becomes a Moleskine fan.

Although Moleskine has many details of good design and good craftsmanship, it is the usage of Moleskine, and the Moleskine community that attracts me most.

Look at these nice scratches on a Moleskine by those Moleskine owners! It is maybe like Flickr - not only the system, but also who uses it that makes flickr attractive.

10 Years from 32151, Automation, SJTU

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:47:18 +0800

My old classmate Gong Liang sent us an email to remind us to return to Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) on April 11, 2009 - it is the official “Get Back to School” day of SJTU. More than that, it is 10 years since we graduate from university. It brought my memory back to the class 32151 of Automation Department of SJTU.

10 years. I changed a lot in the last 10 years, and the time as a student in Shanghai Jiao Tong University seems to be very far from me. At that time, there was no blog, no digital camera, and there was plenty of time. I am not a good student when I was in university - I may talk about it when I am in the mood of getting back to old days…

Back to Office with Full Energy

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 09:34:58 +0800

I have to admit the best way to get back energy after working for a long time is to give ourselves a pause, and get away from work.

Now, I am sitting in the quiet office, one hour before everyone comes. I will list this as one key happiness items - it allows you to concentrate, and wandering in the office to see where you can improve this important place.

Photos of Shanghai in Spring 2009

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:41:13 +0800

Photos of Shanghai

I took some photos along the way back from Starbucks home, to give my frequent idea about what Shanghai looks like TODAY.

Loving couple before the nice flowers on the tree.

The nice flower - spring comes to Shanghai! Woolaaa!

The Jinmao Tower, and World Financial Center.

And in Lujiazui, this kind of truck is more commonly seen than any other places in Shanghai. Today, Lujiazui is a even bigger construction site, and a bigger mass. :-)

Cannot Measure it, Cannot Improve it

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 22:57:12 +0800

Found a famous quotation, that within Microsoft, people use very often. But this time, saw it on Google’s website:

If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it. by Lord Kelvin

This is for many times proved to be true, and I believe it is also the foundation principle of the modern science. Fengshui? Or Chinese Medicine? That does not include measurement yet. Don’t have measurement does not necessarily means that they are not effective, but it is maybe one of the key distinguishing characteristic of modern science and others. The other is religion - you just cannot use science to explain religion, just like you cannot use English to exactly explain Chinese.

Green Lotus Hotel of Yangshuo

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 22:30:05 +0800

The best way to explorer Yangshuo should be any of the nice hotel (including youth hostels), and hang out in the bars on the West Street.

The lobby (Yes, the little model in the middle is Yifan)

The view from the top of the hotel.

The hotel windows.

The entrance of the hotel from the river side.

The other side of the Lijiang River.

Photos of Yangshuo, Guilin - Part II

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 21:52:23 +0800

Here are more photos of the trip with very brief note. I am here in Shanghai. Immediately after I get off airplane, I headed to Shangri-la for a meeting, and there are two meetings near the Pudong Shangri-la and Starbucks tomorrow. I already noticed the big difference - I feel excited about the upcoming meetings - that is the benefit of a vacation.

Follor near Lijiang River - from the Bilian Jiangjing Hotel.

Why People Travel

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 20:46:38 +0800

Event at the lake of Yangshuo near West Street and facing the nice Bilian (Green Lotus) Hill, I brought out my Nokia E71 smartphone, and Googled the question: “Why people travel?”

Yes. That was exactly the question in my mind, and the question I tried very hard to answer. I read books about it, fall into deep thought in airports, and hotels, and even went to many places myself. The question was still in my mind that I still didn’t find a satisfactory answer. When I am reading a blog entry started with this

Wrapping Up my Guilin Trip

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 23:08:38 +0800

I am packing up for my departure to Shanghai tomorrow. Good bye Guilin and Yangshuo.

It is good and important to take break at least every year to find time to spend with family.
People need to have a unique place to go to make a mark in memory about the year.
This is not a relaxed trip with Yifan, and my parents-in-law. As Wendy put it, we are learning to take care of people, and start to share the responsibility of a family. A big family trip proposes a much bigger challenge on where we stay, and where we eat.

Mountains of Guilin

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 23:26:16 +0800

Just had a strange thought: after several hundred years, when all the tall buildings in Shanghai got abandoned, and trees, and grasses grow out of the buildings, that will be another Guilin.

You get the idea of the mountains of Guilin? Just like the high-raising buildings in Shanghai. It just stand there, coming out of no where.

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

When I am in Guilin, I also understand that the “stone drawing” of Suzhou Museum by I.M. Peimust be the mountains of Guilin.

Yifan on the Road

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 23:43:14 +0800

Yifan on the Guilin to Yangshuo boat - his first boat ride.

Yifan likes his red car - he has been with the car for many weeks - days and nights. At night, he sleeps with the car - any attempt to remove the car from his hands will cause him to cry for a long time to protest against.

Yifan and the bird (technically, it is called Phalacrocorax carbo 鸬鹚). I paid 2 RMB to get the permission to take the photo for Yifan.

Impression of Impression Sanjie Liu

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 22:38:46 +0800

We went to see the long expected Impression Sanjie Liu 印象刘三姐.

The show was designed to be the highlight of the trip, because of several reasons:

It is a show on the Lijiang River, and before the nice mountain.
The type of show is very unique in China.
It is directed by Zhang Yimou, the director of Beijing Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.
Also, the ticket is very pricey: 188 RMB per person.

Bad Tourism: Killing Goose for Eggs

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:52:51 +0800

Tourism is a prosperous industry in China. It drives the economy of many cities, like Guilin (where I am now) and Luoyang (my hometown). How to develop a sustainable tourist industry must have been the focus of many officials. Here is my observation, and thoughts, although I am not sure yet.

Moving Piers to Increase Transportation

Guilin is the popuar travel destination city (with an International airport), and Yangshuo is the emerging and even hotter place that people must visit. The cruise on the Lijiang River is many people’s choice to get to Yangshuo from Guilin, after arriving by air.

Thoughts on the Road

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 23:39:54 +0800

People like to think on the road. I believe it is the massive input of information - the scene, the smell, the noise, the interesting stuff… Here are my thoughts during my Guilin, Yangshuo trip.

Travel

Why people like travel? Besides all the possible reasons, there is another one I found out: Convenience. Most hotels are close to nice streets, beautiful scenes. The nice view or the bar streets are much more accessible for travelers, not local residents. I believe my next travel destination will be Shanghai, the city I live. But I will spend the day in a hotel, which is exactly in the downtown or along the Huangpu Bund - that provides a completely different lifestyle than living in home.

Photos of Yangshuo, Guilin

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 20:53:34 +0800

Let me post some photos of Yangshuo. It is no longer that kind of backpacker trip with Yifan with us, and his fixed schedule of sleep, we are more hotel oriented with just random adventures out side the hotel.

The Gongnong Bridge of Yangshuo.

These mountains are famous because they are on the back of the 20 RMB note.

This is the view from our hotel - no easy way to access the river bank, but the view is still pretty nice.

Customers Wants Service to be Bad

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 23:22:44 +0800

The day tour from Guilin to Yangshuo was by no means a pleasant trip. I don’t like the boat - with 100 people packed into the lower deck, and the bus picked us from the hotel to the pier turned out to be a tourist group, which means we were pushed into the sourviner market before we get on board the boat.

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang. The boat - obviously, it is another boat, but ours is similar.

I am in Guilin

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 22:54:12 +0800

I am in Guilin.

Before I came, I thought Guilin is like Sanya. I am wrong. I am presented a city like Luoyang.

The city is small, crowded (full of the atmosphere of life, of cause), and not so beauitiful. It is like the old town of Guangzhou, or Shanghai - you can find the energy from the chaos.

I even didn’t took a single picture in Guilin, before I left the city for Yangshuo.

Shanghai Bejiing Express Railway Photos

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 23:43:29 +0800

Only seeing is believing. Although I know the Shanghai Beijing Express Railway started construction on April 18, 2008, I didn’t realized that there is big progress there. On March 17, 2009, Wendy and I drove to Suzhou, and along the Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway (A11), you see the poles of the tracks are already completed.

The 1318 km high-speed railway will enable specialized CRH trains to run at 350 km/h, that cut the total travel time to Beijing to 5 hours, from current 10.

Pudong is Now Like Puxi

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 23:33:19 +0800

Remember the painful move decision I made in 2004 about moving from Puxi to Pudong? Then look at what I observed at that time (that is, OMG, 5 years ago):

First Week in Pudong:

Pudong is Quiet

Pudong Sleeps Early

Fresh and Natural Life

No Restaurants, no entertainment

What does Pudong looks like in my eyes after 5 years?

I climbed to the top of one building in the area where I live, and took the following three photos:

I am Going to Guilin

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 07:45:36 +0800

Business is business - the excitement, daily thought (not only daily, it is also nightly), inspiration, challenges, and changes - when I look back, I just realized I didn’t go to a well planned trip in the last two years. What was the last time, I was from business and normal life? 2007 in Australia! It was before Yifan was born. I did visit nearby places like Hangzhou twice, and even fly as far as Sanya for several days, but these two cities are too familiar and we visited almost the same thing as before, and they even didn’t leave too much memories (even not a blog entry) for me.

Metro Between Hongqiao and Pudong Airport

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 22:52:12 +0800

It is reported that the Metro Line #2 will connect the Pudong and Hongqiao airports by May 1, 2010, just in time for the Shanghai World Expo 2010.

Currently, the most effective transition between Shanghai Pudong Airport and Hongqiao Airport is still by bus or taxi. The Maglev is not a feasible approach yet, since it just arrives at Long Yang Road Station. You have to transit to Metro Line #2 first, and then transit to Airport shuttle at Jingan Temple Station, or taxi.

7 Office Design Ideas

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 21:04:16 +0800

From the home office to the enterprise, our environment affects the way we work

Office Design Gallery

With the idea of renovate our office and more interaction area, I visited the Microsoft R&D Center in Grand Gateway, where my good friend Eric and Helen work.

Eric is exactly the right person to turn to. He is very (if not over) sensitive to details, and is conscious about the impact of the small things. We toured from the 9th floor to the 8th, and here were our findings.

6 Years of Marriage

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 22:12:10 +0800

Today, Wendy and I have been married for 6 years. Wow! I hear the applause…

It is a tradition between Wendy and I that we will take one day off, and spend the whole day together to celebrate our anniversary. I looked through my previous blog articles, to try to remember what we did before. Although I don’t write down exactly what we did each year, I have a rough idea of the past 5 years.

A Glass Cup of Water on Left Hand

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 22:25:07 +0800

Foreigners have typically wrong perception about China. One is, Chinese all knows some Kongfu, and the other is, people in China all believe in Fengshui. I don’t believe in Fengshui, until recently.

Let me tell you the story.

A Glass Cup of Water on the Left Hand

I read a Fengshui book about where you should put your water glass. They suggest that according to Fengshui theory, you should keep a glass of water on the left hand on the desk, and always keeps above 60% of water in the glass.

Hotmail Opens POP3

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 11:53:18 +0800

Yesterday, I tried to use Gmail to receive emails in Hotmail, and found out that Hotmail already opens POP3 access to all users. At least for me, I am in China.

Here is the necessary settings:

POP3 Server: pop3.live.com (port 995)

Need POP SSL? Yes

User name: your Windows Live ID, like somebody@hotmail.com (Please note: you have to include the @hotmail.com part, not just the name)

Password: your password

SMTP Server: smtp.live.com (port 25 or 587)

Pi Day - I can Remember Pi

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 23:40:59 +0800

Today is Pi Day, a new holiday invented by people in America.

I am a fan of pi. I once can remember a lot of digits of pie, but now, I can only remember the following, using the segmentation when I recite it:

3.1415926

535

8979

323

8462

643

3832

7950

2884

19716

93993

7510

5820974

9445923

0781640

6286208

9986280

This is roughly the first 85 digits of pie. Yes. I recite it when I write it.

16300 Dialup Internet Access

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 19:43:02 +0800

The other day Jack Gu reminded me that the easiest way for anyone to access Internet is still using dial up.

In today’s broadband Internet age, many people may already forget the existence of dial up network. It does exist, and is surely one of the easiest, and most widely available Internet access method. It is especially good for international travelers. Here is how you use it.

Number and Price

The most important piece of information is dial up number, user name and password:

Bad Behavior, Its Reason, and Future

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 19:18:57 +0800

Under this blog entry Beer Can by the Highway vs Spitting about bad behavior like spitting, traffic rules (jay walking) and pushing in China, Stephen left comments, and I posted my response. It seems it worth sharing with more readers in case you ignored the comment part.

Disclaimer: Although we hold different point of view, I’d like to thank Stephen for pointing out a valid point, and he has all my due respect for doing this.

Meetings Today

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:16:08 +0800

Since talking with industry insiders have been my full time recently, I talked with many great people today. I met with Zhongwei Lee, president of Shopex over lunch. He is an expert on sales management, and business model. Then I talked with Carsten - we found out that we are in the same building (Hao Ran Hi-Tech Building), but we never met each other (even not in elevator), and in the afternoon, I met with John Chow (yes, the famous John from Johnchow.com). I finished my day with great conversation with Jack Gu, CEO of PPDAI.com, the C2C Lending platform in China. He mentioned that he has unsubscribed his broadband Internet plan at home and switched to dial-up. I think it is a fantastic idea to free up some time at night.

Beer Can by the Highway vs Spitting

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:10:29 +0800

I guess one of the biggest “culture shock” on the first day for foreigners visiting Shanghai are two things: 1) Traffic Rules, 2) Spitting. At least this is what I heard from time to time from my friends, and this 10 Things You Love/Hate About Shanghai post comments. BTW, is there any others?

For this issue, I always take it easy and want to say:

It is embarrassing that the situation is still as it is, but there is a historical and reality reason behind it. It has nothing to do with culture, or morality.

Thoughts After Seeing Dubai Tower

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 23:21:08 +0800

Anyone here ever visited Dubai? Saw the Dubai Tower?

Image in courtesy of Ammar Abd Rabbo

I saw an article about Dubai on the recent issue of Asia Business Leaders. I was very impressed by the Dubai Tower. It is so tall. When you see things as tall as this big, people may give up the idea of building a even taller building than that.

At least, I lost my interest in the future Shanghai Tower (632m when finished), which is taller than the current Shanghai World Financial Center, but much lower than this tower.

Living Cost in Shanghai (2009 Edition)

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:56:41 +0800

I have published a series of articles on Living Cost of Shanghai (2002 Edition, and 2007 Edition). Let me continue to update this pure unofficial one-man effort index of the living cost of this city. It is not only a annual update, it is in the new background of global financial crisis, and I try to analyze its impact to living cost in Shanghai.

Please note: 1 USD = 6.80 RMB as this article is written. (It was 7.75 on January 22, 2007)

Expo China Pavilion - Oriental Crown

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 21:20:57 +0800

Here is the Shanghai Expo 2010 China Pavilion, a.k.a Oriental Crown.

Taken by Jian Shuo Wang on March 8, 2009

It does look like a crown.

Where is it?

It is located the crossing road of horizontal and vertical axes. The photo above was taken at the Shangnan Road 上南路 and Pudong South Road 浦东南路. This cross road is also the terminal station of the current Metro Line #8. BTW, Shangnan Road will be the main axes for the Expo site.

'We Thought...'

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 12:13:18 +0800

In the gray cloudy Saturday morning, I sit down with Elliot Ng, and other friends in Meeting Place: Starbucks at Jinyan Road, Pudong for some free chat. For some reason, we talked about contrast of people’s belief and the reality of this world.

“We Can Change”

To better understand the different, I found by adding “We Think …” to whatever statement twist the meaning a lot. Even more interestingly, adding “We thought …” to any statement is even more clear about the difference.

Train is Better than Car to Hangzhou

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 22:46:20 +0800

I am back from Hangzhou via CRH Train. I would still highly prefer train over cars to get to Hangzhou from Shanghai, especially for international visitors. Here are some advantages of train:

Train is faster - 1 hour and 30 minutes for train, but car can easily take 2 hours - both does not include the travel time in Shanghai or Hangzhou city.
Train is safer - I am not happy with the safety record of Shanghai-Hangzhou Expressway (aka A8). You have to deal with many full stop on the road - scary.

Finished Talk in Hangzhou

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 00:51:30 +0800

Pretty late now (12:55 AM), and I am sitting at a budget hotel at Hupan Garden 湖畔花园. It is 160 RMB (discount of 20 RMB comes Jim Sang, who is their frequent guest). Jim said the advertisement of this residential area stated many years ago that this is the only villa area in Hangzhou that you can hear the song of birds.

This garden is more famous in Internet community because of its connection with Taobao, and Alibaba - all of them are born in one villa in this area. People believe in Fengshui a lot and said this area has good Fengshui.

Follow Me on Twitter

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:25:24 +0800

Recently, I am using twitter pretty often. I just realized that I may have many readers who are also using twitter. I am delivering my daily blog update, including my English blog (this one) and Chinese blog to my twitter.

So, please follow me on twitter now. My twitter account is jianshuo

Follow me on Twitter

3 Comments

Well, like many fanatic fans on sina.blog.com.cn, please allow me to burst in craze: I'm the first one to comment!!

— Yang · 2009-03-06 15:00

Well. On this blog, we don't encourage any comment that is not with real content. Sofa, shafa, or things like this are strongly discouraged.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2009-03-07 12:08

Twitter is not working for me anymore here in China... is it for you?

— Tati · 2009-06-05 23:32

Eighth YLF Meeting in November

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 10:32:44 +0800

YLF 2009 Time

Just got email from Jon that the eighth YLF (Young Leader’s Forum) meeting will happen in November 4-8, 2009, in China. The location is not confirmed yet. I am very expecting to join the meeting and see my old deep friends there.

WWW Conference Developer Track

Yesterday, just one day before the deadline, I managed to review the 11 papers assigned to me. I am pretty flattered that some of the paper sent to me are actually pretty important persons, like Matt, the architect of YUI… Hope the conference go on well in Spain - I don’t have plan to attend in person though.

Tired in Shanghai

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:23:24 +0800

The recent Shanghai Daily Article We’re tired, say office workers caused some discussion about the pressure level of office workers in Shanghai.

FEELING tired is the top complaint of local office workers, followed by worries over their jobs and emotional problems, according to an online survey.

And the following finding put a smile on my face:

Global travelers and artists were considered the people with the most enviable lives and the survey found that the best sources of happiness and satisfaction came from going to places they had never been before and staying with family or people they loved.

Civitology and Shanghaiology

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:23:19 +0800

Had a cup of coffee with @David Feng about Civitology and Shanghaiology. David did wonderful job in taking pictures and record every metro station in Shanghai, Beijingand Tianjin.

What I learn from David during our conversation is the western popular idea of “dummy proof”. “There are many be mistakes of giving too much information, and there are mistakes of giving too little information. If we can choose, we the first mistake” David explained, and he also talked about a sample equation: “Instead of giving 3+7 to your user, give 10”.

What is Happening in Shanghai

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:29:23 +0800

Looking at twitter, and you can find out many people’s story related to Shanghai. Here is what is people are doing around Shanghai. Hit F5 from time to time to get update. You see, Shanghai as a big hub with many people coming and go, and they have something in comment - they are twitter users, and love to share what they are doing.

function link_url(input){return input.replace(/(ftp|http|https|file)://[\S]+(\b|$)/gim,’$&’).replace(/([^/])(www[\S]+(\b|$))/gim,’$1$2’).replace(/shanghai/gim,’Shanghai’);}function show(data){for(i=0;i<data.results.length;i++){document.getElementById(“msg”).innerHTML += “

” + data.results[i].from_user + “: " + link_url(data.results[i].text) + “

”}}

Congratulations to Xiaoliang and Tangjing

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 15:35:37 +0800

I am in the Liudao Resort to attend Xiaoliag and Tangjing’s wedding. Xiaoliang is not only my business partner, he is also my good friend. In the last four years of Baixing.com (a.k.a Kijiji.cn), we went along the same ups and downs, and we have built enough trust possible. We are more than friends, and I am very happy that Xiaoliang finally get married - counting as another marriage after Jiachen/Yeyun and others.

Jian Shuo Wang's Talk on Lunch 2.0

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 11:25:39 +0800

Let me briefly record the transcript of my talk on Lunch 2.0 meetup. I talked very fast, and may be only used 3 minutes. It was supposed to talk about my business baixing.com. But as always, we want to be low profile about what we are doing, I talked about something instead. It is basically based on a Chinese blog article about entrepreneurship I recently wrote.

I started by saying “I am Jian Shuo wang, CEO of Baixing.com. It is a online classified service that provide housing, jobs, second-hand, services, and community. Since the business model of classified is so simply, let me talk about three things I learn from 4 years of my company”. Tomorrow is actually the 4th year anniversary of baixing.

Expats More Need Community

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 10:58:11 +0800

I just attended the Lunch 2.0 organized by George, invited by Gang Lu and Calvin. As I described in my last blog International Events in Shanghai, I was surprised to find out it is a pure international event - the expat entrepreneur community meetup.

The conversation is in English - I delivered short 5 minute speak along with my old friend Zhang Tao (CEO of Dianping.com, and host of this Lunch 2.0), and new friend David Feng of Citiology. The attendants, as I expected, are mainly expat entrepreneurs in Shanghai

International Events in Shanghai

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 21:55:08 +0800

I don’t know about you, but I feel that there are more and more international events in Shanghai. To be more exact, by international, I mean events organized by expat community (people not native in China), and use English as the main language, plus the international (western) style, and format.

Lunch 2.0

Let me give you some example. Tomorrow, I was invited by Gang Lu, blogger of www.mobinode.com/ and Calvin, founder of Qifang.com to attend an event Lunch 2.0 Shanghai (facebook page) in Dianping’s office. It is not a surprise for Shanghai to have entrepreneur meetup, but from the RSVP list, I have a feeling that this event is very international. At least I am very sure there are some people on the list who don’t know anything about Chinese, and from the name and background, I am sure another 10 people should use English only. Hmmm…. I didn’t expect that. Shall I ask whether I should use English or Chinese in delivering this speech?

Virtual Physical Name Card

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 21:22:27 +0800

If I sent this link to you, I want to sayGlad to meet you. Sorry that I didn’t bring my name card with you today. Here is my Virtual physical name card. Keep in touch!

If you just discover this link by yourself, continue to read about why I posted this.

Sometimes, I went to meet with people only to find out I didn’t bring my name card. I promised to send to them later, and most of time, I did. The interesting thing is, many of them, we know each others’ contact information already (like email and mobile phone), but just feel the need to exchange a card to get complete information (title is one of this information that we seldom directly ask). So I take a picture of my name card (two pictures for both sides) and post it online. It feels better to see a real name card than VCard.

A Blogger at a Media Event

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:14:32 +0800

What happens if a blogger attend a media conference designed for journalists? This was what happened today, when I was invited to join the Australia Pavilion Foundation Completion Ceremony. Here is my observation.

Amateur vs Professional

It seems everyone in that room was there simply because it was their jobs.

There are officials from both Australia and Chinese government - should be pretty routine job for them to participate in events like this. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean it is not important, but to do ceremonial thing again and again may cause people lose the real passion doing that - just holding wedding ceremony many times may cause the bride and groom to lose their passion for love at the moment of exchanging finger ring.

Australian Pavilion Foundation Completed

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:37:07 +0800

I am currently sitting at the audience seat of a special event: Shanghai Expo Australian Expo Pavilion Foundation Completion Ceremony. I was invited by Ogilvy Public Relationship Shanghai as a “journalist” of digital media - interestingly enough, this is the first time. The original ceremony was planned to be held before the Australian Pavilion construction site (wow!) but now it was moved to a conference room inside the Expo Land building due to the heavy rain this morning. As you can imagine, it is not fun at all if you have to get to the center of a construction site in this weather. Pretty disappointed, to be honest, and I want to find other ways to get into the site - I mean before the Expo starts. I am a big fan of construction site.

First Impression of Shanghai Expo Site

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:27:03 +0800

Note: this entry was overwritten by another one for some time, and I have now recovered it

Well. To be more exact, this is my first impression of the Shanghai Expo planning headquarter which is located partly inside the Shanghai Expo Site.

Where is it?

The Shanghai Expo Building is located #3588, Pudong South Road. Coming from the north of the Pudong South Road, you can see a 12-story building with big ExpoLand logo on it. That is it.

Favorite Road: Wukang Road

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 19:42:45 +0800

I have been asked many times about my favorite road in Shanghai. It is so hard to answer this question, since I have many roads in my minds that can be my favorite road. So I am trying to make a list along my way of discovery of my real favorite road. Wukang Road 武康路 is just a starting point - let me repeat, I have not decided to give my favorite road title to Wukang Road yet.

Six Apart's Problem?

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 22:34:51 +0800

Whenever I search for some plugins on MovableType community, I constantly run into the great plug-ins by Byrne Reese. The plugin that is in my head is AutoLink. I am thinking about installing it tonight. However, when I just browse the articles on Byrne’s website, I stumbled upon an article dated back to December 5, 2008: A sad departure from Six Apart and looking to the future. Byrne left the company? It was from that entry did I understood that Six Apart has done 8% layoff in November 2008.

Track Click on Elements

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 21:55:09 +0800

I once used the code below to track the clicks on elements on a page. If you know JavaScript, you may understand what it is about.

// Track every click within the page.

document.onclick = function(e) {

    e = e || window.event;

    el = e.target || e.srcElement;

if(el.tagName.toLowerCase() != ‘a’ || el.tagName.toLowerCase() != ‘input’) return true;

    var name = “”;

    var i = 0;

    while(el != document && i++ < 10 && el.tagName.toLowerCase() != “html”) {

Congratulations to Ryun and Jenny

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 21:26:52 +0800

Ryun and Jenny got married tonight. I just got back from their wedding ceremony in Shenyuexuan at Dingxiang Garden.

It is always nice to join the wedding ceremony of friends, especially when you know both the bride and groom. It keeps reminds us that there are much more than work in everyone’s life - to have some good friends, and to have a warm family (with husband, wife, and parents, and children) are so wonderful.

A15 Expressway Shanghai

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 13:23:46 +0800

Shanghai has pretty huge construction these days. Yesterday, Wendy and I drove to Minhang, and saw the construction of a brand-new long expressway was under construction: the A15 Expressway.

This new expressway is not well-known yet. It starts from the Pudong International airport, and go from there west-bound, and get cross the Huangpu River via a huge Minpu Bridge, and continue to go straightly west, cross current A4 road, and go to Zhejiang province. It was reported that the expressway will be completed this year (2009).

Microsoft Shanghai Zizhu Campus

Sat, 21 Feb 2009 21:48:33 +0800

It was a sunny afternoon (update: it quickly turns into thunderstorm tonight), and Yifan fall asleep. There is nothing for Wendy and I to do - pretty rare in the last two years, so we cherished the great opportunity to wander around. Wendy had a crazy idea, and I was even more crazier than her: I agreed.

The idea was, to drive 35 km away to Microsoft Shanghai’s new campus in Zizhu Science and Technology Center. The construction of this center is pretty important to us, since Microsoft is moving most of its technical people to that center, which, unfortunately, including Wendy.

Who is Chris Devonshire Ellis - Part II

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 23:11:57 +0800

I have already decided leave this Chris Devonshire Ellis (a.k.a cde) alone after I briefly wrote this blog entry: Who is Chris Devonshire Ellis. As I said, I don’t care who he is - good or bad - it is just completely not my business. He was brought to my attention just because the three pretty silly threatening emails, and two phone calls. Well. I received a few of them because of some other people’s comment on my blog (and interestingly, more than half of the threatening letter comes because they want me to delete their own comment on this blog, like this).

Meaning of 886 in Chinese

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 10:31:00 +0800

I received email asking about what 886 means in Chinese. This is an interesting question.

886

Simply put it, 8 may generally means rich, because it has similar pronunciation of being rich. 6 means smooth, since the pronunciation of 6 is pretty smooth by itself.

886 is a pretty good number, in most Chinese people’s mind.

Meanwhile, it is also the international long distance area code number for Taiwan (mainland China is 86, and Hong Kong is 882).

Thanks to the Crisis

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:19:27 +0800

This is the second entry about the Financial Crisis. As an Internet entrepreneur, I have some observations.

It Reminds us the Basics of Business

One of the key basic rule we noticed these days is: profit equals revenue minus cost.

This equation is obviously but was not paid attention to during booming times. When Internet investment is hot, people tend to think about revenue and cost this way:

Every dollar in revenue may result in 20 dollars in valuation of the company, and for that 1 dollar, many first-time-entrepreneurs and VCs are willing to spend 1.2 dollars to get, or even 18 dollars! That is the source of the crazy Internet bubble when people spend 18 dollars just to get 1 dollar - the sin of valuation.

Financial Crisis and Shanghai

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:10:27 +0800

It may be too late for me to write about the financial crisis, and its impact to Shanghai (I tried hard to avoid to use too big terms like China - basically, I only know a very small portion of the city of Shanghai, not to mention about China).

Shanghai IS Impacted

Despite of many claims that China is fine so far, I clearly feel the arrival of winter, or at least approaching of financial winter.

Shanghai 2010 Expo Site

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:48:35 +0800

Everyday, we drive along the Nanpu Bridge, and see the Shanghai Expo site spread out on the west side of the bridge - from pretty crowded Shanghai typical residential area, and factories, to a destroyed land with barely nothing, to a big construction site, and then become a new Lujiazui style cluster of high-raising buildings… The change just happens gradually without me even noticing it.

The other day, I took taxi and ran along the Lupu Bridge, and took the picture below:

Xizhimen Viaduct is Too Confusing

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 23:14:05 +0800

If you have a chance to visit Beijing, besides Tiananmen Square, you have to visit the Xizhimen Viaduct 西直门立交桥. I am quite amazed by how confusing it is. I always wanted to drive on that bridge, because it is a serious challenge for anyone’s IQ.

The big interchanged was built about 10 years ago to solve the complicated transportation problems. After 4 years of design, and 200 million RMB to build, the viaduct becomes a headache for drivers. News about drivers spent hours on the viaduct often appear on newspaper. Let me examine this wonderful viaduct.

Transportation Options in Shanghai

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 21:55:00 +0800

I am always happy to receive emails from my readers to tell me that my blog has helped them in some way. No matter how small the note is, I feel very happy about it. Here is another one, and with a quick question to get from one location to another.

Hi JianShuo,

greetings from Singapore!

I am going to Shanghai next month and chanced upon your blog.

I must say that it really offers great advice compared to the expatriate websites online. Your detailed and informative data has offer a perspective that is stereotypically more Asian-oriented. Kinda makes my life easier should my overseas counterparts ask me for directions during our upcoming seminar.

Received Gift from Media Temple

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 09:26:07 +0800

It seems to me that anything with the name or abbr. of MT is a very good thing. First, MovableType (MT), then Media Temple (MT).

I have been 7 year fan of MovableType, and I am still using it. Most importantly, I got the opportunity to meet with so many great people in Six Apart and setup a deep relationship with them eve since. Remember the big 5 year of blogging party at Six Apart office in San Francisco they held for me? I am so flattered to get the honor, and the legendary story of Mena and Ben is very inspirational for me.

Fireworks and Yifan

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 23:44:23 +0800

Today is the Latten Festival - the festival for the family to get together and have Tangyuan together. Our office closes at 5:30 PM, so people has the extra 30 minutes to get back home to have a great dinner with their family.

Today is also the last chance, maybe, to fire some fireworks. I have kept our fireworks, and crackers to today, and we sent the beautiful fireworks to the sky to celebrate the finally end of the Spring Festival, and the arrival of the year of Ox.

The Help of a To-Do-List

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 22:15:07 +0800

From the early of this month, I started to create a to-do-list for me. As an ENFP type of person, I hate any kind of to-do-list. The life is just a flow of passion, and my focus is where my passion is.

Recently, I discovered a page on zenhabits: How to actually execute your to-do-list. I think that is maybe the most helpful tips I ever had on this, and now my to-do-list is long and my completed tasks are longer. It is very good, and thanks Leo for sharing the great tips.

Car Towing Services in Shanghai

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 07:18:39 +0800

During the Spring Festival, my car broken down on the road. It is the first time I called a towing service in Shanghai. With the popularity of cars, the demand for towing services may increase. Let me share what I learn from the experience.

The Tow Company

There are only two major towing companies in Shanghai: Anchang 安畅 and Jiuyuan 救援

Anchange’s phone number is 021-56995995

(995 in Chinese sounds like “Save Me”)

I had my Wisdom Teeth Extracted

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 19:22:04 +0800

This afternoon, I went to a dentist my friends recommended, and had my right wisdom teeth extracted. It has some problem because of dental caries. It is very painful for me. These days, it started to affect my dining and sleeping. So I have to get it out.

I hesitate a lot before the operation, and it turned out to be painless - it is my first time to do anything with my teeth except daily brushing. Now, 3 hours after that, everything is OK. It is just as before the operation. Good. Now I have 31 teeth.

A Jungle without a Toilet

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 06:28:19 +0800

I thought and talked a lot about the moral problems in China, and how and why people don’t follow rules, and why many times, rightousness fails. Here are some sample articles I wrote about.

What pullzed me was, why certain things worked like this (breaking of rules) and why it is not like that…

Daily Cost of a Tourist in Shanghai

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 23:16:50 +0800

Today, I am going to reply this reader’s email about how much does it cost as a normal budget tourist in Shanghai. Here was the email:

Hi Jian Shuo,

I can’t find anything on your blog about how much per day it would cost to enjoy a holiday on various budgets. Maybe you can only do it for Shanghai but it would be good to see how much to expect to pay per day when I am there in March/April this year. Obviously accommodation costs vary so that could be excluded (with a disclaimer). I am talking about food and travel fares and apporximate sightseeing costs in general. I was thinking about $40US per day would be more than enough for my low budget holiday expenses, again not including hostels and souvenirs.

Shoe Thowing

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 21:01:35 +0800

I got an email from a reader of mine who wanted me to post this message from him:

Dear China,

We wish to express American solidarity with China in sharing our disgust at the Cambridge shoe incident involving Premier Wen Jiabao.

We in the United States know how it feels to have a shoe thrown at your leadership, if you recall the Iraq incident involving our Former U.S. President George Bush.

Hello! Hello! I am Back

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 23:26:01 +0800

If you are a daily reader of my blog and you are the traditional reader (not using a RSS reader, like Google Reader), you may noticed short outage of Wangjianshuo’s blog.

Sorry for that. As I explained in my previous post, bluehost kicked me out of their server room (due to performance issue of my blog), and I have to look for another host.

Although I am not happy about it, it forced me to take the chance to move everything I have to a new host provider, Media Temple. I am still at the sweet moon time with this new hosting, and everything here is wonderful. Please give me feedback about how it feels: the site getter faster, slower, or is there any outage in the next few weeks.

Short Pause of Service of Bluehost

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 22:27:19 +0800

Bluehost is a pretty nice host provider. I am very happy with the service they provided. Although they generated many CPU Exceeded Errors for my account before, but I believe it is because of the low efficiency of my own script, not completely their fault. Actually, the ability to provide this threshold is a very good service to help keep others who share the same server with me from any problems the code causes. So, I am still happy about it.

MediaTemple is Great!

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 14:52:00 +0800

Livid used Media Temple long time ago (two years ago I think), and when I try to find a new hosting company after bluehost, I started to think about MediaTemple.

The several hour of experience I had with MediaTemple was great. I once thought bluehost was the best, because it offered everything I need, but I just find out MediaTemple has everything bluehost had, and provided much more.

Even more surprising thing for me was, I made phone calls to MediaTemple to ask two questions. They answered the phone several rings later (as quick as bluehost), and the person who got my phone, Revon, knows exactly what I was talking about, and gave me the solution immediately. I even got an email like this after the conversation. This is completely out of my expectation. This is really great customer service, combined with really cool technology. I hope posting the email itself should be OK since it is a complement to MediaTemple, and I will be OK to pull it off, if for any reason MediaTemple don’t want their communication with customers being posted.

End of Long Spring Festival Holiday

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 22:50:36 +0800

22:17

This is the end of the long 7-day Spring Festival Holiday, the longest one in the entire year. Relaxed time always flies fast enough. When you take the time to look back, it already pasted away.

To avoid the situation that after many years, I will completely forget what I did during the Spring Festival of 2009, let me create a small memo to summarize the holiday.

Note: I surely know that each paragraph of this article deservers a separate article to provide more information. Let me just summarize at the highest level, and then find a chance to write more. Leave me a comment to tell me which part you love me to write first.

Out Of Blogging

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 10:23:48 +0800

I am out of blogging in the next two days - visiting some places near Shanghai and will get back tomorrow.

How Cold is Shanghai Today

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 20:46:29 +0800

Do you want to know how cold Shanghai is, in a visual way? Let me show you some pictures I took 2 hours ago.

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

It seems the coldness has caused the water pipe on the top floor to break, and the water formed the long ice line. Although it is an accident (not so icey everywhere), it is a visual representation of how cold Shanghai is - it is not common for Shanghai to form so thick ice.

Chinese Zodiac

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:56:58 +0800

Here is the list of the Chinese Zodiac:

Rat
Ox
Tiger
Rabbit
Dragon
Snake
Horse
Ram
Monkey
Rooster
Dog
Pig

When people first know each other, they typically ask for which Zodiac Animal they belong to.

Examples

For example, I am a Snake, Wendy is a Horse, and Yifan is a Pig. :-)

Since there are 12 years in between of two same animal, it is pretty easy to calculate how old is someone. The age is not as a secret as in western world, anyway.

Happy Niu Year

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:23:56 +0800

You read it right, I mean Happy “Niu” Year, not “New” Year.

About 12 hours later, the Chinese Lunar New Year is coming. The year of Ox is coming to us.

Ox is written in Chinese characters as ?, or Niu. Since the pronunciation of Niu is exactly New, and there is a trend to use Niu and New interchangeably among my friends.

So, Happy Niu Year and Happy New Year to all my readers, my friends and family!

Child Care in Shanghai

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 20:12:24 +0800

I tend to use the title of Child Care in China, but at second thoughts, the varity of how people handle their childcare differs so greatly from city to city, from city to villages, and from north to south. I would rather only talk about Shanghai.

Family Structure in China

With the implementation of One Child Policy, most of the families in China is three person family: wife, husband, and child. If you include the extended family, there are parents for both of the couple, which is 7 in total.

Yifan Attacks Me :-)

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 21:19:40 +0800

Yesterday, Yifan happily throw his toy car onto my head - it hurts, and Yifan is so happy and laugh like crazy - it really hurts.

Then he tried to get my nose with his small hand, and scratched my face - there are three points on my face was hurt, with blood coming out a little bit.

Yifan is still cheerful and didn’t know what happened. Hmmm…. It hurts, again.

Why Chinese Prefer Mobile to Access Internet

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 19:19:38 +0800

There was a thread on Webmasterworld about the Internet population in China. There are questinos around:

But why do the Chinese / Japanese so prefer a mobile over a small laptop?

. Here is my attempt to answer the question.

This is just my guess about why Chinese use mobile much more than Japanese or American.

More Hand-Free. With relatively very low penetration of cars in China, most of people either walk, or take bus to move. Their hands are not occupied. There is much more waiting time than average American (this is very similar in Japan).

Which Train Station to Use in Shanghai?

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:31:00 +0800

I received an email today regarding the two confusing train stations in Shanghai. He/she is definitely not the first one to ask the question.

by the way, i would like to ask you because i checked online and wanted to buy a train ticket from shanghai to beijing. my question is i want to ride the T104 train and where is that located? i mean there are three (3) railway stations in shanghai so im a little confused. and maybe you could also give me a chinese address of the station so we can show it to the taxi when we go there. thank you. I’ll wait for your reply pls.

Who is Chris Devonshire Ellis

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 18:13:16 +0800

In short, I don’t know.

In longer answers, I don’t know, I don’t care, as long as I don’t receive annoying legal statements or phone calls.

In the 7 years of blogging, I experienced many conflicts of opinions on this blog. Most of them are around meaningful topics, and I enjoyed the conversations a lot (like this, and this).

However, I was disturbed by a conversation in this entry: Second-Generation Identity Card, related to a person named Chris Devonshire Ellis. If you want to see all the off-topic discussion, scroll down to the comment made by Pesci, and all the discussion after it.

Watching US President Inauguration

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 23:37:24 +0800

I am watching the US President Inauguration 2009 now using Hulu.com

![](http://lh5.ggpht.com/_m78is3Xggbw/SXXwZlnphzI/AAAAAAAAAHc/lLAG-AR9KOQ/s640/???? 2009-1-20 234004.jpg)

Interesting enough, I browsed all the 50-something TV stations I have in my home, there is no single station reporting the event.

Well. Many people argue that who would be interested in a president inauguration in China. There are one scene (night scene, which should be taken 12 hours ago) on CCTV News Channel for 1 minute). That is all I saw 13 minutes before the Inauguration starts.

Short Pause of Comment System

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 23:32:40 +0800

Sorry that due to an ignored error in the template system, more specifically, the invidual archive template, you may experience some problems when you post your comment to this blog. This problem existed for several days and affecting the few most recent blog entry.

Now the problem has been fixed (Thanks Carroll for the email to bring this to my attention). The good thing is, all the comments you have posted are recorded by the system completely, and they should have shown up now.

Visited Police Station Today

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 01:02:27 +0800

Visited the Xuhui Police Station today, for the first time.

6 Comments

For what?

— 3water · 2009-01-21 00:44

This post sounds scary especially for the lacking of information in it. Are you in trouble?

— xge · 2009-01-21 13:23

It is OK, just some chat (not related to this blog). Don't worry, but I would rather not to disclose too much.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2009-01-21 18:50

may be the government of China have done something to make it different ...

they always can and will htt://www.gevezechat.net

— sedat · 2009-01-23 11:22

bedava sohbet chat odalari almanya hollanda chat

— chat odalari · 2009-03-27 11:50

Bu sayfada : Online Filmler, Bedava Film izle, Filmizle izleyebilirsiniz

— film izle · 2009-05-20 05:44

Yifan on Sliding Board

Sun, 18 Jan 2009 22:32:49 +0800

Yifan in the Le Meridien She Shan Shanghai

1 Comments

Ooooooooooooo! I can't stop smiling at this. What a lucky little boy to have found you for his family :-)

— Carroll · 2009-01-21 13:02

The Power of Convenience

Sun, 18 Jan 2009 22:06:09 +0800

I am a strong believer of the power of keeping doing one thing for really long time. Meanwhile, I just discovered the importance of being convenient.

My brother once joked

If you put a book into your restroom, you may become an expert of the area after a year.

To some extend, I think it is true.

My Inspiration in Luoyang

When I am back to Luoyang, I browsed the books on the bookshelf in my parents home - the place I grew up. I just realized I have read most of the books, from Electronic Appliance repairing, to computer, to encyclopedia. Interesting enough, I found out the reason why I know something - it is because the books are there, and I happened to have read it long time ago.

All Metro Stations in A Day

Sun, 18 Jan 2009 11:25:27 +0800

After Starbucks in a Day in Shanghai, and Starbucks in a Day in Beijing, I am thinking and talking about Shanghai Metro in a Day for a long time. The idea first emerges when the Metro Line #6 opened (my visit), but I was not able to really prepare for it. I talked with Wendy for many times, and asked her to be with me.

This morning, I saw Matt’s attempt to explorer Every Metro Station in a Day. Wow. We had exactly the same idea. So I twittered Matt that I will congratulate him for maybe the first person do that, and I will do it again to see whether I can be faster to get there.

HD90 Fake Renminbi Note

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 21:24:55 +0800

HD90?

I just started to form the habit to write down the first four numbers of Renminbi note the first week of this year, the news of fake Renmibi note came out.

I never saw a HD90 note yet. It is pretty famous. Yesterday, we chatted that some people offered 360 RMB for a fake note, just to keep something special.

This event may serve as a PR for the numbers of RMB. The numbers on the note turned out to be meaningless - just as the serial number of CPU - the only thing for sure is, the numbers are unique.

New Year Eve Dinner

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:32:33 +0800

In China, there are tradition called Nian Ye Fan (年夜饭) or New Year Eve Dinner. It is a special dinnner specially designed for family members to gather at the Chinese New Year Eve to celebrate the New Year. But many companies and organization prepare New Year Eve Dinner for their members and employees - it is just the same concept of family New Year Eve Dinner, but just at different time.

Jian Shuo Wang on Channel Young

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:54:20 +0800

5 minutes later, the previous interview with me will be broadcast on Today’s Impression program of Channel Young.

If you are in Shanghai, and you happen to see this note in the next 5 minutes, please tune to Channel Young 上海电视台生活时尚频道 and watch the program.

I am still in office, and don’t feel the temptation to rush back home to watch, because, I already felt that Being on TV is Nothing

Back from Luoyang Family Gather

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:41:06 +0800

Yifan, Wendy, and I am back from our 5-day trip in Luoyang. Time flies, and we would only hope to stay at home longer. My two elder brothers, sister-in-laws, and other 3 little children get together with Yifan. It is a big family with 12 members. Imagine how fortunate we are. Even we have broadband Internet at home, I still didn’t put any time into blogging - maybe the longest blogging pause in the recent months, but it worth it, doesn’t it?

Flying Back to Luoyang Tomorrow

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:32:12 +0800

Tomorrow, we will fly back to Luoyang for several days, and get back next Monday.

It is the first time Yifan gets back home in Luoyang. For the first time, he will see his sisters, and brothers (my brothers’ children). How exciting.

Also, it is the longest time I can spend full time with Yifan in the recent months.

I am back….

P.S. I got my new glasses. Need some time to get used to it.

Yifan's First Google Search

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 22:56:37 +0800

Do you have any idea about what is below?

Google Advanced Search

Preferences

Web

Your search - QQQI8I8QQ8IQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ B N```````````` 3JJ2JJ3" - did not match any documents.

Suggestions:

Make sure all words are spelled correctly.
Try different keywords.
Try more general keywords.
Try fewer keywords.

It is Yifan’s first Google Search. He grasped my laptop and enjoyed typing. When Yifan left, I found out a new browser window with the above content there. How come he started a Google search?

Interview by Channel Young

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:23:05 +0800

From time to time, I get some media request. Most of them are around my little blog. I do want to convert their attentiont to my business, Baixing.com, but most of the time, failed. The editors, and reporters seem more interested in established things, like my 7 year blog, instead of new things (especially when it is not that new). :-)

Me, 7 Years Ago

In 2002, I got my first media interview in Microsoft. That was about the opening of Microsoft Asia Regional Support Center (AREC).

Mortgage Rate Lowered Too

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 23:17:45 +0800

After the change of Airline Fuel Surcharge, the lower of housing mortgage rate is even a bigger news today. Friends are running round to tell friends that the mortgage rate has lowered to 70% of the original level. That is huge amount of money for many people. All the four major banks in China joined the campaign - Bank of China, China Construction Bank, China Bank of Commercial and Industry, and China Bank of Agriculture… Local banks like Bank of Shanghai also issued news about lowering the rate.

Airline Fuel Surcharge Lowered

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 22:32:44 +0800

Wendy, Yifan and I am planning to get back to home in Luoyang in January. We booked flight ticket away ahead, so we are happy to got tickets between Shanghai and Zhengzhou as low as 99 RMB (14 USD) per adult for the 2 hour flight. It is Spring Airline.

However, the biggest part of the cost is not the charge by airline. The fuel surcharge was 150 RMB per person (Yifan enjoy infant waiver) and the airport construction fee is 50 RMB.

Numbers of My 2008

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 14:04:11 +0800

It is nice to wrap up my 2008 with some statistic numbers.

I have 4548 emails in my baixing.com email box - we started to use this email box only after April 1, 2008.
I have 5633 emails in my personal gmail account, among them, 1033 comes from 5GShanghai email group, which 70% of them I didn’t read.
2008 has 365 days (obviously).
I personally created 408 documents in 35 folders in 2008 (in my business folder).

Happy New Year 2009

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 11:06:18 +0800

Happy New Year everyone! We are at the beginning of the year of 2009 now. Wish everyone has a very lucky, happy, and rewarding new year!

Here are some peronsal plans for 2009.

Making long term and big goals to accomplish in 2009. I always wanted to ask the question: “What did you accomplished in the previous year?” This is the test question that many of us, including myself, feel embarrased to answer. To make the 365 days collectively meaningful is more important than individual days, and seperate actions.

Summary of My 2008

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:18:20 +0800

Most memorable experience: the last 2 months with Baixing ? I just feel I returned to myself in 2000 ? hard working and getting great results.
Relaxing trip: with Yifan joining the family, Wendy and I lost the chance to visit any place further than Hangzhou. We brought Yifan to Hangzhou once, when Yifan felt asleep in the baby seat at the back of the car, and he cried loud at night.

Hangzhou Photos at the End of 2008

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 20:26:33 +0800

I cannot imagine how close Hangzhou and Shanghai is these days, after the D-Train (CRH train) connects the two cities.

The Schedule

The schedule for this trip is perfect - I would highly recommend people to use this schedule for a relaxed trip to Hangzhou. Disclaimer: this is by no means a good trip for first time visitor to Hangzhou. If you have been to Hangzhou for 4 times or more, and just want to relax during the weekend, this is a good choice.

Returned from Hangzhou

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 23:26:02 +0800

Over the weekend, spent our last weekend in Hangzhou.

Hangzhou is so close to Shanghai with the new D-train. I will post more pictures later after I upload them

P.S. Everytime I am in Hangzhou, and after my visit, I feel I should have visited Hangzhou more often.

3 Comments

Same here -- everytime I visit HZ, I wish I could visit more. It's so beautiful around there. Even the farms and farmer houses are all so clean and well taken care of.

— Joshua Allen · 2008-12-29 03:43

Haha, I love Hangzhou, too. It was chilly last weekend. Was it rainy in Hanghzou?

— Michelle · 2008-12-29 11:24

Does it snow in Hangzhou ? I wish to be there when it snow ! It seems like the chinese prefer Hangzhou over Shanghai. Why is it so ? How long does it take to travel from HZ to S'hai ?

— kbguy · 2008-12-29 15:53

Letter from NCUSCR

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 23:04:09 +0800

On Christmas, I received email from Steve Orlins, president of National Committee on US-China Relationships about a dinner we had with US mayors on Sept 12, 2008 - it was exactly the first day of my 7th year of blogging.

NATIONAL COMMITTEE ON UNITED STATES-CHINA RELATIONS

71 West 23rd Street, 19th Floor, New York, NY 10010-4102 (212) 645-9677 Fax: (212) 645-1695 e-mail: info@ncuscr.org

December 16, 2008

Mr. Wang Jian Shuo

18/F Haoran Hi-Tech Building

Christmas Eve 2008 at Xintiandi

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 22:52:52 +0800

Where did we spend tonight at Christmas Eve? We went to Xintiandi. We wanted to find some place with large Christmas trees, and with many cute lights, so Yifan will be very happy about. It turned out Yifan was very happy, but there are so many people (I cannot imagine Xintiandi having so many people, and the newly built tower (at the corner of Taicang Rd, and Xingye Rd, and is very ugly. What is the name?) completely changed the feeling of Xintiandi - made it like a valley.

Thank You My Friends

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 22:11:15 +0800

NCUSCR

Besides my daily work, I am honored to be involved in many NCUSCR (National Committee of US China Relationships) program. I was invited by Haisong to join the lunch with delegatem from Public Intellectuals Program. From then, I started my journey to directly work on something related to US-China relationship, and later joined YLF (Young Leaders Forum), the best organization I have ever been so far, and later, hosted some delegation of US Mayor groups, and Congress group.

Merry Christmas 2008

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 11:14:27 +0800

Merry Christmas to my family and friends!

2008 has not passed yet (I am still waiting for December 31, 2008 to write about a summery of this year), but I cannot help thinking about the amazing year.

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

2008 was a very remarkable for me, especially the last few months of the year. I know it is not a normal year in China (Sichuan Earthquake, Beijing Olympic, and all kinds of scandle at the end of the year), and the world (Financial Crisis, of cause), but it also means a lot for me, personally.

'I have a Name Card'

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 21:08:29 +0800

Mr. Wu is a vendor outside the Shanghai Jiao Tong University campus. He bakes corns, and sweet potatoes. That is very typical eatery in north China. Although people generally doubt whether the food is clean, it does not prevent people from lining up to get one.

The interesting stuff is, Mr. Wu, as shown in the photo below, recently moved his business to mobile based.

By request of his customers (typically girls in office buildings), he printed out some name cards, and started to distribute to potential customers.

Bomb Threats in Shanghai

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 15:16:48 +0800

As always, Wendy, and I brought Yifan to the Super Brand Mall on Sunday. There are many interesting things for Yifan to play with, from the cute elecronic devices in BestBuy to toys in ToysRus, and the big shoes from Crocs…

However, there are something strange today. The undergrand garage of Super Brand Mall was closed today. There are two policemen safeguarding the entrance, and the entrance was blocked completely with big red road blockers.

jQuery + Baixing.com

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 11:41:00 +0800

Shane said that if I enjoy JSON, I must be in love with jQuery. He is quite right. I played with it a little bit, and created small application below:

Auto Scroll

and

Picture Animation

Here is how you use it:

Drag and drop the two links above to your bookmark in Firefox.
Visit any listing page at Baixing.com, like here.
Click one of the two button, and see what happens.Again, this is a pretty technical post, and for normal readers, you can safely ignore.

Update April 27, 2009

Drive on Nanpu Bridge for 3000 Times

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 22:26:18 +0800

This is a normal Friday in Shanghai. It is also around 498 days before the Shanghai Expo in 2010.

In the morning, Wendy and I drove along the Nanpu Bridge - how many times have we driven along this bridge? My rough guess is 2800 times. This is based on the following facts:

We have moved to Pudong in April, 2004
It has been 1700 days since we moved here.
Let me assume that I am visiting Puxi 5.5 days a week (some weekends, we still come to Pudong, but at as frequent as once every weekend)
That is around 1400 visits to Puxi from my home in Pudong
Since I am using Nanpu Bridge to get to Puxi 99% of the time, I am assume that I have run on this bridge for about 2800 times, which is likely to be 3000. Is it a fair calculation?

The good thing is, recently, the scene on the west side of the Nanpu bridge is getting better and better. High-raising towers are countless (if you still think high-raising buildings are good things), and the Shanghai Expo site spreads behind it.

WWW2009 DevTrack Call For Papers

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 21:34:55 +0800

As one of the Program Committee member who is trying to be responsible, I am posting the WWW2009 Developers Track - Call For Papers and Proposals here. I know many of my friends (obviously not everyone is in technical field) are in the Internet industry. If you are interested, please feel free to submit your paper to the conference. Here you go:

WWW2009 Developers Track - Call For Papers and Proposals

Shanghaiist's Quote of Me

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:06:45 +0800

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

Going to Attend Shanghaiist Party

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:25:32 +0800

I am going to attend the Shanghaiist.com’s Christmas Party on Saturday. Dan Washburn kindly sent the invitation, and people at Shanghaiist.com have been my friends for a long time.

Here is the party detail. I believe Shanghaiist.com and this blog shares a lot of readers (the expat community), and if you also consider to go, see you this Saturday night.

What: A Very Shanghai Christmas, a holiday party presented by Shanghaiist and Cotton’s

Dell Optiplex 755

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 20:13:08 +0800

I just got a new desktop at work: Dell Optiplex 755. My first computer when I entered Microsoft was a Dell. They had the tradition to upgrade desktop computer every one to two years. That was a white one (I forgot about the model). The service tag for this new Dell Optiplex 755 is FT15C2X, just for my record in case I lose it later. I will spend more time learning how the new Dell Optiplex 755 works. Interestingly enough, they don’t have network card driver for the brand new Dell Optiplex 755 after I installed Windows XP on it.

Shangri-La vs Four Seasons Hotel

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 23:03:33 +0800

Shangri-la Hotel in Pudong is my favorite hotel in Shanghai. As many Shangri-la hotels in the world, the strong Asia style runs across all the hotel.

The other new hotel, Four Seasons, is maybe one of the latest added new brands to Shanghai. It should be a good hotel brand. According to this Wikipedia article

Four Seasons Hotels, Inc. is a five-star Canadian-based international luxury hotel chain. It is considered among the finest luxury hotels worldwide, according to Travel + Leisure magazine and Zagat Survey

Temporarily Removed Facebook Connect

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 20:35:45 +0800

Due to slow connection of Facebook in China - especially

static.ak.connect.facebook.com

and some times infinitive loop problems (which caused some browsers to hang), I have temporarily removed Facebook Connect from this site. I feel sad since I just added one week ago. Let me see if I can find a work around - the most possible way to work around it is to put the JavaScript files locally, which requires some modifcation, especially the loader file, FeatureLoader.js, since the URL of the other scripts are hard-coded there.

Yifan in 2008 Christmas

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 20:18:15 +0800

This afternoon, we brought Yifan to the Lujiazui area. We went there from noon time, until around 4:00 PM - Yifan played in the Super Brand Mall for several hours, and then fell asleep in my arms.

Here are some photos I took for Yifan during the visit today.

Look at this pair of big shoes! It is a promotion booth by Crocs, and Yifan really loves it. He played there for about a hour, trying to fit his small feet into the big shoes.

I am going to Visit Fuxing Road Area

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 18:31:10 +0800

Swing posted a blog about the new area near the Huang Pu River in Shanghai:

http://swinging.blogcn.com/diary,21726071.shtml

Seems nice place. I am planning to visit one day, and take some photos, and then share with everyone. Let me just “steal” some of nice photos from Swing.

Photograph by Swing

1 Comments

I've never been to that area too, and it seems nice.

— Michelle Zhang · 2008-12-14 20:31

Hosted US Congress Delegation

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 23:43:30 +0800

On Saturday night, I helped NCUSCR to host another United States delegation: Congressional District Office Staff Delegation to China. In the hotel room of Regal International Hotel near where I worked, we gathered in a guestroom, sitting on the floor, and had some beers and snacks. The chat was wonderful, and it is their last night during the trip to China. I would like to keep the content of the discussion off-record. I WAS asked about what is boundary of blogging in China in the censorship environment. What we talked is partly out of the boundary. :-)

Where is This Tunnel

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 19:57:42 +0800

Anyone want to try to guess where this tunnel is? The only thing I want to tell is, that it is not Shanghai.

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

Update December 19, 2008

DKwan got the right answer: it is Narita airport of Tokyo. Here are more photos of the nice tunnel.

10 Comments

I would guess an Airport building. But where i dont know ;-)

— Tobi · 2008-12-13 21:35

Looks very similar to an airport tunnel connecting two different gates in Bejing international airport, but I've been there 1,5 years ago so I cannot be sure...

— Fabrizio · 2008-12-13 21:56

Yep - new Beijing terminal, I think (looks similar anyway) - underneath between 'pods' (forget the name they use at the airport).

— Aussie Pete · 2008-12-14 12:32

Fabrizio and Aussie Pete, it is not in Beijing...

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2008-12-14 19:44

I guess Japan due to the Japanese-looking fire alert box - except there are no people, and it's much wider than any place I've ever seen in Japan...

— Al · 2008-12-15 01:26

Narita International. When I was there it was this empty too. :)

— DKwan · 2008-12-19 11:52

DKwan, you got it exactly right - it is Narita International Airport - the long tunnel that very few people use. I think it is very nice .

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2008-12-19 12:08

I was at Narita Intl airport just two weeks ago but do not remember seeing this tunnel.

— AussiePB · 2008-12-19 13:37

It is a tunnel that very rare place for people to visit - it connects a two remote terminal. I am adding more photos to this blog now.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2008-12-19 22:31

There is a similar tunnel in Paris afaik Chatelet - Les Halles - it even my be a little bit longer but in any case a lot more dirty...

Nice blog...

— PBrock · 2009-10-29 22:28

FBML Sandbox of Facebook

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 23:10:29 +0800

If you are not technical oriented people or you are not interested in Facebook, you can safely ignore this page. This page is just for me to test some FBML (Facebook Markup Language).

<fb:connect-form action="http://www.example.com/post_invite.php"> </fb:connect-form>

<fb:fbml> <fb:request-form action="/" method="POST" invite="true" type="XFBML" content="This is an invitation to an interesting blog <fb:req-choice url='http://home.wangjianshuo.com/' label='Go to Wangjianshuos blog' /> " > <fb:multi-friend-selector showborder="false" actiontext="Invite your friends to use Connect."> </fb:request-form> </fb:fbml>

2 Comments

(This is the extremely non-technical Carroll in California, waving cheerfully as I completely ignore your test page :-)

— Carroll · 2008-12-13 01:23

@Carroll, although you are extremely non-technical, you are extremely caring and sweet. I just posted some new pictures of Yifan, thinking that you will like it.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2008-12-14 21:14

Christmas Tree in Shanghai & Hong Kong

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 23:06:14 +0800

Christmas is coming. Although we don’t have tradition to celebrate Christmas, and people have different oppinions about whether we should celebrate Christmas in China, the Christmas tree is getting bigger and bigger in Shanghai, despite of the financial crisis.

Christmas Outside Grand Gateway

Swarovski X’mas Tree

Below is the Christmas tree inside the Grand Gateway.

Super Brand Mall

This is from the Super Brand Mall.

I saw this in Metro City.

Movie All About Women

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 14:08:56 +0800

Wendy got to tickets of Xuke’s *All About Women. *We went to the Kodak Super Cinema in Xujiahui, and watched the long and funny movie. My rating will be 3 out of 5. I said there are no depth of the movie - just some fun moments. Wendy criticized me that I can only accept certain narrow range of movies. Anyway, it was a nice night.

At the end of the movie, the director, and the actors, and actresses came to the stage and held a pretty short ceremony, and answered some questions from the audience. Among the guest, my favorite were ZHOU Xun (actress of Painted Skin and a super star) and XU Ke (the director of many famous and nice movies).

Wangjianshuo's Blog Supports Facebook Now

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 21:39:58 +0800

With about 2 hours learning and coding tonight, I finally enabled Facebook Connect on this blog. You may have noticed the Facebook Connect login button at the comment section of this page. That is it.

You can click on the button. If you have a Facebook account, you can simply click OK to login this site, and then you will see your photo, and your name, email, url information auto filled. Then you can comment with that information.

Shanghai is Freezing

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:49:04 +0800

Shanghai is so cool these days - the water in the lake before my apartment has already frozen- you can ice on the surface of the lake.

If you are coming to Shanghai, please take my alert: please bring some warm cloths with you.

Even people from Toronto, north part of China will feel the cold weather in Shanghai hard to bear. It is that kind of humid cold - very different from the coldness in north or central part of China. Let me tell you exactly how it feels - it is like putting you into the cold water of 0 degree. Don’t let the 0 degree mislead you - it is colder than you think if you come from somewhere the normal temperature is below 0. In those areas, there are heating equipment everywhere, and it may not as humid. Most large cities north of Shanghai have heating equipment in winter. Shanghai? No.

Facebook Connect with MovableType

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 00:16:52 +0800

I did a quick survey about How Many of My Readers Use Facebook and the initial response was quite possitive. It seems I have a lot of readers who are on Facebook already, no matter it is just random, or rare use, or daily use.

Then I believe I need to integrate Facebook Connect with MovableType. I search in Google about the term “Facebook Connect MovableType” but didn’t see any plugin. It should be a very popular plugin if someone create one.

Poster about Financial Crisis in HK

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 23:49:05 +0800

Saw the following two interesting poster at Peking Road of Hong Kong:

Bascially they are the same, one in Chinese, and the other in plain English. It is maybe the only sign of financial crisis I saw in Hong Kong during my two day stay. Is there any other changes? I just don’t have a benchmark of what the city should look like in normal days so I cannot tell.

Photos of Hong Kong in December 2008

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 22:34:08 +0800

The IFC (Hong Kong International Finance Center). Obviously it does not change over years, but every year, and the persons who take the photo should be the same as the previous trip, but every time, the feeling is still slightly different.

Hong Kong’s ferry has a very lovely name: Star Ferry, or 天星小轮. It by itself is a highlight of my Hong Kong trip.

How Many of My Readers Use FaceBook?

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:06:44 +0800

Facebook has a nice new release called Facebook connect.

It helps website like this blog to engage with Facebook users.

Facebook Connect is the next evolution of Facebook Platform - enabling you to integrate the power of Facebook Platform into your own site. Enable your users to…

Some idea I can think of using this tool on this website:

Facebook users maybe able to use their identify to leave comment
People can share their comment on both this blog and their Facebook profile, so others see your valuable comments.
See if your friends are also on this blog.

The idea may be cool, but the first question I will ask is, how many of my readers are on Facebook. If there is not so many people, it may not worth the effort.

National Flag of China in Airport - Part II

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:55:44 +0800

In 2002, Bill suggested that a Chinese flag should be hang at Pudong Airport. I thought it was a very nice suggestion, and we should do it. I also suggested to the Tourism Bureau but didn’t get any response.

I am happy that during my trip, when I returned from Hong Kong, I found this big flag at the arrival hall of Terminal 2 of Pudong Airport, just before the investigation point for passport.

Hong Kong Not More Expensive Than Shanghai

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:47:37 +0800

Another finding of this trip to Hong Kong is, Hong Kong is not too much more expensive than Shanghai today.

I had the impression that Hong Kong is super expensive, compared to Shanghai. Many years ago, I cannot understand why a bowl of noodle costs 40-50 RMB, and a direct ride on Metro cross the Victoria Bay costs around 9 RMB. At that time, same distance of Metro in Shanghai only cost 2 RMB.

Island Pacific Hotel is Pretty Nice

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:23:22 +0800

I stayed in Hong Kong Island Pacific Hotel during my stay. It is pretty nice hotel, and not super expensive - around 600-700 HKD. The only problem is, it is still far from the Sheung Wan Metro Station, and it don’t have free Internet access. An option for my next Hong Kong trip, besides the Youth Hotel we stayed during our first visit.

BTW, both JW Marriott Hong Kong, and Shangri-la Hotel Shanghai offer free Wifi service in their lobbies and meeting rooms. It is very nice. Just FYI, in case you are really in need of a WIFI service in Hong Kong or Shanghai.

Impression of Hong Kong

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:50:16 +0800

When I am going to conclude my forth trip to Hong Kong, let me describe what Hong Kong is in my eyes.

Transportation System

Hong Kong is the super crowded city, but the transportation is so efficient that both taxi and bus run pretty fast. The road system in Hong Kong is well planned, so there are cars running on all the smaller roads, unlike Beijing (with only big bold backbone roads like the rings but not too much working connecting road). Shanghai is a little bit better, but still far behind Hong Kong.

Baixing Awarded as Red Herring Asia 100

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:17:26 +0800

Baixing.com has been awarded as Red Herring Asia 100. It is the only classified site in Asia awarded.

I am pretty excited about it.

7 Comments

Wow! Great job! Congratulations!

— Michelle · 2008-12-02 15:29

People will like this new name :) Maybe a famous brand later.

— 502forever · 2008-12-02 19:51

Congrats Jian Shuo. And after such a terribly disorganized conference. :)

— elliottng · 2008-12-03 00:44

congratulation. I am surprised that there are no news about rh asia winners except yours. who else are winner?

— randy · 2008-12-03 00:55

hey, congrats!

— mac · 2008-12-03 21:46

Wooo, congratulations!

— Carroll · 2008-12-04 01:04

congratulations! jiayou(加油！）

— Wang Liangcai · 2008-12-04 09:27

Red Herring Asia in Hong Kong

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:36:36 +0800

I am a blogger. To have a blogger in a conference is really dangerous for most of organizer. Here I am coming.

The conference started with some problems - not a surprise from the first impression. I am maybe the only person who don’t wear suite and tie - I am very serious. I am. I wear the green shirt - the only one who is not pure in black.

On my Way to Hong Kong

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:49:47 +0800

I am sitting on the floor of Pudong Airport Terminal 2. My flight KA897 is going to depart at 17:20 to Hong Kong.

This is my forth time to Hong Kong.

First time, Wendy and I traveled there - I fly from Beijing to Shenzhen (cheaper), and she flys there from Shanghai. That was the longest trip, and my best trip there. My trip record: Hong Kong - the Amazing City

The second time, I went there for PR train. (PR = Public Relationship). That is single day trip - go there early in the morning and returned Shanghai on the same day. During that trip, I learnt Cantonese for street name: 百花街 (pronounced as Bai Fa Gai)… I don’t have any photos for this trip, and I didn’t write about it.

Happy 1.5 Year Birthday of Yifan

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:26:55 +0800

Today, Yifan is exactly one year and 6 months old. I am far away from my cute son. So I bought a big bear for him. On the tag, I wrote:

To: Yifan From: Daddy and Mommy

Hope Yifan will like it. The toy bear is almost the same size of Yifan, and I bet he must be happy to have a little brother to play with him.

Below is a picture of Yifan when we brought him to Shanghai Zoo last Saturday. He is obviously happy to see monkeys, but he is not as excited as we thought when he saw giraffe - he shouted loud whenever he saw giraffe on TV at home, but did show too much excitement when he saw some real one.

I Love JSON

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:44:24 +0800

I am deep in my heart a technical person. Although I am thrown into the business world, from time to time, I get back to the technical world to play for a while, and then get back to normal life. To me, it is just like a fever - the passionate fever that will fade out anyway, but when it comes, I am so interested in the topics.

Playing with Solr - the open source search engine on Saturday, I am again interested in a wonderful simple technology called JSON. I realized almost all the Google API, and open source API are now supporting JSON (JavaScript Object Notation). I even created a page that helps me to view the JSON object easier:

Pudong Airport to JW Marriott

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:01:09 +0800

Who gets my help today?

This is my first time travelling in Shanghai. I wanted to know how we can go to JW Marriott Tomorrow Square at Nanjing West Road.

Will it be possible for me to take the Maglev Train to theJW Marriott hotel in Nanjing West Road.

The answer is Yes, you can take Maglev to JW Marriott Tomorrow Square Hotel.

Below is the overview map. You can use the + and - sign to zoom in or out to see details of the map.

Still Many People Go Abroad

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:37:31 +0800

I went to the Shanghai Entrance and Exit Administration Bureau today to have my Hong Kong visa renewed. Here is what I saw:

This was a cold, sunny, and clear Saturday morning. I didn’t expect so many people waiting in line to get a passport or visa. The line of people winds and finally leads to a photo service - they were waiting for their photo taken.

As I observed, the line moved very slowly.

My Friend Blogroll

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:17:54 +0800

Look at this magic code. I just added this piece of code to my home page, and meanwhile, I keep a Google Spreadsheet here. At any time, I add a friend into the speadsheet, the link on my homepage gets updated immediately. You can also help yourself to add you into the list by filling in a form. After I confirm, it will be published.

Friends

I have to say, Google Spreadsheet, and Google Docs is far beyond our imagination. I also found out that I can still write code fluently.

Joined WWW2009 Programme Committee

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 21:40:15 +0800

Invited by Cong Yu, I am not a PC (Programme Committee) member of World Wide Web Conference 2009.

Obviously, I am a big fan of the Internet (World Wide Web). It has been part of my life since 1996. I thought about a lot of (not-so-great) ideas about Internet, and am still in this industry.

WWW Conference, as a key event for the WWW society has been well-known. Below is from the WWW2009 website:

Meet with Judy, Hua, Bill, and Liang

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 20:57:52 +0800

Tonight, had a nice dinner with my old friends in Microsoft.

Judy is now in Boston Consulting Group in Shanghai,

Hua became CEO of NCSoftin China,

Bill does investment for Tencent,

and Liang now is CTO of Tudou.com.

Nice guys. Nice place. Nice dinner, and nice talk.

Judy reminded us that it was a Thanksgiving dinner.

1 Comments

hi, i'm student at cairo,egypt... i want to ask about a blogger in china, aspecialy in hong kong...

— wan · 2008-12-26 02:46

Happy Thanksgivings

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 16:33:44 +0800

I never really understand the origin of Thanksgivings, and don’t know what people should do on this day. Meanwhile, at the back end of my mind, I still hesitate a bit to talk about this “western holiday”, confused about the terms of “westernization”, or globalization. To do something without a tradition just because of seeing it on TV, or movie sounds silly, just like people celebrating V-Day without know how to spell it. That is the starting point of my thoughts of Thanksgiving day. P.S. I even don’t know exactly what day is Thanksgivings if Judy hasn’t had written me a note saying: “BTW, today, our dinner is on Thanksgivings Day”.

The Death of A Citizen

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 12:26:22 +0800

Yesterday, when I was boarding my flight back to Shanghai, I browsed my Google Reader on my mobile phone, and heard the news that the young man killing 6 policemen was already executed. What a shock news. I feel deep sorrow for him, and feel even more hopeless about the justice of the country.

My friends outside China felt strange to know that I pay sympathy to a man who killed many policemen. It is even more wired that many of my friends feel the same. What’s wrong?

In Beijing Airport, Back to Shanghai

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:19:17 +0800

I am at gate 31 of Beijing Airport, heading to Hongqiao Airport in Shanghai. The two day Beijing trip was full of fun and inspiration. Among my trip, talk with Kooxoo.com founder Chen Hua, and talk in Baidu were highlight.

When I left Beijing, I just feel if you ask me about the landscape of cities in China, and in US, I would even say the current Beijing is more westernized (or modernized).

A Well Planned Trip to Huangshan?

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:16:49 +0800

Got another reader email. Here you go (after removing names and other private information)

Dear Jianshuo,

Pardon me for taking the liberty to write to you direct but my googling/research for my family’s trip keeps finding itself to your blog! I wonder if you would be so kind to give me some assistance?

I’m planning a trip with my husband and 3yr-old son. My husband doesn’t speak mandarin so the main job of research lies with me. We are planning to arrive in Shanghai on the 26th Dec and somehow make our way to Suzhou then Hangzhou then Huangshan. I would like to know what is the best way to travel from place to place that would be cheapest and safest with consideration of travelling with a toddler.

In Beijing, Again

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:55:18 +0800

I am in Beijing. Sometimes I feel like a clock - swinging between Beijing and Shanghai.

At Hong Qiao Airport, I found things changes quietly, but dramatically. Once a while that you do not visit the airport, you will find many surprises.

Taxi Lanes

The taxi lanes for picking up passengers at Hong Qiao Airport finally increased to 8 lanes, with 2 lanes coming from the parking lot to the pick up area. It is said that it decreased average waiting time from 30 minutes to 15 minutes. Good move.

Beautiful Thoughts with Beautiful Scene

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:56:20 +0800

Hello. Shanghai is so beautiful in early Winter. I don’t like very cold winter, or very hot summer. The feeling is so deeply left in my impression of the city, especially when you get into your car in winter - cooold, and in summer - hoooott.

But if you have to ask me Winter or Summer, which do you love better in Shanghai? I still may say, I love Winter better, at least Shanghai is relatively more elegent, more decent in winter.

Yifan is Growing Up

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:12:42 +0800

Wendy and I felt the urgency to spend more time with Yifan these days. Yifan is growing up so quickly. Before we ever realized, Yifan started to walk, to talk (a little bit), and understand almost everything you say.

Yifan Walks

When was Yifan still not able to walk? He used to crawl from a room to another carefully, but not so quickly. For a day, all of a sudden, he stand up and started to walk by himself. Where I was at that time? I remember I am in my US trip at that time. I just thought: “What? How does it mean that the little boy can get to anywhere he wants (in the house) without my help?” Maybe the next question is, when the boy can go very very far away for work without even letting me know…

Summary of First Half of November

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:48:57 +0800

Since Oct, we are working six days a week, and after about one month. The result is wonderful. We finally reached breakeven point. This is not my first breakeven I have experienced, but it is such an important milestone, especially in this winter. I am happy that the team will feel very warm in the cold days ahead.

Personally, I didn’t have too much time on this blog. It is understandable, isn’t it? I don’t have too much touch with the city - I just feel I started a business trip in Shanghai. I mean I get disconnected from the city, and don’t feel that I am a citizen in this city.

CnBloggerCon in Guangzhou

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:49:25 +0800

This time, the China Blogger Conference is held in Guangzhou. Unlike the previous few conferences, i didn’t participate. One reason is Guangzhou is a little bit too far for me to get there, and to put it into my business schedule (especially weekends), the other reason is, it is not as attractive as it appeared to be.

The two factor combined, I am not going. Hope bloggers there have a nice party there.

Shanghai is Getting Colder

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:49:25 +0800

Shanghai enters winter.

It is colder and colder - welcome winter to Shanghai!

2 Comments

There is also a winter to Economy this year .

But thus winter is coming ,spring will come in the near future !

— Balon · 2008-11-18 09:17

Pls let me know Shanghai's weather like in March mid.

— Srini · 2008-11-25 01:50

Mayfair (Paris Spring) is on Sale

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:41:30 +0800

Mayfair is a brand-shopping mall in Shanghai. With it first store at Xiangyang Road, and Huaihai Road, it started to open many stores in Shanghai these years, after the first store opened 10 years ago.

It is on sale today - only one day - on a Friday.

Most things are 50% off.

It is like crazy. I went there with Wendy, and took some pictures.

I went to BreakTalk and want to get some bread for dinner, only saw this:

Quintet Shanghai is Nice

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 22:25:14 +0800

My friend Fay opens a five room hotel on Changle Road!

Fay is the Fay of Fay’s Room - an apartment sharing service in Shanghai. She shifted focus from apartment sharing to own a real bed & breakfast hotel at the heart of Shanghai. I visited their hotel, and feel the need to write about it. Before I talk about this special hotel, you can check out their website: http://www.quintet-shanghai.com/.

Fay

Fay is from Taiwan. We worked closely together before, and then she quitted her great Fortune 500 job, and pursut her dream. She started with sharing her aparmtent with backpackers, and then managed few friend’s property, and that is where the Fay’s Room come from.

Nice Day for My Business

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:47:44 +0800

Today is a pretty nice day. Very happy, and very excited. Huge breakthrough in many metrics. Xiaopai said the number has reached 300 one hour before end of today.

I am going to try my first week in the Shanghai Jiaotong University Hotel tonight. Hope hard work can bring good result.

Met Mike and Luoying today. Nice chat, and learnt that everyone has something to pursue. It is nice for everyone.

Thanks Matt Isler!

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:39:11 +0800

I got a small post card from my YLF friend Matt Isler.

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang. Chinese character written by Matt.

What a great friend I have! Thanks Matt, and Mei Lan!

What is the last time I send a postcard to my friend? I tend to use electronic version, or the Internet more…

Written by Jian Shuo

So I drawed a sentence on a piece of paper, and take a photo of it, and post it on this web page:

Google Custom Search Engine

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:01:02 +0800

I am experimenting Google Custom Search Engine, and here is the result of my experiment. It searched the whole Internet, with priority put on Baixing.com. It also filtered some competitors from the list, and add Subscribed Link. You can try to search for “wangjianshuo” or “panxiaoliang” in the search box.

.adsense {display:none}

var googleSearchIframeName = “cse-search-results”;

var googleSearchFormName = “cse-search-box”;

var googleSearchFrameWidth = 600;

var googleSearchDomain = “www.google.com”;

var googleSearchPath = “/cse”;

All Maps in China are Transformed

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 14:26:26 +0800

There are rumor that all printed maps that is available in domestic market are transformed. The goal is to make the map useless for military situation to protect the safety of the country.

I heard about it but I didn’t really believe it. I thought to protect the country from foreign intelligence agents by transforming all maps available in a country is just a fool decision.

I do know that in certain Shanghai map, because of the streets in downtown is so crowded, and in other places, density is lower. So they transformed the map to cover as much as places possible while keep the downtown street clear enough to recognize.

Indian English

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 22:46:58 +0800

Wendy’s team in Microsoft support India customers. Something she suffers a lot is the India accent English. She now brings an iPod, and put some India podcast in it, and listen to India English all the way to work and back to schoo.

Indian -> American -> Chinese

A very interesting thing I found out is,

American can understand 80% of Indian accent English,

American may be can understand 50% of Chinese English (English with strong Chinese accent, also called Chinglish)

Transition of Metro Line #1 and Line 2

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:46:25 +0800

Travel to Shanghai and really want to experience something special? Have you tried to transit from Shanghai Metro Line #1 to Shanghai Metro Line #2 during rush hour, say from 8:00 - 9:00 AM?

Take a look at what I caputured yesterday.

1 Comments

probably you can take a shot of how you were squeeze in the subway? hehe...

— DC · 2008-11-09 00:22

Erik Paulsen and Gabrielle Giffords

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:41:57 +0800

Got a special note from YLF:

Hearty congratulations to YLFers Erik Paulsen (2005 Fellow) and Gabrielle Giffords (2003 Fellow) for winning their respective U.S. House of Representatives races! In his first term in the House, Erik will represent the 3rd District of Minnesota, and, in her second term, Gabrielle will again represent the 8th District of Arizona.

It was a pity that I was not able to meet Paulsen, or Gabrielle in my Nanjing or Snoqualmie YLF session in the last two years, but I enjoy the news from YLFer - I know YLF people are basically very similiar - nice and warm people.

Shanghai Postal Code

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:09:51 +0800

I am going to answer another very simple question about Shanghai Postal Code.

This seems simple, but it is not easy to directly get the postal code from street address. There are so many postal code in Shanghai, one for each area.

China postal code is always 6 digits. Shanghai starts from 20xxxx.

Shanghai downtown: 200000

Shanghai County: 201100

Jiading District 嘉定: 201800

Songjiang District 松江: 201600

10:00 PM

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:36:22 +0800

It is 10:00 PM. I decide to go to bed earlier than normal days. It is important to relax a little bit after working days and nights for some time.

No matter what, to keep the pace of “Life”, or “the body” itself is so important to me. My teeth hurts these days. According to Chinese medicine theory, it is because of the raise of “fire” in my body. Need to take some water (yes, physically drink some water), and some sleep to get rid of it.

Taiwan and Mainland Direct Transit

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:34:53 +0800

What? Direct flight between Taiwan and mainland China is opened. Meanwhile, there are more than that. There are direct post lines across the strait.

I saw this news on ITimes this morning on Metro. It was a big surprise to me. This seems too quick, much quicker than I thought. I am even not prepared yet.

Taipei and Shanghai?

In the future, direct flight between Taipei and Shanghai will only be 81 minutes. That is just one and half hour - shorter than Beijing and Shanghai.

Busy Since After National Holiday

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:00:25 +0800

Since national holiday, I started to be very busy. There are always exciting things during my work. It is just like getting back to the life when I just joined Microsoft after graduation.

Wasn’t able to update my blog at interval I would expected. May also skip one or two if schedule does not allow. However, I do have many things to share. Just hope to get more time.

Rating of Places Nearby Shanghai

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 22:14:21 +0800

Let me start with an email:

We know places aournd Shanghai like Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi, Nanjing, Shao Xing, Ningbo, Yang Zhou, ZhenJiang & towns like ZhouZhuang, Tongli, Xitang, Nanxun, Luzhi that can make a visit. What is yoru suggestion?

OK. Let me do a rating

Cities

I use a rating system of two rating only: “must see”, and “if you have spare time to kill”.

Hangzhou = must see

Suzhou = must see

Shanghai Population

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 21:44:06 +0800

What is the population of Shanghai? It seems to be a simple question, since the population of any city at a given time is pretty predictable. However, the number for cities in China is not certain, and especially for immigration cities like Shanghai.

Recently when I did research for classified market in other countries, I realized that Denmark only has 5 million people (while its top classified site dbk gets about 60 million USD in revenue) with 129.16/km² density. How about Shanghai?

Bus Seems Better than Taxi

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 21:11:24 +0800

Recently, in Shanghai, when I am proposed two choices - bus and taxi, I started to prefer bus. At a glance, you may find taxi has all advantage over bus, except it is more expensive. For me, if we don’t consider cost factor, I still think bus is better.

After thinking hard about why I have the perception, I have the following findings.

Bus is easier

Although taxi is easier, it involves reading the meter, pay with cash or card, and collect the receipt for the ride. You also have to talk with the taxi driver, and tell him where you are going.

Talk with Kai Fu Lee

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 16:24:06 +0800

It was about two years since I last had lunch with Kaifu in Shanghai. Kaifu Lee is the head of Google China, and we worked together when we were both in Microsoft. I visited Google China office the last week, and spent about one hour in his office.

Kaifu Lee is a Great Friend to Have

I know Kaifu for quite some time, and I admire his academic achievements. Besides that, Kaifu is pretty lovely and kind. Last time, when I send my LinkedIn invitation to my friends, Kaifu returned email about to tell me to use another email address. :-) The only one who treat everything so serious.

Wrapping up my Beijing Trip

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 00:34:58 +0800

I am back from Beijing, via train. Here is a short summary.

Train is Good

As I described earlier, train is efficient for business travel. But I realized there is one criteria for it to be efficient: you have to be able to sleep very well on the train. Like me, I am always sleepy, and I can sleep from the time I get to bed on the train until train is approaching the terninal station. For my friend, Jia, the trip is not that pleasant - he wakes up every one hour or sooner during the trip.

In Beijing, In Meeting

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:16:31 +0800

I am in Beijing, and I am in a bunch of meetings.

It is critical to arrange meetings ahead of schedule, so you don’t have too many things to do at the same time, or have a big block of time has nothing to do.

It is especially important, in this case, to pre-arrange dinner and lunch, at least location, so you don’t end up have lunch by yourself - like this noon.

Shanghai to Beijing? Train is Better than Air

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:57:30 +0800

kTonight, I am going to Beijing, and will be back on Wednesday night. Previously, my trip was all via flights. After I tried train the last time, I decided to switch all my trip to Beijing to train in the future. Why?

Time Efficiency

Although train takes much longer than flight - 12 hours vs 2 hours, the biggest advantage of train is, it wasted your time at night, especially deep night, instead of train.

How's China in Global Financial Crisis?

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 20:56:22 +0800

This may be the million dollar question that everyone what to know the answer. Many friends and readers asked me about how will China perform in the next few years when the global financial crisis is spreading. It seems for sure that US will suffer from the recession in the next few years, and so do many other countires. What about China?

To be honest, I don’t know. I am confused myself.

User Feedback are the Key

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 12:46:38 +0800

Stumbled upon this article: YouTube Enables Deep Linking Within Videos. It is related to YouTube.

The feature to link deep into a video seems obvious - most of the user feedback based features are very obvious, but it is the key driver for any consumer facing product. To root the inspiration to what users say is very important for the success of a website, just like craigslist has demonstrated.

1 Comments

This new feature of YouTube will definitely bring users much convenience. YouTube commentors are now presented with a button asking if they'd like to hear their comments read aloud before they are posted, haha, which is really funny. Thanks for this informatiaon, Jianshuo.

— Michelle · 2008-10-26 16:59

Ways to Delete Your Comments

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 13:34:57 +0800

From time to time, I receive request to delete a comment they have made on this blog. There are not many. I would say about 10 - 20 request so far.

The major reason of the delete request is, when they search for their name on Google or other search engine, they found their comments they made maybe long time ago. They no longer feel comfortable to see the sometimes “silly” or “out of date” comment on this blog. So they drop me an email to ask me to delete them.

Eatery is Really Small Business

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 23:12:37 +0800

After the National Holiday, I started to take bus to work, so I got the opportunity to walk along the Tianping Road (天平路), and pass many breakfast eatery shops. That is good since it solved my breakfast problem.

The interesting thing is, they does business in an exteremely cost sensitive way.

For example, I buy the pan egg cake 鸡蛋饼. They will cut like 1/8 of the whole cake as you asked them to do. Then they will weigh it on a weigh, and tell you: total price is 0.9 RMB.

Pollution in Taihu (Lake Tai)

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 22:57:49 +0800

During my trip to Xishan, I passed Taihu. The beautiful lake - the third largest freshwater lake in China.

To be surprise, Taihu changed a lot - because of polution.

Because of the nitrogen and phosphorus discharged by the chemical and fishing factories around the lake, algae overgrew in the lake like crazy, further decreased the water quality.

Look at the picture I took below:

Did you see the green thing on the surface of the water? That is the overgrown algae. It made the water looks dirty.

Xishan, an Island in Taihu

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 20:17:09 +0800

As I forecast yesterday, my family went to Xishan, an island in the middle of the Taihu (Tai Lake). It is connected to the land via a big Taihu bridge.

Here is the island - Xishan 西山:

View Larger Map

Here is the the island in the bigger map in the Taihu:

View Larger Map

The Area

Many weeks, Wendy and I was wondering where we should go to spend the weekend. In Shanghai, we have became hopeless to find any place new or to spend the night. We love Hangzhou, and Suzhou.

Happy Birthday to Me

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 23:53:08 +0800

I am 31 now.

Look at this entry: Happy Birthday to Me. At the time I started blog daily, I was only 25. I cannot believe it.

It was a busy week. I could hardly stop a little bit to think about my birthday, and really take time to do some reflection to the past 31 years, and write something. I didn’t get the chance to stop and rest a little bit yet.

Winter for Startups is Coming

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 09:47:01 +0800

Winter is coming. It is not the winter in the weather and seaonal sense. It is for startups.

With the financial crisis gets worse in US, which is no longer news, the recent reaction in Venture Capital market in Silicon Valley is huge. Signaled a bunch of emails and meetings by top VC firms and others, everyone just realized what the slight change in temperature means: it means the arrival of winter.

Bus is Faster than Car

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:00:08 +0800

After taking bus to commute in the morning for a little bit more than a week, I realized that buses runs faster than private cars in Shanghai. Even included the time to park at the station, passenger off-load and load, it is still faster than private cars. It takes about 40-50 minutes to arrive in Xujiahui, or 1 hour at peak time. There are several reasons to it.

Public Transportaion Bus has Special Lanes

Chinese Government is Like a Company

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 21:57:25 +0800

Chinese government works completely different from the US government - at least from the organizational perspective. It is more like a company than US government.

US Governments are like Companies

In US, there are so many governments that are like the many companies in the market place. There may be bigger one like Federal Government, or the State Governments, just like the Fortune 500 companies. There are also many smaller one, like city government, or some water supply governments…

Back from Jiangyin

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 21:47:08 +0800

Spent the Friday night in Jiangyin, Wuxi, China. Robert Cao from YLF hosted us in his Germany Beer Festival. Had wonderful time there. Just get back from the trip. I will be back to talk more about it after I make up some sleep.

P.S. Jiangyin is at the south of Yangtz river, 2 hours from Shanghai.

2 Comments

In your article you mentioned "Robert Cao" who is likely my boss. Our company produces bumpers and is named as JiangNan MPT. Am I right?

— Amy · 2008-10-13 11:56

:-) Yes. It is him - very nice guy....

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2008-10-13 22:46

SVB Bank is like a Family

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:52:42 +0800

Just get back from SVB Bank Wine Tasting event. SVB (Silicon Valley Bank) is a very special bank. Based on my experience with them, they know what they are going to do, and have some great people in the team, and of great culture. It is like a family.

The event happened in Le Platine in the Xintiandi area. The venue is a very nice place for such private meetings. They mixed their partners, VC clients and entrepreneurs. The first part of it was not very interesting (I just want to be honest with myself), but the last part, I had the opportunity to talk with Hairong Ji from Focus Media (I learnt he was in SJTU for 8 years), and David Wu (my school mate of the same department. SVB folks joined the talk after they sent most of their guest out.

Visited Two Companies

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 23:16:14 +0800

Visited Aspect Gaming, and AdChina today.

Nice Internet startups in Shanghai. Had wonderful lunch with Justin, and talked in depths with Alan. Both are good friends of me. They are both in Shanghai Mediazone Tower (Wang Wang Tower) near Nanjing road.

We really should get together with great people more often and get inspiration. I do need to talk with people - my type of people need inspiration to live, and to work.

Software List for Newly Installed PC

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:43:21 +0800

I wrote about my software list for newly installed PC the last year. Since I reinstall my laptop from time to time (on average, every quarter), I keep a list of software to be installed. I don’t like software like Ghost - I just want to keep my PC as fresh as possible.

Looking back at the article I wrote before, there are not many in the list. This time, i create a longer list. Maybe after 5 years, when we look back at this list, many of them no longer exists, or we have started to use newer software at that time. A trend I observed from the last year is, most of my daily use software was downloaded from Internet (for free).

I Use Public Transportation Now

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 23:19:24 +0800

The traffic jam at around 8:00 - 9:00 in Shanghai has finally reached a point that driving is slower than taking public transportation. From the first day of the new season (October, or the new quarter, or you may call it the first day after the long holiday), I decided to use public transportation to commute to work.

Public Transportation System in Shanghai

The public transportation system in Shanghai is reasonably good now. With metro lines reaching many important places (unfortunately, not including my home yet), and many bus lines, it is very convenient to use the bus + metro or just bus combination to commute.

Q4 2008 Begins

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:34:03 +0800

The fourth and the last quarter of 2008 begins. How exciting. I am getting back to work, full of energy now.

1 Comments

you are so DRIVEN MAN

I AM ENVY YOU ON YOUR ENERGY TO LIFE AND WORK

— lin · 2008-10-06 18:45

Last Day of National Holiday

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:31:16 +0800

This is the end of the last holiday. The holiday started from Sept 29, and ends today, October 5.

What I did in the last 7 days? I was in Beijing in the first two days, and spent the rest 5 days at home. With Yifan at home, most of the time, if all, were spent with Yifan. We went to the Lujiazui area the first night, went to Century Park, and Xujiahui at night. We also went to dinner with Yifan. Then we went to the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum the other day, and on the final day, went to hospital together.

Free Exam Offered for Poison Milk Victims

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 20:21:50 +0800

Yifan got a little bit fever, and we brought him to the Shanghai Children Medical Center. We have already tried the local small clinic called Anda Hospital - the place within walking distance from our home, but they were on holiday, and we went to the Becai Community Medical Center - they were on holiday too. We have to take our last choice, the one we really don’t want to bring Yifan to - the Shanghai Children Medical Center. We don’t want to bring Yifan there because it is really a refugee for children. Today, Yifan’s grandfather went there early this morning, and got a ticket with #608 in the queue, and he came back. We drive there about 2 PM in the afternoon, and we arrived just on time. They just past the ticket No. 600. So, practically speaking, you have to wait for 4-6 hours to get your child to see a doctor for 2 minutes. Anyway, this is not news. They are always like this. The conclusion I got was, with the increase of GDP, tax dollars the government collect from all kinds of activities, and the increase of demand for people to get health care, the supply of hospital and other medical resources just kept unchanged. That is a big problem for the current system.

Capitalism or Socialism

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 23:21:14 +0800

In Snoqualmie, in a speech, Sidney Rittenburg said something like this:

People get very confused in the current world.

Which country, under the flag of socialism, step fast on the track to capitalism.

Which country, under the flag of capitalism, running fast toward socialism.

Impact of US Financial Crisis on China

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 20:47:30 +0800

Several weeks after the US financial crisis really burst out. I tend to use Monday, Sept 15, 2008, the day Lehman Bros announcing bankruptcy, and Merrill Lynch’s sold out as my indicator of the big storm in US. I was luckily (or unluckily) in US at that time. At that time, almost everyone I talked with concerned about the crisis, and talked about the impact to them, to their firm, or to the country.

Yifan Broke Another Cup

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 23:30:23 +0800

At night, Wendy, Yifan and I had dinner with Run, Eric Zheng, and Apple Zhu.

Yifan felt boring when the adults discussed about something that he was not interested. He got some dishes, and a glass cup and played wit it. Not surprisingly, very soon, he dropped the glass cup to the ground, and broke it.

Finally, we paid 11 RMB for it to the restaurant, and Run was kind enough to pay the penalty for Yifan. Thanks, and here is just for the record.

Rob's Skateboard Journey

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:37:53 +0800

Rob left a comment on my blog, and I learned about his amazing journey. He used 800 days to skateboard from Switzerland to Shanghai two days ago, and here is his journey.

I have shot an email to Rob asking whether he has time for a meetup in Shanghai. It is very like many of my crazy project, but his is much more crazier.

Enjoy these boundless thoughts and actions in this world!

Resume from Long Pause of Blogging

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:44:33 +0800

After I returned to Shanghai on Sept 23th Shanghai time, my sense of time was completely disordered, and due to the national holiday, and the recent travel to Beijing, my sense of days is also destroyed. In Beijing, I happened to have no Internet access, and that is the reason of one of the longest blogging pause in my blogging history.

Now, I am back.

And I will make up some blogs to fill in the absence - I don’t like to record something that I know is not truth. My way to handle it is to change the time to some day in the past, and put a disclaimer at the end of the entry to tell people (especially for myself) the actual day the blog was created.

Adidas in Sanlitun Beijing

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:23:33 +0800

From the first day I am in Beijing, I planned to visit the new Adidas flagship store in Sanlitun, Beijing.

I am not a sports fan, and I am not an Adidas fan yet. I went there just for the building. When we were at a bar at floor 4 of the Salish Lodge in Snoqualmie, Greg told me that he has a new architect completed in Beijing. This is one of the only three works he did for Asia. I went there and check out his building.

Prepaid Gas and Electricity in Beijing

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 22:50:48 +0800

In Beijing, almost everything related to household utility is prepaid. This is the biggest difference in life in Beijing and Shanghai.

I have taken it for granted that the following things should be billed after use:

Natural gas
Water
Electricity
Hot-water (if it is provided)
Fixed Line Telephone

In Beijing, things are very different.

Card….

For most of the households in Beijing, they have many different cards:

Electricity card. You have to go to bank or self-serve machine to buy electricity credit, and then insert it into the electricity meter to get electricity.

Wendy's High School Gathering

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 22:19:00 +0800

I went to Wendy’s high school gathering in Beijing on Sept 28th. For many classmates, Wendy haven’t seen them for 13 years. Time flies. Here is a nice photo after the dinner. Me? I was the photographer.

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

1 Comments

Wendy is beautiful and smiles well:)

— cheery · 2008-10-06 18:48

Plastic Bags in Seattle

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 23:08:18 +0800

In the Pike Market in Seattle, I bought a small apron skirt for Yifan. That was a very small thing that I can put into my pocket. The lady who sold it to me gave me a large plastic bag, and I immediately said: “Oh. No. Thanks…”.

Plastic Bags?

When people travel, and maybe only when people travel, they can be more sensitive to the world, and found out something that they didn’t think before.

Back from 22 Hours Trip

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 19:22:45 +0800

I am back from Seattle. The trip was very long - left hotel at 7:00 AM Sept 22 Seattle time, and arrives at home at 8:00 PM Sept 23 Shanghai time. That is 22 hours on the road - to be more exactly, on the road, at airport and in air.

I agree that Seattle is too far away. I have get used to my trip to the Bay Area. That is more convenient compared to Seattle. I have not been to Seattle since 2005, when I left Microsoft.

Random Note During Meeting

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:35:36 +0800

YLF

Title 9 - what is this?

Women in sports as background of what she did - much better cause to do things.

30 years of reform since 1979.

You are going to spend all your time as a tourist.

“Challenge what you believe”

“You should really be ready to embrace uncomfortable positions”

“It is not what you say that matters. It is what you are seen that matters”

“It is the same group of people who fight for jobs who fight for getting back to home”

Different Ways to Waste Energy

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:27:21 +0800

Travel is interesting since it gives you the chance to understand the silly things we do everyday.

During my travel in US, I realize something:

People in China always use energy to make water hot, while

People in US always use energy to make it cold.

I just cannot bear that everything I drink is cold. Not only “not warm”, half of the water in the cup is “ice”. I didn’t think about my love to hot water too much before I realized American’s love to cold water.

Salsa Dance Place in Seattle

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 17:09:38 +0800

After we have dinner with D-WA congressman Rick, many of YLFers head back to hotel. I went to a Salsa dancing place in Seattle with Ashish, Tong, Ming, Mark, Lisa, Raymond, Matt, Jen….(many people, and I just try to use first name - the typical way I quote people when I don’t have their explicit permission to show their name in my blog).

Century Ballroom

The place is called Century Ballroom and Cafe at 915 E Pine St., Seattle. Nice place. I was very impressed by how well everyone in the ballroom dances. I didn’t bring camera with me but you can check out some sample photos they posted on their own website. It was amazing.

Jian Shuo Wang Becomes Wang Jian Shuo

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 05:49:44 +0800

During this trip to YLF, and recent other trips in US, I just realized in more and more occasions, my name is printed as Wang Jian Shuo instead of Jian Shuo Wang. If you didn’t noticed the difference yet, let me tell you explicitly: it is all about first name first or the last name first for Chinese people.

I write about Why I don’t have an English Name 4 years ago. If you don’t have the time to read that long article, the quick reason is about how you can legally proof that you are the person identified by your English name. But in the last few years, more and more I feel a Chinese name is all about the Chinese identify that I feel very comfortable of.

Photos from YLF Snoqualmie, WA

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 05:26:41 +0800

Let me first post this photo Robert Yung took during our stay in Salish Lodge. The point where the photo was taken is very close to where we stayed.

Photo by Robert Yung

And this is me.

Photo by Ashish Gadnis

We had great fire-side chat before dinner last time, and Ashish again, took the photo of us when we were there.

Photo by Ashish Gadnis

In the photo below, we have Yuan Ming, Zhu Tong, Alex Liu, Ambassador Chen Yonglong, Tang Haisong, Liu Tianyu and Zhang Pei.

Float Over the River of Snoqualmie

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 10:51:03 +0800

Just get back from the river floating of Snoqualmie River. I am still waiting Ashish to send over the great photos he took when we were on the boat, let me tell you something about the wonderful experience.

The water fall of Snoqualmie river is just at where we stayed (Salish Lodge). I could not believe how close a resort can be with a big water fall like that.

We took the big raft for 6 persons down to the river. The water is cold - believe me. It is not as the water where Titanic sinks, but it is really cold.

First Two Sessions of YLF 2008

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 05:16:25 +0800

Just finished the first two sessions of YLF (The Young Leader’s Forum) this morning.

It is a wonderful presentation, and I am so happy that I have get rid of my jetlag, so I can concentrate to the presentations, and join the discussion.

There are so many things that I want to record, and then discuss about it, but let me just quickly move the following bulletins from my note to my blog, because I am very sure that this blog last longer than paper.

Top Commenter of 6 Years

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:21:59 +0800

I am presenting this Top Commenter of the Last 6 Years award to a group of unbelievable persons. In the last 6 years, my readers are with me and created this great community to talk about important things in life, setting a bridge between China and the rest of the world.

These people wrote most comments in the last 6 years, since Sept 11, 2002, to Sept 10, 2008. The first line of the list is the name of the commenter, and the number behind it are the number of comments this person posted on this blog in the last 6 years.

Only J (Not P) Survives in US

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 07:44:24 +0800

I am of type ENFP (Extraverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving) in my MBTI testing. (If you happen to know MBTI, you know what I am talking about. I believe in it a lot).

I am a very typical P type of person - the type of people

who don’t like schedules
who likes to keep everything open ended
who want to keep possibilities, instead of fixed.
who want to understand the world instead of control it.

I Decided to Learn to Read Menus

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 07:25:30 +0800

Going to restaurants in US is a big problem for me, as I mentioned in this blog: Finally Get into Buck’s Restaurant. GN and I had some nice conversation below it, and it is not a surprise that people cannot realize how hard menu is for foreigners, like English menu for Chinese, or Chinese menu for French…

For example, this section is quoted from Buck’s Restaurant’s menu:

Filoli garden omelette 10.50

(Wild mushrooms, onion, zucchini, tomatoes)

I Now Prefer Inexpensive Hotels

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 06:14:55 +0800

I am sitting in the lobby of the Arctic Club Hotel, Seattle. This is a nice historic hotel in downtown, at 700 3th Ave, Seattle. Since I still have 1 hour before YLF car pick me up, I think I should take the time to write down some of the thoughts during my US trip so far. I will beginning with the experience I gained from this trip.

On Hotel Selection

Dinner with Friends in Microsoft in Redmond

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:28:00 +0800

Just back from dinner at Maple Garden Chinese Restaurant at 14725 NE 20th St. (really bad food in standard of China standard).

Washington state is very different from California, and Microsoft is very very different from what I saw in the silicon valley. After several years, Microsoft seems to be more conservative, and more like a big company. I just have a feeling that Microsoft is more like Boeing…

Get back to hotel. Pretty tired. Pardon me for the short and not-in-detail style. Will add more later. Get to bed now.

Finally Get into Buck's Restaurant

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 05:27:54 +0800

Tina took me to the Buck’s Restaurant at Woodside by I-280 before, but the line was very long and we gave up. I only saw the “Google car plate” on the war, with a tagline - something like this: “we are so fool that we missed Google stock, but we got the plate.”

I went there the next trip, but still, too many people. Again, I gave up.

Today, I finally entered the restaurant. It is not empty but still have several seats - BTW, is this another sign of US economy slow down (if not recession)?

Don't Force Me to Write on Topics

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 05:26:41 +0800

From time to time, I saw frustrated readers commenting on this blog about less coverage of a “very important topic”. Here is one example:

yeah…what about China? Hmm….well let’s see. How about more than a 100 children with kidney stones from contaminated milk powder in yet ANOTHER contaminated food scandal? This doesn’t catch your attention, WJS? Let’s face it, there’s shady companies all over the world, but contaminating food for children seems to be something the Chinese particularly excel at. Assuming they’re able to eat anything from underneath the rubble of buildings that government safety inspectors didn’t bother checking, in an earthquake prone zone.

Surrounded by Negative News in US

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 07:45:21 +0800

Two days after I arrive at the bay area, I still didn’t see anything wrong. I arrived in Saturday, and has a bunch of meetings in San Francisco. Everything seems great. Now, it is Monday.

However, some chat with my friends today is all about negative news.

Lehman Bros’ Bankruptcy

I may be too late on news, but I just heard about the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. I just heard it 10 minutes over coffee from my old friend in eBay.

Meetup in Google

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 23:45:21 +0800

I am joining a Silicon Valley Chinese engineers/entrepreneur meetup in Google, organized by Tina and hosted by Meng in Google this afternoon. It is a private personal meetup that I’d like to join every time I am in town.

Looking forward to it.

Travel is a Habit Changer

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 22:44:38 +0800

Due to jetlag, I wake up at 3:00 AM, and 5:00 AM. At 6:00 AM, I cannot sleep and left the bed at 6:30 AM. For me, when I am feeling sleepy and don’t want to wake up at 8:00 AM, I know my jetlag period is over, which I expect to be 3 days later.

Travel is an very important habit changer. It changes the time you wake up, the way you think about things, the way you make appointments, the way you eat, and many aspects of your life, especially the bay area, which has a strong tradition of doing things.

Dinner in Downtown Mount View

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 15:56:44 +0800

Dinner with RC in downtown Mount View, and the visited the Red Rock at the Villa and Castro there with Yi Jin, Henry and Teresa (is this the right spelling). Yi Jin seems to be the person I meet every time I am in bay area. He was heavily involved in the HYSTA (Hua Yuan Science and Technology Association), which is a very nice Chinese technical community. Time flies and I have know Yi Jin for 2 years.

Call Back China from Abroad: **139*#

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 15:30:48 +0800

When I want to make an emergency call using my China mobile in US, the best way to call is to use the *139 service.

How it Works

It works this way.

When the China Mobile user is roaming in US, the charge for him/her to call back to China is relatively very high. However, if there is someone in China call his/her mobile, the charge will be at the rate of receiving phone call, and is much lower.

Get to Airport Early is Important

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 03:30:20 +0800

I am in San Jose now - hello world! I am in San Jose!

There are several very tiny mistakes I took during the trip.

United Airlines, or Others

I am still flying with United. Many friends told me to avoid the airline, and try something else, like the India airlines. Maybe because of the tendency people have, I never thought of change before. UA858 is my first flight I visited the States, and since then, 10 out of about 11 visits to US is via UA858…. I am thinking about a change the next time.

With the excitement to visit a new country fade out gradually in the last 8 years, the requirements for the airlines get higher. The earphone does not work, the channel 9 is not available this time, and the water drops from the ceiling from time to time all contribute to a bad experience this time. The good thing is, however, I don’t care that much as before.

Starting the Longest Day

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 10:26:57 +0800

Every time I fly over the pacific, the day become one of the longest day I have. I am going to be stuck in the day of Sept 13th, for 40 hours.

I am flying to San Francisco at 12:25 via UA858 (I know many people recommend me to avoid this flight), and in the several days ahead, most of my blog entries can be out of order in terms of publishing time due to the time difference.

Dinner with Mayors in US Again

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 23:40:16 +0800

This is the second time I host the dinner of US Mayor Delegate (see the

last dinner). As always, it is part of my highlights in normal daily life.

The dinner was again at the Lugang at the opposite side of the Jin Jiang Hotel. (This is the traditional place for NCUSCR gatherings.)

I am happy to meet with Sam Adams in person, the Mayor-elect of the city of Portland, Oregon. I am particular interested in Portland since I have a brother in Portland. He sits on the right side of me during the dinner. We also have David Everitt, the Chief of Staff of Office of the Mayor in Salt Lake City. The other mayor is Mayor from Northglenn, CO, Kathleen M. Novak, and Albuquerque, NM mayor Martin… (I hope I record everyone’s name correctly, and feel free to correct me if I am wrong).

6 Years of Blogging

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 23:34:51 +0800

Let’s celebrate my 6 years of blogging.

To be honest, this is the make up blog entry that I write on the second day. On the anniversary of my 6 years of blogging, I am still on the plane from Beijing to Shanghai, thinking about what happened in the last 6 years.

At the stage of the 6 years of blogging, I am just in the middle of many travels. I am just back from Beijing and heading to San Francisco tomorrow morning. It is already very late and as always, I haven’t have my things packed yet.

Yogurt in a Bottle

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 02:13:37 +0800

In Beijing (and in other north cities in China, like Luoyang), yogurts are sold in the small bottle, like coke.

I love this kind of Yogurt a lot. Didn’t see any of this kind in Shanghai, but in Beijing, it seems most store selling ice cream or coke sell it. You have to stand at the store to eat it because you have to return the bottle to the store. I love this unique experience in Beijing a lot.

Face Recognition Finally Archived

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 01:12:33 +0800

Just checked the update of Picasa Web from Google, and find out their low profile launched face recognition (they call it name tag) really worked. With a little bit manual work, here are all my face it find out for me - it appears to me that all of these faces are myself.

Nanluoguxiang Is Special

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 23:16:12 +0800

I am in Beijing.

After June this year, I started to switch to cost saving Hanting Hotel (a cheap hotel chain) when I travel in Beijing. To me, to be honest, I just feel better in Hanting Hotel than the previous hotels I stayed - say, Shangri-La, or Renaissance. I am not saying it is better, but at a price that is 1/4 of 5 star hotel, and have all the things you need, it is just great.

3 Days to 6th Anniversary of Blogging

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 00:01:13 +0800

Three days from today, Sept 11, is the 6 year anniversary of my blogging. I cannot believe that I have been blogging almost daily for 6 years. Wow. Isn’t exciting to review all the 2118 entries in the last 2187 days?

I am thinking about what I should do to celebrate the event (in courtesy of people who cares about the 9-11 events, I want to say, this is just an coincident, and that coincident was not intentional).

Yilin Blindman Massage

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 22:44:32 +0800

What is the best of Shanghai? I asked my friends. Besides sightseeing, night life, food and many other things, it is for sure that massage is part of the Shanghai experience. I didn’t talked about this topic before - how I can just mention Xiang Yang Market without talking about massage.

My Favorite: Yilin Blindman Massage

In the last few years, I tried some massage place, and I found Yilin is definitely the best. The gap between them and others are not a little - it is huge. I’d like to recommend them to my readers.

Nokia N78

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 21:51:42 +0800

Latest available software for Nokia N78, product code 0564783

Version: 12.046

Compare numbers

If this version is greater than your current software version, update now to get the latest features, applications and improvements. Go to Nokia Software Updater download

Software version

10.136

Software version date

08-05-208

The Meetup on ICS Tonight

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:38:11 +0800

Thanks for my friends who attended the Wangjianshuo’s Blog Meetup on August 30. As you obviously saw, Mr. Tang, and his team was recording the whole meetup, and interviewed some of participants.

Tonight, it is possible that they show the program in A Tale of 3 Cities. Here is the more detailed information:

Time: 9:30 PM, September 6, 2008.

Channel: International Channel Shanghai

The channel is now only available in Shanghai.

If you want to watch it online, here is the online real time streaming:

China-US Economy Discussion

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 23:52:20 +0800

I am not an economy expert (or even entry level learner), and actually I don’t know too much about the discussion my reader Rimbaud initiated, with DB following the comment. But I think it worth some serious discussion. The decrease in value of US dollar and strong RMB trend IS an important issue to discuss, and so is the losing of wealth from China because of it. This is what I am going to do. Let me post Rimbaud and DB’s comments here, and then open for discussion. I think it will be an very interesting thread, and it will be very educational for me.

Problem of Having a Good Email Address

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:44:14 +0800

I have a friend in San Francisco who has a very good email address:

tom@aol.com

The last year, I sent an email to him to his email address, and not surprisingly, I got a reply like this

From: —–

Sent: Monday, September 03, 2007 6:53:40 AM

To: jianshuo@hotmail.com

This is an automated response - please read carefully. “Tom@aol.com”

receives several hundred eMails per day that are not intended for myself

Table Tennis is the National Sports of China

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:43:31 +0800

In this Olympic Game, as in many previous Games, China dominates in the Table Tennis - with 4 gold medal:

Women’s Team GUO Yue, ZHANG Yining, WANG Nan

Men’s Team MA Lin, WANG Hao, WANG Liqin

Women’s Singles ZHANG Yining

Men’s Singles MA Lin

It is not by accident since Ping Pong is really one of the most popular sports in China. I have been playing Ping Pong for many years, and tomorrow we will have a Ping Pong game within the company, after we have “friendship game” with other companies before.

Google AdSense for Feed

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:12:18 +0800

Google started to provide AdSense for Feed, and I am doing some experiment to have the small image in my feed. Since feedproxy.google.com, and feeds.feedburner.com is blocked in China, it is not easy to directly use it, so I setup a little proxy for people to check out the Google feed. Give me some feedback about how it works. Things I am particular interested is:

Is the ad in the feed annoying

First ibis Hotel Opens in Shanghai

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 22:22:56 +0800

In our Australia trip, Wendy and I stayed in Ibis hotel - in Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne. We found out ibis is a great hotel - it has everything a casual traveler needs.

Now, with the competition in the budget hotel market heat up in China, not only local brands like Home Inn, Hanting, and Motel 168 is joining the competition, international brand like ibis also joined.

Image in courtesy of ibis hotel

Experiment on Natural Search

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 07:36:32 +0800

Recently, at Baixing.com, we are testing Natural Search Optimization. We got some ideas, and I’d like to test on the ideas on my blog first, and see how it works - it is easier to test on a small blog than a big site…

Nanyang

Previous: (none)

Now: Nanyang is in south of Henan province, China, in the Nanyang plateau. Wendy, my wife is from Nanyang, and we often go back to Nanyang and visit family and friends there. Here, you can find my observation of Nanyang’s social environment, street scenes, and trip reports from Nanyang, hotels, and tour like Baotianman. However, this is not the Nanyang Technological University (colleges), not about the Nanyang in Singapore, its MBA program. :-)

Photos of Wujiang Road

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 23:45:16 +0800

Let me just post some photos I took on the Wujiang Road 吴江路 when ICS was busy shooting me with a camera.

Where is Wujiang Road

Wujiang Road is just at the exit of Metro Line #2, Nanjing West Road Station (formerly Shimen Yi Road Station). It is famous for its cheap and nice eatery. Recently, it is renovated to another Xintiandi (which I don’t like at all).

Salary for Foreign Engineers

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 23:27:24 +0800

I received an email from an Italian Engineer who received an offer from a Shanghai company of 10,000 RMB (about 1,400 USD) per month salary in Shanghai. He asked whether it is high or low for a foreign engineer. I believe this is a very common question to ask for people considering a Shanghai job, so I want to spend today’s blog talking about this issue again.

Before you continue reading, I believe my previous articles on the same topic may help:

The Wonderful 2008 Meetup

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 21:17:43 +0800

Today, we had a wonderful Wangjianshuo’s Blog Meetup. Thanks everyone for coming!

The meetup was held in the Starbucks Jinyan Store. It is a Saturday afternoon. The helpful and kind staff told me that after Olympics, many people appeared out of their home, and came to the Starbucks. 100 table in the outside area was occupied. We were lucky to have a corner on the second floor, so about 20 of us can gather and had wonderful conversation here.

Blog Meetup on August 30, 2008

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 22:25:59 +0800

Tomorrow, I will have a small meetup in Pudong Starbucks Jinyan Store. Now it seems 3-5 people are coming. It is good enough, so we have some time to chat about life in Shanghai. Since it is just tomorrow, let me irritate about the logistics, and a special news. The following is organized in a Q&A format.

Q&A

Q: What is the meetup?

A: No particular goal, just free chat. Since I many got request for meetup, and my typical answer is, I will arrange meetup from time to time on this blog, so we have some opportunity to meet in person. It also provide a chance for the reader community to know each other.

Dos and Don'ts For Foriengers in China

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:49:03 +0800

My reader asked what is the dos and don’ts for foreigners (or America as he is) in China. Here is my answer:

@Pedro Godoi, don’t worry, just enjoy your trip and don’t care too much about the dos and don’ts. Just follow the common sense in America. Typically, people in China, and in Shanghai of cause, are very nice to foreigners, and they tolerate a lot if you cannot use chopstick, or don’t understand many local things. It is OK to be nature as in every where in the world. Most dos and don’ts here are the same as most places in the world.

Buy Train Ticket After On Board

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:26:53 +0800

My reader asked me whether it is possible to buy D train or CRH train ticket after getting on board.

My answer is, generally, no.

Checkpoints before you get on board

In Shanghai Railway Stations, for example, you have to have a valid train ticket before you get even close to the door of the train. Here are the possible places you need to show your ticket.

The Station.

The rule is, you can enter the train station only 2 hours before the train departs. You need to line up and show your ticket to an officer outside the train station. it is the same for the South Railway Station. The reason is, with too much people, without the check, many people may use the train station as a temp home, and enjoy the free air conditioning system. It is fine to have just a few, but as any train station in China, there are many people sitting or sleeping outside the train station, just wait for the 2 hour time to come.

Prepared for Shanghai World Expo

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:35:34 +0800

After the curtain of the Beijing Olympic Games falls down, we can expect the other big event in China - the Shanghai World Expo in 2010. This time, the hosting city changes to Shanghai, the city I am living in. I am very excited about the Expo, and looking forward to a great time during World Expo in Shanghai.

The World Expo Site

Unlike the Beijing Olympic, which is still 1400 km away from my home, the Shanghai World Expo site is pretty close to where I am living - it is just about 3 km away. Everyday when I drive to work and home, I will see the construction of the site on the west side of the Nanpu Bridge. In 2010, I am looking forward to walk to the Expo site to enjoy the exihition there. Here is the area of the Expo site on Google Earth:

Goodbye Olympic

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:56:38 +0800

Olympic closes with not an not-as-fancy-as-opening closing ceremony, but it didn’t affect my love to Olympic, or my enjoyment of the Games. Several changes to me:

It promotes sports. I started to pay attention to sports and get involved more than before.
My favorate sports in the Games are: volleyball, table-tennis, bench volleyball, 3m springboard, and running.
In the last week, I swimmed, I played table-tennis, and I played beach volleyball. I believe it must be because of the impact of the Olympic on me.

OOB for Vacation

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 23:36:45 +0800

As I mentioned in my previous entry, I was longing for a vacation for a long time (maybe two years). It is the time to get off the normal life (from Yifan for just few days) and take a vacation. Will be OOB (Out of Blogging) for the rest two days.

2 Comments

Excellent! Here's to a well-deserved restful and relaxing time for both of you :-)

— Carroll · 2008-08-23 01:16

Yes, take a restful vacation with your love ones, will make you health, wealth and wise!

— stephen · 2008-08-23 03:38

Wangjianshuo's Blog Meetup

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:47:22 +0800

Emm… What was the last time of Wangjianshuo’s Blog Meetup? That is maybe one year ago in Palo Alto (recorded here) in Sept 2007.

I am planning to host another Wangjianshuo’s Blog Meetup 10 days from today.

Arrangement

Time: 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM

Date: Saturday, August 30, 2008

Location: Starbucks at Jinyan Road, Pudong, Shanghai, near the Science and Technology Museum. I have an article about the place here.

How to get there: Please also check the same article for instructinos.

Update about Yifan

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 23:50:14 +0800

Haha. This is some update from my cute son - Yifan. Yifan is already 14 months old, and he brought enormous happiness to use, along with many pleasant troubles.

Yifan Starts to Walk Now

Yifan starts to be able to walk several steps by himself. If I grasp his hand, he can walk around for half an hour. The only problem for me is, his walk is very random - completely flows with what he feels interested.

Day Like This - Another Day

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 22:50:50 +0800

The Day like This Category

From time to time, I write articles in this category: day like this. It is a very unique category in my blog, because for these entries, I don’t have a determined topic in mind when I write it. I just want to record this particular day in my life, as detailed as possible, and as nature as possible. This way, many years later, I can browse with easy mind to see what my normal day is like many years ago.

Lang Ping's American Volleyball Team Beat China

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 23:33:10 +0800

Several minutes ago, just watched the game between the US Volleyball team beat China’s women volleyball team at 3:2. The scores are so close in the five sections:

23-25 (US-China)

25-22

23-25

25-20

15-11

It is another breath taking game - it seems most of the volleyball games in this Olympic involving both women and men are very close in score. We just saw one in the men’s volleyball the other day (China-Japan).

Interview by ChinaOnTV and CNReviews

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 23:25:11 +0800

If you are interested, here is a short video interview by ChinaOnTV and CNReviews:

Wang Jianshuo Interview: Shanghai’s Veteran Blogger (part II)

CNReviews has been kind enough to provide the transcript.

The first part of the interview is here, on CNReviews’ website:

Wang Jianshuo Interview: Shanghai’s Veteran Blogger (part I)

P.S. My friends in NBC told me that the shot in my home was still pending and didn’t broadcast in the NBC network in US yet. They have really hot ratings these days during the Olympic, and not-so-critical part may be postponed after the game.

Olympic is about Competition and Happiness

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 23:28:15 +0800

These days are really Olympic days in China. This is the 6th day of the game. I am happy to be in the host country, and I have experienced Olympic completely differently from the previous several games.

Time Zone Plays an Important Role

I believe the key reason besides the happiness to host the game is the time zone. For most of the Olympic games, or World Cup, or similar international games, they games are often in Europe and America, and that brings huge challenge for people to watch in real time. World cup is a good example, since everyone needs to watch the game after midnight in China.

One Ceremony, Many Perceiptions

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 22:42:38 +0800

I talked with my native American friend over the coffee today. I asked about his comments on the Opening Ceremony.

As many people, he said the ceremony is great, and amazing… just like many people feel. He particularly mentioned that he was at bar in Shanghai with many foreigners. Many of them didn’t believe there are people behind the MovableType part, until the last minute. He said this kind of show is very hard to create in western world. Later, he said, “maybe Germany” - I was very caustious when I heard about it, because I did have the same feeling to connect the “everyone the same, country first, power centric” show with the Berlin Olympic. I will talk about it later in another article. (Don’t worry. Anything can be seen from different angle and reflect differnet result, just like the Elephant and Bindmen story, and this wonderful opening ceremony is not an exception)

The Chinese Elements - Part II

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 23:31:20 +0800

This is the second part of the series, Chinese Elements in the Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony.

The Character He 和, or Peace

During the MovableType show (don’t confuse it with the software I am using to write this blog), the Chinese character of “He” or 和 was shown three time.

Image credit: Getty via Yahoo

和 is written in Pinyin Chinese as He, but it is pronounced more similar with the English word: Her.

The Chinese Elements in the Ceremony

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 23:07:52 +0800

After the Opening Ceremony of XXIX Olympic Games in Beijing is over for 48 hours, I am thinking about the little difference people in China and foreign audience may react to the same event. I believe there must be some difference because of the different cultural background, and difference in other experiences. For example, the Chinese may react a little bit more modest to the event than the western viewers because people get used to the scene of many actors lining up as a matrix and doing exactly the same thing, while many people in the west didn’t often seen such arrangement, especially in this large scale.

Foreign Media's Response to the Opening

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 19:05:23 +0800

I collected some report from foreign medias.

Reuters

World media hails Beijing’s perfect night

Beijing’s Olympic opening extravaganza drew rave reviews on Friday from media around the world awed by rich displays of Chinese culture that eclipsed controversy that has surrounded the city’s hosting of the Games.

For me, I wrote many article about the “negative” impact the Olympic brought to the people, including me. However, I found people are much more emotional than rational. Although the debate, and the concerns will get back, and it must for a really greater and better country, at least at the night of the opening ceremony, I feel very excited, and felt the same way as Reuters reporter.

Going to Shanghai Olympic Football Game

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 16:11:47 +0800

Ticketing Office

The ticketing office is not as crowded as I thought. Maybe it is because of the very long time of ticket selling. You can get there and take a ticket without lining up.

When I get to the ticket office, half of the tickets have been sold up. Most of the men’s football tickets have been sold out, and most of the women football tickets are still available.

Interesting Comments on the Ceremony

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 12:34:18 +0800

I saw two interesting comments about the game. The first is from Charles Robinson on Yahoo!:

Maybe the only way to understand how fulfilling the 2008 Opening Ceremony was is to think four years in advance to the 2012 games, and pity the city of London. The planning committee from those Games was in attendance last night. And you can bet whoever is in charge of the ceremony there was sitting on a floor with his head in his hands.

Beijing Olympic Games Opening Ceremony

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 23:05:26 +0800

I am still watching the opening ceremony of the Games. Now about 100 countries have entered the Bird’s Nest.

I Love it

I love the opening ceremony. It is full of imagination, and has deep culture roots. I specially enjoy the part with Chinese characters. I am happy to say, the opening ceremony is at least beyond my expectation.

Image Credit: AP via Yahoo!

The Day Before Olympic Games

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:30:06 +0800

Tomorrow, the Olympic Games will open in Beijing. It is such a big event that people start to count down from 1000 days ago. When it comes, I just have many ideas in my minds. Just list some of them.

Impact of the Games

One reporter from Newsweek asked me can we call these 5 years as the “Olympic Age” in China. I said no.

The impact of the Games has not show up too much yet. I would assume the 5 to 10 years after Olympic Games will reveal some of the impact (hopefully), and it is not too late to summarize the 10 years as “Olympic Age” after 10 years. Now? I didn’t feel too much change yet.

Business is Business

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 23:23:01 +0800

Business is an interesting game.

It is like online game, with strategies playing a role, with execution, with resources, with consistency, with strong minds, with sense of directions, with changes we have to make every day… It is just like a wonderful, interesting, powerful, but complicated game.

Business is really a game.

P.S. This is the fourth entry I wrote with exactly the same title: Business is Business.

The first time was in 2002: Business is Business. That was just before I started to run the ESS business for Wicresoft.

Pudong Airport T2 Behind the Security Gate

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 21:54:29 +0800

I took many photos of the Pudong Airport new Terminal 2 after it is completed and opened to public. However, the previous entries only described the area outside the Security Gate. It is just because my flight was in T1 at that time. Recently, I traveled to Beijing via Air China, which departs at T2, so I can complete my report about T2 of Pudong International Airport.

In case you are interested, check out my previous entries on T2

New Embassy of United States in Beijing

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 22:04:35 +0800

Very soon, the US Embassy will move to a new location in Beijing. It is said President Bush will attend the opening ceremony of the new Embassy.

Location

The new embassy will move from its current location to several miles to north east. It is near the Beijing Airport Express Sanyuanqiao Station, and the Liangmahe Station of the Subway Line #10.

Below is the map of the New US Embassy. The embassy is in the red circle.

What is 97sese?

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 13:58:36 +0800

In the search log, I found many people searching for 97sese.com, 97sese, or similar website. However, the site itself cannot be opened. I am amazed by the huge amount of search queries it generated.

My quick conclusion is, it must be an porn website which is recently banned by the GFW, or by the hosting company in other countries.

Along with the search keyword, there are other keywords like 97bobo or 97ai, 331xx… I assume they must be some porn sites.

Beijing Airport Express Train in Depth

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 23:34:02 +0800

In this article, I am going to talk about the Beijng Airport Express in depth, just as I talked about the Pudong Airport Maglev Train.

Route

Beijing Airport Express is just opened one month before the Olympic. It has four stations along the line:

Airport T3 Station
Airport T2 Station (T1 is almost at the same building of T2)
Sanyuanqiao Station
Dongzhimen Station

The routes are like this:

Dongzhimen -> Sanyuanqiao -> T3 -> T2 -> Sanyuanqiao -> Dongzhimen

In Beijing, Just Before Olympic Games

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 01:02:44 +0800

I am in Beijing now. I am here to attend a meeting. Today is July 30, 2008, just 9 days before the Olympic Games. As we waited for this date for more than 7 years, and we are really going to see it with our own eyes. What does Beijing look like these days? How do I feel as a unprofessional reporter who happen to be in this city? Here is my report.

Crossing Over with Hong Huang

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:19:49 +0800

Today I joined Hong Huang on the talk show of Crossing Over on ICS, talking about Baixing.com for quite some time, and also talked about a topic I don’t have too much idea - sexual harassment.

Hong Huang is one of my favorite star - her movie Perpetual Motion was completely different from any movie I saw, and was astonishingly unique. To be more exact, Wendy is a bigger fan of her.

Lost Passport and Found it

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 15:26:46 +0800

To prepare the trip to US in Sept, I was looking for my passport for more than one month. My bad - I just forget to put things and always spend pretty high percentage of my life looking for things. This time, I was completely feeling desperate. I don’t want it to be the second time I lose my passport.

The Previous One

I lost passport once at the end of 2002. The re-issue process was a nightmare for me. I struggled for more than half year to get a new one, including visiting many police stations, forced to lie to the stations to get the “lost claim”, paid for classified on Wen Hui newspaper, and waited for 3 months after the lost claim appears on the newspaper, and spent another one month to get a new passport.

Beijing Apartment for Olympic

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 17:57:26 +0800

From time to time, I am posting small “ads” for my friends, and for things I feel of great value.

Olympic Game is coming to Beijing in 14 days. Housing can be a very hard problem for visitors (visa is another one). Hotel has reached to ridiculous price, like 1000+ USD per night for hotels like Hilton in Beijing, and higher for more fancy hotels. The problem is, even with the high price, not many hotel still has rooms available…

Swim in River in Shanghai

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 01:36:07 +0800

Shanghai has been highly polluted. When I came to Shanghai more than 10 years ago, I thought people can swim in the Huangpu river, then I just find out to swim in the Huangpu River is just impossible.

Meanwhile, some serious effort has been put into some of the rivers (just very few that I can name). To my greatest surprise, I started to see people swimming in the natural river today.

Data Center 'Sealed' During Olympic

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:25:40 +0800

Many days ago, I received an email from Hotsales, since I have a personal home page space with Hotsales, who hosted their servers in China Telecom data center.

The official order came from the above about the “sealing (or blocking) of all data centers”. The order reads like this:

Dear Customer,

Greetings!

According to regulations related to national Olympic logistics, the following “Network Blockage” will be implemented.

China telecome: August 1, 2008 to August 25, 2008

Monday, Tuesday, ... Olympic

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:23:18 +0800

A normal Monday.

In the morning, when I wanted to turn right onto the Xianan Road at my residential area gate, it is already full of cars, and for the first time, a policeman stood there helping to guide the traffic.

This is due to the recent accident on the Jinxiu Road, where the metro construction or the Shanghai Expo Electricity Power Tunnel (who knows which project) caused the road to collaps. All the traffic to Jinxiu Road and Chengshan Road was detoured to the other side of the road, making it so hard for everyone. Roads are roads - they require maintainance and sometimes, collaps… :-(

Brought Yifan to Gymboree

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 21:22:31 +0800

After talking about it for weeks, Wendy and I finally brought Yifan to Gymboree, the early-education center. Yifan and Wendy went there for once before, and this is the first time I am with them.

Yifan didn’t show particular interest in the group activity. He enjoys playing with the slopes, and stairs by himself.

English Education?

Something I observed is, they are mainly using English as the instruction language - the songs, the introduction and almost everything. I don’t feel very comfortable in an environment where everyone is Chinese, and they use English to educate my kid at the very beginning. What is the point to do it when the kids don’t know any language yet. It is OK, but I don’t think it is an advantage for a training center to use English to teach than others.

How A Young Couple and a Kid Live in Shanghai

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 22:10:33 +0800

Living in Shanghai for most people is not easy - the continuous inflation, and increase of cost of almost everything (housing among the big part). For a family, it is also not easy. Let me share the real problems a couple with a kid (like Yifan) will face.

Both Wife and Husband Work

In Shanghai, very few family can be really independent. In Shanghai (and in China), for most families, both the husband and wife work. Maybe as a good sign of equity between women and men, Shanghai demands exactly the same thing for women and men. That means, it is really rare for wife to stay at home to take care of their kids. Me, for example, I only have one friend who arranged his wife in home - they came back from the States and get used to have one person stay in home. Except him, I don’t know any of my friend who have the “wife-at-home” arrangement so far. Not to mention an arrangement to have husband at home while wife works.

Seek for Some Guidance

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:08:03 +0800

Recently, I feel that I am too much far away from this city and far away from my reader community.

The business was almost the whole part of my life, and Yifan is another important part. Even Wendy and I didn’t get any time to get together to watch movie…

I feel far from the city because, I just realized that I didn’t take metro for a long time - I just drive, and I didn’t take bus in the last few months. I am far away from restaurants, and from friends these days.

Killed 6 Policemen and Became Hero

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:03:33 +0800

I am always not sensitive to breaking news, like the this one. The reason is, I don’t position myself to be a news blogger. News is just news. It becomes relevant to me and my readers only when it is proven to be a piece of meaningful news. Only time can tell whether an event is just a random thing, like a car hit a bus, or it marks an important milestone in this city/country. Today, I want to talk about a piece of old news.

Continue to be OOB

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:58:00 +0800

As many of my reader may have noticed, recently, I didn’t blog as often as I always did - and people observed pause from time to time during the last two weeks.

Don’t worry. I am just OOB (out of blogging) a little bit due to the busy time during the business circle - the beginning of a quarter, and wrapping up the previous quarter. I spent most of my night time on it, so I don’t have enough time on the blog. Don’t worry. Business is doing fantastic! We are so excited to close the Q2 with great result.

Interview about Fenqing

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:22:55 +0800

I am conducting an interview about Fenqing - the Angry Youth in China from Radio France International.

I just want to record some of the questions and answers.

What is Fenqing

I think Fenqing is a very general term that is hard to define. It may be characterized as: Passionate, Action-Oriented, Relatively less of experience, Easy to be Angry

Shangri-La Hotel Pudong Shanghai

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 23:54:32 +0800

Shangri-La hotel is the hotel I visit most often, just because many of my visitors stay in that hotel, and I love to drive there, since it is free parking for its customers, and residents.

There are many five star hotels in Shanghai, but Shangri-la hotel is special to me. It reflects the characteristic of Asia very well.

Due to the restriction of taking photos inside the hotel, I didn’t take photos here, but here are some photos from their website:

Photos of the Blue Sky

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 00:39:57 +0800

Three days ago (ops. This is may be the longest pause in my daily blog routine in the recent months. I was just too busy working on the business these days, due to the approach of the end of the quarter), I posted an entry about the blue sky in Shanghai. I am not the only one with the feeling. Some of my readers, and other bloggers are recording the same “unusual” day. My friend RC sent me an email, telling the story that his friend talked about the blue sky independently from my blog and he didn’t believe it, since he has traveled to Shanghai many times and never see blue skies. So he asked his friend to send a photo to him. He got two actually, and it IS blue sky. Then he read my post and forwarded the two photos his friend took during the day and got permission for me to repost the photos on my blog.

The Most Beautiful Sky in Shanghai

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:47:30 +0800

Today is the most beautiful weather in Shanghai I have experienced in the last three years. I told Wendy about it and she also agreed when we drove across the Huangpu River this morning.

Do you agree?

The sky is pure blue - just like the normal sky in bay area (what a pity and shame). I remember years ago when I posted my photos from San Jose, and people in China was so surprised and commented that “Look at the blue sky”, and my readers in bay area was also surprised: “Look! Someone even get surprised of blue sky!”…

Good Online Local Shanghai Map?

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 01:02:48 +0800

This is another FAQ. However, I can only give you the common answers - there are no really good English map online yet, as far as I know, and let me share with you the services I use for Chinese map.

Baidu Map

Google Map

Live Map

That’s it. The three most powerful map provider in Shanghai.

P.S. The reason I posted some kind of “common sense” is because of one post I wrote years ago when I really have no topic to write about - the emergency number in Shanghai is 119, instead of 911. The post was responded so well by my readers because many of them didn’t know it.

Shanghai Metro is Not 24 Hours

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 01:35:39 +0800

My readers, please be noted that Shanghai Metro is not 24 hour in service. I had a miserable night today.

I took Metro Line #1 from Xujiahui to Metro Line #4 station at Shanghai Stadium, only to find out Metro Line #4 is already closed. The last train leaves the platform at 22:16 (inner circle) and 23:14 (outer circle).

Do pay attention to it during your next visit.

Update Their Notices March 8, 2009

CRH Train from Shanghai to Hangzhou

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:27:16 +0800

I just took the CRH train (or the D train) from Shanghai to Hangzhou. The journey is only 1 hour and 23 minutes, from 1:12 PM to 2:35 PM.

I have the chance to take some photos to share with my readers. I know many of then are wondering about how to get to Hangzhou. To take train to Hangzhou from Shanghai South Railway Station is definitely a good option.

Is Olympic Really Coming?

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:18:52 +0800

Olympic Game is coming to Beijing in about one month. What does it mean to this country, to Beijing, and to Shanghai?

As the Game is coming closer, I didn’t personally feel too much difference so far. However, the key question is, what exactly do we expect for an Olympic?

Everything is very normal in Shanghai, except the strengthened security in Metro and in Visa application. There are many “new measures” around us, but not many of them are so exciting yet.

Register with PSB During Olympics?

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:45:58 +0800

My reader DC sent me a notice with the following information. Is it true? I didn’t get the chance to verify it yet. Just FYI.

**Important Public Security Bureau Information **

Expatriate China Staff PSB Registrations will be enforced as of July 1st. The Chinese Public Security Bureau issued new guidelines today to hotels and apartment management companies concerning the registration of foreigners in China, set to take effect July 1.

Back from Chongming Island

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 23:02:35 +0800

This is the third time I went to Chongming (the first time, and the second time).

This time is a little bit special than the first few visit. Yesterday (June 28, 2008), the Yangtze River Tunnel + Bridge is structurally completed, and it takes some time to pave the road and install equipments. In 2010, people can drive to Chongming Island via Shanghai Yangtze River Bridge + Shanghai Yangtze River Tunnel.

Currently, we have to put our cars onto the boat and get to the island via 1.5 hour trip. However, waiting in the line to get to the boat takes 1 hour to 2 hours.

Stock Market Big Drop

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:24:15 +0800

I always react very slowly to what is happening in stock market in China.

Recently, the big drop of Shanghai Stock is also crazy (like that crazy and more crazy increase before).

After I reported the increase from 998.23 in June 2005 to 4040 in May 2007, and more than 6000 in 2008, it gets back to something around 2800 these days.

I am not involved in the stock market this time. People say, there is bubble in China, and there are always people believe: This is China, so economic rules do not apply.

Sunset and Clouds in Shanghai

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:34:41 +0800

I found out some clouds I took on my trip to Hangzhou on Aug 30, 2004. They look very interesting after we announced the name change in Kijiji. I relief a lot, after a major thing happen.

Enjoy the rare nice clouds in Shanghai:

5 Comments

Would it be......... "every cloud has a silver lining", which means better days are awaiting ahead of you!

A good sign for you future endeavour.

— stephen · 2008-06-25 22:50

silvered sky show off its beauty to us.

— lin · 2008-06-26 12:04

awesome!

— Nux · 2008-06-30 11:33

Is the Ferris Wheel showed in your picture the biggest in Asia?

— Travers · 2008-07-03 11:50

Contents of this website are good and appreciative. Recommended to all. http://www.goagifts.com

— Deepu Singla · 2008-07-10 17:39

Kijiji.cn Changed to Baixing.com

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:34:48 +0800

This morning, we announced in our office that we are going to change our brand from Kijiji to Baixing, a more localized brand. The transition has been completed, and kijiji.cn is directed to Baixing.com from yesterday.

10 Comments

wow. look forward to hearing more about this on your blog, if you can share.

congratulations!

— elliottng · 2008-06-25 22:18

hah, that's great! how come you guys never thought about that?

— mac · 2008-06-26 01:11

good idea! This name will be easier for chinese to remember.

— derek · 2008-06-26 09:37

i think, www.shenghuo.com 生活网 is also a good name.

— derek · 2008-06-26 09:46

The visit was useful. Content was really very informative. From http://www.giftwithlove.com

— Shallu Garg · 2008-06-26 13:06

Hay, congratulations! Will you have a new slogan for Baixing.com?

— eddie · 2008-06-26 18:36

Kijiji sounds much more interesting.

Baixing... so blah.

— wonton · 2008-06-27 02:08

well, I always had a hard time remembering how to spell Kijiji, so Baixing is a welcome change :)

— ZL · 2008-06-27 11:59

Hi Mr wang, could you give me a explanation about the meaning of baixing? And, in addition, I just visited www.baixing.com one minute ago. I found some code can not work on the homepage. The logo on the left top of the page is not available, the logo of ebay on the bottom of the page can not display as well.

— Zhong · 2008-06-27 14:46

Just thought about using Baixing.com for posting info of exchanging Olympics tickets...

— JH · 2008-07-07 19:52

Preparing the Press Conference Tomorrow

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:02:07 +0800

Tomorrow, we will have a press conference in our office.

Busy and OOB (out of blogging) for one more day.

1 Comments

Good luck!

— Shrek7 · 2008-06-25 00:07

Sunday without Sun

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 17:31:33 +0800

It rains all day today. Not today, it rains all the time in the last few weeks, and we expect it to rain every day in the next few weeks too.

It is called the Meiyu Season (or Rainy Season). It is a two-month long period of time around the Yangtz River that it rains almost everyday without significant pause in between. This is maybe the toughest time for many new visitors to this region - it is even more terrible than hot summer or cold winter. I call it wet world.

Lujiazui is a Construction Site

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 22:25:18 +0800

Lujiazui is the heart of Pudong - or in other official words, the “show window of China’s reform and opening up”. I went to Lujiazui today, only to find out the whole area is turned into another big construction site.

Heading out of the Super Brand Mall, the entrance (once was wonderful place with big garden in the middle of the circle road) was completely chaos. A new big overhead bridge is under construction. When completed, the big circle bridge will connect major buildings in that area, including the metro station, together. However, the problem is, currently, there are construction site everywhere. Besides this kind of small project, big underground tunnel is under way, and some roads are completely blocked and turned into construction site, not to mention the crazy skyscrapers in that area. The history of Lujiazui taught me, when there are many skyscrapers in one area, that only mean one thing, there are many more to come…

Gas Price and Plastic Bags

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 00:17:02 +0800

The recent ban of plastic bags, and raise of gas price today are, I think, both good for the environment.

My Recent Shopping Experience

Wendy and I went to Decathlon near our home today. As most of the retail stores I went to, they didn’t provide any bag after shopping. They do offer a big bag as a “product”, costing 5 RMB. Wendy and I checked what we have: several clothes, two box of Ping Pong ball, and a big volleyball, and decided that we don’t need a bag. It was not as easy job as to bring it back to our car with a bag, but we finally made it.

Kong Fu Panda Hits Shanghai Tomorrow

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 01:07:42 +0800

Tomorrow, movie Kong Fu Panda will start to show in Shanghai. Hmm… I heard the movie is pretty good, and I am thinking about going to theatre to watch it sometime next week. The recent Kong Fu movie, like Forbidden Kingdom by Jet Li and Jackie Chen was really disappointing, and I think this one may contrasts with it and should be better.

8 Comments

Hi Jianshuo! It's been several months since I've commented on your blog! But I still visit it about a few times a week. Hey, you've gotta watch Kungfu Panda. I watched it last Saturday night and it was HILARIOUS! I laughed almost non-stop from beginning to end. By the way, is the movie going to be shown in Mandarin? If so, do let me know the actors doing the voicing. The English script is really good. And the animation is very realistic, especially those with scenery, bowls etc. Do share your comments with us after watching the show. *:)

— Lingc · 2008-06-20 02:37

Oh, I forgot to add that, apart from the humour, the movie has a very good message for its audience. It's a pretty uplifting story. *two thumbs up* *:D

— Ling · 2008-06-20 02:39

Yahoo ! another Spielberg movie I can get from my friendly DVD pirate.

Better to get another chinese fed than paying money to that turncoat.

He is not going to make any money from this Chinese.

He has his conscience, and I have mine.

— wonton · 2008-06-20 03:37

@Ling

Hello !

Hav'nt seen you around for sometime. :D

— wonton · 2008-06-20 03:49

Hi Jianshuo!

The movie is wonderful! I've watched it yesterday and believe me, there is a lot of humor in it!

It is worthed seeing!

— Tzveti · 2008-06-20 05:00

http://www.gongfuxiongmao.com

— GUKI · 2008-06-20 11:29

yes, the movie is great, typical heroic American movie. and i like to learn "WuJi finger pick", it's pretty powerful. :-)

— rangew · 2008-06-21 02:18

@wonton, heehee, yup, long time no "see". *:) Missed me? Hiaks.

@rangew, I didn't think it was a typical heroic American movie. It's more like Shrek, the case of an unlikely hero "saving the world". I thought it was pretty uplifting. *:)

— Ling · 2008-06-23 00:31

NBC Interview at my Home

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:24:48 +0800

The last post was actually posted under camera. A team of 4 gentlemen from NBC news visited my home and did an interview in my family environment.

Since NBC is the only official TV station to broadcast Beijing Olympic, they are preparing a series of programs to show the American audience about the real China, and in the several days before Olympic in Aug 8 this year, they will broadcast one piece per day, just like what CCTV did for Athens Olympic.

Shanghai Dazhong Taxi

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:30:28 +0800

I have been talking about Shanghai taxi for many years, but the most frequent questions I got from day to day email is still about the best taxi company, and is about asking me what is my recommendation regarding Shanghai’s Taxi. The answer is pretty easy and straight forward: Dazhong Taxi 大众 is the best taxi company in Shanghai, and is definitely my recommendation.

Here is a photo of the taxi.

Attended Shanghai 5G in Our Office

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 01:03:49 +0800

Participated in Shanghai 5G today - a group I was part of since 2006 (for example, I attended this time).

From this week, Shanghai 5G moved to Kijiji office, and it was a wonderful beginning - about 20 people showed up, and the topic of this week is about Chenshi’s new book Joking about Shuihu 笑水浒… The book was just published and not available in most bookstores, but I do believe it is a very good book - at least to listen to what Chenshi described was very enjoyable. I think I will write a review when I read it.

I Got my Nikon 50mm 1.8D

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 20:40:41 +0800

Yes! I got a new lens! Very excited. I can capture more photos for Yifan.

I love it. I love it a lot.

6 Comments

How much is it

why don't you get 50 1.4? i thought the price will be around 2,000 RMB.

— Gene · 2008-06-14 00:23

50 F/1.4MM is a must have prime Nikkor lens. later u will eye on 85mm :)

— et · 2008-06-14 09:24

It is 760 RMB. I just want to be conservative in selecting lens. I know there is no end for any lens.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2008-06-14 12:56

hehe, good. But i think 85mm is more suitable for portraits, 50mm is a little too short. anyway it's still a very good lens.

— ZJ · 2008-06-15 16:53

for 760 RMB is good deal. Wish you take more great pictures!

— Gene · 2008-06-16 10:22

it's a good lens, i'd used it for 2 years.

— gideon · 2008-06-20 12:27

Foreign Banks in Shanghai

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:00:54 +0800

Another email sent to me asked me about if there is any foreign bank in Shanghai. Well. There are. To be more exact, there are more than 100 foreign bank branches in Shanghai by the end of 2007, and there are about another 100 representative office in Shanghai.

Here is an incomplete list of the most popular foreign banks in Shanghai, with their location and phone number. Thanks for shme

to provide a great summary of the information.

All Kinds of Trap - Another One

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:05:12 +0800

Recently, besides the tactics I listed in the previous article, I encountered more. That is “missed call”.

In your mobile phone, you often get missed call. The caller rings for less than one second and hang up. Even if the phone is at your hand, you cannot get the call. You may find a good time to call back, but… it is a tele-marketer’s call.

P.S. My blog quoted by Wall Street Journal’s China Journal. But again, as most of time, it is because of the similar type of blog entry. Emm… I am fine if I am quoted once or twice because of the same point of view, but when it is all the times, I am not sure what I should say…:-)

Exchange RMB for USD at Pudong Airport

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:43:00 +0800

I got an email asking me about how he/she can exchange RMB to USD in Pudong Airport. Well. There is no easy answer. Let me explain it in details.

China Residence

For people with P.R. China residence status, exchange between RMB and USD is not free. The Regulations on Individual Foreign Exchange applies.

According to the regulation, any Chinese citizen can exchange up to 50,000 USD from RMB, or 50,000 USD equivalence of RMB from USD per calendar year.

All Kinds of Trap

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:49:19 +0800

Got an interview request from a magazine, not so famous, but not a bad name, so I accepted the interview request, and arranged time to do the phone interview about my business. They emphasized that it is a free interview. I felt strange when I see this point in the interview request, but didn’t pay enough attention.

Before the interview, they said the interview is free, but we need to pay subscription fee to their book. 580 RMB per book, and I have to buy 100 books at least.

It is Gaokao Time

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 00:23:51 +0800

These two days are the time for GaoKao, or the National College Entrance Exam.

In Cixi, Ningbo, middle school students filled the hotel we stayed. In Zhejiang, students all check-in to hotels to have better rest during the noon, and night, since it is generally closer to where the test is held.

Just now, Wendy gave me some sample questions of this year’s Gaokao. Pretty frustrating that I know the answer of none of the questions. How embarrassing.

Hey! It is Yifan Again!

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 22:33:38 +0800

Yifan has grown up. He is one year old. He is a little boy now. So we have decided to show him around the city every weekend. This time, we went to the Biyun International District.

I think he is happy when we brought him outside the room - do you think so?

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

Wendy and Yifan. Hm… Both of them are wearing Microsoft T-Shirt. I wear my Kijiji one.

MovableType 4.2 is Disappointing

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 22:26:33 +0800

I am trying to migrate Wendy’s blog from MovableType 3.2 to 4.2 Beta, however, after about an hour, I still cannot import the files into the new system. So… I have to get back to MovableType 3.2.

So far, I still believe MT 3.2 is the best blogging software on the earth - simple, fast, and reliable. I don’t like MT 4.0, I don’t like 4.1, and now I don’t like MT 4.2 Beta

Hangzhou Bay Bridge - More Photos

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 22:14:09 +0800

After the meeting, we get back from Cixi to Shanghai via the Hangzhou Bay Bridge again. This time, I took the front seat and was able to take more photos of the bridge. I know many of my readers will enjoy the latest update of the bridge.

The weather of today is not very good, and as normal, there is no blue sky, and the visibility today is pretty low. Sorry for the low quality of the photos.

Hangzhou Bay Bridge - Just a Bridge

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:08:05 +0800

I am in Cixi, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, to attend a media and advertisement conference of Pudong District. A conference organized by Administration of Industry and Commercial. To be fair, the government doing real business is wonderful, and I enjoy the conversation with them, and they did great job! I have to give my full acknowledgment to them.

OK. Then I get back to my main topic. We used the Hangzhou Bay Bridge, as I promised, I will post picture of the bridge on my site when I visit it personally.

Review at Yifan's 1st Birthday

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:57:58 +0800

Yifan is 1 year old. What a significant milestone for him.

I admit just as most parents, the first month was so exciting, and everything is new to us, and we noticed every single details of him, and our lives changed a lot because of the arrival of this little boy. In the next year, the life went on, and we started to get to normal family life, and didn’t spend every single day as holiday as we did at the very beginning. I am shocked by the fact that before I really noticed, Yifan is already one year old, and the image of a little infant for him has gone for ever. He is now a handsome, more independent and one year boy!

I Hope We can Start to Talk about History

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 19:38:41 +0800

Today is a special day in Chinese history.

What happened on the early morning in the history remain a topic that is not allowed to discuss. However, I do hope that one day, China really opens up and allow people to discuss about what happened in the past. With enough wisdom, we can face it and find a better way to solve problems.

19 years have past, and I think everyone involved, including those standing-by like myself, has been thinking about what happened. With the 19 years of reflection, I believe the whole generation have been more mature than they are, and the people is more mature. Taking me as an example, I have realized there are problems in the students side also, and it is the protesting group and the government that caused the tragedy. My current understanding is, at the beginning, everything went one well, but at the later stage, one side is a crazy government and the other side is a group of crazy students, both of which didn’t give any room to another alternative. I do hope we can start to preserve more facts, and be able to start to talk about history, and think about the future of China.

Zhuazhou - Gift Picking at 1 Year Old

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 23:17:53 +0800

One of the Chinese tradition for kid is Zhuazhou, or gift picking at 1 year old.

Zhua = Grasp Zhou = 1 Year Old

According to the tradition, child at exactly 1 year old (typically at birthday) will be presented with many things, and each of them has a meaning and represents a profession. The child will pick up something he/she is interested, and thus people want to tell what the boy/girl will be when he/she grows up. There is no fixed list of things to present, and obviously things changes from accident China to today. The meanings are also not fixed, and parents can decide what everything means before give them to the kid.

Happy Birthday to Yifan

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:25:46 +0800

Yes! Yifan is exactly one year old today. We had a wonderful night for him today, but it is too late. Let me post more photos and text on this entry tomorrow.

7 Comments

WOW! How has it possibly been a year already??! He's growing up so fast. I love that the birthday hat is in English. And his presents included a new mouse and a calculator?? Perfect!

Please give him a big squishy birthday hug for me, OK?

— Carroll · 2008-06-03 00:49

hey, happy birthday to Him! wow, one years old...

i wonder what has he chosen? hehehh

— mac · 2008-06-03 08:30

Happy B'day. So what did he choose for his birthday present? Any sight what is his future going to be? hehehe...

— DC · 2008-06-03 10:18

I can hardly see the 100 yuan if i don't look at the presents carefully.. haha~ I'm very curious about Yifan's choose.

— derek · 2008-06-03 13:44

Happy Birthday to Yifan! thanks for sharing your heartfelt feelings about Yifan on the blog!

— elliottng · 2008-06-03 15:34

Happy Birthday!

— OnePhone · 2008-06-04 11:35

@derek, you are very true, and it was exactly what Wendy complained for. Finally, we moved the "colorful paper" to more obvious location, and Yifan did spent several seconds with it.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2008-06-04 13:47

Plastic Bags and Gas Shortage - My Observation

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 20:25:42 +0800

Today is not only an International Children’s Day, it is also the first day China ban retailers to provide free plastic bags to shoppers.

I didn’t shop today, but yesterday, when I bought a toy for Yifan, I already saw the price list for plastic bags in Grant Gateway.

The big yellow plastic bag cost 1.00 RMB, and the smallest bag cost 0.1 RMB. We will need to wait and see how this policy is enforced. It is said retailers will be fined for 10,000 RMB for providing free bags to consumers. Although as any policy, I don’t see a democratic process to pass this regulation, it is a good one that I support.

Juilliard Orchestra Coming to Shanghai

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 12:37:54 +0800

Good news. Juilliard Orchestra is coming to Shanghai Grand Theater from June 4, and June 5.

I would completely ignore the event since the embarrassingly lack of knowledge of dancing, drama, and music - the area Juilliard School enjoys international fame, but because of YLF, the situation changed a lot.

During the 2007 Nanjing trip of YLF, I had the honor to meet with the president of Juilliard School, and he spent about 2 hours explain why art (especially, dancing, drama and music) can help the society. It was exactly at that time people debate so heatedly about whether to spend money on poverty, art or space technology. Just FYI, the most extreme quote from the discussion was “every dollar spent on art is killing some one somewhere - people are referring lack of resources to fight against poverty. Anyway, that was a wonderful discussion.

The World is Not Created by Genius - Part II

Sat, 31 May 2008 13:52:10 +0800

I wrote an article named The World is Not Created by Genius long time ago, but didn’t explain the game in much details. I also wrote a Chinese blog about it. Now with the recent thoughts about the role of public opinions in China, I think it is the right time to re-write about the thoughts in English.

The Game

The game is still the same:

Gather a group of people (the more, the better)

Danger in Violance Public Opinions

Fri, 30 May 2008 15:56:27 +0800

I wrote an article about The World is Not Created by Genius

Hard to Use Metro Instead of a Car

Fri, 30 May 2008 00:13:47 +0800

I wrote an article titled Leave Home Early to Avoid Traffic Jam. I said I have to wake up one hour earlier to avoid traffic jam. Many readers suggested me to take metro. For example:

How about Teleworking?

Or Car sharing?

Or taking subway?

Posted by: ecodelta on May 27, 2008 12:50 A

And this:

Does it take more than one hour for you to use the subway to get from your Pudong home to Xujiahui? Why not only use the car for weekends and trips other than work, in a more European style? I’ve now returned to Shanghai after just three years away, and the increase in private cars is amazing. An increasing number of car commuters during rush hour has so many bad points, and public transportation is so good in Shanghai now. How about trying the subway at 7, maybe before it too is so crowded?

I May Not Attend the CNBloggerCon 2008 in Guangzhou

Thu, 29 May 2008 23:56:28 +0800

Today when I talk with Christine and Elliot about the CNBloggerCon, I got to know that CNBloggerCon 2008 will be held in Guangzhou this year, but I am not as interested as before, and I don’t want to be part of it this year.

I am part of the first Chinese Blogger Conference 2005 in Shanghai. I simply love it. I love it so much, as you can see from the post I created about 3 years ago. I met many great bloggers, and I have been reading them for a long time. It is so exciting to meet them in person.

I Felt Afraid of Public Opinions Now

Thu, 29 May 2008 20:36:24 +0800

Recently, I felt more and more helpless. Once, when I was younger (around 20 years old, I think), I always classify myself into the group who represent the public opinions - we think exactly like the massive public. However, in the recent years, especially after I started this, and at some special events, I just realize that my opinions are often on the opposite side of what most of people are thinking. I felt pretty worried and felt afraid.

YLF 2008 in Snoqualmie, WA

Wed, 28 May 2008 20:59:21 +0800

This year’s Young Leaders Forum (YLF) will be held in Snoqualmie, WA, USA, from September 18, to September 22, 2008, after it was held successfully in Nanjing last year.

The venue is Salish Lodge, 45 minutes outside of Seattle. From the picture on their website, it looks great - there is a big fall there (I hope it does not turn out to be smaller than the impression it gave me). I have been to Seattle many many times, but never went to the mountain area, and I was told it is great.

Leave Home Early to Avoid Traffic Jam

Mon, 26 May 2008 22:59:54 +0800

The recent traffic in Shanghai is worse and worse. Wendy and I was deeply annoyed by the current situation. The trip from our home to my office was used to be 45-50 minutes, but now, it is always more than 1 hour. There are many metro stations along the Zhaojiabang Road (4 of them), and Xujiahui just detoured all the traffic on Hongqiao Road to allow space for Metro #9, and #11 station construction. This adds another minute delay.

Yifan has His Haircut (11th Month)

Sat, 24 May 2008 21:04:47 +0800

Yifan is almost one year old. His hair grows fast, and it is my third time to do the haircut for Yifan.

6 Comments

You did a good job!

— jackie · 2008-05-25 01:00

Good heavens! I completely missed his second one!!! He looks very content and wise in these pictures, Jian Shuo -- someday soon I think he will be ready to stand beside you in a business meeting :-)

— Carroll · 2008-05-25 09:45

haha, he's fighting all your arms~ cute boy~

— mac · 2008-05-26 00:27

You have excellent sills in hair cutting.

— Sam · 2008-05-26 10:59

good pic

so warm family

— James.P · 2008-05-26 11:44

I love the T-SHIRT! Small MS T-SHIRT for Yi-Fan! So cute!

— Henry · 2008-05-26 12:26

Olympic Torch Arrives in Shanghai

Fri, 23 May 2008 21:08:18 +0800

Olympic Torch has arrived in Shanghai today, but it is extremely low key this time.

I didn’t go to the torch relay since it is working day, and when I turn on TV or radio at night, there is no any mention of the torch so far. All the news are still about Sichuan earthquake and relief effort. I think it is the right thing to do.

The torch went on the same street as where I am living and it is about 3 km away from my home.

Requirements for Websites Related to Earthquake

Wed, 21 May 2008 20:49:58 +0800

Since I have previously hosted my little blog at one of the data center in Shanghai, I got an email in my mailbox from the government (Internet branch, News department, Shanghai Municipal Government) about the requirements for websites related to the recent earthquake.

Brief translation (for time being, didn’t fine tune words, and it just reflecting the basic ideas. Refer to the original letter for details).

To every web site in this city:

Shanghai After Sichuan Earthquake

Wed, 21 May 2008 13:51:51 +0800

Focus media stopped all the LCD commercial these three days. There are black screen everywhere in this city.
Bund turns off lights at nights.
All newspapers are black and white.
All the national flags were lowered
Many young people are vending national flags, or T-shirts with “Love China”
Donation boxes are still seen in many places
No film on these days

2 Comments

"5 Many young people are vending national flags, or T-shirts with "Love China""

do you think this is useful or beneficial to people? or do you think this leans more toward opportunism?

— Jeremy · 2008-05-22 12:55

Just get ready for everything before the urgence.

— dreamtree · 2008-05-27 16:47

Chinese Internet Turns Black and White

Tue, 20 May 2008 10:40:17 +0800

From yesterday, all major Chinese Internet providers changed their home page to black and white to show respects to the victims in the Sichuan earthquake. Here are some screenshots (caution: big image, and may takes some time).

Yahoo China

Sina News

Sohu

Netease

We also changed our homepage to black and white at Kijiji.cn

Including my small blog:

25 Comments

go go China.

— ericNo.1 · 2008-05-20 14:24

go go China.

— ericNo.1 · 2008-05-20 14:25

It is not only to show respect. it is to follow AN ORDER form the Chinese government, and you HAVE TO obey.

All the details here:

http://shanghaiist.com/2008/05/19/online_implicat.php

I am also affected by this earthquake, but I do not think that forcing people to mourn is a good way. what is the value of mourning if you are force to ?

Regards

— force to mourn · 2008-05-20 16:32

— force to mourn · 2008-05-20 16:35

To force to mourn

Shut up!!!

We mourn for the victims in Sichuan, it's initiative, we are not forced into doing it. You must not be Chinese. Will you mourn for the victims if your country happen such serious disaster???

— Roger · 2008-05-20 20:52

To force to mourn

shut up!

I dont think you are a chinese and i dont think you are a man!

— Brooks · 2008-05-20 21:32

To force to mourn

No one is forcing anyone to mourn, even I am a foreigner.

On 19 May, when I told my staff that I was going to stand right infront of our building at 14:28 to pay my respect (3 mins slience mourning) to the earthquake's victims, all my 40 staff including the cleaning laidies, gardeners, security guards and all the management staff told me that they wanted to join me. I was very moved and all of us lines up orderly at the square. At that moment, most of us cried when the siren, cars on the road started horning.. all the people along the street all stopped walking and stood still for 3 mins.

We did that because we are human..

— Joyce · 2008-05-20 22:20

— Joyce · 2008-05-20 22:21

Don't say nothing, just mourning. No forcing, just mourning from the heart. I think anyone at that time, including Chairmen Hu.

— niuhuifei · 2008-05-20 22:40

— Joyce · 2008-05-20 22:41

Jian Shuo

Sorry for the repeated posting, I thought the system was down.

— Joyce · 2008-05-21 18:48

if no one is forcing anyone, then how do we interpret the "announcement" from the govt?

I'm surprised to find the "you are not chinese" accusations here.

— siegfried · 2008-05-22 01:25

@ force to mourn:

Regardless of your nationality, thanks for reminding us that we share the world with people who are not so bright.

— wonton · 2008-05-23 02:24

Siegfried,

There is nothing to interpret. I don't know which planet you are from, but it is common for governments to declare periods of mourning. It gives a chance for the people to express it's sorrow and unity with the victims. The closing of entertainment places is appropriate. It reflects the seriousness of the calamity. I suppose that daily visit to the bar is REALLY important to you. I am sorry your were inconvenienced by our conscience.

— wonton · 2008-05-23 12:39

Wonton,

Before engaging in a discussion, perhaps you should exercise more restraint on your habit of inferring what people did not imply. See http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archives/20080424_mixing_muddling_and_confusing.htm for more explicit examples.

Certainly it is common for govt to declare periods of mourning. The essence of the question is whether it is appropriate to suspend all entertainment with mandatory orders. The keyword here is "force", in case you still are not aware of its existence.

— siegfried · 2008-05-23 21:20

Siegfried,

The essence of your question indicates your preoccupation at picking on whatever our government does, and yes, your lack of interest in the events that led to this announcement leads me to infer that you are pretty mixed up, muddled and confused.

As to whether it is appropriate to suspend all entertainment with mandatory orders, I have no problems with that. I would venture that most chinese too don't have a problem with it either. Inconvenienced ? perhaps, but not much if you take what the victims of this earthquake is going through. Like I said before, I am sorry you were inconvenienced by our conscience. Oh! Just for the record, I don't really care if you are chinese.

Go tune your ukelele and play somewhere else.

— wonton · 2008-05-24 04:24

Wonton,

Thank you for answering the relevant question, finally. Your answer certainly shed some light on why the people of PRC are manipulated so easily.

I'm sorry that you could not comprehend the issues spotted and well-presented by the owner of this blog in that link. Let me take this opportunity to illustrate an example for educational purposes. It seems you inferred a few things from my question, namely,

1. My preoccupation at picking on whatever your government does

(It seems you've known me for a long time to know my position on whatever your govt does)

2. I lack interest in the events that led to the announcement

(Are you the worm in my belly?! Wow, I didn't know you can access the internet in it!!)

3. I'm pretty mixed up, muddled and confused.

(Yeah, I was drunk. Was that you last night?)

4. I'm inconvenienced by "your conscience"

(Fortunately, I live in a place where liberty is appreciated and the ban is not enforceable. "Your conscience" has very limited effect.)

Time is better spent on helping the victims in sichuan than messing around with people who can't comprehend. Auf wiedersehen.

— siegfried · 2008-05-25 02:11

@Siegfried,

Total agreement with your last sentence.

Thank you for your useless distraction.

— wonton · 2008-05-25 04:18

I got a 'shiver' reading through these posts... memory went to past history... talk of oppressive govts, liberty of people, etc etc... then finish with 'Auf wiedersehen'... the language of what could well be regarded as the most oppressive and cruel govts of the 20th century... always love it when outsiders post in ignorance.

— AussiePB · 2008-05-26 02:54

@ AussiePB

what does auf wiedersehen have to do with the comment being ignorant? If German is a taboo language in your view, what about English?

Last time, I was in Australia there were riots in Sydney by aboriginals -- If you recall the people who enslaved Africans in the United States also used English -- and let me see Great Britain, the motherland of English, has a long history of colonialism in Africa and India -- and don't forget the genocide of native people in Canada and the United States -- the opium war in China, the atomic bomb in Japan etc...-- all done by English speakers...

Your logic makes no sense.

It's one thing to criticize Siegfried because you believe his opinion is wrong or ignorant but to criticize someone based on their ethnicity or because they use a particular language is the height of ignorance.

Peter

— PeDu · 2008-05-26 07:56

hi peter. i don't have time to write lengthy responses like u, but i wasn't inferring ignorance due to language nor was i defending aust or any other countrty u brought up. many of this person's comments were iignorant (point 1). point 2 to have german language and criticisng another country's govts position or stance gave me shivers. i think i'm alowed my opinion here am i not? or are u the post police?

— aussiepb · 2008-05-26 10:00

@AussiePB:

Don't be too bothered by the comments of Mr Auf Wiedersehen.

They are just cheap shots of a silly B. from a distance.

Thanks for everything you and your gang have done for us.

— wonton · 2008-05-26 11:12

@aussiepb

I don't know how ignorant and "outside" I am to be qualified as an "ignorant outsider". If your grandparents died and your parents harmed in that cute revolution caused by this lovely govt 30+ yrs ago, I bet you would be as critical as me of this govt, if not even more so.

@wonton

I believe the use of Chinese foul language is forbidden in this blog. Please beware of using "silly b" in front of our not-so-Chinese-savvy friends, it's indicative of what you are.

— siegfried · 2008-05-27 14:59

Hello Siegfried.

How many times do you need to say good bye ?

Ha ha, I smell a snake !

What other excuse do you need to make up for your meaningless contribution ?

I know what the "b" stands for, and so does the person I directed the msg to.

As for you, I leave it to your imagination.

May it be as negative as possible.

:D

— wonton · 2008-05-28 12:47

Hehe - not-so-Chinese-savvy?? Nearly all aussies know what this term means in China... I'm with you on this one, Wonton!...

— AussiePB · 2008-05-29 02:22

Thoughts after One Week of Earthquake

Tue, 20 May 2008 00:53:52 +0800

The whole country mourned at 2:28, and it is the first time I experienced - and maybe the only one in the recent history of China. That is very moving experience. When I lowered my head with all my team members in the lobby of the 18th floor of my office building, and standing under the sunshine, which pulled in from the glass roof 20 meters above my head, I saw the structure of the roof from the reflection of the tiled floor. I don’t really remember what I thought, but I know the picture has ironed deeply into my memory. I am sure even after few years, I still can recall this exact moment. Compassion makes people better, and to feel the pain of others as ours is so important for us to create a better world. Mourning and remember those who lost lives during all kinds of disasters is so important for us to continuously improve the world. I am just afraid that people will forget them very soon as we did for the Luoyang fire (in which about 400 people were killed)
The central government is doing great during this event. If during the SARS, the government is completely unprepared of such disaster, during the snow disaster this Spring Festival, it is a good rehearsal of all the contingency plans, during this earthquake, we saw a much more mature modern government. Kudos go to them, and especially Premier Wen Jiabao - he did great.
Media plays an important role in this event, especially state-run media CCTV, and Central Radio Station. Their 24-hour real-time broadcast helped a lot. It is again, the first time, and there are much breakthrough. It is rare that people like me and Wendy really sit before TV set instead of computer to get the latest information about the earthquake. It shows the positive contribution of the free information flow to disaster relief.
Compassion shows more commonality than difference in this event. I am moved that before natural disaster, many countries and media paused the dispute and started to donate and help. In Shanghai (I always avoid using big words like “China” since I only experienced the situation in one city, and don’t want to take it for granted that I saw “China”. In this sense, even Shanghai is a big word, which I’d better say “I”), after the 3 minutes mourn, I feel people are closer, since people realized there are more commonality between people than difference - the same will to help, and the same pain of compassion.

P.S. At night, spent one hour with Margaret Warner from NewsHour of PBS for an interview Internet space in China. At the end, via the program, I said, I do appreciate the concerns, help, donation, and all relief effort from the people in the United States and other countries to Sichuan in China. I did mean it. Thank you.

Mourning for Victims in Sichuan

Mon, 19 May 2008 13:58:20 +0800

I have changed the color of my blog to black and white, and will keep it in the next 3 days.

6 Comments

give our the best wish to the Victims.

— XiaoYu · 2008-05-19 22:53

Our thoughts are with you and the people of China in mourning the victims, and helping the survivors rebuild their lives. Take good care.

— Ali · 2008-05-20 00:39

Sad for all kind of disasters in this world. Will these make people, whatever race you are, rich or poor, united for true love and care? I see some of light from Taiwan, across from the straight.

Take good care of yourself.

— Canuck · 2008-05-20 03:08

i've changed my Windows to black and white too. Including the title bars :)

— DC · 2008-05-20 11:06

i've changed my Windows to black and white too. Including the title bars :)

— DC · 2008-05-20 11:07

I feel really bad and sad for the families who lost their children. I cried with them. Hopely time can ease the pain they are having. They need to remember how beautiful memories their children gave to them and try not just think children's death. May be this will help. I am in pain with them. I cry with them...

Jackie

— Jackieliu · 2008-05-30 17:09

Still Watching TV about Earthquake

Sat, 17 May 2008 23:22:14 +0800

I am still watching TV about the earthquake, to get more information about the recent progress.

Out of blogging for one day.

2 Comments

How about a donation banner?

For example

http://tinyurl.com/647a94

— ecodelta · 2008-05-18 04:50

best wish to them...

— James.P · 2008-05-19 17:40

How We Can Help?

Fri, 16 May 2008 13:34:22 +0800

I admit, that I didn’t wrote too much on the recent earthquake…

I didn’t write, not because I am not concerned. To be honest, there are many reasons.

TV has been out of my life for a long time. But recently, TV is the center of Wendy and my time at night. We surround the TV set, and watch the latest news from TV all the time - switching between CCTV-1 and Oriental TV, to get the latest reports. At night, we watch TV till very late, which basically occupied my time. Although the scene of the TV is sometimes repeated, but I cannot help sticking with it, and to get latest update.

China Earthquake Donation Guide

Fri, 16 May 2008 13:20:05 +0800

My friend Elliot Ng has created a page of China Earthquake Donation Guide, and will update the page to reflect the latest information. I believe this page is very useful for people who want to donate. Please send your help to people who need it.

2 Comments

Other than monetary, you can also donate your clothes to the unfortunate. Check out the drop-off centers in Shanghai

http://www.communitycenter.cn/bbs/ViewTopic?tid=627&pid=301

— DC · 2008-05-16 13:52

Jianshuo,

Thanks for getting the word out. Disasters like this make one feel powerless to help. I have been maintaining this guide, giving to a few select organizations, and pr4y1ng for the poor victims of this earthquake. How else can help the world come together to support all efforts to help the 20 mm people affected by this earthquake?

— elliottng · 2008-05-19 04:32

Earthquake is Much More Terrible than I Thought

Wed, 14 May 2008 22:28:21 +0800

When I wrote my blog on May 12, I just focused on what happened around me. At that time, there is completely no detailed news about how bad the earthquake in Sichuan was. (I still remembered that when we flee out of the building, I thought the earthquake was happening some where in the Pacific). Even when I know it was in the mountain area in Sichuan, I said: “It is lucky that it is in very rural area, and not many people are living there”. I was wrong, deadly wrong.

How Many Mobiles do You Have?

Tue, 13 May 2008 19:38:43 +0800

How many mobile phones do youyu use on daily basis? I have one. If you count the SIM card in my CDMA Internet access card in my laptop, I have two. But I have a friend, who has much more than that.

Xuetao is my friend in Dopod.

He always have new numbers for me to contact him. When I want to call him, I look up my address book in my Dopod mobile phone, and he occupied many entries in it:

Earthquake and Flee from 18th Floor

Mon, 12 May 2008 15:52:51 +0800

At around 3:00 PM, it is clear that everyone feels dizzy on the 18th floor of the building. The feeling is similar with what I felt in 1996 on the same campus. I immediately ask the whole company to recuse from the building - I am happy that we are the first company in the building to flee to the outside. - The security looks puzzled when they saw us running down the fire stairs. I will talk more when I get back home from work. (We run so fast, and I didn’t bring my camera and mobile phone with me).

Avoid Maglev for Hongqiao to Pudong Transition

Sat, 10 May 2008 20:20:44 +0800

This is a FAQ from my reader - “Whether taking Maglev from Hongqiao Airport to Pudong Airport save me time?”

Hello there,

i have visited your site a few times, thanks for the information, it helped us( newcomers) going from Vancouver to Shanghai. We are going back to Vancouver very soon, we will transfer the flight from Hongqiao to Pudong, because of the tight transfer time, we are planning to take a taxi to longyang road first, then take maglev train to pudong airport. I have a coupe of questions for you.

Stumble Upon Jack, Samson, and Terry

Sat, 10 May 2008 19:51:26 +0800

Wendy and I went to the Starbucks near our home (the nearest one which is 3 km away from our home) this afternoon. Then saw someone on the street - they turned out to be our friends Jack Gu, Samson and Terry.

Below: Jack Gu

Below: Samson Jian

Below: Terry

Small world - didn’t expect that we can meet on the street (in the middle of almost nowhere).

Meeting Place: Starbucks at Jinyan Road, Pudong

Sat, 10 May 2008 11:31:52 +0800

Meeting place is the introduction of the frequently visited places I have chosen to meet with my friends. I will describe the location and sometimes post photos of the area, so I can easily send out the link to my friends that they know how to find the place and what to expect. If it helps others for their meetup, that will be great.

Name of the meeting place: Starbucks Jinyan Road Store

Introduce Yourself

Thu, 08 May 2008 21:28:26 +0800

Inspired a post on Jim Boykin’s blog, I think it is a great idea to provide a place for my readers to introduce yourself.

For most bloggers, they don’t know who their readers are. I am luck, because many readers turned into frequent commenters, and during the years of conversation, I learnt more about them, such as where they come from, and I even met many of them personally.

So, here is the simple question:

Photos of Shanghai in May, 2008 - Part II

Wed, 07 May 2008 22:16:24 +0800

I am based in Xujiahui, and I took many “landscape” photos of the area in the last few years. Here are some of the entries:

In those pictures, you can see the surrounding areas of Xujiahui (other district, including Pudong) changed a lot, but the core area of Xujiahui didn’t change too much in the last few years during my blogging.

Olympic Torch in China

Wed, 07 May 2008 21:57:19 +0800

On May 20-21, the Olympic Torch will arrive in Shanghai.

3 Comments

What a complicated route!!! Hope everythings is ok!

— Claudia Frias · 2008-05-07 23:51

How much will be costed?

— DingLi · 2008-05-08 10:34

@ DingLi,

For the government money is not a problem

— james · 2008-05-08 16:17

Photos of Shanghai in May, 2008

Tue, 06 May 2008 23:14:27 +0800

I always take a camera with me wherever I go. The benefit is, I can record my life with photos. Here are some photos I took in May this year, about what the real life is like in Shanghai. So you can get an idea about what the life in Shanghai really is.

Below:

View of Shanghai from where I work in Xujiahui. You may notice that the highest building in Shanghai - the World Financial Center.

More Accidents in 2008

Mon, 05 May 2008 20:50:37 +0800

Update May 6, 2008 Changed the title from 2008, a Year of Terror to current title - just to be more objective.

With the approach of Beijing Olympics, I just feel that it is becoming a year of terror. Many bad things happened one after another, and news report says every single one is not related to terrorism, but…

Bus Explosion

Today, a bus in Shanghai exploded during rush hours this morning, killing 3 persons, and injured 12. The news used a term “explosive fire”, instead of “explosion”, but I never heard of the newly-created term before. Why not just say “explosion”? Again, Sina’s report (Chinese with pictures).

Look at Places I have Ever Been

Sun, 04 May 2008 19:40:51 +0800

Here is a list of places I have ever been - those places I stayed long enough so I have more than 3 blog posts to talk about. In this list, I didn’t put it in a hierarchy so China may be listed in parallel with Chengdu… I just listed those places other than the places with a category under “In China”, and “United States”.

Photos of Carrefour after Boycott

Sat, 03 May 2008 21:25:37 +0800

After boycotting Carrefour, this is the scene I took in Carrefour on May 3, 2008.

There are Less People, but Much Lesser than I Expected

This is the main “street” in the shopping mall. It is rarely like this! It is almost empty in Shanghai standard. It is daily scene in many shopping malls in US, but in Shanghai, it is called empty.

This area is almost empty, with no customers. In the cooked food area, I counted, and found out the number of customers are less than the staff behind the food counter.

Slow Internet Connection in Early May

Fri, 02 May 2008 17:57:03 +0800

I am experiencing very slow Internet connection these days - even Google home page takes about 20 seconds or longer to open.

I guess many people are experiencing the same thing. Why?

I just realized that Windows Vista SP1 is releasing these days, and according to Microsoft, Windows Update on every Vista computer is busy downloading from Windows Update to get SP1.

I checked my system tray and realized that in the last night, it only downloaded 49% of the update, and the number does not change in a long time (10 minutes?)

Generalization Plays the Trick

Thu, 01 May 2008 19:51:29 +0800

My reader wishing star quoted a poem about people’s confusing about the reaction of western world in this comment.

This morning, I received a poem entitled " to the western world " from a friend of mine. I have no idea where the poem was from and how many people have read this before. Anyway, I tried to translate it into English as the questions put forwarded in the poem reflect the real thinking of quite a lot of ordinary Chinese people.

Your Opinion about French Revolution

Thu, 01 May 2008 19:51:29 +0800

The recent events in France brought my interest to this country. Just as what I always believed, “seek first to understand before seek to be understood”, I started to read about the history of France, especially during the French Revolution around the year of 1793.

The chaos in the 10 years in France is so interesting to me since it seems very similar to me as the Culture Revolution in China in 1970s. In history book (my history score in middle-school is not so good), I remember all kinds of praises to the French Revolution, and concluded that it is such an important event in the history of man-kind, and the “revolution” is a great success. But my recent reading didn’t suggest that way.

Train Collision in Shandong

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 23:53:39 +0800

The train collision near Jinan killed 71, and injured 416.

Little flower for the victim in the accident

That is too bad. Not to mention those who were killed, I am horrified by the news story of a young man who broke his own arm to be able to escape from the train cart.

When I talked about risk of altitude sickness in Tibet, but to be fair, the risk of living anywhere in China is also high. I don’t want to count the long list of big accident country wide in the past, just to name a few that seems close to me:

Wired Photos... Long Time Ago

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:57:21 +0800

On Jan 14, 2006, around 6:00 PM, Eric, Me, and Miss Tang gathered at Xujiahui, to take a series photos to be published on Trends Travel - the National Geographic partner in China. So here are the selected photo by photographer, Tang Wanli. The article I wrote for the magazine is called “Fall in Love with Shanghai with 6 Years” (Chinese version of the article).

Just now, received an invitation for an afternoon tea break this Saturday with old friends from Linda. Suddenly thought about these photos taken 2 years ago. Pretty weird photos, aren’t they?

Death and Religion in Tibet

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:50:36 +0800

Today, I want to share about the topic of Death and Religion in Tibet.

Caution before Deciding to Go to Tibet

Many people encourage others to visit Tibet by themselves to draw a conclusion. I also believe so, but before you go, I do want to put a very bold statement here:

Be Aware of Altitude Sickness.
Prepare for the Worst.
Never Catch Cold in Tibet

Why? Because Tibet is not distinct from other regions on culture, religions, the natural environment in Tibet is very unique - maybe the highest places with less oxygen than any place else. Let me share my own story.

Minpu Bridge Under Construction

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 22:28:58 +0800

After many bridges and tunnels, a new bridge over Huangpu River is under construction, without my notice. Today, in order to find a better route from our home to Zizhu Hi-Tech Park, where Microsoft is moving to at the end of this year, Wendy and I drove to the area, and found the huge poles of the bridge is already almost completed.

The East Side of the Poles

The West Side of the Pole

Metro Line M8 in Shanghai Under Construction

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 09:25:12 +0800

The most impressive experience I had during my first visit to Singapore in 2000 was a night ride of Singapore Metro - I basically went around the border of the city via Metro, and saw some remote but well-connected residential areas in the far north of the city.

I thought I saw the future of Shanghai - a city connected by Metro system. However, at that time, my imagination may well stop at what the Metro is currently like, and didn’t go far enough to imagine the future Metro system.

Mixing, Muddling, and Confusing

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 22:41:17 +0800

This post is related to the last post about Grace Wang’s experience. What I want to say in this blog article is, mixing and confusing issues is not a good strategy (George expressed the same thing in a comment)

Disagree with One Side in a Debate does not Mean Support the Other Side

It is quite common for people to make this mistake. I made this mistake all the time.

Just like the media war between CCTV and CNN. When I say CCTV is not reporting the truth, I can guarantee that I will receive one comment or two claiming that “don’t you think CNN won’t do this?” The problem is, I do think CNN will also do this, but by stating CCTV is doing something wrong does not imply that I support CNN. The same thing happens when I said CNN is reporting something wrong, I didn’t imply that CCTV is always right. It is “you” who think I am implying something, not me.

Subscription Enabled on This Blog

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:56:37 +0800

With the recent hot discussion, I think it makes sense to turn on the Subscription Function for this blog, so you can get notified when someone posted a reply to your comment on the same entry, or when I publish a new article in either the category you are interested in, or for all new articles. I hope you like this new function (provided by Everitz Consulting for MovableType 4).

How it Works?

Four Types of Consciousness

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:10:17 +0800

As we have discussed the top for many times, the world is not black and white. There are so many gray areas (different degree of gray) in almost everything. In foreign media, and people’s mind, Chinese government is the extreme side of irrationality, and Chinese people are on the same side, while the media is in the middle. However, this is not always true. I tried to draw a GRAY level chart. The chart is according the the dimension of consciousness or rationality (unfortunately, the world has more than 1000 dimensions you can take). Please add if you saw more people that can be hardly put into any of the four buckets.

Grace Wang Called a Traitor

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:51:33 +0800

GN posted an article on Washington Post about the recent indent of Grace Wang.

Caught in the Middle, Called a Traitor (I think it is important to readers on this site to read this.)

By Grace Wang Sunday, April 20, 2008;

I study languages – Italian, French and German. And this summer – now that it looks as though I won’t be able to go home to China – I’ll take up Arabic. My goal is to master 10 languages, in addition to Chinese and English, by the time I’m 30.

Social Environment in Central China

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:45:59 +0800

I am in Nanyang for 3 days. Some observation of the social environment:

People have plenty of time
It is very family oriented
Food is the center of people’s life

Let me explain them one by one.

People have Plenty of Time

I guess it is the impression only for people like Wendy and me who just came from Shanghai. We are not not tourist, and we live in part of the family. So we saw normal people’s life. Some one only go to work for half days, and many of them don’t have work. When it is sunny, people bring chairs to the public spaces, and talk, or just sit there. When it is cloudy, people get back to room, and sit on small chairs, chatting. One out of several days, people may be busy enough to get a table to play Mahjong.

Brief Chat with Andrew

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 23:39:30 +0800

This afternoon, I talked with Andrew, correspondent for Wall Street Journal about the misunderstanding between Chinese and foreigners in the last few weeks. I am pretty outspoken these days, and accepted more of interview request from US and France, because the recent events clearly show the importance of communication. I may be wrong, but I believe talk is better than fight, and protest is better than boycotting. I enjoyed the talk with Andrew, since he has wrote many articles on China for Wall Street Journal. He is also one of the very few journalist who insisted to do the interview in Chinese. I appreciate it. Here are some of the note I talked about.

Street Scenes of Nayang - Part II

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 22:33:14 +0800

This is the second part of the Street Sences of Nayang Series. This is the first part:

Street Scenes of Nanyang

At the corner of Qiyi Road (July 1 Road), and Gongye Road (Industry Road), I saw a giant blue high-voltage electronic tower. This is pretty rare in China cities, since the high-voltage lines go just in the middle of road, along the road. The other thing I noticed is the traffic light. Nanyang completely abandoned pure traffic lights, and replace them with left, forward and right signs. However, the traffic is still a mess, even in Shanghai standard. I will talk about it later.

Street Scenes of Nanyang

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:28:09 +0800

First two photos of my trip in Nanyang.

In any of the residential area, the walls look like this. The ads are for pluming works, and relocating. The lack of good management for public property is a key problem in Henan, and in China (overall).

**Update **April 20, 2008

Sometimes writing a blog means that you have to keep your promise and try to post a blog entry no matter how hard it is. I am in Nanyang now, and don’t have Internet access. Fortunately, I still have a China Unicom CDMA card in my laptop, but I have to tolerate the slow speed. The two photos I posted last night took longer time than I expected, and I felt asleep before Windows Live Writer report complete of post.

Flight from Shanghai to Nanyang, Henan

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 01:18:15 +0800

Thanks to China Southern Airlines, we have direct flight from Shanghai to Luoyang (my hometown) and Shanghai to Nanyang (Wendy’s hometown). Today, I took the flight for the first time with Wendy and Yifan.

Small Aircraft

The airline is using CRJ airplane, a very small one. It only have about 50 seats, and there are three seats per row (numbered as A, D, and F). We do worried about turbulence and safety of the small plane, but it turned out to be pretty good. I took some photos.

Wangjianshuo's Blog on BBC, Again

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 01:05:01 +0800

Thanks for my reader fujianren and others to let me know that the recent hot article of BBC quoted my blog entry, again. Here is the URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7347821.stm. For my reader who cannot access the link (due to the Great Firewall), fujianren has been kind enough to post the content here.

This time, they quoted what I mean pretty accurate.

Blogger Wang Jian Shuo says several of his friends have started to boycott French products and describes the impact of recent events on his own thinking: “If you need an example, I am the person in China who were turned from pro-France to anti-France within few days. .. I don’t think France is a friendly country at all.”

On My Way Back to Nanyang

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 00:56:00 +0800

Today (Friday), I am on my way back to Nanyang, Henan Province. It is about 1000 km west of Shanghai and 4 hour’s train ride from my hometown Luoyang. Nanyang is the hometown of Wendy. Due to some family issues, we have to get back together with Yifan. I will stay in Nanyang for 6 days starting from today, and get back to Shanghai on Wednesday. For me, it is the third time I am in Nanyang - a city in central China, and it is the third very good chance for me to understand China better myself.

Real Pictures of China with My Experience

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 22:02:27 +0800

I enjoy the 150 photos posted on EastSouthWestNorth. They are about real China. I don’t know whether the original source of the photos. I assume it is the web site, and credit goes to EastSouthWestNorth. I am re-posting some of the photos from the site, with my comments. I only pick those I personal feel very familiar to me, and add my observation to it. I hope the effort will help people who don’t know China to see the other side of the country, instead of just a country related to “Human Rights”, “Tibet”… (I admit my own ignorance that only after I really took time to study what happened in Darfur did I understand Darfur is actually in Africa. I guess China may be the same for many people, who cannot really point out where China is on a map).

'Love China' Blooms on MSN Messenger

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:03:02 +0800

This morning, I opened my MSN Messenger, and saw a list like this:

Due to limitation of screen copy, this is not a complete list yet. The heart and China was inputted this way:

(L) China

I just want to share with my friends on this blog about the reality, or to be more exact, about the reaction/perception of what happened in London and Paris. People may evaluate about the result of the protest. It is the time to find a way to communicate a message that is acceptable by the Chinese people. I heard a lot of criticism about the perception, but I only see “different”, not right or wrong.

IKEA Shenzhen Opens

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 10:25:56 +0800

I was an IKEA fan (from graduation to about age of 28). I am not a fan, but am still a customer for them

IKEA just opened a store in Shenzhen, at European City on April 6.

Hours of Operation: 10:00am to 22:00pm Tel: (0755) 8602 2345 Address (English): No. 8188 Beihuan Dadao Nanshan District, Shenzhen (Off of Shahedong Rd. in the European City)

It has already entered Beijing (with two stores), Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu.

Standing Cross Different Lines

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:39:45 +0800

One interesting thing I found from writing this blog and reading comments is, this world is far more complicated than black and white, and there are so many ways to look at the same thing (or we call it “perspectives”). Just I always referred (did I refer to the article everyday?) to the Blind Men and Elephant story, different perspectives tell completely different story. (I hope I don’t emphasis this too many times, but I do mean it).

Google Docs is Good

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:14:20 +0800

This is my test of the new Google Docs - it is hard to define what “new” means in Google product. Maybe when I am writing this document, it is becoming “old” version. Amazing.

The default font is changed to Verdana, 10pt, my favorite, and the same as my blog, and I can insert a picture (Google handles all the pluming work to upload the photo and assign a URL to it.

Yifan in His 9th Month

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:17:19 +0800

This is my Yifan. He is 10 months old now, and I just found a photo of him at the end of the 9th month.

He is crawling on the ground, with his toy box and chair in the background.

This is another one:

As a young father, I am more and more proud of the little boy. Seeing small progress of him everyday just made me happy. Although to be objective, every boy grow almost as fast as each other, but every father just feel his son is the smartest - I also think so. (Something I know it is not the truth.)

Not Just Identify Problems for China - Solve Them!

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 01:35:57 +0800

I wrote the following in response to a reader, mac, just now. I want to share it with everyone (with little bit editorial change). The original comment is here.

@mac, calm down. I like discussion, although I don’t expect myself to answer every single comment, and even if I try to join some discussion, I will try to carefully state what I believe, with no expectation that the other end may agree with me or even understand (understanding is the hardest part, although people often claim to be).

What the Term China, or France Means?

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 15:36:02 +0800

I admit, during my last post on boycott, I made a mistake, just as many people in any country in this world may make: to be confused about the term of a country name, for example, China, France, US, or UK, to name a few.

It is important that we understand the different meanings in difference context about what the names mean.

Very often, it means the government. Many times, when people talk about China, it means the Chinese government - the rule maker. Protest for human rights are very likely to be against what the government is doing. Sometimes, it refer to the people. People in one country tend to stick a label of the country name on him/herself. Sometimes, it refer to the economic body, as in the exchange rate dispute. Sometimes, it simply refer to the media of the country, as seen in the recent Torch crisis. But in any case, people have the tendency to use a much bigger, generalized concept (China, or France) to refer to just a part of it.

Friends Started to Boycott French Products

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 23:49:02 +0800

After what happened to the Olympic Torch in Paris on April 7, 2008, the movement to boycott French products started to spread across China like wild fire on grassland.

Conversation with Wendy

Last morning, when Wendy and I were waiting in the long line at the SinoPec gas station to fill gas to our cars, Wendy said people in her company already started boycotting French products after what happened in Paris. She added: “I will not go to Carrefour any more, and I won’t consider French cars in the future.”

My Experience of Culture and Religion in Tibet

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 22:13:48 +0800

I believe many people who are discussing or even devote their life into pro-Tibet, or anti-Tibet course haven’t been to Tibet themselves. Me included.

Tibet is a mysterious place for many people in China. People are amazed by the beauty of the land, the mysterious religious there. Going to Tibet was a serious fashion that many people in Shanghai dream about. I am pretty confident that Tibet is one of the top travel destination for many young people in Shanghai.

1 USD = 6.9966 RMB

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 01:09:16 +0800

Just checked Yahoo Finance, the current exchange rate between RMB and USD is:

1 USD = 6.9966 RMB

Look at the exchange rate between USD and RMB in the last 5 years:

Graph credit: Yahoo Finance

Please note: This is not a stock chart - it is the exchange rate between two of the most important economic bodies in the world.

I remember Alexandra, author of China Price told me that during her two year research in south China, many factory owners told them that if the exchange rate keep going on the same trend for one more year, they are going to close the factory.

Disturbed Lunch

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:27:56 +0800

I have wonderful lunch with my friend, I intentionally keep him/her anonymous about our conversation. There are something interesting during the chat.

There is Another Way of Media Control

During the conversation, he mentioned these days, some people (maybe from “Culture Auditing Organization”) arrived at his company. There are many of them. Since my friend is running website related with video, the guys asked him to put Tibet related news to the top position. It is for sure that the related news needs to be the same as the official news in China.

More Discussion on Tibet

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 23:25:34 +0800

I wrote two articles on Tibet these days:

Why I Didn’t Cover About Tibet
Error in Western Media Report about TibetJust like any media can cut off some important background information, my last post on the screenshots didn’t mention the background that my laptop lost battery power, and I was not able to really be able to analyze the issue. The other background is, I only have few minutes today from the busy daily work. This is the performance review stage, and everyone is pending on me to finally sign off the final results. I do hope I have more time to talk about it.

Error in Western Media Report about Tibet

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 01:14:45 +0800

During the SARS period in 2003, I wrote an article Protect China - Not Only From SARS. Just as I am not a big fan of CCTV, I am not a fan of the CNN or BBC. I am not new to incorrect media report from western media, especially BBC (I was quoted by them many times, and the last time was like this).

As far as I remember, the last time BBC quote what I said was on its Chinese homepage: “Chinese Netizen: We can Say Whatever We Want to Say”, and in the article, they said:

My National ID Duplicated with Another One

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:44:51 +0800

A policeman called me and asked me to go to the police station this morning. The reason is, someone in Guangxi Province sent a post mail to them and claiming that someone there has the same national ID number as mine.

National ID Number

People in China are numbered - there is a unique ID assigned to everybody. I got mine when I was 18 years old, just before I came to Shanghai, and Yifan got his several days after his birth. It is the number printed on the Naitonal ID card. Obviously, it is an important number.

Why I Didn't Cover About Tibet

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 00:56:35 +0800

Three weeks from what happened in Lhasa, Tibet. I didn’t post anything about it. Why?

As one rule I setup from the day one of this blog five years ago, I only want to post something I personal experience and I never post something that I know it is not true. For what happened in Lhasa, it does not match either of the criteria.

Personal Experience Matters

I am often criticized for not mentioning something that all media is talking about, but this blog is not a media. I want to add value by telling people what I, this person, see, and experience, instead of repeating what I read. I want to give facts, instead of opinions - especially opinions based on no-so-solid facts.

Three Best Neighborhoods in Pudong

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 23:28:21 +0800

Don’t be shocked by the firm tone of the title. Well. I would say, my three most favorite places in Pudong for coffee or dinning.

The Decision Making Process of Moving to Pudong

When Wendy and I bought our current apartment in 2003, many places in Pudong seem empty (except the Lujiazui area) while all of them seem promising. We choose somewhere that is, basically a suburb area, AND is promising.

Meu Carro Novo

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:23:48 +0800

Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t buy a new car, nor did I started to learn Portuguese.

I found this term in my Google Webmaster report, the term “meu carro novo” is represents 30% of all search queries to my little blog. What’s that? I am curious enough to find out.

Curiosity

When I see Yifan growing up, I would predict that curiosity is one of the most important characters he should have when he is very young. That is the key driving factor for people to learn. I am happy that I am still curious in many things, including the mysterious three word: Meu Carro Novo

I Become a Fan of Jack Welch

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 00:49:14 +0800

Recently, I love to read Jack Welch’s speech script and articles a lot, especially love this article

3 Comments

I'm a big fan of Jack Welch as well. I've read his book "Winning" quite a few times, and is impressed with his insight and his candor. I like "Jack: Straights From the Gut" as well, but not as much as "Winning", which outlined his leadership philosophy.

Keep up the good work.

— NewDad · 2008-04-03 05:38

I read "Jack: Straights From the Gut" too and it is really good. I once attended a leadership develop seminar and his story was like the text book and was highly recommended.

— sjtu20 · 2008-04-04 04:37

Please send me the simple circuit diagram for making an Aeroplain to fly with switch on/off circuit. plz plz plz

your's

Mansoor Elahi

— Mansoor Elahi · 2008-04-12 14:28

My Friend Alexandra's Book: The China Price

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:49:34 +0800

Hi everyone,

Today marks the official debut of my first book, The China Price: The True Cost of Chinese Competitive Advantage. The book is an insider’s account of the unintended consequences of the explosion in trade between China and America, an examination of the cost China has paid to produce goods for the world so cheaply. Two years in the making, The China Price touches on many of the issues in the headlines today: Chinese product safety, social unrest, and the future of Chinese competitive advantage.

Mega-Projects and Raising Power of China

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 23:30:05 +0800

This year is a unique and special year in China. I can feel it, but still cannot find a way to understand it so well. The most obvious thing is the recent completion or construction of mega-projects in China.

Let me name a few in this short article, to help my friends to understand the energy and passion of life here in China.

Airports

On March 26, 2008, two terminals of the two largest airports in China - Shanghai and Beijing - opened. On the same day, I happened to experience the two wonderful airport and bring back reports:

Bus from Beijing Airport to Tianjin

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 21:29:27 +0800

A picture is worth of thousands of words. Look at this big sign at the Gate 5 of Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital International Airport.

You can take bus directly from Arrival gate of Beijing airport to Tianjin.

The bus starts from 9:00 AM to 22:00, and interval is 30 minutes. Ticket price is 70 RMB (or 10 USD) per person.

You can also take the bus at Gate 11 of Terminal 2 of Beijing Airport

Beijing Airport Express Train

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:34:07 +0800

An airport express train line will be opened in Beijing before Olympic Games this year. I traveled to Beijing on March 27, 2008, and saw the train station at T3 of Beijing Airport.

Location of the Train Station

The train will run from Dongzhimen Station (at the northeast corner of 2nd Ring Road and connect to Subway #2 Station), and via Sanyuanqiao (where it connects to future Subway #10), and directly get to Airport T3, and T2.

Bird view of Shanghai on Flight

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:50:34 +0800

I am a big fan of scene outside aircraft, especially when it is taking off. No matter how many times I take flight, I always push my nose to the window to see what is going on outside.

The city looks amazing from above. Let me share with you my favorite views.

Below should be A30 - the ring road outside A20 (the outer ring)

There are golf outside the Pudong Airport - it is just completed, and I cannot find it on Google Map - waiting for the next update.

My Most Familiar Scene in Airport

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 22:40:36 +0800

I am a frequent traveler. For me, the most familiar boarding gate is No. 47 of Beijing Airport T2.

Beijing Airport Terminal 3 (T3) Opens

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 02:39:09 +0800

With the opening of T2 of Pudong Airport, today, another terminal, T3 of Beijing Capital International Airport also opens. I am also lucky to experience the new terminal today.

Overview

The first impression of T3 is, it is HUGE! Look at the Google Satellite image below: T1 (opened in 1959) and T2 (opened in 1999) look so tiny compared to the big T3. The Google image is not updated yet. On the image, it is not completed, and now, it is open, and 60% of flights have already transited to T3.

Shanghai Pudong Airport Terminal 2 (T2)

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:26:23 +0800

How exciting! Shanghai Pudong Airport Terminal 2 just opened today - exactly today, and I am lucky to happen to travel to day, on March 26, 2008. So I had the opportunity to experience the brand new terminal on its first day. Here is my report.

Overview

There are two airports in Shanghai: Hong Qiao Airport (the older one), and the Pudong Airport (the newer one). I am talking about the Pudong Airport.

Sunshine and Shadow of Pudong Airport Terminal 2

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:33:31 +0800

As I said in the other article, the best part of Pudong Airport Terminal 2 is the design of ceilings, and the window, so it allows sunshine to pour in, and create shadows as well as lightening up the building.

These are the ceilings, with curtains (which avoided direct sunshine)

(This picture is taken at the meeting point)

and this:

Shadows

This is my favorite: X in T2.

Avoid Taxi with BX in Plate Number

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:58:30 +0800

One little tip to share about Shanghai taxi: try not take any taxi with BX in the car plate.

Any car in Shanghai has a car plate, like this:

沪B-X1234

The first Chinese character 沪 means Shanghai.

There are special coding standard for taxi in Shanghai.

For the third character - the one after the little dot - the following characters were assigned to taxi:

Personal Guide to Astor House Hotel, Shanghai

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 22:02:08 +0800

Many of my readers choose to stay in the Astor House Hotel in Shanghai, and asked me about that hotel. Here is my personal guidebook for guests to this hotel. Please note, this entry is special - all of the text content is from my personal experience, while the photos are from Internet - It is a regret for me that every time I visit the hotel, I forget to bring my camera. I hope I have properly gave credit to the photo owners.

Expression to Appropriate Impression

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 20:43:32 +0800

On one hand, I am a high-tech fan - I tried all kinds of new things. I have a collection of my Hi-Tech Toys.

Meanwhile, I also show strong resistance to some of the new tings. One of them is GPS.

Why I Don’t Have a GPS?

No matter driving in the States or driving in Shanghai, I don’t use a GPS. Sometimes I do need one, like my trip to 30N119E, but I don’t want GPS to tell me where to go.

Expressways in Shanghai - Part II

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 15:07:39 +0800

The illustration of this map below (I draw it today), and the description of the previous entry: Expressways of Shanghai

Update on this map:

A6, A7, and A5 is completed, as well as the A30 south section.

Please continue this article with part I, where I introduced all these expressways.

Update: here is the “official” version of the same map as I draw - much more professional, and more useful.

Hangzhou Bay Bridge to Open

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 12:00:46 +0800

Time flies.

When I heard of the idea to build a bridge crossing the Hangzhou Bay, I was pretty shocked - to build a long bridge and cross the sea seems to be a joke when I first heard about it. I remember it was just few years ago.

Time flies.

The Hangzhou Bay Bridge is going to open to public by the end of April.

About the Bridge

The bridge, starting from Jinshan in Shanghai and ending at Cixi in Ningbo, crosses the Hangzhou Bay, and connect the two important cities in China - a bigger one: Shanghai, and a smaller one: Ningbo. This bridge is 36 km in length (still not as long as the Donghai Bridge, which is 46 km), however, it is still the longest sea-cross bridge in the world. It cut the distance between Shanghai and Ningbo by 120 km, by passing Zhejiang’s capital city, Hangzhou.

Taiwan Election - Ma Wins

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 23:00:46 +0800

Last night, we left home and went to watch Phoenix TV in Zhangjiang. The final result of the Taiwan Election came out, and Ma won.

During the whole day, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, about it on all the channels I can receive on my TV. It is as if there is nothing called “Taiwan Election” in the main stream media in China. There is some coverage on the Internet, of cause.

Shanghai Pudong Airport Terminal 2 to Open

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 12:40:06 +0800

This is the second part of the article: ********PVG: Second Terminal to Open.

This is an important notice to passengers to Pudong Airport. It may be even more important to frequent travelers to PVG than first time visitors, since habits will cause problem. I hope this information is provided in a timely manner to my readers, and please do read it if you are coming to Shanghai.

Moving Time

The Terminal 2 building of Shanghai Pudong International Airport will start trial operations on March 26th. BTW, I will be on business travel to Beijing on that day, and I will surely report that with photos. Many airline companies are going to move to the new terminal. Here is the plan.

Shanghai Zoo

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 23:45:25 +0800

I have lived in Shanghai for 13 years, but I never visited the Shanghai Zoo, and this blog is lack of a page to this important attraction site in Shanghai. Wendy and I finally went there on our 5th anniversary, so you have this page dedicated to Shanghai Zoo.

General Information

Address: 2831 Hong Qiao Road, Changning district Shanghai

It is exactly at the Hong Qiao airport - within 1 mile or walking distance - it makes sense for an airport to be near a zoo, from the air safety point of view. However, for the animals, it is not a good idea. We hear and see aircraft landing and departing pretty frequently. With the construction of the Hong Qiao train station, the largest one in Shanghai, the animals are actually living in a noisy downtown.

From Shanghai to Sydney Zoo

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 13:07:01 +0800

3 Comments

nice photo jianshuo

— lin · 2008-03-21 10:55

Very nice pictures Jianshuo! It looks like a very nice zoo.

— elliottng · 2008-03-21 14:45

You look just like the gorilla! ;-)

(Note to anyone reading this comment without having seen the pictures...I love Jian Shuo dearly and do not really think he looks like a gorilla!)

— Carroll · 2008-03-23 01:18

Being on TV is Nothing

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 23:33:15 +0800

Being on TV for two days, and I suddenly lost interest in mass media.

In my family, nothing happened.

I went to an appointment, and completely forgot about the TV show, and of cause, missed it;

Wendy went to her company activity, and didn’t go back home for dinner - missed it;

My in-laws don’t understand the English program, and switched to another channel for TV drama on Monday;

Yifan is only interested in toys, and never paid any attention to his father on TV, and will never remember that.

A New Financial Street in Lujiazui

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:26:51 +0800

The other day, I took a photo of the Lujiazui area - a new financial street - Yincheng Middle Road start to form, and as you can see, the headquarters of banks have already lined up.

Comparing with the photo I took in Hangzhou near West Lake last weekend, what a contrast!

6 Comments

Awesome, that is my China. While Shanghai has her magnificence, Hangzhou has her beauty as well. Hangzhou is a quite and an extremely friendly city. I love Hangzhou. There are just way too many high rises around the west lake area.

— SanJose_CA · 2008-03-19 04:21

Is it just me? In the last two pictures, there may be beauty, but the most I see is polluted hazy air. Am I being too picky?

— xge · 2008-03-19 10:19

If somebody let me choose one which I want to stay\ work \live from shanghai and hangzhou ,I will choose shanghai - the modern city ! The city gives us more surprise ......

— Amy · 2008-03-19 12:06

That is foggy. XQE. You do know how to spell FOGGY, don't you.

— JasonL · 2008-03-19 13:51

This is foggy. XQE, you do know how to spell FOGGY, don't you.

— JasonJ · 2008-03-19 13:53

When I first visited hangzhou this year, I really impressed by its picturesque sights. Every scenery has its beatiful legend. Maybe just because of this, the atmosphere of the whole city is quite different from what in shanghai.

— Jenny · 2008-03-20 20:49

Welcome ICS Readers

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:41:37 +0800

When I am writing my blog, the talk show I particiated in ICS is on air. If you watched the live TV show and log onto my blog, welcome! (Here is behind the scene photos of the talk show.)

If you read this entry before watching TV, and it is 7:30 - 8:00 PM on March 17, 2008, tune in Oriental TV ICS now.

If you have missed the live show, tune in from 12:30 to 13:00 every day this week for replay, or tune in tomorrow at 7:30 - 8:00 PM, and everyday. I missed one day during the show, since I went to Pudong and got back within 1 hour. Thanks for all the other hosts to wait for me for the last two parts.

Improving User Portal on Wangjianshuo.com

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 07:47:41 +0800

I have a sub-domain called http://user.wangjianshuo.com. I used that domain to present user contributed content, which is the comment section of my blog. I didn’t put too much effort into it yet, so it is pretty simple and may not be attractive as it should be. This is the current situation of User Portal.

Home Page

This is the current homepage - pretty embarrassing, isn’t it? I believe my readers deserves much more introduction, and space than this. This is a point that needs improvement.

Thoughts about Being a Leader

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 23:42:44 +0800

Here are some random thoughts of recent inspirations, for my own tips about being a leader.

Never confusing people by acting as both consultant and manager. People get confused when they use a manager as a consultant, since they can hardly tell which instruction comes from the person with consultant hat (suggestions), or from the person with manager hat (an order). When combined with the two, people will ignore your “must” list, or take your suggestions too seriously. The best way to do is, do not try to be a consultant, although you can.

Analysis of Links and Ways to Improve

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 13:46:23 +0800

Date-Based Archive Pages

Let me start with the 60 Date-Based Archive Pages, with URL like http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archives/2003_04.htm

As you can see from the next chart, there are about 50 or so links. That is a clear sign of the change I made at the 40th month of my blogging.

Among the 50 links, around 40 links are given by other Date-Based Archive Pages (a design I used long time ago, and now it is removed). The other 10 are translated page, with some other pages.

Some Interesting Random News

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:04:58 +0800

AMD’s newest chip is codenamed “Shanghai” - a 8-core processor. Why they choose Shanghai as its code name?<
I am going to install IPTV in my home at last - it is free anyway, with requirement to open the equipment at least 8 days every month
Zendai MOMA (Museum of Morden Art) at Thumb Square in Pudong is a great place. They are now showing the exhibition of “Europe Attribute”
Shanghai is going to install Wireless Service for the whole city before 2010. Hope then I can do a Jianshuo.tv broadcast. :-) since wireless is everywhere in my big 16million people city.

CZ3456 Black Box Audio Revealed

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 23:46:58 +0800

It was a air disaster 11 years ago.

Now, the audio of the last 12 minutes were released:

The audio

(via Robermao)

7 Comments

OMG - so scary (and sad)... as a very frequent flyer, things like this make my skin crawl... :(

— AussiePB · 2008-03-11 03:37

Could someone give a rough translation of what was said? Thanks in advance!

— cw · 2008-03-11 12:18

sad thing....will watch it later.

— Nux · 2008-03-11 16:22

You can see the chinese text at that web site.

Otherwise, thank you for sharing.

— zou5020 · 2008-03-12 10:13

cw, I don't speak Mandarin either, but my wife and I went through this together--- The pilot apparently, screwed up his first approach in heavy rain, landed much too hard, which damaged the plane---interior fixtures, and seats---naturally I'm sure the passengers were going wild---- but the plane was still air worthy (an almost brand new 737) ---so then he realized he didn't have good orientation with the ground, and pulled up back into the socked in weather----it rattled him, and he blamed the controls, rather than his skills, and made another approach that failed. On his third, and final approach he crashed short of the runway, I believe... It was an example of arrogance and fear in the captain's seat----after the first event he should have diverted to an alternative airport that didn't have weather problems.. According to other articles, this pilot had over 12,000 hours, wihich should show significant skill and experience. Will never know what was in his mind, since all on the flight deck died, although some passengers survived.

— Kim Lathrop · 2008-03-12 11:45

It was too hard to really recall what is going on. The final words of the captain was pretty scary.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2008-03-13 00:20

Wow, sad story, thank you Kim for the translation. We never know what will happen in the next minute. Maybe there is a God who has set our lives on the line.

Michael.

Dollar Lifetime Backlink

— Dollar Lifetime Backlink · 2008-03-16 07:43

Middle Ring of Shanghai - Part II

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 23:02:24 +0800

This is the second part of the Middle Ring of Shanghai. (Refer to the first part for illustration of the road lanes)

This is the middle ring on the map. The red line is the Middle Ring. It is not a ring yet, pending the the second half of the circle (mainly in Pudong) to complete this year.

Note: Thanks for Dash to point out the error in the first draft of the image.

PVG: Second Terminal to Open

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 22:36:56 +0800

Credit: Xinhua News Agency

By the end of this month, the second terminal of Pudong Airport will be opened. I will make sure I am the first one to cover this news, and take inside out pictures of this new terminal.

Thanks to the architects that the second terminal has different shape of the first one. As illustrated below: the first terminal (the current one) looks like a seagull and the second terminal looks like a wave.

China Price - Alexandra Harney's New Book

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 12:40:07 +0800

In the next few weeks, Penguin will publish Alexandra’s new book The China Price: The True Cost of Chinese Competitive Advantage. I know Alexandra from my last trip to Nanjing during the Young Leader’s Forum - a very sweet, wise, and professional girl. I know she has been working on this book for two years, and it must be very worth reading.

This book is about the hot topic of “made in China”, and what the real price of China’s manufacture is, including pollution, and impact to migrant workers.

Jeff Immelt on Business

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:48:05 +0800

Found out some note on my notebook when I listened to Jeff Immelt’s speech during a meeting. Just some random notes.

Big vs Small

Credibility
Big + Fast always beat small + fast
Love and inspire people, but GE is not for everyone
Mistakes we still make
Allow bureaucracy to win - too process based
Too intenal/too American - lose love of customers
Confuse current success with future position
Metrics that reward the wrong behavior
Play small Leadership
I have stayed at GE for 25 years so that I could be in the front seat of history
Zoom in, zoom out…
“I don’t believe in professional management”.
4-5 things deep dive
Good managers show interest…
These is no substance of experience
Build something that last is beautiful Innovation
10 years ago, everyone was trained by processes, like six-sigma. Now we are all about innovation
People has to be the core DNA of the company
You cannot just come to work and chop wood
You have to drive change and develop other leaders Making deicisions and Communication
Make decision fast, faster and faster, for small companies, and large companies!
Decision cycle time
How the organization can be quicker
Clarity of community
Drive the speed
Decisive = clearly Yes or No
Clarify is key
When we go, we go
Make a very clear call On Exit
Someone can run the business better than us, it is time to exit
A company that makes money from chaos.
In a good company, you always has to prioritize very hard
GE is all about system, that is tough to match

2 Comments

i think any people who in lead have their philosophy on manage.

and the way they hold doesnot means will match others .

— lin · 2008-03-06 09:49

He listed "too process based" as the first thing as a mistake. That should trigger some thinking. Currently it seems all people in China think that "process" equals "morden management" equals "management style that brings you success".

This can't be true.

— xge · 2008-03-06 13:49

Security Messures in Radio and TV Station

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 21:37:43 +0800

Besides the censorship in blogging media, it is not surprising that the security meessures in traditional medias are very stick in China. In this blog entry, I want to share some first hand information about radio stations, and TV stations.

Radio Stations

I recorded my experience of the last visit to Shanghai East Radio Station in this blog entry:

The Security Check

Shanghai Radio and East Radio are two major (if not the only two) radio stations in Shanghai. It was not easy to enter the building. Radio station is always a sensitive location in China. The security check was intensive. I waited in the line for quite some time before I arrived at the window of the gate outside the building. It was cold outside and three security guards were looking at me to fill a form with my name, gender, telephone number, home address, company name, the person I visit, the room number, and deposited my national ID card.

Yifan and Me are Exactly the Same

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:11:22 +0800

I pulled out my first photo, and compared it to Yifan. Oh. I found out that we are almost exactly the same!

I also found out Wendy’s photo when she was very young.

Left: Me (at the age of 1), Middle: Yifan (at the age of 9 months), Right: Wendy (at the age of 1).

10 Comments

太好了，这样小家伙以后不会相信有人骗他是垃圾桶边上捡来的了。

— 绿豆 · 2008-03-04 08:54

楼上正解！

— Yiyi · 2008-03-04 08:58

很像很像的，只是儿子比老爸更结实点XD

— Gohan · 2008-03-04 09:20

Very interesting comparison! Without your description, I even think there is the same person for that two photos of you and Wendy.

— Bill Ng · 2008-03-04 10:21

i think yifan has a round face as compared to yours. Yifan inherited your mouth and nose features, meanwhile his eyes looks similar like Wendy's.

— Nux · 2008-03-04 11:23

:) so lovely, so sweet :)

— cheery · 2008-03-06 02:41

All of you are very cute! I think it's interesting in the third picture your mouths are almost the same, maybe it's a baby thing.

— fiona · 2008-03-06 11:45

gene works wonder!

— odds · 2008-03-11 13:56

Hehe - the resemblance is uncanny!!!

@Jian Shuo - FYI, I had trouble getting the IP assigned to me across the China GFW... so anyway in the short term, I've registered another (free) domain that IS accessible in China (Beijing and Shanghai)... checkout Jaime's home page (flash site) at http://jaimezheng.co.nr/

The flash page takes a few moments to load, but once it's up and running everything works at ok speed... let me know what you think!!

— AussiePB · 2008-03-12 10:51

yeah!:)

gene works well,what a sweet family

— sendoh · 2008-08-02 15:11

Yifan has his Second Haircut

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 22:11:53 +0800

Yesterday, Yifan has his second haircut. I am not a professional hairdresser, but I do enjoy cut the hair of Yifan - the whole process only took 2 minute this time, v.s. 15 minutes the last time.

Before the Haircut

This picture was taken early Feb this year.

After Haircut

After the second haircut, he does not look that good as with the longer hair - not completely my fault. :-) Hope after his hair grow longer in the next 2 weeks, he should be fine.

Suggestions for Family Vacation Trip to Shanghai

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 14:03:53 +0800

Today, I am trying to help another reader. I will provide answers inline. (Although I think the knowledge base type of article is more helpful than the random Q&A, I hope this type of Q&A also helps)

Hi,am planning a trip to Shanghai this March with my husband and 3 teenage kids. We will arrive in Shanghai Pudong Airport at 12:05am of March 20, 2008 (early morning) and will depart on March 23, 2008 at 12:55am (early morning too). Was trying to trying to check the web for bus and train schedule from Pudong Airport to downtown but it seems that their services do not run up to early morning. Can you help me and/or suggest/provide information on:

Advice Needed on Rental for Foreigners

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 22:49:10 +0800

At Kijiji, we are thinking about opening up the domestic rental market in China to foreigners.

Olympics is an opportunity. Hotels are already fully booked, and there are many visitors coming to China during August.

We want to offer some English service and escrow to people coming to China, and the project will be a long term project even after Olympics.

So, if you are an expat, or planning to visit China, I have many questions for you.

Are American Economically Family-Independent

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 22:29:44 +0800

Maria and I discussed for a long time during and after the Culture Matters talk show, about the relationship in families in America and China. Her point of view is very interesting, and I tend to agree, but before I do that, let me check with my readers first.

Maria’s Theory of “Economically Independent from Family”

Maria talked about the change in U.S. in 1960s.

During the period of time, with the country becoming richer and richer, there are more and more support from the society, and individuals are actually support by the society, instead of family.

Congratulations to Jia and Xiaojing!

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 21:17:28 +0800

Congratulations to my best friends and partner Jia and his newly married wife - Xiaojing!

They registered for marriage today!

Here is his announcement (Chinese site).

4 Comments

I forgot how I came to your blog, Jianshuo. I just come back and say hi. Congrats to your friends.

Heli

— Lu Heli · 2008-02-23 22:48

Thanks, Jianshuo. This is really sweet. All of the best wishes from you guys will be like lovely

sunshine for the blooming flower in our life. :)

— Dolly · 2008-02-25 15:28

Thanks so much. Jianshuo, my old friends.

— Jia · 2008-02-25 18:37

A suggestion about your usage of the word "partner". You might want to use "buddy" or "business partner" since "partner" might have a different meaning, sometimes. ;-)

— LT · 2008-03-05 03:37

Advise on visit to Beijing & Shanghai

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 20:43:22 +0800

Today, I am trying to help Sally about his/her Beijing & Shanghai trip. Here is the letter: (Again, for my readers who haven’t read my privacy policy, I reserve the right to publish any email you send to my email address (hotmail one) unless you instruct me not to do it. Also, when I publish any email, I will NOT include email address, unless otherwise noted in your email).

Dear Mr. Wang,

Culture Matters from ICS

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 22:33:59 +0800

Just got back from the studio in STV for program Culture Matters. It was a great talk show (I would say it even before I participated) by ICS, and hosted by Sammy Yang. What an experience! It is the first time I record a long TV program, and first time to get first hand information from inside a TV studio. I have been interviewed or joined radio talk show programs, but never on TV. Let me share my precious experience with you.

Lantern (Yuanxiao) Festival

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 22:04:02 +0800

Today is the Lantern Festival. I bought fireworks and fire it tonight.

For my readers who didn’t see the fireworks box - where the splendid fireworks come from, here is the photo:

There is a green thread at the side, and you can use match to light it.

Here you go!

From under it, it does not look very beautiful, but it IS very nice.

Fireworks outside my Office Window

Readers Wanted for TV Interview

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 22:21:33 +0800

I just had wonderful meetup with the producer, Zhu Xiaoqian, and Reporter & Editor, Coco of talk show program - Culture Matters of ICS. I am happy to join the program this Friday and talk about blogging. They are all wonderful people, and passionate about the expat and foreigner/vistor community in Shanghai. BTW, if you want to send feedback to ICS (International Channel Shanghai), you can leave comment under this blog entry, and they really read!

Electronic TV Guild in China

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:09:06 +0800

Below is the current TV program and their channels. Sorry that I only have Chinese version.

google.load(“feeds”, “1”);

function initialize() {

var feed = new google.feeds.Feed(“http://www.tvmao.com/tools/rss/");

feed.load(function(result) {

if (!result.error) {

var container = document.getElementById(“feed”);

for (var i = 0; i < result.feed.entries.length; i++) {

var entry = result.feed.entries[i];

var div = document.createElement(“div”);

var h3 = document.createElement(“h3”);

h3.appendChild(document.createTextNode(entry.title));

div.appendChild(h3);

var c = document.createElement(“div”);

c.innerHTML = entry.content;

div.appendChild(c);

container.appendChild(div);

}

});

}

google.setOnLoadCallback(initialize);

Loading….

1 Comments

Are there any English speaking television channels available in Shanghai. If so, what type of programing?

— Joe · 2009-05-18 21:36

TV Guide in Shanghai

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:07:17 +0800

Hi Jian Shuo,

I’ve been subscribing to your blog for years, and I really enjoy reading your posts about Shanghai. I think it is great that you write about topics and questions that your readers ask you. I also have a question to ask you, regarding TV shows in Shanghai/China. I’ve been living in Shanghai for almost 7 years but never had a TV until recently. I was surprised to discover that there are more than 50+ channels on the local cable network. However, I don’t know what channels are good to watch and when the good/interesting programs are aired.

Photos in the Garden outside My Home

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 21:52:47 +0800

After reading the last chapter of Alan de Botton’s The Art of Travel, I decided to go out to the small garden outside my home. It is so small, that I didn’t think there is anything interested there, but I found a lot. Look at the pictures I took!

Fu (Happiness) on my door. Red is the typical Chinese color, and he followers indicates prosperity

Buildings behind trees - typical feeling in the warm winter

Prostitution in China

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 16:51:51 +0800

Dear Wang Jianshuo,

I am a frequent reader of, and occasional poster in your wonderful blog.

I’m writing to ask if you could start a topic on prostitution in China in your blog. I know that prostitution in China is theoretically illegal, but in practice, KTVs, bath houses, massage parlours, disguised barbor shops etc. are everywhere and everybody knows it.

Of I course I’m not talking about writing a Shanghai red light tourist guide. Instead, I’d be interested to learn more about the evolution and characteristics of this industry. Key questions might include:

What is Knock Knock?

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 11:29:07 +0800

Давид left a comment with a Knock Knock under Yifan Eats Orange

Knock Knock

Who’s there?

Orange!

Orange who?

Orange you even going to open the door?

Posted by: Давид on February 14, 2008 5:07 PM

Thanks, but what is really Knock Knock? I searched and found out that it is something western children like to play. But what exactly it is? Wendy and I am very curious to know, and I believe one day Yifan will as well.

Map of Motel 168

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 21:51:15 +0800

This is the email I am trying to answer.

Dear Jian Shuo Wang,

I’ve just read ur blog in the net. I’m so happy because next week I will be there (Shanghai) and I know nothing about your city. And thanks god, I’ve found ur blog and it helps me a lot. And I would like to ask some other info from you. My accommodation is Motel 168, No.1280, Gong He xin Road. I did check in the list of branches in Motel 168 website but I couldn’t find out this branch, do you know where is this road, in which district? And the place I have to go to everyday from Motel 168 is: Building No. 10, Lane 777, Guang Zhong Road West, Zhabei district, Shanghai 200072, P.R.China and another address is Azia Center, No.1233, Lujiazui Ring Road, Pudong District, Shanghai 200120, P.R.China Could you help me to draw a simple map or just mark in the map the way to reach those places from my accommodation? Thank you very much Tram Nguyen

Happy Valentine's Day

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 23:02:43 +0800

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Valentine’s Day is not a native Chinese holiday at all, but in China, especially in Shanghai, people won’t miss any chance to celebrate love, thanks, or just for fun, as long as there is a related holiday.

Me? The same.

Happy Valentine’s Day to Wendy

For this V Day, I planned really early. I started to grow rose last May in the garden. It is just outside our window, so we can see the rose grow everyday.

Yifan Eats Orange

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 23:28:27 +0800

Yifan likes orange. For the first few times he touchs an orange, he is very excited. Look at how happy this little boy is!

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

I Fixed My Sony P8 Battery

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 19:07:30 +0800

I used to take photos with Sony P8 before my last trip to U.S. The battery of the camera was complete dead. That is the reason I bought another one T10 in Tokyo airport.

However, I just few that T10 is not as good as P8, although it is smaller, with a bigger screen, and resolution is much higher.

Finally, I found out the reason.

P8’s aperture range is F2.8 - F5.6 while T10 is only 3.5. That makes a big difference.

Beijing to Shanghai CRH Train

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 14:20:15 +0800

I wrote a blog about Train from Beijing to Shanghai, and it became a very popular blog on the Internet. (Searching Beijing Shanghai in Google will lead to this page). After 3 years later, many reader asks me about whether the information is still accurate, and continue to ask about the Z train.

In this article, I would like to highlight the availability of a better train than the Z train, it is CHR train, or what the government calls it: the Train of Harmony. The train number is D31 from Beijing to Shanghai.

SHA to SFO Air Tickets are Cheap Now

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 13:42:51 +0800

I frequently receive promotion from Northwest Airlines. Their price is pretty cheap!

Look at this one:

Basically, they are saying that

Shanghai, Beijing or Guangzhou to Tokyo round trip: 1750 RMB or 245 USD Shanghai, Beijing or Guangzhou to LA, SFO, Seattle, Portland round trip: 2690 RMB or 377 USD Shanghai, Beijing or Guangzhou to New York, Chicago, and most of other cities in North America: 3650 RMB or 512 USD.

How Translate Tool on this Site Works

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 03:54:26 +0800

The Files are Not Actually There

In .htaccess file in root folder, I have the following:

RewriteRule ^(fr|ja|zh-CN|de|it|ko|pt|es|ar|ru)/.*$ scripts/analytics/translatedoc.php [L]

This way, I have the most language supported:

fr
ja
zh-CN
de
it
ko
pt
es
ar
ru

There are many more need to be added, which I will do later.

Links to the Pages

The entry page for the translated articles are at the main individual archive pages */archives/ *on this blog. It is located at the right most corner of each page currently. Here is the code to make it happen:

Yifan's New Year Photo

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 13:51:04 +0800

Here comes Yifan’s newest photo. He is no longer an infant - he is new a baby boy!

8 Comments

Hello There JianShou,

Mabuhay from the Philippines!

My family preparing for a summer visit in Beijing this May.

We have three teenagers age 16, 14 and our only daughter, 12.

We will be coming from Suzhou( their Dad works there)

Can you please help us to find a decent hotel, and some really interesting place to see other than the Forbidden City of course.

Our main concern for a hotel is Location. Maybe near to MRT/ train station.

For the five of us to move around, easily. Knowing that in Suzhou, taxi's wont give the 5 of us a ride. Chinese driver said, you are too many.

Second, is rate, i would apprecate something around 50-70USD per night.

Anything you can suggest will be much appreciated.

Maraming Salamat!

Best Regards,

mariz

— Mariz · 2008-02-10 14:33

Cute! He looks ... Korean. Haha.

— DKwan · 2008-02-10 15:02

God, thats one cute kid. congrats....

HAPPY NEW YEAR....

— Andrew · 2008-02-10 20:38

Very cute! I can see he is a blessing to you and Wendy!

— elliottng · 2008-02-10 21:04

Oh my goodness! He is so completely huggable. And he already looks very wise :-)

Happy New Year to you and your family, Jian Shuo!!

— Carroll · 2008-02-11 14:02

He is cute, and as you say -- not an infant any more, but a very distinct personality! Happy New Year to all of you!

— Nina · 2008-02-11 15:11

A lovely baby boy !

— shirley · 2008-02-14 10:08

He is so cute!ow I love to go to his first years birthday hehehhe just kidding!!!I am very fond to look at him for he has a big resemblance with my son.I hope you can post his first birhtday here.More power!Always Take good care of the child...

— adelina · 2008-05-25 20:30

International Channel Shanghai - ICS

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 22:00:29 +0800

Anyone noticed the newly launched International Channel Shanghai from Oriental TV? It is a new channel from Oriental TV, just like the News Channel, Drama Channel, Documentation Channel…

Finally, Shanghai has its own English TV channel. That is a great news for expats in Shanghai. In 2000, it is hard to find a good web page for Pudong Airport, and in 2008, Shanghai has it own English TV Channel, that is really good progress….

My Project Directory

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 21:39:46 +0800

I just found out a directory on my laptop - the Project direction, holding part of the project I have worked on when I was in Microsoft. Hmm…. That is long time ago. Although the time shows 2007 (the time I copied them to this laptop), the real created time is from 2000 to 2005.

D:\my\D. Projects Direction

02/07/2008 09:30 PM

. 02/07/2008 09:30 PM .. 10/09/2007 06:19 PM Air 02/09/2007 07:58 AM Antares 10/09/2007 06:21 PM AntBackup 02/09/2007 07:58 AM AutoComplete 02/09/2007 07:58 AM B2BTemplate 10/09/2007 06:25 PM CampusRecruiting 10/09/2007 06:25 PM China Mobile 02/09/2007 07:43 AM CodePlace 10/09/2007 06:26 PM CoffeeBean 10/09/2007 06:27 PM Communities 10/09/2007 06:28 PM Conference 02/09/2007 07:59 AM ESS 02/09/2007 07:59 AM Lab 08/16/2007 06:00 PM Lenovo 02/09/2007 08:02 AM Longmen 06/08/2007 11:39 AM map3 10/09/2007 06:30 PM MAT 02/09/2007 08:02 AM MCS 10/29/2007 11:22 AM movabletype-php-dao 02/09/2007 08:02 AM MSF 10/09/2007 06:35 PM MSFTI 02/09/2007 08:02 AM MVP Platform 02/02/2008 03:41 PM MVP Sumit 02/09/2007 08:06 AM MyBusStop 10/09/2007 06:36 PM New York 10/09/2007 06:36 PM NewCo 02/09/2007 08:07 AM OrientHome 02/09/2007 08:08 AM PartnerListeningSystem 02/09/2007 08:08 AM Passport 02/09/2007 08:09 AM Personal Suite M1 02/09/2007 08:09 AM Profile 07/25/2007 02:02 PM PSSSummit 02/09/2007 08:10 AM Robin 09/05/2007 10:53 PM RoundTheUSTrip 02/09/2007 08:10 AM RushGo 02/09/2007 08:10 AM S&M Training 02/13/2007 12:14 PM ShanghaiMap 02/09/2007 08:11 AM Smile 02/09/2007 08:12 AM SocialSoftware 02/09/2007 08:13 AM SoftwarePark 02/09/2007 08:14 AM SolutionLab 02/09/2007 08:14 AM TechEd 10/09/2007 06:37 PM TechTalk 02/09/2007 08:14 AM USClarify 02/09/2007 08:15 AM WebRAID 10/23/2007 06:17 PM Wedding

5 Billion SMS Sent Yesterday

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:34:50 +0800

The number I got from CCTV today is, 5 billion SMS (Short Message) were sent yesterday. With the adoption of SMS, this is not surprising any more.

The Spring Festival of last two years were already full of SMS:

This year, I am not as passionate as before, since all kind of group send tool has made greeting as part of automatic process. When I receive a SMS, I am not sure about whether this person send it to me, or just to confirm that my mobile phone number is in his/her address book.

Watching Spring Festival TV Show Now

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 20:09:59 +0800

I am watching tihs year’s Spring Festival TV Show on CCTV now. It is from 8:00 PM to 12:30 AM next day.

This is the 20th year of the same TV show. According to the latest statistic, 500 million people in China are watching this program, and maybe the TV program with the largest audience.

Fireworks are everywhere outside the window. However, with the Snow Storm across China, this Spring Festival is not as excited as the previous few.

The Last Day of Year of Pig

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 11:06:45 +0800

Today is the last day of the year of the Pig!

Tomorrow is the first day of the Chinese New Year, the year of Rat…

P.S. Why there are Disney Mickey everywhere these days?

3 Comments

I think Disney is calling this next year the "Year of the Mouse" and plans to promote Mickey Mouse very heavily.

http://park.hongkongdisneyland.com/hkdl/en_US/events/landing?name=YearoftheMousePage

Happy New Year!

— Chris · 2008-02-06 14:31

Hello!

I have one big question hehe..

I have a friend whose birthday is February 5th, 1978 at 10:00 am Mexico City time (The time difference is 14 hours)

Could you help me to deduce whether she is a horse or a snake?

Thanks hehe.

And Gong Xi Fa Cai! Kung He Fat Choi! Happy Rat New Year! All the best!

— Claudia M. Frias · 2008-02-06 23:35

Feb. 18 1977 - Feb. 6 1978 is snake.

so Feb 5, 1978 at Mexico city time should be about mid night of Feb 6 Beijing time but still it's not Feb 7 yet. Your friend should be a snake.

Also, we should always use the local timezone to calculate the birth time.

— LT · 2008-02-07 04:39

Snow Scene in Shanghai Again

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 23:02:11 +0800

This is the snow scene of my garden again, taken in yesterday morning.

Compare the photo above to this one. The below one was taken on Feb 1, 2005, in my article Heavy Snow in Shanghai. I should not have called it heavy snow compared to this year’s snow. Of cause, everything is relative. It is nothing for many places, like Canada, but it is really rare in Shanghai.

Why Snow Caused Power Failure

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 10:46:05 +0800

I was wondering why snow in south China caused large scale power failure - snow is snow, and electricity power is electricity power. What is the connection?

Wendy sent me the photo, and I was shocked. This is what happened in South China in the last two weeks…

11 Comments

南方和北方对比，南方空气湿润，所以不管是雪、雨都会在冷空气的作用下迅速结冰，所以电线上就会有很厚的冰层。电线在冰层的压迫下产生张力，导致电线杆、塔倒塌。北方由于气候干燥，一般都是积雪，而不会结冰。

— Blues Mansion · 2008-02-03 10:53

That's not snow. That's an ice storm.

In the United States, most storm induced power outages are caused by trees falling on power lines.

Actually, a big reason for the power outage in China is the lack of coal for power plants. Coal is transported on rail, and the rail has been knocked out for the most part.

— Давид · 2008-02-03 13:48

中国的"灾情"太多了。

多了就不能叫"灾情"了。

— kalala · 2008-02-03 14:23

秦岭保护了四川，长江中下游就没有那么幸运了。妖邪当道天生异象。

— 小雨 · 2008-02-03 14:39

南方和北方对比，南方空气湿润，所以不管是雪、雨都会在冷空气的作用下迅速结冰，所以电线上就会有很厚的冰层。电线在冰层的压迫下产生张力，导致电线杆、塔倒塌。北方由于气候干燥，一般都是积雪，而不会结冰。

(Blues Mansion post translation, courtesy of bablefish)

South and north contrasts, south the air is moist, therefore no matter is the snow, the rain can rapidly ice up in under the cold air function, therefore in the electric wire can have the very thick ice layer. The electric wire has the tensity under the ice layer oppression, causes the telephone pole, the tower to collapse. North because the climate is dry, generally all is the snow, but cannot ice up.

— ecodelta · 2008-02-03 16:00

I don't know what some of y'all said. They all look like ?? marks to me.

I've seen enough ice storms in real life to know what that is. It's not snow, it's is caused by freezing rain.

According to Wikipedia:

Ice storms happen when a warm cloud rains above a layer of colder air. This lowers the temperature of the droplets to below zero, however it remains in liquid form. The supercooled droplets freeze into ice on impact when they fall onto a surface the temperature of which is close to, or below, freezing.

This freezing rain covers everything with heavy, smooth glaze ice. Ice-covered roads become slippery and dangerous. Driving becomes extremely hazardous as the ice causes most vehicles to skid out of control, which can cause devastating car crashes as well as pile ups. Even pedestrians are severely affected as sidewalks become slippery, which can cause people to slip and fall and outside stairs can become an extreme injury hazard.

In addition to hazardous driving/walking conditions, branches or even whole trees may break from the weight of ice. Falling branches can block roads, tear down power and telephone lines and cause other damage. Even without overhead tree branches, the weight of the ice itself can snap power lines, and power poles as well (even the big steel frame electrical pylons have crumbled under the weight of ice before). This can leave people without power for as long as several days to even weeks. According to most meteorologists, just one quarter of an inch of ice accumulation can add about 500 pounds of weight per line span. Damage from ice storms is highly capable of shutting down entire metropolitan areas.

— Давид · 2008-02-03 17:38

These are indeed shocking images.

— Richard Hong · 2008-02-03 18:14

Cool

— Keith · 2008-02-04 00:06

I've been reading about the "snow" storms in China for over a week now, but thanks to the photos here it all becomes clear. As "Mr. Cyrillic" says, it was an ice storm.

— Ronglimeng · 2008-02-07 08:27

I have tried to find some information about the Maglev Train during the snnow chaos. Do you have any information?

— Carl-Åke · 2008-02-07 17:41

this looks totallly wiked that ice is so kool!! It looks smexxy.

— Darian · 2008-02-27 10:04

The Most Severe Disaster I Experienced

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 20:14:36 +0800

Recently, I experienced the most severe disaster I have ever experienced in China. The snow + the Spring Festival transportation peak made the country a mess. To be exact, this may not be the most severe disaster, but I didn’t experience it personally in the previous few, but this one, I feel people around me are impacted, and can imagine how bad the situation is.

On the way home, I listened to the radio and there is a story about a woman and her 22 day old infant was stack in the middle of the highway for 7 days, and were sent to hospital. This is just one of the almost one million of people on their way home.

Shanghai Snows Again

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 23:05:12 +0800

I cannot imagine Shanghai could ever have such heavy snow! I simply cannot believe this is Shanghai!

The following photos were taken this afternoon - I am sure now it is completely covered by snow. Do you know why it looks blur and not so clear? Because of the heavy snow this afternoon.

I do doubt whether airplane can take off.

The Journey Starts

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 23:31:55 +0800

The journey starts.

Just press the button, and we are ready to go.

The journey starts.

8 Comments

Hi Jianshuo,

I have been living and working in the US for over 12 years and my company is planning to relocate me back to China. I found your blog while looking for informations about living in Shanghai and would like to say thank you for providing so much useful information here. I am wondering if you have some knowledge or information related to international schools in Shanghai. I guess it will be a valuable addition to your blog.

Regards,

LT

— LT · 2008-02-01 04:26

@LT,

I'd be happy to help connect you to some knowledgeable friends who know a lot about Shanghai international schools. If you come to my blog (see external link with this comment), just leave a comment with your email address and we can discuss over email.

@jianshuo,

safe travels during CNY!

— elliottng · 2008-02-01 12:06

Hi JianShuo,

I plan to go Shanghai on 9th Feb. I've already bought the air tickets. Do you think I should cancel my trip due to the bad weather?

Thanks.

Rgds,

Evelyn

— Evelyn · 2008-02-01 16:25

Hi, Evelyn

You needn't cancel your trip since from 8/2 the weather will be sunny in shanghai. :)

Wish u a nice trip.

— guest · 2008-02-02 16:39

Hi there,

Do you think the snow will havve stopped by the end of the month?

I am from South Africa and will be arriving in Shanghai on 24February 2008.

Thanks

Gawie

South Africa

— Gawie Liebenberg · 2008-02-04 23:21

I plan to go Shanghai on China new Year. Do you think I should cancel my trip due to the bad weather?

Thanks.

Rgds,

Alex.

— Alan mayn · 2008-12-03 23:41

Well. The Journey refers to the Journey of Baixing, the new company (it was announced internally in Feb 1, 2008).

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2008-12-30 15:53

Oh! I see.

— Michelle · 2008-12-30 21:19

DEVP203 - Old Documents

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 23:55:14 +0800

Just found out a lot of old documents in my computer. There is a folder called DEVP203 - Development Process No. 203, or Microsoft Development Management Training Serious - Microsoft Development Process Overview. We did put a lot of effort into that training course, and delivered many times of the training in many different software parks, in many different cities back in 2002.

I also found a folder called WebRAID, another half year project. There are almost 100M of documents and code. I was so surprised how much effort we spent to create that project. They are in a height that I even cannot imagine that I have ever being there.

Snowing in SJTU (with Kijiji Logo)

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 12:22:39 +0800

This is the scene from outside my office window. (FYI, SJTU = Shanghai Jiaotong University). Photos were taken by colleges in office.

14 Comments

oh,wonderful.Very creative.

— fedlord · 2008-01-29 14:28

Shanghai is much warmer that many cities in China. But i see from the photo that it also experience a freezing winter.

— Nancy · 2008-01-29 16:30

I did not see the snow scene in ten years.

— forrest · 2008-01-29 21:41

When I left PVG it had just started to snow. Nothing was accumulating so we didn't need to get deiced. It sure is strange having snow there. Also, from your photos I now know exactly where your office is. I walk by it all the time. George

— George747 · 2008-01-29 22:32

Thanks for posting those Shanghai snow scene pics.

— Shrek7 · 2008-01-29 23:24

George747: Do you work for NWA?

— Давид · 2008-01-30 00:02

When I looked at the 1st pic, I thought that it was taken in Russia.... Maybe it is the Soviet-looking buildings.

— fujianren · 2008-01-30 01:44

I'm very sorry to hear on the international news, what devastating effects this weather has had throughout China. It was so helpful, when listening to news reports, to have already had your perspective about those people waiting at train stations, etc.

And how cool (a pun!) that you made the kijiji promo in the snow like that. What fun if it happened to become visible by something like Google Earth :-)

— Carroll · 2008-01-30 09:37

I really hope that our SIA flight can land at Pudong on Saturday... the forecast is looking pretty bad for Friday (just the day before), and I believe they expect huge delays and cancellations again at Pudong on Friday... :(

— AussiePB · 2008-01-30 10:20

@AussiePB: Please bring some green leafy vegetables along. They are very hard to get now. I am sure your in laws will appreciate them.

— wonton · 2008-01-30 11:54

George747: Do you work for NWA?

Posted by: Давид on January 30, 2008 12:02 AM.

No, UAL. I did train some Russian Pilots in 1994 in Denver. I still keep in touch with one who flies for Aeroflot.

— George747 · 2008-01-30 12:14

cool!

— Nux · 2008-01-30 15:32

I could hardly believe it when I heard the news that it had snowed in Shanghai and Nanjing and points south. Thank you for the wonderful pics. The first is the route I would hurry down many mornings to my English class. Now I miss it more than ever; my students said it hadn't really snowed in ten years. I missed that coming from a snowy region, and missed it again this year (by moving back--it snowed here too, and is about -10 C now)! Thanks and happy new year!

— swany · 2008-01-31 05:39

in the 1700s europe conquored china - that's why all our stuff says "made in china" on them. No longer are there conquorers alive, but free trade means no-one is in charge. You will freeze to death as we buy the fuel.

E=mcc is Einsteins equation, energy (movement, light - a category) and mass (all things, everything) are in the same equation (description).

We have two ways of describing (two brainhalves), language and vision.

E=mcc means there is an unthinkable thought (reminds us there is realm of mind in realm of mind, realm of mind = thinker and thought, i exist i think = separation exists).

Give this to everybody.

Imagine layers on top of eachother, each layer is infinite 3-dimensional space at an observer size, observer size is represented from up to down (the stack of layers, observer (eye) size represented as an axis from the 3 dimensions. It means we have description, we cannot have reality (the whole universe in the primate mind) but we can describe it as a layered structure (layers of justification = atoms justify molecules.

The mind found in the middle of the known sizescale (between galaxies and atoms), it is the shape of a brain/body (sensors (cells) are in the body).

Vision is description.

Take a layer from the sizescale, the one in the middle and you would select an eye-size (microscope or telescope).

we are here because of brutal history. survival of most surviving in each generation, most means you can have many children etc etc.

from, beginning with, reproduction. a lump of molecules reproduced (DNA), combined surrounding molecules into a similar shape.

— important · 2010-08-31 23:05

Crazy New Year

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:46:38 +0800

This is the craziest new year I have ever experienced. Just to list a few.

It is snowing. Crazily heavy in Shanghai - the heaviest snow in recent years. Looking outside our office - I feel I am in Beijing.
No railway station. From today to the Spring Festival, many stations have stopped all ticket selling. No ticket at all.
Highways closed. In provinces like Anhui, all highways have been closed because of snow.

Traveler Tide in Spring Festival

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 21:13:59 +0800

In the next half an month or so, we will experience the largest transportation tide. It is maybe the largest scale of people move in the planet. It is because of the Spring Festival.

Why So Many People Need to Go Home

Although people do not treat spring festival as serious as the previous generations (some may ignore the Chunlian, or couplet, some may ignore the traditional events during the festival), most of people still keep the tradition of going back home during the Spring Festival.

Finally, My Daocheng Video is Online

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 23:29:37 +0800

Thanks to YouTube, I am finally able to post the Daocheng video XGE helped to create 6 years ago online.

The Daocheng Trip is the most amazing trip and memoriable trip I had. As you can see from the video, it is a great place.

P.S. I also got another comment (the first comment I got on YouTube) about the other video I posted:

worst video in history of videos in the world of videos

Labor Day (May Holiday) Canceled

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 22:39:33 +0800

I know this is not news. That was announced last December. The interesting thing is the other day, I talked with my good friend from California in Xintiandi. He talked the T.I.C (This Is China) moment.

He asked his friend what they are planning to do during the May Holiday this year. His friend told him very easily: “It was canceled”.

“What? Canceled”, he was very surprised, “It is just like U.S government suddenly announce Thanksgivings is canceled, which is unbelievable”.

Backed Up All My Documents

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 22:44:05 +0800

Before I install Windows Vista tomorrow, I want to back up all my files on my Drive D.

My rule of file management is always:

Reinstall Windows system every two months.
Reinstall all software again.
Backup my all my documents during this time

I bought a new 60G Mobile Disk with USB 2.0 Interface. It costs me 470 RMB (I know I over paid but I didn’t have too much time). It has a HITACHI 60G Disk with a SSK disk case.

Skyscrapers in Lujiazui

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 22:37:34 +0800

What a day!

This is a not completely-normal normal day. It is not normal, since my typical working day is in office. It is also normal, since this is a typical day in Shanghai. Let me tell you what exactly the life here looks like - since many people didn’t get the change to visit Shanghai yet. Today, I am visiting several places in the Lujiazui area.

Shangri-La

The hotel of Shangri-la is still having a good business. The UBS Greater China Conference 2008 was going on in many floors of the hotel. So many people with black suits and ties attended. Well. Business meeting of a wealth bank is much more luxurious than a meeting of Internet company.

Shanghai Car Plate is NOT Investment

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 20:01:06 +0800

This is a follow up post for my entry Shanghai Car Plates IS Investment I wrote 4 months ago. Within just 4 months, the high valued car plate dropped dramatically.

My Record on Car Plate Price in Shanghai

A Car Plate = 38500 RMB in Shanghai Aug 24, 2003
Shanghai Car Plate = 43000 RMB Mar 22, 2004
34226 RMB for a Car Plate in May May 23, 2004
A Car Plate = 21001 RMB Now Jun 20, 2004
Shanghai Car Plates IS Investment Aug 6, 2007
Congrats Victor for Getting Car Plate - at 46500 Aug 19, 2007

From my blog post on Car Plates in Shanghai, you can get some idea about how the prices of a car plate in Shanghai changes over time.

Third Day in Nanyuan Hot Spring

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 16:10:46 +0800

Still in the offsite in Nanyuan Hot Spring, Ninghai, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province.

Photo by Jian Shuo Wang

P.S. Just found out PayPal started its referral engine in China also:

I am in Ninghai in Ningbo

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 03:33:14 +0800

I am in a company offsite meeting in Ninghai, Ningbo City. It is about 5 hour’s bus ride from Shanghai.

The Nanyuan Hot-Spring Resort is very nice - it reminds me of another similar resort: Chaminade in Santa Cruz. The feeling of nice hotel, good service, beautiful scene and all these hidden in the deep of mountains…

I will get back on Saturday.

Related Entry: Third Day in Nanyuan Hot Spring

6 Comments

It would be my first choice if I were out for trip, no doubt about it.

— JC · 2008-01-18 10:57

the scenery is breathtaking!

— Nux · 2008-01-18 11:07

I love the Chaminade comparison. I've been to Chaminade many times. Did you do the "ropes" course there where there was a giant ladder suspended in the trees? That was a great team building experience. Anything like that in China?

— elliottng · 2008-01-18 15:18

I went there last month ,nice place ,good choice for everyone

— Tina · 2008-01-18 22:23

this looks like a nice place for retreat from the buzzling city life of Shanghai.

— DC · 2008-01-20 21:20

I think that maybe is zhenjiang hangzhou. sir

— Kal jaylard · 2008-12-03 23:32

Photo Needed for Olympic Ceremonies

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 22:50:26 +0800

According to the official web site of Beijing Olympics 2008, Photo ID and personal information needed for Olympic ceremonies ticket buyers.

Credit: Beijing 2008

Below is the information ticket owners have to fill:

It seems gender, birth date, mobile, telephone, email, mail address all all other personal information IS very important for the committee to host a successful Olympic.

If the ticket buyer fail to go to the designated places to submit their forms in person or via a trustee, they may not be able to attend the ticket. Mail is not accepted. It takes too much time to get a ticket for Olympic.

World Financial Center

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 21:38:15 +0800

Kenneth posted some nice picture from the top of World Financial Center (via Shanghaiist.com). These are the first bunch of photos from that high.

Photo Credit: Singaporeano

This is the top of Jinmao Tower - how many people are able to look at Jinmao from this direction?

Photo Credit: Singaporeano

Jinmao looks really tall from the top, even looks taller from this direction.

Photo Credit: Singaporeano

Jinmao and the Bund:

Snowing Huangshan

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:54:06 +0800

Wendy got back from her trip to Huangshan. She went there with her team in a team building event. It snows heavily in Huangshan, and she was very cold there. The good thing is, she took back some great photos of Huangshan in snow.

Photograph by Wendy Fan

Google Sightseeing: Weird Places in Shanghai

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 19:08:42 +0800

2 Comments

wired or weird? and what is it?

— ana · 2008-01-13 20:10

is tis a factory?

— Nux · 2008-01-13 22:56

Video about Shanghai

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 23:28:47 +0800

Paul Merton posted nice video about Shanghai. Obviously he did much better job in editing and narration then me.

The video is uploaded in July 2007, and I already see there are many changes in the landscape of Shanghai since he took the video half an year ago.

5 Comments

hoho,sofa ....

jianshuo's blog is very good! i like !

— dongguangyao · 2008-01-13 18:31

Through I haven't there yet but I am REALLY sure I would do the same thing as Paul Merton did when he was in the hotel, it really feels like a drop of water that keeps falling falling falling...... ^0^

JC

— JC · 2008-01-14 20:41

Great link! Thanks for posting it! JS!

— Claudia Frias · 2008-01-15 00:35

I recommend getting the series from your favourite site for such things ... it is an excellent look at China. And Paul Merton is always an amusing chap.

— Byron · 2008-01-20 12:26

Yes. It is obvious that Paul Merton paid serious effort to record his trip - he must have take extra steps (like film from both inside an outside, and from many directions to record the same trip).

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2008-01-20 19:26

Weird Places in Shanghai via Google Earth

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 23:27:45 +0800

If you look at the Google Earth, and fly to Shanghai, you will find some very weird places - you may wonder what they are. Anyone want to guess what it is, or try to find it on Google Earth.

8 Comments

I think the second picture is Shanghai South Railway Station

— Keith · 2008-01-11 11:45

things do look weird when seen from above. Anyway, i never been to shanghai, but i guess some places shown above are either railway station, reservoir, some factories or technology parks.

— Nux · 2008-01-11 13:52

i still wondering about the 1st, 3rd and the 6th pic, Could you pls tell what the place is?

— Karp · 2008-01-14 11:25

Jian,

These are great! More fun than sudoku.

#1. At first glance picture one seems to be a runway layout but upon measuring the longest "runway" it is only about 2000 ft. Too short except for light aircraft. Also, runways are typically oriented north-south in the shangHai area. Zooming in, one can see cross members which look like all the metro construction going on in PVG. This is a metro station at the intersection of three lines.

#2 I agree with Keith. PVG South RR Station

#3 This is Shanghai Harbour City(Lingang City) or Luchao Harbour City 15 NM south of PVG airport. We fly over it on final approach when landing to the north. I have looked for it before on Google Earth but it was never there. It must be newly updated. It looks strange during low visibility approaches at night. All you see is a ring of lights glowing throught the darkness.

#4 Century Park

#5 Hmmm? Oil storage?

#6 Hmmm? Road around something?

#7 Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility

#8 Science & Technology Museum & Subway Market

#9 World Expo site

— George747 · 2008-01-15 22:37

George747, you are right for all the question you answered except #1. It is a metro station near the World Expo site. There are two lines intersecting there.

#6 is the oil storage near Waigaoqiao.

Yes. It is more interesting than sudoku. How about let's play a game of "Where is it?" on Google Earth. That must be very interesting.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2008-01-15 23:27

Jian,

You are correct. I was looking at the photo you posted on November 5, 2007 and interpreted the "X" station on the map as the one in the Google Earth photo. Obviously I was too far north. Actually, that station seems to have 4 lines.

http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:t5Rk0D7ax5cJ:home.wangjianshuo.com/archives/20071105_more_detailed_shanghai_future_metro_map.htm+shanghai+future+metro+map&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us

George

— George 747 · 2008-01-19 09:30

i think No.7 looks like really big toilet

— Fraser · 2009-03-03 17:33

#1 is Area 51

— Mike · 2012-01-10 11:48

Near to Both Metro Stations

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 18:53:33 +0800

In the next few minute, I am going to go back home via Metro Line #4. There are two stations of the line, and both are “near” to where I work.

In the map below: The one on the left top corner is the Metro Line #4 Hongqiao Rd. Station, and the one on the lower left is Metro Line #4 Yishan Rd. Station. The red point on the top right is where I work. (BTW, the other dot in the middle of the right is the Xujiahui Station of Metro Line #1).

Shanghai Metro People's Square Station

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 22:46:47 +0800

Shanghai Metro People’s Square Station is the first transition station in Shanghai Metro System. Once upon a time, there is only one metro line in Shanghai when I arrived in this city, and it took many years for the Metro Line #2 to be constructed and opened. Then the Long Transition Tunnel of the Metro #1 and #2 became the memories of many people - it was really long.

Now, with the opening of Metro Line #8 and the new transition hall, this is history. Look at the brand new Metro Station in People’s Square. Again, I am reporting through photos:

Jian Shuo Wang is on Facebook

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 22:37:28 +0800

I finally starts to use Facebook. It is a very nice service, and recently, more and more friends in China is joining the network.

If you are my reader, and want to add me, here is my profile: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=505173495

Since Facebook is designed to be useful only for people who know each other offline, I don’t want to break the rule to expand my network aimlessly. However, I think it is a good idea to add my readers to my friend list, so there is a more effective way to get connected. Please make sure you add the following sentence:

Shanghai Metro Century Avenue Station

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 21:45:50 +0800

One and half year ago, I posted Century Ave Station Opens on Oct 28. In that post, I described how the future of the Century Avenue Station will look like when it is fully completed. Below is the diagram I used:

The Line #6 goes on the top at B1 level. Line #2, and Line #4 go in the B2 level, cross the Line #6. Line #9 (partly opened on December 29, 2007) will run deeper on level B3. After one and half years, the station is finally ready, and I went there to send the first hand report to my readers.

Shanghai Metro South Xizang Rd. Station

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 22:15:39 +0800

Among all the transition in the current Shanghai Metro System, I love the platform design of South Xizang Rd. Station of Line #4 and Line #8 most. That is the easiest transition and shortest among all the current transition plans. I am a Metro Fans, and am always attracted by construction site. I got the change the take some photos of the design of the station.

Location of South Xizang Rd. Station

According to this map, it is at the intersection of line #4 and the line #8 (at the south side of the circle line #4). Sorry that the Automatic Vendor Machine don’t have an English map.

Shanghai Metro Line #6

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 23:06:46 +0800

Congratulations to the newly opened Shanghai Metro Line #6. I hope this series of post covers most of the Metro Line #6. I love this line!

Line Overview

Shanghai Metro Line #6 is the only line in the Metro system that completely runs in Pudong. It starts from the northmost Gangcheng Road Station, and arrives at Jiyang Road Station on the south. The whole line runs in Pudong.

Total length: 33.09 km Among them, 12.04 km is above the ground - like light rail, 20.8 km is running below the ground - like a real metro, or subway There is a portion of 0.25 km that connects the underground lines and the ground lines. It is almost under-ground but don’t have a cover.

Summary of My 2007

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 12:39:55 +0800

At the beginning of a new year, I want to take some time to summarize my 2007.

Most memorable experience - Yifan was born on June 2, 2007. This is a big life changer.
Relaxing trip: the only long distance relaxing trip was to Cambodia, at the beginning of March
Trip I almost forgot: Only by checking my blog did I remember that I had made a Hong Kong trip. It was too short - just over night.
Kijiji finally starts to make some money, and this was remarkable for the team. I am also happy with the high-speed increase of the market and the business.
Wendy spent huge amount of time with Yifan and took care of the baby very well. I’d like to thank her for taking so much responsibility for the family.
The success heart surgery of my mother-in-law is a big blessing for the family.
Being selected as one of the Fellow in the Young Leaders Forum was the most exciting honor I got in this year. Meeting the great people is also the most interesting thing in this year.
The big organizational and cultural challenge in Kijiji in July was such a good thing for the team to build immune into the system and strengthen trust. We are much stronger.
Met with many top guys in technical field in Silicon Valley during my only US trip in September.
Yifan grows so happily and healthily. He is like the strawberry on the cake of our family. At the year end, he is coughing, and we spent last night/first morning of 2007/2008 taking care of Yifan. Although it is normal for kids of 6-7 months, we are really worried.

I am looking forward to a great 2008.

Happy New Year 2008

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 22:47:50 +0800

Happy New Year to all my friends, family and readers!

It seems Microsoft Paint (my favorite photo creation tool) is still not perfect to create a Holiday Card.

10 Comments

Happy New Year Jian Shuo!!!

— Randy · 2008-01-01 00:25

Happy New Year, Jian Shuo & family (and all !)

— swany · 2008-01-01 00:31

Happy New Year!!!

— dihua · 2008-01-01 04:08

Hello Jian Shuo

New Year, New Joys, New Challenges.

May 2008 be a great year for you and your family.

— wonton · 2008-01-01 12:56

@wonton, Happy New Year! In the last year, you are sure to be the "king of controversy" (according to AussiePB), in a good way. Thanks for bringing new perspective to this blog. Looking forward to see more comments from you in 2008.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2008-01-01 13:36

Happy New Year Jian Shuo and blessings to your family... and @wonton - blessings to the 2007 "king of controversy" and your wife. I look forward to this year's CNY celebrations when we are in Shanghai.

— AussiePB · 2008-01-01 18:04

Hi,

I would like to use a photograph you took last year, I believe, during the fireworks of New Year's Eve for my Jan 1st blog post today. I would give you credit for the photograph if you give me permission to use it. Thanks much. Please email me to let me know how you feel about this. Thanks much!

Happy 2008!

:) Sky

— Sky · 2008-01-01 22:21

@AussiePB

Best wishes to you too. I like your positive energy.

It is not my intention to be controversial or anything.

I am just venting my frustrations when I get a big itch from what's happening around me.

So don't mind my bad breath. Sometimes even I don't understand myself let alone others.

— wonton · 2008-01-02 14:58

Hello,

i'de found this side in google. I'ts a very nice side.

O.k., prosperous and healthy 2008 to everybody!

regards

Peter, Wuppertal (Germany)

— Peter · 2008-01-02 20:55

What the hell is that?? He's from the Cayman Islands? They must use some heavy drugs there....

— AussiePB · 2008-01-07 00:46

Best of Wangjianshuo's Blog in 2007

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 15:57:43 +0800

I posted 374 blogs (before this entry) in the 365 days in 2007. Just now, I reviewed my monthly blog archive in 2007, and selected (just based on my personal standard) the best posts in 2007. Here is a full list.

“I Will Follow All the Rules!” Dec 23, 2007
Why Things in China is Cheap? Dec 23, 2007
Is Guanxi Important? Dec 21, 2007
Current University Students are Different Dec 18, 2007

Wake up, Wake up

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 12:15:13 +0800

I am the sleepy type of person - I can sleep as much as the time you gave me.

This is the second day of the three day New Year holiday. As yesterday, I wake up by myself, at 12:10 noon time.

I always wonder why I like to sleep so much. Is it because of gene or just because of laziness?

I pull over my laptop on bed and check out what is happening on my blog (comment) and inbox (email).

Shanghai Metro Line #4, #6, #8, #9 Opens

Sun, 30 Dec 2007 23:38:23 +0800

Dec 29 is a big day for Shanghai Metro. 58 New Metro Stations were put into operation on the same day. Yes. It is not a typo. It IS 58 stations. This afternoon, I prepared my camera and coat and wanted to take photos of the new Metro Stations and metro trains, but it was really too cold and windy today. So I decided to turn to flickr to find some photos, and then do a report with these photos.

Kijiji Expanding Office

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 20:41:22 +0800

Kijiji is expanding to the 19th floor of the same building. The same day last year, we moved into our current office, and the new life in the office started from Jan 4, 2007.

One year later, we expanded from the 18th floor to the 19th, and we are looking forward to a completely new start.

Happy New Year to my brothers and sisters in Kijiji.

6 Comments

Having a firm in IT industry is also my dream...

You are my idol.

— Wang Shouyi · 2007-12-29 22:07

Cong~~! It looks just like the lab I am in.

— Danny · 2007-12-29 22:19

光线看上去不是很好，荧光灯很伤眼，而且显得冷淡

— 且听枫吟 · 2007-12-29 22:47

新年新希望。

我的新年希望是：我拥有很多的"才"&"财"...

— Ben · 2007-12-30 11:42

Great team with great teamwork.

— Judy · 2008-03-20 17:22

How would someone pitch an idea to do genealogy via Kijiji

— Karen Buckley · 2010-07-30 00:47

OOB Today

Fri, 28 Dec 2007 23:06:10 +0800

Pretty tired these days. OOB (Out of Blogging) today.

Foreigners Individual Income Tax in China

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 21:47:48 +0800

This is a FAQ, as you can see from the discussion under my entry: Personal in Tax in China. I am not a lawyer, and I don’t want to pretend to know everything, or the accurate information (even a lawyer cannot be hold responsible for tax issues you have). But to help my expats readers, I did have the opportunity to talk with a lawyer, so I can try to answer the question.

Successful Kijiji Meetup

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 21:23:54 +0800

Had a wonderful Kijiji meetup today with about 7 users. Every time I have a Kijiji meetup with users, I feel very happy and confident.

As the head of a website, millions of page view or 20-30 thousands listing per day does not tell the whole story. Only by sitting down face to face with users can I really understand the values of the site, and the problems we need to solve.

Merry Christmas 2007

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 20:04:43 +0800

Merry Christmas, my friends, my readers, and everyone who see this note.

Although we do not celebrate Christmas in Shanghai, I’d love to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and very soon, a Happy New Year!

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

7 Comments

Merry Christams and happy new year !

— Michael Huang · 2007-12-25 21:12

A Big Jolly and Merry Christmas to All!!!!! Ho! Ho! Ho!

— Shrek7 · 2007-12-25 21:17

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all readers in this blog....

— DC · 2007-12-26 11:50

Wish everyone a wonderful 2008!

— Elaine · 2007-12-26 12:18

Merry Christmas to all! I wish everyone a spirit of hope, friendship, and love during this holiday season.

— elliottng · 2007-12-26 13:55

Merry X'mas ! Especially to expats at Shanghai!

— Forrest · 2007-12-26 19:12

Thanks everyone! Again, Merry X'mas.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-12-26 22:53

Assembly - Great War Movie from China

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 13:35:44 +0800

Back from Feng Xiaogang’s new movie - Assembly. It is a great movie. It is may be one of the first movie in China to pay attention to the individuals, to the lives in the war. This is very rare in the history of war movies in China.

In this movie, the point director wants to make seems to be “Every life is valuable, and deserve respect.” That is very good point. Solider’s life is not something as romantic as leaders “heroism”. Death is death - cold, crucial, and full of pain.

'I Will Follow All the Rules!'

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 22:43:12 +0800

Chatted with George the other day. George is my friend from New York who asked the wonderful question: Why everyone in China says “It is not impossible but difficult”.

When we talked about his recent relocation to Shanghai, we talked about the rules and regulations. George said: “I will try to follow all the rules anyway.”

This sounds so familiar. Li Hong talked about the same thing in the YLF dinner the other day. It was about the tax for foreigners. According to the regulation, any foreigners who stays in China for more than 183 days need to pay the local tax. Although it is not enforced, most foreigners tried very hard to follow, even the government official told them that it is OK to hold on and wait for some years. They just feel unsafe.

MovableType Dirify Change for UTF-8

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 21:46:43 +0800

This is for MovableType 3.2, but the same for 3.3, or 4.0, 4.01.

In the file /mt/lib/MT/Util.pm, there are two lines. I have to change it from:

LINE 553: sub dirify {

LINE 554: ($MT::VERSION && MT->instance->{cfg}->PublishCharset =~ m/utf-?8/i)

LINE 555: ? utf8_dirify(@) : iso_dirify(@);

LINE 556: }

It has to be changed to

LINE 553: sub dirify {

LINE 554: # ($MT::VERSION && MT->instance->{cfg}->PublishCharset =~ m/utf-?8/i)

LINE 555: iso_dirify(@); # ? utf8_dirify(@) : iso_dirify(@_);

Conversation with IPowerWeb Support

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 16:36:55 +0800

This was my conversation with ipowerweb support today. There is no surprise. Their customer service level is very consistent in the last few years. The conversation was near 1 hour. There are always several minutes to 10 minutes wait between my last sentence and his answer.

**

**Welcome to IPOWER! You are number 15 in the queue. Your wait time will be approximately 7 minute(s) and 30 seconds. We apologize for the wait time. Please hold for a site operator to respond. **

Why Things in China is Cheap?

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 11:34:42 +0800

There is no doubt that China is one of the most important base for manufacturing. Christmas is coming, and this reminds people that the even higher majority of world Christmas decoration is coming from China. Even the Christmas tree - if it is artificial - may come from China.

Goods in China are cheap. There are arguments of the quality (Well. I will talk about that part in the future). My question to answer today is, why China’s good is cheap?

Went to Children's Hospital - Refugee Camp

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 20:52:57 +0800

I went to Children’s Hospital on the Fenglin Road. Yifan’s ass looks red - should be very typical problem for children like his age, so we went to the Children’s Hospital today. The last time, I lined there for 3 hours to get a small cup of medicine - that worked very well. The medicine itself was 2 RMB, or 30 US cents, but it cost me almost the whole after.

Is Guanxi Important?

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 23:01:20 +0800

YLF

Many books about China says: “Guanxi is important in China”. Many people do research based on the books. Many foreigners know Guanxi is important in China.

The problem is, it is a little bit out of date today.

Guanxi is important, but no longer the ONLY key

Guanxi or relationship was very important, and is still very important in today’s China society. However, the importance of this factor is degraded based on my observation. It is just like “Hukou is important, and is still important, but not as important as before”.

Victor's Car Plate was Stolen

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 20:58:24 +0800

After Victor’s dog was stolen and killed, and after his bicycle was stolen months ago,and his wallet, he also lost his car plate today.

How the Plate was Stolen

You know car plate, right? Every car has a plate. It is attached to the car, and can be easily detached. So, there is a business here in Shanghai to steal people’s car plate, and blackmail the owner. Victor is the victim of this car plate stealing case.

Dishui Lake Satellite Pictures

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:20:53 +0800

Dishui Lake is my favorite place to spend a weekend. Today, I found the satellite pictures of this artificial lake is updated on Google Earth.

The bigger scope of the lake.

Zoom in and see the current building. I believe there will be many more buildings in this area.

This is the relative location of the Dishui Lake in Shanghai Map.

In term of its relationship with Yangshan Deep Water Port, here is the map:

Current University Students are Different

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 21:54:08 +0800

I am back from a speech in Shanghai Jiaotong University tonight.

This is the second time I visit SJTU this month.

I just observe something very different between the students of this year (especially the first year students) and the students of two years ago.

The Reform of Higher Education

The change was triggered by the recent reform of higher education. According to the students, when they enter SJTU, they don’t know their majors yet. They know which school they will go to and will study for 2 years before they were assigned a major, depending on how good their first two years are. (Correct me if I am wrong. This is what I heard, but not necessarily the truth).

YLFer Gather in Shanghai

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 23:24:35 +0800

This entry is intended to notify YLFers (Young Leaders Forum) participants about the FYLer gather in Shanghai. Hopefully, many of you have subscribed to the Young Leaders Forum Fellow Blog Feed, so you should be able to get this news very soon.

We had a wonderful gather for YLFers. Thanks for the business trip of Rose from Beijing, and organization of Haisong (and paying the bill), we finally had:

Rose, 2007 Fellow
Haisong, 2004 Fellow
Li Hong, 2003 Fellow
Zhang Yong, 2005 Fellow
Nick, 2005 Fellow
Jian Shuo, 2007 Fellow

So nice to see each other again after the Nanjing trip. It should be the first known gather after this year’s forum.

The Age of Change, in Reality, and in Mind

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 16:32:39 +0800

This is an age of change, of China and of the world.

I feel it, but cannot name it. I see it all the time with all those small things in my life, but still cannot tell what it really means. My simple instinct tells me, 2007 is a very interesting and unique period for China. My friends, help me to understand it.

Job Market

My reader SuperDav asked me the question:

Train Ticket Office at Maglev Station

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 15:18:22 +0800

Many people arrives in Shanghai Pudong airport empty handed - I mean without the train ticket to the next city. Typically, they just arrives, and want to get train ticket, and then directly take a train to nearby cities, like Hangzhou, or Suzhou.

There is a train ticket office at the Longyang Road Station of Maglev (Maglev only have two stations, Pudong Airport and Longyang Road). It can be very helpful if you know its location to plan your trip.

Yangshan Deep Water Port - Part II

Sat, 15 Dec 2007 18:34:49 +0800

I am attending a meeting at Yangshan Island. Here are some photos of the Donghai Bridge, and the Yangshan Deep Water Port. This is a meeting with government. I just found out that Yangshan is a great place to host a meeting - it takes about 2.5 hours to get there, including 0.5-1 hour to reach the A2, and 30 minutes on the A2 to Donghai Bridge, and 30 minutes on the bridge (at 80 km/hour), and 30 minutes on the boat from Xiao Yangshan to Da Yangshan. Here are some photos I took on the way there.

Update of Metro Line #4

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 23:56:09 +0800

My pilot friend George sent me a photo and asked me where it is. It is the map of Shanghai Metro Line #4 Puhuitang Base. I finally located the place on Google Earth, and I believe it is exactly what is on the map.

This facility is the parking place for the trains. By design, it has the capacity to hold 67 trains (402 carts) - pretty big, isn’t it?

Mourning for Victims of Nanjing Massacre

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 21:06:52 +0800

70 years ago, 300,000 civil residents were killed by Japanese troops. It was the most miserable night in the recent history.

8 Comments

70 years ago, Horrors started raining down on Nanjing on an unimaginable scale.

Today, We pray for those lost souls resting in peace, we pray for the Japanese government and people have enough courage to face the history, and we pray that the history shall never repeat itself.

— ILH · 2007-12-13 22:56

Do not forget to think about this other Chineses who got killed by Chineses the 9th of June 1938...

500,000 to 900,000 of them.... Just to slow the advance of the Japanese...

http://anonymouse.org/cgi-bin/anon-www.cgi/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1938_Huang_He_flood

Or do not forget another day in June 51 years after this dam.

All the massacre are unacceptable, whatever it come from Japanese, Chinese, or whatsoever nationality.

— tyui · 2007-12-14 00:30

Do not forget the 1979 invasion of Vietnam... or do not forget the invasion of Tibet in 1950... or do not forget the assistance to the genocide in Darfur in 2006... or the invasion of India in 1962... etc...

— John · 2007-12-16 02:40

The John guy is either retarded or completely brainwashed by whatever government that has governed his pinhead...

— Another guy · 2007-12-17 13:29

@ tyui&John

(Make assumption only)

Let say, you have a favorite aunt who died few years ago. When you mourn her on the anniversary date of her death, do you mourn your boyhood friend's brother in-law who died due to drunk driving? Do your mourn your neighbor's grand-grandfather who died duo to old age? Or do you mourn so and so who died due to cancer? all at the same time?

— ILH · 2007-12-18 04:45

@ILH, I think tyui, and John means the victim of both other countries, and of China, during the miserable time. I agree with them, that hate, ware, massacre are the enemy of the whole human society, not just a country. We memorize the Nanjing Massacre, not to repeat hate, but give us a chance to look back and make right decisions in the future.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-12-18 09:45

JS, I know what they said.

With a little logic/reasoning skill, they also know what I meant.

— ILH · 2007-12-18 11:43

問い

問

question

　日本で何故南京事件の否定派が増えたのか？

　是在日本為何南京事件的否定派增加的？

　why has the number of negative sects of

　　the nanking massacre increased in japan?

　

答え

回答

answer

　多分、次の本が出版されたからであろう

　大概，下面的書被出版了吧

　it is perhaps because the following book is published.

　

　この本は國民党の機密文書に基づいている

　這個書按照國民黨的機密文件

　this book is based on the confidential document

　　of the guomindang（chinese nationalist party）.

===========================================================

『南京事件 "証拠写真" を検証する』

　　http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/reader/4794213816/ref=sib_dp_pt/503-7152288-3875968#reader-link

　

　の英語版の抜粋

　　英語版的摘錄

　

　　analyzing the "photographic evidence"

　　　　of the nanking massacre

　

　　　（ →　http://www.sdh-fact.com/CL02_1/26_S4.pdf　）

　　　（ →　http://www.soshisha.com/book_search/detail/1_1381.html　）

　　　　參考　　http://www.soshisha.com/book_search/detail/1_1488.html )

　

　

　続きは

　繼續

　next

　

　　http://ryancheung.ycool.com/post.1969951.html

　　　charles cheung's blog

　　　　纪念南京大屠杀七十周年

— Green tea · 2008-12-28 13:39

Winter Arrives

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:45:15 +0800

Shanghai enters winter these days. It is very cold and chilly outside. Visitors to Shanghai, please bring enough cloths with you. I feel frozen this morning.

Hotmail Problems

I am experiencing Hotmail connectivity problems these days. Anyone encountered the same thing?

7 Comments

hi!

what do you suggest we bring when we go to shanghai this january? we come from a tropical country and we have no idea what to wear. do you think it will snow this january? thanks so much. i hope you can answer as soon as possible. thanks!

— blimpi · 2007-12-27 23:17

@blimpi, it won't snow in Jan, I think. Although no one can predict weather, Shanghai typically won't snow in winter - there are some snow in the past, but generally it won't, especially a warm winter like this year.

However, do take some cloths that keep you warm. Shanghai is not very cold - should still be near or above freezing point, but it is wet in the winter, so it is still pretty cold here.

Good luck!

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-12-27 23:26

Hi Shuo Wang,

I would be going to Shanghai this Saturday... 19 Jan 08.

Since it's my first trip to Shanghai and in winter. Appreciate your advise on what I should prepare for winter apparel.

I only have normal jackets and windbreakers and a light scarf. Would that be sufficient or I will definitely freeze? haha...

Do I need to include thermal wear/ long johns and heavy trench coats/ gloves?

Thank you in advance.

— luckymandarins · 2008-01-15 23:31

Hi luckymandarins, you may need to buy more stuff. These days, Shanghai is really cold - I have put on all the warm cloths I have. A normal jacket does not work.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2008-01-15 23:41

Hi Shuo Wang,

I'ill be going to Shanghai on 18 Dec 2008. It'll be my first trip to Shangahi, wonder what would the weather be?

Thanks :)

— ls · 2008-11-12 22:44

thought of planning a family trip to shanghai jan 09 with 2 children?

any suggestion for the children? thermal,coats,gloves and sweaters, will that do?

as an adult, i wouldnt worry cause we know how to take care of ourself, but not for the children : (

— agnes · 2008-11-15 16:47

Hi,

Am going to Shanghai with my family (hubby & 7 yr old girl) for 10 days. I prepared long sleeve t-shirt as base as can't stand the wool long john, after a layer of wool long john, a sweater (cotton thick type) and a 100% polyester knee length coat. Do you think this is sufficient or we really need a down coat? Would appreciate your kind advice as we are travelling next week already. Kindly email to coyotefr00@yahoo.com.sg. Many thanks and blessed day.

— joey · 2009-12-06 11:41

SJTU Campus Starts to Charge for Parking

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:00:37 +0800

I work on Shanghai Jiao Tong University campus. The campus is located in the downtown of Xujiahui. It is very hard to find parking lot in that area. However, the campus was always a free parking space. I have friends who always park there - for free.

There are safety guards at the gate. You have to tell them the reason you need to enter the campus. Typically, if you know any address or name of this university, you can easily get in.

Great Ocean Road

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:44:42 +0800

One year has past, and I just realize I have never posted my Great Ocean Road trip onto blog yet. OK. Here are the breath-taking pictures of the trip in Australia.

When I look back and summarizes the most impressive trips I made, I get a list:

2004 - One month cross American trip
2005 - First trip to Silicon Valley
2006 - Australia Trip (Great Ocean Road is part of it)
2007 - In terms of distance, the Cambodia trip is the highlight. In terms of impact on me, maybe it should be the Young Leaders Forum trip in Nanjing.

What is in 2008?

Hope for Microsoft Web Effort

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 23:14:52 +0800

I start to use the Windows Live application by Microsoft - I mean the client application tools, not the LIVE.COM services. It gave me much hope about the future of Windows Live.

When I use the first and second version of Windows Live, my comment was: “I see great hope in Microsoft Live product. It shares something in common with many great products from Microsoft - the first two versions are always garbage.”

Aniseed Vietnamese French Cuisine

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 23:13:14 +0800

For some reason, I postponed my dinner to 9:00 PM. Now, I am sitting in the Aniseed Vietnamese French Cuisine. While I am waiting for my Vietnamese noodle (delicious!), let me tell my friend about it.

It is the best place serving Vietnamese noodle in Shanghai, based on my limited experience of restaurant. As the name suggested, it combines the delicious food of Vietnam and the grace presentation from French. The noodle shop (maybe this is a better term to describe this “restaurant”) is not big - only 10 tables. But the music and the service is very good - very rare in its kind. The Taiwanese host greets every customers and checks “how is everything” like in U.S. This is also very rare in local restaurants.

Comments on Robert's Social Aggregator Ideas

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 19:54:36 +0800

(This post is posted via Microsoft Live Writer - it is pretty impressive)

Robert wrote a great blog about his thoughts on Social Aggregator. He pinged me on Skype about it. Let me do spend some time to write a kind-of review about the thoughts.

A social aggregator can aggregator various information (not just RSS feed of a blog or Flickr account!) from many feed sources, store data in local cache(db) for performance and queries, user can apply different filters to get very interesting result.

Saw June with Michael Bloomberg

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 22:55:57 +0800

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is in Beijing today. Although I heard many great things about Mr. Bloomberg from my friends, I am not interested in him as much as I am interested in YLF participant June Mei. I saw her in one of the press photo:

Image in courtesy of Xinhua News Agency

June was behind Bloomberg. Looking forward the Mayor’s (and June’s) visit to Shanghai in the following few days.

Pinyin is Not Chinese

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 17:17:26 +0800

During my Nanjing YLF trip, I just realize one simple fact that many people outside China may not be aware of: Pinyin is not Chinese.

After I explained this to my friends, they were surprised. This is different from what they thought. I am even more surprised when people tell me that they think the Pinyin (the Romanization) is Chinese itself. In case you don’t know, let me tell you more about it.

Young Leaders Forum Fellow Blog Feed

Sun, 09 Dec 2007 23:29:10 +0800

We need to leverage new technology, don’t we? I volunteered to create an aggregated Young Leaders Forum Fellow Blog

Feed. The URL of this feed is

http://tinyurl.com/2zc4vz

. There are some behind the scene works.

I get a list of all

YLF fellow (the listing is still growing) and put all the blog entries together.

I sort the blog entries according to published time so the latest one is always on the top

Atlantis Launch Delayed

Sun, 09 Dec 2007 23:03:15 +0800

Just as many of my friends (and readers) in U.S and Europe started to pay attention to Shanghai news in their local TV station when we meet each other, I started to watch closely to launches of NASA after I meet with YLF fellow Chris.

The launch was scheduled to launch several days ago, and it is scheduled to launch today (Sunday), but it turned out to be postponed again because of the false reading from the engine cutoff sensor system. I watched NASA TV for some time at the due time, and found out nothing happened when it is approaching the launching time. NASA TV even didn’t provide any background sound, that I even thought I didn’t get any video from NASA TV, before I saw a helicopter flying in the background.

Gave Chinese Names for my Friends

Sat, 08 Dec 2007 18:57:28 +0800

In Tongli, in the shop next to our hotel, they have 20 small baskets of badges of Chinese characters - each badge has a character on both side of it. People can pick two or three badge to form the Chinese name for themselves. For example, I can pick 王 and 建 and 硕, and have them on a ring - that is my name.

Chinese Name for Ashish

Spend Money on Art or Porverty

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 21:36:07 +0800

This is a very interesting topic we covered in this Young Leaders Forum. When we talk about whether it is appropriate to spend more on art when world poverty or world hunger is not solved. This was among the hottest debate we had.

Two Sides of the Question

One opinion was, we should pay attention to world poverty first. There are still people starving, or there are still children dieing because of lack of medical assistance. What is the point to spend the money in art. The extreme statement can be: Spend a dollar on piano may kill the hope to save a child’s life.

Not Be Afraid of Grace and Beauty

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 23:51:12 +0800

When I wrap up my Young Leaders Forum 2007, and the extension trip in Suzhou, Tongli, and Shanghai, I could not help thinking about an important question about the future of China: Are we, as a nation, afraid of grace and beauty?

Here is why I asked this question.

The Beauty of Ancient China

Yong Leaders Forum is a small group of young leaders from all the fields in U.S, and China. It is on two year term that we meet in China (odd years), and America (even years) to discuss U.S. and China relationships and other important things. I am among the 6 representatives from China this year.

Humble Adminstrator Garden in Suzhou

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 11:07:39 +0800

This is maybe the third time I visit the Humble Administrator Garden. This time, I am with the fellows of Young Leaders Forum. We also have the wonderful (temporary) guide June Mei. She was well know by her interrupting work for American and Chinese top leaders. For example, Present Hu’s Yale speech, or many times of Premier Zhu visited U.S. (We had another high-profile ex-interpreter Rose Zhu joined us in the YLF in Nanjing). June knows Chinese architect and history well, and helped me to understand much better of the garden.

Suzhou Museum by I.M. Pei

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 10:24:04 +0800

I visited the Suzhou Museum on Dec 3. The museum is designed by I.M. Pei, and we had the honor to attend a behind the scene tour conducted by Bobbie Pei. Bobbie was so kind to talk about the design philosophy of his uncle. That tour was one of the highlight of the trip.

Symmetry is the key

Symmetry is one of the very key element of the Chinese architecture. It is also the symbolic sign of I.M. Pei’s design. Look at these pictures:

Back from Wonderful YLF Trip in Nanjing

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 22:42:18 +0800

I am back from the wonderful trip in Nanjing. Allow me sometime to catchup with the blog. The intensive 3 days in Nanjing and the following extension trip were full of fun and party (at night). I did spend two days after that to catch up with my family - Yifan and Wendy, and yesterday, I went to the SJTU to give a lecture. In short, this is maybe the longest period of time I paused my little blog, and I will catch up also, and I will tell you the wonderful stories of my trip in Nanjing, and the wonderful people I met.

Recovery of Fanfan's Blog

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 05:19:36 +0800

FTP to the server and check /cgi-bin/mt/mt.cgi folder. It is a new installation with MovableType 3.2. That was created on Jan 14, 2007.
Download mt-config.cgi file to analyze what is the current database.
The current DB points to /home/wangjian/public_html/cgi-bin/mt/db
This means, currently, it is using the BerkeleyDB, the plain text file.
BerkeleyDB is the problem of Wendy’s blog - when there are too many comments, most of them are spams, it does not support and caused many problem
Determine to turn the BerkeleyDB into MySQL database
The first thing to do is to backup the current Berkeley DB.
Login into the /vdeck/
Visit http://www.ipower.com/member/filemanager.bml?expand=/home/users/web/b2841/ipw.wangjian/public_html/cgi-bin
Check /mt/ folder and click [Archive as Zip] button. Then wait for some time.
The downloaded /mt/ folder archive is store at D:\my\8. Web\History and Backups\2007-12-23
Test shows to delete a comment (even a single comment) on the old Berkeley DB base is not feasible. That takes too much time.
The next step is to setup a new blog database, and try to import the exported entries into the new database.
Export the old Fanfan’s Blog. The exported file is stored at D:\my\8. Web\History and Backups\2007-12-23\fanfan_export_original.txt
Create a new MySQL Database with the following spec:
Database name: mtfanfan
User name: public
Password: *******
Changed the mt-config.cgi to reflect the change in database.
In mt-config.cgi, comment out the following line: # DataSource /home/wangjian/public_html/cgi-bin/mt/db
In mt-config.cgi, added the following line: ObjectDriver DBI::mysql Database mtfanfan DBUser public DBPassword ****** DBHost localhost
(For some reason, I used the old system user called wangjian_mtsys, and database is still wangjian_blog_2007)
Now the login works. Then I will try to see if import works.
Import the exported file.
Upload D:\my\8. Web\History and Backups\2007-12-23\fanfan_export_original.txt to /cgi-bin/mt/import/ folder. This takes some time.
Use the import tool to see if it works. I hope it works, but who knows.
If it works, the next step is to delete those spams. This takes some time, but since it is MySQL database, it should be much quicker. Or even use the database tool itself helps. - it turned out it worked.
There is something so unexpected - the new iPowerweb architect moves the database, their database and files are no longer on one server. Instead, they have the shared service servers. That creates a very interesting scenario: there are two database on two servers with exactly the same information, one is on *localhost, *the other is on the shared server. The problem is, the MovableType scripts connects to the local server while the phpMyAdmin connects to the shared server. Well. Everytime I have to talk with ipower, I feel very very frustrated.

P.S. The note is on http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archives/20071202_recovery_of_fanfans_blog.htm

Ashish Gadnis

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 00:42:33 +0800

Chatted with Ashish, my new wonderful friend tonight, and we talked about my blog. I said, as a gift, I will devote a special page for him, and hopefully, when you search Ashish Gadnis in Google, this page should be the first result. Then, I can post more information about Mr. Ashishi Gadnis on this page - like the handsome photos or other great things about this great person.

Ashish, if you saw this page by any chance, drop me an email.

Nanjing is an Amazing City

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 04:05:19 +0800

I am in Nanjing.

The Hopkins-Nanjing Center is wonderful, and the students, and faculty there are wonderful. I am very happy that China has such a great center with real international scope - they have Chinese students taught in English and American Students taught in Chinese - amazing idea implemented 20 years ago.

The bar at No. 72, Beijing Xi Road is a great one, especially on Friday night. We had wonderful time there, and left around 1:00 PM. It is that kind of school style + international style (mixed of students from different countries) and had wonderful settings. If you ask me about the most similar place, I would say the University Cafe on University Ave. near Standford.

Whole Day in Nanjing

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:36:32 +0800

There are some bulletin of ideas for today.

Whole day in Nanjing, half day in Nanjing Dongjiao State Guest House, and half day on Mouchou Lake.
Full day off-the-record. So as a blogger, I still cannot blog too much about it. OK. Let me talk about my personal stuff.
Nanjing is quite cold these days, especially in the mountains.
People were surprised by the fact that I never lived in other countries but can speak English. :-)

Train from Shanghai to Nanjing - CRH (D)

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 13:20:12 +0800

They have a nice handle that you can use your foot to press, and the foot holder will restore to the original position. That is very helpful if you want to lay down and relax your feet.

This is the other side of the foot holder. Use your foot to press this handle, and the foot holder will release and you can relax your feet.

This is exactly what is before you - a big bag at the back of the previous seat - there are some free magzine there - full of advertisement, just like airplane. At the bottom are the place to put your foot on.

Diesel Shortage Caused Traffic Jam

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 21:32:24 +0800

Wendy and I was stuck in the middle of a traffic jam for about 10 minutes. It is due to the continued diesel shortage in Shanghai. Large trucks are partying on the road - long lines of trucks lined up from the other gas station (the one on the opposite side of station which just exploded yesterday) to the corner of the road and winding toward the road leading to my home direction. They occupied the right lane, so jammed the traffic for some time.

Yifan Starts to Sleep Alone

Sun, 25 Nov 2007 21:03:41 +0800

From tonight, Wendy and I arranged Yifan to sleep alone (with nanny). After Yifan fell asleep, Wendy said: “Is the nice time Yifan sleep with us over?” I know she feels lost, so do I.

As Joshua Allen told me in a comment, “We are worrying of the children’s dependent on us and worrying even more of their **independent ** as well.” He is just less than 6 months old, and he is now independent enough to sleep on his own. Big step for him.

Gas Station Explosion Near my Home

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 23:32:12 +0800

Just before I want to close my laptop and go to bed, I saw a piece of astonishing news on Sina: Gas Station Explosion Killed 4 and Injured 40 in Shanghai.

OMG!

They are the secondary gas station we went to. We typically go to the gas station just on the other side of the road, but sometimes, we also go to that station to buy gas.

The explosion at 10:15 AM today killed 4 people immediately, including one passenger who is walking 1 km away from the station. 40+ people were injured and now they are still in hospital.

Shanghai Guide in a Page

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 23:14:20 +0800

This is what I sent to the YLF participants. I just realized that I need a short simple page of necessary information (not a list of all my 2000+ articles on Shanghai) for visitors who stay just one night. Here it is:

One Page Guide

Hi, welcome to Shanghai! I am sure will try my best to help! I am based in Shanghai, so feel free to let me know if you need any help in advance, or during the trip.

Panyu Lu or Fanyu Lu?

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 19:49:38 +0800

George has a question regarding name of road:

Jian,

For the longest time I have seen people reference PauYu Lu as FanYu LU and vice versa. Some maps and business cards say FanYu Lu and some say PanYu Lu. Why the difference?

George

This is an interesting question, and I believe many foreigners may run into the same situation - people call the same road differently, and inconsistently.

Many Chinese Characters Has Two or more Pronunciations

Chinese Middle Name for Erik's Baby

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 22:01:28 +0800

Erik is a very good friend of mine in eBay. He is a typical American young man in my eyes - handsome, passionate, smart, professional, interested in many things, and open-minded. Most importantly, his heart is full of love. I enjoy working with him very much, and really love to have hosted him in Shanghai at the end of 2005. Erik was also curious enough to visit Victor’s home in rural areas in Jiading, and was happily surprised when he was greeted by tens of pigs in the pigsty.

Trans-Bank System Finally Available

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 20:04:57 +0800

China’s bank is always far behind its peers in other countries, while businesses in many other industries are quickly catching up the international standard. I am so bored of waiting in line in Banks in China, no matter it is my least favorite bank, ICBC, or my most favorite bank, China Merchant Bank.

In 2004, I was happy to see Cross Bank Money Transfer Now Possible. However, at that time, it was via a middle-man called [ChinaPay.com](Cross Bank Money Transfer Now Possible). That was not easy, but anyway, it became possible.

Movie Lust, Caution. Good!

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 22:44:13 +0800

Went to see the movie Lust, Caution. Very good movie. Highly recommended. However, it may be very hard for people who don’t know the recent Chinese history to understand it.

6 Comments

You mean you went to the Cinema?

Better avoid going to see this movie on the Cinema in China....

As the "recent chinese history" made the gov cutting lot of minutes of the movie.

The pirate DVD version should at least not be censored.

886

— 886 · 2007-11-19 08:57

@885, Yes. I went to cinema to see the movie. There are many cut - I didn't see the original version yet, but I know there must be some cut since sometimes it seems confusing and something obviously get lost in between. Anyway, it is a great movie.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-11-19 13:26

Yeah, wode pengyou saw the, uh, unaltered version in Hawaii, and apparently there are some "strategic" scenes that remain in there. ;)

It's just an outstanding film anyhow, no matter what the version. Ang Lee really is one of the great directors of our generation, easily on the level of some of the best American directors and possibly at the level of some historical greats as the French directors like Truffaut and Godard, even Fritz Lang in Germany. He has an Academy Award and I still think he's underappreciated.

He and Zhang Yimou are both among my favorites and I hope they keep up their excellent work. They're just naturals at creating brilliant scenes.

BTW, I posted on this topic of software (free or commercial) to interconvert between pinyin and Chinese characters, for both reading and writing in a professional, technical context (since we are increasingly having to read and even write in Mandarin for our engineering research articles):

http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archives/20071117_yifan_fell_asleep_in_ikea.htm

Was wondering if anyone had suggestions for this, thanks in advance.

— Lego Charlie · 2007-11-20 07:22

You should see the original version of the movie, in China not only the part involved the war time puppet state is removed, but also about 7 mins sex scene is missing. The China version is about 20 mins lighter than the oversea version.

— stephen · 2007-11-21 04:26

Do we know how to ship online at AMAZON.com?

— 思又 · 2007-11-21 06:46

Regrettably, Ang Lee, IMHO, made a masterful movie but not a masterpiece. Too much hype over the naughty "bits" of Tang & Leung to highlight their seductive tension & dance. I saw the entire "unadultered" version in HK but felt nothing but an amusing 7 minutes of sexual acrobatics. He should have focused more on the reasons why the mysterious character of Mr. Yee from an idealistic Whampoa Military cadet into the unscruplous puppet-government turncoat.

— Jet So · 2007-12-27 16:36

Yifan Fell Asleep in IKEA

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 23:26:56 +0800

Went to IKEA with Wendy and Yifan, again. This time, we just get there to buy a mat.

This one:

I was an IKEA fan, at least the first time I found my name on BusinessWeek, I was presented as an IKEA fan. Going to IKEA was the best time for Wendy and I in 1997 and 1998. However, even a hardcore fan like me may no longer enjoy the shopping experience as we grow older.

MovableType 4.01 and Bluehost CPU Exceeded Error

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 23:12:40 +0800

To run MovableType with a lot of entries (2000+) on Bluehost is painful, since Bluehost has CPU limitation. It checked the CPU a user account is using in 5 minutes. If it was more than certain amount (40 seconds or so), it pops up the CPU Exceeded Error. Recently, they even moved the interval to 60 seconds! That makes a rebuild in possible. It will throw away this error before rebuild complete - in my case, just after I rebuild several pages.

Why Classified is NOT Popular in China, Yet

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 21:35:22 +0800

Today, when I talked with EnjoyChina’s founder Daniel, I mentioned about my observation about why classified is not popular in China yet. It may also provide some hints to people who don’t know too much about China’s recent history.

Current Status of Classified Market

I am in the classified business in my professional life. Today, classified is still an unfamiliar word for most people. I bet 99 out of 100 people never posted classified ads of any kinds in their entire world - even in Shnaghai. Why?

Paying Bills with SHFFT.COM

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 20:49:14 +0800

This month, I started to handle the bills - Wendy shifted her duty about this apart to me - after doing it for 8 years for us.

Paying bills is easy in Shanghai. Thanks for Shanghai FFT.

shfft.com

It was established in 2003 as a government project. Now they have several banks and public service companies connected with the system.

You can pay

Mobile Phone Bill
Electricity Bill
Gas Bill

Toughest Time for Me and Wendy

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 21:19:12 +0800

Recently, from the family perspective, it is among the toughest time for me and Wendy.

After entering the 30s, and especially with the newly arrival of a baby (Yifan), many things changed. Combined with the recent heart surgery of Wendy’s mother, there are many things happening concurrently. The baby needs to be fed and taken care of, the parents need intensive care. Everyday, Wendy and I am running between home, work place, hospital, and sometimes back to work places - even car parking itself is a big problem, not to mention all the meal stuff. Wendy can fall asleep on my shoulder during even a short taxi drive.

The Topic of This Year's YLF

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 22:14:32 +0800

The topic of this year’s Young Leader Forum is: Challenge.

After I got the exciting invitation for Young Leaders Forum of National Committee on United States-China Relationship. Haisong was a member; Bo Shao is a member; so was Robin Li. I am looking forward to the great meeting in Nanjing at the end of November this year.

So far, to prepare to the little presentation with the theme Challenge, I am thinking of this topic:

Choices in a World of Different Rules

Hospital in Shanghai

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 20:56:40 +0800

I just want to update my readers why I paused blog in the last three days. I was in hospital to take care of my mother-in-law. She had a heart surgery last Thursday. Thank God (and whomever I can think of), the operation was a huge success. Now she is recovering very well in the Zhongshan Hospital. Wendy and I am very happy. :-)

In the hospital, I just realize how serious the medical insurance problem this country is facing. There are people who gave up the surgery just because they cannot afford the bed fee in the hospital. There are also people who are completely in debt for the surgery in the same patient room. Have a big disease means bankrupt for many people in China.

My Readers are Primarily Older, more Asian, and Male...

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 22:13:22 +0800

This is Quantcast’s description of my site:

This site reaches approximately 18,009 U.S. monthly uniques. The site appeals to a primarily older, more Asian, slightly male slanted audience.The typical visitor consults US Government Travel Info and frequents Google Groups.

Pretty likely, isn’t it?

4 Comments

LOL. I guess I am "older" now that I'm 38. And I'm Asian and male (not slightly male :) So I guess I fit the stereotype. How unoriginal. Sometimes this psychographic segmenting goes a little too far! Thanks for sharing.

— elliottng · 2007-11-16 03:18

I'm young asian male.

Hey!

^_^

— 且听枫吟 · 2007-11-18 05:46

old (over 30) asian male

with greader as the agent and noscript extension, i wonder how those guys find out me...

— cookie · 2007-11-18 12:28

I am a Asian female at 25. Not so old, is it?

Visit this web site 2 or 3 times a week. Through it, I know many people's interesting lives and feel the world is wonderful.

— Gracie · 2007-11-18 21:12

Bobo's Playing Two-Section Stick

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 20:37:22 +0800

YouTube Video uploaded by York

After practicing for more than one month, Bobo finally made this video. Now, more and more Kijiji guys join to practice this interesting sticks. :-) Not bad, isn’t it?

8 Comments

Coooooooooooooooooool~~~

— digua · 2007-11-08 06:24

Cool

I used to play with the two-section stick and I got my head hit by it three times.

so I just give up. It really need practice to do cool action.

— Jimmy · 2007-11-08 08:10

Wow! he makes that look so easy, but I have a feeling it's not easy at all!!

— Carroll · 2007-11-08 10:07

to manage an all-English website at this level...how you have done it is beyond me...

I've always wanna to set-up my own all-English website, but was never able to resist the urge to switch back and force between languages..:)

Your website is very interesting and well maintained. Keep up the good work!!

— xiaoxiao · 2007-11-08 15:09

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/43240/bruce_lee_nunchuckus/

— solopolo · 2007-11-08 22:34

bruce skywalker

http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=h63T9RANnhc

— solopolo · 2007-11-08 22:38

Hey WJS! Perhaps you can fill me in on something that's been bothering me. Is it true that the government changed the holidays for next year? When I was riding the bus home I thought I saw a news segment about the new changes. No more one week May Holiday? And instead some scattered one day public holidays like what they do in the US? There's been nothing about it yet at Danwei.org or Shanghaiist who I sort of rely on to translate major news.

— Chinkerfly · 2007-11-10 15:08

@Chinkerfly, it is under discussion, but not determined yet.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-11-10 18:26

More Detailed Shanghai Future Metro Map

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 22:25:01 +0800

This Saturday, someone called me by my name when Wendy and I was walking near the Shanghai Jiaotong University. It turned out the lovely young man is one of my readers, and he is a student in the management school in SJTU. His name is Tianhong Shen. He was very happy to see me, so did I.

Later, he was so kind to send me many maps of Metro and Expressway system. It is among the best quality I got. Here is the future Shanghai Metro Map.

Wangjianshuo's Blog Template Archives 2007

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 00:00:16 +0800

These are the templates I am using for 2007. In case you are also using MovableType and want to create a blog like this, this may be of help.

Master Archive Index

See it in action: http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archives.htm

<$MTBlogName$> Archive
<$MTInclude module=“Header”$>

Daily journal by Jian Shuo Wang, Shanghai,
China

Current Column

<$MTEntryTitle$> <$MTEntryDate format="%B %d, %Y" $>

Previous entries

Here is a long list of all articles I wrote for Wangjianshuo's Blog. It helps you to quickly locate a blog in the past.
Press Ctrl+F in Internet Explorer to search for title if you happen to remember
Press Ctrl+D to add this page to your favorite.
Click here to load the list into the search pane, making it easier to navigate through articles

Alternatives to locate an old entry are:
Enter keyword at the Search box on the right-top corner and click Search. It searches the site using Google.
Browse my directory to see categorized articles.

Wish you enjoy your stay at Wangjianshuo's Blog.

Microsoft GTEC's 10 Year Anniversary

Sun, 04 Nov 2007 21:48:47 +0800

Happy Birthday to GTEC (Microsoft Global Technical Engineering Center)! It is the 10th anniversary today. It is the first organization I have worked with, and feel strongest connection with this organization, with friends there, and the culture there.

10 years ago, Jun started a technical support center (a small team to be more exactly) in Shanghai. After that, it got many different names.

At the very beginning, it was called “Microsoft Great China Technical Support Center”, or GCRSC.

Photos of CNBloggerCon

Sat, 03 Nov 2007 20:27:44 +0800

Sitting at home (actually not in home today), and cannot attend the cnbloggercon (Chinese Blogger Conference), I have to rely on friends’ Flickr photos to get some idea about how the conference is going. The good thing is, currently, with more social applications, and more discovery methods (tagging, or RSS), and more rich media (video and photo), I feel I am almost there.

Photograph by Yining

Cannot Attend the 3rd Blogger Conference

Sat, 03 Nov 2007 01:41:05 +0800

I attended the first Chinese Blogger Conference in Shanghai in 2005, the second in Hangzhou in 2006, and planned to attend all the rest, but this time, I have to miss the conference in Beijing.

I will track the conference with flickr - I believe all the attendants should post very nice pictures in real time to the site.

For all those who are in Beijing already, have great time there!

Foreign Job Seekers Move to Shanghai

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 18:50:47 +0800

I live in Shanghai for 12 years. In the 12 years, many things changes. I am happy to witness one of the most dynamic city in the world in the last 10 years. Among all the changes, the biggest one is there are more and more people from other countries trying to seek jobs in Shanghai. If you ask me, I never thought about it 10 years ago.

20 Years Ago

Seat-Belt? Oh. No. Thanks!

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 22:15:44 +0800

There are many common practices that does not make common sense. People’s resistance of seat-belt is a typical one.

Many people HATE seat-belts, especially taxi drivers.

This morning, I get on board a Jinjiang taxi. The driver drove like crazy, and set the record time to get to Xujiahui from where I live in Pudong.

He don’t like seat-belt.

In Shanghai, if someone is caught driving without seat-belt, he will be fined 200 RMB. So, this is what happened.

0# Gas Shortage in Shanghai

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 22:13:58 +0800

Yesterday, when we got back from Donghai Bridge, I found I didn’t have enough gas to get back to the city, I decided to find the nearest gas station. I remember there is one from SINOPEC at the toll station. So I went there.

The bad news for me is, before the station, many big trucks lined up there. It seems it may take some time for me to get to the gas station.

Yifan at Donghai Bridge

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 09:13:05 +0800

Yifan has new photos.

He is already a big boy!

Photograph by Wendy

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

Photograph by Wendy

4 Comments

So cute,really a big boy!

— Rebecca · 2007-10-28 22:06

The last one really looks like jianshuo ,especially the expression.

— 且听枫吟 · 2007-10-29 07:39

JS; check this out, near where I live, there is even a Club named after "Yifan".

www.yifansclub.com

— ILH · 2007-10-30 06:34

wow, really a big and strong boy!

— elaine · 2007-10-30 16:08

Jinjiang Inn Opens near Dishui Lake

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 08:09:51 +0800

Jinjiang Inn is always brave enough to open the first hotel in a newly developed area, as it did in the Pudong Airport when it just opened.

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

Photos of Donghai Bridge

Sat, 27 Oct 2007 23:22:52 +0800

Wendy, her parents, Yifan and I went to the Donghai bridge today. It is the second time for me to get onto the bridge, and the first time for others. Maybe is the second bridge Yifan has ever been to (with the first one as Nanpu Bridge).

You can check my previous entry on Donghai Bridge to know the background of this bridge.

To be short, it is the longest sea bridge in the world with 32.5 km on the sea, and another about 10 km on the land or the Yangshan Deep Water Port.

Fingerprint for U.S. Visa

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 23:25:23 +0800

Visa time again. I am sure that every year, I have to visit the US consulate to renew my visa. The first time I went there, I was excited, very excited to finally go abroad, which is kind of hard for many people in China. After going there for many times, I just don’t appreciate the experience so much. It is almost the same experience like going to a hospital. Let me try to narrate my experience so hopefully you experience the same thing through my eyes.

Technical Details of Wangjianshuo.com

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 17:44:47 +0800

Let me preserve this data.

It does not mean anything today, but who knows after another 5 years, it may be very interesting data. “Look at this! We still uses PHP at that time!”

Basic Data from Bluehost

Main Domain wangjianshuo.com

Home Directory /home/wangjian

Disk Space Usage 4434.65/204800.00 MB

Monthly Bandwidth Transfer 79308.20/2048000.00 MB

Email Accounts 0/2500

Subdomains 4/20

Parked Domains 0/20

Addon Domains 0/5

Ftp Accounts 0/1000

SQL Databases 6/50

China's Moon Probe Chang'e I Launched

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 19:16:02 +0800

Just watched the real time broadcast in our office.

China’s first Moon Probe was launched. It should arrive Moon very soon.

The time was 18:05.

Now it is on the way - good luck and have a good trip to the Moon!

About Chang’e

Chang’e is not word “change”. Let me explain how you should pronounce it.

Chang should be pronounced like ch-ong, with Ch pronounced as “ch” in “children”. “ang” should be pronounced as “ong” in “long”.

World Financial Center - Part III

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 22:43:17 +0800

From where I live, the new World Financial Center is already obviously higher than the Jinmao Tower

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

It is completely different view from this photo, which was taken at the foot of the tower.

Tall buildings only gives you accurate sense of which is taller when they are observed from far away.

Shangri-La Likes Twin Towers

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 22:34:52 +0800

Shangri-La is a great luxurious hotel. There are something in common in its hotel in Beijing and Shanghai: they both has two towers.

Shanghai Shangri-la

Check this photo (not taken by me).

Photograph by Dwaine. Album: China 7 - en route and Shanghai

The new tower is at the background, and it is taller than the old tower.

Beijing Shangri-la

Photograph by henryw88. Album: henryChinaTripMay2007

Look at this Beijing tower. It is side by side.

China's Role in Movie Transformer

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 22:20:06 +0800

Watched the movie Transformer.

It seems China, North Korea, and Cuba are the enemy by imagination in the movie.

When the attack is not identified, they just guess it comes from one of these three countries.

If it is a longer version of a TOEFL listen comprehension, I’d like to ask the typical question at the end of each dialog:

What did the director imply?

A…

B…

C…

D…

5 Comments

fuck the sb director

— Tydad · 2007-10-23 23:56

It implies that we don't like communists. You don't like them either.

— Давид · 2007-10-24 01:04

It has nothing to do with capitalism or communism. It is all about competition. Remember 20 years ago, Japan faced the same criticism as the one China is facing today. The ludiculous thing is, China spends more than 400 billion to fund the US T bond and the US does not appreciate a single bit for it. What a shame.

— SanJose · 2007-10-24 15:41

It implies that the United states regards China as its big rival if not biggest.

— Yanqing Chen · 2007-10-25 03:54

just a movie , i don't think it is related with the conuntries. we can see many likely scenas in movies. But i like watching the movies like the transformer.

— jason · 2007-10-25 17:40

Why Maps in Shanghai are Upside Down?

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 19:51:56 +0800

Received an interesting email. I could not help laughing. This is another typical daily stuff that I didn’t pay attention but my readers did.

The question for Shanghai today is, why maps in Shanghai are upside down?

Hi Jianshuo,

Always read your blog, keep it up.

Here’s an interesting thing you might like to comment on. It concerns

Chinese map reading.

When in Shanghai recently (third time!) I went to the Century Park to check

Hey, What's This on Shangzilla?

Sun, 21 Oct 2007 11:41:20 +0800

My kind reader notified me about this strange post on Shangzilla:

City to build enormous statue of Wang Jian Shuo

And there is a strange photo:

Image from Shangzilla.com

This is strange, isn’t it? My friends in Shangzilla (or Shanghaiist) are so creative to bring out fake news like this. Haha. I am amazed, although feel strange to see my “head”, not the whole body hanging on the top of a pole. Hmm… Not so good.

Yifan has His Hair Cut

Sun, 21 Oct 2007 11:33:14 +0800

I didn’t wonderful job (maybe you don’t think so) to do a hair-cut for Yifan.

Yifan is 4 months and a half old, and he did his first hair cut when he was one month older by professional infant hair-dressers, and this time, it is my show time.

Before:

I am doing my first hair-cut for Yifan.

This is the result:

Not very bad, isn’t it?

I told Yifan that he’d better pray for his father’s hair-cutting skill improve soon, since in the future, all his hair-cut job is mine.

Buying a Car for Foreigners

Sat, 20 Oct 2007 19:16:34 +0800

Buying a car for China local resident involves a lot of paper work, and it is hard to do it. Not to mention buying a car for foreigners. L (just short his name to protect privacy) asked me a lot of questions about it. You may agree after reading the questions, L asked very good questions. The questions reached my email box 3 weeks ago. It took me three weeks to get all the answers to the questions. Here you are.

Special Birthday Gift from MovableType Team

Sat, 20 Oct 2007 19:11:54 +0800

Anil from MovableType team wrote an entry about my 5 years of blogging and put my blog as featured bloged on MovableType.com

Screenshot in courtesy of MovableType

What a surprise, and they have been so considerate to hold the post until my birthday!

Ginger also put her entry here.

How nice it is to have some friends in this great team. Thank you for the anniversary cake, the wonderflu party, and the blog post!

Happy Birthday to Me

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 21:28:42 +0800

Today is my birthday. Happy birthday to me. Here are some of my photos in 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007.

Jian Shuo Wang in 2003, Xiamen

Jian Shuo Wang in 2004, Shanghai

Jian Shuo Wang in 2005, Shanghai

Jian Shuo Wang in 2006, Australia

Jian Shuo Wang in 2007, Cambodia

Jian Shuo Wang in 1998, Beijing

Jian Shuo Wang in 2001, Shanghai

Beijing Metro Ticket is As Low As 2 RMB

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 21:46:26 +0800

Beijing’s Metro network expands these days. The Metro Line #5 just opened. Along with Metro Line #1, Line #2, and Line #13, there are four lines in Beijing.

The difference between Beijing and Shanghai is, Beijing Metro charges 2 RMB per ride in the whole system. 2 RMB = 0.27 USD.

This way, the government is trying to get people to ride Metro, and other public transportation. This seems to be a wise decision. Although it cost tax payer’s another several billion RMB every year to fund the Metro, the benefit from it should be much more than that number.

Why You Like to Write Blog?

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:23:40 +0800

In an email interview from Publico in Spain, a Spain newspaper, I found this FAQ for me in the questions.

Why do You Like to Write Blog?

Frequently asked enough, right? My simple answer

Writing daily forced me to think daily

This is really what I thought.

1 Comments

Good answer!!! For me it's the same-- and it's enlightening to see where my thought were over the years that I've been blogging too-- a good record of my thoughts at that particular moment in time.

Congratulations, by the way, for being MT's Featured Blog!! I was so excited when I saw your name over in my MT newsfeed-- I've been reading you ever since my February trip to China, and have enjoyed your writing immensely!

— Sassy · 2007-10-19 13:55

Beijing Impression - Part II

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 00:22:17 +0800

Link: Beijing Impression

I happen to pass by the Main Stadium of Beijing Olympics.

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

You may see the top and main part is hiding behind the billboard:

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

There are many better photos than mine. Like these:

Photography by John

New Impressions

Beijing changed a lot, I would say.

One year ago, I asked: Is Beijing Ready?

Today, with less than one year to the Game, my answer is, maybe.

In Beijing - Love Beijing

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 02:07:59 +0800

If at the time of Olympics, Beijing’s weather is the same as today (I assume it will), and traffic is like today’s noon time (I assume it will), it will be fantastic place for the game. You got what I am saying? Beijing is very beautiful today with high visibility in air, and there is almost no traffic - my car didn’t stop fast running from airport to Tsinghua area for just one minute.

AdSense Color Schema Change

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 22:42:47 +0800

You may notice some very small change to the color of the AdSense on the right side of this blog. (I believe most people even didn’t notice that).

History of AdSense on this Blog

Within one week, I will see AdSense on my blog for 4 years. On Oct 22, 2003, I put up AdSense, inspired by Anders. That was only half year later than Google acquired Applied Semantics, the company created Google AdSense. Then it was launched to the public, and I am among the first bloggers putting up this code.

Yifan's Recent Photos

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 15:00:00 +0800

Yifan is 4 month and 12 days old today.

Here are his photos - a little, lovelym fatm healthy, and lazy boy.

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang.

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang. Yifan and Wendy - what a sweet month-and-son

Babies grow so fast. I even can notice his daily progress. It is so nice to have a child.

6 Comments

看起来很沉稳啊:)

— Jimsang · 2007-10-14 21:13

@jimsang, 沉 is the keyword.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-10-14 21:43

Ohhhhh, so sweet and happy looking :-) It seems I have missed some of the previous pictures, Jian Shuo. I am going to have to go back and enjoy a "feast" of all of Yifan's pictures now. He really is growing fast!

— Carroll · 2007-10-15 01:09

Hehe - so very cute - no wonder you are proud!!... we've just hit 7-weeks, and Jaime looks so different now!! Every day is a blessing. :p -

— AussiePB · 2007-10-16 23:43

@AussiePB, yes. I share the happiness, again. Hope to see your updated photo of Jaime - must be very different from months ago.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-10-17 00:07

So sweet, so lovely a little boy :)

— cheery · 2007-10-19 19:38

Shanghai Photo Viewer

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 20:16:34 +0800

I added a link to all my individual pages tonight. You may notice that at the end of every entry, there are some photos showing related photos of the topic.

Using the Shanghai Photo Viewer, I can easily find latest Shanghai photos, and then find out a good topic to write about. Any keyword search gets a lot of great images from the online community.

If you want to know more about Shanghai and want to see it with your own eyes, you can try using the tool.

Zhangjiang and Downtown

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 19:33:17 +0800

This morning, I am in Zhangjiang (Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park).

Zhangjiang is a hi-tech area. Although it is still far from any other hi-tech park, it really have the potential. Many hi-tech companies are moving in, especially software, IC, and medical companies.

The tower of Zhangjiang Maison is a great building. In terms of hardware, it is even better than most office buildings in Puxi. For example, the Zhangjiang Maison is equipped with double layer glasses. Besides that, they even have double outer walls - there is air layer of 10 cm so air con is more effective in this building.

Business is Business

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:38:23 +0800

The first time I talked about Business was in 2002.

Recently, when I looked back and did some summary of the last few years, I found out business means completely another thing for me.

Business is beautiful - it is not only strategy, not only financial, not only management, there are many other elements in it, that mixed and become a whole part. It is very interesting world.

It became even more interesting when we have a global world, where money and people can easily move from one place to another (like from Korea to another country), or using the resources in one country (like labor in China, tech in U.S, or business expertise in Europe) to create something new. All these are completely another world, with much longer history than technology world. Interesting.

Plan to Go to Beijing

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 21:41:23 +0800

Try some bulletin style writing (invented by Ren Liu) - a style to use only bulletin instead of paragraphs in article.

I will be in Beijing on Monday and Tuesday of next week. All my old friends, drop me an email so we can meet.
Special Olympics closes today in Shanghai. Big event, but didn’t have any impact on me - I also watch it on TV.
Metro Line #8 is almost ready and will open soon. Good news.
Attending very late conference call these days, and very tired (even failed to wake up at 6:30 AM). That is the reason of pause in this blog.
Autumn comes, and T-Shirt, for the first time, does not work for me..

4 Comments

what's special about metro line #8? will it ease the traffic a lot? Cheers!

— MOGLi · 2007-10-12 04:57

Has the rest of Line 4 opened yet?

— Westfield · 2007-10-12 07:20

@Westfield, the rest part of the Metro Line #4 will open by the end of this year.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-10-12 11:50

Hi JS, welcome to Beijing.

The Beijing Metro Line# 5 just opened several days ago, a line through the city from the north to the south. you can have a try.

Beijing's temperature is lower than Shanghai. the highest is 18ºC, the lowest is about 10ºC. maybe there is temperature drop recently. Keep yourself warm.

Wish you have a good trip. :-)

— Elaine · 2007-10-12 15:13

Wendy's Wallet was Stolen

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 21:23:19 +0800

Wendy called me this morning, and told me her wallet was stolen at Xujiahui.

This is bad news.

It is just 100 meter from where I dropped her off, and her office, and the pocket picker steal her wallet easily and quietly. Typhoon hit Shanghai, and everywhere is wet and everyone is watching their steps, and this is the best time for those bad guys.

Wendy lost all his bank cards (credit cards and debit cards), Sodex card (for use in restaurants), public transportation card, and card to enter our residential area. She also has her National ID in it, plus small amount of cash.

Hangzhou to Shanghai D Train Schedule

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 22:22:31 +0800

Today, Wendy and I went to the Shanghai South Railway Station to pickup my parents-in-law. They took train D680 from Hangzhou to Shanghai South Station. I still haven’t try any of D train so far, but from their description, it is a wonderful train.

D Trains

D Trains are the best trains in China, and are of the first level in almost all aspects:

Hardware is cutting-edge, and most advanced

Shanghai Attraction Photos

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 00:13:42 +0800

I have “borrowed” some great photos from Picasaweb’s user community. Using great Google Picasa Web API, I built some sample pages for me, so it is handy for myself to look for certain pictures. Here is a list of Shanghai Attractions (not in particular order, even without a particular criteria to include them) that I have many photos to show you. Hope you enjoy the photos (taken by other photographers)

Visited Jinmao with Parents Today

Sat, 06 Oct 2007 23:17:42 +0800

It is nice holiday, and I visited Jinmao with my parents. Unlike most tourists who pay 70 RMB to get to the crowded top (at 88th floor), we visited my favorite cafe at the 56th floor of the tower, which is also called “bottom of the Great Well” by myself.

If you want to see the Great Well, you can check out my blog entry here: The Great Well in Jinmao Tower. (For visitors in China, you need to find out a working proxy to workaround the Great Firewall to see the photos on flickr)

Burma and my Ignorance

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 12:40:14 +0800

I understand that I seemed to be living in vacuum, and until now I didn’t really understand what is going on in Burma. I am on holiday from Oct 1 to today - the national holiday, so I am pretty relaxed and didn’t use the Internet the same way as I did. Pardon me about my ignorance, but I didn’t know what happened in Burma until a BBC reporter sent me an email to ask me whether I am happy about China’s reaction to the events in Burma. At that time, I even don’t know the meaning of Burma, and I looked it up in my online dictionary, and know it is the name of the country. I know the Chinese name very well - Miandian, and Burma is just too different from its Chinese pronounciation. Then I started to see threads on this blog discussing it.

Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 10:58:17 +0800

Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall is at People’s Square, and it is a must visit place for many travelers. Typically, you should spend a day at Shanghai Museum and Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall. Here are the pictures I took before.

Below: The Exhibition Hall:

Below: This is inside the building, looking up.

Models of the Future

Here are the introduction about the renovation of the Bund - they are going to turn it into boat hub.

Photography Technical Details of Night Scenes

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 13:42:42 +0800

I posted some pictures on the Bund (National Holiday 2007 in Shanghai)

Liping asked:

Jianshou, those pictures are fantastic. I had some difficulty to take sharp images of night scene. How do you take those pictures? Did you use any special settings? Did you use tripod? I have Nikon D50, too.

Posted by: Liping on October 2, 2007 10:42 PM

Let me share my tips of taking the photos. Please note that I am by no means a professional photography, and even didn’t have enough time to think about the technical details. Let me just share what I did, and hopefully it helps.

Car Towing at Owner's Expense?

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 08:35:27 +0800

Every time I travel to different country, I tried hard to understand how the society works. This time, I want to seek for some help to understand “car towing at owner’s expense” terms displayed in many private properties.

Look at these plates (which I took when I visited Cisco).

And here (in Creative Labs).

All these notice states that “Unauthorized Vehicles will be towed away at vehicle owner’s expense. This kind of plates are everywhere. So I am curious about it and did some research.

National Holiday 2007 in Shanghai

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 23:29:55 +0800

Below. The World Financial Center is with Jin Mao Tower side by side. It is significantly higher than Jin Mao, but from this angle, they looks of the same heights. The two towers raise just into the cloud, so the tops are not so clear.

Below: The first picture of the Bund.

Below: the Bund was well lit up at night.

Below: Laser lights shot into sky.

Logitech QuickCam for Notebooks Pro

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:56:49 +0800

To prepare for a video conference call tomorrow morning (early in the morning), I started to use another WebCam. I don’t remember how many webcam I started to use and abondoned (lose them, broke them, or simply lost drivers so they didn’t work).

They have a nice 12" Desktop Stand for use when not on the go!

They have a carrying case too. I don’t know where should I put it yet. I am pretty sure that the fate for this case is getting lost soon.

Many Events in Shanghai

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 23:22:21 +0800

Today, the Torch for Special Olympics arrives in Shanghai. I saw the real time broadcast on TV.

The Women’s World Cup is final today in Shanghai. German wins.

The National Holiday celebration started from tonight, and traffic control was put in place. Cars are not allowed in many major locations.

There are fireworks in Century Park. “People Mountain People Sea” there.

6 Comments

An exciting time to be in Shanghai!

— Carroll · 2007-10-01 04:18

Exactly. It should be an exciting time to be here. The lights of the the whole city was turned on, and it looks very nice. The problem is, there are just too many people here.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-10-01 08:32

Happy holiday!

— Elaine · 2007-10-01 19:02

@Jian Shuo - are you watching the opening ceremony of the special Olympics from Shanghai stadium? It's on live now here in Singapore, and I'm very impressed so far... must say, they picked two of my favourite celebrities as spokespeople - Karen Mok and Colin Farrell...!!! Very nice production!!! Congratulations Shanghai -congratulations China!!!

— AussiePB · 2007-10-02 22:13

I even didn't watch it. Let me try to watch the replay.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-10-03 12:39

I even didn't watch it. I am watching the replay.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-10-03 12:48

Rain Memories of New York

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 21:56:47 +0800

Today, I saw some random photos in my hard disk. These photos instantly brought those memories of three years ago. That was Dec 23, 2004, just before Christmas.

Look at the rain, the lights, the traffic, the streets, the buildings, the taxis… all these things are very typical to the city of New York.

3 Comments

I like the last pic. Sometimes work is not our focus, but which makes us lose focus.

— Jianfeng · 2007-09-29 00:39

I like Rian very much!It always gives me a piece of serenity!

— elaine · 2007-09-29 23:37

New York is (mostly) a wonderful city full of life and free expression. People can make whatever they want to out of their lives there - as long as they don't tread on someone else. They have the best bagels too.

— Jay · 2007-10-01 18:27

Some Thoughts about War and History

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 21:22:22 +0800

I didn’t mention too much about this topic, but the recent discussion on Fight Between Foreigners and Local led to heated discussion, and I was touched by the depth of the thinking. Then in response to some of the comments, I talked a little bit about my thoughts about war (especially the WWII), and the recent anti-Japanese movement (which I think is a little bit out of track).

Again, I am open to your continuous input. As I always believe, the more facts and perspective we collect, the more likely we are closer to completeness (although I don’t think we can reach it.)

Happy Moon Cake Festival

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 18:47:54 +0800

I am naughty. I do mean the Mid-August Festival. It is funny to hear more and more people refer it as Moon Cake Festival since we eat Moon Cake, and I found good taste food is always an enjoyable thing for people no matter young or old. (Heard about the introduction of Wii? “It is designed for children from 3 to 90 in age”).

Let me post a picture of moon cake. Sorry for the error in light schema, so it does not look very delicious.

Apartment Sharing in Shanghai

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 21:11:09 +0800

Disclaimer: This post is about a commercial service provided by my close friend Fay. My point-of-view may be biased because we know each other very well.

Last Friday, in Starbucks, after I chatted with another group from Taiwan, Fay joined, and we had a nice conversation about what Fay is doing. Fay is from Taiwan, and then graduated from UC Berkeley. We worked with each other when she was in eBay. Then few months ago, she left eBay to start something completely new. I didn’t see for a while, and I was happy to catch up and understand what she is doing.

Don't Leave, AussiePB

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 20:32:46 +0800

One of my reader AussiePB was very offended on this blog today. AssiePB has been here for a almost two months, if I count from his first comment on August 9, 2007. He left a comment and said good bye to this community.

Hi Jian Shuo - it is with great regret that after a very long time following your blogs and enjoying open and friendly discussion, I will no longer be visiting your site… unfortunately, it has attracted a person with very low intellect and even lesser moral fibre. Good luck to you and your family, I will keep in touch via email. Keep up the good work and positive attitude going - I hope that the racism desists here in the future!! Kindest regards, AussiePB…

Different Views of the Same Thing

Sat, 22 Sep 2007 18:32:48 +0800

When I write every entry of my blog, especially on controversial topics, I am perfectly aware of angle really matters, and different people see exactly the same thing can tell completely different story, as in the story of Blind Men and the Elephant.

I just saw a small piece of video at the beginning of Sasa’s talk at Ted Conference. That 29 seconds black and white movie tells a very good story about why angle matters. So let me share with you.

Thoughts about Traffic Jam

Sat, 22 Sep 2007 07:56:07 +0800

Today is a No Car Day in Shanghai, and other 107 cities in China. On the No Car Day, let me write about some thoughts around huge traffic jam last week.

Last Monday, I decided to use public transportation - Metro - to go to work. My plan was drive to Century Park metro station which is 4 km away, then park-and-go. It turned out to the biggest mistake I made last week.

Shanghai Looks Like a Modern City

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 10:22:42 +0800

I haven’t take Shanghai Metro for a long, long time.

The other day, I took Metro home. Wow. I found some really good improvement in Metro. Let me share what I saw with you.

People Start to Line Up!

I would say people lining up to get onto to off Metro is very rare for me. Normally, taking Metro is a physically fighting game that you have to either join handful of people to rush into the door or you wait until the second train and get pushed by people behind you.

What's Wrong with China?

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 10:12:46 +0800

Every time I travel, I keep talking with a lot of people in the States to find out an answer of a simple question: What is the future of China? And that leads to another question, which is “what is wrong with current China?”.

I am reading the bookCollapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. The angle from environment and population, education, etc does not answer the question. Why there is so bad environment problem? The book China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power’s point of view about power, about society partly answers the question, but there is still a lot of puzzles for me.

Fight Between Foreigners and Local

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 22:00:53 +0800

Last Sunday, I went to buy some Sushi in the Biyun International District. Near Carrefour, I witnessed the fight between a foreigner (actually his Chinese driver) and a local safeguard. When police (110) came to bring everyone involved away, I am still in deep thinking about what is going on in this society.

The Story

I didn’t see the first part of the story. When I see it, I just found the safeguard used the plastic sign board to hit the rear of a black Passat, and the driver and a tall foreigner (should be American from what he said later) immediately rushed out and the driver start to beat the safeguard, and very quickly they formed a position that no one could move. Many people came and wanted to break them apart.

Blogging and Early Wake-up

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 21:43:46 +0800

I didn’t realize my practice of early wake-up has a significant impact to my blog.

About four weeks ago, I decided to wake up earlier. I used to stay awake late at night (around 12:00) and wake up late in the morning (about 8:00 AM). I managed to fine-tune the wake-up time little by little and finally reached a point to wake up at around 5:30 AM everyday. Yesterday should be the first week I wake up really early in the morning.

Typhoon Not Hits Shanghai (Yet)

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 07:27:54 +0800

According to forecast, the worst Typhoon in recent history will hit Shanghai last night to this morning. I did prepared well in advance - closing all windows, check every object that is movable in garden, and plan for alternative of transportation.

This morning, I wake up early (as everyday in the recent weeks) at 5:45 AM. To my great surprise, nothing happened. There is even no rain. Looking east, I can even manage to see the location of the Sun. It is not windy - everything is exactly as normal days.

Baseball Game (San Francisco Giant v.s. Arizona Diamondbacks)

Sun, 16 Sep 2007 07:28:55 +0800

Andrew shared two baseball tickets with me and Ginger (The whole VOX network is not accessible from China, so you need to find a good proxy, or Tor), so we went to the AT&T Park to watch my first real sports game in America. Here are some pictures. With the help of Ginger, I finally understood the rules a little bit. It IS a slow game, but interesting to me.

Six Apart Office in San Francisco

Sun, 16 Sep 2007 07:19:51 +0800

This is the Six Apart office. I regret a lot that I didn’t brought a camera with me during my first trip in 2003. This time, with kind permission, I took some pictures of public areas.

Visit in Six Apart

Sat, 15 Sep 2007 10:28:26 +0800

Last Tuesday, I visited Six Apart, the maker of MovableType, my favorite blogging software. I have a lot of friends there. Let me show you pictures first.

Thanks Ginger for taking the great photos for us.

Chris and Me

Photograph by Ginger

Story behind the picture.

I know Chris with introduction of Andreas, who worked for BV Capital at that time. Chris was the CEO of Rojo at that time. I admired him a lot because his early company Red Herring (Red Herring started from his parents’ home in Woodside, CA, according to Wikipedia). We talked a lot last time and when we almost finished, he introduced companies nearby, and he mentioned Six Apart. Then he gave Ginger a call and shortly we appeared before the entrance of Six Apart. That is how I turned out knowing my friends there. With the later acquisition of Rojo by Six Apart, Chris came along and joined Six Apart.

Wrapping up My Trip in San Jose

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:13:31 +0800

Hi, I am back! I am back to Shanghai on the delayed flight (3 hours) UA857. Jet lag is much better this time, although I still feel it a little bit. This is the email I sent to my friends I met the first day.

It is wonderful to know you, a group of nice, interesting and smart guys, in the bay area. Let me share briefly about what I did for the rest of my trip after meeting you guys - you were the first group of people I meet during my short stay.

Five Years of Blogging

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 23:29:31 +0800

Today, I have completed the 5 years of blogging. In the last 5 years, I kept doing a very simple thing - writing one article everyday. I was amazed by how long a way I came along.

Impact of 5 Year Blogging on Me

It has been exactly 1825 days since I started blog in Sept 2002. The blog is an honest reflection about myself, and hopefully, about the environment I am in. The blog is the tool to help me think, and to urge me observe more deeply, and express it in a logic way. That is basically the most important impact on me. In the 5 years, I grew up a lot, as I can feel when I check the old entries. There are some times more confusion for me over the time, but clearly some ideas get clearer and clearer. I saw the growth, and I know many of my readers feel it.

That is Easy - Easy Solution to Complicated Problems

Sun, 09 Sep 2007 14:30:33 +0800

I know this is a new addition of the series of articles comments on the recent government policy in China, which is treated a sensitive topics in China. Anyway, I do have something to say, although it may worth only 2 cents.

In an environment without check and balance, it is very common that people will choose the easiest way to solve complicated problems. Since there is no objection anyway, why bother looking for a better solution. Here are some examples.

Meetup in Palo Alto on Sept 9, 2007

Sat, 08 Sep 2007 16:18:36 +0800

Hi my readers in bay area, sorry for being late in posting this information about the meetup. Again, let me irritate that I am the typical Perception type of person in the MBTI test, and I enjoy doing things in the last minute. This is not good, but this is just my preference that I need to use counter-preference to balance the way I organize my life. Anyway, finally, one day before the meetup day, I am excited to post the Wangjianshuo’s Blog Meetup in Palo Alto. This is the second time I organize a small meetup in U.S. Some of you may remember or joined the first Meetup in San Francisco, two years ago on April 24, 2005.

Pass-by the Cornfield in Sunnyvale

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 23:35:22 +0800

There is always something interesting outside our homes.

Jin showed me the famous cornfield along the Lawrence expressway in Sunnyvale last night when we drove back to my hotel. At night, I didn’t see it so clearly, but I managed to find it out on Google Earth.

if (GBrowserIsCompatible()) {var map = new GMap2(document.getElementById(“map”));map.addControl(new GSmallMapControl());map.addControl(new GMapTypeControl()); map.setCenter(new GLatLng(37.36281547634056,-121.99787378311157), 17, G_SATELLITE_MAP); }

Here is a report about the cornfield.

Joe Francia, the owner, just keep the land and won’t sell it. He loves to grow food on his own land. If he stays happy with it, why sell the land for millions of dollars? Interesting guy and gave me a lot inspirations. Thanks Jin to show it to me. BTW, we talked about the land when I asked a silly question yesterday: where are the farm land in Bay Area?

Trip Progress: Wake up Early in the Morning

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 22:32:22 +0800

Alan de Botton is right. When people are traveling, they sense the world in a much more sensitive way. Like me, during travel, I always have more to blog.

This time is about jet lag. Everyone has its own jet lag pattern. I have my own. As I slept well last afternoon, and fall asleep immediately after I got to bed yesterday at 12:30 at mid-night, I wake up for the first time at around 4:00 AM. The second time I wake up, it is just several minutes to 6:00 AM.

Geek Dinner in Sunnyvale

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 16:27:52 +0800

Thanks Tina for arranging the dinner in Sunnyvale. It was described as “consumer Internet” meetup but finally turned out to be the geek dinner. Most people comes from technical background. This is not surprising - this is Silicon Valley anyway.

We have Tina, Richard, Stewart, Hongfei, Lei, Sophie , and Jin (Last name was intentionally removed so everyone knows who is who without leaking too much personal information). And then Yong joined the beer afterwards.

Trip Progress: Arrived in San Jose

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 03:51:10 +0800

I am at Larkspur Landing Hotel in San Jose.

Long trip, but this time, I am a mature traveler, and everything is perfect so far. This time, I even have a little schedule. I didn’t have that before. According to MBTI test, I am a very typical Perceptive (vs Judging) person. I got full score for all the questions indicating perception. The key character of P person is “like flexibility”, and don’t like plan…

Trip Progress: Pudong Airport

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 12:47:42 +0800

This may seem funny, but let me update my trip progress shortly.

I am at the gate 19 of Pudong Airport. Just checked email and will set OOF (I forgot to do so yesterday) and is going to get on-board soon.

Now it is 11:50 AM (The clock on this blog is offset by day light saving sometime ago, it is one hour offset from the real time.)

Happy flying, Jian Shuo!

Heading to San Jose Tomorrow

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 23:02:24 +0800

I am heading to San Jose tomorrow. Just checked the weather and found out it is only 14 degree to 23 degree there. Pretty cold compared to Shanghai. I have already packed some shirts into my package.

Tomorrow will be a long day - I am going to stick to the same day of Sept 6, 2007 for 24 + 16 = 40 hours. From the perspective of a human being, there is no difference - I just wait for the time to pass by, but from the calendar and time zone perspective, it is not wrong to say the day was extended. We see how different using different views of the same thing. Isn’t it interesting?

Yes. I am Very Frustrated

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 22:14:28 +0800

The “very important meeting” is going to be held soon. To prepare a “good environment” for the meeting, massive websites in China were shutdown. This time, much different from the previous actions, it is the whole data center instead of websites or servers that were shutdown.

Let me take few famous IDCs (Internet Data Center) as examples**. Zitian**, an IDC in Luoyang was shutdown completely, and all the 500 servers were unplugged from Internet, and tens of thousands of websites hosted there were inaccessible on Aug 24. Among them is the largest traffic tracking site 51.la, and this infected a very big portion of Internet websites in China.

New Regulations to Kill Group Renting in Shanghai

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 08:48:45 +0800

Finally, the new regulation on house rental in Shanghai come out at the end of th last month.

This regulation is aiming to get rid of the group cohabitant.

What is Group Cohabitant

I may use the wrong translation, but it is a popular way for people to share rental cost. In Shanghai, there are people who buy or rent the whole apartment, and separated into different rooms, and then rent it separately to different people. This is very common nowadays.

Going to San Jose on Sept 6

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 23:01:48 +0800

I am going to San Jose this week.

Here is my schedule:

Sept 6, 2007 Shanghai to San Francisco via UA858

**Sept 12, 2007 **San Francisco to Shanghai via UA857

I know I have a lot of friends in the Bay Area. Do you want to have a small meetup? Maybe on this Saturday near Stanford area. If you want to come, let me know. If there are some people (say, more than 2), I will think about a meetup there. Just comment or drop a mail to jianshuo at hotmali dot com.

Metro is Much Better than Bus

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 22:10:15 +0800

Morning

This morning, I just want to try new way to commute to work.

Do you know what I did? I tried BUS!

I got onto bus 607 and transited to Bus Bridge-6 to where I work.

Then guess how much time it cost me to arrive?

1 hour and 40 minutes!

Then I know it is not a good idea to take long distance bus at rush hours and when it is raining.

Improved Commenter Page

Sun, 02 Sep 2007 23:02:16 +0800

I have a subdomain http://user.wangjianshuo.com just to hold profiles of users (or commenters). I admit it didn’t work so well. Ling mentioned it yesterday.

Hi Jian Shuo! Thank you for the medal! Wow! I actually topped the list for this month! Hahaha. I was so happy when I saw this post last night that I told my husband, “Yay! 我是第一名，我是第一名！” (English: “I’m number one!”) I didn’t know that being the #1 commenter of a blog for a month could make me feel so good. Guess everybody loves recognition and attention. Hahaha. *;)

Yifan is 3 Months Old

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 23:46:38 +0800

Tomorrow Yifan will be three months old. Here are his recent photos - I took it today.

Wendy today created a flash movie for Yifan.

Yifan now is so sweet, and his has lots of “favorite moment”.

He loves morning. I like to sit by his bed and wait for him to wake up from the long sleep in the morning. When he wakes up, and see me, he immediately give me wonderful smile - I always smile longer and happier than he does.

Thank You for Your Comment

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 23:21:18 +0800

Thank you for your comment.

Your comment has been received and recorded.

It will appear after one minute. Please be patient and allow the system to update your comment to the entry you commented on and onto the homepage of my blog.

.comment-header {display:none} .comment-body {display:none}

document.close()

Top Commenter of August 2007

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 20:06:09 +0800

This is the top commentor of August 2007. Thanks everyone for your comments…

Ling 9

stephen 8

AussiePB 8

Top 10 List

Ling 9

stephen 8

AussiePB 8

naruto 7

xge 5

DC 5

sunzj 5

shirley 5

mike 4

Pablo Garcia 4

Silkroad 4

Simon 4

Herbert 4

ILH 4

Looking forward to seeing you (or your names) in September.

3 Comments

Hi Jian Shuo! Thank you for the medal! Wow! I actually topped the list for this month! Hahaha. I was so happy when I saw this post last night that I told my husband, "Yay! 我是第一名，我是第一名！" (English: "I'm number one!") I didn't know that being the #1 commenter of a blog for a month could make me feel so good. Guess everybody loves recognition and attention. Hahaha. *;)

You know, actually I was just aiming for the last position with 4 comments. But the topics in this blog are just so interesting that I wanted to join in and share my views as well. *:)

By the way, when I click my name above, I see that "Ling" has posted a total of 19 comments. The previous 10 comments were actually posted by someone else whose nick was also Ling. In order to not confuse myself with other commenters with that name, does it mean I need to register an account?

Once again, thank you for the recognition! Commenting on your blog sure is fun! *:D

Cheers,

Ling *:)

— Ling · 2007-09-02 16:46

@Ling, pleasure is mine. I am happy to have you join the big reader community and share your thoughts with everyone. I am happy about your 9 comments made in the last month, and inspired by them. I do look forward to seeing you more often in Sept.

For the problem you mentioned, I have fixed it. Please check my recent article on it. To simply put it, I created a way to distinguish different commenter using different color.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-09-02 22:15

Wow, incredible blog format! How lengthy have you been running a blog for? you made blogging look easy. The total glance of your website is great, as smartly as the content material!

— cholesterol and plantsterols · 2012-06-06 02:16

How to Add Navigation Menu to MovableType

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 12:07:01 +0800

Have you noticed the change in the header of my blog? Look at this screen shot at the end of this article.

Yesterday, I added a global navigational menu to my blog. I love this change very much, and it gives people a way to dive deep into a specific category more quickly - just from any page. If you like the design, and you may wonder how you can create the same thing in your MovableType backed site? Here is a quick guideline.

Dongjiao State Guest Hotel - The Most Under Valued

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 20:27:31 +0800

Wendy and I found a great hotel, and we firmly believe it is the most under valued hotel in Shanghai - the Dongjiao State Guest Hotel. Let me tell you why we think the Most Under Valued Hotel in Shanghai is the Dongjiao State Guest Hotel.

It is Rarely Known

The construction of the Dongjiao State Guest Hotel started in 1995, and it took more than 10 years to grow the trees - just the trees. From unconfirmed sources, there are 3 trees in the garden that is more than 1000 years in age, and 1000 trees with more than 100 years. They are all moved from other provinces one by one. Everything was done mysteriously. Until it opened in one year ago, not many people really are aware about the existence of such a huge “garden”. Even after the open of the hotel one year ago, it is still under the radar screen. I thought it is a restricted area as many other state guest hotel. It turned out to be not so.

Got Invitation of Young Leaders Forum

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 07:35:55 +0800

On Aug 24, 2007, I got invitation for the Yong Leaders Forum of National Committee of US-China Relations. I will become 2007 Fellow of the Forum and participant in the YLF activities in 2007 in China and 2008 in U.S. I am very excited about it.

I have been longing to be able to join this forum for a long time. I heard about the Young Leaders Forum from Haisong, during my first lunch with NCUCR delegation. I wrote immediately after I know the program:

Thanks Wendy for Finding my Passport

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 22:42:31 +0800

Wendy, thank you so much for finding my passport, finally! I was not able to find my passport anywhere at home - not in my document case, not in the drawers I used to put passport into, not everywhere. I don’t want to lose it again.

Finally, Wendy found it in the side pocket of my camera case!

You know how smart Wendy is? When I was emptying every drawer, she just sit there and thought hard. Her reasoning was:

My Most Important Cards

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 22:23:21 +0800

When I look into my wallet, I found many cards. It is a world of cards, isn’t it? I found I have to invent a good classification system to manage my cards. So here is how I classify my cards. I have several most important cards, some important cards, and some “garbage cards”. Garbage cards are all kind of membership cards given by the companies for free… Important cards are those door cards (for company and for home security system), and some membership cards will money deposit. I have four most important cards.

You Know You Have Been in China for Too Long

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 22:12:02 +0800

This is a popular article circulated in the expats community for some time. Share with everyone.

You know you have been in China for too long when…

You no longer wait in line, but go immediately to the head of the queue.

You stop at the top or bottom of an escalator to plan your day.

It becomes exciting to see if you can get on the lift before anyone can get off.

I am an ENFP - Part II

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 12:34:20 +0800

ENFPs are typically enthusiastic innovators, always seeing new possibilities and new ways of doing things.

Ha Ha. It is me. I like mashup and I like new things. That is true.

They have a lot of imagination and initiative for starting projects.

This may be problematic for people working with me because the speed of starting new projects may be too quick and new projects are endless until the team is fully burned out.

Can you Understand Dish Names in China?

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 23:36:59 +0800

Or let me try to use a better title: As a foreigner, are you able to understand the English translation of Chinese dishes in China?

To Read English Menu in U.S. is Hard, but Chinese Menus are Harder

The biggest headache for me is to order dishes in U.S. I think I understand English, and can speak some English, until I am presented an English menu. I believe the most effective way to determine whether someone has lived in a foreign country or not is a menu test. The names of vegetables or sauces are the most basic terms in daily life, but can be very hard terms for a language learner (when they learn it out of the daily life context). That is how I feel in U.S. and Australia.

FeedBurner is a Useful Service

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 22:41:21 +0800

After Feedburner coming out for many years, now I switched my feed from my standard feed - my own XML feed file at http://home.wangjianshuo.com/index.xml to FeedBurner. The original feed file is still there so my previous subscribers won’t lose update from my blog, but new visitors will start to receive RSS feed from FeedBurner. Now you can subscribe to my blog via FeedBurner’s address: http://feeds.feedburner.com/jianshuo.

P.S. One day after I enabled FeedBurner, it was banned by the Great Firewall…

Is Community Blog a Good Idea?

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 19:26:48 +0800

Some readers suggested me to open a community blog section on my blog. That is, a blog hosting service that enables active community members on this blog to post their own experience in Shanghai on this blog and share with other Shanghai expats, visitors or travelers.

With this the MovableType 4, I have the ability to offer every blog reader the same blog hosting service and everyone can post to this blog using the same interface as I am using and manage the comments as I do. I believe it will be under different URL though, like http://wangijanshuo.com/, where username is a name chosen by the poster. That means, everyone’s blog is still separate but can be presented on the home page after aggregation.

Is RMB and Yuan the Same? Yes

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 19:05:08 +0800

This may seems a very easy question, but it is frequent one - trust me, I receive several emails everyday from visitors to Shanghai, and many people got confused of the difference between RMB and Yuan. For example, yesterday, when I answer a question with 2500 RMB, my reader asked: Is RMB and Yuan the same thing?

Yes. It is the same. RMB is the abbr. of Ren Min Bi, or the People’s Money. It is the official currency (maybe the only one) in China.

Why So Many and So Long Document

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 23:17:17 +0800

One of the key difference I feel to work with people in U.S. (especially with professional Project Managers in U.S>) is their documents. I am always overwhelmed by their documents.

There are two parts involved in the “overwhelming” feeling.

It is too Long

Sometimes there are too long and too many and, of cause, too detailed documents. I chatted with my friends, and they said to write reports is the basic skill for each America. Is it true?

Censorship in China - A Complete Guidebook

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 20:24:35 +0800

“Tell me more about censorship in China? How on earth does it work?” Asked Louise, when we had dinner together during his first trip to China.

Louise is not alone to ask the question about censorship. It is almost always the first question people outside China ask me, either when they arrive in China, or we meet in U.S. Censorship seems to be on the top of the concerns people have about China. I answered the question hundreds of times, so let me write an article on censorship in China to answer all (well, most) censorship questions in details. There are all kinds of censorship, and I will devote this article mainly on Internet censorship in China.

Top Commenter of the Month (2007H1)

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 23:58:41 +0800

When was the last time I published my Top Commenter of the Month? I guess it is Sept, 2006. Old readers of this blog knows, that I publish Top Commenter of the month from time to time in 2005 to 2006 and to recognize to the top contributors of this blog.

Why I have this award? Simply because I owe my readers a big THANK YOU for your comments, your thoughts, your contribution to this blog that make it so unique today. I feel bad that I paused this very important award for sometime - almost one year. Today is the opportunity for me to pick it up.

Chat with Helen Wang on Chinese Dream

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 22:57:09 +0800

10:03

Helen is a great person. She writes blog at http://www.helenwang.rdvp.org/. Actually, she has two blogs. .One is Across the Pacific and the other is A Taste for Good Life. She seems doing similar thing as I am doing - to setup a bridge between China and the rest of the world. In her case, with America.

Helen is preparing her book about China - The Chinese Dream. Helen aims to profile the middle class of China. Our conversation started with the size of the middle class. We agreed that the middle class of China is not big, but it is almost 100% of who foreigners have access to. More importantly, this segment will grow to the majority of China (to 700 million according McKensy estimate). That is the significance of this group of people, and why it is a good idea to write a book about it.

Starbucks' Bean Stock

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 22:04:58 +0800

From this page: http://www.mhhe.com/business/management/thompson/11e/case/starbucks-1.html, I read about the Bean Stock of Starbucks. (Actually I read the Pour Your Heart into It : How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time, and then searched for Bean Stock and found this page).

By 1991 the company’s profitability had improved to the point where Schultz could pursue another employee program he believed would have a positive long-term effect on the success of Starbucks—a stock option plan for all employees.12 Schultz wanted to turn all Starbucks employees into partners, give them a chance to share in the success of the company, and make clear the connection between their contributions and the company’s market value. Even though Starbucks was still a private company, the plan that emerged called for granting every employee company wide stock options in proportion to base pay. In May 1991, the plan, dubbed Bean Stock, was presented to the board. Though board members were concerned that increasing the number of shares might unduly dilute the value of the shares of investors who had put up hard cash, the plan received unanimous approval. The first grant was made in October 1991, just after the end of the company’s fiscal year in September; each partner was granted stock options worth 12 percent of base pay; the value of these first shares was pegged at $6 per share. Each October since then, Starbucks has granted employees options equal to 14 percent of base pay, awarded at the stock price at the start of the fiscal year (October 1). Employees, if they wish, can cash in one-fifth of the shares granted each succeeding year, paying the initial year’s price and receiving the current year’s price. It took five years for the shares to fully vest. Each of the shares granted in 1991 was worth $132 in October 1996; thus, an employee making $20,000 in 1991 could have cashed in the options granted in 1991 for more than $50,000 in October 1996. In 1991 when the Bean Stock program was presented to employees, Starbucks dropped the term employee and began referring to all its people as partners because everyone, including part-timers working at least 20 hours per week, was eligible for stock options after six months. At the end of fiscal year 1997, there were 8.7 million shares in outstanding options at an average exercisable price of $19.72 (which compared very favorably to the current stock price of $43.50).

Google Reader (81)

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 12:33:15 +0800

http://www.google.com/reader/view/

This fantastic quote summarizes something that I’ve been trying to focus on recently in my daily life:

“Whatever the tasks, do them slowly

with ease,

in mindfulness,

so not do any tasks with the goal

of getting them over with.

Resolve to each job in a relaxed way,

with all your attention.”

Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Master

Zhouzhuang, Tongli or Zhujiajiao

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 22:39:11 +0800

Ling asked:

Hi Jianshuo,

It’s me again. Wow, your replies are pretty prompt! Thanks! I did some research on the various nearby attractions, and got myself even more confused now. I just found out that there are also 乌镇 (Wuzhen) and 同里(Tongli)。

Have you been to all four places - 周庄(Zhouzhuang), 朱家角(Zhujiajiao), 乌镇(Wuzhen) and 同里(Tongli)? Between these four places, does Zhou Zhuang still rank #1?

D Train in China

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 22:17:20 +0800

I didn’t have the chance to take D Train yet. Well. Although I wrote a lot about Shanghai, I am still not a full time report so I can try every new thing and report the first hand experience on my blog. So let me quote China Mike’s experience. This is the first detailed note about D Training on my blog.

Hi Jian Shuo,

First of all, I love your site! I remember the first time I discovered it when I was trying to find out information about the Maglev train to the Shanghai airport. Your site was very helpful.

Fred's Birthday - a Measurement

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 06:40:29 +0800

Fred celebrates his birthday today. He said:

But seriously,I always use these milestones we call birthdays to take measure of my life. And so far so good.

I’ve got a lot to be thankful for to be honest. My wife, my kids, my family, the greatest job I could ever have, wonderful colleagues, terrific companies to work with, a vibrant community that I get to be the moderator of.

Happy Birthday Fred, since Fred’s blog is always in my RSS reader (now I am using Google Reader). Birthday is like milestone, and I am going to celebrate my birthday this Oct - I will accomplish the first 30 years in my life…

What you Miss in Shanghai?

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 23:56:57 +0800

Cartera did an interesting survey on ShanghaiExpat’s forum: What things do you miss in Shanghai?. Here are some of the answers:

Fresh Air, Food Hygiene, Cleaniliness, Politeness, Patience and Walkers Prawn cocktail crisps, British Sunday Roast Dinner and Sky Sports!!

Fresh air, beaches, clean water, common sense, civilized behaviour, decent food, a decent marina.

-Everything that is not fake.

American Grown stuff,

-Food, size and taste is dramatically different, tomatoes, scallions, meats especially

Congrats Victor for Getting Car Plate - at 46500

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 22:54:36 +0800

Victor got his Shanghai Car Plate at 46,500 RMB today. He won the monthly bidding for licenses of cars in Shanghai.

The interesting thing is, the lowest winning bidding is 46,500 RMB, and he just gave it the same try. He wrote a blog about it.

2 Comments

It's like one bought stock at day's lowest price.

I haven't done that but once I sold a stock at a day's lowest price :-(

— Major · 2007-08-21 12:05

The latest car plate price [Nov. 2007] is RMB 51,000 now, can't belive that. The time we purchased our car from Shangcar.com, it was about RMB 33,000.

— David · 2007-11-11 16:19

Upgraded to Movable Type 4

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 20:56:11 +0800

This is my first comment to the new MovableType 4. Let me just write a short sentence, and then test if everything is OK.

Update

It turned out the upgrade is very smooth - without any problem, and everything simply works.

The only problem I encountered with is, I didn’t find out the Rebuild button anywhere in the Admin page.

Also, since the template was still the old one, and most of the new features are not immediately available now. Please wait for sometime, and I will be able to add it along the time.

Learnt More about How Government Works

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 23:46:29 +0800

Today, attended a training by the government officials, and learnt many interesting ideas. Share with everyone.

The Government has Huge Support for SME (Small and Middle Sized Enterprise)

Maybe you didnï¿½t know it. For SME in Shanghai (with revenue less than 30 million RMB), if they go abroad (like U.S.) for marketing or attending events, their travel cost will be compensated by the Shanghai Foreign Trade organization by 50%. If they attend foreign trade affairs, their ticket fee will also be reimbursed by the government by 50%. This is huge benefit for SME to explore opportunities outside China. There are many policies like this, but not so many enterprises are aware of it.

Shanghai Also has Blue Sky - for One Day

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:53:53 +0800

I don’t have official statistics, but I believe the pollution in Shanghai is worse this year than the last year. Why? From my observation, there are almost no blue sky in Shanghai in the last few months. It is partly due to the rainy season, but I just feel I was too excited to see the blue sky of today.

Today is an exception.

The sky was blue and there are white clouds in the sky - very beautiful, and the visibility of the air is much better than average. I can see the Jinmao tower clearly from Xujiahui.

MovableType 4 Finally Out

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 23:20:40 +0800

I know for most of my readers who only care about information on Shanghai will find this news boring or irrelevant to the topic of this blog. Maybe it is, but for me, it is completely not.

There are several reasons.

1. Thank you, MovableType.

I’d like to thank MovableType for providing such a good tool for me to use in the last 5 years. I am, maybe, one of the most loyal usres of MovableType, from the day one (or the second in terms of MovableType’s history) to today.

MovableType 4 is Almost Out

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:55:08 +0800

MovableType is almost out - it is RC4 (Release Candidate 4) now. I am sure that when the final version comes out, I will upgrade my MovableType to that version.

The key feature I think is helpful is the user management and registration. It allows my readers to register with the system and create some pages for him/herself. With the new system, you can be a user and even a contributor to this system. Want to you think?

Writing for a Magzine? Oh! No! Thanks!

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 22:01:54 +0800

This title was adopted from a short poem. I believe this is the shortest English poem I read so far

Bronx?

Oh!

No!

Thanks!

Very interesting, isn’t it?

I accepted friend’s friend’s invitation to write an article for a magazine. The topic is about my hometown Luoyang. I accepted the request and today is the due date. I have to think hard to write the article, and deliver it as I promised.

Highly Recommend Book - China Road

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 23:13:27 +0800

I am reading some books recently (to name a few, the China Road, Collapse)…

I like Rob Gifford’s book China Road very much. It is very interesting to read, and offers a great angle to analyze the real problems and hopes of China.

Let me tell you why I love this book.

The Idea

The idea behind the book is to take a journey along the China State Road No. 312 from Shanghai to north-west border of China. This idea itself is attractive.

Pictures of Xujiahui Area in 2007 - Difficulties

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 22:40:19 +0800

Wondering about what the world I, as a normal person in Shanghai, see everyday? I am trying to capture the short period of time I experienced, and show you my world with a series of pictures. Thanks to my good habit of bringing a camera with me all the time.

Hmm…. Stop here.

I was planning to upload a lot of photos, but I do encounter some technical difficulties. So the bad news is, I cannot upload it today. However, to explain the difficulty itself can be an interesting topic.

Beijing Olympics 2008 Schedule

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 19:02:20 +0800

Since Beijing Olympics is coming, let me post the schedule for the Olympics in Beijing. Hope you like it. Credit goes to Wikipedia.

●

Opening ceremony

●

Event competitions

●

Event finals

●

Closing ceremony

August

23rd

Ceremonies

●

One Year to Beijing Olympics

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 23:52:56 +0800

Today is 366 days to August 8, 2008, the date of Beijing Olympics. (The reason it is 366 days instead of 365 is, 2008 has extra day of February 29, 2008).

The celebration party at Tiananmen Square in Beijing was casted in real time last night.

This is good thing. If you plan to participant in the Olympics, it is the right time to start preparing.

32 Comments

I don't think it a good thing. I would boycott it.

— fggfz · 2007-08-09 14:28

Tell us more about the boycotting stuff, fggfz. I believe it is a topic closely related to the Olympics.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-08-09 22:29

I have met many people in China who are eager to show off their wealth. They try very hard to impress me with their cars, apartments, job titles, the stocks they own, places they went. I felt the same way towards the Beijing 2008 Olympic. The importance of the Game is overly (disproportional) emphasized by China. Would do you think?

— ILH · 2007-08-09 23:59

Olympic Games are suppose to be purely about sports, but almost every Country ever hosted the eventhas turned it into a showcase fair for varies purposes. China politicized the 2008 Olympic Game by casting it as a show of rising of power in the first place, but are now seeing it back firing. The are hosts of foreign organizations are now trying to exploit the 2008 Games over political issues like, human rights, environment protection, media freedom, Tibet and even food safty. It might be too late and a little awkward now to pitch the game for pure sportsmanship instead of politics.

— xge · 2007-08-10 10:29

If history repeats, would you boycott the olympic games held in Nazi Germany (1936) or hardline Soviet Union (1980)?

Maybe you think political affairs should not be related to the olympics--I can perfectly understand that and I did think like that. But for me now, I love sports, while I love freedom much more.

— fggfz · 2007-08-10 12:40

fggfz, yes, the summer game at Berlin in 1936 was a stage for Hitler to promote Nazi ideology, if country like USA boycott the game, how does people like Jesse Owens, the African-American sprinter can receive his gold medals from the hands of Hitler?

The boycott of Moscow game in 1980 was the sanction imposed by USA for the downing of KAL 007, it was purely a political move and has nothing to do with freedom. The LA game was also under boycott for the same reason.

Politic and sport does not mix.

— stephen · 2007-08-10 23:24

First, I think it is wise to separate boycotting against the government (or the party) from boycotting China. This is my suggestion to my readers who are in China, as I do. It takes some time to really understand what the world is, and it took me time to separate the two objects. So I think I can listen with patience about what people are saying and their reasons of boycotting. I don't think it is a bad thing.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-08-10 23:39

Sorry, mistake in my comment.

The boycott of Moscow game in 1980 was the sanction imposed by USA for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

— stephen · 2007-08-11 04:07

Boycott? No need to go that far. I'm planning on visiting Beijing during the Game. It's going to be fan. However, I will have to make sure not to stay there longer than a week. Otherwise, My throat will have inflammation cause by the air. I do understand why people are spitting more often over there. Because they have to. They do have controls as where they spit on though.

— ILH · 2007-08-11 04:16

I meant it's going to be fun.

— ILH · 2007-08-11 05:20

The Olympics will elevate China to a different level. At the same time, it'll divert international attention from many of China's issues, e.g. Tibet, human rights, etc. I believe that overall it's a good thing for Chinese people

Want to volunteer for the Olympics? See

http://www.bordercrossed.com/2007/05/21/volunteering-for-beijing-olympics/

— Silkroad · 2007-08-12 22:44

Olympics 2008 is going to be one premature ejaculatory mess for China.

This is not the right time and we are not ready.

There are more important and better things for us to do than to spend money on vanity projects.

The architecture is alien to our culture and urban landscape.

The foreign designers are laughing all the way to the bank.

Just what the heck were we supposed to show the world ??

Our rich and poor divide ? our pollution ? our corruption ?

our greed ? or our need to show off ???

Why wear a suit when you can't even afford a decent pair of underwear ??

Boy, it's going to be some hangover the next day.

— Wonton · 2007-09-22 02:02

@Wonton... you are really that ashamed of your beautiful country?

— AussiePB · 2007-09-22 03:34

I am merely stating the facts. There is much to do and in my opinion we are wasting a lot of money on things that looked good but contributes little to the well being of our people. The pursuit of vanity in our country is reaching levels of vulgarity. Local governments are building copycat western edifices while the population suffer in poverty. Our people are building ridiculous looking copies of british towns for the nouveau riche. As mush as I would like to be proud, I have to admit that we are also in a whole lot of crap. I cry when historical neighbourhood are bulldozed for generic blocks of glass and steel that says absolutely nothing about our culture.

Too much is sacrificed for too little.

I have enough of people making excuses for our problems. It is condesending and insulting.

The chinese can and will be great. But lets celebrate only after we truely arrived ok ?

I am not ashamed of China and never will. But I AM ashamed at some of the things done in it's name.

Australians might be ashamed of it's support of the Iraq war, but they would NEVER be ashamed of Australia would they ?

— wonton · 2007-09-22 13:26

Just my opinion here, but if we are going to take the olympics as an opportunity to boo and jeer countries we dislike, Japan, Taiwan,..(fill in the blank). Then we might as well not bother hosting it.

— wonton · 2007-09-22 13:34

The Chinese are already great! It depends on your reference point. When my wife and in-laws talk about the upcoming games in Beijing, I see and hear so much national pride...

Being Australian (born), I'm not ashamed of the assistance given to the victims and families of the past violent and oppressive regime in Iraq. In fact, it is one of the (many) reasons that I'm proud of my home country.

— AussiePB · 2007-09-22 18:45

Nobody questioned your national pride. You've missed my point completely.

You are right in regards to my reference point though, I have higher expectations.

But if you rather trade your Aussie passport for one issued by China because of it's greatness, then be my guest.

— wonton · 2007-09-23 04:00

I've not missed your point. You have listed so many things that are negative to your country - and you missed the point and intent of the Olympic Games. The Games are designed to bring about National Pride and unite all countries in the world. I am questioning your negativity - there are much better ways for you to bring about change and help those in need by being positive and not belittling your country.

You then in your subsequesnt post, suggested that Australians are ashamed of the part they have played in Iraq... which is frankly, quite insulting and incorrect to make such a wild generalization - and yes, it is a question of my national pride.

We live in a world of globalization, and I am proud my wife is Chinese and my son is a product of the two of us - why be so cynical as to also now question my citizenship just because I wish to support my wife and extended family's pride and their desire to make China a better place for all? China is great and will get greater with the right attitudes of the people - what does this have to do with my passport or nationality?

To my original post on this topic - I asked a very legitimate question without any malice - with very good reason - your post was very negative to your country and misrepresents the intention of such a global unification event as the Olympic Games - it is not about 'showing off'... I'm sorry you seem to have taken offence and opted for 'low blows' in return, this was not my intent.

— AussiePB · 2007-09-23 05:10

@AussiePB

Man, you are so lost !

I repeat :"Australians might be ashamed of it's support of the Iraq war, but they would NEVER be ashamed of Australia would they ?"

If you are offended, thats your problem because nowhere did I say that YOU are ,or should be, ashamed of your country.

HOWEVER ...(warning: cheap shots ahead)

Pauline Hanson is nothing to be proud of.

I'm sure you guys loved your orange martini laced prime minister.

If anything, I am rather impressed with your people's freedom to openly express their opinions wheather it's in line with the government or not. The street protesters are not considered unpatriotic are they ?

Just because I failed to think happy thoughts, express my opinion about my country's problems which happens to be true I'm now somekind of jackass with "wrong attitude"???

I repeat again.

"There are more important and better things for us to do than to spend money on vanity projects."

It's just a matter of setting the right priorities.

I also did not question your citizenship. Please read last post again.

I wanted to make the point that our countries are not at par. You can't be dumb enough to think so otherwise you would have traded them. I see our people migrating to all corners of the world. I don't see aussies becoming citizensof China. Why ?

Actually I have not taken any offense. I am just tired of putting silly smiley pictures after evey sentence.

Unlike you, I'd perfer to have my house in order before inviting the guest.

No offense but any criticism about China as to come from self introspection of it's own people. I doubt China needs another outsider (or white man if you so chose to be offended) to teach it how to f*** up the country. I guess I am going to be accused of being nationalistic but I am just stating the current mentality of our people.

You should know what I mean. With regards to Australia, any improvement for the aboriginies must comes from themselves and not what everyone else wants. Your people have been trying to get them off the bottle for years.

I am really not such a sourpuss even though my writing may seem that way.

I am actually quite a nice guy.

:) if it helps to convince you.

— wonton · 2007-09-23 16:02

Little more for me to say here, as the more I try to be positive, the more insults and racial connotations spew forth from you. The latest around aborigines and alcohol just does it for me - being part aboriginal... now it is I who really am offended - and for you to even mention Pauline Hanson espouses your ignorance. Now there is nothing for me more to say, but I would really like to meet you in person and discuss your insults.

— AussiePB · 2007-09-23 18:59

Hi Jian Shuo - it is with great regret that after a very long time following your blogs and enjoying open and friendly discussion, I will no longer be visiting your site... unfortunately, it has attracted a person with very low intellect and even lesser moral fibre. Good luck to you and your family, I will keep in touch via email. Keep up the good work and positive attitude going - I hope that the racism desists here in the future!! Kindest regards, AussiePB...

— AussiePB · 2007-09-23 19:21

AssiePB, please check my recent entry:

http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archives/20070923_dont_leave_assiepb.htm

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-09-23 21:03

To AussiePB,

I am quite interested in your view of Pauline Hanson. I was rather young at that time (15 year ago!) when I heard about her. My impression at that time was that she was unfriendly towards migrants who are non-white and non-English speaking. The media in my country did portray her in a less positive light.

I thought she made headlines in her campaign with her opposition to Asian immigration and aboriginal rights?

Cheers!

— Fujianren · 2007-09-24 04:56

Hi there Fujianren,

Yes she did make headlines all around the world. Although her very racist and elitest one-eyed views on immigration and aboriginal rights were supported by a minority in Australia (unfortunately, there are these sort of people everywhere in all countries), because she started up her own political party (illegally - later she spent some time in jail for this), it was portrayed across the global media as a very large issue, and the perception was that she was leading a 'very large' anti-immigration movement in Australia.

This could not be farther from the truth - Australians generally are embarrassed by the global attention this got, and PH was regarded as somewhat of a joke here locally - local TV stations were vying to get an interview with her to further embarrass her publically - her education is nil, and her previous job before trying her hand at politics was cooking fried fish and chips at a local shop.

The concern by mainstream Australia was that she would be afforded and enjoy global attention, and this did occur. I cannot say how many times people overseas have asked me about her - we have so many more important things that we can show to our overseas friends. We are proud of our immigration policy and multicultural society. PH was nothing and her One Nation party had next to no following, yet everyone around the world knows who she is and associates this with Australians as being racist... so embarrassiing!!

Hope this answers your question - take care... :D

— AussiePB · 2007-09-24 12:11

To AussiePB,

Thanks a lot! I have been to Australia (Perth, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne...) several times and the people there are really very friendly. The natural scenery is also spectacular.

Had a superb time there!

— Fujianren · 2007-09-24 20:26

Thanks Fujianren - oh - and for everyone's info, it seems that PH wants to make a comeback in the next Australian federal election... (unbelievable - even though I'm not physically there, I still legally need to vote)... below is a blog article from an Australian online newspaper that everyone might find interesting - it invites people to comment, and you will see that although 'mainstream' aussies are against her and her policies, there are some people (unbelievable) that still support her wierd racist ways...

I think in light of the posts I've made here, one important quote from this article is:

"I suspect she'll splutter into deeper irrelevance, although Hanson's uglier remarks often get wide airplay in Asia where, wrongly, she tends to be portrayed as something close to mainstream"...

http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/mattprice/index.php/theaustralian/comments/who_needs_pauline_hanson/

:)

— AussiePB · 2007-09-24 22:10

I don't think a person should be tar and feathered because of her ignorance.

Pauline Hanson is afterall expressing her honest opinion about the world as seen through her eyes. As I understand it, her views struck a chord with many when she first appeared. It was something many agreed but afraid to support. However she still managed to receive one quarter of the votes in Queensland. From what I know, there is a difference in income, attitude and education between the city dwellers and the farm folks.

I once had a very interesting conversation with a guy in Canada. He was not a racist but he was very much against immigrants at that time. He was very angry that the government kept allowing people from 3rd world countries to come in and take over their jobs. This is very much the case for blue collared workers. Many communication problems ensued while the wages dipped. Crimes also increased because some of the refugees could not find work. He felt that only when there is enough jobs for all should the government open it's doors. He was frustrated because everytime he speaks up people would immediately label him a racist. His family was adversly affected. I truely felt sorry for him. He became a good friend of mine.

Like I said, sometimes, the easiest thing for us is to just open the doors, but have we ever wondered if it's the right time for it ?

Perhaps Hanson was simply concerned for the people closest to her. Unless controlled, immigration tends to affect the less educated negatively.

For a person selling Fish & Chips, I admire her conviction and willingness to stand up for her beliefs. A true democracy should have a place for people like her. It would be so easy to simply call her names. But is it necessary ? Right now even those who agree with some of her views are afraid to admit it as they are afraid to be labeled a racist. What is the message here ? to show the stupidity of fish and chips sellers ?? Bad ideas tends to die a naturally while good ones will be taken up.

A good government listens to all, a bad one selects what it wants to hear.

Perhaps I sound idealistic but hey, aren't we all striving for a perfect world ?

— wonton · 2007-09-25 06:58

@AussiePB, do you want to educate us about how to start a party legally in Australia? Why people say the One Nation Party is illegal?

You said "I cannot say how many times people overseas have asked me about her - we have so many more important things that we can show to our overseas friends.". I think it is exactly the same situation in China.... Although everything people asked is true event, but it is not as a big deal in normal people's life here.

@Wonton, I am with you here. The beauty of democratic system is, it give everyone a place to talk and express. Democratic society also make stupid mistakes, like one of my friend in Berkeley comments. She said it is really bad that collectively, American made the decision to put many Japanese into jail during WWII because of fair, or the previous black and white separate policy, but the good thing is, there is a mechanism to correct mistakes, and don't make too big mistakes.

It is the same as Pauline Hanson's case. If it is right, history will prove, and if she is wrong, history will do the same. Democratic society makes the choice is a peaceful way.

Another point is, democratic is not efficient, or convenient, and it costs a lot to implement (that is the major attack about this system). However, efficient, convenient or easy approach like traditional hierarchy power structure is proven not working.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-09-25 10:39

@Wonton - I totally agree with your comments, and it is 'free thinking' that has made Australia the place it is today. I think the issue with PH was not so much her concerns for the welfare of Australia as a country (I am sure her 'heart' was in the right place), but the way in which she went (and still goes) about it. I believe that her ignorance and lack of education/understanding of the current immigration laws were the biggest reason behind this.

At the time of her maiden speech in parliament, she did attract the support of quite a large number of people in Qld, because they understood what she was trying to achieve, but did not really understand what her policies were, and the implications of them. This is why the support dropped dramatically over the next couple of years. Her viewpoints were unanimously (except for one person) abhorred by the Australian govt - state and federal.

The main issue with her policies (and this is what was not shown on international TV), was the activities in the street... racial name-calling, telling people who look different to 'go home' - even when they were born in Australia, physical violence based on people's race/beliefs, and many other negative activities. Australia has come a long way to becoming 'One Nation' through multiculturalism, and PH's policies were a direct reversal of the then, and current mainstream Australian views. Racism is frowned upon and not tolerated in Australia, and the hatred (on the streets) inspired by PH's policies at the time, were quickly seen to be hurtful to the people - regardless of race.

One of her latest policies for the upcoming election is to deny immigration to all muslims and all 'black' Africans, so as to (try and) remove the threat of terrorism and aids in Australia... once again, we all want to remove these terrible problems from our society (and I'm sure her heart is in the right place), but by singling out a race of people or a religion, she is inviting more hatred and divide, and potentially more violence and hurtful activities.

I hope this helps clarifies my thoughts on this... :)

@Jain Shou, I will write another entry when I have time around the legalities of starting a party in Australia - I might add that PH's legal conviction was overturned and the courts decided after many years that the party was in fact legally formed, rather the activities to form it were not within legal boundaries - it has to do with number of members required and funding offered as a result of the party membership... from memory, it was regarded as fraudulent activity involving about A$500K... I will research and refresh my memory and offer another post on this subject...

DISCLAIMER - I'm sure there are some members of Australian society - PH supporters - who may disagree in one way or another with some or all of my comments above...

Take care all.... :)

— AussiePB · 2007-09-25 15:27

@AussiePB, applause for your wonderful explanation. I visited Australia last year (exactly these days in end of Sept), and was impressed by its beauty and the well-deserved nature. But I didn't know the political matters too much, and didn't pay as much attention to it as I did for U.S. (just because I travel there more often). You helped me to understand Australia better. To show you my ignorance about Australia, I haven't heard of Pauline Hanson before. :)

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-09-25 23:40

@AussiePB, thanks for sharing more about Pauline Hanson and the related information. I now have a clearer perspective of the matter. Honestly when news about her came out, I thought it was a big deal. My mom, who always thinks Australia is a nice place to live in (it is), told me she wanted to emigrate there. And i was like, "But there are racists there!" Hahaha. My brother, when he was doing his National Service, was in Australia for some training. And he experienced racism first hand there. Some African Australians (is that how they're called?) made some racist remarks to my brother and his army buddy in a public place. I always find it strange that Africans would be racist. Didn't they themselves suffer from racism?

Anyway, I'm glad things are not as bad as it seems. Yes, Australia is a beautiful place. I've been to Gold Coast before, in 2000. *:)

— Ling · 2007-09-26 00:30

The easiest way for evil to triumph is when the good do nothing.

When good moslems do nothing and allows the bad to hijack the religion, can anyone blame Aussies for becoming more discriminating ? Remember the innocent people killed in Bali. How many moslems rose up to protest against this babaric action ? And how many felt that the aussies deserved it ??

I don't blame Australia if she stops more islamic immigrants.

Hey, It takes a while to recover from the wounds.

People who support Hambali deserves people like Pauline Hanson.

— wonton · 2007-10-17 18:35

Shanghai Car Plates IS Investment

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 22:37:44 +0800

I have a car with name of Goudaner.

However, I don’t have a car plate from Shanghai, simply because it is too expensive. Instead, I drove 200 km away to Hangzhou (the capital of Zhejiang Province, south of Shanghai) to register my car there.

Now I am a Shanghai driver, bought a car in Shanghai, driving in Shanghai with a Hangzhou car plate. Sounds wired, isn’t it?

I thought I made a right decision three years ago. Now? I don’t think so.

Exchange (Lot of) Coins to Paper Money

Sun, 05 Aug 2007 16:16:27 +0800

This is Mike’s question, my first answer, and his follow-up question:

Hi Wang Jian Shuo,

Do you know where in Shanghai I could change coin money to paper money?

I have a lot of coin monies, like 1 yuan coin, about thousands. I went to ICBC bank but they don’t accept it, they don’t have machine to count coin money either? Do you know where I can find machine to count coin money too?

Shanghai is Hot, Hot and Hot!

Sun, 05 Aug 2007 00:14:32 +0800

I completely have no idea when the hot summer of Shanghai will be over. Recently, everyday when I step out of my room, the hot (extremely hot air) reminds me of what was shown in the film An Inconvenient Truth. Shanghai broke track record of extreme hot weather in the last century, many times!

Poor visitors! If you are in Shanghai, I promise you Shanghai isn’t always so terrible to live, and there are some days better than today. Do come again at other time. These days, Shanghai is just like a hot spot, and the air is burning my nose.

Google Beijing Office Picutre

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 23:56:56 +0800

These photos were taken back in March 5, 2007, and I didn’t had a chance to post them. Recently I setup a photo album, and published some photos I took before. These are some photos I took near the Google Beijing office.

Google Beijing office near Tsinghua. The good thing about Google Beijing office:

It has mountain in the background - just like the name of its headquarter: MountView.
It has its own standalone building.
It is very near Tsinghua University.

Avoid Blog Blocked in China

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 20:13:41 +0800

How to setup a blog and not blocked by GFW in China? This is really a FAQ.

To setup a blog is relatively easy. Not to be blocked is not that easy. I hope this is a complete guide to bloggers inside or outside China.

How Block Works?

Regarding the issue of “block”, there are two camps of websites in the world - websites that is hosted outside China and inside China.

Interviewed by That's Shanghai

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 19:40:21 +0800

Rebbecca sent me the written interview question about my blog, and here are my answers.

** 1． When did you start to open this blog?**

Sept 11, 2002.

2． What have initially triggered you to be a blogger?

I setup my personal website (wangjianshuo.com) in 2000, and I wrote articles about Shanghai, like Shanghai Airport or Shanghai Taxi in English at that time, and attracted many visitors. Later, I started to organize the articles according to the created date. This is very like a blog. In July 2002, someone “interviewed” me on MSN, and it turned out he is a blogger. Then I am aware of the existence of the concept “blog” and thought it is the perfect way (or tool) for me. So I started my blog at a subdomain: http://home.wangjianshuo.com. The “home” part indicates that the server - a normal personal computer connected to Internet - is physically located in my home.

Yifan is Exactly 2 Month Old Today

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 23:17:59 +0800

2 months ago, Yifan joined the family and today is exactly 2 months for him.

I remember when he was just born 2 months ago, when we were still in hospital, my favorite question to ask him is: “Little boy, how old are you?”. I guess if he would have been able to answer this question, he would have said: “I am 7 hours old now.”. :-)

60 days past so quickly that I even barely have time to record the time I am with him. Yesterday night, for example, he wake up and Wendy and I spent a lot of time to make him sleep again (to be exactly, Wendy did the work, and I watched). At 6:00 AM, I wake up (or was waken up) and mixed some milk for him. He only need to add one cup of milk now.

Shanghai South Railway Statoin - Part II

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 23:55:28 +0800

To read the first part of this article, check Shanghai South Railway Station

This time, let me post some real photos of the station.

The photos are being uploaded, and it takes some time. When finished, you can view it at Shanghai Railway Station Album.

The entrance to the garage of the Shanghai South Railway Station - at the north west side of the “big circle”.

The grass wave outside the station.

On the Top of 8 Meters...

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 23:45:19 +0800

Last weekend, I organized the team to attend the outdoor training in Shajiabang, Changshu, Jiangsu Province.

On of the interesting practice to challenge one’s courage is to jump over a 1.5 meter gap 8 meters above the ground. I jumped.

Pictures below are taken by York and Victor.

For more pictures of the outdoor training, please see the photo album:

Shajianbang.York (photo by York Liang)

Yifan in His Two Months

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 19:59:25 +0800

Yifan is in his second months now. Let me post two recent photos of him. I am always so happy

to hold him in my arm and look at his naughty face
to watch him fall asleep
to hear his voice (just some fragment of sounds)
to take photos of him
to whatever he wanted me to do
to see his expression (of whatever kind)

8 Comments

How lovely baby YiFan is! He looks more like his mother, isn't it?

— ILH · 2007-07-31 22:43

ILH, many people say so. I my opinion, his eyes and nose are more like Wendy and the mouth is more like me. :-)

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-07-31 22:57

he is cute!

— wudi · 2007-08-01 00:00

Thanks, wudi!

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-08-01 00:17

A perfectly beautiful combination of your both. Such happy days for your family :-)

— Carroll · 2007-08-01 01:36

Carroll, thanks. Yes. Yifan will be 2 month old on August 2, and we plan to have a family celebrating for Yifan. Time flies so fast, just as you said.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-08-01 01:45

Congratulating Yifan two month！Above two photos was his one month pictures,he does not have a haircut yet.

— Liangcai · 2007-08-01 09:37

What a sweet picture (1st one especially). Hmm, I think you'll see an actual naughty face in 2 years!

Congratulations again!

— swany · 2007-08-01 10:33

MTSubCategory of MovableType

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 19:12:14 +0800

I have so many articles, so I finally spent some time to create a category page for top level categories, middle categories, and subcategories. You may have noticed the change of the my homepage (look at this screenshot).

Screen shot of the category function of Wangjianshuo’s blog

For those bloggers using MovableType, here are code I used to create a page like that:

Categories

<$MTTopLevelCategories$>

Strengthen the Control of Speech

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 14:41:17 +0800

Recently, there are several evidence to prove the government is strengthen the control of speech in China. Here are some of them.

New Round of Satellite TV Ban

Satellite TV is always forbidden (Satellite Dishes Still Forbidden in China) for most of the people. Only some specially assigned places, some approved star hotels, and places where foreigners live are allowed to install satellite TV. Normal people (some translate it as Old Hundreds Names) are not allowed to be exposed to what the international world says about China.

Write Articles, Not Blog Postings

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 22:35:36 +0800

Jacob Nielson (the usability Guru) wrote a recent article named Write Articles, Not Blog Postings. The article is very well written.

To treat every entry on the blog as an standalone article that is valuable even after years is a very good way to think of blog.

What is a Blog?

The word blog refer to too many things, in just one word.

It can mean blog tools, like MovableType, or TypePad, or MSN Space. However, you can create not only blog with blog tools. For example, MovableType can be a useful Content Management System for creating help center for a website.

Long Detour by Road Construction

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 21:50:22 +0800

Let me show you a map.

Image in courtesy of Google Maps

On the map, the red line and the blue line together is the daily route I drive from Xujiahui to the elevated highway (then my home is just 10 kms or 20 minutes away).

Today, since there is a small detour at the starting of the blue line - the road was completely blocked and no cars are allowed to enter. Then to to go to the entrance of the elevated highway, I used the red line plus the green line.

Controversy Car Plates

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 00:07:23 +0800

When I wrote about the Chinese Car Plate the other day, I suddenly recalled from my memory that China has once opened the restriction on the car plate numbers and allow car owners to choose the car plate numbers by themselves.

That was back to Aug 12, 2002 (one month before I started my blog). In Beijing, Tianjin, Hangzhou, and Shenzhen, car owners started to have the freedom to choose the 6 digits of their car plate. They can use whatever numbers or alphabetic combination (with restriction of using I, O, T which may be confusing with numbers).

I Created a Photo Gallery

Sun, 22 Jul 2007 22:31:06 +0800

I have many photos - more than 10 thousands at least. When I look at these photos on my hard disk, I am thinking: maybe I should share the photos. Since I don’t like to take pictures of myself, and most of the pictures are on a business or personal trip, majority of the pictures are about the place I had been to. So it may be a good idea to share the pictures in case someone is also interested in going to that place.

Organizing my Folders

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 23:04:09 +0800

I am trying to organize my folders - after being a “digital worker” (a phrase I borrowed from Microsoft to describe people like me whose output is just some digitalized work) for 8 years, I definitely have huge amount of digital asserts. It is not just something like several gigabytes of MP3, or game, or video - acturally I have none of them (my focus has shifted to something else 4 years ago). Most of my asserts are created by myself - PPTs, codes, blogs, pictures I took in difference cities or countries, Word documents, Excel documents, contacts, mails. To be short, there are many of them.

VPN in China

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 20:02:28 +0800

Hi Jian Shuo,

I’ve enjoyed keeping up with your blog lately and congrats on the new addition to your family.

I had a question I thought I might ask you, as I have been looking all over and can’t seem to find a definitive answer.

Thought maybe you may know as you have worked in the field in China and with many US companies.

I am trying to find out what sorts of speeds are typical for a VPN connection between China (most likely Nanjing, but if other areas provide significantly faster infrastructure those are possible too) and a high speed datacenter in the US.

Met with Stan

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 19:56:19 +0800

Met with Stan in Chatea.

Good chat.

He helped me to ask the question to myself again: Doe sit make sense to see everything too clearly and enjoy Taoist thinking. Is it so important to clearly predict what is on the other side of the mountain before you start climbing? What’s the other side? It must be a decline - continuous decline.

Good point.

Weather Stuff

Shanghai is hot, and rainy (in the next few days). Get prepared, friends.

Chinese Car Plate

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 23:54:40 +0800

My reader in Wuxi suggested me to talk about the car plate in China - this is an interesting topic. There is a Chinese character on the plate as the first character, and there are difference colors - blue, yellow, and black. What do all these mean?

Here is a picture of a car plate:

The Chinese Character

There must be a Chinese character on each car plate. It represent the province of the car. Although the full name of China province is at least two or three Chinese characters, they all have abridged version, just like WA for Washington, CA for California in U.S.

Business is Really Business

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 23:35:23 +0800

One month ago, I talked about Back to Technical World. It is very interesting that 5 years ago, when I just about to join Wicresoft to run the ESS business, I wrote an article named: Business is Business. In that cold December, I wrote:

It is a completely new world when you are counting about the P/L. In the next few weeks, I will spend some time on the finance and business part. This is a major focus shift for me. I am no longer a technical person.

How Far is Shanghai to Beijing

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 16:40:29 +0800

To be short, 1463 km (or 909.066054 miles).

This is according to the railway distance. If you take train from Shanghai to Beijing, you can arrive there within 13 hour.

For flight, it is 1033 km.

FAQ of This Site

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 15:00:14 +0800

I added a function to automatically locate the most promising articles for the FAQ or frequently searched terms on this site.

Software for Newly Installed PC

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 23:42:04 +0800

My best practice to maintain a healthy PC is to re-install the operating system and the applications every few month. These are the steps I follow. In case it is helpful for others.

Rule 1: Reinstall Operating System every 2-3 months.

Rule 2: Have Drive C: and Drive D: on computer. Name Drive D: as Data and never format it. Then re-format drive C: every time I install operating system.

Accident in Shanghai Metro

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 23:25:39 +0800

In the afternoon, just before I left the office, we talked about the accident happened in Shanghai Metro yesterday. I didn’t know that until people told me.

A young man was stuck in the middle of the Metro door and the glass door on the platform. Since th door didn’t havoc sensor installed (Caution!!! Terrible to know that), the train started, and the man was squeezed to death immediately.

It is horrible. After many accidents that people was stuck in the middle, this is the first time metro caused death.

Real Estate Price Keeps Crazy

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 23:17:15 +0800

It is not news that someone predict the drop (serious drop) in real estate price. This oppinion was strong three years ago, and is still strong today. The reality, however, is just on the opposite part.

Today, when Wendy and I walked around the neiboughood, and past the Sales Office. Out of curious, we stepped in and was astonished by the current price of real estates.

Wendy and I bought the current apartment in 2003. At that time, the price as 5900 RMB per sq. meter.

How Often Do you See 'CPU Exceeded' Error?

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 23:49:46 +0800

Recently, it seems to me that there are more chances for my visitors to see this “Exceeded CPU Quota” error:

This is because there are too much traffic on this site, and the bluehost are constraining the CPU usage. I am not sure how many of you have ever seen this error? Let me know if you also see it so I have a brief idea about how bad the situation is, and decide whether I should do something for it, or not.

Starbucks Finally Closed in the Forbidden City

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 23:43:04 +0800

According to this China Daily article, the controversial Starbucks store in the forbidden city was finally closed.

This echos the recent “Chinese sign enforcement” event in Shanghai.

3 Comments

I visited the Starbucks in The Forbidden City during April this year. At the time I was unaware of this issue, although I thought it curious when someone tried to take a photo inside, and the staff stopped them.

On the whole I tend to agree that a Starbucks, or any retail outlet is inappropriate within the Forbidden City. The store was located in a small corner of the 'official' gift shop. I don't really feel that even this gift shop should be there.

Regarding the 'Chinese' signs debate, there are a huge number of english branded stores in Shanghai. This is a symptom of China's economical development. However, as a (UK)westerner I feel that it is important not to dilute China's identity, and the 'english' branding should be secondary (as a concession to the desire for Chinese to learn English).

My wife is Shanghainese, (and for the record she moved to the UK in 1999 and we met in 2003. see 'Shanghainese girls marrying foreigners'03/20/2007) and she also takes the view that the national identity of China is being eroded, particularly in Shanghai, but throughout the country as a whole.

— Rob · 2007-07-16 17:35

The administration and the management of the formal Imperial Palace is deporable.

I was there last summer and saw thick dust inside the palace and shrub grew from the roof tiles, it is clearly a neglect for a long time.

If you visit the eateries and the gift shops, it is very nicely decorated and with air-conditioning.

It is necessary for the management to change the 'profit centre' attitude otherwise the main palace can be converted into a seafood restaurant and the inner courts can become a hotel.

Starbuck in the forbidden City obviously is a misfit and nuisance, but it also shown the capitalization of this historic monument.

— stephen · 2007-07-17 00:17

It really doesnt matter who serves the coffee. It would be nice to have no stores inside, but it is so large that there needs to be refreshments in the Forbidden City.

I have a sneaking notion that the hotel idea will come to pass ...

— Geoff in Beijing · 2008-03-14 12:06

Please Don't Add me on MSN Messenger

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 21:14:38 +0800

I have my email published on my home page - on the right columns, so readers, or friends who lost my email address can contact me. I am open to emails, and welcome your feedbacks. Many people just send me a thank you note, or a compliment letter, which made me very happy. I receive several emails everyday about Shanghai questions, and I answer most of them - I do have to ignore some when the question is too technical (like help me to fix this webcam driver problem), or hard to answer.

Foreign Language Only Signs?

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 23:57:27 +0800

Found an interesting article on Shanghaiist about the recent regulation to add Chinese signs to all stores, shops and restaurants in Xintiandi.

Xintiandi is a very unique place, where most of the shops and bars remains the same style as they were in their original country (many from U.S.) and it is a cultural showcase in the heart of Shanghai about the foreign cultures. One reflection about this is the names and signs of the stores. Many of them only have English names and only show English on their signs, like my favorite KABB. I don’t know whether they have a Chinese name.

Olympics Impact to TV Commericals

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 22:54:09 +0800

Olympics is closer. I didn’t feel too much difference yet, but the business men - or to be more exact, the marketing managers - has smelled the opportunity and started to move faster than average people.

When I watch TV today (very seldom recently), and I found many TV commericals are directly connected with Olympics or sports. For example, Coca-Cola is featuring the swimming team, and P&G is featuring the other team (I don’t know how to describe it - it is the movement or dance on the surface - 体操？)…

How to Setup Websites Outside China

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 23:03:33 +0800

This seems to be a silly question - “how to setup a website OUTSIDE China?” What to do with China when the website is outside China.

This is exactly the right answer. However, many (upt o 10) emails asked me about the procedure of setting up a website - in Chinese - outside China. The most recent inquiry comes from Santiago, Chile.

The major concern is the widely know (or infamous) Great Firewall, and the registration process in China. The short answer is, no. The registeration is only required for sites in China - nobody really explained what it means to be “in China”. Whether it is server in China or the owner in China? I don’t know and don’t have a law about it.

What is the Most Sticky Topic?

Sat, 07 Jul 2007 23:11:03 +0800

What is the most sticky topic on this site? Or to put the question the other way, what is the keyword that brings a visitor and the visitor stayed on this site for longest time?

Using the data from Google Analytics, I created a table here. Let me show you some of the top visiting keyword:

[pudong pvg](http://home.wangjianshuo.com/scripts/analytics/?kw=pudong pvg) 161
[make me a cartoon](http://home.wangjianshuo.com/scripts/analytics/?kw=make me a cartoon) 115
[dao cheng](http://home.wangjianshuo.com/scripts/analytics/?kw=dao cheng) 110
[super hot girl](http://home.wangjianshuo.com/scripts/analytics/?kw=super hot girl) 102
[reliable taxis in shanghai](http://home.wangjianshuo.com/scripts/analytics/?kw=reliable taxis in shanghai) 80
[sattellite images](http://home.wangjianshuo.com/scripts/analytics/?kw=sattellite images) 78
[live sattelite images](http://home.wangjianshuo.com/scripts/analytics/?kw=live sattelite images) 76
tsingtao 75.75
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4 Comments

hahaha, "super hot girl"

— Steve · 2007-07-08 04:12

Most of the popular topics are about travel. So I have a question

about travel too. You flew to Hainan Dao a few years ago. We would like to go in November, fly from Shanghai to Sanya, then from Sanya to Beijing.

Will the flights be very expensive? How far in advance should we book the tickets? We are planning to arrive in China on November 2, but not go to Sanya until November 22. Isn't it much cheaper to get the tickets in China than to book the trip from the U.S.? Which airline did you use? Are tickets still one way so that we will have to get to Sanya to get tickets from there to Beijing?

I'm looking forward to taking the new fast trains from Beijing to Nanjing and then Nanjing to Shanghai. How much in advance should we book train tickets?

Thank you for your blog. Although I do check the travel entries, I enjoy the blogs about your own life the most--naming your baby, going to IKEA, having a garden, etc.

— zjemi · 2007-07-09 11:12

Nanjing to Shanghai,new fast train price: 87 RMB

shirley

— shirley · 2007-07-13 13:56

how far is the hangzhou airport from the train station in town (assuming one comes from Shanghai by bullet train) -how much time should be allowed to get to catch a flight, as example? what would the taxi fare cost?

— gary · 2008-01-19 14:07

Congratulations to York!

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 23:04:12 +0800

This morning, York has his new baby!

The whole team is very happy about him, and I, in particular, understand how exciting and sweet it is.

Congratulations, York.

People call the newly born baby York 2.0, or some calls him

NEW YORK

P.S. I had wonderful night with the third delegation Jan and I hosted: the U.S China Working Group of U.S. Congress Delegation - arranged by NCUCR… I also met Sean, founder of neocha.com.

Getting Wangyifan.com

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 23:52:29 +0800

Yesterday, I registered Wangyifan.com, as a gift for my newly born baby. The domain expired on June 30, 2007, and within seconds, it was registered by SnapNames.com, and finally, I spent 79 USD to get it back. Then I noticed that SnapNames.com did a good (well, only from business perspective) to have 10 million domain transaction per year. Pretty amazing.

1 Comments

I had a domain name expire and some outfit bought it. They want $1688. for me to buy it back.

They still have it.

Off to PVG in 2 hours.

Bye,

George

— george747 · 2007-07-06 03:49

The Name of Chinese People

Wed, 04 Jul 2007 22:45:23 +0800

After I wrote about Chinese Characters (which is an interesting topic), let me talk about the name of people in China. Just as the last article, I “intentionally” over-simplify it since 1) how can it be possible to tell the “complete” story with such a short answer 2) why people need to understand that details when they are first exposed to such topics.

What’s in the Name?

I chatted with Chris the other day about giving naming to my son - it was not an easy task. I asked: Do you have explicit meaning in English names? I assume there is no for most names, and the choice is just about pronunciation and because people who are named with this name. (Is this true?)

Backup of Deleted Templates

Wed, 04 Jul 2007 12:36:26 +0800

VBScript Comment IP

Filed as archives/commentip.vbs

On Error Resume Next

Set vis = CreateObject(“Scripting.Dictionary”)

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Category News Feeding VBScript

Filed as

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If LCase(strCategory) = LCase("<$MTCategoryLabel$>") Then s= s + “<a href=<$MTEntryLink$>><$MTEntryTitle$>**** <$MTEntryDate format="%B %d”$>****
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China's Social Resources

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 23:30:02 +0800

This morning, I took one morning leave to go to hospital to inject the immune for my son. He is one month old now - exactly one month. Due to Chinese tradition, people often celebrate the date with a ceremony similar to the wedding ceremony - after one month, the month, and the children (and the father, of cause) should already recovered from the initial “disorder” to the normal life. This seems to be good timing. We didn’t do it. We went to hospital this morning. The second round of immune injection started from today.

Contact Me

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 22:13:01 +0800

Thank you for spending time on my “little blog”. I hope you enjoy reading the articles.

If you want to contact me, just send me an email at

jianshuo at hotmail dot com

I check my email daily, and your email will be read (if it does not mistakenly put into the Junk Mail folder of my Hotmail).

The best way to contact me is via email, but if it is important or urgent, you can also reach me via:

Writing Some Codes Tomorrow

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 00:25:51 +0800

During our code review today at office, I suddenly realize there are many technical dreams I have once had but didn’t fulfill it.

When I demonstrate the data-aware controls, and the architect, I recalled the time I started to learn C#, and all kinds of other language. I always wanted to

Write a language - I mean, some really productive language like PHP, or C#.

I thought I am not interested it any longer after my shift from technical field to business field in 2003, but today, I am re-assured that I want to do it. It brings me a lot of happiness.

Nanpu Bridge was Closed Shortly

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 11:41:50 +0800

This morning, when I drove from Pudong to Puxi on the Nanpu Bridge, I saw there is no car on the opposite of the Nanpu Bridge. This is very strange, since in rush hours, it is unbelievable there is no single car there, for that long.

When when I approach the Puxi side, I found policeman were there, and there are policemen to block the cars from all directions. In short, the Nanpu Bridge was closed for a short period of time this morning.

Keep Walking

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 23:40:52 +0800

Recently, I started to learn management and marketing. It seems to be another interesting field besides coding and technology. :-)

I am reading the book named Marketing Management and Drucker’s The Management Practices. Interesting books. It takes some time to get familiar with this field, but I am keep walking…

4 Comments

Great, jianshuo. A good manager should know more field other than coding and technology :)

Waiting for more messages about management and marketing.

— 502forever · 2007-06-26 20:52

I am a univesity student in management college the book your read i also stu now .hope you can offer more message about it,and i can share you sence of after reading

— peidongyu · 2007-06-28 13:21

jianshuo ，可以介绍一个USA的摩天大楼论坛给我吗？或关于前卫建筑的论坛。我在网上搜了半天都没找到。。谢谢。

— jw023 · 2007-06-28 18:28

The man who has made up his mind to win will never say "Impossible". I am majoring in human resources management ,finding that management needs theoretics and practice,however, practice is more important. I am always considering that management exists in everywhere .Everyting in our lives seems to comes along wiht the idea of management.We should know how to combine management with handling everyting!:)

— kalinler · 2007-07-02 23:59

Chinese Characters

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 22:55:58 +0800

I blogged about China for 5 years but still didn’t mention the Chinese character. How can it be possible. Let me talk about the Chinese characters today.

It is Completely Different from English

I am not talking about the language itself, I am talking about the characters. Is there a difference?

The written language of many language, like English and German, are record of the pronunciation. You see the written language, and chances are, you can pronounce it.

The Dinner - Part IV - Elected Officials

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 23:54:54 +0800

Let me break down the article into several parts to avoid being too long in one entry.

Elected Officials

If you ask me about a new word or new concept I learnt from the dinner, it will be a very normal and not-noticeable phrase - elected officials. I know this seems strange for people in U.S. Let me tell you why.

The dinner was of a lot of fun. We chatted many topics, and I didn’t notice significant difference from my chat with people from business world. People in the business world (I mean from U.S) talked a lot about politics, and people in the politics world talked a lot about business. :-)

Yifan has Hukou Today

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 16:25:03 +0800

First, the name of my baby is finally determined. We decided to call him Wang Yifan 王逸凡. Out of all the name, we like this name best and there is no bad similiar meaning related to it. We are happy to announce his name. The english name is Yifan Wang…

Second, he got his Hukou today.

In China, everyone must have a Hukou (refer to Hukou System in China). It is a residential permit that bind someone to a piece of land and restrict free move from one location to another. As I decribed in my previous article, this stupid system is not as powerful as 20 years ago, but it is still in effect, so my darling has to register with the police to get his Hukou. I did it today.

The Dinner - Part III - Government or Party?

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 10:27:18 +0800

*This is the part III of my dinner last night with mayors, city councils, and executives from city league and NCUCR…

During our talk, we realized when people tried to understand the politics in China, the major problem or source of confusion is about the structure of government, party, and legalization system.

People use the “government” to refer to anything that seems from the “government” - such as the government setup the great firewall, or the government issued this rule. The reality is, there is a distinct difference between the “government” and the “party”. Typically, the people holding government positions also holds party positions, and the two organization share similar people but they are still different.

The Dinner - Part II - NCUSR Delegation

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 09:38:29 +0800

Well. I wake up in the morning (at 8:30 AM). I believe the delegate has already assembled at the lobby of hotel and heading to Suzhou. And me? The baby was like a alarm clock - he cried exactly at 1:00 AM, 2:00 AM, 3:00 AM, and I wake up to take care of him. Pretty tired today.

The NCUSR Delegation

This is the second time I met with Jan Berris from National Committee of US-China Relationships. I recorded our last gather on June 9, 2006 one year and two weeks ago (see? the benefit of having a blog).

Wonderful Night with Mayors from U.S.

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 23:05:31 +0800

Please note that I archived this entry under “West Meets East” category.

I am just back from a wonderful night with some great persons from the delegation of National League of Cities/League of California Cities, and National Committee on United States-China Relations. I just used one not-so-accurate word to keep the title short.

To be more exact, I should not be so short about saying Mayors. There are mayors from Sacramento (Heather), Bluffton (Ted), Riverside (Ron) and Council members from San Diego (Jim), Madison (Cynthia), and executives or attorney from the National League of Cities, and League of California… Of cause I met with the great bridge between the two counties - Jan Berris, from National Committee on US-China Relationships… Oh. and we have Haisong who introduced me to the group.

Arranging Hong Kong - Xian - Beijing Trip

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 22:56:23 +0800

Readers asked me about how to arrange a trip in China. I understand that many tourist will do an around-China tour, so most of the tour is connected between multiple points, like Hong Kong to Xi’an, to Beijing, to Shanghai, and then back to San Francisco - something like this.

Let me rest assure you something.

You can buy tickets like this.

Some worries that the multi-stop tickets are more expensive. Well. I don’t think it is the case. Since most of the tickets are single trips, and round trip is typically the same price as double the single-trip. So don’t worry.

Pre-Paid GPRS Sim Card in China

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 22:50:20 +0800

Problem to solve:

Visiting China for a short period of time, and GPRS is critically important.

Solution

After you arrive in China (don’t need to worry about it. There are soooo many sellers about the SIM card at airport or at hotel), get a Shenzhouxing pre-paid SIM card from China Mobile. With the card, you have immediate access of GPRS (nothing is needed). However, be very cautious that the default plan is very expensive.

Power Plugs on Train?

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 22:38:10 +0800

Traveling in China via train is a good idea to experience the scenary of China and to form an idea about the relative locations and difference between the cities. But the problem is the Power Plugs. The common questions are: do they have power plugs on trains.

I don’t know about all trains, because it varies from train to train and the facilities changes quickly. I don’t want to mislead you with wrong information. Here is what I know.

Setup a Blog like This?

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 22:22:41 +0800

Many people asked me how to setup the similiar blog like this under their own domain and asked for price to setup a blog, and asked how much effort it needs.

My most frequent answer was, go to blogger.com and setup a blog there. Then setup the blog to publish your own domain via FTP. Just share your FTP user name and password with blogger, and then it is under your own domain.

Journal of Today

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 22:15:46 +0800

From time to time, I just want to record one day of my life - recording every single day seems boring, but to record once every several month makes sense since the life and pace may change dramatically over time. I am recording this for myself, so after many years, I can look back at see what kind of life I am leading today.

Wake Up

At 6:00, or earlier, I wake up. The baby was making noises - not crying, but just that kind of sounds that convinced me that he was not comfortable. This is his 18th day in this world. When Wendy feeds him, I follow asleep again, and wake up the second time around 8:00 AM. Early morning, and I still have time.

Where to Buy Genuine Software in Shanghai?

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 17:11:12 +0800

People asked me about where to buy Software in Shanghai?

I assume they are asking about buying Genuine Software.

Why? Because there are fake software selling on so many streets and video-audio stores, but there are really very small amount of stores that sells Real Genuine Software. I assume radio of the place to sell pivated software to genuine is at least 100:1.

OK. This is the first time we complained about the lack of IP protection in China, but this is not the topic. Let me promote genuine software by starting talking about where to buy it.

Difficulties as a Foreign Visitor

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 16:57:20 +0800

I am back from the chaos (happy chaos) brought by the baby boy, and getting back to the normal life. Well, you can never say its “normal” life again, since it is so different.

I am back to the top of “Events in Shanghai that affect my life”.

Here is this kind of topic.

What is the Biggest Headache to be a Foreign Visitor in Shanghai?

Zhao Ning from Shanghai Travel Times called and sent me an email about a topic: Foreign Visitors Facing Problems in Shanghai. In that article, the author listed many common problems foreign visitors face in Shanghai:

Happy (New) Father's Diary

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 23:11:07 +0800

Didn’t update the blog as often as before - very normal for a new father - my night time was occupied (while, maybe attracted is the more exact word) by the little boy. It happens that these weeks are the busiest week at work, so I didn’t have time to write an entry for many days - even failed to check some comments.

OK. My thoughts about these days.

Sweet!

Name of the Baby - Part II

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 22:35:27 +0800

The dilemma (as Carroll put it) I am facing for the name continues. The good thing is, I still have time, but the more we think about it, the harder it seems to make a decision. The more you care about something, the slower the progress is, and the harder it is.

Wendy and I came out several candidate names. Let us share them here, and if you can read Chinese, let us know what do you feel about the name - let me do it just as a usability test.

Name of the Baby

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 23:33:37 +0800

We are still thinking back and forth about the name of the baby. We are not going to give him an English yet (this is why), and there are at least 6 candidate names that we are still not able to decide yet. To name a baby is maybe the hardest thing in the world, just because it is such a big responsibility. Maybe, compared to raising him up, this is still a very small piece. :-)

Pictures of my Newly-Born Baby

Sun, 10 Jun 2007 15:09:08 +0800

It has been exactly one week (7 days!) since I posted my last entry about the arrival of our baby. I believe everyone (especially experienced parents) understands what I did - the first week of the boy is too precious that I don’t want to leave him for a second. Today is the 8th day (one hour ago at 1:15 PM) for him, and I believe I should at least post some photos - a lot of people are asking for it - and share what I feel. How can it be possible for a blogger to skip this chapter?

My Baby Arrives

Sat, 02 Jun 2007 23:47:27 +0800

At 1:30 pm today (June 2, 2007), my baby boy was born at International Heping Women and Children Hospital. He is 3526g in weight (or 7 Jin), healthy and lovely.

77 Comments

congrats!

haha...ramdomly surfing around and happy to see this great news!

— Artemis · 2007-06-03 11:02

Jian Shuo

Wow, that's fantastic news. Congratulations on the arrival of your baby boy. :>))

— Shrek7 · 2007-06-03 11:16

congrats to you!

— Confach · 2007-06-03 11:24

Congratulations!

— rink · 2007-06-03 11:33

Congratulations!

— rink · 2007-06-03 11:33

Congratulations!

— lang · 2007-06-03 11:59

A big congrat to you and Wendy!! I didn't hear you mention about expecting a baby!! Do fathers get pathernity leaves in China so they can spend some time learning how to care for the newly born and their wives?

TW

— tw · 2007-06-03 12:22

CONG~!

— 地瓜 · 2007-06-03 12:29

Congrats to having a baby boy!!

— Quinn Hu · 2007-06-03 12:34

HEY, CONGRATULATIONS!!!! for both proud parents of your "PUYI" (am I correct remembering Chinese terms referring to a boy??) Anyways, I'm pretty sure you'll both enjoy the new bundle of joy you have now....

For, JSW > 'am not scaring you, but surely fatherhood is a big responsibility, not only for the baby but to your wife as well... GOOD LUCK & my wishes to your family.///

an avid reader of your blog (since I became a frequent visitor of Shanghai...)

— momsypie · 2007-06-03 12:57

CONGRATULATIONS...!

Have you decide the name for your new born baby?

— DC · 2007-06-03 13:22

Congratulations! Pictures!!

— DKwan · 2007-06-03 13:34

Congratulations!

— Miikka · 2007-06-03 13:50

Long time no visiting of your page, but right TODAY I see your happy news !

Tons of congratulations from me and Xiuying !!!!!

Hope to see photos of the wonder boy soon :-)

Remember to spend a lot of time with Wendy and the boy.

Time passes SO quickly.

— carsten · 2007-06-03 14:06

Wow, your baby!

Congratulations!

Don't take photos with flash on, may be harm to your baby's eyes.

— iWorm · 2007-06-03 14:07

Congratulations!

I was born the same hospital many many years ago. Now I am father of two little ones. Casten is abolutely right, do spend more time with him, you won't regret it.

— BLUEKITE · 2007-06-03 16:26

great! good news.

— dimitry · 2007-06-03 17:11

congratulations! To be good father is not a piece of cake,so stay with ur baby and wendy as long as u can ,meawhile, dont forget to let us know the interesting things of your baby!

— lena · 2007-06-03 18:13

Boy! boy! O...

— John · 2007-06-03 20:19

contragulations:)

— femto · 2007-06-03 20:20

Congratulations!

— jackie · 2007-06-03 22:03

so happy for you and your wife! from now on your life belongs to someone else so act accordingly! congratulations and where are the cigars?

— solopolo · 2007-06-03 22:11

gongxigongxi，建硕也当爹了....

— zheng · 2007-06-03 23:15

Congratulations to Wendy and you!

— RC · 2007-06-03 23:40

Congradulations!

Dear Jianshuo:

It is so surprised to know the good news.

Congratulations! :)

— Air(丽娟） · 2007-06-04 00:32

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!! Such exciting news, Jian Shuo. I am wildly excited for you. No one could possibly prepare you for what will happen to your heart in the next few months. It's simply impossible to understand until it actually happens. You and Wendy will be wonderful parents, and that little baby is blessed to have found you for his family. Please give Wendy a hug from me, OK? And gently rub the top of his head on behalf of his Honorary Extra Grandmother in California. Much love to you all!

— Carroll · 2007-06-04 00:32

Yeah, too! I thought you'd written about Wendy expecting, but I didn't know it was so soon! Congratulations to you two!!! Yeah

:-)

— swany · 2007-06-04 07:59

Congratulations on the arrival of the new life, maybe we'll see more interesting posts afterwards :)

— cube316 · 2007-06-04 10:37

Congratulations!!!!

— ZJ · 2007-06-04 11:23

Congratulations! Jianshuo

— Victor · 2007-06-04 11:44

恭喜恭喜！

咋没照片？

— bingfeng · 2007-06-04 12:13

Congratulate you and Wendy!

— Luke · 2007-06-04 12:50

Congratulations!

— Surrey · 2007-06-04 13:18

Congratulations, and looking forward to see little Wangjianshuo's pic:)

PS, this is Elaine from IKEA!

— Elaine Liu · 2007-06-04 13:42

congrats!!!

— little wang · 2007-06-04 14:59

Congratulations!! Happy toddler years.

— Venkat · 2007-06-04 15:10

congrats!!!

— oncerest · 2007-06-04 15:54

yeah, big congratulations to you and wendy!

— haxi · 2007-06-04 17:26

Really happy to know the news.

Wish all the best to the baby.

— Yanni · 2007-06-04 17:45

Auguri a te e alla mamma !!!!!

this are the italian words for congratulations to you and to the mamy.

A new journey starts...

ciao

Simonetta

— Simonetta · 2007-06-04 18:17

Congratulations!!!恭喜！！！

我是华东五市导游! i am a tour guide in nanjing ,suzhou,hangzhou and shanghai. anybody who'd like to vist these cities ,just call me 13770922258 .will make your visit comfortable and enjoyable!!!

— david lee · 2007-06-04 18:20

Well done happy parents!

— vikykim · 2007-06-04 18:40

Congratulations! I'm sure there will be more of your baby boy topics in your blog, so looking forward to that!

— caroline · 2007-06-04 21:53

Congratulation on your new born, do take a leave to stay with the new arrival and your love once.

— stephen · 2007-06-04 23:00

Hi, Jianshuo. Just got your fantastic news. Congratulations.

Happy for you :)

— 502forever · 2007-06-04 23:19

BTW, can you disclose the name of the new born?

— stephen · 2007-06-04 23:23

Huan Ying Jia Ru Fu-Qin Hang Lie. :)

— Mingliang · 2007-06-05 00:03

Congratulations!

— Jon · 2007-06-05 00:54

Cong!

— Jerry · 2007-06-05 08:04

Congratulations on the new addition to the family and very best wishes to you and Wendy for a lifetime of joy and happiness with your son!

— Ali · 2007-06-05 08:10

Congratulations on the new addition to the family and very best wishes to you and Wendy for a lifetime of joy and happiness with your son!

— Ali · 2007-06-05 08:11

Congratulations JianShuo! You have a lot to be proud of! We are right behind with a new one arriving at the end of the year.

— Michael · 2007-06-05 11:23

Congratulations! I am very happy for you. Take good care of Wendy and the little boy.

— bigbro · 2007-06-05 11:23

Congratulations!

— zzk · 2007-06-05 15:02

Ccongratulations to you!

— JERRY · 2007-06-05 17:16

Ccongratulations to you!

— JERRY · 2007-06-05 17:16

wish your baby happy and healthy!

— li wonderful · 2007-06-05 18:09

Wow another pig baby. ZHU BAO BAO...

Congrats on A wonderful KID...

ps: I wont ask about the hospital bills :(

— andrew · 2007-06-05 18:12

Congrats

— Caiwangqin · 2007-06-05 18:29

I am surprised you have not mentioned the condition of your love once Wendy who gave birth of your lovely baby boy.

— stephen · 2007-06-05 23:06

Congratulations!! It must be a great feeling!!

Enjoy and take care.

— Noor · 2007-06-05 23:40

Congratulations, Jianshuo!

Best wishes to the whole family. Your life will be changed, for the better!

— Ji Village News · 2007-06-06 00:19

Congratulations Jianshuo!! :-)

— Johnny Zhai · 2007-06-06 01:02

Congratulations! Do ask for help when you feel you are running out of breath. Taking care of both new baby and Mom are lots of work.

— ILH · 2007-06-06 03:05

contragulations:)

you became father.

— dek · 2007-06-06 10:02

contragulations:)

you became father.

— dek · 2007-06-06 10:02

What is his name? : )

— Jennifer · 2007-06-06 11:15

Congratulations to you and Wendy! It is a new milestone in your life :-)

— Wang · 2007-06-06 13:09

Congratulations to you and your wife. Welcome to the club.

— Michael · 2007-06-06 23:45

Hi Jian Shuo,

A baby boy!!!Congratulation to you & Wendy.

— Joyce · 2007-06-07 00:42

Jianshuo,

Great to find that you have left the blog without any new postings for 5 days now !!!

This means that there ARE something more important in life than the blog.

Continue like this, until Wendy releases you from her side.

We can wait, don't worry !

Anyhow, 'worried a little, I hope that nothing is wrong with your baby.

Please confirm !

— carsten · 2007-06-07 23:01

congratulations on becoming a father

— gangwanwan · 2007-06-09 12:27

Gongxi gongxi.

I'm a new father too so I know the thrill.

— dallascao · 2007-06-09 14:16

Congratulations on the birth of your son! My first child, a son, was born on June 2, 29 years ago.

— Carolyn · 2007-06-11 06:07

Cong Xi Nimen de Xin Baobao'r! Many happy returns in the days ahead ...

— Jet So · 2007-06-11 23:24

Congratulations...

— Jing Yuan · 2007-06-18 09:22

— coach outlet · 2011-02-24 12:52

Trip Plan Case Study - Shanghai - Hangzhou

Thu, 31 May 2007 23:41:39 +0800

This is a case study of a typical trip, along with my suggestions. (The questions were edited a little bit - just some editorial changes).

I read your blog. It’s very interesting, especially because I’ll visit Shanghai in next 10 days. Well, I’m Indonesian Chinese overseas, not fluetly Pu Tong Hua speaking, so will be though back to mainland :)

I have free time before my course, I’ll come to Shanghai at 2nd Jun morning. I plan to go Hangzhou, to visit Xi Hu and Long Jing, then the next day go to Suzhou, do you have any recommened place to visit in here?

Jinjiang Inn at Pudong Airport - Part II

Tue, 29 May 2007 23:43:27 +0800

This is the second part of my first part on Jinjiang Inn at Pudong Airport.

There are basically only two hotels near the Pudong Airport - within walking distance - one is a little bit more expensive - the Ramada Pudong Airport Hotel, and the other is cheaper, the Jinjiang Inn.

Here are the questions about the hotel:

We have some questions about the Jin Jiang Inn and we hope you will be so kind to give some information.

Beijing to Shanghai, Z9 or T31

Sun, 27 May 2007 22:45:01 +0800

Hi,

Read you’re blog and hoped i can ask you a question.

We are going to China and are going to travel from Beijing to Hangzhou. I

understand there are 2 fast traine, the Z9 and T31. The ticket salesguy from

the internet tells me there are no 2 person soft sleepers available on the Z9.

They are available on the T31. Is the Z9 as new and nic as the Z13 ? Is the T31

Pudong Airport to Ramada Plaza Hotel

Sun, 27 May 2007 11:03:31 +0800

Today, I want to help a visit to Shanghai to find out his/her hotel - Ramada Plaza at 700 Jiujiang Road.

It is obviously impossible for me to answer all the questions related to a hotel, and it is boring for my reader, but the motivation behind every entry like this (I mean post answers for a very specific question) is, I believe details in trip planning helps more than just overall introduction. MAYBE in the details, you can find some good information about this city. Let me try this one:

Visited Bund Again Today

Fri, 25 May 2007 23:50:38 +0800

People may guess people in Paris will visit the Eiffel Tower everyday, right? I guess the truth is not, just as people in New York don’t visit the Time Square or the Empire State Tower everyday.

It is the same for me - a normal resident in Shanghai. If there is only one place you should visit during your trip to Shanghai, it is the Bund. It is the standard portrait photo for Shanghai, as appears in all postcard, or travel guides.

Shanghai World Expo 2010 Time

Fri, 25 May 2007 00:04:27 +0800

In case you don’t know yet, the exact time of the Shanghai World Expo 2010 is

May 1 2010 to Oct 31, 2010

I didn’t know this before (the previous news I got was just in the year of 2010).

Are you planning to come?

7 Comments

Will the prices of everything be gigantic? What if we came

right after the Expo, say in November of 2010? Won't there be

great signts and exhibitions still around? What do you advise?

— zjemi · 2007-05-25 04:52

Greetings Wang... Nice website.... Shanghai looks nice!

— Thomas · 2007-05-25 09:08

Hey Jian Shou,

I just want to drop you a note. Thanks for creating this informative website. I live in the US but go to Shanghai quite often for a EMBA program at Shanghai Jiaotong University. I would love to move to China permanently. Do you have any suggestions for expat jobs? By the way, does it get really hot in the summer in Shanghai? Thanks.

jax

— Jax · 2007-05-25 10:33

i am currently living in shanghai, and i hope to be around for expo 2010. i was in lisbon for expo 1998 (the theme was the oceans) and it was amazing! great things happen when countries get together to show their culture and history. :)

by the way, nice blog. it was really helpful to get to know shanghai prior to moving here. keep up the good work!

— ana · 2007-05-25 11:00

And I was living in Spain during the Seville Expo in 1992, and it was OK.

If you are going to the Shanghai Expo, please sign up at Upcoming.org:

http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/154578/

Hehe.

— Micah · 2007-05-25 11:53

This website gives the most updated information about the 2010 Expo in Shanghai. Design of the pavilions and architectural discussion is our main focus. We daily update the participants list and developments regarding the pavilions. Any additional information about the Shanghai World exhibition 2010 is welcomed by our team to make www.shanghai-expo.com the most informing platform on the web.

— Shanghai Expo · 2007-09-08 14:03

www.expo2010china.hu website gives the most updated information about design of the pavilions the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.

— vilagkiallitas.hu · 2008-06-17 07:18

Find out Bigger Images on this Site

Tue, 22 May 2007 20:51:54 +0800

I often get request to republish my article. Normally, I will give the permission for reprint. However, to send out the original image is a big headache to me.

Since most of my images are hosted on flickr, and I stored my original image on the server. You can get it on the server.

This is the method to find out the original location.

View the page containing the image you are interested.

Take Taxi or Buy a Car?

Mon, 21 May 2007 23:00:50 +0800

There are still many people debating about which is more cost-effective, taking taxi or buying a car.

There are many people claim that taking taxi is cheaper, since you don’t have to buy the car, and don’t need to pay all the related fees, including but not limited to: road construction fee, annual checking fee, gas, fine (if you drive violately), parking fee, and repair/maintance fee.

There are other people claiming that buying a car is cheaper in Shanghai, since taxi fair is way too expensive compared to the gas cost - 2.1 rmb/km, and no one will take a taxi to go camping or outting.

MIT's Open Courseware

Mon, 21 May 2007 14:15:29 +0800

It has been there for a long time and I am trying to get some idea from these courses.

This one seems good:

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Sloan-School-of-Management/index.htm

1 Comments

good one!

— QiHui · 2007-05-21 22:37

Chinese Stock Market is More Crazy

Sun, 20 May 2007 23:09:42 +0800

Just 4 months after I posted my last comments (Chinese Stock Market is Crazy), the Shanghai Stock Index raised from 3000 points to 4000 points, and keep increasing.

That means, the stock index increased from 998.23 in June 2005 to 4040 in May 2007 - 4 times increase!

What a crazy market.

Shanghai is an economic center for China, and everyone is involved. I am back from a wedding dinner tonight, and on the table, the major topic was “stock”!

Back to Technical World

Sat, 19 May 2007 23:52:07 +0800

I am trying to get back to the technical world a little bit.

With a technical background, I left the technical world for many years (maybe 4 years?). Recently, during the code review, I found I should be more involved in architecture and developing the team. So I am back.

In the last week, I wrote many PHP sample code myself, and finally, I tried to write a basic classified application from scratch up, in 1 hour - I repeated several times, and continously find new ways to do old things. I am happy about that.

Shanghai Maglev Timetable

Thu, 17 May 2007 23:45:24 +0800

According to the Maglev Corp offical website, here is the schedule of Maglev:

Pudong Long Yang Road Station <—-> Pudong International Airport

Time:

Long Yang Road -> Pudong Airport 7:00 - 21:00

Pudong Airport -> Long Yang Road 7:02 - 21:02

It runs at interval of 20 minutes sharp.

It means the train from Long Yang Road to Pudong Airport starts at

7:00, 7:20, 7:40, 8:00 ….. 20:40, 21:00

Please note that the top speed of Maglev is 430 km/h, which you will experience at day time. In early morning and late night, the speed will be reduced to 300 km/h for safty reasons.

Shanghai not as Safe as Before

Wed, 16 May 2007 23:57:52 +0800

The other day, when Wendy and I was talking about the safty in Shanghai, we both agree that Shanghai is not as safe as before.

There are several reasons for us to have that kind of feeling.

There are more and more (bad) beggar and other misbehaved people on the street. Please note I mean bad beggars (they almost do robbery instead of just begging).
There are more murder cases on newspaper than before.

How to Get to Dishui Lake (Dishuihu)

Tue, 15 May 2007 23:01:39 +0800

Dennis about where Dishui Lake (Dishuihu) is. That is the most beautiful lake in Shanghai - because 1) it is big, 2) There are very few people there - both are very hard to find in Shanghai.

Here is how to get there.

By Driving

By driving, it is very straight forward.

No matter where you are (I mean within outer ring), get to the nearest A20 first - the outer ring road.

Big Circle Roads South of PVG?

Sun, 13 May 2007 23:18:32 +0800

I have all kinds of interesting people reading this blog. Among them is a pilot GC (I am not sure if he is comfortable to expose his name, so let me use initials before I asked). He said he flies big planes to PVG frequently (a real frequent flyer). He noticed my trip to U.S. via United Airlines, and checked his logbook to see if he was my pilot - what a pity that we missed each other (or I missed his flight) several days both way.

Congrats to George!

Sat, 12 May 2007 23:14:53 +0800

Congrats to George and Iris for their wedding today. I share their happiness and best wishes!

I was happy to attend their wedding at beautiful Gaoyou Road in Xujiahui, and took the chance to reunion with fellow Microsoft guys.

When I meet Annie, and exchanged name, she asked: “Are you THAT Wang Jian Shuo?” I said, “Yes. I am the Wang Jian Shuo of Wangjianshuo.com”. :-)

4 Comments

Wow. Name recognition! You're a bonafide celebrity now, Jian Shuo :-)

— Carroll · 2007-05-13 01:46

Ohh you's been there as well? miss to see you that day. :-D

— Johnny Zhai · 2007-05-13 20:22

Johnny, I was there. It is a pity that we missed each other. Let's try to find other time to gather, maybe at Hellen's wedding?

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-05-13 22:37

not receive Helen's wedding invite..;-)

Maybe we could do the *team reunite* again in the beginninig of June if you have time?

— Johnny Zhai · 2007-05-14 22:16

Flowers in Spring, in my Garden

Fri, 11 May 2007 23:49:27 +0800

This is late spring, or arguably early summer. Look at these flowers in my garden. All the pictures were taken in the 24 Hours of Flickr event on May 5, 2007.

Shall I create some post cards with these photos, and nice flowers?

Flickr Meetup This Saturday

Fri, 11 May 2007 23:20:51 +0800

Shanghai Sky sent me a note in Flickr about the Flickr Meetup This Saturday (tomorrow). I’d like to spread out the word.

Time: Saturday, May 12, 7:00 PM

Location: La Bella Cafe, 127 Yongfu Road, Shanghai

If you are interested, you are suggested to go. Here is more about the photo competition/auction/charity/event/group…

BTW, I love the phrase of “China Next”. There are a lot for us to expect for the next stage of China.

Living with Bad Environment?

Thu, 10 May 2007 23:54:43 +0800

Google is facing big challenges in China. Google was talking about the “don’t be evil” philosophy, which I respect a lot. However, how to make it happen in China is not an easy answer.

The question I asked Kai Fu twice was: “You always talk about Google’s principle. When in certain geography (China) and certain period of time (these 10 years) that the principle conflict with user experience, what is your choice?”

Airport Construction Fee for Connection Flight?

Tue, 08 May 2007 21:00:47 +0800

Hello! First, thank you for your informative site, it has been very useful.

I travelling to China this week. My flight arrives to Shanghai Pudong on May 13. The same evening I’ll be flying from Shanghai (Pudong also) to Wuhan. I was wondering about the construction fee you mentioned at your site. Do I have to pay it before entering a certain area?

I suppose there are some waiting areas (before the check-in)? I’m travelling alone and have to wait the whole day for my flight to Wuhan. I think it’s wise not to leave the airport so that I don’t miss the flight.

Street Markets in Shanghai

Mon, 07 May 2007 23:09:38 +0800

15 Comments

May I know where is this place? It is interesting, I would like to visit the street market in Shanghai. Thanks

— Joyce · 2007-05-08 00:51

have you informed the pedlars that you was to show their photos on the net?did they agree?

I'm sorry to ask this question,but i do scare that one day I happen to be in your photos when I'm working on the street ;)

— Yee · 2007-05-08 11:46

Joyce, it is a normal street - the Jin Xiu Road. You can find many such streets in Shanghai...

Yee, I didn't ask, since I thought this is the typical "street scene" instead of portrait picture. Anyone has different oppinions?

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-05-08 20:38

Yee, did you ask the same to those parparazzi?

According to freedom of press, people have the liberty to take any photo in the public areas and post it anywhere they like it unless the subjects in the photo for are used for commercial or defamation purpose.

— stephen · 2007-05-08 23:25

Hey, I live close to Jinxiu Rd! We have a similar street market on Yinghua Rd, but no youtiao :(

— Micah · 2007-05-09 00:17

Thanks, JS. I have discovered a similar street market near Fuzhou Rd today. I will go there during weekend.

— Joyce · 2007-05-09 01:36

The photos looks great. It's full of Chinese feature~

— 502forever · 2007-05-09 13:16

JS, the same feeling with Yee. I do not want to be in any one's picture without my permission, no matter which purpose he took picture.

It's very common question that everybody will face to. More and more cameras are on the stree now....

Maybe you can rise up a topic about privacy, it will be a good topic.

— James · 2007-05-09 14:13

Dear Sir!

My name is ELena Lybarskaya and I am an editor of a Russian magazine that is totally devoted to the east. I find your entries very interesting and would like to ask for your permission to publish some of them (specifically - the entr about the supermarket prices) in our magazine. I would really aprecciate your consent.

]

Elena

— Elena · 2007-05-10 01:28

The general rule in the United States is that you can freely record anything you can reasonably see from a public space. There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in public space. So, I can take a picture of you from the street, but I cannot go into your yard to get a picture. Of course, that's also trespassing.

Илина, does your magazine have a website?

— Давид · 2007-05-10 01:43

today is Thursday, it is fine. i would like to visit this place, can you tell me where is the place, thanks!

PS: by the way, where are you live in?

— anonymous · 2007-05-10 10:05

So nice to see Russian letters

concerning the website of my magazine: no, we do not have one yet as we are preparing the first issue and everything is "work in progress". The magazine is an intellectual glossy, covering all aspects of lifestyles in the east as well a history and spirituality. It has appeared due to the fact that East, Orient or whatever you call it attract passion and interest now in Russia from a spiritual as well as contemporary (markets, fashion, gadgets, etc.) points of view.

— elena · 2007-05-10 20:24

Very nice pictures. Maybe you could've used some b&w shots to capture only the "happenings" at the market (like in the picture of the woman pouring milk).

greetings from brazil!

— Phill · 2007-05-10 22:37

i'm coming to Shanghai the next september, business as usually :(

I know that Xiang Yang market is closed now, have you suggestions about new places where to find garments or make good bargains... ?

Many people talk about the Tecnology museum in Pudong....is correct?

Thanks mates

— gianni · 2007-05-28 18:28

Hi there,

I do not know if you have ever heard of AVO:MARKET, a site dedicated to street markets around the world. But after reviewing your images, I highly recommend you check them out and submit your photos.

www.avoavo.com

— AVO · 2008-08-13 00:48

24 Hours in Flickr - Part II

Sun, 06 May 2007 15:55:48 +0800

This is the 24 Hours in Flickr for my May 5, 2007.

9:34 Waking Up

9:34 Waking Up, originally uploaded by jianshuo.

In the morning, 9:34 AM Bejiing Time (GMT +8), I wake up.

This is the typical time I wake up on weekend. I agree with some kind of imagination that there should be 25 hours a day - because everyday, I want to go to bed one hour later than yesterday, and wake up 1 hour later.

Books I Like

Sun, 06 May 2007 15:44:29 +0800

DSC_0015, originally uploaded by jianshuo.

In the early morning (well, not so early, it was 9:30 AM already), I took the first photo of my 24 hour in Flickr. These are the books I like most - most of the books (the 7 on the right) was written by Alan de Botton. The rest was by Lin Yutang, and others.

2 Comments

"the result..." => "the rest..."

— foobar · 2007-05-07 07:23

I like these books ,too. Especially i like you write some feeling about these books after you read.Thanks!

— leo.lee · 2009-01-08 01:12

I Just Paid for my Second Year of Flickr

Sun, 06 May 2007 15:30:32 +0800

I just paid 24.95 USD for the second year of my Flickr Pro Account.

Flickr is a nice service. I am a loyal user. I love Flickr, and willing to sponsor them for their wonderful service.

Flickr is a good “free+premium” or premium service, isn’t it?

P.S. This is the typical way we navigate (at lease my navigation on) the web.

I want to check my 24 Hours on Flickr photos, saw the notice - 6 days to renew my account notice. Then reviewed the limitation of the free account, decided to renew, and then paid via PayPal. After that, I even wrote a blog (this entry) about the change. When I finish everything, I almost (just almost) forgot what I originally wanted to do - to check my flickr photos…

Faster Bullet Trains in China

Sat, 05 May 2007 23:25:53 +0800

I am too slow to react to this news. The 6th national wide train speed increase has been completed. Since I didn’t try the new train, it still didn’t impact my life yet. (The basic rule in this blog is to write about ’events in Shanghai that affects my life and others. I tend to write only on something that makes an impact to me).

I know there must be some very good side about this speed-up. I will talk about it after I take the train. I just want to start the discussion about how it may change the landscape of city distribution in China.

Checking-in Luggage for the Train?

Sat, 05 May 2007 12:48:54 +0800

After my previous post about train, JC asked the following question:

Hi Jian Shuo,

I love train travel, specially after reading your blog about Z train report from Beijing to Shanghai. I did train travel in Europe for my honeymoon back in 1999: Leaving from flight SFO to Paris, then took train for the rest of the trip. Paris->Milan->Lausanne->Rome->Barcelona->Paris, then flew back to SFO. We will do again in 2009 to celebrate our 10 years anniversary.

Buying Furniture in Shanghai

Fri, 04 May 2007 19:34:32 +0800

Dan shot me a SMS and asked me where did I buy the patio furniture. I believe it is because of this picture I posted yesterday

I replied with the brief location. Since this may be an interesting question for people relocating to Shanghai, let me share the answers about where I typically buy furniture in Shanghai.

Halo

For the patio furniture - the four chairs, the table, and the sun umbrella, I got it at Hola. Here is their website: http://www.hola.com.cn/. It is at the Hong Qiao Area. This is their location:

Hosted a Big Party

Thu, 03 May 2007 21:51:24 +0800

May 3, I hosted my friends in my company at home - 14 persons including me and Wendy. The house was under stress test, and so does the small IKEA seat. Pretty tired, but happy.

Let me get to the kitchen to handle all the rest of the fruits, and drinks…

It is nice to have party and we should host it more often…

When you see the picture of the bananas, they are all gone.

More AdSense Code on Site

Wed, 02 May 2007 23:03:30 +0800

4 years ago (Oct 22, 2003), I turned on Google AdSense on my blog. Oh! Time passes fast! I didn’t realize I have been using Google AdSense for almost 4 years, and that this product has been around for 4 years.

When I put my first AdSense unit to the page, I was worrying whether it hurt my users too much. I asked the question and answers (I, II) were pretty supportive. So I kept the Ad Unit on the right for the next four years.

24 Hours of Flickr

Wed, 02 May 2007 21:39:06 +0800

I decided to join the 24 Hours of Flickr on May 5, 2007. It is an intersting program - to record a typical day (Saturday) in my life, and join thousands of others around the globe to understand how life differs in each city and each country.

There are several reasons I find it interseting.

To record the daily life, maybe the details of a single day is better than many days without details.

Counting Coins with Weight

Wed, 02 May 2007 15:16:24 +0800

Read from Mvm’s blog about a totally new way to count the number of coins:

Put the 0.50 RMB coins onto the electronic scale, and weigh them. Enther the price as 132 RMB/kg and it will display the price of the coins.

For 1 RMB coins, the price is 165 RMB/kg.

This is pretty interesting. That means coins also have a price - it is much more expensive than banana, orange, or walter melon.

SJTU - No 565 in the World Ranking

Wed, 02 May 2007 12:59:17 +0800

Stephen provided an interesting link of world university ranking. SJTU = Shanghai Jiao Tong University ranked 565 in the world or 28 in Asia.

Majority of top universities are in U.S. with few in UK, and most Asia universities ranked lower.

It takes sometime for these universities to catch up. What worries me is, there is no sign of progressing in ranking, or more importantly, in the change in the universities so far.

View before May Holiday

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 19:13:52 +0800

This is the view outside my window - the view before the May holiday. The cloud came and rain is not far away.

Photograph by Vince Zhen

In the middle is the Shentong Plaza. Before it are the buildings in Shanghai Jiaotong University. You can see the playing ground on the left and the libary (the white tall building). On the right is the People’s Square area….

7 Comments

Nice view, but would even better if the picture is larger.

— Kenneth · 2007-04-30 22:39

The bigger picture is here:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/222/478195204_0a201f8805_o.jpg

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-05-01 00:36

Thank you Jian Shuo! Wishing you have a great holiday!

— Kenneth · 2007-05-01 02:48

You too, Kenneth!

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-05-01 16:24

Shanghai Jiaotong University is renowned in compiling the Academic Ranking of World Universities.

http://www.webometrics.info/

Many students use this guide as the yardstick in selection of the university.

— stephen · 2007-05-02 03:50

Really a very good view~~~

I love it...

— Simon · 2007-08-01 14:45

NICE BLOG~

— Mealler · 2008-03-20 19:23

Very Tired Recently

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 23:52:04 +0800

Recently, I am very tired. There are many things to think about, and got cold a little bit. Let me take a short break tonight.

May holiday is approaching. May 1 to May 7 is the official holiday in China. All business closes. Don’t worry. It is the best season for hotels, shopping malls, airlines, and consumer businesses. They are still open.

BTW, I hope I have the equipment like Justin: It must be fun.

Areas to Visit in Shanghai

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 23:39:19 +0800

This is the typical day-to-day questions I got in my hotmail email box. You know what, I am going to pick this one and answer it publicly.

Hello Jian Shuo,

I have come across your bog and I’ve been reading it for hours. Thanks for sharing all that wonderful information about your country.

I apologise for taking the liberty to bother you with questions. But next week I will have the opportunity to visit china for the first time in my life. I will be spending 10 days in shanghai mainly for work, but before my work sessions start I have 3 free days, and I was wondering, since I will be spending the rest of the week in shanghai and surely visiting most of the city sites, what would be your recommendation for a 2/3 day trip.

How I drive in Shanghai - Part II

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 23:22:18 +0800

After I drive back to home at 12:23 AM and check my blog, I saw many comments - comments from really concerned people. Calm down, please.

This is not the first time I saw this kind of situation. So take a break and let me try to explain it better. Shockr, thanks for your point. That helps a lot.

I Do Follow Rules

I did an evaluation, and believe I am absolutely the top 5% drivers who follow the rules most. Seriously. There is no question about it.

How I Drive in Shanghai?

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 23:24:42 +0800

When I talked about Reasons of Bad Traffic in Shanghai, people asked me about how I drive in Shanghai. This is a good question. Very good one. As a daily driver, and as someone who is highly concerned about traffic rules, and the chaos traffic, let me explain how I drive. I don’t want to be political correct at all - don’t expect me to tell you that I follow all traffic rules - I just want to share exactly how I drive and why. This helps better than telling everyone how I SHOULD drive.

Online Survey Need Participants

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 23:21:06 +0800

I am happy to help one reader to conduct his online survey about cross-cultural values. It seems interesting topic to me. Here is the letter.

Hello Jian Shuo,

I am a doctoral student doing cross-cultural values research and am in urgent need of help to complete my dissertation research. I have encountered a serious problem obtaining enough participants in China and am hoping that you may be able to help me. I found out a short time ago that copies of my survey were not distributed weeks ago in China as planned. Only a small amount of the data I had expected to receive by now has arrived.

Reasons of Bad Traffic in Shanghai

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 23:49:44 +0800

What are the reasons of bad traffic in Shanghai?

I believe among all the hundreds of reasons people can think of, “many people don’t know how to drive” is one - may be not the major one.

Personally, I follow the traffic rule much more after I learnt to drive. Why?

I started to understand how dangerous jaywalking is.
I started to learn traffic rules
I understand much better how annoying it is to stand in the middle of the road and slow down cars.

Back from Xiamen

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 23:35:02 +0800

I am back from the 3rd China Webmaster Forum. It was intensive two days, and we have a wonderful, wonderful Kijiji night at the event. There are too many friends and interesting people to talk with, so we always sleep at 2:00 PM (with many people still hang around and talking), and wake up early in the morning. Let me make up some sleep and then post some pictures of the trip. (I didn’t bring my camera, and will post others’ photos)

How to Get to Xiamen

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 23:42:11 +0800

I need you help to provide me some info because we are planning to do back packing there. We will depart from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok and then to Xiamen. My question is how much is the airlines/train/bus cost from Xiamen to Beijing or Shanghai? Which one is nearer from Xiamen; Beijing or Shanghai?

If we want to go to Great Wall, is it advisable if we go by ourselves or better we take tour package. Hope you can help because we are girls and this is our first time traveling to China by ourselves.

Where to Buy Tea in Shanghai

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 23:36:18 +0800

Sometimes friends ask me about where to buy something in Shanghai, like tea, food, silk, computer, mobile, or anything, you name it.

The challenge is, there are so many places to buy something, but when you ask me to figure out a single place, it is often hard to do that.

Just like this afternoon, when I am asked about “Where to buy tea?” near Xintiandi, my brain is completely empty. You know what, the only place I have immediately in my mind is either the shops in Carrefour, or in Hymall. Both are very far away.

Happy Birthday to Jia

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:00:04 +0800

Happy Birthday to Jia!

Had wonderful birthday party tonight.

2 Comments

Happy birthday Jia!

— Randy · 2007-04-18 19:50

Thanks so much. Jianshuo& Randy. This birthday is the most special birthday in my life so far. It is so happy to know you- good boss and good friends.

— Jia · 2007-04-18 21:46

Cheap Way to Visit Hangzhou

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 12:21:24 +0800

Hello, Jian Shuo

I read quite interesting information in your blog

I’m a grandmother presently staying at my children’s place in Shanghai for a few weeks

I would like to go to Hanzhou as everybody says it’s quite beautiful

Problem is I have a very little income; could you please advise me as to the cheapest way to go there and tell me whether I can see enough in one day, or to I have to stay in a hotel for one night ?

Beijing Develops Faster than Shanghai

Sat, 14 Apr 2007 21:38:08 +0800

My recent trips to Beijing gave me the impression that Beijing develops and changes much faster than Shanghai in the recent 2 years. Here are some evidence.

The third terminal is almost completed, with the third air-control tower, preparing huge traffic for 2008 Olympics.
Beijing airport to Downtown train under construction all so many metro lines
Not to mention the Olympics village area.
There are many HUGE complex completed. Like the one I visited - Huamao - near the China Trade Center - they have about 20 high-raised buildings for office and residential, and connected with underground garage.

Avoid Hong Qiao Airport on Friday Night

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 23:13:14 +0800

Everyone, if you travel to Shanghai, definitely avoid Hong Qiao Airport on Friday night. Never ever think of landing in Hong Qiao on Friday night. There is a simple reason for that - there is just no taxi that can help you get out of the airport.

Last time I used Hong Qiao Airport, it took me 40 minutes to get a taxi. That is not that bad. Today, it is much worse than last time.

Perfect Beijing Trip with CA933

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 23:50:35 +0800

This is how my typical Beijing trip starts:

There is a great flight called CA933 (Air China).

It left Shanghai Pudong Airport at 8:50 AM to Beijing and arrives at 11:20 AM. The good thing for Air China is, based on my own experience, the on time rate is much higher than China Eastern.

I should call a taxi to arrive at 7:30 AM the previous night. Do call early since last night I tried many taxi company and all their taxi were booked. The only one still have taxi is Bashi (Tel: +021-96084).

Nice Hotel in Tongli

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 01:03:17 +0800

I didn’t write about it. Wendy and I went to Tongli for a night during Saturday - arrive at late night, and stayed in a very nice small hotel there, and left early in the morning (at 8:30 AM, we are already on the high way to Shanghai).

This is my second time (and Wendy’s first time) to Tongli. As I said in my last post, Tongli is a beauty at night. I highly recommend people to stay in Tongli for the night only, and it is so beautiful when there is nobody walking in the town and all shops close.

Added Comments RSS Feed

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 23:48:08 +0800

Inspired by this post, I added the comment feeds in RSS 2.0 format to this blog.

If you want to subscribe the latest comments, use this feed: http://home.wangjianshuo.com/comments.xml

I created a new index file with “Comments RSS” as name, and comments.xml as filename. This is the content of this template.

"?> <$MTBlogName remove_html="1" encode_html="1"$>: Comments <$MTBlogURL$>
Latest comments for <$MTBlogName remove_html=“1” encode_html=“1”$>

en-us

<$MTCommentDate language=“en” format="%a, %d %b %Y %H:%M:%S"$> <$MTBlogTimezone no_colon=“1”$>

Welcome Jack to Visit my Home

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 01:24:07 +0800

Jack don’t need privacy protection. I know it, and that is the reason I used his name in title - correct me if I am wrong, Jack. :-)

Just kidding. But I had wonderful conversation and dinner with Jack Gu in my house, and we talked a lot. Let me record just a few so it reminds me to write something about it (maybe on my Chinese blog)

Internet industry analysis starts from eCommerce - according to Richard

Why I didn't Use Twitter.com Yet

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 15:32:48 +0800

I know twitter.com came. I know it is getting traction. I know it is a hot topic. And I have tried it months before. But I don’t plan to use it.

We have to agree that not every tool is right for every person, right? We have to agree that if I don’t use some service, it does not mean that this service is not useful, right?

There are many new things on the Internet, from RSS, SNS, Podcast, etc. You name it. But, I do believe in blog. In my “Internet History Book”, there are several big steps in Internet.

111 Anniversary of Jiao Tong University

Sat, 07 Apr 2007 13:16:08 +0800

Today is the 111th anniversary of Jiao Tong University. Congratulations!

Design Change (Error) of the 100 Anniversary Monument

Talking about the anniversary, it reminds me of the 100th Anniversary Monument. Look at the monument in the middle of this picture:

Photo by Jian Shuo Wang. First published under View of SJTU

If you look closely enough (well, not on this picture), on the surface of the monument, there are a lot of small stairs around it. On the back, the introduction on the stone said: “The 100 stairs reflects the 100 year history of the university”.

Justin.TV

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 10:50:07 +0800

Interesting. Look at this http://www.justin.tv/。 Richard sent me the link.

This is exactly what I am looking for. This is what exactly what I think the future blogging will be.

There is a Microsoft Research project to record everything (including sound and picture) of your life. I like this idea. I know it is not possible to process the 2G of data (daily!) with the current technology, but there must be some time it is possible.

Kijiji SJTU Office

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 23:20:35 +0800

Yesterday, I posted some picture of the view from my window in my Kijiji. It seems many people from SJTU (Shanghai Jiao Tong University) are interested in the view of the old campus. So today, let me post some pictures about our lovely office of Kijiji. I enjoy working in this office very much. These pictures were taken in Jan before we moved into the Kijiji office.

Today during a conversation with someone in the industry, we agreed there is not too much secret for a startup (like Kijiji), because it is rarely about a secret, it is all about the execution. So this is the secret place we work at. So I proudly presents the Kijiji SJTU office!

View of SJTU

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 13:52:41 +0800

SJTU = Shanghai Jiao Tong University

This is the view outside my office - the window is immediately at my left.

Sping comes, and the great grassland was full of people - in twos or threes. I believe they will be very happy about the sunshine.

13 Comments

It's so beautiful! Especially the skyline in the 3rd picture...

— liujie · 2007-04-04 14:06

It's Awesome~~. I miss SJTU

— Yanqing Chen · 2007-04-04 14:10

This is my first time to know SJTU via photographs

— shinwa · 2007-04-04 16:11

*sniff* I miss SJTU...I miss Shanghai...>_<;

— Stephanie · 2007-04-04 19:37

the angle of you is so good that i survey the SJTU as a unique sight.

— misiter · 2007-04-04 23:19

this good university have a great atmosphere about studying.

by comparison,i feel my colledge is so lazy.

the lawn is dirty so nobody can sit on.

and the key element is the circumustance of learning knowledge.

my university have been in leisure and dull life.

unfortunately.....

— misiter · 2007-04-04 23:24

Nice pictures! It looks serene. I wonder how big jiao tong physically is.

— Steve · 2007-04-05 03:00

I didn't know there were places in China where they allowed people to step on the grass. I've lived in Shanghai for quite a few years and the only patch of grass that I knew of where people could step on was in the Jinjiang Hotel (the old side). Actually even at that location, you can only step on it at night when people weren't looking.

— Shockr · 2007-04-05 05:09

Might want to lower the exposure on the above pictures -- a wee bit too bright on the eyes. Other than that, nice campus :-)

Sidenote: Yes, you can step on grass in China. Just pay the green fee & you can step on grass over half a day if you like ;-)

— Jet So · 2007-04-05 11:12

wow, so nice! I miss SJTU so much!

— ZJ · 2007-04-05 13:53

I think your office at hao ran hi-tech building.because i have been take photo like these.

— dek · 2007-04-05 23:00

Yes. It is Hao Ran High Tech Building. The campus is good and we have great view from the window. I am so lucky to find this place

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-04-06 00:48

I have an HTC Desire, and use cmcc sim. I can make calls and send texts BUT cannot browse online ( can with wifi) . Phone uses Android, which I have set into English. Anyone had some problem and found way to solve???

— MARTIN · 2010-05-02 11:42

1:22

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 01:22:53 +0800

Just sent out a PPT, and it is 1:22 AM. I usually do not stay so late - this is the rare occasion. To keep life and work balance is still my key philosophy. Going back to sleep now. There is no (actual) blog today.

3 Comments

goodnite

— Halle · 2007-04-04 03:55

sweet 'No Boggin' dreams.

— Shrek7 · 2007-04-04 06:01

i wish i can go too:(, i feel bored and life seems like meaningless to me:(, so...moody these days:(, wish u will have a wonderful trip to India

— wen · 2008-03-29 13:52

Peach Flower in Nanhui District

Mon, 02 Apr 2007 23:28:02 +0800

Share some pictures I took during the weekend in Nanhui 南汇.

Direction:

Drive along A20 toward Pudong Airport, and turn to A2. Exit at Hunan Highway and turn left.

15 Comments

Spring coming

— y0ungs · 2007-04-03 01:11

Can anyone give me a good idea as which department store is a high end department stores in Shanghai?

— Dancingdots · 2007-04-03 02:11

Wow nice pictures! are those 桃花?

— Steve · 2007-04-03 03:58

It's cherry blossom! We have those in Washington, D.C.

First link:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=cherry+blossom&btnG=Google+Search

— Давид · 2007-04-03 06:00

Very pretty flowers. Spring has arrived in Shanghai.

— Shrek7 · 2007-04-03 10:27

The text heading misled readers who not familiar with flowers think that all Peach flowers. Various flowers are blooming in Nanhui.The first picture seems winter jasmine迎春花，second is rape flower油菜花, third is peach flower, fourth and sixth are Cherry Blossom (Japanese sakura)

— Liangcai · 2007-04-03 11:50

— Liangcai · 2007-04-03 12:25

Jianshuo, I don't know you are also this good at shooting pictures. They are really lovely pictures!

— Jianfeng · 2007-04-03 22:26

????

1: ???????, ???

A: ? B:?

2: ???????????

A: ?? B: ???

3: ??????????

A: ?? B: ???

4: ??????????

A: ?? B: ???

5: ???????????,??????

A: ???? B: ????? C: ????

6: ???????????

A: ??? B: ??? C: ??? D: ??

7. ??????????

A: ???? B: ??? C: ?? D: ?????

— Dancingdots · 2007-04-04 03:34

wow, I guess my chinese typing doesn't work in this site.

— Dancingdots · 2007-04-04 03:35

Hi...could you tell me how to go to Peach blossoms in Nanhui by Bus...coz i heard there is a bus every few mins from Longyang lu...would you know the no.? Also, does anyone know hows the festival...we would like to go there this weekend coz the festival ends 8th April.

— hetal · 2007-04-05 17:20

Wang Jianshuo, which part of Nanhui did you go to? My wife and I are going tomorrow and we are still deciding...

— Micah · 2007-04-06 12:21

so beautiful~

— panfan · 2007-04-07 15:34

beautiful so much :)

— cheery · 2007-04-14 16:23

I know there was one on Kang Qiao Road that ended at the Nanhui bus terminal, but am not sure if it went up to Longyang Rd. I went there a few years ago witha former student

— Swany · 2007-04-14 21:31

GPRS Package from China Mobile

Sun, 01 Apr 2007 23:38:39 +0800

When Internet is shifting from computer, laptop to mobile, it is critical to find out exactly how China Mobile charges you for GPRS. Here is the guide (sorry for posting it late, since I know many people have asked for this information)

Level 1: No Package

If you have a mobile and you haven’t call China Mobile to subscribe to any GPRS package, you are customer of this package. It is the unified fee:

Mac Cannot Access Internet in China

Sat, 31 Mar 2007 20:51:44 +0800

RC has a problem related to Mac. He just got a new Mac and bring it to China. He could not connect the Mac to Internet no matter using LAN, Wireless… It is weird that he can use Skype, but cannot browse any websites.

Livid has a quick response: try to set the DNS to

208.67.222.222

208.67.220.220

(This is the OpenDNS)

RC tried, and it works!

Well. It sounds like a miracle.

OOB Tonight

Sat, 31 Mar 2007 00:39:03 +0800

I am Out of Blogging (OOB) today to have a blog free night with Wendy.

What we need is not a trip to Hangzhou or any fancy place, we just need a dedicated night together (or “be present” as Feld Brad said).

4 Comments

Give that girl a hug from your old lady friend, Jian Shuo, and enjoy your "date" :-)

— Carroll · 2007-03-31 10:18

I found a good blog to learn english ;-)

— Turen · 2007-03-31 23:40

Saludos desde Colombia Sur America

— RODRIGO · 2007-04-01 12:55

Well, I kept a blog!

— svingle · 2007-08-04 10:48

Serious Ill caused by Serious Mistake

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 23:19:28 +0800

I have some friends in Hangzhou, and Yezi was among the most familiar one. When she was a reporter in eTime Weekly in Hangzhou, we had wonderful gather in Shanghai with other editing stuff. It was a night before typhoon hit Shanghai. Everyone got drunk that day. She is that kind of strong and sunny girl. She was the active in blogging events like China Blogger Conference - two girls (the other is Yuanzi) took all the logistic work.

Wendy's 5 Years in Microsoft

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 23:06:59 +0800

Congratulations to Wendy! Today is her 5 year anniversary in Microsoft. I cannot believe it, that Wendy also stayed in Microsoft for 5 years! I celebrated the same event for me 3 years ago: Five Years in Microsoft.

She also got a gift from Microsoft as I did. This is the clock I got three years ago. She said she got a plate or something like that.

4 Comments

Congratulations!

It there a banner?

— charlie · 2007-03-29 00:43

It sounds weird that have received a clock in china society......anyways congratulation!

— River · 2007-03-29 02:25

A clock as a gift in China? I thougt this is the worst gift you could possibly make?

— Daniel · 2008-05-21 01:27

I like it. I only know that a clock and glassware are bad wedding gifts. I don't know about regular gift giving.

— Cleo · 2010-09-17 08:03

Shopping Malls in Shanghai

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 22:27:57 +0800

This is a short guide for visitors who love shopping. There are many places you can go in Shanghai to buy stuff, from small fashion stores on some hidden streets, to large shopping malls. This article only focus on the later.

Raffles City

268 Xi Zhang Middle Road

I used to work there (the office building behind the Raffles City). It has Singapore flavor (as implied from the name and Capital Land, the developer).

My Favorite Food in the World

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 23:44:28 +0800

Let me show you my little secret: my favorite food in the world. It is called Mipi (米皮), or Rice Noodle?

I love it since I was in middle school, and it is one of the major attraction for me from my home town, Luoyang.

Image taken by my primary school and high school class mate, Nie Xiang Feng

Lulu.com to Turn Blog into Book

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 01:26:10 +0800

lulu.com is a great service. They offer personal publishing. Just like MovableType offers online personal publishing, they actually publish the book!

Some interesting features I like:

ISBN

With 99 USD, they can assign a ISBN to your new book! This is valid ISBN that you can even sell your book in Amazon.com or bookstores. They (lulu.com) act as the publishing house for you.

Publishing House

With 149 USD, they even can list you as the publisher, that you own the ISBN…

How to Start a Blog?

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 23:55:42 +0800

This is my answer to my friend who is going to start a blog, and asked me how to get started. He is thinking about WorldPress but concerned that it may be banned from China.

It is great news that you finally started blogging. That can be very interesting. You asked the right person. :-) Let me tell you everything, if you want to know such details.

In case you didn’t find an answer to some of your questions (even future questions), you may want to check my articles on blogging at:

What Matters to Me Most Today?

Sat, 24 Mar 2007 19:26:44 +0800

When I write a blog, I often ask the question: What matters to me most today? No matter how big or small, it is something that matters. A good blogger does not only describe something, but also describes why it matters, and tell people the details. (I think I read about this tip from a article about how to write better blog 4 years ago).

Flowers

The spring comes, and flowers blooms. White magnolia (白玉兰) was full of flowers - one window in my dining room is full of the whitish and reddish flowers. That is so good.

Lujiazui is Full

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 22:57:59 +0800

This is Friday (TGIF).

It is rainy.

When Friday meets rain, the traffic of Shanghai halts.

We drive to Lujiazui to have dinner. I won’t say Shanghai is a boring city, but I do admit sometimes (like today), there is almost not many choices when you have to select a restaurant. The Lujiazui area and the Biyun area are the only two region I am interested to go.

The bad news was, the parking at the Super Brand Mall was full. All the gates were closed with a guard waving red stick, and driving cars away. No surprise. Because this biggest parking area was closed, all the other parking places were full.

I Found a Bug - in my Soup

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 21:39:36 +0800

I found a bug today.

It is not a bug in software, not in hardware system, and not in any context with extended meaning. It is a real bug - in the soup of my lunch.

It is in the Han She tea house at Grand Gateway.

I called the waitress, and she said sorry, but there is nothing she can do. I called the manager, and manager came. Finally, they returned the money for the lunch.

Future Shanghai Metro and Maglev Map

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 23:10:30 +0800

Here is the latest map Shanghai Metro and Maglev Future Plan (2006-2012). I know many people who live in Shanghai will find it interesting.

Here are my take-aways from the map.

Many More Lines to Build

Currently, we only have Metro Line #1, Line #2, Line #3, Line #4, Line #5, and Maglev.

In the map, we see Line #6, Line #7, Line #8, Line #9, Line #11, Line #12, Line #13, and the extension of Maglev.

Shanghainese Girl Marrying Foreigners

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 22:40:16 +0800

I was asked (more than once) about my point of view of Shanghainese girls marrying foreigners. This is a controversal topic.

You will see this topic here and there:

Another question for you Jianshuo though it might spark off a lot of hot debates (both positive and negative).

Why are there so many women in China who are dying to marry foreigners (mostly westerners but also Asians from developed countries like Japan, Singapore, Taiwan …you can’t call HK a country but yeah, HK as well? I don’t see as many Chinese man marrying foreign women.

Jiading is Not As Far as I Thought

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 00:25:02 +0800

Jiading 嘉定 is a district of Shanghai, but far from the downtown Shanghai. I haven’t been there before I attended the wedding ceremony for my friend.

The express way from Shanghai Downtown to Jiading is the first express way in China. It was completed in 1988. I heard about the Shanghai - Jiading Express way in 1994, and in my mind, Jiading must be extremely far away, that people need to connect the two places with an expressway.

Accessibility of Public Transportation

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 20:33:07 +0800

Andy asked:

ACCESS and availability of taxis at to two Shanghai metro stations; Jin’An Temple and Zhonshan Park

On Thursday 22nd March 2007 I will be arriving at Pudong Airport about 16.00 and then go Maglev to Long Yang metro station. I will have with me a suitcase on wheels as well as a small back pack. I plan to go from Long Yang metro to either Jin’An Temple or Zhongshan Park station.

4 Year Anniversary of Wedding

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 20:42:06 +0800

Today is the 4th year anniversary for Wendy and I got married.

Four Years!

We register for marriage the same day four years ago, then I happily announced it, and then held the wedding ceremony about 6 months later.

We bought many flowers and candles to decorate the room, and went out to have a simple but happy lunch together (at Lan Cun Road).

I am sorry that I have to go to the 5G Review to deliver a presentation that afternoon, and could not be with Wendy, then we reunion at about 5:00 PM, then attended the wedding ceremony of a good friend from high school. Many other high-school friends in Shanghai also showed up in Jiading.

May be Inaccessible for Several Hours

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 00:58:10 +0800

Bluehost notified me that

Your servers’ IP address has changed from:

70.103.140.102

to:

69.89.22.102

Since I host DNS and website on different provider, I have to change it manually, and they may not sync with each other perfectly. So you may expect short pause (from several hours to 24 hours). If you cannot access this blog in the next 48 hours, don’t worry. It will be back shortly after network IP address change and my DNS change both take effect.

Happy Birthday to Goudaner (3rd Year)

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 23:55:25 +0800

This is the birthday of my car - I call it Goudaner.

In the last three years, or 1095 days, Goudaner did really well. It never broke down on the road, never made noises from the engine, never had any big problem that need my attention. The only thing I would think of as its own fault is, the background light of the dashboard broke once. The other fault are either mine (hit something) or other driver’s.

New Phone - Dopod D600

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 23:34:02 +0800

I sold out my Nokia 6670 on Kijiji. The transaction was confirmed within one hour, and I gave the mobile to the guy (a mobile fan) at Haggen-Daas in Xujiahui, and he gave me 800 RMB. (I bought it at 1700 RMB, and I am very happy about the price) He is also happy. I heard he collect all kind of mobiles and now he has more than 100 models.

Then that night (I don’t have a mobile that afternoon), I bought Dopod D600. Maybe this is the fastest decision I made on electronic devices. I have made up my mind to get a Windows Mobile based phone after Nokia.

Helping Others with Hosting Package

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 23:42:21 +0800

I hate ipowerweb, so I moved to bluehost, but I still didn’t terminate my previous ipowerweb hosting plan yet. Today, Jackie asked me if I can help to settle a hosting plan for him and his friends - to do a group blog. I said “sure”.

The 6 Years’ of Difference

I am happy to help. Just imagine what I have (so little) and what I dreamed of (so big) when I was in university in 1995 - 1999.

Weird Policies, One by One

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 22:30:44 +0800

This is another day - a typical day in my life in Shanghai. It is raining hard, and I go to the other office and spent the day there.

Let me show me what happened.

Personal Income Declaration

The HR team sent out notice to everyone to claim their personal income. The local tax department has a list of people (with ID number) who should claim tax, and said everyone must claim it before the end of March, otherwise, the fine will be 2,000 RMB to 10,000 RMB.

RSS Changed to Full Text

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 17:07:20 +0800

Maybe it is good news for many readers who rely on RSS to read this blog. I have changed all my RSS feed from excerpt only to full text. That means, no matter what reader you use, from Google Reader, to Bloglines, to Zhuaxia.com, you will read FULL TEXT of this blog in your reader software/sites.

This is not a hard decision for me. Everyone (100%) of the more than 10 reponses voted for full text. It is a typical example that everyone knows the alternative is better (except for me), but didn’t tell me. I am the one who can make the change, but I didn’t realize it - you know, maybe I am the single person who don’t have to use a reader to read my article - I read it in my ’editor’ window and on my blog only.

Everyone is Talking about Stock

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 15:25:39 +0800

14:26

I am waiting for a friend in Starbucks to chat about business. He is about 5 minutes late, and I have some time to pull out my laptop to write something about what I observed in Starbucks.

On my rights, two guys are talking about stock. They are talking about some stock at 1.70 RMB/share, and discussing whether they should sell it or buy more. Then their topic shifted to foreign exchange. The guy looks like a professional stock broker.

Full Text RSS Feed for This Blog?

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 15:11:36 +0800

Cube316 asked whether I want to turn on full text feed for the RSS of my blog. Both excerpt or full text is OK for me. My decision depends on which one my readers’ love better.

So the question is yours, and decision is yours:

Do you like A) Full Text of each entry in my RSS feed, or B) Excerpt in the RSS for conciseness.

Please give me suggestions in the next week, and I will change to full text if everyone likes it, or keep the current setting.

Reset Nokia 6670

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 12:47:11 +0800

I sold out my Nokia 6670 on Kijiji yesterday, and will deliver the phone to the buyer.

Before I give out my phone, I used the following key to reset:

*#7370#

then enter

12345 as password.

Your phone will be reset as if it is just out of a factory. Everything including files, and your phone address is gone.

7 Comments

So, what will be your next phone, iPhone? :)

— DC · 2007-03-14 10:26

I may give you some other ways to reset NOKIA S60 series cell phones.

*#7370#，

密码12345---(just like you wrote)

*#7370#=Total 重新设置了所有所有应用你安装前面(联系人姓名将删掉)

*#7780#=Restore 出厂设置(主要重新设置) (联系人姓名不会删掉)_delete all~

开机之前，先按"青(撥號鍵)"，"*" 和 "3"然后开机(要一起按)按的时候，不要放手。你会看到"formating"

(this is another way to format your mobile phone besides type *#7370# and *#7780#)

P.S.: if you forget your passwords, you can reset your phone in this way~

as

http://fishd18.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!8D8FDC0EB8AA716A!1267.entry

— Fish · 2007-03-15 21:34

wats the dijits to clear the timers calls

— ariana · 2007-07-12 15:05

My phone is not starting at all. How do I format my phone.

— Tejas · 2009-04-07 13:49

I want to format my nokia6670 phone, but the * and # keys no longer respond. Pls any clue on how to proceed with the formatting.Tnx

— lugard · 2010-09-23 21:42

the * and # key in my nokia6670 does'nt respond, how do i format the phone.

— lugard · 2010-09-23 21:48

swith off ur phone and swith on with prees key(* +call key +3) and ur ur phone is formattind....

— vishu · 2011-02-26 17:46

Grocery Cost in Shanghai, 2007

Sun, 11 Mar 2007 12:54:10 +0800

What is the grocery cost in Shanghai? This is the FAQ people have before moving to Shanghai. Let me show you some details, and I know some of you may love it.

I went to supermarket today - the Hymall (The one on Jinxiu Road, and Chengshan Road, 锦绣路成山路乐购) to purchase some grocery for the next week - it is sunny. The wind is mild and cool, and the sunshine is hot. Prefect weather to visit Shanghai, or go out for a walk. I get everything I need, then I took picture of each of them, and list the price along with it. Hope you get some idea about the living cost in Shanghai.

How to Advertise on this Blog?

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 23:23:12 +0800

A friend’s friend asked him to ask me (ha ha, weired) how can he put advertisement on my this. He is running an apartment broker service for expats at http://rentome.com/ (disclaimer: I didn’t experienced it, and don’t know the quality. Try it out at your judgement, and share your feedback with others). Pretty fit the audience of this blog, right?

Here is my answer:

**I don’t accept individual advertisement on this blog. **

Angkor WAT, Cambodia

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 22:46:03 +0800

Share some photos of Angkor WAT:

14 Comments

Wow, the stairs are steep in the last photo.

— Michael · 2007-03-08 23:36

your feelings on visiting these ruins?

— solopolo · 2007-03-09 00:43

Please share more about your visit. Routing and cost from China??????

— loretta · 2007-03-09 01:05

Very nice!

Can you share us more photos?

— iWorm · 2007-03-09 08:47

How many pixel is this camera？

— Jone · 2007-03-10 10:03

The Camera is D50. You can imagine how hard I carry the camera to the top of the tower. It is 6 million.

I have many other photos. Let me post it later.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-03-10 12:17

Jianshuo, how did you got the visa ?

Did you have to prove everything to the consulate ?

Your financial status, letter from the employer etc. ?

Please give a description.

— carsten · 2007-04-07 00:15

Everything was done by the travel agency, and I don't know what happened. I just gave them my passport, and they returned it to me with the visa on it.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-04-07 00:52

Cambodia visa can be apply when you arrive at the airport in Cambodia so it just a matter of leaving your originate city.

— Karp · 2008-01-23 14:21

What should I do if your photos are not shown in this article like your others blogs?

I am going to visit Angkor Wat next week. Would be very nice to see pictures you took.

Thanks

— John Lee · 2008-02-15 11:01

Neat photos.

— Jasmin rice · 2008-05-05 17:19

more about Cambodia on : http://www.netvibes.com/cambodia

— Cambodia · 2008-05-18 17:46

That is one amazing apsara carving. It's so pretty beyond words! Great shot. Thanks for posting that.

— Rahmi from Holiday In Angkor Wat · 2008-06-11 10:23

Dear Jian Shuo,

I happen to come across your blog. Very nice photos...

Would you mind to share some info. about the travel agent you've used for your Angkor WAT trip (their contact info.)?

We will travel from/to Beijing.

Thank you in advance.

— Ming · 2010-01-23 01:46

10 RMB for Genuine DVD

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 21:34:34 +0800

I wrote about cheap genuine DVD and Movie before. Today, I got even cheaper genuine DVD.

Look at this DVD first:

I bought it at the DVD store near my home - the small shop in my residential area. They charge for 10 RMB, and explained why it is more expensive than most their DVDs (which are 5 RMB). They said it is genuine DVD. I didn’t believe it, but I opened the package and it SEEMS it is not pirated.

Old Friends Gets Together

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 23:13:49 +0800

Nice night. The best classmates I have are my high school classmates. We were in a class numbered 926 between 1992 to 1995. We keep close contact to most of people in the class till now - 10 years after graduation. But it is not easy to get together.

Today, four of us (plus Wendy) get together, and had a dinner together at the San Xiang Tower (三湘大厦). There are really good Hunan Dishes there.

From the Hottest to the Coldest

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 23:30:45 +0800

I am in Beijing today. It snows in Beijing - heavy snow yesterday, and by the night time, snow went away. I was sitting at the lunch table before the nice Chinese garden in the Shangri-la hotel. I see the snow melt down by my own eyes - every 30 minutes, you can observe more grass (yellow grass of cause) came out, while snow fade off. It is 4 degree C. Not too bad for Beijing. It is not as cold as a snow-melting day should fee like. Yesterday, I was still in Shanghai, at around 16 °C, and the day before yesterday, I was at a hot place of 33 °C. This is maybe the most interesting experience for me in terms of temperature change. I am lucky that I don’t feel uncomfortable.

Out of Blogging

Sat, 03 Mar 2007 23:50:57 +0800

I was Out Of Blogging (OOB) for several days (for some reasons the OOB entry was not saved last time I posted). I am back now.

Wangjianshuo.com Backup Plan

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 17:50:18 +0800

This blog is my most important digital assert. I cannot imagine what happens when it crashes someday, or I lose all my data. So backup is critical for me - even more critical than my bank account. Here is the backup plan. I hope it is also helpful to other bloggers like me. It also reveals some backstage information about the architecture of this blog.

Home.wangjianshuo.com

Critical Server Information:

Hosting Started at: 28-Mar 2006

I Have a BIG Hosting Account

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 11:20:37 +0800

Look at this:

public_html/home 6142.90 Meg

public_html/translate 861.92 Meg

public_html/user 126.04 Meg

tmp/webalizer 83.62 Meg

tmp/awstats 77.74 Meg

tmp/cpu_exceeded_logs 12.39 Meg

tmp/mysql_slow_queries 2.64 Meg

It seems I need to spend some time to kill some of these files to make sure the system is not over-sized. Although I have 200G of disk space, but that does not mean I always have 200G disk space on local computer to keep the backup, and not to mention the bandwidth and time to wait to download.

Some Interesting Reading

Sun, 25 Feb 2007 17:56:27 +0800

I didn’t read too much recently (I mean on website). The abundance of information turned Internet from a book into a endless maze. I often follow a link just like a cat chasing the wool ball, and forget where I was, and even where I am going. I don’t like this kind of reading experience. Reading is turned into glancing, and my limited attention was evenly distributed to 20 sites and 200 articles (article titles to be more exactly), so I almost read nothing.

Bus from Luoyang to Zhengzhou

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 19:08:31 +0800

There are at least one bus from Luoyang to Zhengzhou every hour.

Here is the schedule.

Schedule

Start from Luoyang. The travel time is 2 hour and 30 minutes, just good for watching a DVD on the bus - if you include the annoying TV commerical interval in the DVD.

7:00

8:00

9:00

10:00

11:00

12:00

13:00

14:00

15:00

16:00

17:00

18:00

Where is the Bus Stop

The bus stop in Luoyang is at the Tianying Hotel (天鹰大酒店) at Jinghua Road and Wanzhong Road (景华路皖中路). There is a small shop selling tickets, and you won’t miss the place - there are many huge buses waiting there from morning to night.

I am Back in Luoyang Now

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 16:28:29 +0800

At the last minute (several minutes after we wake up on the first day of the New Year), we decided to go back to hometown instead of staying in Shanghai for 7 days.

I am in Luoyang, my hometown, and the capital of China for more than 9 dynasties…

There are limited Internet access, so I am be Out of Blogging for several days.

My flight back to Shanghai is on Feb 22, 2007.

The Year of Pig Comes

Sun, 18 Feb 2007 00:07:02 +0800

The year of 2007 is the year of pig according to the lunar calendar.

Let me use Keso’s Google style Piggie Year Greeting Card to send my new year wishes to you.

Image created by Keso

May you have a fruitful new year!

P.S. I just lit up the firecrackers. It is the biggest firecrackers I have ever had - 3000+ of them. Wendy and I were so happy to watch the fireworks in my garden, and I am as happy as a child. It is so good to have a New Year!

Happy New Year via SMS

Sat, 17 Feb 2007 22:12:20 +0800

With technology, people can send more greeting faster, and easier. However, I do doubt about the message it get crossed. If I can send 1000 new year greeting using the time I do it for sending just one card, the value of the card to recipient maybe is only 1/1000 of it, or even less.

SMS was a fashionable way to send New Year greeting. I checked each SMS I got, and I appreciate the card, and will send out a reply personally. However, I feel disappointed when I see so many SMS on my mobile.

Two Year Ends

Sat, 17 Feb 2007 13:02:32 +0800

There are two year ends in China.

One is Dec 31, the last day of the western calendar.

The other is today, the last day of the 12th month in lunar calendar. (I don’t think I should also call it December).

This year end seems to be more like the last day since it allows more time (7 days) to take a break. Many business also shutdown, and so do my friends, so it provides a better environment to really take a rest, and do some reflection.

It is Approaching to the Year End

Fri, 16 Feb 2007 22:50:36 +0800

Tomorrow is the last day of the Chinese lunar year. After that, is 7 days of Spring Festival Vacation, from Feb 18 to Feb 24.

P.S. Yesterday, I got an email asking me about my suggestions of how to get to the Great Wall during his one week of Shanghai business trip. I know he will be surprised if I tell him that it is in another city (Beijing) which is two hours of flight away. The Great Wall is still about one or two hours’ drive from the airport.

My Top 5 Favorite Streets for Walk

Thu, 15 Feb 2007 23:52:41 +0800

Along with my favorite road, I have the Google Map Satellite Image with you. If you want to see clearly where it is, you can click the “-” minus button to zoom out.

No 1: Xinhua Road 新华路, Xuhui District

if (GBrowserIsCompatible()) {var map = new GMap2(document.getElementById(“map1”));map.addControl(new GSmallMapControl());map.addControl(new GMapTypeControl()); map.setCenter(new GLatLng(31.204932864557588,121.42166554927826), 18, G_SATELLITE_MAP); }

Xinhua Road is always quite, and peaceful. There is almost no business along the road, and the tree forms a deep and green tunnel. It is splendid especially in springs.

Happy Valentine's Day

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 22:00:30 +0800

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I am not a person who enjoy too much of a western holiday. However, Shanghai is moving fast to embrace any holiday possible, from Christmas, to Women’s day.

Today, the Xujiahui area is full of a special atmosphere - the smell of love? It is even more crowded and busy, and it seems every girl (OK. Not every, but many) has a handful of roses on the street.

Motel 168 Going Public?

Tue, 13 Feb 2007 21:47:42 +0800

After dinner, and open TV, I noticed a piece of news on China Business Network (CBN) channel:

Motel 168 is going public this third quarter, aiming to raise 100 million USD. Morgan Stanley will be the underwriter.

I also find a piece of news here.

Home Inn (HMIN) was just listed, and I believe Motel 168 is a good hotel. I remember one of the first Motel 168 Hotels was opened near my home, and I visited it immediately. It is a good hotel, with more modern design than Home Inn, and the color design is more lovely.

Bought Sony DAV-DZ820KW

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 23:22:42 +0800

Here is the list of feature on the Sony website about DAV-DZ820KW. I don’t understand more of the terms. I believe most people feel the same for specification of computer component.

S-DIAT (Sony Digital Infrared rays Audio Transmission Technology) Wireless Surround Speakers, brings you the “non-compressed” and “no interfered” close-to-original digital sound
Digital Cinema Auto Calibration - Silver Grade (DCAC) was developed by Sony to automatically measure and adjusts the speaker settings to your listening environment in a 30 second. The accuracy on speakers to the best listening position is within 2 cm - fast & accurate

Nanpu Bridge

Sun, 11 Feb 2007 15:11:41 +0800

I searched for “Nanpu Bridge” in Google. Surprisingly, I didn’t see an entry from my site for this topic. I should not be. I believe there should be at least one entry for most any topics in Shanghai in the first page of Google! (Just kidding. I am not that ambitious). However, I found out I really didn’t write about the bridge, which I drive by twice every day in the last three years.

Thanks for Giving Credit to Me...

Sat, 10 Feb 2007 23:27:08 +0800

From technorati.com, I noticed an reference to my blog at http://www.zhouhongquan.cn/. In his first blog, he mentioned he wanted to setup a blog using my template and style. Finally, at the footer of every page, he put a disclaimer like this:

© 2007 Hong Quan Zhou. Some rights reserved. Template design inspired by Wangjianshuo Blog

I appreciate Hongquan sensitivity about copyright, and his effort to show contest to people who contributed. I’d like to say thank YOU for doing the right thing on the Internet. It definitely helps people to create a better Internet.

DVD and Movie

Sat, 10 Feb 2007 17:22:38 +0800

In the recent year, I found more and more Chinese movies uses the approach to issue DVD the same time as the movie. By “issue DVD the same time”, I mean when the movie hits theater, it can also be purchased on DVD in super markets at pretty cheap price. This is a new model that does not happen in most countries.

It works this way. When there is major release of a Chinese movie in theater, you can buy the DVD (not-pirated) in super market, department store, and other channel.

The Painted Veil Movie

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 23:21:28 +0800

Recently watched the Painted Veil DVD, for twice.

It is a very good movie, and I love the conciseness and the details of the movie. It is the few touching movie I have seen. Zhang Zhang was very correct, that it is the movie directors should make.

Highly recommendate!

12 Comments

Hii to everybody I'm a newcomer.

I'd like to recommend this event in Italy regarding far east movies

www.fareastfestival.com

I choice for us to see chinese movies....

great

ciao a tutti

— Li ximo · 2007-02-09 23:45

The movie is still being played in theatres in the U.S. Is the DVD you have a pirated copy?

— NY · 2007-02-10 00:15

is it a screener DVD?

— Shrek7 · 2007-02-10 01:37

It's China. Of course it's a bootleg.

— Давид · 2007-02-10 01:55

I know it's china. But it is still appalling when you see people who are college graduates and work for a foreign company think there's nothing wrong with buying illegally copied DVDs and have no respect for others' property rights.

— NY · 2007-02-10 21:06

Check link here. The DVD is available on Joyo, and most super-market in China.

http://www.amazon.com.cn/detail/product.asp?prodid=bkys710012&ref=SR&uid=w5smb8ck2s5g9saq7ggs77mu9

Unlike U.S., currently, most movies were issued via DVD soon after, or even before the movie hits theater. The genunine copy of the DVD was published by the China Audio-Visual Publishing House, with record number: CNA120700080.

If you can read Chinese, here is the related information.

·英文名称：The Painted Veil

·公司：中影华纳横店影视有限公司/耶瑞电影发行集/马克·格丹公司/面纱制作有限责任公司/科来腾制作公司/横店龙影视文化有限公司

·国家：United States/美国

·发行商：中录华纳家庭娱乐有限公司

·碟数：1

·字幕：中文/英文/无字幕

·配音：英语

·影片长度：124分钟

·色彩：彩色

·区域：六区

·出版号：CNA120700080

·出版社：中国录音录像出版总社

·银幕比例：2.35:1

·视频格式：变形宽银幕

·音频格式：数字杜比5.1

·碟片类型：单面/单层(SS-SL)

·包装：普通包装

·介质：dvd

·文像进字：（2006）1233

I have written another article about it. I am not sure which is a more advanced model, but don't take it for granted that DVD is always late than movie. It is not so in the film industry in China -- I am not talking about the pirated DVD market yet.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-02-11 00:03

I have been buying ORIGINAL dvds since they are dirt cheap and they always work. Asking people around me, none has bought pirated copies since one cannot ask for refund if they don't work. I am therefore amused by some of the remarks that since it is China it must be illegal. Furthermore, it is insensitive (at least to me!) to single out graduates and workers of foreign companies as culprits unless there are statistics to support this view.

— amused · 2007-02-11 04:03

amused: Asking the people around you is not a good way to sample statistics. You do not buy bootleg copies. Good for you! Statistics also says that you are in the minority. The street corner bootleg stores would not exist if there are no customers.

The government of China does not do a good job of enforcing copyright laws. You have to be living in a cave to not know that.

— Давид · 2007-02-12 07:46

Давид:

I do agree that when it comes to IT products, more can be done to enforce the IP laws.

However, when the price between an original DVD and a bootleg copy is no longer significant, any consumer with a decent mindset would have bought the original. There are several reasons:-

1. You can exchange for a new one if what you bought is not working

2. Sometimes, there are promotions, eg lucky draws, from the production companies when you buy ORIGINAL DVDs.

3. Some superstores have campaigns to promote loyalty among consumers. For example, when you buy a DVD/CD from the store, they give you a sticker. When you gather all stickers required, you are entitled to some free gifts.

In fact, it would really be harsh for so-called "street corner bootleg stores" to survive when original ones are selling for US$2!

Therefore, I find your comment about the DVD industry, i.e. " It's China. Of course it's a bootleg", skewed and absurdly reductive.

I do not need to live in a cave to be enjoying a joke like that.

— Amused · 2007-02-12 20:14

Amused: You mentioned several reasons to buy genuine DVDs. However, the fact is that street corner bootleg stores still exist in HUGE numbers. You don't own one of those stores. You don't know if it's "harsh" to operate such a store. What I can tell you is that, if it's not profitable, no one would be doing it.

Even if you don't want to face the facts, China is the bootleg capital of the world. It's not just software and movies. It's also clothing, watches, designer handbags, perfume, liquor, even pills.

— Давид · 2007-02-14 03:07

Just like this story wants to tell us, love is closed to the distant. Walter left Kitty along at home and didn't tell to her any more. At the same time, Kitty felt very sorry to her husband, but she didn't know how to explain her love to Walter. Their love just liked the beautiful china which was covered with a painted veil.

— buliao · 2007-02-26 23:29

Why is the Movie called The painted veil ??

— oz · 2007-03-27 02:24

Should I Drive in Shanghai?

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 18:09:20 +0800

Ken asked:

Just starting to gather info for a trip 4 of us are taking to Shanghai in August. Should we plan on getting a car and driving around the countryside during our 1 week stay?

My short answer:

Ken, I don’t know where you come from. My suggestion is, never think of driving a car in Shanghai, even in countryside if you are not from China. That can be exciting, and challenge, also dangerous. 1 week is too short for you to get used to the road system in Shanghai. You know what, even people from nearby cities like Hangzhou or Suzhou need to help a guide to sit in their car to find the destination.

Best Shanghai Eatery Streets?

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 22:08:21 +0800

10:09

stephen posted some streets named and asked me to translate them into Chinese. It is said they have the best eateries in Shanghai.

Dong Jia Du Lu 董家渡路

Renmin Lu 人民路

Yong Jia Lu 永嘉路

Xiangyang Nan Lu 襄阳南路

Hefei Lu 合肥路

Jinan Lu 济南路

Zhaozhou Lu 肇周路d to the list

Si Nan Lu 思南路

Huai Hai Zhong Lu 淮海中路

Eric is in New York

Tue, 06 Feb 2007 20:01:10 +0800

From Eric’s blog, he is flying to New York. He posted two pictures, which does not seem to be true - it is more like a 3D model.

Photograph by Eric Zheng

Few days ago, when Eric chatted with me on MSN, he said he was going to New York. I asked why. He simply said the cheap flight ticket is good. He cares more about the cheap flight ticket, and the trip is even like a side-result of the flight. :-) So he is there!

Near Blogbus's Office

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 21:59:48 +0800

Blue sky - although it is not that blue, but the sunny and clear Sunday is rare.

The new buliding near Blogbus’ office seems to be a big one.

The area at Long Hua Road seems to be a place with good potential - maybe like 798 in Beijing. The difference is, it is a morden art and design district, instead of just a place of art.

Weired Image of Me

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 21:36:41 +0800

Look at this weired image of mine.

I was looking into a big light bulb, and took a picture.

6 Comments

very special image,your dc is sony T 10?

— ericsson · 2007-02-06 11:55

Hi, jianshuo, it's a little hot in Shanghai these days, why don't you write an article about this incredible temperature!

— jimmy · 2007-02-06 12:54

Yes. it is hot. However, I was not that sensitive to weather, and still wear the same thing as the last week, until someone pointed out - Jian Shuo, don't you feel hot?

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-02-06 22:37

hi, i just browse online and enter ur blog, then i read some of ur posters, very interesting, i mean the NY ones. And i guess it may not be that polite to have sneakered other ppl's privacy and then just left, so i wanna post something here, hope u dont mind:)

— Jessica · 2007-12-21 13:58

@Jessica, thanks and welcome!

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-12-21 14:16

good this is the best to operate unknown person who do not know the way of copulation.this way guide us how can do pergnant.

— shakeel · 2011-09-05 02:08

Dukou Bookstore on Julu Road

Sun, 04 Feb 2007 19:36:36 +0800

I was in Dukou Bookstore today with Hengge and two other friends. After lunch at Hengge’s home, and wandered near Blogbus’s office, we finally decided to visit the newly opened bookstore. It is at the Julu Road, and the Fumin Road, in Jinan District.

Pictures of the Dukou Bookstore

The door of the store:

The major bookshelves.

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang. Bookstores

Chairs and tables. They serve coffee and tea, but don’t expect it as professional as a cafe. However, it is good to stay there for sometime for exchange of some hours of free reading time.

Back from 5G Review

Sat, 03 Feb 2007 22:24:20 +0800

I was hesitating whether to attend the 5G Review today when the clock shows 2:00 PM. Finally, I decided not to be too lazy. It seems I should go out of home in this sunny Saturday.

5G Review is a meetup about Internet, media and other emerging industry.

Location: UBB Coffee, 4th Floor, Lansheng Massion, 8 Middle Huaihai Road.

Time: 2:00 - 5:00 PM every Saturday

Participatoin: free of entrance, but need to notify organizer at http://groups.google.com/group/5gshanghai, or ask an exsisting member to bring you there.

From Keyboard to Screen

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 23:06:10 +0800

Everyday, I type on this keyboard, like this:

And it appears on screen like this:

5 Comments

Maybe you type "N" more often than other keys.

— iWorm · 2007-02-04 12:19

Yes. Maybe so..

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-02-04 17:39

classic ibm

— ericsson · 2007-02-04 17:46

why not show us the pic of your whole Thinkpad, not just the keyboard.

— David.S · 2007-02-04 23:36

IBM? It's Lenovo!

— Herbert · 2007-02-07 09:54

Long Metro Trains on Line #1

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 22:20:20 +0800

The traditional Metro Train is 6 cart train (from 1995 to 2007).

From this year, there are longer trains, so they put the sticker on the glasses of the door to indicate the location for the first 6 cart, and the following two - cart #7 and cart 8.

When train is approaching, there are broadcast to notify people about the number of train carts in the coming train, so people don’t need to wait before the rest of the gates, where there will be no train carts.

Best Buy Opens Store in Xujiahui

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 21:44:47 +0800

Best Buy opens a store in Xujiahui, many weeks ago. After had three long meetings in three different locations for the whole day, I finally get back to Xujiahui, and visited the store - since there is no taxi in rush hour, why not take a look. I am very curious about how much market share Best Buy can take in the $100 billion market (according to Best Buy)

View of Shanghai under Clear Sky

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 23:11:52 +0800

These photos were taken from the 34th floor of Four Seasons Hotel, looking to the East.

I hope one day after 5 years, I can take another picture from the same location, and see the difference.

15 Comments

Did it just rain in Shanghai? The sky is usually not hazy for about half an hour after the rain. Otherwise, the sky is in perpetual haze. I don't know how any one can breath the air with out getting sick.

Seriously, take some medicine with you the next time you visit Shanghai. You will feel sick in 24 hours or less. And you will have a hard time finding medicine, especially if you don't speak Chinese.

— Давид · 2007-01-30 23:42

Recently, the sky is pretty clear, and it is like this. I can see many stars in the sky.

For first time visitors, the polution may cause some problem, but human body is strong, and it seems if you get used to it, it is OK (although harm may have already been done)

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-01-31 00:37

Well I don't know how different that view will be in 5 years- there is no room left to building anything else! :-)

I do have to say, that already this view is very different from 5 years ago in 2002- there aren't any cranes.

— Patrick · 2007-01-31 00:40

One of my surprises in Shanghai was blue tinted windows. You look out the window, see the blue sky, thinking the weather is great.

Then, you open the window, and realize that it's another cloudy, hazy autumn day.

On a related note, Mr. Wang, it is true. Most people do get sick for a few days when they first get to China, then they get better.

— Давид · 2007-01-31 02:43

Hi Wang Jianshuo - We will be having the Shanghai flickr meet up this Saturday at 6 PM at Labella Cafe at 127 Yongfu Road. I know I've seen you on flickr before. If you want to come I'm sure many of your fans will also be there! You can sign up here (and put up photos for the group slide show):

http://www.flickr.com/groups/70233878@N00/

— Shanghai Sky · 2007-01-31 17:46

Shanghai Sky, thanks for your invitation but I may not be in Shanghai this weekend.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-01-31 23:12

mmm I spend the whole day taking pictres around the french concssion area!

I know this is not related to this post but as you are working in IT maybe you can help.

I have just set up my internet connection at home.

I wanted to set my personal outlook mailbox so that I can receive mail and send directly without connecting to my mail indirectly.

To do this i need a thing called SMTP server to be changed from my previous italian one into Shanghai one. I have no idea of what is it, nor the people who set the internet connection had

CAn someone help me please ?

thanks nico

— nico · 2007-01-31 23:48

Thank you for posting the photos. I have never been in Shanghai when the sky is so clear.

— Alex · 2007-02-01 06:30

Mmmm, it still looks kinga hazy to me. The only true clear sky I saw in China was when I visited Hwang Shan, and at the summit. Taking a troll under the night sky, I saw the milky way for the first time in my life.

In the UK, the sky can be clear sometimes, but most major city generates a huge amount of light (as in, road lamps etc) pollusion.

— Ying Zhang · 2007-02-01 22:47

You get used to the haze. Being from Shanghai, I'm used to it, along with the disreputable food quality. I've never contracted food poisoning from eating in Chinese street stalls - can you believe it?

I haven't seen an entire clear day there, or at least I don't remember. Give the environmental authority twenty years, it'll be cleaner in the future. China already has higher petrol efficiency standards than the United States.

— Ben · 2007-02-02 09:48

Jianshuo

Wow amazing! The first picture you took shows the building where I lived before. It's on the lower left-hand corner.

My memory of Shanghai's is it has overcast sky for many of the winter days. It's gloomy and cold and can be quite depressing!

— twang · 2007-02-02 10:40

i went to shanghai when i was 6 months old,i havn't been there for 20 years.

— ericsson · 2007-02-04 18:03

why I cannot view any pictures in this page?

— metapost · 2007-06-22 12:35

oh,no.

i can't see these pictures now.

— dongguangyao · 2008-01-13 18:06

no pics now~~

— ki_jiang · 2008-04-01 17:55

Four Seasons Hotel

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 21:06:32 +0800

I visited Four Seasons Hotels to meet someone I have known by name for long time. It is the second time I actually visit the hotel. As a local residence, who can I complain for not saying in any of the good hotels in Shanghai?

Till now, I still connect relate the Four Season Hotel with the luxury hotel chain I read in newspaper and investment newsletter. To be more direct, I don’t think it looks to be a good hotel. (BTW, the other hotel that gave me the same feeling is the Le Meridien in People’s Square)

So Many Red Lights!

Mon, 29 Jan 2007 23:14:20 +0800

I took this picture today at the intersection of Yan-An Road, and the Huashan Road.

Photography by Jian Shuo Wang

If you count carefully enough, you will see 14 red lights in the picture. There are 7 lanes for single direction. Isn’t look funny?

Here are the Google Map of the area.

6 Comments

When I read your article title, I was sure you was speaking about the special "massage" place and the special "hair cutter" shop... in other word prostitution.

Which are numerous in China.

(I read somewhere it may represent up to 6% of China GDP)

Am I a colorful wolf ?

— redflag · 2007-01-31 10:05

Redflag, you're a creative :) JS, is a photographer. He includes visual information in his dairy/blog too.

Take a closer look at the picture.

— DC · 2007-02-01 00:32

Ao this is shanghai. What a lovely city! 7 lanes in both direction doesn't seem to have any postive effect on this life-costing bumper-to-bumper nightmare.

— dresslessness · 2007-02-01 02:23

My previous message has been deleted.

Is censorship the new policy of this blog ?

— red · 2007-02-02 15:56

Sorry, my previous message as not been deleted.

My computer did not load all the pages, I did not saw my previous message.

Sorry!

Happy to see that this blog stay clean of censorship :D

— red · 2007-02-02 15:57

I am looking for a online map that shows the Shanghai expressways, especially southern A30, A4 and A5 in the direction of Zhenjiang province.

Can anybody help me?

— Anzhuo · 2007-06-14 10:59

Zezego's Living Cost in Beijing

Sun, 28 Jan 2007 19:50:00 +0800

In case you are interested in Beijing’s living cost, look at Zezego’s Living Cost in Beijing (2007 Edition).

How about living cost in other city? If you are interested, plesae write about it and let me know.

4 Comments

For most of average people, house is the main problem living in big city like Beijing and Shanghai ~

— 502forever · 2007-01-28 20:48

Hi Jianshuo, sorry to brother you.

Normally i will browse this website daily, just like you update it. I like this blog and have learnt a lot. Thankd indeed.

BTW, Is there any chance that i can reach you directly? I mean by Email, MSN or other way. it seems i have experienced some problems about my job and need your help.

I know you are busy, BUT can you kind to give me some minutes?

Thanks

— James · 2007-01-30 18:28

I am wondering shen zhen might be the highest living cost city in China, what do you think?

— zoe · 2007-01-31 09:37

it is really about "living cost"!

— 开开 · 2007-01-31 17:59

A Stolen Bicycle

Sat, 27 Jan 2007 21:56:56 +0800

Look at this stolen bicycle!

I took this picture at Xiang Yang North Road (襄阳北路) this afternoon. When I was parking there, I noticed this bicycle wheel.

It is seems the person have locked his bicycle on the pole, hoping that no one can take his bike, but some one may have taken away the rest of the bike. It is so funny.

PVG: From PVG to Ningbo

Sat, 27 Jan 2007 21:04:14 +0800

We get in to PVG at 3:25 pm and need to get to Ningbo. Can we take the bus directly from Pudong Airport to Ningbo? I have seen answers on the blog that say yes and others that say go to town and get bus or train. The train schedule does not look good if I am reading it right. (No train until 19:15) If there is a direct bus, does one leave around 4:30 or 5:00pm?

Some Photo of Hong Kong in Jan Trip

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 23:27:01 +0800

“Look right…”

Entrance to United Center, and MRT from Pacific Plaza.

The famous second-deck bus in Hong Kong.

Inside Airport Express Train.

3 Comments

Nice shots of HK, Jianshuo ! Feels like beeing there again :-)

— carsten · 2007-01-27 00:50

There are doubledecker buses just visible at the left and top of your picture of the Hong Kong doubledecker TRAMS :-). Note the rail tracks they run on.

— kiwiuncle · 2007-01-27 08:32

Thanks for your info. I got good good tips from this .

Any tops on hotels in Shangai and Hong kong -- nOt to exp and not too cheap

Thanks

Vince

— Vince · 2010-10-27 15:38

My Drawings in Hong Kong

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 22:26:23 +0800

Alan de Botton suggested people to draw picture when they travel. Drawing picture helps people to focus on beauty and learn why it is so, and discover the unique beauty in the scene, then, try to explain it with drawing.

In the character named “Procession of Beauty”, he quoted Ruskin’s saying:

“I believe that the sight is a more important thing than the drawing ; and I would rather teach drawing that my pupils may learn to love nature, than teach the looking at nature that they may learn to draw.”

PCCW Free Wifi in Hong Kong Airport

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 21:57:57 +0800

Hong Kong Airport now has free wifi access, provided by Pccw.

I used PCCW and it works great. The speed is fast.

Enjoy!

2 Comments

so many accesses,great!

— jackie · 2007-01-26 22:23

pocketpcfree

— johnbaba · 2007-02-05 00:17

JW Marriott Hong Kong

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 21:37:43 +0800

View are from Room 1106.

2 Comments

Nice shoot.

— zoe · 2007-01-27 11:36

Jian Shuo, next time you go to Hong Kong for business, try to stay at Mandarin Oriental which is about I Km west of Marriott. Mandarin offers the best in the hospitality Industry and set the standard of 5 stars hotel.

— stephen · 2007-01-29 23:37

My Experience with Hong Kong

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 23:42:47 +0800

How many times I have been to Hong Kong?

The first time, I get here with Wendy, and Eric, and stayed at Minji’s place (the Sea Ranch on an island).

The second time was a pretty short one, on March 10, 2005. I couldn’t find an entry about the trip in my blog. Anyway, it was a really short one. I fly in in the morning, get to Upstream Asia’s office at noon, started the conversation in the afternoon, and get back at 6:00 PM. One day trip to Hong Kong. It was during that trip I learnt Cantonese: 百花街 (Crookedest Street). In Mandarin, it is Bai Hua Jie, but in Cantonese, it is pronounced as Bai Fa Gai…

Living Cost in Shanghai - Service Fee

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 23:24:11 +0800

The third article to answer SSC’s question:

What about service fees, like cleaning, electricity installation, etc.?

If you want to live in a low cost life, and a local life, chances are, you don’t need any service. You clean the house by yourself, and install electric applicants by yourself, and change bubble by yourself.

If you do need service, check it here.

Service

I once wrote an article named Life in a low cost labor world.

Added Today in History

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 21:42:19 +0800

Today, I added a new plugin - OnThisDay

The difference is, you will see the “Today in History” section.

This is the MT code in my Individual Archive Template. In case you are also a MovableType blog owner, you may find it interesting.

Today in History

<$MTEntryDate format="%b %e, %Y"$>: <$MTEntryTitle$>

<$MTEntryExcerpt$>

This is useful to me to remind me what I did in the last year, the year before last year, and even the two years ago.

Living Cost in Shanghai - Driving

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 23:35:23 +0800

Continue to answer SSC’s list of question:

- What about driving costs, like registration, oil, parking, tolls, fines, etc.?

I have a car category in my blog. You can see many article related to having a car.

There are several part of cost related to a car.

Buying a Car Itself

Not surprisingly, buying a car costs a lot. Cars in China is more expensive than in U.S.

Cars under 100,000 RMB are classified as cheap cars, like FIAT, Buick SAIL, VW Polo, VW Gol, Golf…

Living Cost in Shanghai - Medicine

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 22:56:46 +0800

SSC asked more about the living cost. Let me try to answer these “new” questions.

- What about medical expenses, like insurance, hospital visit, drug prices, and even “red packets”?

For medical expenses, it is really hard to give a guideline. It depends on what kind of illness you got. Also, for the insurance, it depends on how much you want to cover… Let me just give some examples, so people have a sense.

Living Cost in Shanghai (2007 Edition)

Mon, 22 Jan 2007 21:39:18 +0800

This is the third report on living cost in Shanghai, following the previous two (I, II). The data is updated according my personal experience in Jan 2007. The data is pretty like the city in my eyes. Please be aware, different people may have different impression of the same good (depending on when to buy it and where to buy it). It is intended to give overall guideline to living cost in Shanghai.

The Scar in People's Heart

Sun, 21 Jan 2007 10:35:18 +0800

Yesterday, before Wendy’s parents went back home, we finally had some time to sit down together as a family and chat. It was a wonderful hour. We had the chance to know more about their experience in the old days, when they were young.

I don’t Know China Well

I admit (as I always do) that I don’t know China well. No matter how people claim, the history of this country is a mystery for many people, including me.

Removed 'Chedong' Copyright

Sat, 20 Jan 2007 22:59:02 +0800

Finally removed Chedong Copyright under the title to keep it more clean. In case I need it in the future, let me do a backup here.

Also, I backed up the category module as below:

Tags

<$MTCategoryLabel$>

Where are the Train Tickets?

Sat, 20 Jan 2007 20:17:51 +0800

Remember about how tough it was to buy train ticket?

Well. The question is, even if you WANT to stand on the train, you don’t have the chance, since there are so many people standing there already. Standing tickets were sold out.

Wendy asked: “How about tickets after 11 days?”

She asked because all tickets are sold 11 days in advance.

The person said: “No. Don’t try that.”

Wendy was upset: “Then where are the tickets?”

Shanghai Map Finder

Fri, 19 Jan 2007 17:22:23 +0800

This is a helper page to get the HTML code of a place in Google Map, so I can copy and paste it into my blog.

Lat, Lng

HTML:

if (GBrowserIsCompatible()) {

var map = new GMap2(document.getElementById(“map”));

map.addControl(new GSmallMapControl());

map.addControl(new GMapTypeControl());

map.setCenter(new GLatLng(31.210117,121.497175), 13, G_SATELLITE_MAP);

GEvent.addListener(map, “moveend”, function() {

var center = map.getCenter();

document.getElementById(“message”).innerHTML = center.toString();

Chinese Stock Market is Crazy

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 22:45:39 +0800

Maybe I am among the minority who didn’t notice the recent bull market trends in Chinese stock market. I heard some news, but never really look at what is happening in the market. Maybe people outside Chinese also didn’t pay attention to the performance. Here is what happened.

3 Times Increase

The Shanghai Stock Exchange Index was 998.23 in June 2005. Yesterday, it reached 2870.42, which is the highest in the history of the stock market, and almost three times than one and half year ago.

Some Blogs about V2EX

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 23:27:08 +0800

Just spent some time to use Google Blog Search to get some comments about V2EX, after it is unplugged by the “big guy”.

Look at the angry people here. When a pure technical forum full of geeks and technical guys are monitored and finally shut down, who can claim to be safe? Who is the next? From the first day, bloggers should be prepared to be shut down at any time. I am prepared, at least.

Subscribe This Blog

Sun, 14 Jan 2007 22:14:14 +0800

In case you still didn’t put this blog into any of your RSS reader, you can do so now. Here is some shortcuts. Choose one that works for you.

4 Comments

Pageflakes is a new player in the market, and they're catching up!

http://www.pageflakes.com/

— Livid · 2007-01-15 01:25

i think is a really good machine i would like to know the price

— jesus rojas · 2007-08-31 02:09

I live in Japan (I am Canadian) and I will be coming to Shanghai this November. I have never been to China before so I am excited. I need to do a lot of web searching because I don't know anything about Shanghai. I will be there with a friend for about 3 days only - so shopping is important for me. I collect pirate DVDs!!!

— Cameron · 2007-10-04 22:40

hi,

i am laiba from islamabad (pakistan).Any guy want to become my friend.plz contact at my cell no.

0092 306 6775502 , 0092 333 4103907.

only smart and beautiful guys can call me.

Laiba Khan.

— Laiba Khan · 2007-11-21 00:31

Standing in a Train? No...

Sun, 14 Jan 2007 17:53:26 +0800

Today, Wendy and I went to buy train tickets. It is spring festival, and train tickets are not easy to get.

We asked for train #282, from Shanghai to Chendong.

The person inside the counter said: “There is nothing for this train in the next 11 days now. No sleeper ticket, no soft seats, no hard seats, and even standing tickets were sold out”.

In rush time like the Spring Festival, people buy “Standing Tickets”. Every square meter of free space on the train will be full of people with “standing tickets”. It is the same price as the ticket with seat. The different is, you have to stand there all they way, 30 hours or longer. I used to buy that kind of tickets when I was a student. I stood for 18 hours from Shanghai to Luoyang. That itself is OK, but the hard part is, if your standing place is far from the WC, you will have trouble.

Life in a Crowded World

Sun, 14 Jan 2007 17:41:06 +0800

Life in Shanghai is tough. Who should we complain when there are so many people asking for the same service?

Long Lines in Banks

“Never, ever try to use any bank in Xujiahui area”, warned Wendy.

This is true. Last time Wendy went to Bank of China and got a service ticket. It stated that there are 180 people waiting before her.

One and half hour later, when she is back, there are still 150 people before her. At 4:00, when she is back again, her number just passed, and she has to get back to the bank the second day again.

The Changing Shanghai

Sat, 13 Jan 2007 21:55:23 +0800

This is a normal Saturday. It is cloudy.

Ihad a short walk with Wendy near my home in Pudong.

This is a normal place in Pudong. Here are some random photos I took today. This is the beginning of 2007. I am very sure that after 1 year, the view will completely change. Who can predict what is going to happen in China these days? Take a look at these pictures.

New Xiangyang Market Location?

Sat, 13 Jan 2007 18:28:23 +0800

Many people ask me about the new location of Xiangyang Market.

There are many versions to this answer since every emerging market is trying hard to claim themselves as the NEW Xiangyang Market. Non of the claim can be verified since as a market famous for fake goods, there is no official answer.

Shanghai Science and Technology Museum

It seems to ME that the one under the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum is the most similar one I saw so far.

V2EX's Network Cable was Unplugged

Sat, 13 Jan 2007 14:59:32 +0800

Livid’s V2EX is a great Internet application. 3000+ genius Internet developers gathered there to discuss topics related to programming, Internet, and other geek topics.

At 4:00 PM, Jan 11, 2007, the network cable of the server was unplugged by the Internet hosting company. It is according to “supervisor’s order”.

This is not the first case. It is too common in the current Internet world that no one even got surprised. This is how the censorship works. “Unplug” seems not so technical, but it is very effective. Great Firewall works for the servers outside China, and “unplug” is the first (and most basic) step to do with servers in China.

120K Self-Claim Tax in Details

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 23:31:12 +0800

Disclaimer: Just like previous post, this is just want I THINK it works. It is NOT an official explain of the tax issue.

The source of this explanation came from the tax summary paper I received in mail and this link.

Who Should Follow the Self-Claim Routine

Anyone who have annual income above 120K RMB should self-claim his/her tax to the tax bureau from Jan 1 to March 31 from this year.

Personal Income Tax in China

Mon, 08 Jan 2007 23:27:20 +0800

Disclaimer: Tax in China is like many other things. It is a blur concept, and confusing most of time. I am not a professional on this. To be honest, if I were not to prepare this article, I never really understand or try to understand how tax works. So there may be error or misunderstanding in this document. Refer to official document instead of this person.

Personal Income Tax

The current income tax was deducted before you get your salary. The company is responsible to charge you tax on your behalf.

I Got a Tax Summary!

Sun, 07 Jan 2007 23:17:44 +0800

I received a mail - paper based mail.

It is from the Tax Bureau of the Shanghai Municipal Government.

In the mail is a list of the total tax I paid in 2006 from Feb to Dec.

I was surprised to see how much tax I paid for the government. I never receive this tax report for a year before.

Something interesting is, on the left bottom, there is a sentence in big font, and in both Chinese and English.

Night Chat at Hanyuan Bookstore

Sun, 07 Jan 2007 22:39:34 +0800

Hanyuan Bookstore is a great bookstore, and a nice cafe. It is almost the equal place as the Bookworm in Beijing.

Tonight, four persons chat in the great place, as Professor Chan put it, it is a “space of humanity”.

Xiaobo, journalist from 21st Century Business Herald, Professor Yuen Ying Chan, director of Journalism and Media Studies Center of The University of Hong Kong, and Tony Lee of Cheung Kong School of Journalist and Communication Shantou University. The forth person is me.

IKEA, Xuhui Store in Shanghai

Sat, 06 Jan 2007 22:18:10 +0800

Is IKEA still the IKEA of old days? No. Definitely not. It is already a super market, a crazy, crowded market. I didn’t realize IKEA has been such a great success in Shanghai. I went there, and took some picture.

Parking Lot

IKEA has one of the biggest garage in Shanghai. Look at these pictures. They have 10+ rows of parking lots like this. At the entrance, there is a person who dedicated to stop cars at the gate and allow equal number of cars enter the garage as the cars going out. The once empty garage is now completely full. Long lines appear before IKEA store and jammed the streat. It was free for several years, and now it charges 10 RMB per car. I believe the intention is not to increase revenue. It is to restrict cars from entering the garage.

Night Scene of Xujiahui

Sat, 06 Jan 2007 21:06:11 +0800

I took some picture of Xujiahui at night. This is the north part of Xujiahui.

3 Comments

These are beautiful. That first one especially. How are you getting such clear shots at night?

— DKwan · 2007-01-06 23:27

A suggest: Next time you show your photos, maybe you can place a mark on google map.

— iWorm · 2007-01-08 23:27

DKWan, thanks. It takes time to practice. Basically, I never rely on my hands to take pictures at night. I typically press my camera against a fixed place, like the frame of the window, and take several. One of them must be clear.

iWorm, good suggestion. If I have time, I will do that.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-01-11 00:48

Pudong Airport to Portman Ritz Carlton Hotel

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 22:44:32 +0800

My previous experience in Australia taught me that the most important question people arrive at an airport in a completely new country is: “How can I get to my hotel, as fast as I can?” (src). This serie of articles serves a simple propose - to help you to get to your hotel as quick as possible, and as easy as possible. To find out how to go from Pudong Airport to another hotel, scroll to the end of this page.

Shanghai Jiaotong University

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 23:20:47 +0800

Look at this Google Map:

It is the satelite image of Shanghai Jiaotong University Xujiahui Campus.

I stayed on this campus for two years.

I also have the following pictures of the campus these days.

Photography by Henry Gu

Photograph by RemoDing

Photograph by Henry Gu

A Good Place to Visit

Typically, unviersities are far from city. SJTU Xuhui Campus is an exception. It is in the downtown, and very close to the Xujiahui District Center. It can be easily accessed by Metro Line #1 Xujiahui Station (use Exit 13, the Pacific Department Store exit), and follow the Huashan Road for 5 minutes, then you are at the gate of the university.

Last Day of Holiday

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 20:49:19 +0800

This is the last day of the three day holiday. When life is wired with Internet (or wirelessly wired with Internet), there is not a big different between working and non-working days. I am still with the yy.kijiji.cn site, and the site is still running as normal days.

5G Shanghai

This afternoon, I went to 5G Shanghai, a forum to discuss about Internet, new technology, and new economy. It is more from a journalist’s’ view to comment on the current events. Typically, there are around 10 people there.

New Year Photo by ERIC

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 18:17:11 +0800

Good camera is good camera. The Canon 30D got great photo.

Photograph by Eric Zheng. Full sized

Photography by Eric Zheng. Full sized.

Update

It is confirmed that the photo is taken by famous photographer in Shanghai: Eric Zheng.

16 Comments

Jian Shuo

You're looking good at the start of 2007. is the internet situation in China improving or are millions still unable to access sites outside of China?

— Shrek7 · 2007-01-02 20:46

what is the status on Hotmail and Yahoo mail in China..still inaccessible for the most part?

please provide an update.

— Shrek7 · 2007-01-02 20:49

It depends on which ISP you are using. At least for me, hotmail is not accessible at all. Yahoo.com is very slow - all images are not loaded. Wangjianshuo.com is still very slow.

It may take another 2 weeks for the fiber cable to recover.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-01-02 21:18

well, let's hope and pray for a speedy cable recovery.

— Shrek7 · 2007-01-02 21:53

Hello, I knew of your blog by Google serching "what's wrong with hotmail" in May, 2006. The information you posted at that time was very helpful. From then on, I keep reading your blog, but it is first time for me to write some words here. I just want to say that your blog is really awesome! And you look great in those photos!

— Emily · 2007-01-03 06:49

I feel like I have almost all of China because of a lousy earthquake. :>(( maybe this is what the Rapture will be like when Christ returns to take up all of His Christians to heaven. they will suddenly disappear and no longer be on this earth.

hey China, are you out there still? anyone at home?

— Shrek& · 2007-01-03 10:06

I have indeed lost almost all of China no one replies, no one sends or receives email. they are all silent...they are GONE. the electronic net world has crashed.

— Shrek7 · 2007-01-03 10:10

I thought that Gangfeng is Shanghai's most famous photographer--'world class'.

— Shrek7 · 2007-01-04 05:56

great 2007, great camera, great photo, great photographer and great Jianshuo:)

— swf · 2007-01-04 07:49

Wang Gangfeng is No. 1. I read an article about him published this month in a magazine.

— Shrek7 · 2007-01-04 09:20

article about Gangfeng in The Walrus magazine December 2006:

A Resonant Boom

How Shanghai's citizens view their city's seemingly unending growth

by Charles Foran

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wang Gangfeng is a happy man. He tells me as much one afternoon in Shanghai. The photographer sits in his studio in the city's west end. The studio occupies an upperfloor corner that in its day may have housed a dozen families in the forced intimacy for which China, and especially Shanghai, remains notorious. Now Wang, a boyish fifty-year-old attired in all black, including leather pants and boots, has the space to himself. Appropriately, he is equally the self-styled "first freelance photographer in China" and proprietor of the "Gang of One," a business name drawn from a pun on the infamous Gang of Four clique that terrorized China in the 1970s.

His walls are as crowded as any city block. Though Wang earns his living doing commercial work, his art lies in portrait photography that shirks neither Shanghai grit nor rural backwardness. Images include elderly ladies in alleyways and bicyclists pushing impossible loads. His lens is intimate, and with even the most impersonal shots, including a well-known photo of a solitary biker parting a sea of fellow travellers heading in the opposite direction, the eye is drawn to the often serene expressions worn by those going about their arduous business.

http://www.walrusmagazine.com/u/register/?ref=urban-affairs-a-resonant-boom

— Shrek7 · 2007-01-04 09:24

Nice photo. still young man!

— qian yao · 2007-01-04 10:32

Dear JS ，You look great ,but i think you should lose weight now ,HEhe,you look like a bitter more fat than before.

— Lisa · 2007-01-15 16:34

You don't look like getting old, and what a familiar smile, Haha! I just sent out an email to you but I am not sure if you are still using that old email address. I just had a visit in China, including Beijing and Luoyang, etc. I will visit your blog very often. Hope I can find you.

By the way, your email Ad sounds interesting. Am I too late to request a @wangjianshuo.com ? First Name: Ruifeng; Last Name: Guo. In my campus everyone calls me Ray and I may use it as my second First name in the future. So either Ruifeng or Ray is good for my address. You can send me the one that is easier to be assigned.

— Ray · 2007-01-16 11:58

One more word, I kind of agree with Lisa on your weight control. I am on the same boat for diet.

— Ray · 2007-01-16 12:00

We are looking for Gang Feng. He did a shoot with my whole family in Toronto, Canada over 12 years ago.. My father would like to visit China and would like to stop and say hello to him.

Please let us know where he is.

Thank you

— Mrs. Issa · 2007-01-23 11:54

The Great Well in Jinmao Tower

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 20:12:36 +0800

I would recommend people who are interested in architecture, or who enjoy staying in a modern (even post-modern) building, to visit the 56th floor of the Jinmao Tower. It is a bar on the 56th floor of Grand Haytt (inside Jinmao Tower). Above the bar, is a GREAT WELL (I gave the name) that is 40+ floors in height.

From Google Satellite Map

if (GBrowserIsCompatible()) {var map = new GMap2(document.getElementById(“map”));map.addControl(new GSmallMapControl());map.addControl(new GMapTypeControl()); map.setCenter(new GLatLng(31.237334419677914,121.50101602077484), 18, G_SATELLITE_MAP); }

Happy New Year

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 19:55:21 +0800

This is the first day of 2007. Best wishes to my family, friends, and my blog readers.

I am looking forward to having a great 2007! (Thanks jqian for correcting the grammer errors)

5 Comments

Happy New Year - Jian shuo! I am still in the new year day while you are in the second day of 2007. Just by chance saw your page and interested in your store. May read it more later. Send me an email if you like.

— Anthony Cui · 2007-01-02 03:05

Happy new year too!

A correction of grammar: You can't have a verb after "look forward to", it must be followed by a noun.

So the correct way to say it is: I am looking forward to having a great 2007. I used to make the same mistake many many years ago.

— jqian · 2007-01-02 04:09

Corrected, jqian. Thanks.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-01-02 17:32

Happy New Year 2007

— Masud · 2007-12-30 16:59

DEAR BROTHER,

WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR YOU AND YOURS FAMILY AND YOURS ALL STAFF MEMBERS

— LEE JEONG PIL · 2008-12-31 18:55

Friend's Dog Killed

Sat, 30 Dec 2006 22:59:24 +0800

Look at this cute dog:

Its name is Ahuang, or Little Yellow. It is my friend’s dog. Early this week, it was robbed from his home and was killed. What a sad little thing. According to him, someone jumped into his house in suburb areas at 4:00 in early morning, and was killed and brought away. The guess is, they are going to sell the dog to meat market.

Wangjianshuo.com Inaccessible

Fri, 29 Dec 2006 23:22:48 +0800

Wangjianshuo.com was not accessible since the last time I posted. The cable was completely cut off, and I am using a proxy to get very slow access to the site. Just want to post a note to let people know I am still OK, but I am not able to update the blog since I cannot access the site from China now.

Hope the Internet cable between China and the rest of the world is repaired soon. Optimistic opinion is, it will be OK within 2 or three weeks.

24 Hours Internet without U.S.

Wed, 27 Dec 2006 20:33:13 +0800

It is exactly 24 hours after the earthquake in Taiwan. The earthquake caused 6 major fiber cable between China and U.S., between Korea and Hong Kong, and between Hong Kong and Shanghai were broken.

This is according to local news:

20:25 China-U.S. Cable broke

20:25 Asia-Europe #3 Cable broke

00:06 Asia-Pacific #2 S7 broke

02:00 Asia-Pacfic $2 S3 broke

20:43 Flag from Korea to Hong Kong broke

04:56 Flag from Hongkong to Shanghai broke

@Wangjianshuo.com Email as Gift

Tue, 26 Dec 2006 22:02:17 +0800

Happy New Year!

Every year, I am thinking of a special gift to send out to my friends. I have ever tried gift like a Google AdWords advertisement (to VeryCD), and tried to use Link as a gift. How about this year?

@wangjianshuo.com

As time passes by, we have new applications every year. This year, I am sending out email address like yourname@wangjianshuo.com as new year gift to my friends.

Examples are:

chedong @ wangjianshuo.com (and Chedong was so kind to promise me to give me a jianshuo@chedong.com email address)

Backup of Individual Entry Archive Template

Tue, 26 Dec 2006 00:25:36 +0800

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Published: <a href=“http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archives/<$MTEntryDate format="%Y_%m.htm”$>"><$MTEntryDate format="%B %e"$>, <$MTEntryDate format="%Y"$>.

Merry Christmas, 2006!

Sun, 24 Dec 2006 17:34:52 +0800

Merry Christmas!

15 Comments

happy holiday!

— wanglu · 2006-12-24 19:08

哇，还有雪花的

圣诞快乐！

— Jone · 2006-12-24 19:53

圣诞快乐,建硕

哈哈,漂亮的雪花

不知道今年下不下雪

咋弄的?分享一下

— victor · 2006-12-24 20:51

Merry Christmas!

Happy New year!

— Liangcai · 2006-12-24 20:59

Right back at ya, Jian :-)

Keep up the great blogging about Shanghai... I came for my first visit last summer thanks to your site!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewcurrie/sets/72157594262707653/

— AC · 2006-12-24 21:20

thanks for your happiness in last 2006 in your blog.

Merry Christmas!

— kevin · 2006-12-24 22:36

Hi everyone

I have been too busy and long not time coming here.

Just to thanks Jianshuo for his blog.

*****************************************

Wishing all of you Merry X'mas and a Happy New Year!

*****************************************

— Joyce · 2006-12-25 04:16

Oooohhh, snow!!

:-)

— Carroll · 2006-12-25 06:14

Merry Christmas, Wangjianshuo! I had Christmas in Beijing before, very interesting it was.

— Ben Pinkerton · 2006-12-25 10:44

merry christmas and happy new year. do you celebrate christmas in china?????it's a wonderful time of year.

chinese new year will be here before you know it......

another great holiday. ho....ho...ho...

buddy (my nickname)

— wm frazier · 2006-12-25 12:09

Very nice snowflakes ,bring us into winter day ,thanks ,Merry Christmas.Jian Shuo

— XL · 2006-12-25 15:46

很喜欢你的页面风格，喜欢有雪花的感觉。北京到圣诞节都还没有下雪呢

— youshuishini · 2006-12-25 21:28

Merry Christmas Jian Shuo!

— RC · 2006-12-25 22:07

Jian Shuo, may you have a very Merry Christmas with family and close ones. PS: please contact me when you have some free time. I'm currently in Shanghai SJTU Xuhui and would like the opportunity to meet up. Thanks!

— Jemmy · 2006-12-26 09:06

i don't know that ,there can have chinese!!!!!!

good day

— bill · 2006-12-30 08:38

OOB for Saturday

Fri, 22 Dec 2006 23:10:01 +0800

Finally finished the recent PR stuff, and started to plan for the year end, so life is almost upside down. When it is combined with the business trip last week, I have to be OOB (out of blogging) today and maybe tomorrow.

3 Comments

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Ho Ho Ho!

— Shrek7 · 2006-12-24 00:56

Merry Christmas to you and Wendy, Jian Shuo. I have a feeling that the year ahead is going bring good things to you both!

— Carroll · 2006-12-24 02:19

HO.. HO.. HO.. Merry Christmas and have a nice holiday! Shanghai has a lot of sale going on. Maybe can bring Wendy shopping and release your stress :)

— DC · 2006-12-24 11:16

Books I Read These Days

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 23:10:24 +0800

These are some (English) books I read these days:

These are some random pictures from (winter) Shanghai.

4 Comments

Thomas Friedman is the fad of the day. His record in the Middle East is terrible but his sound bite is good and therefore he sells books. A few Chinese saw through what Friedman really is - a glib promoter rather than a writer with substance. See http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20061125_2.htm

— PC · 2006-12-21 23:21

Yes, today is the first day of winter!

I wish you and every blogger a happy holiday season and New Year of health, happiness and prosperity.

— stephen · 2006-12-21 23:57

You take the dustjacket off of your books?

— Micah · 2006-12-22 08:44

I wish you and every blogger a happy holiday season and Prosperous New Year Wishes.

— Jacob · 2006-12-27 03:42

Busy Recently

Tue, 19 Dec 2006 23:39:32 +0800

I am busy recently, and may be slow (or no) response to your comments, or write more “qualified” blog posts. I hope I can get back to it in several days.

If I could change my MSN display name, I may change it to “rumors and rumors”. More and more rumor appears around Kijiji and around me. :-) The price to be a public person is, there is always rumors, and personal attack everywhere. One of the essential skill to survive is, always separate the name in media from yourself, as if they are talking about another person - actually they ARE talking about another person who happen to be with the same name. :-) This kind of seperation is key

40 Minutes for a Taxi at Hongqiao

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 22:49:56 +0800

It took me 90 minutes to fly from Shanghai to Beijing, but it cost more than 40 minutes to walk from the end of the line to the door of a taxi. That is the increasing problem for Hongqiao Airport.

Long Long Lines!

I hesitate to choose Hong Qiao Airport now, especially for the night flights. The public transportation does not really work - there is no metro to Hong Qiao, and there are not many bus route. Taxis seem to be the major transportation for the island of the airport (the airport seems to be an island for me).

A Picture in Shanghai

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 21:17:52 +0800

Night in Shanghai Pudong. Taken near the Yang Pu bridge in Pudong (Heisong Road, and MingYue Road).

P.S. Back from Beijing. When I travel, the regular updates the blog may be interrupted. Hope to be back to normal pace soon.

4 Comments

When you get time would you tell me the 3 best places to visit in mainland china ? James Mills MD

— james mills · 2006-12-18 08:14

James, can you name 3 best places to visit in continental US. What answer will I get from 10 people from 10 different state/city? More specific question in your field, how would you rank US cities based on their health care systems (list top 3).

— Dallas cowboy · 2006-12-18 14:29

James: I just returned from a 3-week tour of the mainland and I would rank the top 3 things I saw as:

1) Terra Cotta Warriors/Emporor Qing's Tomb in Xi'an...very impressive in person!

2) Beijing (Great Wall, Forbidden City + more)

3) Shanghai city area and Suzhou city area and gardens (1.5 hour drive from Shanghai)

#1 and #2 are almost equal, slight edge to the Warriors though. Wish I had more time in Shanghai, I only had 1.5 days. I will be going back to visit Shanghai in a couple years for a week or so.

— Jeff · 2006-12-19 03:28

i am thinking why there are so many people from different countrys??

and may be i should say at first that i am a chinese!

why they came here ?

may you think that's a simple question so you don't want to answer/is't JS!

but i think if you answer me i will feel good !

— bill · 2006-12-19 12:05

Did I Change in the Last Four Years?

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 21:15:53 +0800

In the last four years of blogging, did I change a lot? I believe so, but I just cannot tell what are the changes, and how much the change is. Reading my blog entries written 4 years ago, I still feel I am the same person, but I am very sure I am NOT from the readers’ perspective. What do you think?

10 Comments

I bet you haven't changed all that much, Jian Shuo (except for your professional circumstances, of course) It's just that over time you have revealed so much more of yourself. We know you better now -- and maybe you know yourself better now too :-)

— Carroll · 2006-12-15 00:01

Off the topic but... There's a good series on National Public Radio (NPR) in the U.S. this week on the future of Shanghai. It can also be heard online:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6610882

— Mark · 2006-12-15 07:00

You used to blog about more tech-related topics. Inevitably what you blog about is going to change over time, though.

— Ollie · 2006-12-15 07:28

it is unconsciously influenced..

— Gillian · 2006-12-15 16:28

the readers who update wjs RSS every week, should not aware too much change. because they are growing with you and getting familar with you even in virtural world.

they can feel the words you write is full of sincereity and reflect wangjianshuo's style:D

— think2 · 2006-12-16 18:03

everyone will change !because time is a powerthing that can make all of us different from right now!!

as iam a newer (i have came here just for 3 weeks),i know little about you and your blog , may i can say like this!

but i think you a great just to make a blog like this!

i think you must be the person i should to go with!

— bill · 2006-12-17 09:37

Hi jianshuo, it is a long time since we last met. You are not changed, just move on to another period of your life.

Just follow the course!

— air kelijuan · 2006-12-17 22:47

Except maybe for your professional changes....I have'nt noticed any.On the better side, you've improved your english, wrote as usual with verve.

— Sekhar · 2006-12-18 12:42

THIS IS STUPIT SHIT....

— Ziryan · 2006-12-22 21:06

At least you are busier & blog is becoming shorter :-)

— jack · 2006-12-25 11:01

Is Beijing Ready?

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 23:56:10 +0800

Every time I am back from a U.S. Trip, I have to pause my blog for some days, even without an OOB (Out of Blogging) notice. Time difference is one reason (that I may miss one or two days during the flight), jet lag is another but most importantly, there is always too much stuff for me to catch up. This typically takes two days or three. So 3 days after arriving in Shanghai, I am almost back to normal life (except another travel to Beijing), and is ready to keep the blog running. (It is always a good idea to explain a little bit why I skipped some days in blogging when I am back, isn’t it?)

Going Back to Shanghai

Sun, 10 Dec 2006 17:26:12 +0800

I am flying back to Shanghai. If I can choose, the next time I travel, I will never try to transit in Tokyo. The travel time is 50% more than direct flight from San Francisco to Shanghai:

10DEC 10:50 SFO -> 15:05 NRT (11 hours 15 minutes), NH007

11DEC 18:40 NRT -> 21:05 PVG (3 hours 25 minutes), NH921

Flying time: 14 hours 40 minutes

Transition time: 3 hours 35 minutes

Public Holidays in China

Fri, 08 Dec 2006 13:01:17 +0800

This is to answer Lee’s question about how many public holidays there is in China.

Three Major Holidays

In China, there are three most important holidays: May Holiday (May 1 to May 7), National Holiday (October 1 to October 7), and Spring Festival (Date varies, but normally be late Jan or early Feb, and lasting for 7 days).

The public holiday is actually only 3 days for each of the three holidays, but people switched and put the previous weekend and the next weekend together to make it up to 7 continous holidays, and fixed the date to be May 1 to May 7, Oct 1 to Oct 7. For the Spring Festival, since it is the 1st day of the first month to the 7th day of the first month, and there is no fixed date.

Shanghai Looks Similar to US, But...

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 15:12:19 +0800

Every time I am in San Jose, I meet with people who are genuinely interested in China. China is becoming hot topic here, and I was asked many questions. On one hand, I was amazed by how much people know about China (like some people visited very small cities in China, or some speaks really good Chinese), and also by how little people know about the history (especially the recent century) of China. Yesterday, over our dining table, we chatted about the change in China. 30 years ago, China was in such a chaos, that the culture revolution, and great leap forward ruined the dream, life, and sense of trust for the whole generation of people. When people see the prosperity of Shanghai, people didn’t see it, and didn’t realize how long it takes for the country to cure the pain of the last 30-40 years.

Listen = Discover?

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 12:41:36 +0800

In the last leadership development program, for the first time, I heard people call “Listen” as “Discover”. It makes perfect sense to me. The steps of active listening was:

Suspend Agenda
Pay attention
Asking open ended question like “what”, “why”, “what else”.
Paraphrase to confirm understanding

This small tip worked for me fantastically in the last few weeks.

Everyone has a World, Inside

Everyone’s spiritual world is inside his/her mind. It is not easy to explain how the world looks like. People rely on language to communicate it. There are ways to convey feelings, like using art, music, or dance, but not everyone has the technique to express using these ways, or understand it. So language seems to be the major way.

Hello from San Jose, Dec 4

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 02:20:58 +0800

Hello from San Jose. I arrived at 10:00 sharp at hotel. This time, I drove without a map. I am happy that I finally setup some sense of location, and for most places, like University Ave, Downtown Mountview, San Jose, Stanford, I don’t need a map now.

Getting to bed to have sleep now to kill the jet lag - my way.

7 Comments

Any bets on how long it will take him to get lost *this* time, folks? ;-)

Just teasing you, Jian Shuo. I'm sure it feels good to be able to find your way around our crazy freeway system.

Here's to a good day's sleep!

— Carroll · 2006-12-04 04:00

The thing about getting lost in San Jose is that every other road starts with San or Santa :)

— Herbert · 2006-12-04 04:45

:-) This time, I didn't bring a map, and drove alone the 101. I don't remember the exit, but when I saw Brokaw Rd, I know it is the time to exit. Double Tree is just on the right hand of the Airport Pkwy...

It is easy.

For 2154 Hamilton Ave, it is also easy. At least I formed a sense of how US 101, I-280, CA-17, CA-85 connecting with each other. With these four highway in mind, driving is not that bad.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-12-04 05:16

:-)

— tezhongbing · 2006-12-04 12:18

i am now in a small city .

and i have been there for about 1 year,

at first, i want to buy a map but others ,who havebeen there for long ,tell me that that's nor necessay .

and now i found that i can go most of the city if i want.

— bill · 2006-12-05 13:14

I live in San Jose (Almaden, near HWY 87/85). I know it like the back of my own hand.

I am moving to Wuxi in January (got to your page from a Google search, trying to research the best SIM to buy for calls to/from Wuxi/US).

You have my email address (posted here, hidden to others). If you need anything - anything at all - send me an email, and I'll give you my phone number. I know you said not to ask you to do either, but this time it's for you, if you need it. If you need help with anything, do not hesitate to contact me.

— SD Lawrence · 2006-12-06 14:55

Well, seems you guy travel a lot, uh? Well, this is my very first time dropping by your blog. you did good job anyway! lol.. I will keep tracing on this, yeah,i guess so. haha~~ Stay cool then! Cheers!

— Peerless · 2006-12-20 17:21

Hello from Narita Airport, Tokyo

Sun, 03 Dec 2006 14:38:08 +0800

Hello! I am traveling, and I am still connected.

Hello from the ANA Lounge in Narita Airport, Tokyo.

I am a silly boy. I don’t know that I could use the ANA lounge.

There is 3 hours in between (arriving at 2:00 PM and departing at 5:00 PM).

I wanted to explorer the airport, but there is not too much. The currency exchange (16.58 Yen = 1 RMB) made shopping very confusing to me. There are not so many shops to visit.

The Blind Men and The Elephant

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 22:07:24 +0800

I love the story of the Blind Men and the Elephant most. It is interesting, inspirational, and helpful for me.

In the story, six blind men approached the elephant and each one of them only grasped part of the elephant. They argued with each other about what the elephant really looked like. They claim the elephant is like a wall, like spear, like a snake, like a tree, like a fan, or like a rope. Obviously they could not reach an agreement.

Jian Shuo Visits San Jose (Again)

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 19:58:37 +0800

Hope this is not too surprising. I am visiting San Jose again from Dec 3 to Dec 10. This time, I transit in Tokyo.

In the last few weeks, I went to U.S., stayed for 10 days, went back, and stayed for 2 weeks, and then will visit U.S. again, and will stay for one week, and then fly back to Shanghai. I am just like a clock… Ding dong, Ding dong ~~~

OOB to Take a Pause

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 22:15:19 +0800

OOB (Out of Blogging) today, and maybe (maybe not) tomorrow. I am not feeling well these days, after caught in the rain last night, and my stomach does not feel good. I am going bed now, and hope to take a short (no longer than two days) in blogging.

P.S. Shanghai is really cold now, seriously.

9 Comments

Jian Shuo

sorry to hear that you're not feeling well and wish you a speedy recovery.

— Shrek7 · 2006-11-30 22:56

Take good care of yourself!

health is more imoprtant than anything else.

— jackie · 2006-11-30 23:35

With all the traveling you do, it's a miracle you don't get ill more often. Feel better soon!!

— Carroll · 2006-12-01 03:33

No problem, JS, take a good rest!

— jqian · 2006-12-01 05:07

Hi, JianShuo,

my best regards, take rest and qickly recovery.

: XiongShui

— XiongShui · 2006-12-01 06:04

Hi, Jianshuo,

Take a good rest, fastly recover and return to fit status!

Good wish!!!

— zou5020 · 2006-12-01 08:20

i can sure that i will fell bad if cannot see your blog

and the same time , i wish you will be better tomorrow!

— bill · 2006-12-01 10:00

i hope u can recovery soon

— kate · 2006-12-01 10:14

Thanks everyone. It is not something serious. I am feeling much better today, and I will resume my blog today.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-12-01 12:20

Shanghai is Coooold

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 21:53:18 +0800

If you are coming to Shanghai these days, be aware that Shanghai is really cold. It rains (for many days), and the temperature drops to 8°C. Today, we turned on warm air-con for the first time this winter.

So bring rain coat, and bring warm cloths with you if you plan to visit Shanghai.

At 6:30 PM, it rained, and there were no taxi at all on street. I tried to call taxi reservation hotline, for example, 62580000 for Jinjiang, and 968222 for Dazhong. It simply does not work. It is always busy line. After about 10 minutes, I got through and not surprisingly, they don’t have any taxi available. The whole city seems to stop working for me. Wendy waited for a taxi for about one hour before she got one.

Meeting Place: Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 13:51:44 +0800

This is the meeting place: Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.

The only propose for this entry is to write down something to describe a venue - a cafe shop, that I can send the URL of this page to others so I don’t need to describe the location every time I make an appointment.

Location:

Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf,

1F, 666 Fuzhou Road

福州路666号一楼香啡缤咖啡馆

Lining Up for Metro?

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 22:38:35 +0800

Yesterday, at rush hours (6:30 PM), I waited at the Shanghai Metro #1 People’s Square Station. On the rear doors of the Metro, I noticed that people started to line up - there are two lines of people for the gate, and each line has more than 15 people, that makes the lines cross the platform and even near the other side of the platform.

No one was there to help maintain the order. The lines just formed by themselves. When the metro train came, people get off board from the middle - also formed a line, and the two lines of people entered one by one.

Zhaoxiang Outlets

Sun, 26 Nov 2006 23:23:57 +0800

Shanghai has its own outlets. To be exact, there are many of them.

Last Sunday, we visited one of them in Zhaoxiang 赵巷.

If you ask me, I would say, it is very much the same as Gilroy Premium Outlets I visited in California. It has many stores, with the presence of major brands. Personally, I am more interested in Nike, Adidas, Levi’s…

The price is OK. It does not seem exactly like that in Gilroy, but pretty similar. Maybe the difference is tax - in U.S., all price is “pre-tax”, and in China, it is after-tax.

Short Note of 5 Days in Chaminade

Sat, 25 Nov 2006 23:30:32 +0800

This is a short note about my 5 days in Chaminade

First morning, I felt challenge/fear as never experienced before. I learnt to focus on something else, and do the right thing, instead of focusing on the environment. Afternoon session, it was all about listening. I never heard people put listening and discover together. I realize if we our thinking is 100%, face to face communication only can convey 5% of it. By listening well, people can discover more than the 5% (with suspending agenda, focus, ask open questions, reflection)

Chaminade in Santa Cruz

Fri, 24 Nov 2006 23:06:43 +0800

In the last week, the whole week, I didn’t take any pictures in Chaminade Hotel in Santa Cruz. The week was so intense that all my time, including nights were used up. I did manage to take severl photos (when it is not too dark outside). Here they are:

Chaminade seems to be a famous place. When I am back, Haisong told me he was also in the same hotel one week ago, for the Young Leader’s Forum (from National Committee of US. Chinese Relationship). How interesting that Haisong also jumped from the same pole as I did.

Happy Thanksgivings

Thu, 23 Nov 2006 21:28:30 +0800

Today is Thanksgivings Day. This is not a popular holiday in China, but I love the concept to take a pause and start to think about people you should thank for.

Chasing Daylight

I am reading the book written by Eugene O’Kelly: Chasing Daylight.

It is a great book, and O’Kelly has a great story - a cruel but warm story. As CEO of KPMG, O’Kelly knew he only had 3 months of life, and wrote the great book. Maybe O’Kelly will be known not for his role as head of KPMG and his 30 years service to the company, instead, he will be known about this great book which inspired many people, including me.

Rumors after Rumors - Part II

Thu, 23 Nov 2006 19:46:17 +0800

From the first day of this blog, I tried to seperate my blogging world from my business world. This is the intention, although sometimes the two worlds run into each other. This does happen, since there is natural connection betwen the two worlds - it is all about me.

Rumors

I am happy that in the last two days, the rumors finally stopped, or a better way to describe it, “faded out from the homepage of major portal sites”. This let me rest for a while and describe to my readers (in the blogging world) about what happened (without concerning too much to my friends in the business world).

Rumors after Rumors

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 22:16:14 +0800

The Internet industry in China is exactly like entertainment industry. There are rumors after rumor. I have to decline the rumors around for the day, and was really surprised to see my name involved in news articles…

18 Comments

Jianshuo, after 4½ years, now I will give you some advice.

This is an EMPTY posting !

Truly !

Do not just talk into empty space.

We dont achieve any information from you, you do not show us any of the articles you are thinking of, or even some links to them, Jianshuo.

If no information is provided, this posting is just a "dead end (street)",

and you know what that sign means.

You have just left "driving" California !

Put in a simple way, I expects more quality from you than this posting.

I know you're having a serious jetlag now, so the advice is,

to simply wait to post anything until it has passed....

— carsten · 2006-11-22 01:31

New post:

Jiang Shuo is waking up to shit and piss. He will open a window and write it in his blog. Then he will come back to sleep until the sunrise.

It seems like you are paid to write nothing. Isn't it ?

Please, try to find your mojo like the good old days and write interesting posts, otherwise your blog will be quicly kicked out the blogosphere...

— Frank · 2006-11-22 02:07

I don't think Jian Shuo is paid to write.

That being said, I too don't know what he's talking about in this post.

On a different note: Jian Shuo, you seem to travel to Silicon Valley frequently. Have you had the chance to come to Southern California? We have some of the best xiao long bao outside of China. http://www.dintaifungusa.com/ Makes my stomach growl just thinking about it!

— Mark · 2006-11-22 03:02

Well, keeping up a blog can be a big job, especially after years of activities. I am sure that JSW is feeling like it's his responsibility to keep it running. He might feel quilty not to write anything for a day or two. I don't know the solution. I just want to ask questions. Can a blog writer stop writing for a few days, or a few weeks? There are tons of blogs out there where the owners took a few rests and each may last an indefinite amount of time. I think it's perfectly okay to leave it alone for a while, only update it when something exciting or brilliant come to mind. As a frequent visitor, I have no issue with that.

— jqian · 2006-11-22 08:20

On the flip side, I don't agree with the above sentiment that "...your blog will be quicly kicked out the blogosphere...". I can assure everybody that is not going to happen even if JSW says something out of nothing. Let me explain it this way, I come to a site like this knowing JSW as a human being, like a brother figure. I have no tall order for him. I don't need education from him either. I view his blog and himself just a plain person like myself. And most importantly, I feel perfectly fine that a plain person has nothing to say, and say whatever came to mind..., it's human, isn't it. Feeling human is an important aspect why I love this site. I can reflect a lot of the feelings that he has. I can see how he is developing his perspective after traveling... Why does anyone want to place such an unrealistically tall order to a personal blog that ultimately belongs to JSW himself to express his own feelings, whatever it is. If you don't the the so called "quality" that he wrote today, why can't you write something of high quality so that we can all enjoy? Besides, I personally feel that JSW's sensitivity to rumors is a powerful feeling that he feels compelled to express. By expressing these very humanly feelings, I came to enjoy JSW and his sites ever more... enough said.

— jqian · 2006-11-22 08:31

Unfortunately, South Ca is low tech and North Ca is high tech, I am just kidding!

Yes, Chinese food in SC is probably the number one or two (not sure about how it compares to NYC) in the US and A.

I am always amazed at the quality difference for Chinese food between bay area and Monterey park. Well, the only logic I can draw from this is that Bay area has too many engineers and LA regions has too many businessmen.

— jqian · 2006-11-22 08:38

why do't u guy think that it is great way to learn more about WJS and CHINESE?!!

— wyx · 2006-11-22 10:12

Hi guys, I hear you, and I completely hear you. Thanks for the quick headup - I understand your feeling Carsten and Frank, and thanks jqian for your understanding - a smile got onto my face when I read your note. On the post, there is context around it, and due to the fact of the issue, I cannot write more or write nothing. To be honest, this note is more for me (to remind what happened today), and to some journalist. Due to the sensitivity of the issue, this is all I can disclose today. Wait for one day or two, I will let the story unfold and tell you more when I can. Also, if you read Chinese, search my name in news search, and you can get some context (which I cannot link to now)

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-11-22 11:16

JS,

I am not surprice that not before too much longer you will not have time to continue writing, good for you, better and bigger things to deal with. Enjoy reading your writing very much.

— loretta · 2006-11-22 14:42

Many of us saw the "rumors" from local online media and asked each other whether it is true. Now we got the clarification. Best wishes to you and kijiji!

— xuebin · 2006-11-22 15:20

I checked the source of the rumor. That piece of news itself actually didn't talk about any of the rumor. But some headlines pointing to that news made the rumor :( The news headlines have been abused so much in China these days that they can be totally unrelated to their news contents....

— JH · 2006-11-22 17:58

Take it easy. As you said, the Internet industry in China is exactly like entertainment industry. :-)

— jack · 2006-11-22 21:58

Is Google buying your company?

— Dave G. · 2006-11-23 00:32

IMHO, this post of Jian Shuo's is well wriiten.

By definition a blog is like a diary, some entries are notes of actual events, some are sparks of thoughts, some are venting, some can just be markings or even cryptive markings. Entries on a popularly read blog can be meant for every reader but there's nothing wrong with putting notes there for himself --- after all it's HIS blog.

Furthermore, this is really a smart way to deal with things like rumors, attacks, etc. For in such a case, it is best to point out the nature of the offense WITHOUT repeating/advertising the feeding frenzy.

— bigbro · 2006-11-23 11:49

rumor is WJS will go to Google :-)

— Oncerest · 2006-11-23 12:09

ok, searched and got it, rumor is WJS meetup with Google asian sale director and eachnet founder to run new business.

— Oncerest · 2006-11-23 12:13

"Is Google buying your company?"

Funny, I actually guessed the right company without knowing anything about the rumor.

— Dave G. · 2006-11-23 15:17

Hi again ! Keep up the good work ! My joke was meant to make you react ! You are one of the only "read-able" blog in English about China !

Whatever I said, you're still (and will always be) one of my favourite RSS feed ;-)

Good night !

— Frank · 2006-11-24 00:09

Back to Shanghai

Mon, 20 Nov 2006 05:59:33 +0800

I am back to Shanghai. Nice flight. I am not sure whether the trip was too intense for me or something else, I slept so well on the plane and was not aware of what happened during the trip. I wake up a little bit, wrote about 18 emails, and fell a sleep again. I managed to wake up about 14 minutes before departure, when the land of Shanghai is clearly in my sight again.

Heading Back to Shanghai

Sat, 18 Nov 2006 12:19:46 +0800

I completed the amazing five days in Chaminade in Santa Cruz. What a journey it is! It takes some time for me to reflect and recap what I have experienced with the team, but there is no doubt that it was such a unique experience for me personally, and it placed big impact on me. Due to confidentiality requirement, I cannot explain more in details about what I did, but I will sumarize the learnings in the next few weeks on the blog. Now I am just too tired to keep my eyes open. When I feel really sleepy after 22:00, I know my jet lag completed go away. What a exciting news for! But the bad news is, I am flying back to Shanghai tomorrow. I will drive from Santa Cruz (nice place, but I didn’t have the time to visit downtown and the beach yet) to SFO. I will need to adjust the time zone again. These weeks will be tough since I am flying between Shanghai and San Francisco back and forth at interval of 10 days - the date for me to completely get rid of jet lag. :-) It is part of life, isn’t it?

Sound Bytes of These Days

Thu, 16 Nov 2006 16:59:53 +0800

There must be reason behind an unreasonable person.
Maybe people just have different common sense.

Common sense is not always common, and sometimes it does not makes sense.

Or to put it in a clearer way, Common sense is not always common among different people, and sometimes some one’s common sense does not makes sense to another person.
It is hard to be intimacy without being vulnerable.
Tell the gap

Mena's Presentation on Ted

Wed, 15 Nov 2006 13:53:06 +0800

Look and listen to Mena’s presentation on blogging on Ted.

Nice talk. It was so lovely presentation that I watched it three times.

I have been a reader of Mena since 2002. She is such a great writer, and a presenter (which I just discovered). She restated the meaning of a blog and how it impact people’s life. I found it is very helpful for me at least, to remind me that a blog is all about keep some record about your life to help you to understand your life, even your children, or grandchildren about your life. This is very inspiring thinking, isn’t? I encourage everyone to watch the video.

Three Services I don't Use in China

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 12:45:01 +0800

There are several services that I very seldom use in China, but I use it frequently in the bay area.

1. Google Map and Driving Direction

I don’t use map as frequently as here. I need to check Google Map once or twice every single day to get driving directions. In Shanghai or even in other cities in China, to check an online map is just for fun - to checkout something I am so familiar and see what the map says.

A Private Message...

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 08:45:07 +0800

This is a short notice to some of my friends in Bay area.

For some reason, I lost some contacts in my address book (maybe due to synchronization problems), and I am able to recall the email address or other contact information for some of my friends in bay area. I’d like to drop a small note to you, but I didn’t. For example, Carroll and Jim, I’d like to pay a visit, but it turned out not possible on this trip. Please drop me a mail for your email address again? I just feel so bad that I lost it.

University Ave Day

Sun, 12 Nov 2006 14:15:20 +0800

Buck’s Restaurant

Buck’s Restaurant seems really popular. We went there for lunch, saw many people waited in line and it would take 40 more minutes to get a seat. Finally gave up.

I saw the Google Plate Tina talked about, with a tag line: “We are too dumb to buy Google stock, but we bought the plate”.

University Cafe at University Ave

Stayed for the whole afternoon in the university cafe. It is not bad. The next time, I can directly arrange some meetup there. Good place - I love the orange juice. :-)

Chat with Tina and Jin

Sat, 11 Nov 2006 17:54:43 +0800

Although I missed the lecture about International Space Station, I didn’t miss a great meetup with Tina and Jin.

Silicon Valley is a great place to meet people - smart people, entrepreneurs, VCs, and techies, geeks… I didn’t really get it for the first few trips to the Bay Area. Although I visited most high tech companies, the most fun part of being in the Bay Area is to spend time with People! Tina and Jin are obviously among the interesting and inspiring people in the valley.

Missed the Lecture on Stanford

Sat, 11 Nov 2006 17:28:58 +0800

On eBay Park

The eBay Park on Hamilton Ave is a great place. I had full day meeting with buddies here, and it was nice. I found out some good food in the cafeteria - chicken with steamed rice. It is so nice to finally find some food I enjoy.

Meeting with Friend at Night

I managed to drive from Hamilton Ave up to Sushitomi Restaurant in Mountain View. Silicon Valley has so many small cities like Mountain View, which is basically one central avenue (Castro St). I have been to this area for three times, so is pretty familiar. The only problem with my drive is, I spent more than 10 minutes to get to CA-17 at Hamilton just because I missed the entrance from east to west, and have to get a U-turn in the Friday traffic on Hamilton. So the finally trip was more than 30 minutes.

Jet Lag? Finally Found Out the Cure

Sat, 11 Nov 2006 17:18:57 +0800

This is the second day of my trip. Just some random note about this long day, in several different entries.

Jet Lag? Finally Found Out the Cure

I am a typical jet lag person. Every time I fly west bound from Shanghai, I experienced serious jet lag.

Jet Lag Patterns

My Most Serious Jet Lag Ever

I followed the advice from my friends and books not to sleep at day time no matter how sleepy I am, and wait until night to go to bed. According to the advice, this is the only way to get rid of jet lag. This theory is widely accepted, and practices. I followed the instruction every time - to stay awake for the first day, but still just suffer so much from it

My Lifeline on the Little Plastic Card

Fri, 10 Nov 2006 16:34:03 +0800

My first visit to U.S. was around the year of2000. I prepared for the trip for almost 1 month - from visa, to map, to research, to exchange money, and to create plan… The excitement and curiosity made going aboard very different from going to other city to me.

However, after visiting U.S. for more than 10 times, to visit a U.S. city is not a big deal any more. It is just like a Beijing trip (and a Beijing trip is like visiting another area in the city).

In San Jose from Nov 9 to Nov 18

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 08:28:57 +0800

Jian Shuo Wang is flying from Shanghai to San Francisco on Nov 9, 2006, via UA858. For Saturday, there is still some time block. If any of my friends what a meetup, please feel free to drop me email at jianshuo at hotmail dot com.

For the whole week of Nov 13 to Nov 18, I will be in Santa Cruz (day and night) with limited communication with outside.

I am flying back on Nov 19, via UA857.

I am an ENFP

Wed, 08 Nov 2006 18:56:51 +0800

According to my MBTI test result, I am an ENFP - Extraverted Intuition with Feeling (ENFP)

The test is very true. I feel the description exactly matches what I think I am. For example, ENFP s

See the need for and initiate change

Focus on possibilities, especially for people

Prefer to take charge of the start-up phase

Active, experimental and imaginative

May overlook relevant details and facts

May overextend and try to do too much

Metro Lines are the Bones of the City

Tue, 07 Nov 2006 20:56:04 +0800

Winter arrives in Shanghai.

In the last week, a T-shirt is still OK; today, I wear a sweater, but still feel cold. The air started to show the character of air of winter of Shanghai - as cold as water. I don’t know whether it is the right word - the air in Shanghai always remind me of the word - crystal. People say something is crystal clear, and I want to say the winter of Shanghai is crystal cold.

I am not a Big Fan of Hate - Part II

Tue, 07 Nov 2006 20:38:21 +0800

I posted the first part of this article - I am not a Big Fan of Hate…. I didn’t plan to write the second part, but the hot discussion (52 comments in a week) urged me not to let it go. It is a controversal topic, but also an opportunity for people around the world to express, to listen and to understand about history, war and peace.

Before I start the discussion, I have to put some disclaimers here. Please read before continue and especially before you post a comment.

Launching Kijiji Forum

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 22:53:01 +0800

There are some pause (irregular posting) in the last few days. There are several reasons. The major one is, I spent a lot of effort to launch Kijiji’s new forum http://yy.kijiji.cn. At the starting of a new community, people need to put more effort to make sure the community is healthy.

7 Comments

Hi, Jian Shuo,

When I visited your new Kijiji's new forum, this question came up to me.

Is there any Chinese web sites have same function as "Yahoo group"? I checked the Chinese version of Yahoo, I didn't find the "Yahoo group" function there. Did I missed it or they just don't have it?

— liping · 2006-11-06 23:40

Google has Google Group and I believe they have a Chinese interface. http://groups.google.com/

Use Preference to set the interface to be Chinese if it is not.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-11-07 22:03

Thanks a lot. Jian Shuo.

— liping · 2006-11-10 02:20

ads are welcome

post your HTML code to my email address

— Sivachandran.k · 2006-12-07 20:20

hi:

Are u the first time to come shanghai? not yet get an appartment ? no worry!

i have a lot of appartment resource in xuhui district, luwan district, jinan district, putou district and pudong district. and i 've already found many appartment for my foreigner friends. weather they stay in shanghai for a short time or long time, i alway try my best to get one for them. no matter how long do you want to stay.

100% offer you best service.

if you are still living in hotel, or you are plan to come to shanghai to get a job, or you are coming to jiaotong or fudan university to study . then, i do can find an cheap and good appartment for you.

the rent fee are from 2500 to 6000RMB per month. ofcourse, i also can find very luxry appartment up to more than 2000USD per month.

any way, just call me when you want:

via: 86-13671897173

or e-mail: chriszgy@hotmail.com

— chris · 2006-12-15 21:59

From Franklyn Taylor.

Bujumbura Refugees Camp

Room 032 Liberia Camp 3.

Accra Ghana.

Hi ,

Greetings & Compliments,

PLEASE READ ALL THE CONTENT CAREFULLY.

My name is Franklyn Taylor, 24, Single Gen., I am contacting you in my good faith because I need your assistance seriously and urgent my Good one.. Late Sir. Beuford M. Taylor, a well known Gold merchant in Monrovia, Liberia is my Daddy. My Daddy was killed on the 7th May 2004 by the Liberian Rebels on gunshots been Ordered by the former President of Liberia and a Human Terrorist Charles Taylor my worst Enemy,

who is now undergoing trials at the United Nations Court for War Crimes against humanity After been Arrested at Nigeria . Daddy was killed because he refused to support those Rebels Financially for the purchasing of arms for the Rebel movements against S. Doe.

A year earlier before Daddy was killed, we Lost Mummy on December 2002, on a Car Accident in Liberia. It was terrible . I don't wanna remember those stories please. But let me tell you what i need ok.

After Daddy's Death some Family Friend and Daddy's friends only focus on Daddy's Money. trying to direct me in Different ways , but Our Family Lawyer Barrister Jude Kadama,Don't allow much happen, Then he Took us to the City Capital Hotel in Monrovia, where we stayed, But he was later Killed during the war as the News Flows the Town. It seems like the World End until we meet M/S Bridget Akwansa, A Ghanaian Lady, She is Business woman,She also stay at the City Capital Hotel where we met Her. She love my Sister and she knew our Condition for that time. She always Advise me to move to Ghana with Her during our stay with her in the Hotel.

For our safety as the Crisis continues we move to Ghana by the help of M/S Bridget Akwansa , We arrived Ghana with her stayed with Her at Her Rented Apartment down town Madina Accra , Later She started treating us like Slave, very Badly that you can't think she will do to me and my sister, so Bad.

But I later met with some Liberians in Ghana who show me the Bujumbura Camp where Many Other Liberians Stay, We moved there & rented a room apartment and stay there up till now at the Camp.

THAT IS JUST BRIEF OF OUR LIFE TALE SINCE WE LOST MUMMY & DADDY.

Meanwhile Before my Daddy's Death, he ve' informed me about His fortunes which he Deposited in Ghana With a Security company for a Security reasons during the the Crisis in Liberia. Items Includes:

A Trunk Box Containing Kilos of pure Gold & Jewell .

Valuable Case which contains Euro2.9m [Tow Million, nine Hundred Thousand Euros].

These Treasury are still in the Vault of this security company, I have been there to meet with the Management Board for some verifications & confirmations of the Documents which i have with me covering the Deposit . Meanwhile as foreigner,I want You to stand as my foreign Business Partner to my Late Daddy or beneficiary to those Treasury ,so that the security Company will Release those Belongings to You & move it to your Country.

I will be the happiest Man if you can help us on this Claim, so that we can returns back to live , and move back to School in your country. You will then stand as our sponsor. that is what i m asking you for.

I know the Security company will Believe Foreigners,Because Blacks so much believe the white Foreigners here.

You will contact the Security company as i will give you there contact Address and Telephone numbers. Requesting then to release Those Items, You will stand as my Daddy's Partner & that is the major reason i contacted you.

I will release all the Legal documents Backing your claims which I have here with me upon the receipt of your Reply if you Agreed to help us out . You must get some percentage as your rewards from this Treasure, After the Release.

Also give me your name and telephone numbers so I can call and explain better how you can help me better.

Thank you so much & God Bless you.

Yours Faithfully,

Franklyn Taylor.

Franktaylor7777@myway.com

— FRANKLYN. · 2008-02-25 23:48

HI FRANK,

I AM FROM NEPAL. WANTED TO KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR PERSONNEL LIFE AND THE INVESTMENT YOU WANT TO MAKE .

— manik nepal · 2008-08-06 04:11

Photo: Dog under Sunshine

Sat, 04 Nov 2006 14:31:35 +0800

Update

This note is for carsten, and for everyone to give you some clue about these pictures.

Today, I put my quilt to the garden to have Sun warm it. And I put my little dog - a dull dog - on to it. Then I found it really looks relaxing and hope to have more time like it.

It is not a real dog though.

13 Comments

Hi, Jian Shuo,

nice, that Saint Bernhards Dog- Baby. Have a look there: http://zen-teisho.de/verwaltung

All the best: Xiong Shui

— Xiong Shui · 2006-11-04 20:38

You are talking to the world, Jianshuo !

Give us a clue.

— carsten · 2006-11-04 21:16

it's not a real dog? really?

— dezza · 2006-11-04 22:26

Hahahaha! That's what (one of the things, at least) I love so much about this blog, Jian Shuo. We never know what to expect.

Dezza, I'm with you -- looks like a real dog to me ;-)

— Carroll · 2006-11-05 05:31

Well, what does it mean?

Does it have to mean anything practical?

I guess not. I would guess it means a state of mind...

I hope I am right.

— jqian · 2006-11-05 11:31

Don't quite get it either. Maybe JS just wants to express...

— earthmilk · 2006-11-06 03:26

this is so STUPID!!!!!!!!!!

— garett lee · 2006-11-06 22:28

To place the stuffed animals and comforters under the sun, it must for either sanitation or fumigation purpose. Jian Shuo must be so relaxing this weekend just to handle the house works.

— stephen · 2006-11-07 00:11

Let me explain it, since many people asked.

It was sunny, and I put my comforters, and my stuffed animals out to the garden to sanitate them. The sun shine was wonderful yesterday.

That's it.

And I took pictures of the dog - i found it very lovely, and I even envy about how happy the dog looked like - a dog in sunshine. I just wanted to share the nice moment with everyone, although it may look "stupid". Hehe. No worry. I do stupid things all the time, just to make myself feeling happy.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-11-07 22:07

I don't really understand the mentality of the Chinese regarding the sun and their comforters. When I first lived in Shanghai, I lived in a lane house near Huaihai and Maoming Road. I would see many Chinese people take their blankets and comforters outside and leave it on a lawn chair on a sunny day. I assume this is what JS is doing.

What is the logic in "heating up" your blanket when it will get cold when you take it in? Also, wouldn't the pollution in the air just dirty your blanket? I get my maid to wash my floors almost everyday and after 1 hour of walking in my apartment, my feet are brown again (foreigners don't like using slippers). Woudln't it be easier to just wash your bed sheets?

— shockr · 2006-11-08 11:37

Yup. I don't get it either... i don't know if this is a China or Shanghai thing but my ex BF's mom do it all the time..taking their pillows, clothes and blanket/ comforter out into the courtyard for "sun-ing". The reason (according to her) is because that will "kill the germs/ bacteria". I am doing medicine and there is absolutely no logic in this. If anything, it only makes the linen dirtier. She doesn't wash them because "it is not good"....

I get screamed at whenever I close my door when the family starts smoking in the corridor (they think it will "dirty" the living room and their own bedroom and it sucks because my room is the only room along the corridor). The reason, it causes my room to stink due to the lack of air circulation?????

I seriously think tehre is something wrong with the brains of Shnaghainese....they why smoke? So glad JS isn't Shanghainese...coz these people have a very bad reputation not only in China but also overseas (unfortunately most foreigners can't tell the difference).

— Elaine · 2006-11-08 13:56

It is just a tradition. I am doing it all the time, and my parents are doing it. Maybe because the quilt was made of cotton, and the Sun helps the cells in the cotton to extend, and to hold more air, and become warmer? This does not apply to quilt other than cotten, I believe.

To be honest, I am doing a lot of things, just as a habit or tradition. Your question made me think. Personally, I love to do it since it feels really much warmer for me at night.

It is not about the heat left on the quilt. It is all about the quilt become more soft and bigger (in shape).

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-11-08 18:51

Jian Shuo, i am like you to do things in habits.

And i am very happy to read your blog.Best wishes!!

— Jean · 2006-11-16 05:50

Shanghai to Hangzhou by Taxi

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 00:06:03 +0800

I talked with Alex in Hangzhou. He took a taxi Shanghai South Railway Station to Hangzhou. The fair is 280 RMB for four persons, or 70 RMB for one.

How did he make it?

From Shanghai to Hangzhou

It is about 2 hours ride from Shanghai to Hangzhou. The distance is 192 km.

If you take a taxi, and the taxi charges by meter, it should be at least 560 RMB (since it is 3.15 RMB per km after the first 10 km). Many taxi drivers ask for the same amount of fee for the return trip, since they have to go back with an empty car.

Coincidence? Maybe Not

Thu, 02 Nov 2006 23:48:14 +0800

There are some “coincidence” in the Chinese Blogger Conference in Hangzhou. The conference was originally planned to be at a place called Zijingang. One and half day before the conference, the venue owner cancelled the venue claiming that government is using the venue so they have to cancel all other events. Ops. What a coincidence! Then the venue was changed to another place in the Hangzhou University (what a rush). When the word of changing venue spread out, the university called and said electronic power will be shutdown for maintenance for the next two days. So the conference cannot be held there. Ops. What a coincidence! Then finally, people moved to the third venue at the night before the conference. This time, no meeting there, and there is electronic supply, which is good, but the Internet provide reported that they are conducting system maintenance and there is limited Internet access - I have to use my CDMA in my room. Ops. What a coincidence, for the third time!

Infected by Spam Virus?

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 23:27:51 +0800

This is a technical article. (This is a friendly warning to people who don’t like to see technical articles on this blog. :-))

Spam

I was notified by my friend in Google that I have some spamware installed on my server http://wangjianshuo.com. This is very astonishing. I checked the directory and found the following files.

filename: /public_html/.htaccess

RewriteEngine On

Options +FollowSymlinks

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f

RewriteRule ^[/]*([^/]+).phtml$ ./search.php?q=$1 [L]

AddType application/x-httpd-php .php

Metron #2 Station Name Change

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 11:16:21 +0800

There are some changes to the Metro Line #2.

The Dongfang Road Station 东方路站 was renamed as Centuary Park Ave. Station 世纪大道站, and was reopened this Monday. Today when I pass by the station, I found it already very crowded - looks like another People’s Square station. It IS bigger than People’s Square station in the plan.
Middle Henan Road Station 河南中路站 will be renamed as East Nanjing Road Station 南京东路站. This morning, the broadcast in Metro train has been changed but all the signs and logos on the platform were not changed yet.

Chinese Blogger Conference

Mon, 30 Oct 2006 23:52:47 +0800

Backed from the Chinese Blogger Conference via a late bus from Hangzhou to Shanghai on Sunday.

Although I enjoy meeting many friends again in Hangzhou, I feel the blogger conference this year is not as “pure” as last year. I remember the last year, most people attended under the identity of a blogger, while this time, most people represent the company. Thus turned the conference to something like China Web 2.0 Conference…

I am not a Big Fan of Hate...

Sat, 28 Oct 2006 15:04:50 +0800

I got an email. It encourages me to act as “a patriot”, and writing something to boycott Japanese goods. I don’t like to mention this topic. Since people asked, this is my personal opinion of why I don’t like to do that.

The Topic of Patriotism, or Love to my Country

It is trendy to spread one’s love to the country by showing how much they hate a foreign country or a foreigner. It is very common, especially in the younger generation in China. I don’t think some government are doing the right thing, but I am not a big fan of hating something.

At the Blogger Conference in Hangzhou

Sat, 28 Oct 2006 12:19:57 +0800

I at sitting on the carpet of the China Blogger Conference - just on the right side, near the podium.

Just like the last year, I enjoy this conference very much, even better than yesterday.

Several points I like:

Diversity
No center of the meeting
Non-commercial atmosphere
Meet with old friends
Easy and relaxed
Cool

2 Comments

7 empty points out of 8, with Diversity as the only none-empty one...interesting...

I'm too busy to go to Hangzhou today, I'll be there tomorrow to have a look...

— Forest@MangBar · 2006-10-28 22:30

i started to write blog last semester,i think blog is a good thing that keep you in memory.I hope one day i can attend the China Blogger Conference.My blog is www.hinn.cn ,welcome to.

— jackie · 2006-11-18 19:42

Where are You - Part II

Wed, 25 Oct 2006 23:59:52 +0800

It is amazing! I got so many high quality and genuine introduction about people from around the world in this blog entry: Where are You?. Thanks for the great comments.

Hey,

I am from Finland. A small, population a little bit above 5 million people, country in the Northern Europe. The neighbours in the map are Sweden, Russia, Norway and Estonia (Estonia doesn’t share any land with us in the borders).

Suggest a Topic

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 23:05:02 +0800

I write blog to help visitors and expats in Shanghai. I write daily, but sometimes I am lack of topic (not surprisingly). If you think there is any topic that I should write about, please post it here. Whenever I am out of topic, I will look at this page. This is also a central page to capture all topic suggestions. Otherwise, they will be randomly posted under unrelated posts.

China Eastern Airlines

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 21:17:02 +0800

To ask the right question is more important than answering it, isn’t it. Here is the question of today:

What is flying with China Eastern like? I’ve booked to fly from Shanghai to Beijing. Are there weight limits with baggage with domestic flights? 20kgs? Long queues for checking in? Any seat allocations? I tried www.ce-air.com but couldn’t get the English web page to show up.

My Knowledge about China Eastern Airlines

Cash on Delivery Still Preferred

Sun, 22 Oct 2006 23:20:41 +0800

Got an email today asking me whether he has successfully booked air ticket via elong.net. The question was, he was not asked for details of credit card information (such as credit card number, holders name) while the system just reported the hotel and flights were booked successfully. He thought it was strange and want to confirm whether he booked it or not.

I checked elong.net and found out it may be a common question for people using websites in China.

Where are You?

Sat, 21 Oct 2006 23:07:01 +0800

I found I have readers from all around the world. Every new commentor on the blog bring my interest to his/her own country if they mentioned about the name of the country. The world is so big. People tend to think of several highlighted countries, like U.S. and Canada in American, China, and India in east Asia, and UK, Germany in Europe. Recent, I met more people from Denmark, so I start to read the history of Denmark, and meet with good people from Holland, so I started to know that in the year of 1630, a tulip cost more than 50 Holland dollars. There are so many examples. So if you don’t mind, where do you live? Do you want to share more about your country with me and the rest of the community members?

In Beijing

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 12:20:52 +0800

In Beijing. I used electronic tickets for this trip.

5 Comments

It's the same in Shanghai.

— fish828 · 2006-10-20 20:01

sh ,too~i saw u in china daily.hehe ~~

— equator · 2006-10-20 21:34

hi I would like to know if the Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU) is part of Beida? Or is it just another university which has nothing to do with beida.

— crochet · 2006-10-22 20:05

It is another university. Nothing to do with Beida.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-10-22 20:12

Hi Wang JianShou,

who did you fly with, China Eastern? When I fly to Shanghai, I use KLM from Manchester (UK) via Amsterdam. The e-ticket, and on line check in work very well. Interested to hear your experience.

— Rob · 2006-10-23 08:43

Happy Birthday to Me

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 23:34:10 +0800

Happy birthday to me. It is my 29th birthday.

Thanks for Henry, Grace, Xiaofeng, Hengge, Robert, Xiaoxiong, Edward and Wendy to be at dinner with me. Wonderful friends, and wonderful gathering.

P.S. I found every birthday, I started the entry with “Happy brithday to me. It is my ??th brithday”, and the number just changed from 25, to 26, 27, 28 and 29…

Happy Birthday to Me in 2002

Happy Birthday to Me in 2003

Blue Check (Check-in) for Virgin Blue

Tue, 17 Oct 2006 23:42:54 +0800

When I talked about the abandon of paper ticket in China, I thought of my experience with Virgin Blue in Australia. Virgin Blue is a low cost airline, and they highly depend on Internet, and automatic processes to do their business.

Here are some pictures I took about the wonderful self-serve check in system.

Below: all you need to know is the six-number confirmation ID: ENTDAC (I guess I have completed the travel and this code is not confidential any more). Enter the code using the onscreen keyboard.

Say Goodbye to Paper Ticket

Tue, 17 Oct 2006 23:29:30 +0800

From yesterday, CATA (China Air Transportation Association) stopped providing paper ticket to ticket agents. This is an event that will eventually affect my life, and many others.

This is a great achievement. When the Southern China Airlines started e-ticket testing in 2000, 6 years past. The user behavior changes slowly, and till now, paper ticket is still 70% of all tickets.

My guess is, from today, travel agents cannot purchase blank paper ticket from CATA. They must have a lot of tickets in stock that they can continue to print out. However, by the end of this year, when most of the paper tickets in stock are used up, the travel agencies have to transit to using electronic tickets.

Featured on China Daily

Tue, 17 Oct 2006 12:23:41 +0800

There is a half-page article about this blog on China Daily. Carsten was the first one to notify me this morning, and Ida, the journalist is the second. :-) Thans Ida for the wonderfuo article.

The original article is here.

This is a copy of the artilce. Full credit goes to Ida Relsted, and China Daily.

Shanghai blogger just wants to help

Citizens bloggers website provides millions with useful information about the city he loves to share

Beggars in China and People's Attitude

Mon, 16 Oct 2006 21:23:43 +0800

Ying Zhang commented:

Hi Jian Shuo,

I have been reading your blog for a few years now, I found your blog while planning a trip to China in 2004, and your post on the Shanghai Beijing train time table really helped me. Keep up the good work.

I have always wanted to seek your opinion on an issue that troubles me - about the attitude people have, towards beggars and the homeless in big cities like Shanghai.

Must See - Coffee Facing the Bund

Sun, 15 Oct 2006 23:53:00 +0800

If you are a visitor to Shanghai and there is nothing to do for one night, I suggest you to spend the night in a bar or restaurant on the riverside, along the Huangpu River. It is opposite to the Bund.

Location

The Bund is symbolic scene for Shanghai. Most visitors view the Bund on the Bund side. To see the Bund from the other side is as excite, if more, than to see it in Puxi.

2006 Asian Gaelic Games in Shanghai

Sat, 14 Oct 2006 21:37:59 +0800

Autumn arrives in Shanghai. When Wendy and I passed the garden before my apartment in Pudong, yellow leafs were falling to grassland with wind. There is an old Chinese saying: You see autumn just from a leaf. It is very true.

It is the nice weather for us to go to Biyun International District. I love that area very much, especially on sunny weekend. That is an international district, and there are many good restaurants, coffee shop, and nice greenlands. I bought a copy of Lonelyplanet Travel Writing from the foreign language store there.

My Personality Test

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 23:03:36 +0800

I received an interesting test on personality, and here is my answer to some of the questions. It seems I am not an organized person.

When you go somewhere for the day, would you rather

[ ] plan what you will do and when, or

[X] just go?

If you were a teacher, would you rather teach

[ ] fact courses, or

[X] courses involving theory?

Do you prefer to

The Bund Sightseeing Tunnel

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 22:43:57 +0800

There is a tunnel connecting the two banks of the Huang Pu River - the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel. It is a great way to get across the Huangpu River if you are on any side of the river and want to go to the other. BTW, beside this, you may take ferry or take the metro to get cross - to take a taxi is not so wise since the taxi has to get back toward west from the Bund, enter the tunnel to the east, and get back to west after going out of the Yan’An Road Tunnel…

Z Series Train in China

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 23:47:09 +0800

Z-Series of trains are fastest and among the best trains in China. Z means “Zhida” in Chinese, or “Direct Express”. Typically they don’t stop in the middle, and is very effecient to travel for long distance, like from Shanghai to Beijing, without stopping in the middle.

These are all Z Trains in China (data is updated on July 2006)

Train #SeqStation NameArriveDepartDistance Z1 1 Beijing - 1935 0 Z1 2 Wuxi 0638 0649 1337 Z1 3 Shanghai 0747 - 1463 Z10 1 Hangzhou - 1803 0 Z10 2 Beijing 0733 - 1664 Z11 1 Beijing West - 2049 0 Z11 2 Wuchang 0714 - 1225 Z12 1 Wuchang - 2049 0 Z12 2 Beijing West 0714 - 1225 Z13 1 Beijing - 1907 0 Z13 2 Shanghai 0705 - 1463 Z14 1 Shanghai - 1900 0 Z14 2 Beijing 0658 - 1463 Z15 1 Beijing - 2030 0 Z15 2 Harbin 0710 - 1248 Z16 1 Harbin - 2032 0 Z16 2 Beijing 0707 - 1248 Z17 1 Beijing West - 1800 0 Z17 2 Changsha 0740 - 1587 Z18 1 Changsha - 1748 0 Z18 2 Beijing West 0728 - 1587 Z19 1 Beijing West - 2028 0 Z19 2 Xian 0758 - 1200 Z2 1 Shanghai - 1847 0 Z2 2 Wuxi 1946 1949 126 Z2 3 Beijing 0651 - 1463 Z20 1 Xian - 1923 0 Z20 2 Beijing West 0653 - 1200 Z21 1 Beijing - 1900 0 Z21 2 Shanghai 0658 - 1463 Z22 1 Shanghai - 1907 0 Z22 2 Beijing 0705 - 1463 Z29 1 Beijing - 2137 0 Z29 2 Yangzhou 0804 - 1227 Z3 1 Beijing West - 2042 0 Z3 2 Hankou 0652 - 1205 Z30 1 Yangzhou - 2010 0 Z30 2 Beijing 0620 - 1227 Z37 1 Beijing West - 2035 0 Z37 2 Wuchang 0700 - 1225 Z38 1 Wuchang - 2035 0 Z38 2 Beijing West 0700 - 1225 Z4 1 Hankou - 2111 0 Z4 2 Beijing West 0721 - 1205 Z41 1 Tianjin - 2040 0 Z41 2 Shanghai 0740 - 1326 Z42 1 Shanghai - 1942 0 Z42 2 Tianjin 0641 - 1326 Z49 1 Beijing - 2144 0 Z49 2 Nanjing 0722 - 1160 Z5 1 Beijing - 1914 0 Z5 2 Shanghai 0712 - 1463 Z50 1 Nanjing - 2106 0 Z50 2 Beijing 0644 - 1160 Z6 1 Shanghai - 1914 0 Z6 2 Beijing 0712 - 1463 Z61 1 Beijing - 2240 0 Z61 2 Changchun 0702 - 1006 Z62 1 Changchun - 2235 0 Z62 2 Beijing 0700 - 1006 Z7 1 Beijing - 1921 0 Z7 2 Shanghai 0719 - 1463 Z73 1 Beijing - 2130 0 Z73 2 Hefei 0725 - 1110 Z74 1 Hefei - 2035 0 Z74 2 Beijing 0630 - 1110 Z77 1 Beijing West - 2056 0 Z77 2 Luohe 0342 0344 829 Z77 3 Xingyang 0501 0503 991 Z77 4 Xiaogan 0640 0642 1135 Z77 5 Hankou 0721 - 1205 Z78 1 Hankou - 2029 0 Z78 2 Xiaogan 2110 2112 70 Z78 3 Xingyang 2251 2253 214 Z78 4 Luohe 0010 0020 376 Z78 5 Beijing West 0707 - 1205 Z8 1 Shanghai - 1928 0 Z8 2 Beijing 0726 - 1463 Z85 1 Beijing - 1928 0 Z85 2 Suzhou 0648 - 1379 Z86 1 Suzhou - 2000 0 Z86 2 Beijing 0719 - 1379 Z9 1 Beijing - 1853 0 Z9 2 Hangzhou 0823 - 1664

Top Commenters for Sept, 2006

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 21:28:04 +0800

Thanks to the top commenters in September 2006:

carsten 15

Stephen 12

Shaun 12

Thanks for your comments, which is always an important part of this blog.

6 Comments

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Hotel! Hotel! Hotel!

Mon, 09 Oct 2006 22:21:21 +0800

To travel in a different country is different than traveling in the same country, especially different from travelling to very familiar cities. This trip made me understand what is the most important stuff for people just arrived to a new city - “How can I get to my hotel, as fast as I can?”

I started to understand why many travellers asked me the question: “I will go to Shanghai on xxxx, and I will stay in xxxxxx hotel. Would you please tell me how I can get to xxxxxxx hotel from Pudong Airport?”

Train from Shanghai to Nanjing

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 22:09:11 +0800

Many people asked me for suggestion to visit other places by train. It is a FAQ, and I finally found out the train schedule (in English). Please check out this sample. You will see how frequent the train from Shanghai to Nanjing is. If you check out this table, there are 53 trains leave Shanghai and go to Nanjing every single day! That is one train every half an hour. Click the train no to find out more about the specific train.

Drive on the Right in China

Sat, 07 Oct 2006 01:05:37 +0800

After visiting Australia and drove on the left for one day, the question attracted my attention that why in Australia, Japan, and England people drive on the left while many countries drive on the right.

China Used Drive on the Left

The first record of traffic rules was found in China in the book “The Book of Rites”　礼记, that requires ““The right side of the road is for men, the left side for women and the center for carriages.” That was in 1100 B.C. [1]

I Love Koala!

Fri, 06 Oct 2006 12:34:31 +0800

Koala is so cute, so lovely, and so funny!

Koala embraces the tree branch tightly, like the branch is the great thing in the world for it.

Koala in the Dream World, Gold Coast, Queensland

Koala is shy and slow. Look at this one. It is moving from one branch of tree to the other, slowly, and gracefully.

The other one.

I share at least one habit with Koala - sleeping. A Koala sleeps as much as 20 hours a day. This lazy little guy falled sleep again.

Facade of Nice Buildings

Fri, 06 Oct 2006 11:47:40 +0800

During this trip, the facade of many nice buildings caught my attention. They are shining in the sky and is just as the graphs I draw in university.

Service apartment in Surfers Paradise

Building along the George Street in Sydney

The tall building along the Martin Place in Sydney

The building on the east side of the Circular Quay,Sydney

5 Comments

its cool.

— jack · 2006-10-06 12:54

Mr.Wang, what is your major in university?

— linna · 2006-10-07 10:23

Automation (Automatic Control), not architect.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-10-07 16:57

I don't like these rigid buildings,seem lifeless. But, the regular lines,ankles and shadows look beautiful.

— David.S · 2006-10-08 18:33

MMM, the problem with the skyscapers at Surfers Paradise is that thry are in the wrong place - they leave the entire beach in shade in the afternoon. Not good planning!

— Chris Boswell · 2007-12-03 15:44

Beach of the Gold Coast

Fri, 06 Oct 2006 11:43:00 +0800

These days, I am working hard to post some pictures of the trip and share it with my family and friends. Here is another such post.

The tide of the Surfers Paradise, as the name implies, is very suitable for surfer, and not so good for swimmers.

I like the tide (only the tide, not water) in Qingdao better, since it was soft and gentle. In the Surfers Paradise, when the tide goes away, the water is just as high as your knees, but when the tide comes, it is higher than your head. The strong force of the tide sometimes create that kind of “water hole”, which the surfers love so much. For me, without a surfer board, it is just a water wall that I need to break into. The force strongly pushes me directly onto the beach. I have to get back to the original position.

Fire in the Surfers Paradise

Fri, 06 Oct 2006 11:36:14 +0800

When we stepped into the Watermark Hotel in Surfers Paradise, I happen to witness a fire on the bridge over the river.

Fire fighter arrived and within 5 minute, the fire was put off.

There was no news on TV or on Internet about the fire.

2 Comments

I don't know why these pics remind me of "911". you coulb be a photograph jounalist:)

— David.S · 2006-10-08 18:47

Wow these pictures are amazing! Wondering how it feel to live in a big city like that. Anyway I will be in Shanghai in 4 days...

— Kyara · 2006-10-16 10:56

Seagull at Sea

Fri, 06 Oct 2006 00:46:54 +0800

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

These pictures were taken at the Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, QLD.

Look at how clean the water in the beach is! I cannot believe it is the water from the sea! It is as clear as the creeks in mountains. However, it is still bitter - as bitter as sea water.

Comment from Sarah Khider

Fri, 06 Oct 2006 00:09:17 +0800

What a surprise! The singer of Chivas’ commerical Mermaid, Sarah Khider, left a comment on my blog during my absence (OOB).

Hi Jian

I introduce myself, I´m Sarah Khider and I just read comments about me and the song. Thanks to everyone and to you for creating this blog. I have also mine www.sarahkhider.com/blog/ and soon my website will available for all. You can also go to myspace and listen to other pieces of songs of mine.

Drive on the Left in Australia

Thu, 05 Oct 2006 19:46:10 +0800

During travel, people expect to experience different things. The more different, the better. Driving on the left is obviously one major difference between Australia and China.

Look Right!

On the major roads visitors first arrive in the city, there are sign on the road to remind people to look right first.

I saw many signs like this in Hong Kong also. The sign above is shot in the Metro Museum Station (Cnr Liverpool & Elizabeth)

Travel by Train in China - Part II

Thu, 05 Oct 2006 17:04:59 +0800

This is the second part of a series of article named Travel by Train in China. This is the previous articles: Travel by Train in China - Part I

Wang Yang Lee (ICBC) May be Fraund

Thu, 05 Oct 2006 16:49:22 +0800

Warning: If you happen to be ready to contact the person, or give them any of your personal information, please STOP now! It seems to be a serious fraud

Look at these report of losing money on my website:

Fardous

Mudduraj

Melad Youssef

Mr. Muhammad Tirta Chariti

They reported that someone called Wang Yang Lee announced to be a manager from ICBC and collected ID and bank account information from victims. People searched in Google and arrived my website. What a mistake to trust someone in this common fraud case! (Another mistake is to take my personal website as ICBC official website).

Shanghai's Weather is Like Sydney in Oct

Thu, 05 Oct 2006 00:05:49 +0800

These days, I found Shanghai’s Weather in early Oct is very like Sydney.

When I stepped out of the China Eastern Airlines flight MU562 from Sydney to Shanghai, I didn’t feel any difference in the temperature. I sweat a shirt in Sydney and in the noon time, a T-Shirt is OK. It is the same in Shanghai.

Later, I found out that it is exactly the date that Shanghai and Sydney are the same in weather.

Remove Comments? Maybe Not

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 23:49:03 +0800

I saw requests to me to remove some comments people made on this blog. I suggest everyone to check out my Emails and Privacy Policies, especially the section on censorship.

To put it simple, my principle on comments is not do delete any comment as long as it is legal, not spam and is readable, and (this one is important) it is NOT personal attack.

I don’t like flaming comments that judges someone else’s personality, generalize them to people from a country, with certain religions belief, or simply the language they use. I do remove these comments.

Learnings from the Australia Trip

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 22:49:53 +0800

Several learnings from the Australia trip - something I don’t know or not so clearly before the trip. Share with everyone.

Shanghai, the Gateway to Eastern China

I finally realized Shanghai is more important to international travellers than I thought. When I really planned my trip to Australia, we found out that Sydney is the gate way to Australia. There is Shanghai to Sydney direct flight, but no such flight between Shanghai and Brisbane, Gold Coast, not to mention the other attractions along the east coast. The Shanghai to Melbourne flight is not as frequent.

Last Day in Sydney

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 22:02:04 +0800

After nice 9 day trip to Australia, this is the last night in Sydney. The last night. Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane - all these nice cities is stored in my memory. We also visited many small villages, and towns, along the Great Ocean Road, in the Blue Mountains, near the Suffers Paradise… I even tried to drive the left-going car for one day to the Hunter Valley on National Highway No. 1.

The First Photo from Australia

Sun, 01 Oct 2006 19:36:50 +0800

8 Comments

Keep watching your trip.

And I also welcome friends alll over the world to come and take a look at my English site www.HereisChina.com .

— Robert · 2006-10-01 22:34

hello from SJTU.ah ha, have fun in Australia. Happy National Day!

— firefox · 2006-10-02 05:04

hello from BJTU. ah ha, have fun in Australia. Happy National Day!

— tungwen · 2006-10-02 10:54

nice photo! The night there is very like what is in shanghai.

— shuse · 2006-10-03 00:05

Australia is one of the places that i want to travel. i like the seas and sky there.

— Cherry Li · 2006-10-03 00:58

Quote: "... is very like what is in shanghai."

No, the sky is blue in this picture.

Давид

— Dave G. · 2006-10-03 07:45

A beautiful city and like hong kong.

— tonyli · 2006-10-03 17:26

A beautiful city and like hong kong. I like it very much and hope I can visit it.

— tonyliling · 2006-10-03 17:30

Brisbane, and Gold Coast

Sat, 30 Sep 2006 18:48:52 +0800

I am now in Gold Coast near Brisbane.

I saw many comments but don’t have time to check out and answer yet. Everytime I grasp an Internet kiosk, it ticks in seconds and quickly, it shows “time-up”. I also don’t want to spend too much time on Internet when the nice pacific sea shore is just on the right hand side. I will clear the back-log later.

6 Comments

JS, don't worry. It's the best beach you can ever find in the world. Take your time and enjoy!

— jqian · 2006-09-30 21:01

enjoy your trip!

— eric · 2006-10-02 00:47

have a nice trip!

— David.S · 2006-10-02 23:36

have a good time and bring more to us.

— tonyli · 2006-10-03 17:12

It is one of the best blogs i hv seen,very good. Have a good time

— Hill · 2006-10-05 00:14

Thanks, Hill.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-10-05 02:04

Jian Shuo in Australia - Day II, III and IV

Fri, 29 Sep 2006 19:10:48 +0800

It is the forth day in Australia - Sydney for the first two days (blue mountains, Kangaroos, River Cruise, Darling Habor…), and now I am at Melbourne Airport, leaving the great city.

It was not easy to find Internet access in the city - for first time visitors. Internet cafe is not that popular as Sydney, and thank to the Netkiosk in the Melbourne International Airport. I can finally

update my blog after three days of OOB (Out of Blogging)

Life in Remote Places

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 22:21:04 +0800

Anyone has any idea about where this place is?

Photograph by Wendy

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

Pretty late-minute decision, for a long trip like this. But National Holiday Golden Week seems to approaches much faster than I expected, I mean flight tickets…

P.S. Today, the head of Shanghai government was sentenced to be guilty by the central government - a series of high-level politics stuff. Expected, and no surprise…

PVG: Shanghai Pudong Airport Map

Sun, 24 Sep 2006 18:43:14 +0800

Here is the satellite image of Pudong Airport:

Image in courtesy of Google Earth

This is the airport in bigger scope of the map, so you can see the relative location in Shanghai and how far it is to get to downtown.

Image in courtesy of Google Earth

21 Comments

very good

— woocs · 2006-09-24 22:52

Doesn't look that bad. So, what's the point? Shanghai 101?

— Coolnalu · 2006-09-25 07:29

The picture must was taken long time ago, maybe some time before the second runway (i.e. runway 34-16) was put into use in March 2005.

I am a bit confused by the number of the second runway of PVG. From the picture you can see that two runways are not exactly parallel to each other. The new runway is aligned a bit more with the north-south direction. But its marking is 34-16 while the one for the old runway is 35-17. Something is not quite right here. I think the second runway should have either the same marking number as the old one (i.e. 35R-17L) or the number of 36-18.

Here is some info on airport layout design:

http://virtualskies.arc.nasa.gov/design/tutorial/tutorial5.html

— JH · 2006-09-25 07:33

Hi,

Yesterday, I came across Shanghai Airport Authority website. The site provide the departing/ arrival flight information and others information too. Just type in the flight number you will be able to find out the status of the flight.

Check it out.

http://www.shanghaiairport.com/en/index.jsp

— DC · 2006-09-25 13:30

JH, there can only be one reason.

This is CHINA.

So far I know, no other airport in China has runways with xxR and xxL, like in other big airports in other countries.

The reason can only be, that in most of Asia it is quite difficult for people to find the right tonation of L and R, because the hard spoken "R" does not exist in their language.

Imagine the possible disaster if the air traffic controller say to the pilot :

"You are cleared for landing on runway 35R" and pronounces it as an L !!!

So - they must have decided to avoid this problem by giving it a "fake" number.

But afer all - the actual direction of the new runway is slightly more towards north, so it is nonsense to give it a lower number, you are absolutely right.

Remember this if you come here one day :

In China everything is allowed if it is decided by the government.

Logical or not - doesn't matter :-)

Some day they might change the law of gravity as well...

— carsten · 2006-09-25 16:02

The reason L/R is not used yet is that PVG has 2+ runways under construction (the 3rd is u/c and should be ready next year, the 4th is supposed to be ready around 2010, and the 5th is in blueprint). When the 3rd id done, it will be labeled 35-17L and the 1st runway will be renamed to 35-17R. And so on ...

— chichi · 2006-09-25 16:57

check out this.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=369195&page=2&pp=20

— chichi · 2006-09-25 18:32

I remember few years ago, the pilots of Singapore Airline was attempting to take off at Taipei airport and misunderstood the runway 05L and 05R and eventually slammed into the closed runway. The rating of SQ was dropped from the top all the way to the bottom.

The air-controllers have their way to speak clearly to the pilot, e.g. 05R will call as 05Romeo.

The long term plan for PVG is to have four parallel runways and four terminals, anyone knows which direction will the airport to be expanded?

— stephen · 2006-09-26 00:18

the 3rd runway is parallel to the current 1st one to the west while the 4th is parallel to the 2nd one to the east.

check out this page.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=369195&page=2&pp=20

http://files.photojerk.com/generalhuo/SWFC/SH-PDairport.jpe

http://files.photojerk.com/generalhuo/SWFC/20068813222594631.jpe

— chichi · 2006-09-26 02:37

carsten,if you don't like China.please go back to your country!

— Juliet · 2006-09-26 20:37

Dear Juliet

At first I ignored to answer your foolish comment, but then :

My company have sent me here to help chinese government owned companies.

And I have done so in the last 5 years. And they are happy.

I think it is better to stay and do something here, Juliet.

I have my chinese wife and my life here, but for me it doesn't mean

that I can't say anything or do anything to improve life for me and my family here.

So mind your own business and keep quiet, if you cannot take any hard words of

your beloved government.

When you write like this, you certainly don't understand what is really going on in China.

I'm sure many other readers will see the point.

The words above are quite ironical and have a "bite",

but as a chinese (party member perhaps ?) you won't understand irony anyway.

— carsten · 2006-09-27 01:58

carsten, please, i just can't help wondering why you are assuming people don't know how to speak R while they are talking about _r_unways? and as a foreigner, you are so sure they don't understand what is really going on in China?

As a Chinese, I bet most Chinese understand China very well. We just need solutions and we are working and proceeding.

come on, "party members", "gravity changing", is that your understanding? is that you call irony?

— chichi · 2006-09-29 17:38

Hi,

I have a question: is the maglev train running again after the accident?

Thanks,

Rene

— Rene · 2006-09-30 00:30

Dear carsten

I agree with chichi. You don't understand China and will not understand China forever. I don't want to argue with you, from your words, I know, you may have a prejudice against Chinese, but the fact is: China has the rapidest economic increasement rate in the world and Chinese become richer and richer year by year ,does it occur in your country? So, please pay more attention on China's good aspect and your country's unsatisfied aspect in order to get a balance. The golden week is coming, I will have a tour in Beijing , where will you go?

Dear Rene

Yeah, it resumed running again! A friend of mine took it to PVG this Monday.

— Juliet · 2006-09-30 14:40

Hello everyone,

I am traveling to Shanghai for the first time in December, 2006. We are traveling from the U.S. to the PVG airport and will then later travel to Beijing. My question concerns long-term luggage storage at PVG. Does anyone know what the hours of operation are for long-term luggage storage on Saturdays and during the week?

Thank you for your help.

-Adam

— Adam Matye · 2006-11-11 00:46

Attending Formula 1 race early October 2007. taying at Hotel close-by Subway line #2 station Shimen Rd. Any thoughts how to get to the track which is Northwest of the city.Would appreciate help.

— Jim Jardine · 2007-06-26 01:19

Where are the airplanes on Google Earth?

Thanks for hel[ing me identify the airport.

— Gerard M Foley · 2007-12-10 08:40

@Gerard, type in Pudong Airport, or PVG in Google Earth, and you will find it out.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-12-10 21:08

Regarding the runway headings. The first runway, 35, was built several years ago. Runway headings are based on the magnetic heading from a compass. However, because the magnetic pole moves slightly each year, runways are re-numbered from time to time. Most likely, Runway 34 was designated based on the anticipated mag heading for the estimated date of completion. Runway 35 will, most likely, be re-numbered in the near future to reflect the change in the magnetic heading. Hope that helps.

— David B. · 2008-02-26 03:58

Carsten, The Chinese language actually does have a the hard r sound. It's Japanese that doesn't.

Jeff

— jeff · 2008-09-06 18:38

Hi, I am new here.

Can i know what is the disctance from Shanghai Central Star hotel to Pudong Airport.

Thanks

— Eric · 2009-03-25 16:28

You'v Got (Registered) Mail!

Sun, 24 Sep 2006 16:40:44 +0800

How important is mail (traditional mail) in our daily life? No so important. In the last few years, I didn’t receive any written mails, and all the mail in my mailbox are either “Direct Mail”, or the fly-er of commercial advertisement, or bills (telephone bills, gas bills, cable TV bills).

I totally have no incentive to open the mailbox.

Among them, there are some special mail notification. It is a small piece of paper to ask me to go to the post office in person to fetch package or registered mail.

Jinjiang Hotel

Sat, 23 Sep 2006 23:23:09 +0800

Wendy and I went to Jinjiang Hotel to attend her friends’ wedding. Jinjiang Hotel is a nice and old hotel in Shanghai. The area of the Jin jiang Hotel has one of the best architectures of Shanghai. What a co-incident. Our wedding was held three years ago on the same Saturday in the hotel nearby.

I would recommend people to stay in this hotel - it is not fancy, but comfortable. It is of the best locations in Shanghai ,and is along the charming Huaihai Road.

Maglev Accident in Germany

Sat, 23 Sep 2006 23:16:39 +0800

What happened in the Maglev in Germany? Why two trains can possibility hit each other? On the advertisement of Maglev in Shanghai, they use the tag line “Experience almost 900 km/hour speed when two Maglev passes each other…”.

I can imagine it is definitely not funny if they do not pass each other, but hit head to head.

I am so sorry for people who lose their lives. As the Germany president put it “It is completely unacceptable for their family or friends to say by to them in the morning but found out they never go back home again….” I share the pain of the families.

Xujiahui At Night - Part II

Sat, 23 Sep 2006 17:06:57 +0800

These are pictures mentioned in this post: Swensen’s in Xujiahui.

Xujiahui is amazing with the newly completed Grand Gateway Twin Towers.

4 Comments

What the hell place is Xujiahui! My office is there, it is just too noisy and crowed place.

— Chern · 2006-09-24 16:24

yeah,it's too crowed.

— victor · 2006-09-25 09:49

And the house property in Xu is almost the most expensive,right?

Almost all the crowd street or city seems beautiful in night, especially in pic.

— David.S · 2006-09-30 19:13

i live in L.A now, i miss shanghai so much. that is one of the greatest place in the world. i am so pride of being a shanghainese.

— Cherry Li · 2006-10-03 00:50

Centuary Ave Station Opens on Oct 28

Fri, 22 Sep 2006 23:20:20 +0800

Shanghai Metro Centuary Ave Station will reopen on October 28, 2006. It was named Dong Fang Road Station before, and is the transition station for Metro Line #2 (already in operation), #4 (already in operation), #6 (will be completed soon) and #9.

The 4 lines will be arranged on three layers.

This is the first 4 line hub for Shanghai Metro. In 2010, there are other 15 3-line hubs in Shanghai Metro. I am an engering kind of person, and I will do some research to find out how the lines get connected together.

Guide for Bike Riders in Shanghai

Thu, 21 Sep 2006 21:59:47 +0800

Shuan’s question on riding bike in Shanghai:

Hello again,

First I would like to acknowledge your warm welcome,

second.. how do I ask a question.. is there any special place where I ask, or do I send you an email or what?

Any way, I’ll post my question here considering you can edit posts and what not (the above is a question in it self :P ^_^)

I just got a bycicle, a standard $500 rmb one.. today I rid to work and back! The thing is I don’t know the laws with the bycicle or in shanghai.. Every body just seems to do what ever.. ie., some people (well alot..) go through red lights, some people go through any light.. most people ride on what looks to be the wrong side of the road (with cars comming towards them, etc.) as a foreigner.. what do I do?

Swensen's in Xujiahui

Tue, 19 Sep 2006 23:41:32 +0800

Swensen’s on the third floor of Metro Tower (1111 Zhao Jia Bang Road) is a great ice cream shop. They offer good Italian Noodles as well. We had great dinner at the outside garden tonight. The scene is amazing! The twin tower of the Grand Gateway is on the left - beautiful building with a big shopping mall in the middle (with bit TV screen on it) in the middle and 48-story high-raising tower on the both side. It is a great place to have dinner or ice cream.

Sept is Maybe the Best Time to Visit Shanghai

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 23:09:34 +0800

Many people asked me the question: When is the best time to visit Shanghai? I would say, most time is good, but there are only some bad time - like winter - it is really code or summer, when it is really hot. Also avoid national holidays, like Oct 1 to 7, May 1 to 7 and Spring Festival. That is the short version of the answer.

However, these days, when I walked on the Nanjing Road, or visited the Bund at night, I regret that I didn’t tell my friends who is planning his/her visit to Shanghai that “September maybe is the best time to visit Shanghai”. Why? Because the Shanghai Travel Festival started on Sept 16.

I Love to Invite Friends to my Home

Sun, 17 Sep 2006 23:03:37 +0800

Sunday, I was happy to invite friends to my home in Pudnog for dinner. It was great experience to have my friends around the shining dining room. It is also a good incentive for me to clean up the rooms and garden, to prepare for the home visit.

Shanghai is too large, and my home is just too far. It is not very convenient for people to be there - especially for my friends in Puxi and my friends who don’t have a car.

The Banquet (Ye Yan) by Zhang Ziyi

Sat, 16 Sep 2006 23:15:54 +0800

Went to see The Banquet by Zhang Ziyi. The movie was directed by Feng Xiaogang…

It was 35 RMB at 10:20 PM at the Cinema of Grand Brand Mall.

I don’t have too many comments for this movie. It is not as interesting as other Feng Xiaogao movies, but it is not as bad as Wuji…

From the logical analysis perspective, I feel although the director changed, the style is not too much different from the previous several movies, like House of Flying Daggers, or Wuji. The team (the photographer, creative designers, music, and act designer) are the same as other Chinese movies. Now, the scene is good, but the story is not as strong. It takes time for the staging and story to catch up, and it will be really a great movie.

Went to IKEA Again

Fri, 15 Sep 2006 23:38:28 +0800

I was an IKEA, especially when I just graduated and went to work. A major part of my first few months salary went to IKEA… For example, this was the picture in 2002. As recent as in 2004, I still did Bulk Purchase from IKEA.

Wendy and I went to IKEA again. Maybe, I didn’t visit IKEA in the last one year or so. I am no longer an IKEA fan. Now, most furniture in my home is NOT from IKEA, and my favorite color changed from white, to light yellow, and to brown.

'Not Happy New Year'

Thu, 14 Sep 2006 23:08:35 +0800

I can never over-state the importance of the display name of an Instant Messenger (IM) in the current age. People change their MSN Messenger or QQ display name on daily basis, if not on hourly basis. By looking at the display name of my friends on MSN Messenger, I have some brief knowledge about

Whether they are happy?
What they are focusing on?
How they need help - it is a personal ad platform that people ask for referrer for a job, or ask for a job, or business

Dishuihu (Dishui Lake) Pictures

Wed, 13 Sep 2006 23:30:31 +0800

Shanghai is a city without high mountains. Sheshan is maybe the only hill Shanghai has. Shanghai has a river - Huangpu River, but Huangpu is not that interesting - you cannot sail or swim in it. Shanghai is near sea, but there is no beach. People like hiking may have to climb stairs of buildings. People like sailing may only be able to watch cargo boats in the river. People like sea cannot even touch the river of the sea due to the muddy shores.

Volunteer for Beijing Olympics

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 23:30:14 +0800

Want to be a volunteer for Beijing Olympics in 2008? Recently, the recruiting started.

The recruiting of Beijing Olympics Volunteer starts from Aug 28, 2006 to end of March, 2008.

Stage 1: Beijing Volunteers

From August 28, 2006, the program opens to applicants in Beijing (and Beijing only).

Stage 2: China Volunteers

From Dec, 2006, people from outside Beijing can submit their application.

Stage 3: Overseas Volunteers

By March 2007, people from outside China (including in other countries) can apply for volunteering in Olympics 2008.

Four Years of Blogging

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 22:12:59 +0800

Today marks the end of the forth year of blogging at Wangjianshuo’s Blog. 4 years ago, in Sept 11, 2002, I setup MovableType and wrote my first entry MovableType Successfully Installed on Windows XP on the old desktop computer in my home. No one expected that it is the start of a four-year-long blogging journey. Of cause, every year when I look back and wrote a note about the anniversary of this blog, I am not unaware of the fact that Sept 11 is a special day. The 911 event 5 years ago took away many people’s lives, and inevitably changed the world. I write with my respect to everyone involved in the trategy.

Chivas' Mermaid by Sarah Khider

Sun, 10 Sep 2006 23:41:31 +0800

Like many others, I am a big fan of Sarah Khider’s song - Mermaid for commercial from Chivas.

****powered by ODEO

Because of the song, the Chivas’ commercial became my best TV commercial. Every time when the commercial shows, I just stop switching channels until I complete listening to the 30 seconds commercial.

The Chivas Regal’s commercial is shown frequently. There is big ad in the People’s Square Station of Metro Line #1 and #2. I don’t drink wine, or whisky. I just love the song and the lifestyle Chivas painted.

Brick Road in the Garden

Sat, 09 Sep 2006 23:32:21 +0800

To spend few hours to do labor work brought my great happiness. Today, I made a brick road in my garden by myself.

The Area

The 1.1m x 3.0m corner at the inner most of the garden was full of wild grass. I didn’t have the right time to cut the grass, so they grew wildly. I felt embarrassing at the very beginning - I know to left grass like that is very bad thing for neighbors, but recently, I found the grass of my neighbor is even worse. :-)

Vanke is a Good Real Estate Company

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 23:58:33 +0800

Just get back from my good friends new apartment at Vanke Holiday. It is another good residential area by Vanke.

I am a big Vanke fan. Our first apartment was in Vanke, and I spent great time there, before I moved to Pudong.

Vanke is the No. 1 brand in the real estate industry. It has the largest revenue number, and good at build vast area of residential buildings and turn suburb into new towns.

The World is Not Created by Genius - Part II

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 22:08:25 +0800

Continuing the discussion of “The World is Not Created by Genius”, I wrote a Chinese blog and created a simple AJAX application to facilitate this game on the Internet. If you haven’t read about the previous article, it is also good. You can play the game first.

The Game

Gather a group of people (I have done it for you. Currently, at least 200 persons have entered their numbers already)

Each person write down a number between 0 - 100

Need to Go to Beijing Some Time

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 23:06:52 +0800

I haven’t been to Beijing for quite some time. I need to get to Beijing sometime soon. The IT, especially Internet, center is in Beijing. The media center is in Beijing. To run Internet business, it is wired that we don’t visit Beijing often. I also have a lot of friends (web 2.0 friends) in Beijing that we haven’t chatted for a long time. I feels the winter of Internet is not far. The momentum changes slightly since May and now it is obviously that people are not so excited about new ideas. No evidence, just some feeling about the industry.

Decathlon Store Locations in Shanghai

Mon, 04 Sep 2006 22:05:58 +0800

There are 5 Decathlon Stores in Shanghai. I got their store card in the Jinqiao Store the other day. They have locations for all their 5 stores. Here are the locations:

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Decathlon, Huamu Store by Jian Shuo Wang to decathlon Decathlon, Changning Store by Jian Shuo Wang to decathlon Decathlon, Jinqiao Store by Jian Shuo Wang to decathlon Decathlon, Xinzhuang Store (Approximate) by Jian Shuo Wang to decathlon Decathlon, Putuo Store by Jian Shuo Wang to decathlon

Decathlon, Huamu Store

Decathlon, Changning Store

24K Hotel Offers Booking for 2010

Sat, 02 Sep 2006 18:35:00 +0800

24K Chain Hotel offers booking for 2010 rooms today. They promised the price for their rooms remain the same if guests book the room today.

During the Shanghai World Expo in 2010, it is expected that 70 million people (4 times more than Shanghai’s current population) will visit he city, and hotel price must go up quickly.

The 24K Chain Hotel’s policy for booking is 30% payment upon reversation, and full payment three month before the check-in date.

Weekend! Weekend!

Sat, 02 Sep 2006 12:08:27 +0800

It is weekend, again.

Gave me one day, to relax…

5 Comments

sofa, wish you have a good weekend!

so does it for myself!

— passer-by · 2006-09-02 15:29

我建议Jian Shuo学一套太极～

比如24式做完整个拳法花20分钟左右会让你彻底的放松！！！

— fish828 · 2006-09-02 19:19

The first weeked in the new semester! Great!

— David.S · 2006-09-03 01:47

Yes,you are tired.you can go to the suburb to relax yourself.

— qingtingwei · 2006-09-07 18:03

Hi!

Yes, weekend is great if you know where to go! :(((

I am new in Shanghai and will be happy to meet some english speaking friends... unfortunately around me is only chinese speaking people!

Will be happy to contact you wia martins.knipshis@gmail.com

or

my China number: 15901620541

— Martin · 2006-12-12 22:21

Who is Chinabounder

Thu, 31 Aug 2006 23:35:24 +0800

From today, a new name appeared in my search engine referrer log: ChinaBounder. This seems to be a hot term on the Internet today. I didn’t take close look at what the blog is about. Very briefly, I know this is a misbehaved British person in Shanghai, and made people angry by showing off his sex experience with Shanghai girls. A professor in China called for a “Hunt for ChinaBounder” and the goal of the mission is to find out this guy and get him out of China.

7 Tips to Travel to China This Quarter

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 23:32:39 +0800

My friend MT is visiting Shanghai by the end of Sept. He is very excited about it. It is his first trip to China! He asked what is my suggestion for him to prepare the trip. I do have some tips.

**Tip #1: Avoid Travel from Oct 1 to Oct 7. **

October 1 to October 7 is the national holiday in China. It is also called Golden Week, because the continous 7 day holiday and good weather bring millions of people to scenaric places, hotels, also trains, airlines, and buses. In short, it is crowded everywhere. People visiting China typically don’t have the constraint of travel only in the 7 days, so avoid it. Also, if possible, avoid the two days before and after the holiday.

Why I Keep Losing Stuff

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 22:45:14 +0800

I kept losing stuff. It is wired.

One week ago, I even lost a shoe. I got onto the back seat of my car. Wendy drove the car to Xujiahui. When I left the car, I just couldn’t find one of my shoe. Till now, I have no idea about where my shoe went.

In Qingdao, I lost my glasses. I didn’t wear contact lens this time, and wore my normal glasses. The tide was strong. After one strong tide, I felt strange, and realized I didn’t have my glasses any more. It is not easy to find a glass in the sea. I gave up in 10 seconds.

More Pictures from Qingdao

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 23:14:26 +0800

A picture is better than a thousand words. Here are more pictures from Qingdao.

13 Comments

jian shuo, you shown us a picture of classic street light fall in disrepair, I hope this is not the general attitude of people in Tsingdao towards the structures and buildings left by German and Japan before the war.

— stephen · 2006-08-29 01:42

What are the "shining things" on the picture #7? Roads? Buildings? Canals?

— ILH · 2006-08-29 04:09

Great pictures! I didn't know there were churches in China. Shows what I know.

I also had to look up Qingdao as you have very big country (almost half as big as mine ;-) ) :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qingdao

— Sam · 2006-08-29 15:11

A historical city? A modern city? A complex city? A simple city? Stephen's comment gave me these questions.

— David.S · 2006-08-29 22:02

Qingdao is a historical city. It has many buildings left from 100 years ago.

It is a modern city. It is a city for sailing, and it has famous brands in China. The new district is very modern.

It is a simple city, since the life there is easy and the pace is slow. The Tsingtao beer is as cheap as bottled water.

It is a very nice city.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-08-29 23:45

ILH, it is the river system near the A30 and Huangpu River intersection area.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-08-29 23:57

Thanks, JS! How interesting that is!

I wonder what are those "river system" or "waterways" for? Irrigation? Fish farming? After all, I did not expect to see this in the northern part of China.

— ILH · 2006-08-30 04:42

Very sharp pictures.

— Alex Langos · 2006-08-30 05:33

They seem like some beautiful posters or advertisment backgrounds, really nice! You can choose one for the background

— David.S · 2006-08-30 18:32

The pictures are terrific!

You must have a good day in the coast city.

— grAce · 2006-08-30 23:46

It is so nice a city! I do expect to visit there after my graduation.

— lina · 2006-09-28 17:11

I lived in Qingdao in the mid 90's... A wonderful city for an expat new to China. Loved your photos... were some of the city taken from the Dongfeng Hotel? I stayed there for my first three weeks in China and the views look so familiar. Looks like the Number 1 Beach is as busy as ever. Thanks for rekindling some very fond memories of a wonderful time in my life....

— Bary · 2006-10-18 08:37

The Huangpu and A30 are in Shanghai not Qingdao.

— BC · 2007-12-05 21:17

Rujia Qingdao, Fuzhou Road

Fri, 25 Aug 2006 21:40:53 +0800

These are pictures of Rujia (Home Inn), the cheap business hotel chain in Qingao. The pictures are the Fuzhou Road hotel in Qingdao.

Rujia is one of the best cheap hotel inns in China. It provide free wireless network and cheap by clean rooms to stay. Their locations are not the best in every city, but reasonablely good. It is a hotel I turst. So recommend it to everyone - the price for a standard room is between 200 RMB to 300 RMB.

Qingdao (Tsingtao) Pictures

Wed, 23 Aug 2006 00:38:06 +0800

Want to take a look at what Qingdao looks like? Here are plenty of pictures.

I love Qingdao and have been there twice. I didn’t really remember what we did in Qingdao for the first time, but Qingdao gave me very good first impression.

Qingtao is at the south tip of the Shandong Peninsula. It is a famous costal tourism city. It is near Shanghai - less than a hour’s flight there (or 750 RMB’s expense)

Reading/Writing Chinese in Windows XP

Mon, 21 Aug 2006 23:15:34 +0800

This an FAQ: How to read and write Chinese (Simplified or Traditional Chinese) in English Windows XP. Many people thought people can do it only in Chinese Windows XP/2000. It is wrong. Since I reinstalled my English Windows XP, let me show you how to enable Chinese on English Windows.

Please note: This article assumes readers have only basic knowledge about the language of Chinese

By Default, You Cannot Read Chinese

Put Google Search into Inside My Site

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 14:53:00 +0800

Google is innovaite. They allow my to put Google result inside my own page. This feature was released early August, so I can take advantage of this offer.

Let me write down the parameters of this configuration. Please note: This entry is archived under “backstage " and is intended to be read only by me and people who are interested in how this site works.

Search Type: Google WebSearch + SiteSearch

Roof of the Grand Gateway and More

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 02:07:46 +0800

Look at this roof - it is taken inside the Grand Gate Way.

Above is the view from outside - from Satellite.

Xiang Yang Market

Drove by Xiang Yang Market. This is how it looks like - the building was full of restaurant before.

Shanghai Grand Theater

Outside of Tomorrow Square.

Scene in my mirror:

7 Comments

Wherer did the vendor from the Xiang market move to?

— Lee Rosenberg · 2006-08-20 03:52

In fact, there are still many vendors staying around the mkt. Last weekend when I walked near the cross of South Shanxi Rd. and Mid Huaihai Rd. many vendors stand at the roadside showing piz of their products to me. If you are interest in their product, they will show you to their place of storage.

— Chern · 2006-08-20 12:31

Lee, this is a FAQ. The official answer is, if you are looking for fake good, they are gone. Shanghai does not allow fake goods anywhere in the city. The non-official answer is, some move to the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum Station, and some move to all kinds of small markets. Since it is still during the moving process, it is not clear which place turns out to take on the reputation and customers of Xiang Yang Market Yet.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-08-20 14:32

looks good

— Chinabounderess · 2006-08-21 07:40

Jian,

Love the site...I am actually working at one of the towers located at the Grand gateway until September 1st. Went to the Bund last night and took some great pictures. Visiting Xian this weekend to go to the Terra Cotta warriors and visit the city. Keep up the great information!

Jake

— Jake · 2006-08-25 16:43

Wang, I think you typed a worng word "grant" in the title,is it "grand"?

— xiaoguo · 2006-08-28 13:25

An article in CNN.Com/World indicated that there were plans under way to build a full size replica of the RMS TITANIC as a centerpiece to a 60,000 sq. meter shopping center. It is supposed to one of five city themed areas of the complex. Did this ever happen? The article appears to have been posted Feb. 5th, 2002?

Any info please!

— Patrick Gorman · 2008-04-19 06:11

Three Meetups in a Day

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 01:56:53 +0800

Chen Yun

In the morning, went to Xujiahui and met Chenyun. His IT Union has been running for a long time. We met each other in early 1998, when I was still in SJTU, and was involved in the start up Hotsales.net. Time flies, and when we meet again, 8 years past. (BTW, when we are used to time in years, does it mean we are getting older?) I offered my help if I can. Old friends are always best friends.

Free MagiNet Hotspot in Marriott

Sat, 19 Aug 2006 13:43:10 +0800

Location: Starbucks inside JW Marriott (Tomorrow Square), Shanghai

Network name: MagiNet@JWMarriottSH

It is very fast - much faster than my slow FTTB+LANat home.

How to Get There

JW Marriott is the tallest building (the taller one besides it has not completed yet) in Pudxi area. You won’t miss it at the People’s Square.

Inside the lobby of JW Marriott, there is a Starbucks. Not many people know it, and I believe its major customers are people in the JW Marriott Service Apartment. They don’t have Wireless access there, sitting there, I can detect the signal from somewhere. The speed is really fast.

I Want to Go to India

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 23:53:40 +0800

I am seriously interested in India now. I have never been there, and I hope I have a chance to visit the wonderful country of India.

India and China share a lot of things in common, like rich history, huge population, buddhism, diversified people, different local dialect, and good food. They also face many similar problems.

When I had conference call with my friends in India, the beep and horn of buses and cars seldom stopped. I can imagine how busy the streets are, and what the big cities like New Deli and Mumbai are. Of cause my imagination will be far from the real India.

Real Ice in Shanghai Metro

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 23:17:26 +0800

Shanghai is hot recently (good news is, it will cool down very soon). Thanks to the good air-con in both metro stations and metro carts, it is very good experience as long as you stay inside the Metro System, but not several carts.

The air-con systems on several train carts don’t work very well. They just produce very weak cold air, so the cart is very hot. I got onto such a train today.

Dong Fang Ji Bai from KFC

Wed, 16 Aug 2006 20:08:39 +0800

KFC is more successful in China than McDonald’s. In my oppinion, it is because KFC is doing a much better job in localization.

KFC’s Local Brand: Dong Fang Ji Bai 东方既白

KFC’s parent company - Yum Group’s Asia headquarter is located in the Metro City. So many KFC’s experiment happens in the Metro Tower area.

Two years ago (April 27, 2005), they have ever tried “K-Cafe”, the KFC Cafe, and it didn’t work out, and they closed it the first and the only K-Cafe in Asia.

Going to Movie (Cinema) in Shanghai

Tue, 15 Aug 2006 21:13:47 +0800

Where do I go to movie in Shanghai? I have two favorite places.

#1: Stellar Cinema City

Location: 8F,168 LuJiaZui Xi Rd.

Tel: +86-21-50478022

It is located at level 8 of the Super Brand Mall (near the Oriental Pearl TV Tower).

Every night after 9:00 PM, they offer 50% off. Very good deal. When we have time for a movie, it is often after 9:00 PM already.

They have many big halls in it, and most movies can be found there. I enjoy the theater a lot. It has almost the best equipments in Shanghai.

MSN Search Unavailable

Tue, 15 Aug 2006 19:44:19 +0800

MSN Search Unavailable

From a technical person’s point of view, for serve farms like MSN Search, even to put one this temporarily unavailable page is a big challenge - how many servers need to be configured to serve this page alone?

P.S. It is a technical article again, some kind of. I do enjoy to slip away from the Shanghai focus topic, when I found something really interesting for ME (maybe only me). Hope people don’t get annoyed. Anyway, it is still my PERSONAL blog. :-D

Wangjianshuo's Blog on Travel Times

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 23:01:21 +0800

After chatting with Chen Zhen from Travel Times, a two-full page report appeared on Shanghai Travel Times (上海旅游时报).

On the right hand of the cover.

Header of the first page.

First page of the report.

Second Page of the report.

:-)

P.S. I am trying to be low profile - so post it in a date that already past, so it is not the headline of the blog. But to keep a list of which media reported the blog is meaningful (at least meaningful for me), isn’t it?

Coins are Popular in Shanghai

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 22:28:18 +0800

When people outside Shanghai visit Shanghai for the first time (including me 10 years ago), they often found RMB coins are more popular in Shanghai than any other cities in China. Going out empty handed for one day and when you return, you probably have some coins in pocket.

Where the Coins Comes From

The answer is simple. It comes from everywhere.

The biggest source may be the Shanghai Metro. If you buy ticket of 4 RMB with 10 RMB paper cash, often you get your charge in 6 one-RMB coins.

Shanghai Airport City Terminal

Sun, 13 Aug 2006 23:48:57 +0800

pass-by asked about the Shanghai Airport City Terminal. Your guess about what the terminal is “supposed” to use is right, but it does not works that way.

The Terminal

Besides Hongqiao and Pudong airport, the Shanghai Airport Authority built an Airport City Terminal near Jing An Temple. The tall building was designed to allow passengers to check-in baggage in the downtown, and go to airport without large luggage.

It was not Fully Used

Suzhou Airport

Sun, 13 Aug 2006 09:15:10 +0800

Suzhou Airport? When people ask me about Suzhou airport, my first impression was, does Suzhou has an airport?

Yangtze-Delta area has too Many Airports

This is a fact that you may not know. The Yangtze-Delta has one of the highest airport density in the world. There are 0.8 airport per 10,000 sq. km in the area. The average of U.S. is 0.6.

The airports I know are:

Shanghai Hong Qiao Airport

Online Map in Shanghai (and China)

Sat, 12 Aug 2006 23:44:20 +0800

Here is a list of Shanghai Online Maps.

Google Maps (Global Sattelite Image)

There is only image, with no road and map information. It is very useful if you know an area well, and want to see the details (buildings, streets), but not useful for a stranger to find the right road to take.

Google Bendi (Local)**

Move the needle on the left side to zoom in. It only has Chinese version. The data is powered by mapabc.com

Maglev Catches Fire

Fri, 11 Aug 2006 22:56:00 +0800

The headline picture of Sina.com.cn caught my attention at 21:50, when I reviewed today’s news in my living room. (This is maybe one of the 3 times I checked Sina this month, instead of daily one year ago). The news is about Maglev, my favorite topic.

This time, it is bad news. Maglev caught fire! According to the news:

At 2:40 PM, when the train left Long Yang Road Station to Pudong Airport, the fire alarm of one cart of the train was triggered. The fire was quickly put off, and all passengers was rescued.

Museums in Shanghai

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 23:32:50 +0800

Let me introduce my favorite museums in Shanghai.

The Shanghai Art Museum

My favorite museum in Shanghai is the Shanghai Art Museum.

The photo was originally published under Starbucks in A Day.

Location: North Huangpi Road, and West Nanjing Road (map).

Metro: Shanghai Metro Line #1, #2 People Square Station.

Land marker: It is just beside the Tomorrow Square (the JW Marriott Hotel). You won’t miss the hotel by checking the highest building with arrow to the sky in the People’s Square area.

I Don't Know about China Visa

Wed, 09 Aug 2006 23:23:17 +0800

I received many questions about “How can I get China Visa from India”, or “My visa in China expires next month…”.

I am sorry but I have no idea about Chinese Visa. Obviously, I don’t need to have one, and there is no way for me to try out the procedures.

If you do have Chinese visa questions, you may TRY to post under this thread, and I believe many readers of this blog have the experience and can help. I am also curious about the steps to apply for a Chinese Visa. Please share and help. Thanks.

Shanghai Public Transportation Card

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 23:58:36 +0800

Public Transportation Card has become an essential part of people’s life in Shanghai.

The Card

The Public Transportation Card is a credit-card-size plastic card with IC embedded in it. The card has mat surface, and is a little bit thicker than credit card. The surface is smooth, and don’t have big numbers printed on it.

This is my card:

Where to Use It?

The card basically satisfies one’s all transportation needs. It can be used on all metro, almost all buses, major taxi, and ferry. The usage is now extended to highway fees, car services fees, and can be used to pay electricity, gas, and water. It can also be used by limited operators in other cities. Look at this table.

Shanghai Buses

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 23:51:24 +0800

The best way to get around in Shanghai is taxi and Metro. Taxi works best if you are not that cost senstive, since taxi is cheap compared to U.S. and Europe. 11 RMB (1.3 USD) - 20 RMB can get to most places, especially those attractions. Metro works better if you want to experience the Metro, or you don’t want to challenge yourself to speak English or mandarine with a taxi driver.

The World is Not Created by Genius

Sun, 06 Aug 2006 22:39:31 +0800

Lao Hua has an interesting blog about a game he facilitates. The game is like this:

Gather a group of people (the more, the better)
Ask each person to write down a number between 0 - 100
Calculate the average of all these numbers
The one who guessed closest to 2/3 of the average number wins

Which number would you guess if you were in the game?

My Guess

I played the game for the first time yesterday. My guess was 8.2

Expressways of Shanghai

Sun, 06 Aug 2006 00:20:44 +0800

Following the Middle Ring article I wrote today, let me talk a little bit about the expressways in Shanghai.

Expressways in Shangha, hand drawn by Jian Shuo Wang

Shanghai has a network of expressways. They are still building it, but it is many more than I came to Shanghai 10 years ago. They used the alphanumeric system to name the roads. It is A+number.

On numbering system, please refer to my article: Top Three Innovation that Failed in Shanghai. In 2004, many people cannot get used to it. Now, I believe it works much better than 2004. People complained that A11 is worse than “Huning” which means “Shanghai-Nanjing” Expressway. Now, after having more than 10 expressways, maybe numbering system starts to show more advantages than Chinese character naming system.

Middle Ring of Shanghai

Sat, 05 Aug 2006 23:19:47 +0800

Went to Jeff’s birthday party today. The air-con of my car (goudaner) stopped functioning, so we went to the FIAT 4S store, and had it fixed. After that, we went to the middle ring of Shanghai. It is the first time I use that elevated highway.

The Middle Ring

The elevated highway system in Shanghai consists of 4 rings, and 2 cross highway inside the city, and more than 10 radical highway to outside.

Sony GPS-CS1

Fri, 04 Aug 2006 23:08:49 +0800

Sony just announced the release of Sony GPS-CS1.

Image in courtesy of Sony.com

I want to be the first in Shanghai to get it. :-) Hope in the future, I have GPS information with all my pictures.

ch_client = “jianshuo”;ch_width = 468;ch_height = 180;ch_non_contextual = 1;ch_default_category = “1398”;var ch_queries = new Array( );var ch_selected=Math.floor((Math.random()*ch_queries.length));if ( ch_selected < ch_queries.length ) {ch_query = ch_queries[ch_selected];}

8 Comments

Get any GPS and sync the tracklog to your photos with software like PhotoStudio (free) or RoboGeo.

— Uli · 2006-08-05 01:07

That looks like quite a cool gadget.. can't wait to get one for my own cybershot :D

— Jie Lun · 2006-08-05 03:32

Where can it be used? Is it necessary for most of people? But, it seems like a cup or a bomb:)

— David.S · 2006-08-05 21:36

The problem is that Google Map does not have China's map info.

— Eddie Wong · 2006-08-06 00:12

good

— BT猴 · 2006-08-06 01:00

Hi there! I've been watching your blog for a while and truly enjoy it. Do you know if common mobile phones in China are location aware? My social network service, Socialight (http://socialight.com), let's people capture, share, and discover notes (including notes with phonecam pictures attached) tagged with location information and we're exploring bringing it to China.

— Dan · 2006-08-08 06:10

Jianshuo, I never know you want it for so long time...anyway finally you got it

— Edward · 2007-12-24 14:29

@Edward, yes. I thought for it for a long time, but still not sure about whether I should get one. Recently, I turned it on all the time, and tracked some route, but still don't have the chance to really use it - I am always in the room.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-12-24 14:49

Top 3 Issues of Shanghai Tourism

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 23:08:50 +0800

Reporter and Editor of Travel Times Miss Chen Zhen chatted with me about the tourism service of Shanghai. The newspaper is part of the Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administrative Commission, the government organization in charge of tourism of Shanghai.

She asked: What do you think Shanghai should improve in tourism, especially for international visitors?

I thought there are many that Shanghai needs to improve to make travel and sightseeing more enjoyable for foreigners, but I wasn’t able to name top 3 issues of Shanghai Tourism as a whole. Should it be more English information about Shanghai? or be better service in tourism industry, like travel agencies?

East Hotel Shanghai

Wed, 02 Aug 2006 23:57:53 +0800

East Hotel (东方宾馆) is one of the many splendid hotels in the history of Shanghai but fade out to be a small potato in the hotel industry. It is just at the People’s Square - Xizang Road, and Guanxi Road. I see the roof of the hotel everyday from my window in the office. The history changed very thing.

The Old East Hotel

The building is currently the Workers’ Culture Palace - according to the translation of the current owner. Before it was turned into the current “palace” in 1950, the building was the “East Hotel” building. It is the oldest hotel on the Xizang Road. From 1929 to 1950, it was one of the best hotels in Shanghai (along with many others, like Yangtze Hotel, Park Hotel, and Pujiang Hotel…)

Top Commentor of July 2006

Tue, 01 Aug 2006 23:37:27 +0800

Congratulations for the following readers to get the Top Commenter Award for July 2006!

Shrek7 33

Jie Lun 27

carsten 17

Top 10

Jerry 13

Bellevue 12

stephen 11

andreas 10

solopolo 8

Dave G. 8

SSC 7

jqian 7

Alex Langos 7

In July 2006, 341 commentors contributed 633 comments. The history data shows, that in May 2003, 175 visitors contributed 453 comments to this website. In April 2003, 157 persons (distinguished by display name) posted 437

Place Holder #2

Tue, 01 Aug 2006 00:22:39 +0800

This is the place holder. Publishing this entry will not trigger email notification to readers.

Shanghai Metro Line #4

Mon, 31 Jul 2006 23:05:03 +0800

Shanghai Metro #4 has started operation for quite some time, but I still didn’t get a chance to use this line yet. Here is the information about this new Metro Line.

Overview of Metro Line #4

Metro Line #4 is the first circle line. It goes around the city outside the Elevated Highway Inner Ring, and is the only circle Metro Line in Shanghai.

Illustration of Metro Line #4

Top Commenter of the Month (2006H1)

Sun, 30 Jul 2006 23:57:41 +0800

I have “Top Commenter of the Month” award on this blog in early days of this blog. At that time, the blog is small, with not many people coming in. I was so happy that there are always some good friends around me (most of them I didn’t meet them in person), and join discussion, share thoughts by posting comments. I love that award program a lot, since I always believe this blog is built together with my reader community. If you read the number of content distribution, you will also agree with me:

Too Many Entries in a Blog

Sun, 30 Jul 2006 23:20:18 +0800

Wendy complained to me. She has a friend relating to Shanghai. She wanted to share some information about Shanghai with him. She thought my blog is a good place to get started, but later, she found out there are just too many contents in the blog, covering too many topics, that she was not able to send a single link (besides the homepage) to her friend.

This is true. Livid once wrote a blog article about this issue:

Mission Impossible III

Sat, 29 Jul 2006 23:29:06 +0800

Just be back from Super Brand Mall. We went to see the movie Mission Impossible III. Long movie - 9:45 PM to 11:45 PM.

Image in courtesy of Mission Impossible III Official website

The jump from the Bank of China tower to the Insurance Building is the expected scene. We are just in the theater in the Pudong area that we can saw from the movie. Interesting. The scene in Shanghai are very strange for me. People don’t really dress like that showed on the moive. They called the area of Lujiazui “Hengshan Lu”. People burst into laughter when they said it.

Unsubscribe if You Don't Like Newsletters

Sat, 29 Jul 2006 10:43:48 +0800

I posted a mail to Wangjianshuo’s Blog Update subscribers (see the newsletter section at the bottom of this page, that is the mail list), to ask people who are not interested in continuing receiving update to unsubscribe from the list. As I said, I hate spams, and I hate to be treated as a spammer even more.

Hi all,

I am happy that you joined the Wangjianshuo’s Blog Update mail-list. It is daily update of my personal blog on Shanghai.

International Branded Hotels in Shanghai

Sat, 29 Jul 2006 09:54:46 +0800

These are not cheap hotels. They are among the most expensive hotels in Shanghai. However, I’d like to start the journey of telling the story of “where to stay in Shanghai” with the most recognized names and then to middle level hotels.

International Branded Hotels

As International Branded Hotels in Shanghai (IBHS) reported, there are 42 international branded hotels in Shanghai (thank jerry for letting me know the existance of IBHS). This number is obviously not accurate (like they didn’t have Hilton on board), but it is good guess. What is “International Branded”? The definition is not clear also.

Fake Market in Shanghai?

Fri, 28 Jul 2006 23:50:50 +0800

On my way back from my friend’s new apartment, I heard interesting conversation between a foreign women and her friends. They talked about the “fake market” in Shanghai. They were very excited, that obviously, they found the new fake market after Xiangyang market was closed. They happily bought some fake goods there.

Well. Xiangyang Market is shutdown, but the fake good store owners are always able to find places to continue their business, and more interestingly, customers (including foreign customers) seem to be good at finding them out, quickly.

How Many Hotels in Shanghai?

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 22:10:32 +0800

How many hotels in Shanghai? It is a question without accurate answer. I just searched on expedia (EXPE), and it has 350 hotels in record. (25 per page, and 14 pages)

(BTW, in my recent study in the B2C business model, Expedia is in B2C segment, and to be complete in hotel information is key to its business.)

People Don’t Care Cheap Hotels in the Same City

I admit that I only know “splendid”, “wonderful”, “maganificant” and “excellent” hotels in Shanghai, since they are the landmarks of the city. As a local residence, I never have to worry about which hotel should I stay tonight.

Flight From Shanghai to Qingdao

Tue, 25 Jul 2006 23:53:38 +0800

Flight From To Depart Arrival Aircraft Schedule

CA4670 SHA TAO 7:40 8:55 733 1234567

SC4670 SHA TAO 7:40 8:55 733 1234567

FM9231 SHA TAO 8:10 9:20 738 1234567

MU5549 SHA TAO 8:30 10:00 320 1234567

CA4662 SHA TAO 10:05 11:20 733 1234567

SC4662 SHA TAO 10:05 11:20 733 1234567

MU5541 SHA TAO 11:20 12:50 320 .2..5.7

MU5533 SHA TAO 12:10 13:40 320 12.45.7

FM9197 SHA TAO 12:55 14:10 CRJ .234.67

OOB for Two Days

Sat, 22 Jul 2006 15:57:48 +0800

RC said, it is important to take break from time to time to do some reflection on what we did in the last long period of time. It is true. Let me do that, and OOB for a short period of time. I hope I am back to blogging on Tuesday.

6 Comments

HELLO,could u tell me what is the meaning of OOB?THANKS!

— yanjiade · 2006-07-24 09:43

That is "out of blogging".

— Joyce · 2006-07-24 13:13

I think it would be more fun for Jian Shuo if it meant "On Office Break" hehe ;)

— Jie Lun · 2006-07-25 16:23

www.pathtochina.com

— Simon · 2006-07-25 18:31

JS, OOB is the term you used to seek a break in your regular blogging, but sometime it confuse new readers who are not familiar with the "out-of-blogging".

Would suggest you use "TOB" i.e. temporary off blogging........just a suggestion!

— stephen · 2006-07-25 23:49

I was using this term for several years (to be exactly, only 3 years). When I am OOB, typically, I am not taking a break. It is often because I am either in meetings, or away from computer/Internet.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-07-29 00:41

Stanford Dream

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 23:49:43 +0800

From the March of 2005, many Stanford people entered my life and became my good friends. Many people in eBay graduated from Stanford, either from Computer Science, or from MBA program. The list is just too long to name one by one. Among them, Xiaofeng Jin is an important person. She introduced me to the great network of Stanford. We met for the first time in Starbucks and scheduled to talk for 1 hours, but it turned out to be 4 hours. Xiaofeng highly recommended me to go to Stanford for either Salon or EMBA program and described her wonderful 6 weeks in Stanford - it was very attractive for me.

Pan Thinks about Wireless SOHO?

Thu, 20 Jul 2006 23:54:35 +0800

I like Pan Shiyi’s blog. Full of thoughts. He is successful in real estate industry, and he is also advanced in IT.

In this blog entry: Notting Hill Famous for Film, and SOHU Famous for Intenet?, he was inspired by the raise of Notting Hill as a modern area in London. He thought about implementing Wireless network covering SOHO area in Beijing. SOHO (picture) is one of his master piece property.

Sensitivity to Numbers

Thu, 20 Jul 2006 23:18:31 +0800

Be sensitive to numbers is what I learnt most from running a business. Numbers have magic power to tell a story more complete, and more vivid than an article, if you know how to read numbers. Without the skill to read numbers (do we call it analytical skills), people just see numbers, instead of the story it tells.

Yahoo! Stock

When we watched the CBN (China Business Network, or in Chinese, called No. 1 Finance) channel for business news, there is a piece about Yahoo! lost 10.5 billion USD in market cap in one day.

China's Low-Cost Spring Airlines

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 23:50:11 +0800

Spring Airlines is amazing. They started its first flight from Shanghai to Yantai on July 18, 2005, exactly one year ago. Within one year, they successfully broke even in Feb this year, and turned to be very profitable now. It is not easy for a new business, especially in the highly competitive airline industry.

It is one of the very few low-cost airlines in China.

It offers surprising price like 99 RMB, 199 RMB, to 399 RMB. It is not always that cheap. For example, I just queried price from Shanghai to Qingdao. It is 450 RMB - their lowest price was 199 RMB.

Lion King Comes to Shanghai

Tue, 18 Jul 2006 23:21:43 +0800

Passed the Grand Theatre tonight. All lights went on. The Disney broadway musical the Lion King went on show tonight. July 18 is the first day of the continuous 100 shows in Shanghai.

The Lion King is the best Broadway show I saw. I am not saying it is better than the Phantom of Opera, it is just easier to understand for me (the story is well-know), and more colorful. I enjoyed the show in my last trip to Seattle. Highly recommend!

Common Sense

Sat, 15 Jul 2006 23:59:31 +0800

We had wonderful night with Mr. and Mrs. Huang. During the dinner, we talked a lot about “common senses” and “behaviors”.

Everyone has different common senses.
Common senses determines why you are who you are, and why I am who I am.
If you don’t change the behavior, chances are, the results are the same.
We often do something that does not make sense according to common sense. So common sense is not common.

Second-Generation Identity Card

Sat, 15 Jul 2006 23:56:01 +0800

Second-generationl Identity Card - the National ID card.

I finally took pictures at the Security Office, to get my second generation ID card. I having used the plastic ID card for 10 years, since 1995, now I am forced to use the second-generation. I don’t like change, so I didn’t volunteer to get one, until recently. When we go to update my Kukou booklet, they printed out the booklet, but asked me to upgrade my ID card, otherwise, they will hold the Hukou book. Today, after paying 20 RMB for taking pictures, and I got my Hukou book.

Dinner with Middle School Friends

Fri, 14 Jul 2006 23:25:00 +0800

11 years since we graduated from high-school. Or to be more accurate, 11 years from the “Black July” - I mean the Entrance Exam for Colleges.

Shen Jie, Xiaogong, Ziheng, Dingding, Zhiming and I, 6 of the 10 classmates in Shanghai got together. Our last year’s 10 year anniversary party in Qingdao didn’t happen last year, since I suddenly became very busy, so we have to plan our 15 year anniversary of graduation in the year of 2010.

Interesting Photos of Pudong

Thu, 13 Jul 2006 23:15:14 +0800

I randomly browsed the Pudong Area using Google Earth, and found interesting image of the area.

Pudong is more interesting in Puxi in Google Earth than Puxi - the combination of morden and traditional.

Yuan Shen Stadium

Nice villa in Biyun district

Gaoqiao Port at Yangtze river

What’s this? No idea what this is used for.

Shanghai Science and Technology Museum

I suspect this may be the Shanghai General Motor

Kijiji New Platform Went Online

Wed, 12 Jul 2006 23:18:45 +0800

Kijiji China platform http://www.kijiji.cn went online today. We had the wonderful celebration party for the months of hard work of everyone. Very excited about that. We went to hot spot today, for the important date, and drank a lot. Great team and great deliverable!

P.S. In my previous article The World of Different Rules, I saw comments like “I am a strong beliver of” (my rules), or others. Unfortunately, you didn’t catch what I was saying. Anyway, no one can change anyone else. I won’t try.

The World of Different Rules

Tue, 11 Jul 2006 19:22:44 +0800

The Story of the Mason

Three years ago, I re-modeled my apartment. I hired a mason, who helped me to install floor tiles and wall tiles in the kitchen.

The guy was a 40-year-old skillful mason. We couldn’t get along very well. He didn’t show any respect to me, was rude when talking with me. He did crazy things like laughing at me when I asked about the schedule, or using my room as it was his.

World Cup is Over

Mon, 10 Jul 2006 23:07:13 +0800

World Cup is Over

World Cup is over. I didn’t watch many games during the World Cup, so I decided to stay late last night (or to be more accurate, this morning) for the World Cup Final. It was 8:00 PM Germany time, and 2:00 AM Shanghai time. What a tough job to stay awake in early morning. The 120+ minutes game lasted until 4:00 AM. When Italy beat France and won the championship, light pours inside the room through window. The Sun came out soon after that. I slept for 3 hours, and went to work. The ability to stay late at night has dramatically decreased these years. 

Welcome Zaobao Readers

Mon, 10 Jul 2006 12:06:02 +0800

This blog was featured in an article English blog is Gaining Momentum in Lianhe Zaobao, the No. 1 newspaper in Singapore. I received 7 comments yesterday from Zaobao, the most comments from one single news source. From statstics, it was a unsual Sunday. The traffic is much higher than before - Sunday is the lowest time for my blog.

Lunch at Papa John's

Sun, 09 Jul 2006 15:10:52 +0800

Papa John’s kept opening store in Shanghai in a speed higher than many people’s expectation. After I saw the first Papa John’s store in Biyun International District of North-East Shanghai, more and more stores appeared - in Xujiahui, and another in Biyun District. It has more than 20 outlets in Shanghai. The two I saw today are only within 7 minutes’ walking distanct. It either means bad planning or a sign of high demand. My observation is the latter.

Badminton Made Me Feel Good

Sat, 08 Jul 2006 20:42:53 +0800

I am just back from badminton with Wendy at the Youyou Badminton.

Image in courtesy of Google

I haven’t had sports for quite some time. So did Wendy. It made us feel very happy. The good thing is, the venue is within walking distance from the place I stay.

Here is the Google Map of the Area.

There are also middle school, and primary school - good city planning, I have to say. The place has 7 fields for badminton. Very nice place - except it is hot - there is no A/C inside. The price is 30 RMB (a little bit less than 4 USD) per hour.

Back to Blog of My Own

Fri, 07 Jul 2006 23:02:33 +0800

Get Back to My Own Life.

I get a little bit tired of the recent “discussion” on my blog. I just found the effort to setup a communication bridge is not that easy. I am not comfortable some of the comments. If people involved in discussion are not willing to pay even little effort to learn, it does not make too much sense to comment.

It is not easy to open one’s heart to pay little effort to understand another country, for people both inside or outside China. It sometimes requires more than effort. It requires skills. To be honest, I feel complain and finger-pointing with only the limited information from mess media leads the discussion to nowhere. I did ignore some comments. Sorry for that. I have to.

Bobo's DIV+CSS Effect

Thu, 06 Jul 2006 23:51:53 +0800

Bobo created interesting CSS+DIV effect on his blog as an experiment. I found it very funny. The key is, he didn’t use a single line of Javascript - Just the CSS and DIV. Check the result below. Cautious, this CSS+DIV messed up the whole UI of this blog. Don’t worry about it.

Now, most members of Kijiji has his/her own blog. Here is a not-complete list: Jia

To Save a Young Life

Thu, 06 Jul 2006 21:32:12 +0800

I received an email from Haisong. He is very warmhearted and responsible. The message is about the life of a young man in Fudan University. I am going to donate and help him and want to spread the word to as many people as possible. Please help to spread the word!

Dear friends-

Sorry for the spam email. The student association from Fudan University (from where I obtained my undergraduate degree) contacted me to seek help raising rmb400,000 for Ma Dong’s bone marrow transplantation by the end of August 2006.

On Vision

Thu, 06 Jul 2006 11:54:33 +0800

Nearly everyone takes the limits of his own vision for the limits of the world. A few do not. (Join them.)

Arthur Schopenhauer, Source: The other 90%. How to unlock your vast untapped potential for leadership and life, Crown Business, 2001. quoted on page 154 of The Seven Secrets of Inspired Leaders. How to archive the extraordinary by the leaders who have been there and done it.

Update

Correction: Thanks to SSC, who pointed out that the quote is not the original statement. Here seems to be the more genuine saying:

OOB Today

Tue, 04 Jul 2006 23:27:58 +0800

I am in Shanghai, but I don’t want to blog today. Let me OOB (Out of Blogging) for one day.

P.S. May 2006: 350K, June 2006: 400K

7 Comments

Hi,

you no need to write every day, I think most of friends prefering to quality post.

Please keep on update once you have time.

Kind regards

SPMTI

— SPMTI · 2006-07-04 23:46

Voila! La blogger morte!

— Shrek7 · 2006-07-04 23:55

I think you do an excellent job with your blogs - they are interesting, informative and very welcome. Even if you did them once a week that would be welcome. We all do need to have a life ourselves.

— Ramnik · 2006-07-05 03:54

Great observations and comments on Lugu Lake. Can you pls tell me what are Dongba characters and what is the Mosuo culture? Ganxie.

— Haozi · 2006-07-05 06:37

et voila... :-)

today on SH daily Page 2 was an article again confiming the bad enviroment in CH, title is :China pays dearly for its food miracle"

it mention the heavy use of pesticide and fertilizers on agricolture crops has helped to have incresd the pollution to sayign that 75% percent of Lakes and 50% of gprund water are polluted.. a different study says that 70% of tap water is polluted...

China is facing a terrible enviroment and pollution challange.. beleive its a good topic to be blogged... since what we poollute today is what we drink and brief tomorrow..

— Jerry · 2006-07-05 12:42

why not write your blogs for yourself? if you want to write blogs for others, I think you need a group of bloggers !

do you think so?

— hzp · 2006-07-05 17:15

@hzp, I do write blog for myself (which I didn't show here), and I keep the public service as a Shanghai guide, which is this site.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-08-11 01:31

New Jersey Government Shutdown?

Mon, 03 Jul 2006 23:52:21 +0800

What is the best joke I saw today? It is the shutdown of the New Jersey government. I sent the Chinese version of the news to Wendy immediately I saw it and shared the news with my friends when we had hot spot at dinner. “How can this happen?” I asked.

I know it is not a joke for people in the U.S., especially in New Jersey. I mean no offense at all. It is just something I could never imagine to happen in China. This shows a very different function of the government, and the way the government is organized.

The Rules are Different

Sun, 02 Jul 2006 21:54:16 +0800

*Black and white silent film: many foreigners had beer at a bar

Subtitle: “China only has Chinese medicines and doesn’t have art”*

*Black and white silent film: Chinese artists gathered at a square

Subtitle: “China doesn’t have art that foreigners understand”*

This is a piece of art work at the Shanghai Art Museum.

China Doesn’t have Rules, that American Understand

The film piece well illustrated the situation of doing business in China. Many people complained to me, that China don’t have rules. It is not true. On contary, China has more rules than people imagine. However, people from outside China just don’t understand the rules.

Slight Changes in 'China'

Sun, 02 Jul 2006 19:20:55 +0800

Recently, I feel slight positive trends in China.

Resume from U.S.

3 years ago, if you’d asked me, “do you think it possible for foreign university graduates to apply jobs in Shanghai?” I would say “you are crazy”. But recently, I received many good resumes from top universities in U.S, like Stanford, or Chicago University, for jobs in Shanghai. On my blog, we also see the trends of more and more people coming to the country.

Xiang Yang Market Shutdown

Sat, 01 Jul 2006 17:41:22 +0800

This is confirmed news: at 9:30 PM, June 30, 2006, all the gates of Xiangyang Market was closed, and no customers are allowed to enter the market from then. Soon, the buildings will be cleared and the site will be turned into a retail and office complex.

No more Xiangyang Market in Shanghai. So don’t need to waste time to go to the site to try your luck - it is closed, and it is gone.

Look at These Advertisements

Fri, 30 Jun 2006 23:55:14 +0800

Handsome Man in the Store Window

When I tried to enter the Metro tunnel today, I found many people blocked the entrance. It was not easy to get through the crowd. What happened?

Then I found a handsome guy dancing inside the store window - the guy in green. Recently, there are some still models there. Sometimes, a girl will quietly stand there, pretend to be a fake woman. Sometimes she just made phone calls.

NCUCR Visit

Thu, 29 Jun 2006 21:36:39 +0800

Thanks to my good friend Haisong. He was so kind to invite me to the lunch with the distinguished guest from the Public Intellectuals Program of the The National Committee on United States-China Relations. It is wonderful time for me: interesting and inspirational.

I just said “we need a bridge” one week ago. Today, I saw one of the bridges. It is an important one, if not the most important one.

About NCUCR

Pictures of the Bund

Tue, 27 Jun 2006 23:31:20 +0800

Just be back from the birthday party of Jun.

I took some pictures of the Bund (both the Puxi side and Pudong side) with my new Nikon D50.

I don’t have a tripod. I was on the boat, so the image is not as sharp as it should be.

The Bund is the must see in Shanghai. If you can take the boat for half an hour or two hours in summer, that will be the best experience in Shanghai. So try it. The best palce to see both side of the Huangpu river is, in the middle of the river.

South Railway Station Pictures

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 23:30:42 +0800

These are the pictures of Shanghai South Railway Station. I took it during the weekend, and as I promised, I posted here. I feel I am a journalist when I brought my camera to the South Railway Station - those staff must think I am a journalist - because no one went to a station that is not put in use yet.

Hope these pictures helps…

My Cute Friends

Sun, 25 Jun 2006 23:46:41 +0800

Had a gather of my old friends in Microsoft this Saturday. We have been working together as a team, and I am so fortunate to have worked with them, and I believe they are also fortunate to entered Microsoft as intern.

Meanwhile, it is the show case of my new digital camera: Nikon D50. I finally bought D50 instead of D70 or Canon 350D.

P.S. Photo posted without prior permission yet, but I think my friends should be fine with it.

Different People Using Same Name

Sat, 24 Jun 2006 23:26:56 +0800

Due to the simplicity of blog comment, people are not required to enter user name or password to post on blog. This create a problem, that someone can easily use the other people’s name to post a comment, pretending to be the person he/she is actually not. More often, people just share the same name. It is more common when people just use their first time.

This is a trick to tell whether the two comments under the same name really belong to the same person.

Shanghai South Railway Station

Fri, 23 Jun 2006 22:06:43 +0800

This is the latest update about the second most important station in Shanghai - the opening of the Shanghai South Railway Station.

The Shanghai South Railway Station will open officially from June 25, 2006. The first train from the station to Hangzhou will leave that morning.

I hope this short introduction can help you plan your trip to Shanghai.

How Many Railway Stations in Shanghai?

Just like the confusing “two-airport in one city” arrangement, there are many railway stations in Shanghai. The major one is the Shanghai Railway Station, or “The New Railway Station” by local people. Most trains depart and arrive in this station. Especially trains westward, or northward.

Funny Icons, and More

Thu, 22 Jun 2006 22:49:33 +0800

Update: August 12, 2006

You may be interested in these icons, instead of those I listed before:

Here is the table of content:

End of Update

One Child Policy - Part II

Tue, 20 Jun 2006 23:51:29 +0800

Continued from this entry: One Child Policy in China

Well. I am back home. It is 23:44 Tuesday night, and I think it is the good time to get started to answer this big question.

The Disclaimer (I hate it but I have to)

Before I started, just put the disclaimer here, as I usually did.

This is just a personal blog, and what I am talking here only represents my CURRENT point of view. Not anybody else, not to mention the whole country. I emphasis that it is the current point of view, because any one’s POV may change after he/she is exposed to more data, and has more experience, including me. Also, I am not a consultant, and I don’t want to pretend to know China well. I was born in small city in China, and lived there for 18 years before I moved to Shanghai about 10 years ago. I didn’t see the whole China, even didn’t see enough about Shanghai. I promise I don’t put anything I know is not true on this blog, but I am not saying whatever I believe is true is the truth.

One Child Policy in China

Tue, 20 Jun 2006 14:18:48 +0800

Pete raised a very good topic about the One Child Policy and the decision of investing in China or not. Here is Pete’s first post.

Also– Jian Shuo Wang, this is a little off-topic but I had a question myself. I was at a business conference recently where an international consultant was speaking– he’s one of these people that gives advice to American businesses, on where to invest abroad.

Anyway, he said something that shocked me quite a bit. Many of us have been planning investment in China for a while, but this consultant– who used to be a Chinese investor himself– is now advising all of us to avoid investing in China and to focus instead on Latin America, India and Vietnam. The reason for his advice, he stated, is China’s One Child Policy– he said China should get rid of it immediately, within maybe two years, or the investment consultants in the USA are going to recommend that US companies pull all their money out of China.

Weather Forecast: Wet and Hot

Mon, 19 Jun 2006 20:01:56 +0800

This is Wang Jian Shuo’s weather station, broadcasting from Shanghai. :-)

Just kidding. I know many people will come to Shanghai recently. You can imagine how frequently I receive emails to tell me they are coming to Shanghai and with exact date. I wish I have a public calendar to mark my reader’s trip to Shanghai, so people can share information, and best of all, ask those who just returned about timely information, like weather or the status of Xiangyang Market. You may not always get the latest information on my site. Some information is 2 years or three years old. How I wish I could help to add updates to those entries. I simply cannot do it.

I did Ignore World Cup

Sat, 17 Jun 2006 23:20:36 +0800

I believe someone may feel that this blog is lack of something. I also feel so. It is unusual for a blog not to mention the World Cup in Germany, isn’t it?

I did ignore the existence of world cup. I love to play football. I am still excited about the scene of one hundred students running and kicking on the same playground when I was in middle school. We went to play football at 4:00 PM and got back to dorm at around 6:00 PM, when it was completely dark.

'The Right to Refuse Service to Anyone'

Fri, 16 Jun 2006 23:07:01 +0800

Anyone could help me to understand this? I visited a restaurant in San Jose. At the counter, they have a poster at dominate location that says:

“We Reserve the Right to Refuse Service to Anyone”.

Here is the picture:

My question is, although it is the private property of the restaurant owner, does this violate the anti-discrimination law? Is it offensive to anyone? What are the cases that the owner refuse service to some one?

Escaping from Raffles City

Thu, 15 Jun 2006 13:08:42 +0800

Just several minutes past 12:00 PM (noon time), the office became very quite. Everyone disappeared - to be more exact, escaped from the office. Only one lady doing the cleaning work are here, and me… I haven’t had my lunch yet. It is an unusaul day. I never see office like this - no one in, in the middle of a normal Thursday.

It is not a normal Thursday. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is meeting in Shanghai. To ensure security of the meeting, the Raffles tower, along with many other office buildings in the area are closed. People are required to leave the building after 12:00 PM, and security people will come to check floor by floor, room by room.

Companies in Silicon Valley

Wed, 14 Jun 2006 19:24:20 +0800

Company List:

eBay

Cisco

Sun

Intel

Yahoo!

AMD

Palm

Apple

eBay

2054 Hamilton Ave,

San Jose, CA

Cisco,

170 W Tasman Dr,

San Jose, CA 95134

Cisco is huge. There are so many buildings along the Tasman Dr. There are large Chinese shopping center and many Chinese restaurant near them.

The naming of the company is the cisco part of San Francisco, and the sign is the Golden Gate bridge.

We Need a Bridge, Seriously

Tue, 13 Jun 2006 23:32:46 +0800

I ended my 6-day (150 hours) trip in United States of America.

During the trip, I had the opportunity to drive to many places in the Silicon Valley on Saturday, and had the honor to be invited to two typical American homes, and chatted with guys from different companies, include MBA class of Stanford University… We have the opportunity to talk on the difference between the two great countries: United States of America, and the People’s Republic of China.

46A is the Best Seat on Boeing 747

Tue, 13 Jun 2006 23:27:41 +0800

This is not a secret, but very few people know it, and most people either don’t care or don’t know.

The best seats in the economy class of Boeing 747 or UA858/UA857 are 46A or 46K. Why?

Economy Plus

United Mileage program has a special grade called “United Mileage Plus Premier” membership. Holders of this card can enjoy seats with bigger space than other Y class seats. Fortunately, I am a Premier member of United.

Flying back to Shanghai

Mon, 12 Jun 2006 00:23:12 +0800

I am heading to San Francisco airport now, and my flight will leave SFO within 4 hours. I will be in Shanghai around 7:00 Monday, 12, 2006. During the 10 hours, there is no way to access emails (obviously), and phone calls (even more obvious). :-)

The trip is very rewarding for me, both on business and on personal side. No only I had the opportunity to join the four full day of session, I was able to experience Silicon Valley in a much deeper way, and more importantly, invited to home of my friends here, having dinner with them, and had wonderful discussion. Wonderful trip! It is.

High-Tech Companies in a Day

Sun, 11 Jun 2006 16:04:13 +0800

It is already late after I am back from good friends home. I hope I can post more about the trip when I am back to Shanghai. Tomorrow I am flying back to Shanghai via UA857 at 14:18. Obviously, I don’t have time to put more information on blog tomorrow.

To be short, I visited about 10 high-tech companies in silicon valley one by one in half day, from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM. San Jose, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, and Mountview, all these places offered many great things, but nothing is comparable to the high density of famous high-tech companies, espeically the microchip and Internet companies. So this morning, I wrote down a list of about 31 companies in Silicon Valley, and finally, I made a route to visit 10 of them. Here are the company name list and pictures.

Hukou System in China

Sat, 10 Jun 2006 15:59:06 +0800

It is not easy to realize how strange it is when you live in an existing system, but when you have the chance to talk with people from other countries, you realize the huge difference.

I enjoyed my talk with my great friends tonight, and we talked about the Resident Permit (Hokou) system in China. To be honest, I didn’t feel it too strange before I explained it with my own mouth. After that, even I think it is not reasonable at all, and astonished to hear what came out of my own mouth. Let me explain it to you.

City in China = County in U.S.

Thu, 08 Jun 2006 14:09:11 +0800

What? San Jose is bigger than San Francisco in terms of population? It may be a well known fact, but I just find it out. I keep reading “San Jose is the third largest city in California after Los Angles and San Diego”. I was wondering whether San Francisco is not included in California, or have some kind of San Francisco, D.C. arrangement… It turned out San Francisco is really smaller in population than San Jose.

San Jose Impression

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:05:53 +0800

It is the third time in San Jose in the last 12 months. My impression are not the first-impression, just some more deeper understanding.

1. Mountains are Great.

There are mountains whenever you drive. The mountains are just there, far at the horizon. No wonder at all, because the Silicon Valley is a valley anyway. There are mountains on both side. This time, I am closers to the mountain on the east side, because I move around places along the US-101 expressway. Mountains on the left reminds me of the saying “Old Wide West”, since there are not many trees on the mountains - just yellow surfaces.

Arrived at San Jose

Tue, 06 Jun 2006 14:39:01 +0800

Arrived at San Jose. California is always sunny - the three trips to CA were 100% sunny. I doubt whether CA rains or not.

With the United Mileage Plus membership, I got 44A seat - the United Economy Plus seat with larger space. :-)

Had lunch at Wing’s Chinese Restaurant. You have to be in the States to really understand why applications like Google Maps are so important. Of cause, it is the same. When you are in China, and you may find online shopping (B2C) and local services not that important. At least as important as in the States because: 1) People don’t move as frequently. 2) Most restaurants are at working distance. Business model in China and U.S. should be very different depending on the environments.

Flying...

Mon, 05 Jun 2006 10:40:37 +0800

Pause the blog for a short period of time. I am flying… to San Francisco via UA858.

It will be another long day.

2 Comments

Bon Voyage ! You might find something interesting at your trip.

— Maria loves pictures · 2006-06-06 05:10

I flew PVG to SFO on UA 858 June 2, slept 11 hours that night, and 1 hour the next. I don't have jet lag flying to China but get messed up flying the other way.

— A Singman · 2006-06-06 05:36

Water Mellon for Summer

Sun, 04 Jun 2006 23:39:29 +0800

There are trunks outside the residential area to sell Water Mellons.

I bought one yesterday and one today. They are so sweet. I like it a lot.

Although it is obviously illegal to sell by directly parking a car at the entrance of a residential area, I like this kind of “direct sell”. Although they don’t have a business license to operate, they have really nice goods.

This may be the forth time I buy water mellon this year. The previous few times, I bought it at super market. Really expensive and more importantly, tasted bad.

Suzhou Taihu Mercury Club & Marina

Sat, 03 Jun 2006 23:33:05 +0800

I am happy to be invited my my friends at Suzhou Taihu Mercury Club to join them for one day of boating and BBQ. After sailing with BV guys in San Francisco, I deeply fall in love with boat, although currently, I can only afford “model boat”. I sank in the Dishui Lake one month ago.

The Suzhou Mercury Boat Club is the most professional boat club in China - the only one in its grade in the entire country. It is based at the West Hill area of Taihu, with very nice facilities. Let me show you the pictures of my day.

Jian Shuo Wang Flying to San Jose

Fri, 02 Jun 2006 19:15:11 +0800

Jian Shuo Wang is heading to San Jose on June 5, and will return on June 11, 20006.

Ticket information:

I am a big fan of technical details, abbr. and the secret codes used on the airline ticket. Here are all printed information on my ticket. I enjoy dig into details to find out meaning behind these characters.

NON REF/CHANGE FEE APPLIES VA

LID ON UA ONLY PENALTY/CHANGES31MAY06

WANG/JIANSHUO

SHASHA

United Airlines Telephone in Shanghai

Fri, 02 Jun 2006 19:03:42 +0800

Telephone:

+86-21-33114567

Researvation

Monday - Friday: 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM

Saturday: 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Ticket:

Mondy - Friday: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM

Saturday: 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Note: The old number, as published in the United.com and almost all the publications of United +86-21-62798009 does not work in Nov 2004.

The telephone system suggest travellers to arrive at the airport 3 hours before departure.

P.S. My mileage number: 01531062422

Happy Children's Day

Thu, 01 Jun 2006 19:22:26 +0800

Happy Children’s Day!

21 Comments

Wish all guys with children's heart happiness in the adulthood.

— grAce · 2006-06-01 19:56

Thanks, and JS, You too.

— Kane · 2006-06-01 21:57

In the morning, Wendy dropped a SMS and congratulated me about the June 1 Children's Day. :-D

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-06-01 22:14

Happy Children's Day. For those who are young in heart

— jack · 2006-06-01 23:06

js, your love ones must treat you as 'kidult' (kid adult).

— stephen · 2006-06-01 23:10

js, at the last 100 comments column, why each blogger receives a designated colour bar, my colour is navy blue and yours is rose, is there a meaning behind it?

— stephen · 2006-06-01 23:20

Hi,jianshuo, play the game please! It's inspired by you!

http://elfe.cn/?p=182

— Elfe · 2006-06-02 01:03

Stephen, the color means the email address of the person. Different email addresses will be converted to different colors.

There are many people post with the same nick name, and there is no way to tell who is who. So I used a one way calculation method to produce a color for the email address the user uses. There is no way to guss people's email address from the color, and it is exteremely hard to guess the right email address to produce similiar color.

So, to be simple, people with different colors means they used different email addresses when they post, and typically means different persons.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-06-02 01:19

js, good, no more impostor! but are you running out of colours.

— stephen · 2006-06-02 01:42

Hey Wang are you from changsha? Am looking for anyone from Hunan to chat with, i miss that place! I lived there for 3 years while studying!!

— Stella · 2006-06-02 06:21

Jianshuo, visit my blog and play the game! It's inspired by you!

— Elfe · 2006-06-02 08:12

Happy children's Day!

everyone are young in heart.

shirley

— shirley · 2006-06-02 12:38

This day is celebrated in China. When we are young, everything we got to know is that it is "International Children's Day", which is quite wrong. Because at least in UK, Nobody at all knew this day actually.

Same situation applies to Labour's Day. etc.

— jerry · 2006-06-03 03:19

Yah, I agree with Jerry, 1st of Jun is only the Children's Day in China, but, it is not known as an international Children's Day, here, I mean in Singapore, we celebrate the Children's day is on every 1st of Oct which is happened to be the National day of China, funny?

Alice

— Alice Feng · 2006-06-03 11:56

Happy childrens day..

simon

— simon · 2007-11-14 05:08

Happy childrens day..

simon

— simon · 2007-11-14 05:08

So Ugly you simon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

— bernice · 2008-06-01 15:06

Hi Jian Shuo... Happy Intl Children's Day to Yifan (hehe - and you and Wendy) - ahhh... and cannot forget wonton (we're all kids at heart). :D

Lucky baby Jaime Zheng Jiayang gets to celebrate 3 children's days now - China (1st June), Singapore (1st Oct) and Australia (4th Wed of October - this year, the 22nd).

Many countries place more emphasis on Intl Childrens Day than others, but most countried 'officially' celebrate to some degree... for example it is only just beginning to take on some meaning in Australia. Here's an extract (by country) from the blog entry I wrote on this today:

Australia

Australia celebrates "Children's Day" on the fourth Wednesday of October. In 2008, it falls on the 22nd of October. It is part of a week long celebration of "Children's Week". It is a time when children of all ages receive gifts and celebrate their special week.

Argentina

Children's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of August.

Brazil

Children's Day is celebrated on October 12, which is also the day of Our Lady of Aparecida, a public holiday in Brazil.

Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, Children's Day hasn't been celebrated in a manner that may let know the community know about the importance of Child Rights. However on November 20 YCM(Youth Change Makers) plans to inform people of Children Day by holding huge children competitions and fashion show. Though it wont be considered as a holiday.

Canada

Canada's "National Child Day" is held November 20th each year as enacted in Bill C-371, otherwise known as the Child Day Act, by the Parliament of Canada in 1993 to fulfill Canada's commitment to the United Nations General Assembly's recommendation to observe a Universal Children's Day.Canadian Children's Rights Council It is not a holiday in Canada.

Central Africa

On Congo, Congo DR, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Chad, Central African Republic, São Tomé and Príncipe Children's Day is celebrated in this country on the December 25 to honour all the children.

Chile

Children's Day is celebrated the first Sunday of August.

Colombia

In Colombia Children's Day is celebrated in the last weekend of April.

Costa Rica

Children's day is celebrated on September 9 in Costa Rica.

Cuba

Children's day is celebrated in Cuba on the third Sunday of July.

El Salvador

In El Salvador, Children's Day is celebrated on October 1.

Former and current Communist and Socialist countries

In Russia, as well as other former Soviet Union states, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, other former or current communist states, Albania, Angola, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic and Slovakia, Ethiopia and Eritrea, Germany, Laos, Republic of Macedonia, Mongolia, Montenegro, Mozambique, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia, Tanzania, Yemen, Children's Day is celebrated on June 1. This list includes 25 countries which regained independence from USSR, seceded from Yugoslavia Federation, as well as Czechoslovakia, Ethiopia after their respective splits.

Germany

During the Cold War, the Children's Day (Kindertag) was handled quite differently in the two states. The date was different (GDR: June 1, FRG: September 20), the name was slightly different (GDR: "International Children's Day" ("Internationaler Kindertag"), FRG: "World Children's Day" ("Weltkindertag")), and most notably: the customs.

In the GDR, the holiday was introduced in 1950, and was from then on a yearly highlight for the children. On this day of the year, one typically received congratulations and presents from one's parents and did special activities in school, such as field trips and the like. In the FRG, Children's Day did not have such meaning to the children, and was even mostly unknown to many people.

Since the affiliation in 1990, the date and name used in the FRG have become the official ones for the former GDR as well. This however was not accepted by large parts of the former GDR population, so that still many parents celebrate with their kids on the former date, June 1, and even Children's Day public events take place on the old date.

Guatemala

In Guatemala Children's day is celebrated on the first day of October.

Honduras

In Honduras Children's Day (Día del Niño) is celebrated on September 10.

Hong Kong

Children's Day is celebrated on April 4 each year (the same day as the Republic of China (Taiwan) since ROC established the Children's Day on April 4 in 1931. The ROC government combined Women's Day with Children's Day on April 4 in 1993, officially calling it Women's and Children's Day, making it a day for women, mothers, and children. The practice is still observed by both the Hong Kong SAR Government and the public after the handover in 1997, though this festival has not been a public holiday before the handover.

Hungary

In 1931 Children's day started although then it was called Children's Week, but since 1950 it has only been a day technically the last Sunday in May.

India

In India Children's Day day is celebrated on November 14 every year. This date the marks the anniversary of independent India's first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Children's day is celebrated on this day in recognition of his lifelong passion and work for children.

Israel

Children's Day is celebrated.

Italy

Children's Day is not celebrated.

Japan

Japanese families fly carp kites on Children's Day.May 05 is Children's Day, called こどもの日 ("Kodomo no hi", こどもの日?) in Japanese; the festivities used to be called Boy's Day , called 端午の節句 (Tango no Sekku, 端午の節句?) in Japanese , to distinguish it from Girls' Day, called 桃の節句 (Momo no Sekku, 桃の節句?), ひな祭り (Hinamatsuri, ひな祭り?) in Japanese , March 3). Both of these days are marked with a lot of activities for children. On this day, children display samurai swords, armor, and Kintarō dolls. Two important symbols of Children's day are carps and irises. Traditionally, families fly carp kites with a carp .representing each son.

Mexico

In Mexico Children's day is celebrated on the 30th of April.

New Zealand

Children's Day is celebrated on the first Sunday of March each year. Children's Day provides New Zealanders with a special opportunity to spend time with their children, create positive memories, and take part in fun activities that start new traditions as well as continue old ones. The vision of Children's Day is to see children celebrated, nurtured and treasured by all.

Nigeria

Children's Day is celebrated on the 27th of May.

North Korea

North Korean Children's Day is celebrated on June 1 (국제 아동절). Before 1945 it was celebrated on May 1, But in 1945, it was changed to its current date.

South Korea

In South Korea, 5th of May is officially the Children's Day.

Pakistan

In Pakistan, Children's Day is celebrated on November 20. There is no holiday on this day but it is observed by NGO working on Child Rights.

Peru

In Peru, Children's Day is celebrated on October 14.

Paraguay

In Paraguay, Children's Day is celebrated on August 16, day of the infamous Battle of Acosta Ñu, where 20,000 thousand men of the Brazilian Army crushed a Paraguayan battle made up of 3,500 children ages six to fifteen - even though Paraguay had been already completely defeated (see more in War of the Triple Alliance). It's a national holiday, used to remember the atrocities the Brazilians committed during the five-year war.

People's Republic of China

In the People's Republic of China, Children's Day is celebrated on June 1 and is formally known as "The June 1st International Children's Day" - 六一国际儿童节). When the People's Republic of China was first established in 1949, the State Council (Cabinet) designated a half-a-day holiday for all primary schools on June 1st. This was later made into a full day's break in 1956 with The Announcement by the State Council to make June 1st Children's Day a One Day Public Holiday (国务院关于"六一儿童节"改为放假一天的通知). Schools usually organizes activities such as camping trips or free movies on Children's day to allow students to have fun, and Children of civil servants might also receive small gifts from the government. Entrance Ceremonies of the Young Pioneers of China (similar to boy scouts in the West) are frequently held on June 1st as well.

Poland

Children's Day is celebrated in Poland on June 1. The International Children's Day was introduced in Poland in the early 1950s. It coincides with the beginning of summer and it is usually treated as a holiday, as it takes place near the end of the school year. Schools usually organize special activities for the day of the celebration, and the first week of June is a time of the festivities organized in parks and entertainment centers for children. Parents usually buy some small gifts for their children.

Portugal and former colonies

In Portugal, and also at some of its former colonies - Guinea-Bissau, Macau, Cape Verde, East Timor - the Children's Day is celebrated on June 1.

Romania

In Romania the Day is celebrated on June 1.

Singapore

October 1 is the day which Singapore officially celebrates Children's Day, a similar event celebrated every year is Youth Day which is celebrated on the first Sunday of July each year.

Slovakia

In Slovakia, the day is called International Children's Day and is celebrated on June 1.

Sri Lanka

The Universal Children's Day is celebrated on the October 01.

Sweden

The International Children's Day is celebrated on October 2, though there are very few actual celebrations.

Taiwan

The Taiwan designates April 4 as Children's Day (兒童節), pursuant to Article 5 of the Order to Implement Commemoration Days and Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法). Despite not being a legal holiday, schools often hold special activities in order to celebrate the occasion. Due to pressure from parents that demanded to accompany their children in the celebration, the ROC government recognized Women's Day with Children's Day on April 4, 1993. Thus, the celebration is technically called Women's and Children's Day.

Thailand

The second Saturday of January is Children's Day in Thailand.

Turkey

In Turkey, Children's Day has been celebrated on April 23rd since 1935. It originated from the first gathering of Grand National Assembly on April 23rd, 1920, during the Turkish Independence War.

After the Ottomans were defeated during World War I, Turkish land had been occupied by other European countries such as England, Italy and France. Ataturk, an Ottoman commander, broke his ties with the dying Empire and started the war for independence against Allied forces and the old Ottoman regime. After years of fighting Turkey won full independence.

Turks consider Ataturk to be "The Father of Modern Turkey". After the war, Ataturk refused the role of Sultan or King and established a modern Republic instead. He gifted April 23rd to the children for the country, so that they would cherish the independence that cost so much, but at the same time walk the path of "Peace at Home, Peace in the World"

On April 23rd children from around the world come to Turkey. They're hosted by families who have children of a similar age. Festivities last over a week and the visiting and Turkish children spend a lot of time together. Many children, often not even speaking the same language, create lifelong friendships. Several of the events are broadcast on television, showing the children in their traditional national outfits, dancing singing and exchanging gifts. The United Nations participates the events.

Every year on April 23rd, the seats of Parliament are held by children, and a child becomes President for a day. The child President delivers a speech on national television.

United States of America

Children's Day observations in the United States predate both Mother's and Father's Day.

The celebration of a special Children's Day in America dates from the 1860s and earlier.

In 1856, Rev. Charles H. Leonard, D.D., then pastor of the First Universalist Church of Chelsea, Mass., set apart a Sunday for the dedication of children to the Christian life, and for the re-dedication of parents and guardians to bringing-up their children in Christian nurture. This service was first observed the second Sunday in June.

The Universalist Convention at Baltimore in September, 1867, passed a resolution commending churches to set apart one Sunday in each year as Children's Day.

The Methodist Episcopal Church at the Methodist Conference of 1868 recommended that second Sunday in June be annually observed as Children's Day.

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 1883 designated the "the second Sabbath in June as Children's Day."

Also in 1883, the National Council of Congregational Churches and nearly all the state bodies of that denomination in the United States passed resolutions commending the observance of the day. About this time many other denominations adopted similar recommendations.

Chase's Calendar of Events cites Children's Sunday and notes that The Commonwealth of Massachusetts issues an annual proclamation for the second Sunday in June.

Numerous churches and denominations currently observe the second Sunday in June including the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the Church of the Nazarene.

Children's Day, was proclaimed by President Bill Clinton in October 2000. He declared that it be held on November 16th.

"National Child's Day" was proclaimed by the President of the United States of America, George W. Bush, as June 3, 2001 and in subsequent years on dates in early June. In 2003, he proclaimed June 1st. In 2004, he proclaimed June 6th. In 2005, he proclaimed June 5th. In 2006, he proclaimed June 4th. In 2007, he proclaimed June 3rd. The White House Proclamation by the President of the United States of America, 2001

Nowhere in any of the proclamations did the President refer to the United Nations or the UN Resolution about Universal Child Day. It is important to note that The United States of America is one of only two countries in the world that have not ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. As of November 2007, 193 countries have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, (UNCRC). The only other country that has not ratified the UNCRC is Somalia. United States position on the UNCRC

In 2007, Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich issued a proclamation proclaiming the second Sunday in June as Children's Day. The mayors of Aurora and Batavia, Illinois, also issued proclamations.

Uruguay

In Uruguay, Children's Day is celebrated on January 6th.

Venezuela

In Venezuela Children's Day is celebrated the 30th of April.

Vietnam

Children's Day is celebrated on June 1 as ICD and on the full moon of the 8th lunar month during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Visit the full story (if you can get across the GFW):

http://www.aussiepete.com/2008/06/advantages-of-mixed-cultures-children.html

— AussiePB · 2008-06-02 04:20

As children's parents we're, we must think deeper and not let what happen before against kids, happen again. Because, there are some of parts around the world, this happens. Childrens without parents living in the rods or streets we need to protect them. And teach them the way and be aware of their future. So, they could have a knowledgement of their future. What we're facing in the streets, shouldn't be like that. The abandoned Childrens living as animals and troubling people.Steling,killing,sleeping in the rods.

Let's teach the nature.

Thanks

— Francisco Lourenco Tati · 2009-06-23 22:24

wish u all .......................................

HAPPY CHILDREN'S DAY

— Tanisha Sarkar · 2009-11-08 16:47

it was nice meeting you.

— Editorial director · 2011-04-04 00:24

New Rules to Push Down House Price

Wed, 31 May 2006 23:32:22 +0800

New rules was announced to push down the country-wide (so-called overheated) real estate price. There are many rules. Here are some I remember:

Down payment must be 30% or higher for apartment bigger than 90 square meters. 20% for 90 sqr. meters or smaller.
Selling apartment within 5 years of purchase are subject to about 5% operating tax of the total apartment price.

It seems the government start to be serious about the high price of apartments. Result? I cannot predict yet.

962288 Hotline for Foreigners

Tue, 30 May 2006 23:06:44 +0800

Good news for foreigners living in Shanghai. The government opened a 24 hour hotline dedicated to help foreigners to survive in Shanghai.

The telephone number is:

962288

If you are not in Shanghai, but in China, you need to dial

021-962288

If you are outside China, call

+86-21-962288

According to this piece of news,

The Shanghai Call Centre, which was officially launched on Friday, provides both English and Chinese information about tourist destinations, culture, sports, trade, medical care and other issues of daily life in Shanghai.

Hello, I am OK now

Mon, 29 May 2006 19:51:21 +0800

Hello! Hello! I am OK now.

I recovered from the most serious illness in my life, and now am perfectly OK now. The illness is nothing. To be short, the wisdom tooth grew up and caused problem on tonsil, and then caused hot fever.

Listen to the Body

Jack Z dropped me a SMS: “Take care and listen to your body”. It is good tip: Listen to the body.

The body is actually talking to you all the time, but most of the time, we don’t listen at all. This time, I spent 2 days, completely to listen to the body, and play game with the body. It was nightmare, but interesting (I mean only when I recovered, I would say so…)

I am a Patient Patient

Sat, 27 May 2006 22:45:59 +0800

Let me explain what is the “Last tooth in mouth”. :-) It is the inner most tooth, that just grew out last week. In China, people call it “The Tooth of Wisdom”. However, it is troublesome, really troublesome.

I went to hospital three times these days, and my body temperature was as hight as 39.8 C.

If it were stock price of a company, I believe many shakeholders will be happy, but for me, stakeholders, including me and Wendy, were not happy.

Got Fever - 38.4 C

Thu, 25 May 2006 22:59:17 +0800

I cannot imagine that. The last tooth in my mouth came out, and my mouth is painful. The worse is, I start to have fever. The current temperature is 38.4 Degrees C. Well. Let me think whether I should go to hospital to get a shot.

With Google Coop, let me create a service that you can search in Google terms like “Wangjianshuo Temperature”, and it returns the current temperature of my body. Sounds cool? Let me get injection first.

Zhang Jiang Hi-Tech Park

Wed, 24 May 2006 23:34:11 +0800

I was in Zhangjiang yesterday. Here are some pictures of the Zhang Jiang Hi-Tech Park.

Location: It is east of Maglev Longyang Road Station. It means it is closer to the Pudong airport (a little bit) than the Maglev terminal station.

Why it is different?

It is the Shanghai’s high-tech zone, with a lot of chip design, manufacturing, bio-tech, and software companies. It is the terminal station of Metro No.2.

PVG: From Pudong Airport to Changshu

Tue, 23 May 2006 19:47:31 +0800

Here is the letter:

Dear Mr Wang,

Hi, I am name removed from Singapore. I am deeply impressed how resourceful and helpful your blog/website are.

Kindly allow me to consult you regarding one matter. I will be visiting Changshu next month & will carry with me a big luggage bag. I understand there are 3 ways to travel from PVG to Changshu:

(1) From PVG, take direct bus to Suzhou. From Suzhou, take a taxi to hotel in Changshu. Total travel time: ab. 160 min. Total cost: ab. RMB 175.

OOB

Mon, 22 May 2006 23:19:23 +0800

OOB today. Too much thinking recently. Thinking is better than writing sometimes. Let me catch up soon. Now? Going to bed… Zzzz

4 Comments

i agree with u. Thinking is better than writing.

— Aaron · 2006-05-23 10:00

acturally, thinking needs more time than writing.

— ninjaboy · 2006-05-23 12:11

I can't agree with you more. We need mental expedition.

— 00dz · 2006-05-23 16:37

想得多,写得少.

其实我也这样.

— 1ms · 2006-05-24 00:20

City Life v.s. Village Life

Sun, 21 May 2006 21:07:26 +0800

I should put a disclaimer at the top of every entry I post:

Although I made all effort to make sure I honestly record what I see, I hear, and I think, this blog does not represent Shanghai. People with different history and status have competely different view about the city. It of cause does not represent China.

I read a peom about life in city v.s. life in village. I think it is very true. It reveals how different the two lives are. Let me translate some sentences of the peom and explain why it is true.

Hangzhou Round-Trip in One Day

Sat, 20 May 2006 22:49:59 +0800

Went to Hangzhou for Masup Camp China 2 on Saturday.

Left Shanghai on 7 AM and arrived at 11 AM - traffic jam in Shanghai for half an hour, jam in Hangzhou for 40 minutes, and stuck on the highway for about one hour.

3 Comments

It hears wonderful~have a nice trip,jianshuo!

— David.S · 2006-05-22 02:47

Dear Jian Shuo,

I'm trying to find out the bus scehdules from Pudong Airport to Hangzhou. Can you look at http://emacademy.cn/piers2005/arrivalguide.html and confirm whether there are buses going to Wulinmen Airline Ticketing Office and Huanglong Sports centre? Thanks.

— B Tan · 2006-10-02 22:46

The two stations are not very far from each other (they can be covered by taxi), so don't worry about that. At the ticket office, you can check the sales to confirm the destination. It seems they have buses to the both stations.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-10-05 23:53

Getting U.S. Visa in China

Fri, 19 May 2006 22:01:46 +0800

This is part of a series article: From Shanghai to US - A Handbook. These articles are to help my friends (obviously in Shanghai) to plan their first time visit to U.S. To be concise, I only outline information that I think helpful for this group of people. So don’t be surprised if it left some important information outside the scope.

The most critical, and troublesome step to go to the States is the Visa application and interview process. Let me break it into short sentences.

It is Pouring! Pouring!

Fri, 19 May 2006 00:25:55 +0800

May 18, 2006 - it is pouring outside. There is no way to call a taxi on road, to be exact, there are almost no cars on the street. Typhoon will hit Shanghai tonight. Whenever typhoon comes, I keep my finger across and hope my trees in garden will be fine…

Low Tech World

Tonight, I chatted with Yatao. He said: “Before 1995, I don’t have telephone, don’t have email, and don’t have mobile. How hard it was to visit a friend in another city! I even cannot imagine how we meet at train station.”

On Humanity

Wed, 17 May 2006 23:53:40 +0800

Chat with Fay today. I found Humanity is an inspirational word. When I am thinking about the business we are doing, we dig very hard into the details about what value we provide to users. At the end of every thread, I found out humanity is the final answer.

Fay put it very well. She reminds me in the year of 1900, when motor and cars were invented, it brought mobility and freedom to life. No matter how hard and detailed the manufactures’ work are, at the end of day, it satisfied the humanity need - people can get from location A to location B at any time they choose.

Wayback to Wangjianshuo's Blog

Wed, 17 May 2006 19:09:05 +0800

Vince’s email mentioning Way Back Machine reminds me to check out what Wangjianshuo’s Blog looks like three years ago. Here are some snapshots.

2002

2003

2004

2005

4 pages

15 pages

35 pages

23 pages

The Tree in Water

Wed, 17 May 2006 00:42:55 +0800

Inspired by a this photo taken by Wang Xiaohui:

Image credit: Xiaohui Wang in her book Xiaohui Wang in Dialogue

4 Comments

Interesting image~

— David .S · 2006-05-17 02:06

好意境！

— seesunshine · 2006-05-17 02:51

Wow! That's a really spectacular perspective on something that many people probably passed right by without even noticing. Very lovely, Jian Shuo!

— Carroll · 2006-05-17 10:42

I appreciated Wang Xiao Hui very much. She organized a photo exhibition about love of flower the year before last year in Shanghai. She is a wise woman with determination, innovation and experience. Inspired by her and her photos.

— grAce · 2006-05-17 23:20

My HP Deskjet 3500 Series Printer

Mon, 15 May 2006 23:11:11 +0800

Just got my HP Deskjet 3500 Series Printer out of my storage room.

HP Deskjet 3500 Series Printer

It still works - after staying in the room for about two years.

It printed out a testing page - with a nice butterfly on the top. What a surprise when you get some colorful picture out of a two year old printer that I almost forgot.

The printer came with my home PC HP Pavilion a610cl that I bought almost two years ago. I never used it after I set it up and installed print cartridge. I have a lot of cool toys and never use them. After the new Kijiji product goes online with personal management feature, I will add all these toys to share them with my friends nearby… I don’t expect to get money out of the m, just want to share some of my cool stuff to hose who work in the same building, live in the same area or my friends…

To be a Good Man

Mon, 15 May 2006 22:42:15 +0800

Once upon a time, we asked ourselves - are you going to be a good man or a bad man? All movies, and all novels are telling the story again and again about how important it is to be basically good, and how to be good. It seems to be a question that have absolute right answer. However, it is not that easy to answer sometimes.

I met with a Singaporean today, who is really bad. He didn’t follow the contract and didn’t show sorry about that. To be honest, I feel very good about people in Singapore, and still respect. So I felt so shamed that the guy with name Chen comes from Singapore… I didn’t get angry for years, but today, I am really angry. (What about the last time? When my car was scratched by a drunk driver)

How Xintiandi was Built

Sun, 14 May 2006 23:08:41 +0800

Xintiandi is a wonderful place to go at night. But before the nice-look buildings, bars, and restaurants were built, it looked like this. It is not that fancy, but it is the history of the city, where many people lived there for generations.

I found out these pictures I took at the end of 2004. Let me show you the pictures of locations near Xintiandi. I believe another area of Xintiandi will raise from this land.

Google Picasa

Sun, 14 May 2006 17:36:18 +0800

I have a lot of pictures on my hard disk, and more on my CDs. I admire Wang Xiaohui a lot - she used camera to create photography diary in the last 15 years. I am not the artist-type. So my photos are not that inspiring and artish. But I have do have a lot. Let me tell you how much I have after Picasa indexes all my pictures.

What? I Wake up at 2 PM?

Sat, 13 May 2006 15:02:42 +0800

What? I wake up at 2 PM today?

It is a normal Saturday (the only difference is, Wendy is out to some place in Zhejiang for team building). I opened my eyes for the first time, and thought I should wake up and have my breakfast - “It should be as late as 10 AM already.” I thought.

However, the big yellowish round clock on the left side of my bed shows 2:00 PM. The clock must be wrong. I checked the battery. It seems to be working.

Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou

Fri, 12 May 2006 23:39:15 +0800

Look at this newly released Google Trends picture:

Image in courtesy of Google Trends

shanghai

beijing

guangzhou

Shanghai is more searched in Beijing. I didn’t expect result like this, but it is understandable.

8 Comments

Hi Jianshuo, I'm from Singapore, and will be visiting Shanghai end of May. I'm hoping to visit some other part of China from Shanghai, preferably by train. May I know where the train station is located? Also, I've read that recently there've been droughts in China; are there any places in China that should be avoided currently? Thanks a lot!

— star · 2006-05-13 00:15

Star, welcome to China. The train station is at the center of the city - connected by Metro, so it is very easy to access. I don't know any place you should not go now. The droughts do not impact travel.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-05-13 00:23

Maybe it has been not a news. I believe that Shanghai as a center of Economy and Business, It may attract more focus over the world. Beijing is not so popular as Shanghai.

— David .S · 2006-05-13 02:32

I look forward to reading your blog most days but over the past week I have received a V deck "site unavailable" screen "." This website is currently unavailable. If you are the administrator of this website, please contact us at 1-888-511-4678 Option #4 as soon as possible."

I am in New Zealand but judging from the blog which I can once again access this morning there has been normal activity. What's been going on do you think?

— John · 2006-05-13 06:56

The site always going wrong - I still didn't find a perfect hosting company yet. The wangjianshuo.com domain is still hosted at ipowerweb.com, and http://home.wangjianshuo.com is hosted at Bluehost.com. They have identical content. If you cannot access one location, try another.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-05-13 14:29

Guangzhou is really not popular, maybe due of the bad reputation, and also too closed to Shenzhen and HK. Many people still call the city "Canton", and it only becomes popular during the famous "canton fair".

And the worst, many people still don't know that Canton is...Guangzhou.

Mike (living in GZ ;) )

— mike · 2006-05-15 18:20

This is Delia zhang, an experienced native Mandarin Chinese teacher to foreigners. like to be your Mandarin teacher and your friend in Shanghai.

Class 1: > Pinyin and basic conversation for begainers

18:30pm-20:30pm (Tuesday/Thursday)

0ne teacher to two or three students 48yuan/hour/person

Class 5： > The course includes over 3,000 commonly uesd sentences, which will enable him to survive in his daily business communications

18:30am-20:30am (Wednesday) 18:30pm-20:30pm (Sunday)

0ne teacher to two or three students 68yuan/hour/person

Class 6: One to one class 88yuan/hour

Delia zhang

Mobile: 0086-13661649396 (shanghai)

Email: vastchina@126.com

MSN: zhynet7777@sina.com.cn

web: www.vastitude-china.com

Address: Room 2105, 22floor, No.973 Yan'an Road West, Shanghai Zip: 200050

— Delia · 2006-06-23 17:15

I am planing to visit shanghai for few days, I seek information- How to go to guangzhou by train? the time & fare, roughly.

I living in Srilanka.

upul_gunaratne@hotmail.com

— upul · 2006-11-11 15:11

Stop, NO, Forbidden...

Fri, 12 May 2006 23:26:28 +0800

U.S. is a country famous of freedom. I didn’t really understand how freedom really works in the States. “Does singing loud at my apartment at deep night means freedom?” “How to handle the conflict between someone’s freedom, and other’s freedom?”

Stop Signs in the States

Rainy Friday Night, 2006

Fri, 12 May 2006 20:02:23 +0800

Friday night, it rains in Shanghai again. Wendy went to off-site in a remote place in Zhejiang. Their bus should left Xujiahui soon. I bet she will be back on Sunday night.

Just left my office and go to the Raffles City to look for some food - whenever I look for food, I think I am not too much difference with a dog. Hungry? So start wandering on street and hope to get something interesting to eat. Well. Delicious is not the term I use as my object. Nothing is delicious after you have eaten it twenty times.

Keep Doing, and Its Meaning

Thu, 11 May 2006 22:56:42 +0800

I believe keep doing, doing and doing for some meaningful thing is important. I don’t think anyone would argue about this. However, what is meaningful will bring a lot of argument.

Why You Blog?

In a Kijiji event in Shanghai University tonight, students asked why I kept blogging for more than three years. “What makes you keep doing that?”

I think it is a great question to ask me, or ask anyone who kept doing.

Hotmail Blocked in China

Wed, 10 May 2006 22:05:43 +0800

It is brought to my attention that Hotmail is presently blocked in China. I can access it everyday (I don’t know why, but it just works for me.), but I saw a lot of complains on my old post: Does Hotmail Work in China?. There are 52 comments so far. Why? Because it is the first result for Hotmail China in both MSN Search and Google search.

Well. It seems I need to do a little bit homework to find ways to help people out. Here is my analysis.

It is not Impossible, But Difficult

Mon, 08 May 2006 23:30:46 +0800

I enjoyed chatting with George from New York the other day in my garden. We discussed about doing business in China.

George said, when he consulted his friends about anything in China, he often got the answer: “It is not impossible, but difficult”.

“It is really frustrating to me”, George said, “basically they didn’t answer my question at all.” George added, “What on earth does it mean by Not impossible but Difficult?”

Traffic in Shanghai

Sun, 07 May 2006 18:03:04 +0800

Today, the last day of my May holiday, I received an email from a friend asking me about my opinion on traffic in Shanghai. He is very smart and sensitive to small details. He shared a lot of great observation he had in Shanghai. To answer the emails, let me post my thinking in a blog.

Traffic Rules

Many foreigners observed the traffic rules do not work as it would in Shanghai. It is true.

Exhibition in a Box

Sat, 06 May 2006 23:18:35 +0800

In May holiday, I gave myself enough time to clean my home. The photos and frames from the exhibition of last year occupied much spaces. Finally, I put them all into two big DELL boxes, like this:

Broadband is really narrow band

In my home, the FTTB+LAN broad band continue to be worse. 50% or more package got lost when I ping many sites, including my blog and Yahoo!. It is slower than my CDMA now.

Renting a Car in U.S.

Fri, 05 May 2006 15:11:48 +0800

This is part of a series article: From Shanghai to US - A Handbook. These articles are to help my friends (obviously in Shanghai) to plan their first time visit to U.S. To be concise, I only outline information that I think helpful for this group of people. So don’t be surprised if it left some important information outside the scope.

I will cover about grand transportation about people from China arrives in U.S. later, but this time, I will talk about renting a car in U.S. with Chinese Driver’s License.

Flight From Shanghai to U.S.

Thu, 04 May 2006 13:56:46 +0800

This is part of a series article: From Shanghai to US - A Handbook. These articles are to help my friends (obviously in Shanghai) to plan their first time visit to U.S. To be concise, I only outline information that I think helpful for this group of people. So don’t be surprised if it left some important information outside the scope.

To go to U.S. from Shanghai, there are not too much choices of flight. If you visit San Francisco, there is actually only one flight: UA858 (status) you may take. Most U.S. company including Microsoft and eBay choose this flight. Here is the schedule:

My Boat Sunk in Dishui Lake

Wed, 03 May 2006 12:54:13 +0800

I bought a boat two months ago. I sailed the remote control boat in all the lakes in my residential areas - the big one in the south, the smaller on in the east and the long one in the west. I even sailed the boat in the Century Park. So I happily brought my boat and batteries to the Dishu Lake 滴水湖 near the Dong Hai Bridge. Unfortunately, it sunk into the middle of the lake. Thanks Linda to take the whole process.

Exciting Donghai Bridge and New Habor City

Tue, 02 May 2006 23:12:06 +0800

What is my favorite suburb place to go in Shanghai (with the context that I have a car)? It changes along with time. Here are some places on my previous favorite list:

Sheshan 佘山, the only mountains in Shanghai. Don’t laugh if you know it is only 99 meters high - 1/2 of the building I work everyday, and 1/4 of the tallest building in this city. They just built a wonderful lake nearby.

Cheap Budget Hotel in Shanghai

Mon, 01 May 2006 23:33:18 +0800

I know many people will like this post. It is about cheap hotels in Shanghai. I talked about fancy 5-star hotels before, but of cause, people who stay there may not bother to check out articles on this website.

As I said, I haven’t stay in any hotel in Shanghai, so I don’t have hand-on experience. Today, I found a good page B14 of April 26, 2006 on Shanghai Times 申江服务导报 on cheap hotels in Shanghai. Let me quote some data there.

From Shanghai to US - A Handbook

Sun, 30 Apr 2006 23:36:26 +0800

I am writing this short guide to friends who are going to U.S. for the first time. What I did in the last few years is a little bit different. I used to introduce Shanghai to first time visitors from foreign countries. To be honest, most of the articles answer questions I received from email, from my foriegn friends. For other topics, I just imagine what people may encounter, since I don’t have first hand experience about how the life of a foreigner looks like. What a pitty. For example, I totally have no idea about hotel information since I never stayed in any hotel in Shanghai.

Glass Doors Installed in Metro

Sat, 29 Apr 2006 23:21:12 +0800

Shanghai metro keeps improving itself. Recently, automatically glass doors are installed at Xujiahui Metro Station. Here is the latest report by Jian Shuo, from Shanghai. (The typical tone of a journalist, right?)

The door in Xujiahui is completely put into production. It opens a little bit before the train doors open, and closes, when the doors of train carts are completely closed. This may cause the train to stop a little bit longer than before.

Train Tickets in Shanghai Railway Station

Fri, 28 Apr 2006 23:31:11 +0800

I received email, asking me how to buy train tickets in Shanghai. It is not too complicated. I mean at normal time. During three long vacations, it will be tough to get a ticket. Three holidays are:

May Holiday, from May 1 to May 7
October Holiday, Oct 1 to Oct 7
Spring Festival, from the first day to the 7th day of the lunar new year.

To get a ticket during those periods is another story.

Campus Tour of Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Thu, 27 Apr 2006 23:31:00 +0800

I visited SJTU (Shanghai Jiao Tong University) today for the Inspiration Forum. I often ignore it, but whenever I am back, I found the deep attachment between me and the 110-year old university. I know many visitors to Shanghai like to have a campus tour of the top local university. So let me be your guide.

Xuhui Campus

There are many campuses in SJTU. Xuhui 徐汇 Campus and Minhang 闵行 Campus are the two more important.

Xiamen - Tiny Beautiful City

Wed, 26 Apr 2006 23:46:51 +0800

If you visit Shanghai, you may want to visit nearby city like Hangzhou 杭州. If you have more budget, you won’t want to miss Beijing 北京. Shanghai does not present China. Beijing does. If you want to relax, and really enjoy sea, Sanya 三亚 is the city to go. If you want combined experience of both seashore, and city life, Dalian 大连, Qingdao 青岛 and Xiamen 厦门 are good choices.

Welcome to Wangjianshuo's Blog

Sat, 22 Apr 2006 22:31:33 +0800

Hi all, welcome to Wangjianshuo’s blog. I am Wang Jian Shuo. I live in Shanghai. I want to be visitor’s personal guide to this amazing city.

I try to help people to live better in Shanghai. You can get information about finding a job, making phone calls, getting Internet Access, using credit card , taking taxis. I will show you places to eat, to see, to shop, or to buy :-).

For visitors, I write about Pudong Airport, how to transit to other places, via Maglev, metro, buses, or train.

CTRIP + CMB = Best eCommerce Experience

Fri, 21 Apr 2006 23:43:20 +0800

It has been at least 4 years since I first used online payment in Shanghai. There were always dissatisfactions and “exceptions” either in the system, or credit card payment, or delivery.

Today, my experience to book a ticket on CTRIP, Pay with China Merchant Bank credit card, and claim e-ticket from China Eastern Airlines were perfect. I vote it as the best ecommerce experience I have ever had so far.

Visited Yangshan Deep Water Port

Thu, 20 Apr 2006 23:48:02 +0800

Yangshan = 洋山

This is the satellite image of the island Shengsi 嵊泗 we went to.

Image credit: Google Map

Before I talk more about my trip in Shengsi, the island in the East Sea, let me talk more about the Yangshan Deep Water Port.

The Yangshan Island

In the East Sea, about 30 KM away from land of Shanghai, there are two big islands. One is called Little Yangshan Island, and the other is called Big Yangshan Island. You can see the islands in this satellite picture.

Shengsi Island Pictures

Wed, 19 Apr 2006 23:25:37 +0800

Here are Shengsi Island Pictures on flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jianshuo/tags/shengsi/

Here are some hightlights:

Volleyball on the Beach

Lunch in village.

Kijiji logo on sand

Sea

Near the sea:

Road on island:

P.S. This post was posted on April 28. Changed date to make up the absence of entry after the trip.

1 Comments

Is there a car ferry to Shengsi Islands?

— Alvin · 2011-09-16 15:25

Back from Shengsi

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 23:17:40 +0800

Back from Shengsi Island. The island is about 1 hour fast boat to the Little Yangshan Harbor. For the first time, I go through the East Sea Birdget - a bridge of 30 KM long. It is not common to get onto a bridget extending deep into the sea, and cost about 30 minutes to get to the other end. The project is even more amazing than the beautiful scene at Shengsi.

OOB in the Next Two Days

Sun, 16 Apr 2006 11:32:50 +0800

I will be OOB (Out Of Blogging) in the next two days. We will be at an island near Shanghai for meeting.

The sunlight today is so beautiful!

4 Comments

Yes, the sun was great !!!

After brushing and washing away the coal-and-concrete airborne dust on the terrace floor, I was reading a good book, wearing shorts and bare feet, until the sun hit the pollution layer at 4:25PM. Then it stopped to send out any more heat, and the temperature dropped 4 degrees in 10 minutes.

The sun is supposed to set at official time 6:23PM.

?? Who have ever seen the sun set in the real HORIZON of Shanghai ??

— carsten · 2006-04-16 22:12

It is always great to feel the sun on your face wherever you are in the world.

Especially when riding your bike or relaxing after a ride.

I have friends involved in the Chongming Cycling Tour 15th -19th April.

I have been searching in vain for results via the internet. Web sites for newspapers such as Shanghai Daily have only International sporting results.

Maybe you have been to Chongming Island the last 2 days to see the race.

Can you send me daily race results or a local sports online results service?

— Tom · 2006-04-17 23:10

G'Day Jianshuo,

I should have introduced myself yesterday.

I live in Melbourne, Australia, the home town of the Drapac Porsche Cycling Team which is currently competing in Chongming Cycling Tour.

In my efforts to get some news / results regarding the cycling race I came across your fabulous blog. I find we have a number of common interests & I'll continue, I hope, to visit your site.

Your photos of your cycling trip to Chongming Island have given me a great tour & appreciation of where the team is racing, the types of roads etc. Prior to that the best view I had was via Earth Google & an article regarding the development at Dongtan. It was interesting to read your comments in your Chongming Hotel posting a few years back when you said that nobody ever goes there. Now with the tunnel to be constructed, Dongtan, re-settlement of people from Three Gorges Dam area & World Fair in 2010 I guess there will be many more visitors than you imagined back in 2003.

I have received some information via email regarding the race (team is doing very well) but it has been good to make contact with your blog.

Hoo Roo,

Tom

— Tom · 2006-04-18 22:06

Tom, nice to hear from you, and welcome the cycling team to Chongming from your home city. I didn't hear any news about the race so far. I even didn't know there is a race there before you posted. The road on the island is perfect for road racing - not many cars on the island. Hope you can get back to this site frequently.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-04-18 23:15

Run, Linda, Jack Visited My Home

Sat, 15 Apr 2006 23:18:50 +0800

Run, Linda and Jack visited my home (to be more exact, my garden) this afternoon. Happy about that. The Sun of spring shines perfectly and we were happy to eat banana (my favorite), and apple (Wendy’s favorite) under my big umbrella.

I took every minute in the middle to complete my reading of Yuhua’s new book: Brothers.

Then we went to the Centuary Park. It starts to become crowded in Spring. There are people everywhere. So we jumped onto a boat.

Democracy in Residential Area

Fri, 14 Apr 2006 00:59:37 +0800

Democracy is a sensitive word. You can not search it in Google, and you can not include it in your blog in MSN Space. However, recently, the residential area is experiencing the democratic election of the member of the Residential Area Property Owners’ Committee.

Banner: Appreciate the Democracy Right!

The whole banner reads:

Appreciate the Democracy Right! Actively participate in the selection of Residential Area Property Owners’ Committee Member!

Rain Breaks Plan

Wed, 12 Apr 2006 21:44:21 +0800

Originally, I wanted to go to Shengsi, the island near Shanghai for a meeting, but the recent storm broke my plan completely. I miss the sunshine yesterday, and today, it is another world - rainy, and windy. Everyone has an umbrella in hand. People told me, recently, Shanghai looks like London.

At the elevator of Raffles City, I met two interesting people. I was told they are the top power sellers on eBay in the world. That means, they sell more than anyone on eBay. I was surprised they were LA based Chinese, and they speak very good mandarin (I don’t want to reveal the name before getting permission though).

DMOZ Revisited After 3 Years

Tue, 11 Apr 2006 01:46:53 +0800

I was not happy: ODP - Not As Good as Zeal.com. (ODP ~= DMOZ). I was happy: This Site Listed in DMOZ.

Today, I saw a frequent commentor on my Chinese blog, Xiaoma, is a DMOZ editor for blog category (Chinese). It is nice. He is the first DMOZ editor I know.

In the last month, rumor said “ZEAL.com is to be closed”. Today, rumor Google Is Banning Sites That Use Open Directory (DMOZ) Data.

Coffee, Chat and Metro Transition

Mon, 10 Apr 2006 22:44:17 +0800

It is nice to meet Haichao again, after we briefly met half year ago. The Starbucks at Xujiahui is more crowded, and noisy. My reading before he arrives was frequently interrupted by some words or sentences from far away seats.

After many times, I still cannot distinguish Mocha and Coffee Latte. I know they are different, but cannot match the name and their tastes. So every time I order, I just randomly pick one name from the two. It is the same today. Anyone has ideas about what is the difference?

Empiror.com Questionaires

Mon, 10 Apr 2006 15:36:20 +0800

Tell us about you and your profession. Where do you live? What do you do?

This is Jian Shuo Wang. I am currently the head of Kijiji, an eBay fully-owned company on classified in China. I was with Microsoft for 6 years before. I am more willing to be addressed as a blogger. I have a blog at http://home.wangjianshuo.com. It receives 2 million page views every single month. I kept writting one article every day (no more, and no less than one article) in the last 3 and half years. So I have more than 1200 entries in my blog already. Ｉstarted blog in Sept, 2002, when not many people blog. I live in my apartment (with a nice garden) in Pudong.

World Financial Center - Part II

Sun, 09 Apr 2006 23:27:18 +0800

Last Friday, I had important meeting at the Grant Hyatt in the Jin Mao Tower. I was told of the meeting in the morning, and directly rushed to the tower. (I was actually sent an email 22:00 PM or later the previous day, while I was at 5G Review).

I found it is long before my last time taking random pictures while I move in the city. Maybe Dan Li is right. I suffer from burnout a little bit, so I don’t have time to pay attention to the details of life. The May holiday is not far. So… I believe I can have a good rest in that 7 days.

110 Anniversary for SJTU

Sat, 08 Apr 2006 23:51:46 +0800

SJTU = Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Today, April 8, 2006, is the 110th anniversary of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), where I spent my 4 years between 1995 to 1999. It is the first modern university in China, and is the oldest one.

Here are some pictures I took during the event.

Tulip Blooms in my Garden

Fri, 07 Apr 2006 23:47:10 +0800

Hey. Look at my tulip!

Picture taken by Wendy

It sleeps for several months;

It wakes for several weeks;

and now it blooms in my garden!

Along with my tulips, other flowers and trees also welcome the arrival of Spring.

Picture taken by Wendy

P.S. My cats? They are still doing well in my garden, but since I often forget to feed them, especially after long business trip, they left the garden to find food some where else. So currently, our relation is just like visitors and a bar. They visit the garden for fun, and sometimes sit outside the window of my reading room, staring curiously at me. They seem don’t understand how computer and Internet work yet.

Look at my Drawing

Fri, 07 Apr 2006 21:23:07 +0800

In the 5G Review Shanghai meeting yesterday night, I spent 1 hour drawing two pictures. I didn’t learn drawing before, so they are the first few “real” drawing I created. Check if it is good.

Original object

Hand drawn by Jian Shuo Wang. April 06, 2006

Don’t take me wrong. I found drawing can help me concentrate to the topic - just like staring at scene outside the train window helps deep thinking; listening music can inspire one’s mind, drawing in meeting can help fill in the consciousness with something, so to cultivate deeper think.

What to Write Today?

Thu, 06 Apr 2006 00:15:59 +0800

What to write today?

Suddenly found there is no topic to write today. It happens frequently before, but this is the first time I write about it. :-D

So, what should I write today?

12 Comments

Did you figure out how to use your PS2?

— Kelly · 2006-04-06 00:27

jianshuo, out of wit? how about show us the pictures of tulip in your garden! it is time for blooming.

— stephen · 2006-04-06 01:19

:)

I visited your blog frequently, i don't think it's make sense to write 4 writing,

i rather to see more interesting and valuable post!

— Jan.P.H stan · 2006-04-06 02:47

I agree with Jan.P.H stan. Some of your posts are really meaningless and I guess just post some words there in order to pursue 'update daily'.

Really, I rather prefer some more meaningful posts.

— Richard Hong · 2006-04-06 03:28

and how are the cats?

— bigbro · 2006-04-06 04:08

JS, Did you saw your neighbors this morning on your way to work?

Do you guys' greet each another when you run into them?

... ...

— ILH · 2006-04-06 05:33

How about "Is air pollution improving in Shanghai?" Hong Kong's air pollution is getting worse every year. I now think it's actually worse than Shanghai's.

So I am just wondering how you find the air quality in Shanghai, getting better or worse?

— PC · 2006-04-06 15:29

Suffer burnout? Why not give yourself a break?

— Dan Li · 2006-04-06 16:15

If you have no topic, leave it to let day go.

— grAce · 2006-04-06 22:44

You need a 'backup' topic that you can always resort to when you don't know wha t to write abot, for example:

+ ear cleaning

+ dreams

+ strange food stuff

+ literature

You do a great job, keep on truckin'

Uli

— Uli Kaiser · 2006-04-07 00:07

Funny how certain topics get picked up by all the bloggers while others get virtually ignored. Many have talked about the taxi driver who talked about the economics of the taxi driving business, or about the rolling stones, or about political struggles of the rural peoples. So what about the transition of people's attitudes and behaviors when the sun comes out like it is now? Or more about the transportation system and how it will impact housing costs? I dunno , I am just babbline...sounds like my typical blog...sigh.

— yu888 · 2006-04-07 17:12

Thanks everyone. Thanks for your inspiration and encourage. Maybe I suffer from burnout a little bit recently, that I can not easily concentrate. Maybe sometime of rest do good for me.

I will pick up some topics you suggested later.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-04-07 23:47

PSP is Hard to Use

Tue, 04 Apr 2006 23:57:11 +0800

I got a PlayStation Portal (PSP). It is hard to use - you have to buy more stuff other than the stone-like black box.

The usability is not that good. May need some time to get used to. There is almost nothing I can do with it, if I don’t have a Memory Stick Pro Duo card. Information on the Internet for PSP is not good enough. Seems all complicated. I start to wonder, did I change from a geek type of guy to an idol, or the hardware changes?

China International Boat Show in Shanghai

Mon, 03 Apr 2006 23:55:13 +0800

Image credit: CMP SinoExpo

I didn’t know this event before. Anyway, it is the 11th time this event is held in China. Boat is just too far from me. The market of marina hasn’t really started yet. I met with Mr. Yuan, the CEO of a boat importing and reseller company at Taihu. He introduced the boat show to me and generously sponsored two tickets for me. Well. I start to get interested in boat. I guess I will be there next Sunday. Here are the pictures of the last year’s event.

How Car Annual Checking Works

Sun, 02 Apr 2006 19:40:28 +0800

It is a hot day - 27 degrees, and Hangzhou seems to enter Summer already. I am back - very tired. The 170+ km express way is not easy to cover. Next time I go to Hangzhou, I won’t drive - bus or train is a better choice - so I can enjoy the nice scene of Hangzhou without the frustration on the crowded road.

My car is registered in Hangzhou. From considering to get a car, to I finally get one, the car plate in Shanghai raise from 38500 RMB to 43000 RMB. So I chose the much cheaper solution - to register in Hangzhou. (Later, the Shanghai car plate price once dropped to 21001 RMB). The pro side is, it is much cheaper. The con is, I need to go to Hangzhou for the annual checking. Although there are many agents who are willing to do it for me, I hate to give my car to someone I don’t know. So I used the weekend to drive there.

Hangzhou for Car Yearly Checking

Sat, 01 Apr 2006 23:20:30 +0800

I am in Hangzhou.

Two years for Goudaner, and I have to do the car yearly checking. So, I drove to Hangzhou.

The first weekend, I was in Hangzhou for meeting.

The second weekend, I went to Nanjing.

The same Sunday, in Suzhou, Taihu.

The forth weekend, which is today, I am in Hangzhou.

I will post picture tomorrow.

7 Comments

Why do you do the car check in Hangzhou, can you not do it in Shanghai?

— Marc · 2006-04-02 14:19

Because I have my car registered in Hangzhou.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-04-02 22:25

Did you live in Jade Emperor Hotel?

— Turing · 2006-04-03 22:48

No. I was at the Yuhang Hotel.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-04-04 00:36

Yes,Jade Emperor Hotel means Yu Huang Hotel.

I saw you, when you were checking in :)

— Turing · 2006-04-04 09:33

why did you registered your car in hangzhou? for cheaper?

— islet8 · 2007-05-22 23:49

Yes. It is 0.5% of the price in Shanghai.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-05-23 00:01

Notes to the Day

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 23:05:54 +0800

Server changed to bluehost.com. They seem good. The transition is smooth (pretty smooth), but I still lost some comments (5?). Feel bad about it.
Back from Donews gathering this year. Had wonderful dinner with Friends.
Went to Internet cafe again.
Focus Group is really helpful.
It is better to go to bed now.

4 Comments

Hi, The Shanghai map in your blog site is buggy. Will you want to fix it.?

— zl · 2006-04-01 03:02

It is down during the server change. I don't have time to fix it now - I guess I only have one hour or two per week to do the tech stuff for this site. So let me postpone it. My guess is, it will be back within the next two weeks.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-04-02 22:26

You can use www.mapbar.com/ www.mapabc.com. It seems better than jianshuo's old one. :)

— Jia · 2006-04-02 23:36

Your map on this site is great! I use it often for customizing maps to send to friends for directions, etc. But yeah, seems like it's down. Hope it's up and running soon!

— Jonathan · 2006-04-05 17:28

Photo of People's Square Area

Wed, 29 Mar 2006 23:53:55 +0800

The People’s Square area represents big portion of Shanghai’s image. So are its details. Here are two pictures I took the other day.

The flower is the city flower of Shanghai. The city flower is a smart choice. March is the month when white city flowers (Yulan? No idea about English name) boom everywhere.

Car Insurance in Shanghai

Tue, 28 Mar 2006 23:30:30 +0800

It is time to figure out how to buy another year of car insurance. The new car comes with 2 years of car insurances. It ends this month. I even didn’t notice that.

Car insurance is enforced. It is several thousand RMB per year - not cheap.

People like to ask about living cost in Shanghai. My simple answer is, to live the local live cost less than US, while to live U.S. live in Shanghai causes even higher than U.S.

Finally Back from Suspension

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 23:06:59 +0800

You may noticed two days of server outage. Don’t worry. It is another technical support case with lunarpages.com. They like to suspend a site first, and drop you an email that “please contact me”. After that, it seems the guy who suspend it never appeared. So, in the next 48 hours, (or even 56 hours), there were no one response to the ticket. They have educated me that the only thing I can do is to wait, since my future request will cause my ticket to be put into the back of the queue again, causing the delay… So I waited. Finally, I found myself smart (will you call it smart), that I submitted another case, and it was solved quickly (in 30 hours).

If I Lost it, Then Let it Be...

Sat, 25 Mar 2006 08:53:47 +0800

I found myself never work well with a host company. I moved from ipowerweb.com to lunarpages.com for hosting, but again, I was driven mad. Every time I have to write or talk with a technical support guy, I am completely mad. Every single word I read or hear lead to the thought in my head: “I have to kill someone.”. Just kidding, but it is exactly what I feel.

From March 15, to March 25, it is another 10 days, and the server problem is not solved. I paused for several days for the data to get back. Finally, I gave up. I always cannot work well with technical support from hosting companies, no matter where…

Xiang Yang Market is Closed on June 30

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 09:15:44 +0800

I guess this may be the last entry for the Xiangyangmarket category in this blog. Xiang Yang Market will be offically closed on Jun 30, 2006. The market started with a small market at Huating Road (Metro Changshu Road station), and moved to the current location, and became really big and famous. Since there are too many fake goods there, under the pressure of foreign companies, the government finally closed it (This is my guess of the reasons, not official reasons).

Still pending.

Thu, 23 Mar 2006 23:31:10 +0800

So no update these days. Waiting for the restore, so the new entries won’t be overwritten… Sorry for the inconvenience.

2 Comments

a little disappointment

— Iamleon · 2006-03-24 11:08

Cold comfort to you, hope these American guys accelerate the restore details.

— Reno · 2006-03-24 21:11

Pending for Rolling Back.

Tue, 21 Mar 2006 16:54:09 +0800

This site was rolled back to March 15 by my ISP - Lunarpages. I have sent email to ask for the latest version (March 20). This change is expected to happen in the next 24 hours. All comments (including this post) coming after this post will be erased. So do not comment, or keep a copy of your comment if you do.

4 Comments

In the afternoon, I think this website was attacked by hacker.

shirley

— gong · 2006-03-21 17:22

Jesus... the font of the home page looks tooooo small :) does it have anything with this rollback?

— Reno · 2006-03-21 17:35

Jianshuo, May I ask to delete my previous comment above?

One of my Canadian friends just told me about the offensive meaning of that starting word, which I don't know at all before, very sorry now:(

Hope your site coming back soon:)

— Reno · 2006-03-22 22:46

Reno, I didn't see anything wrong with "Jesus". Take it easy.

— Brandon · 2006-03-24 06:24

Yangtze Hotel is Good

Mon, 20 Mar 2006 22:41:24 +0800

To be honest, I am not familiar with hotel in Shanghai at all - I never, ever stayed in any of the hotels, because I live here. Unfortunately, hotel recommendation is the most frequently asked question.

I helped to arrange my friend and his family in Yangtze Hotel yesterday. Today, his feedback to the hotel is really good. So I feel safe to recommend it to my readers.

Name

Taihu! Taihu! Taihu!

Sun, 19 Mar 2006 08:47:26 +0800

You have to visit a place many times to really learn its beauty. It is exactly

true. I fall in love in Hangzhou, in Nanjing, and today, in Taihu. The

Expressway network in the Yangtze Delta extends at the speed I cannot imagine.

The newly built Suzhou - Shanghai Expressway directly connect the Suzhou City

Ring Express and Shanghai A30 Express. Now the riding distance from my home at

Pudong and the Xukou at Taihu is only 120 KM, costing…

Mashup Camp China Report

Sat, 18 Mar 2006 23:46:34 +0800

Back from Mashup Camp China event. It is a wonderful event. Here are some

pictures. Around I am back from Nanjing via T731, and updated this blog in my

reading room at Shanghai….

3 Comments

Your translation software (enhlsih to chinese) is the best I've ever see, can you tell me the name of the translation software you used? I'm a translator

— Lee · 2007-11-13 11:57

Your translation software (english to chinese) is the best I've ever see, can you tell me the name of the translation software you used? I'm a translator

— Lee · 2007-11-13 11:57

I am using Google Translator.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-11-13 14:18

Report from Search Engine Strategies

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 23:44:37 +0800

The one day conference at SES (Search Engine Conference) went on well. Many

friends gathered there. As far as I know, 25 employees from Google, 6 from

Microsoft, 6 from eBay attended. There are tremendous other Internet companies

attended. There was no appearance of Baidu. I am impressed by the Google local

team. Clearly, they face the same challenge every international company faces in

China. The localization process is as painful as others, but the spirit is good.

Hello from Nanjing

Thu, 16 Mar 2006 23:37:52 +0800

I am in Nanjing now. I am still at the excitement of the Maglev’s extension to

Hangzhou, and imagine how lives in both city will change if the 30 minute

connection line is built. Now I am in Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province.

The Trip The trip from Shanghai to Nanjing is shorter than I expected. The first

time I came to Nanjing on Oct 1, 1996, the train was schedule to arrive in 6

Arrogant

Wed, 15 Mar 2006 22:59:21 +0800

To label oneself as “smart” guy seems to be arrogant. It is true. Before 2001, Microsoft always proudly announce that we only hire the top 5% smartest guys. I remember this saying is promoted everywhere, even on the campus recruiting. Later, it was changed under pressure, that “we only hire those fit the job most”. I believe this change benefit the public image of the company, but hurt the innovation, and the “good feeling” of employees a lot. That is the reason on one hand, people like Google for its super confidence, while still hate it for its arrogant attitude. When Microsoft is not arrogant, it transfers itself into a huge (successful) enterprise. When company stay arrogant, and stay passionate about what they really believe in, and don’t listen to what the mass audience says, it go to the peak and sink into the bottom of the ocean. Netscape, and SGI (both are Jim Clark company) tell us the story.

Happy Birthday to Goudaner (2nd Year)

Wed, 15 Mar 2006 21:49:31 +0800

March 15 again. Two years ago, at around 7:00 PM, I drove my car back home. I still remember the excitement to have the first car - I didn’t though to buy a car is as simple as buying any article at stores - just swipe the credit card and got the key to the new car.

There is a small story that I didn’t tell. When I first show the car, I found it perfect - the smell, the color, the inside decoration - everything. But there is a very small defect at the front of the car - a 1 cm long scratch. It barely noticed, but it is a scratch on a new car. I felt bad and told the dealer that I don’t want it. I want a completely new car, instead one with some scar on it.

MagLev May Extend to Hangzhou - Confirmed

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 13:28:01 +0800

In the morning, I saw the headline of today’s Oriental Morning Post on my desk is: Shanghai - Hangzhou Maglev will be Completed in 2008. The subtitle is:

Total cost: 35 billion RMB
Proposed East Hangzhou Station and Jiaxing Station
Half an hour between Hangzhou and Shanghai.

It is good news. I hate to way until 2008, though.

Impact on Me

I am happy that where I live now is 3 km away from the Maglev station at Longyang Road. It is amazing to be able to get to Hangzhou within 30 minutes. If so, to get to West lake will be within one hour - 10 minutes to Maglev, 30 minutes to Hangzhou (if I arrange the time well), and 20 minutes to West Lake. This is almost the same time from my apartment to Xujiahui (45 minute)! I believe my life will be different if it does happen.

Mashup Camp China

Mon, 13 Mar 2006 23:53:47 +0800

We didn’t expect the Search Engine Strategies Conference in Nanjing is such a big event. It started as a small event (my perception) months ago, when I agreed to participate in the meeting as a speaker. Later, Jack Mao (head of Alibaba, and Yahoo! China), and Johnny Zhou (Head of Google, China) joined as speakers. I didn’t expect it to be a big one. The event is coming this Friday.

As every industry meeting, the fun part is always outside the meeting. So we organized the Mashup Camp China. The original plan is a 7 people BBQ in Mao’s place, but when more and more people rushing to Nanjing, we finally extended to be a “very big” event - 20. :-) It is already big compared to the 7 people event.

Back from Snowing Hangzhou

Sun, 12 Mar 2006 19:36:25 +0800

Back from Hangzhou

The express way from Hangzhou to Shanghai was quite empty today. There was not much traffic - I believe it is not the rush hours yet. 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm is not the typical time Shanghai cars get back from Hangzhou. The big bus was confortable. My personal preference is always to take bus over train. I feel to have more personal space on the trip instead of a large cart on train. Most of my friends like to take train, since it is safer, and more on time.

Talk about CICData

Sun, 12 Mar 2006 19:30:40 +0800

Hi Jian Shuo,

Just wanted to follow up our chat from last week.

We have put up our Chinese version of our website now (www.cicdata.cn).

On there, you will see job postings: http://www.cicdata.com/jobscn.htm. It would be great if you could pass this information to anyone you know who might be interested, especially anyone with text mining background.

We also had a couple of articles in the press this past week:

Shanghai Dialy (English): http://www.shanghaidaily.com/art/2006/03/06/246187/Bloggers__lure_blog_watchers.htm

Hello From Hangzhou

Fri, 10 Mar 2006 23:24:40 +0800

I am in Hangzhou.

As always, whenever I put my foot onto the soil of Hangzhou, I feel the pace of life slows down. I always appreciate the beautiful scene and the cultural stuff in Hangzhou.

Went to a over-street eating-place tonight, with nice food and beer. As the old sayings put it: “Happy Lives are those simple and cheap lives.” I totally agree.

People in Shanghai should come to Hangzhou more frequently. Hangzhou has a lot that Shanghai does not come. It helps to balance the lives and soul in Shanghai.

Hot Articles in 2002 to 2005

Thu, 09 Mar 2006 20:22:53 +0800

This is a list of my previous entries in the year 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 that receives more than 10 comments. It is tiring to read the list one by one - I was not able to read through the year of 2002 myself. It is only the hottest entry with many participation (11 or more comments), just part of the archive. What an effort to create then one by one. :-D It is the demonstration of how much we can achieve with daily accumulation - 15 minutes a day means a lot after three years.

Happy Women's Day

Wed, 08 Mar 2006 20:50:59 +0800

Here from Shanghai, greetings to all the girls/women.

In many companies in China, female employees enjoy half day off on March 8. So does the girls in my office. It was quiet in the afternoon, and the conference rooms are free. I thought: maybe part of the design to have half day off only for women is to remind the rest in the office of the importance of women. Just kidding.

Adding Tag Support to MovableType

Wed, 08 Mar 2006 19:47:31 +0800

Joey asked how I implemented tag in my MovableType. I didn’t used plugin. Here is the cookbook to add tag as this blog.

Use Categories in the Tagging Way

First thing is, use the built-in category feature in the tagging way. When you want to assign some tags to an entry, just assign multiple categories. Thanks to the features of MovableType, you can easily add a new category (a new tag). It is not free form, but good enough.

Xu Jinglei v.s. Sina?

Tue, 07 Mar 2006 19:44:34 +0800

Recently the debate between who has the right to place advertisement on Xu Jinglei’s blog (hosted by Sina) is a hot one. I helped the reporter in CCTV on the report a little bit by connecting the people they want to interview, but I didn’t realize the story is on New York Time.

The Fact

Xu Jinlei is a nice actress. Her blog received 11 million total pageview in the first 5 months. Her BSP (Blog Service Provider) was Sina. Sina spent a lot of resources (homepage real estate) to promote the blog, so it is claimed to be the hottest blog in China so far. (a small foot note: in terms of page view, Wangjianshuo’s blog receives about 2 million page view every single month).

Business of Zhending Chicken - Part II

Tue, 07 Mar 2006 18:44:18 +0800

I talked about Zhending Chicken and their strange policies days before. After that, there is another similiar discussion on airlines. These discussion reveals the difference in cultureand business conduct in China and U.S (representative of western or international world). There are other articles on this topics:　Diversity, Consistency, and Efficiency, Diversity, Consistency, and Efficiency - Part II. I am afraid this will be the sixth article along the row on this topic.

Zhending Chicken Continued

On the previous article, I outlined many strange conduct of Zhending Chicken. I don’t think it is 100% wrong, or right.

Booking China Domestic Flight Outside China

Mon, 06 Mar 2006 21:33:06 +0800

My friend asked me whether it is cheaper to book China domestic flights within China than outside China. It is for sure - almost always so.

When I check popular ticket booking website in U.S, like Expedia, Travelocity, I am amazed on how big the price difference is, for the same China domestic flight between US agent price and China local price. Here are some examples for China domestic flight booking.

Example 1: Shanghai to Beijing Round Trip

Network Speed of my FTTB+LAN

Sun, 05 Mar 2006 17:37:37 +0800

Look at the PING result from the HP Pavilion desktop computer in my reading room, to the web server of this blog.

C:\Documents and Settings\Jian Shuo Wang>ping home.wangjianshuo.com -t

Pinging home.wangjianshuo.com [216.227.219.43] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=402ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=398ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=414ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=400ms TTL=50

Request timed out.

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=401ms TTL=50

Car Numbers Explode in Shanghai

Sun, 05 Mar 2006 15:06:30 +0800

I went to Decathlon at Long Yang Road Station in Shanghai with friends yesterday. It was 3:00 PM. To my surprise, the parking lot at B&Q and Decathlon area was completely packed. Not only big area (with about 10 rows of 10 cars) was full, the back yard - which typically not used are also fully parked. There are many volunteers guiding cars into the underground parking area under Decathlon.

With the continuous “immigration” from Puxi to Pudong, and the popularity of cars, the once empty parking lot at B&Q area becomes so crowded. I remember when I just moved to Pudong less than 2 years ago, something I didn’t understand was, why B&Q built so large parking lot. At that time, only 1/3 of the parking was used. I LOL when I saw there were entrance to the underground garage. Whenever I drive there, I can easily find a place very near to the entrance.

Slow Internet Connection at Home

Sat, 04 Mar 2006 23:13:34 +0800

The internet connection at my home (China Telecom FTTB+LAN) is unbearably slow. In the recent month, I found it was so hard even to load the homepage of this blog.

I doubt whether it was due to the high usage of BT on the community network. The short-come for FTTB+LAN is, the network speed is not guaranteed. When there is less traffic, it can be super fast. But when the traffic is crowded, it can be slow.

My Favorite: Jifeng Book Store

Fri, 03 Mar 2006 23:17:49 +0800

I recommended this book store to a friend visiting Shanghai. I’d like to share again.

The best book store for me in Shanghai is the Jifeng Book Store. Here is the location:

5th Floor, Raffles City, 268, Xizang Middle Road, Shanghai

There is another one at the Shaan Xi Road Metro Station:

They are good because they spent good effort on book selection. So the books in the store are nice for me. However, there is not many English books or other language books there.

New Year for Everyone in the team

Wed, 01 Mar 2006 23:54:06 +0800

What a nice idea to start the new year for Kijiji with two days of briefing and training session. I just get back home from the full day event. It is already 0:50 AM the next day (I will adjust the posting time a little bit to make this entry fall into March 1), but I feel so excited to be the part of the team and see the growth of a young and passionate team. Hope I can get up in time tomorrow morning.

Last Day of Feb

Tue, 28 Feb 2006 21:12:31 +0800

The last day of Feb. Here is the status of my life.

I am reading “The Search” by John Battelle. Thanks Xiaofeng for sharing the book with me. I have already covered the classic history of Goto.com/Overture.
I have another small book written by Robin Lee (Li Yan Hong), CEO of Baidu.com, back in 1999. At that time, Robin didn’t start Baidu yet. The preface of the book was Charles Zhang (Zhang Chao Yang), currently the CEO of Sohu.com. There was very limited copy for that book. Hengge (boss of blogbus.com) borrowed the book from me. This Monday, Larry Zou (CEO of wealink.com) got the book from Hengge and start to read it - the journey of a small booklet.

Culture Differences - Part II

Sun, 26 Feb 2006 11:33:55 +0800

I went to a church in Pudong with in-laws this Sunday morning. I am not a Christian, but I found the religion service beneficial for me. It helped me to understand the life better, and also on cultural difference.

The pastor talked about difference between Chinese and Israel cultural. As put it by the minister of Israel, culture in Israel is all around the relationship between people and the God; in China, it is all about the relationship among people.

Cultural Differences Between China and America

Sun, 26 Feb 2006 00:12:02 +0800

The comment of mcgjcn mentioned a name R. R. Gesteland. I research the name in Google and found some interesting resources on cultural differences (like this, and this). In all the works, Norihiko Shimizu’s paper “Today’s Taboos may be gone tomorrow”, Tokyo Business, February 1995, p.51. is a very frequently quoted materials in all MBA courses on International Marketing, and Cross-culture business. It was comparasion between Japan and American. I found many of the points also applies to China.

Diversity, Consistency, and Efficiency - Part II

Fri, 24 Feb 2006 18:23:16 +0800

After the entry Diversity, Consistency, and Efficiency, many readers posted so great comments that I cannot help quoting it. (Quoting in full text is rare on this blog.)

Roger Chan commented:

Good points in your article above. Some other important factors I’d mention, to nurture the growth of companies like Google in Chinese cities:

Transparency, transparency, transparency. You absolutely must have transparency for a company to be successful and to attract wide-scale investment, that is, transparency in the management, transparency in the financial records, transparency in both successes and errors. Without transparency, investors will not trust your company and it will fail. This is why there must be intolerance for corruption in the Chinese companies and the government– this damages transparency and leads to mistrust by investors.

Google Pages?

Thu, 23 Feb 2006 16:28:32 +0800

Hey! What Google is doing! Check this:

jianshuo - jianshuo’s Home Page

Image in courtesy of Google

This page was created with http://pages.google.com/

It is something like….. like …. like Microsoft FrontPage.

Credit: Zhang first shared it with IdeaFactoryChina.

8 Comments

Wonderful!

Waiting for its full version.

— Feigo · 2006-02-23 18:01

a powerful tool. thanks lao wang.

— bingfeng · 2006-02-23 19:00

Will Microsoft put Frontpage online? I believe they will put it on their Office Live site.

— Danny · 2006-02-24 10:46

What's this tool for? Why to create a single page on the net? Is that meaningful to someone?

— Chern · 2006-02-24 15:39

haha, interesting! Didn't see this before.

But it pop up the following message when I tried it:

'Google Page Creator is having a little trouble right now.

This is not because of anything you did; it's just a little hiccup in our system that will hopefully go away soon. We apologize for the inconvenience, and recommend you try reloading this page.'

Opps....

— Richard Hong · 2006-02-25 18:57

Tried to sign-in to the google page creator but i just get the message that they are experiencing heavy traffic and that i should give them my email so that they can contact me in the future. While we're on the topic of Google in China, i saw this news post on China Online re Google operating with no license. http://www.chinaonline.cn.com/2006/articles/CHINA/?a=14427&z=37

looks like they are just piggybacking on another license.

— Google China · 2006-02-26 10:51

That is interesting. But i think the things are changed now.

— imran ali · 2008-03-24 20:24

salam

— mostafa · 2008-12-04 03:40

Diversity, Consistency, and Efficiency

Wed, 22 Feb 2006 22:18:33 +0800

I have some point-of-views for diversity, consistency, efficiency, and the difference between China and U.S. It is just some random thought, without any systematic thinking…

When a company just went IPO (like Google), internationalization is the only way to keep up with the fast pace of Wall Street.
Internationalization is hard. It is harder than one can imagine.
In U.S., consistency across all the states, and across all the business, and people have been established. Consistency is the key to efficiency. Only when people can handle all the request in the same or very similar way, they can be efficient.

ifuleuiycfi - I Really Admire You, Spammers

Tue, 21 Feb 2006 18:03:19 +0800

Recently, the admin tool of this site is very slow. I didn’t pay enough attention until it takes about several minutes to load a page in MovableType admin. I found out it was because of the comment spams.

The log shows I am almost 1000 junk comments every day. In the peak time (6:00 - 8:00 AM), there are more than 10 comment requests in every single minute.

MovableType have great anti-spam features. It blocked all of them, but it requires a lot of resources to handle that. The result is, the server is slower and slower. Lunarpages, the hosting company ever emailed me complaining my MT installation sometimes consumes about 40% of one CPU, out of 4 CPU they have for the server.

Review of Selected Demo by TechCrunch

Sat, 18 Feb 2006 22:15:00 +0800

Isaac shared a link to ideasfactorychina mail-list: TechCrunch » A Taste of DEMO 2006. I posted back my review of several demos. According to Michale, “70 companies gather at a hotel in Phoenix, Arizona to compete head on for our attention. $15,000 buys you 5 minutes in front of 700 people, and a chance to make history.” The fact of how expensive the 5 minutes is sounds interesting already.

Review of Selected Demo by TechCrunch

Funny Houses

Fri, 17 Feb 2006 23:02:13 +0800

Hand-drawn by Jian Shuo Wang. Created by Microsoft Paint

1 Comments

很想我外甥（5岁）的家庭作业。^_^

— Feigo · 2006-02-18 01:54

A Blog is All About a Person

Fri, 17 Feb 2006 19:10:28 +0800

What happened to this blog? Why it is shifting away from its propose - a blog about “Events (in Shanghai) that affect my life (and others’)”? Why there is an entry as short as this one: Productivity Tips - Small Things in Strategic Way? It has nothing to do with Shanghai.

I believe this may be the question in many people’s mind. Let me explain why.

A Blog is All About a Person

Productivity Tips - Small Things in Strategic Way

Fri, 17 Feb 2006 14:26:28 +0800

Microsoft Office Online: Create an effective reference system

Small things done consistently in strategic places have major impact.

4 Comments

Microsoft's version of GTD?

— number5 · 2006-02-17 15:42

Not really, GTD is doable with any tool, here it's more "tips for using your 500 bucks software".

— Damien B · 2006-02-17 16:27

I will write an entry to explain why I posted links like this.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-02-17 19:09

My method of handling e-mail is:

-- use the Outlook Express e-mail client with POP

-- leave it all in the in-box. Don't file or delete anything (Occasionally I copy something to a special folder) (If the Inbox becomes larger than 2Gbytes, NTFS cannot handle it, so occasionally I archive my in-box)

-- turn off the feature that makes the e-mail "read" (not in bold type) automatically.

-- when I have looked at e-mails, change them manually to "read" state.

-- if I need to reply, reply immediately, or "flag" the e-mail.

-- flag e-mails that need attention in the near future or that I might want to refer to again in the near future.

-- forward all e-mails automatically to a gmail account, because it has very rapid search features. This allows me to find any e-mail quickly without filing it.

— Martin Kellerman · 2006-02-23 23:46

Business of Zhending Chicken

Thu, 16 Feb 2006 21:41:44 +0800

This noon, we went to our favorite restaurant Zhengding Chicken (振鼎鸡) for lunch. It is famous for its chicken. It is a successful business, just like KFC for fried chicken.

Zhending Chicken meets the need of local market precisely, because people are very sensitive about cost and the value. They have some rules in their restaurant I feel strange.

Close The Business at Rush Hours

I remember the store at Tianlin closes at 6:00 PM. Many times we rushed to the store only to find out the store is closed. A server stands at the door and politely tell us: All chicken sold out.

20 Years of Professional Managers in China

Wed, 15 Feb 2006 21:25:06 +0800

The latest issue of Shanghai Managers featured “20 Years of Professional Managers” in Shanghai. The topic is good since the phenomenon of “20 year professional managers” is unique in China, and it involves many people just around us. The people and their stories told in the report are just like “manager sitting in the next cubicle” (just created this phase after “girl living next door”).

Professional Manager is Still Rare in China

Productivity Tips - 5 Wrong Beliefs

Wed, 15 Feb 2006 20:38:55 +0800

I found this tip from Microsoft website very useful for me.

5 Beliefs that Limit Productivity - And How to Overcome Them

There’s Too Much Information Coming at Me Too Fast
I Have to Keep Everything
Organization Cramps My Freedom and Creativity
There’s Not Enough Time in the Day!
It Takes Too Much Time to Get Productive

The answers are:

The volume of information is not an issue. The way we process it is.

Holidays to Come

Wed, 15 Feb 2006 18:59:45 +0800

This afternoon, when I am writing my weekly meeting slide, I gave it a title like “Valentine’s Day Weekly Meeting”. I feel I have more personal connection with the week. It will help me to recall what this week is about. It is better than a slide with 20060215.ppt in the name.

I decided to give a name to every week I have in 2006, so help me understand my connection with our tradition. So here is the calendar.

Happy Valentine's Day

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 22:13:03 +0800

6 Comments

Special hugs to you and Wendy on this special Day, Jian Shuo!!

— Carroll · 2006-02-15 09:12

No text, just a greeting. I think Jian Shuo and Wendy had a romantic day. Why not have a plan to make a boby? :)

— cyhloi · 2006-02-15 11:41

Hope you and Wendy had a great day together.

— Sekhar Sirigiri · 2006-02-15 15:34

Thanks everyone. We did enjoyed our Vday very much with nice gift. :-)

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-02-15 21:23

Hai viwers iam selva wish u a great valentine day

Regards

Selva

— selvakumar(TSK) · 2007-02-03 19:02

this day is very happy

— JANARDHANA · 2010-10-27 18:26

PmWiki Reloaded (for the Third Time)

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 21:53:02 +0800

21:02 2006-2-14 Downloaded and extracted to d:/download/pmwiki.2.0.13 folder

21:03 2006-2-14 Checked [[http://pmwiki.org/wiki/PmWiki/Requirements|Requirements]]

21:04 2006-2-14 After reading the [[http://pmwiki.org/wiki/PmWiki/Installation|installation instruction]], decided to install the latest version instead of the stable version. Now the version is pmwiki-2.1.beta25

21:06 2006-2-14 Opened my FTP client LeechFTP, and connect to wangjianshuo.com

21:08 2006-2-14 Created /scripts folder and created a subfolder /pmwiki under it. Then start to upload the files to the server.

21:12 2006-2-14 Read the section 3. Create directories. Then wait for the upload complete. It seems the upload takes quite some time already.

Found a Piece of Old Video

Mon, 13 Feb 2006 22:19:53 +0800

At night, chatted about my previous years, and I was amazed by how far I have gone through during the last few years. There are many moving moment when I lost my way, when I got excited, and when I fall into the lowest side of my life. It is an interesting story.

Getting back to office, I found a piece of video I recorded before - 5 years ago. I believe at that time, I was working for eCommerce team in Microsoft.

Tulip Wakes Up in my Garden

Sun, 12 Feb 2006 22:27:30 +0800

When I put the 17 tulip roots into the soil of my garden, and let “Tulip Sleeps in my Garden” on Nov 9, 2005, to be honest, I never really believed that they will come out. I have never plant Tulip before, and the soil in my garden is not good - I didn’t change the soil, so it is still not different from that on the construction site. Here is what I wrote on Nov 9, 2005.

Privacy of Blogging

Sun, 12 Feb 2006 21:44:53 +0800

Yesterday night, we discussed about what to blog and what not to.

I found many bloggers treat blog as a private diary and wrote something that they will never tell anybody into the blog. I don’t think it is a good approach.

Blogging is NOT a private diary. Here are some suggestions on blogging:

Treat blog as a TOOL. Don’t do something you won’t do because of the tool, and don’t stop doing something you have already be doing because of blog.

Meetup: MBA or Not, that is a Question

Sat, 11 Feb 2006 14:24:42 +0800

Afternoon, attended another group discussion: Shanghai IT Club.

Arrangement

Time: 2:00 - 4:00 PM

Venue: Old Library, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Topic: MBA 1.0 v.s. MBA 2.0

Participants:

Flex
Kejin
Charles
Austin
Liangming
Huijian
Lijun
Laohua (host)
Yale
Run Liu
Li Jian
Jian Shuo Wang

It is a biweekly gather that many ex-microsoft collegues gathers and exchange ideas.

Below are some random note for the discussion.

Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business

Meetup: Future Idea Foundry

Sat, 11 Feb 2006 10:33:45 +0800

I am at the Future Idea Foundry at the Starbucks of Zhong Shan Park Station of Metro Line #2.

Sunny Sunday.
Starting from 10:00 AM.
Futurists gather to share ideas in Shanghai on regular bases.
Participants are limited under 7.

Participants:

Isaac Mao
Michael Li
Zheng Xiaoyun
Jack Gu
Jian Shuo
Sun Yizhong
Bruce Wang
Sayonly

Ideas

3D Engine from Demo.com - based on Firefox engine.

it is can be a very interesting idea to install an extension to Firefox to revert the homepage of sina.com.cn and display it in a completely new way.

On watching TV on Mobile phone - Early Adopting Geeks

Movable Type via CDMA

Fri, 10 Feb 2006 23:47:14 +0800

Nice talk with Jia and Victor at night. It is late already. I’m now on a Dazhong taxi back home, passing by the Nanpu Bridge. The whole lighting system for the city was turned off already, so it is a little bit dark now.

I brought my laptop and connected to the Internet via China Unicom CDMA. (To get it, you have to purchase the card and subscribe their service.)

Waited Long for Yuxin Sichuan Dish

Thu, 09 Feb 2006 22:48:57 +0800

Yu Xin Sichuan Dish

3rd Floor, #333, Zhao Shang Ju Square,

North Chengdu Road 成都北路 (at the northwest corner of Weihai 威海路)

Reservation: 021-52980438

Many people in my team recommend it as the No. 1 Sichuan restaurant in Shanghai. I agree that it is a good one, although not sure if it is the best.

Really Long Queue…

When I called at 7:00 PM for reservation, the gentleman said they can give me a ticket with number, since there are many people waiting in line for seats already.

Why Fudan University Only Accept Cash

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 23:42:53 +0800

Edwin spent 5 days reading this blog to prepare for his/her jouney to Shanghai for short term language program at Fudan University, but still have some questions to ask. Among them, this one is particularly interesting:

Fudan says I have to pay the tuition (4000rmb) in cash (why cash?) – my question is since i have to change such a large sum of money and walk around with it in my pocket, is it safe? Is it better to exchange money at the airport or would I get a better exchange rate within the city? Do banks take traveller’s checks or should I use cash? – I find this uncomfortable as I never carry that much cash here in my daily life so it’s weird for me…

2006Q1 Plan

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 12:34:17 +0800

Install PMWiki and well maintain the site. (12 hours)

** Learn about PMWiki before March 1, 2006 (5 hours)

** Plan How it is Used by March 7, 2006 (5 hours)

** Between March 1 to March 15, 2006 (2 hours)

** Share Pages to Related People (2 hours)

Create plan for the search engine catcher on Shanghaixp.com

Google's Removed BMW.de

Tue, 07 Feb 2006 09:11:30 +0800

Max dropped an email to us: Google blacklists BMW.de this morning.

Two points I saw in this post and Cutts’ blog:

They (Google) have webspam team who do the removal MANNUALLY.
They think JavaScript redirect and presenting “too” different view for robot and to users are not good, as specified in their webmaster quality guidelines.

3 Comments

Hey jianshuo, I have read about the news this morning on my way to work.

I guess I am rather interested in what your thoughts are reading this piece of news?

I don't know why the first thing it jumped out of my head was: Google was not on good terms with BMW... but hey what do we know?

— dongdong · 2006-02-07 18:57

BMW.de is back on google search, they dropped BM coz BM were spamming the search engine. however, the other thing I wanna say is ebay -- really suck.. or may be ebay china suck... and support is useless!!!!

— James · 2006-02-10 15:32

yes i agree James, about your comments on ebay china :-)

— imran ali · 2008-03-24 20:39

Credit Cards Offer Discount at Preferred Stores

Mon, 06 Feb 2006 21:27:24 +0800

I hold credit card from the year of 1999. At that time, Credit Cards are not as popular as today. Most of the cards at that time are debut cards. But I never experienced discount offering as often as today.

When I went to the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf at the Raffles City, I was offered again for 10% off for my China Merchant Bank (CMB) Credit Card. All sales above 50 RMB and paid via CMB card are eligible for the offer.

The Last Day of Vacation

Sat, 04 Feb 2006 23:07:01 +0800

Feb 4 is the last day of the 7-day long Spring Festival vacation. Tomorrow, all the business will resume. It is nice to have a pause and a lot of thoughts become clearer than before. As a book put it, the natural is full of working - and rest. The Sun, the moon, the four seasons and the tide of sea - there are almost no single object that keeps running but never pause. So to take a vacation meets the rule of the nature.

Beijing Winter 2006

Fri, 03 Feb 2006 20:39:29 +0800

Ice field of the Summer Palace.

Thanks Che Dong for bringing the USB cable to me. That helped me a lot. Otherwise, I couldn’t take pictures at the Beijing Airport today.

P.S. I am happy to have dinner with my friends in Beijing again. Che Dong, Ada, An Ti, Lu Liang, Ming Zhu… (Finally, I found we represented many High-Tech companies: Baidu, Yahoo!, eBay, Microsoft, New York Times, and Bokee…)

I Need a USB Cable

Thu, 02 Feb 2006 12:44:46 +0800

I remembered to bring my camera (SONY P8) with me during my travel but left the cable connection at home. It is a gray USB cable with a standard USB outlet on the one side and a mini USB on the other side. Without the cable, all my 128M pictures still sit in my memory stick in my camera, and I cannot transfer them to my laptop. There are many photos of Beijing that I cannot share now.

Added Commenter Profile Page to MovableType

Wed, 01 Feb 2006 22:21:21 +0800

If you check the site careful enough, you will see a small icon besides the name of the commenter. It is newly added feature - Commenter Profile:

The link on the icon will lead you to the profile page of the commenter, so you understand what comments he/she has posted before.

Since it is based on display name only, don’t always take it for granted that people with same display name are the same person. If you found your name are too common, choose a more unique name.

Beijing is Cold. Life is Warm

Tue, 31 Jan 2006 22:50:03 +0800

I love Beijing so much. Although it is freezing outside, it is very warm inside any room. Thanks to the centralized heating system.

The food of Beijing is wonderful for me. I enjoy my life in Beijing as much as I did in Shanghai.

Beijing is my top travel destination. I have many articles in my Beijing category.

7 Comments

In US, there was old saying " In your life, you have to try two cities. One is San Francisco, but you have to leave before your heart becomes too soft, the other one is New York, but you have to leave before it is too hard". I had the same feelings about Shanghai and Beijing. The people and life style are very different, I missed both of them.

— BLUEKITE · 2006-02-02 09:39

I like the saying about SFO and New York. It is very different. Shanghai is similiar with New York in business sense, but like SFO in weather. Beijing and New York are both cold (exteremely cold) in winter, but the lifestyle is more like SFO...

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-02-02 17:27

Actually, Beijing is like neither NYC nor SFO. Beijing is more like Washington DC. SFO is unique, with its open spirit, romanticism and balmy weather.

— jqian · 2006-02-03 10:25

I'be been in Beijing in the beginning of February. There are very cold wind in city.

— Life · 2006-02-05 10:00

jqian;

You are right. I don't think Beijing is like neither NYC nor SFO. What I mean is that you should leave Beijin before you become completely Beijing Ren and you should leave Shanghai before you become completetly Shanghia Ren. By the way, SFO is my favorite city.

— BLUEKITECN · 2006-02-05 11:26

I'm from SF. I was in Beijing last week. I'm in Shanghai right now. :)

— DKwan · 2007-02-02 01:36

— vanni · 2007-03-08 17:57

Met with Sarah Schafer

Mon, 30 Jan 2006 21:27:22 +0800

In the cold Beijing morning, I waked up - ealier than avarage, and went to the Yansha (Lufthansa Center) to meet Sarah. Sarah is a nice journalist. She created a lot of reports on China for Newsweek. Among them, my favorite one is the Microsoft Culture Revolution - the cover story with a portrait of Bill Mao. After check Starbucks at the nearby hotel, the one at the Pacific Center (they were all closed), we finally settled down at Bookworm Library.

New Year's Eve - the Year of Dog

Sat, 28 Jan 2006 23:55:02 +0800

The year of Dog comes. It was said “every dog has its day”. Every 12 years, the dogs have their own year - the year of dog.

I will spend the Spring Festival in Beijing with Wendy this year. It is a special year for us. In my blood, I believe there is still lot of Northern China. I am more aligned with the culture in Beijing. To live in Beijing for sometime was part of our dream - finally, we can make it true.

Long Vacation of Spring Festival Comes

Fri, 27 Jan 2006 22:47:54 +0800

The Chinese New Year is coming.

There will be 7 day holiday in China, from Jan 29 to Feb 4. Offices will be closed and reopened on Feb 5.

Strange Calendar

Just now, when I want to check my calenar, I double click on the time display on the right of Windows taskbar, I saw this interface for the first time:

I don’t know what happened. I didn’t install anything, but why it changes to this view?

Overseas Chinese Get Back to Home

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 21:15:12 +0800

I never travel before the Chinese New Year on International (Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau) flight.

:-) International (Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau) is the standard term to discribe the type of flights in China. Although flight from Hong Kong is not international flight, passengers follow the same procedures as International flight. That is the reason it is quoted that way.

Every Spring Festival, transportation within China is a big problem, but I never imagine that international (T/H/M) flights are the same.

Hongkong Restaurants Close in New Year

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 20:54:27 +0800

At LAN KWAI FANG, I found a good restaurant, called YUNG KEE (镛记) Restaurant. It is at 32-40 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong. Tel: +85225221624. (D2 Exit at Central Station of MTR). It is amount the best of these days’ meals. There is a big KFC near it - the fact is, the KFC seems to be the most obvious sign there.

It closes from Jan 28 to Feb 1 during the Chinese Spring Festival to celebrate the holiday.

Second Day in Hong Kong in Jan

Tue, 24 Jan 2006 21:24:34 +0800

It was full day intensive meeting. Tired, and don’t want to type too much. It was exciting to talk with people with intensive experience in Asia. That was so good.

Hong Kong is a decent city, from the garden design to the dress of waiters in restaurant.
Sun came out today after 8 days (I heard) of cloudy and rainy weather. Hong Kong is such a charming city when it has blue sky and blue water (the reflection). When it is raining, it remians me of Shanghai in winter. Zhang Zhang said this winter, Shanghai is completely another London already.

Report from Hong Kong in Jan

Mon, 23 Jan 2006 23:53:00 +0800

This is the third time I am in Hong Kong. It is cloudy. The city does not look as charming as it was. After dinner, I walked back to hotel and took the following pictures as my memory of the short trip in Jan, 2006.

On the left is the Bank of China building, the master piece of I.M. Pei

View from hotel

Colorful lights

Lights II

Lovely English-Speaking Jinjiang Taxi Driver

Sun, 22 Jan 2006 23:43:55 +0800

After the nice meetup at the Canglong Fang, Jack, Xiaofeng and I happily got on board a yellow Jinjiang Taxi. Xiaofeng immediately noticed the driver is a four-star driver. They have a plate at the front of the passenger seat displaying their status of the stars. Four-star means at least he should be able to speak some English. Of cause, I didn’t realize this until about 20 minutes later.

When we were talking about the driving experience in Silicon Valley, since Xiaofeng still lives there, the driver suddenly asked us one question: “What is the difference between Freeway and Expressway in U.S?”

My Only Experience to Japan

Sat, 21 Jan 2006 21:44:17 +0800

I have only been to Japan once.

If I hadn’t tried to organize my old pictures, I even forget that I have been there for 5 hours at the end of 2004.

I enjoy travel, especially to places I have learnt about. For example, Japan.

Citizen in China can enter Japan without a visa for up to 72 hours. I have tried that. The only thing you need is a shorepass, although I was Rejected by ANA and Postponed Travel once in Shanghai.

Jobs in eBay Shanghai

Fri, 20 Jan 2006 23:38:27 +0800

It is the age of Internet. It is the age of booming. It is….

… the age of hiring.

Job Openings at eBay

There many technical and non-technical job openings in eBay Shanghai. Just in case you are interested, go to this page and here. Most JDs are in English.

Some positions:

Senior Software Engineer–Web Application
Senior Software Engineer–Search
Senior Software Engineer–Java
Testing Engineer/senior QA Engineer
HR manager
Senior QA Engineer
Senior Data Warehouse Engineer (China)

Search This Site

Fri, 20 Jan 2006 14:45:34 +0800

var ref = document.location.href;

if (ref.indexOf(’?’) != -1) {

qs = ref.substr(ref.indexOf(’?’)+1);

qsa = qs.split(’&’);

for (i=0;i<qsa.length;i++) {

qsip = qsa[i].split(’=’);

if (qsip.length == 1) continue;

if (qsip[0] == ‘q’ || qsip[0] == ‘p’) {

words = unescape(qsip[1].replace(/+/g,’ ‘));

try {

document.g.q.value = words;

}

catch(e) {}

}

Tip: Directly type and hit “Enter” on any page to start search

var googleSearchIframeName = ‘googleSearchUnitIframe’;

var googleSearchFrameWidth = 650;

var googleSearchFrameHeight = 1300;

var googleSearchFrameborder = 0 ;

Meetups are Good

Thu, 19 Jan 2006 23:34:23 +0800

Meetups

Hwhua called for a small Shanghai IT circle meeting this Saturday in SJTU (Shanghai Jiaotong University) (see? I am learning from the CEIBS (China Europe International Business School) case. The meeting are mainly some friends who worked together and now is Sanda, 9 City, eBay, Wicresoft, SAP, and Microsoft…

I heard there is another one by Keso, Liuren and Hwhua on Sunday? I didn’t get confirmation yet.

6e’s MSN changed to “Topic of this Search Salon: Anti-spam”. It seems they have a salon on search technology in Beijing tonight.

Best Blog Award?

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 23:38:32 +0800

Yesterday morning, got a big package from Beijing. It is a heavy one. Inside the box, there is a glass plate to inform me I am chosen as the top 10 blogger by Bokee.com. Here is the news.

The plate

Well. Let it be. Everyone organization is creating some noise as the top 10 blah-blah award in the blogging world. Since I get it, I accept it. That’s it.

I appreciate the award in 2003, because of several reasons. 1. The selection is the joint effort of almost all players (BSP, insitute, media). 2. At that time, there are not so many commerical considerations from the organizer. Here are the top ten list. Of cause they are all very nice blog, but are they (or are we) the top 10? I seriously doubt it.

Nokia Support Phone Numbers in China

Tue, 17 Jan 2006 22:03:41 +0800

4008-800123

Fax: 4008 800321

Web: www.nokia.com.cn/careline

International customers: +86-10-58692662

It is 24 hour phone call.

BTW, 400 phone numbers are like 800, but it only waive the long distance fee, and the customer still need to pay local fee.

I called today. Their service is good. I immediately forwarded to Tailin about their website to see how Kijiji can improve the customer service. :-) They also dropped a SMS to me to give me the reference ID. Nokia is fully localized in China. Well done.

Edwards' New LCD Dell 2405

Mon, 16 Jan 2006 18:31:59 +0800

Take a look at Edward’s New LCD Dell 2405:

Photography by Edward. Used with permission

This is called hobby. It gives a geek the highest satisfaction to add some cool hardware (computer related or camera related) into the collection. I had a lot of geek happiness before, (like this and that). I hope I can rest for several days to pickup something.

I like the light, the arrangement of the screens. The Dell computer at the corner attracted my attention. I used that model of computer for more than 3 years. It is the standard configuration in Microsoft.

PVG: Shanghai to Yangzhou

Sun, 15 Jan 2006 18:17:27 +0800

The question:

Hi-

I found your site from a google search. I want to find out how to get to Yang-Zhou from PVG airport. I have a meditation retreat at Yang-Zhou Gao-Min monastery. I know there is a bus between Yang-Zhou and Shanghai but don’t know where the bus stops are. Can you give me some suggestion on how to search the bus route? Thank you.

DY

This is a question that rarely has answers on the Internet. I searched the question in Google and didn’t find any practical reesult.

Smiling Saturday

Sat, 14 Jan 2006 20:00:51 +0800

Fresh Saturday - Jan 14, 2006.

The day started from the Qixiu Middle School of Si’nan Road. I love Si’nan Road greatly. It is almost the quietest street I can find in downtown Shanghai. You feel so especially at the moment when you turn into the road from crowded Huaihai Road.

This morning is the annual meeting of Smiling Library. It is the third year of their meeting. There are just too many meeting requests coming in every day, I believe it is my commitment to join their annual internal review meeting, as their consultant. I have been doing the job for almost three years with 2 hour commitment every 6 months.

Suggestions to Choose Hosting Company

Fri, 13 Jan 2006 18:14:32 +0800

The question:

Hi, Jianshuo

I know you are an experienced website owner and your blog are very popular.

I am in trouble in choosing the proper website host service, and what’s your website provider service?

Could you recommend some web site host service offered by foreign countries with the high ratio of quality to price?

Thanks

Jason

It is a good question. It is hard to make recommendation, especially when no service is really good from the unreachable high expection from a hosting customer’s point of view. I just share my experience.

Old Shanghai vs Current Shanghai

Thu, 12 Jan 2006 21:08:12 +0800

Jia sent me some pictures of Shanghai in old days. You will see the huge difference. I guess those pictures should be taken not too long ago. My best guess is at the end of 1980’s.

Xujiahui

Hey. Take a look at Xujiahui. When I first visited the place, it is not too different from the picture (it was in 1995), but some construction already started.

Annoymous photographer

What does this area look like? I have some pictures taken in 2005.

Both Bejiing and Shanghai Airports are Smarter

Wed, 11 Jan 2006 23:20:58 +0800

Beijing and Shanghai airports are among the two most important airports in mainland China. Lot of people complain about their service and management, but the good thing is, both airports get smarter day by day. It is good!

Shanghai Airport Learnt from Beijing to Rearrange the Lanes

At the very beginning, all the taxis in Hongqiao Airport line up in two lanes. When the one in the front stops and picks up passengers, the taxi behind it cannot move. If there is a delay at the front, 5 or more taxi need to wait (sometimes horns).

Xujiahui Metro Installed Auto-Door

Tue, 10 Jan 2006 23:51:29 +0800

Auto doors were installed in Xujiahui Metro Station. See pictures blow:

Taken by Jian Shuo Wang

The installation was not finished yet - only the frames. It was said the main reason to install the doors is not to ensure security (it IS one of the reasons), but the biggest advantage is to save energy for the air condition.

P.S. One of my Site Shutdown by ISP

The City and Its Moral Boundary

Mon, 09 Jan 2006 23:51:15 +0800

I start to wonder where the moral boundary is, or the ethics deadline people have in today’s Shanghai, the bigger and bigger city.

Farmer Selling?

There is a way called farmer selling. It is basically to hire enough very low educated people (many of them are only children under 18) and pay them to distribute those name-card-size advertisement cards on the street. It is annoying. In People’s Square or Xujiahui, there are many and you have to hide from them, escape from them, and sometimes fight with them to go to your direction. I hate those guys.

On Bokee (BlogChina) Staff Layoff

Sun, 08 Jan 2006 22:48:44 +0800

Yesterday, I got confirmed information that Bokee (former blogchina.com) really cut about 1/3 of its headcount. Although the news came out in late Dec 2005, and there are a lot of reports, I still didn’t believe it was true until I personally verified the news.

History of Blogchina

Blogchina.com grow from one person - Fang Xingdong to about 400+ employees by the end of 2005. It was amazing speed of growth.

I was a member of cnblog.org, a more academic group blog that started almost the same time as blogchina in 2002. The two groups (blogchina and cnblog) held very opposite oppions - blogchina goes to the completely commerical way (people in cnblog critized that it is no longer blog. It was going to the wrong way from the blogging spirit), and cnblog focused more on academic/reseach/future side of blogging, and till now, it is still a group of less than 20 people. That was the difference.

Highly Recommend Bookworm, Beijing

Sat, 07 Jan 2006 23:22:57 +0800

At night, I went to a bar (what they call themself as a library, but I expected to go to a bar or tea house), called Bookworm in Sanlitun area in Beijing.

It is a nice place to spend an free afternoon or night there. There are many books (16,000 as described in the store card) inside the library. Most of them are English books and magazines that you can borrow or read inside the library. It is much better beyond my expectation. The foods and drinks are not expensive. Typical coffee and tea are 15 RMB per cup, which is not bad.

Xiangyang Marketing will be Shutdown?

Fri, 06 Jan 2006 21:42:42 +0800

On the Shanghai Airlines flight from Shanghai to Beijing, I read the news on Shanghai Morning Post that Xiangyang Marketing will be shutdown soon.

I have a mixed feeling of the news.

Due to Fake Goods

According to the news, the reason to shutdown the market is because of too many fake goods in the market. 8 of 10 complain received on counterfeit goods are reported to be happen in Xiangyang Marketing, the commercial department said.

Met with An Ti, Chedong and Ada

Thu, 05 Jan 2006 23:20:55 +0800

Chatting with friends are nice. I have some wise and inspiring friends around me. I feel so lucky about that. Some ideas captured during the chat.

The trends are pretty linear and it is important to keep close eyes on what is about half steps ahead you.
Accumulate something that is can be accumulated, instead of some temperary stuff that can be easily crashed or taken away. What is more important does not really mean what is commonly accepted.

DSL in Shanghai

Wed, 04 Jan 2006 22:07:35 +0800

DSL (a.k.a ADSL) in Shanghai is the best quality broadband solution I have seen so far.

Iti s better than FTTB+LAN solution (which I am using at home) in terms of quality. ADSL is more reliable and more available. Sometimes FTTB+LAN fails because of lack of maintainance for the network equipment in your area, and it is only available for specific residential areas.

In contrast, ADSL seems always fast and reliable, and most places can just upgrade from a telephone line. I am of very pure luck that ADSL is not available in my area, which is very rarely heard among my friends.

My Contact Card

Wed, 04 Jan 2006 14:18:17 +0800

California

Lyn Jeffery iftf.org Lyn Jeffery ljeffery@iftf.org 650-233-9577

Carroll McNeill carrollmcneill@yahoo.com

Tom tom@aol.com

Idea Generators

Jin Xiaofeng xfjin@acornsoft.com +86-13916423447

Long Yang Road

Try to call Jin Xiaofeng out for dinner.

65 SMS in One Day on Jan 2

Tue, 03 Jan 2006 21:05:26 +0800

Yesterday, Jan 2, 2006, I left my mobile phone at home.

This morning, I was on the road. I brought out my Nokia 6670. I wanted to know how many phone call or SMS I missed in the second day of the holiday. I expect there must be many holiday greetings.

The text on the homepage (or should I call it desktop, depending on whether I am in Internet age or PC age?) was: 65 New SMS Messages.

I Don't Drive Well After Back from San Jose

Mon, 02 Jan 2006 22:38:38 +0800

After continuous 10 days of driving in San Jose area, I feel I do not drive as well as before in Shanghai. Recently, Wendy clearly feels unsafe when she is on board on the car. I feel the same. I start to become either too dangerous or too troublesome for other drivers in Shanghai. Here are some examples.

Stop at the STOP Sign

I tried to stop at the STOP sign. There is a STOP sign at the exit of my residential area. I need to make the left turn. I stop at the STOP sign, which is about 2 meters away from the main road - it is the road for bicycles. If a car follows me, 2 out of 3 times, the car will horn at me and almost hit me. They didn’t expect a car to stop for no reasons - there was no car running on the main road, and there is no bicycles on the bicycle lane.

Metro Line #4 Opens

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 21:01:24 +0800

Metro Line #4 in Shanghai (partly) opened to public on Dec 31 - the last day in 2005.

The new #4 is a circle line. Due to the huge accident of the tunnel near the Nanpu Bridge (water flooded into the construction site of the tunnel), the part from Lancun Road (in Pudong) and the Damuqiao Road (in Puxi near Xujiahui) didn’t open. I have no idea about when the tunnel will be repaired.

Happy New Year

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:53:06 +0800

This is the first post in the first several minutes of the year 2006.

Happy New Year

14 Comments

A very prosperous and happy New Year to You!

— Dobel · 2006-01-01 02:55

Hi, Jian Shuo,

We are so glad to see your blog is up and running! Wish your new year will have no further interuption to your blog.

Have a great 2006! Hope to see you soon!

April

— April · 2006-01-01 04:11

Xin nian kuai le, Jianshuo! But should you not be partying into the new year instead of sitting behind your computer :-) Hope to see you at the Toodou party this Friday!

— Marc · 2006-01-01 11:47

A very happy, healthy, and joy-filled New Year to you and Wendy and your families, Jian Shuo!

— Carroll · 2006-01-01 14:50

Happy New Year !

— Rat · 2006-01-01 16:59

Dear Jian Shuo

Happy new year to you. Thank you for your information on Shanghai as I am planning a trip in mid February 2006.

Vikram

Mauritius

— Vikram Jeetah · 2006-01-01 17:24

Jian Shuo and Wendy, Happy New Year! Wishing you all the best in 2006.

— RC · 2006-01-01 23:04

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all the best in coming year. :)

I'm a Thai girl who will go to study mandarin at Shanghai Jiaotong University in February.

I've got many useful informations about Shanghai from your blog. I've read your blog for 6 months but never posted any comment on your site. Just wanna greet you on this season. ;)

— Apple · 2006-01-01 23:49

happy new year and every day!

— cyhloi · 2006-01-02 00:48

Jianshuo,

Wishing you, Wendy and your families a very happy new year full of health happiness and prosperity. May all your dreams come true.

hava great year ahead

Sekhar

— Sekhar Sirigiri · 2006-01-02 13:20

happy new years from the other side of the world, canada

— Jordan Scheltgen · 2006-01-02 16:31

Happy New Year! This is a special new year, that I received greetings from all over the world - much more than last year. Happy New Year to everyone!

2006 means a lot to me. I believe it is the same for you. Jia you, everyone!

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2006-01-02 21:52

新年好！ -- From CT, USA

— chalupa168 · 2006-01-02 22:04

Dear ALL

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR;

Peter SUN.

— peter sun · 2006-02-14 14:26

(草稿 1217)

Sat, 31 Dec 2005 17:34:24 +0800

Do you have a favourite Blog? One that you read on almost a daily basis? If so, why not send them a Christmas Card by way of Thanks.

It is a great idea. Greeting cards! (src)

Mop Acquires Donews

Fri, 30 Dec 2005 20:56:00 +0800

The news of MOP acquiring 100% share of Donews arrived to me first from Yubo on SMS the day before yesterday. After that, many friends dropped me the news on MSN Messenger. I was not that surprised.

Liuren and Keso are my very good friend in Beijing. They helped me a lot when I just started to work for Kijiji, both on professional or personal aspect. I feel very happy about them after I heard the news. Although there are a lot of controversial discussion on the pro side or the con side, but I firmly support whatever decision Liuren and keso made.

Getting Back Home Late

Thu, 29 Dec 2005 23:10:27 +0800

Getting back home late from a small gather of old friends. 2005 almost past, and it was nice for us to review the year and talk about the interesting year. Everyone is looking forward to a great 2006. I am the same. It is late so I I will skip blogging tonight. (actually, it is not skipped - just a short one)

5 Comments

An advanced Happy New Year greating to you and Wendy.

Why is the time stamp for your post "Posted by Jian Shuo Wang at December 30, 2005 11:10 PM" when Beijing time now is only Dec. 30, 2005 08:10 AM?

— bigbro · 2005-12-30 08:12

Happy New Year! For archiving proposes, sometimes, I will change the posting time a little bit - about one hour before the actual time if I post something after the mid-night, so the entry will fall into the "technically" previous day. There is no better way to categorize the entry to the "real" day in MovableType. I try to keep one entry per day and if two entries appear at the same day, one is at the early morning and the other is at night, it does not really reflect the "feeling". However, I made a mistake when changing December 30, 2005 01:10 AM to the current version - forgot to change the date. I hope this change is not "dishonest". :-)

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2005-12-30 09:50

Happy New Year To U!

— xsqz · 2005-12-30 17:10

Happy New Year to you, Jian Shuo.

I'm looking forward to reading lots more interesting stuff on your blog in 2006!

— roz · 2005-12-31 12:17

Happy New Year! I hope your heart is filled with lot of little reasons to celebrate in the New Year.

— Daniel Prem · 2006-01-01 04:26

Meeting Place: Starbucks, Raffles City

Wed, 28 Dec 2005 23:47:44 +0800

Meeting Place:

Starbucks, Raffles City, 268 Xizhang Middle Road, Shanghai

About the Location

The Starbucks at the Raffles City is not a good store in the Starbucks family. It is small and crowded. However, it is very convinient with the location near the exit of Metro Line #1. It is the nearest meeting place for me (Jian Shuo), and easier to find. I have other locations that I choose to meet people, like Coffee Bean and Tea Leafs, but it is a little bit harder to find and only works for people familiar with the area.

Pressure at Year End

Tue, 27 Dec 2005 23:12:20 +0800

End of 2005 marks the enforcement of the ICP license and recordal requirements. This time, it seems they really mean it.

In my previous story, I outlined the requirements for the registration for website. The first requirement came out in the year of 2000, and asks all website with a domain name to file registration with detailed information with the government. Nothing happened after the deadline.

In 2002, it was said to be enforced again. Nothing happened.

High-Tech Company Logo Plate

Mon, 26 Dec 2005 23:07:35 +0800

Hengge and his Blogbus.com is going to move to a new warehouse in Longhua. He is obviously excited about the move and asked me for some photos of logo plate for high tech companies. He think it may inspires him about the design of new blogbus logo outside their small building. I am sorry that I didn’t response in a timely manner. Here are some I grabbed in my photo folders.

20 RMB per Month Unlimited WAP

Sun, 25 Dec 2005 22:58:09 +0800

It is old news already, but I think it is valuable information to visitors to Shanghai. China Mobile has decreased the price of GPRS. They are offering a package to give unlimited WAP access for 20 RMB per month. Here are the configuration details:

Access Point: CMWAP

Gateway: 10.0.0.172

CMWAP v.s. CMNET

I have been using GPRS from China Mobile for some time but I never really understand the difference between the two AP - cmwap and wmnet. The only thing I know was, to be able to access Internet, for example, from my laptop, or Dopod Smartphone to access Internet website like ebay.com, I have to use cmnet. If I only need to access WAP site, like WAP comment feed for this site, cmwap is enough. CMWap is cheaper - 20 RMB for all-you-can-eat while CMNET is charged by bytes.

Lilina Installed

Sun, 25 Dec 2005 18:44:47 +0800

Every time I install some application onto the server, it creates some maintainance task for me in the future. For example, here are the list of files accumulated in the last one and half years under /scripts/ folder, and it turned out that most of them does not have any value for me.

[.] [..] [ads] [air]

[air2] [bbs] [bill] [bin]

[bug] [commentsubscribe] [google] [Hello]

[homepage] image.php [L10] [links]

[links_fourth] [links_old] [links_third] [mailer]

Merry Christmas for My Friends and Family

Sun, 25 Dec 2005 00:01:05 +0800

Merry Christmas! The Christmas Eve arrives.

I’d like to send my Christmas gifts to a lot of people. As the saying: “Friends are the flowers in the garden of lives.” I love all my “flowers”. Merry X’mas to them.

Merry Christmas to Carroll

and Jim

. You gave me most of the “Christmas feeling” for sending me may X’mas greetings and inviting me to the trimming tree party. Hope you have a wonderful new year.

Age of Crazy Ideas

Fri, 23 Dec 2005 18:47:56 +0800

It is moving season. Joi Ito is also moving his blog to a new machine - according to Jio, he was changing IP address. DNS always take long time to replicate. I hosted my DNS with www.net.cn. I hope it will be working in the years to come.

Yesterday, talked with Yale in the decent place called Peace Masion (Wendy mentioned this place in her blog). We talked about lots of “crazy business” models, like the million dollar homepage. (In China, it was translated as Bai Wan Ge Zi - million boxes. I believe it is a great translation to reflect the pixel nature of the “business).

The 8-Day of Nightmare

Thu, 22 Dec 2005 23:41:16 +0800

Oh. I almost forget how to blog after 8 days - almost the longest pause in the history of three years. Let me explain what happened in the last 8 days.

Ipowerweb, the hosting company

First of all, I’d like to thank ipowerweb for hosting my site since April 03, 2004. The migration to ipowerweb was very painful, so did everytime I talk with them, but I have to say, the hosting experience was not bad - they only experienced very few server down, and for the rest, it is fast and smooth. But whenever customer service is needed, it will be exteremely bad experience for me.

Seems the site is partly back...

Thu, 22 Dec 2005 11:23:32 +0800

It seems so…

8 Comments

The comment also works

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2005-12-22 11:26

testing.... Welcome back.

— bigbro · 2005-12-22 12:43

merry christmas

shirley

— gong · 2005-12-22 13:06

good luck!

merry chiristmas and happy new year!

— qiusir · 2005-12-22 14:29

greetings!

— seajuan · 2005-12-22 15:32

Best wishes!

i cannot see your mail. Bad luck.

— reg · 2005-12-22 17:41

good to see you back Jianshuo.

— Gemme · 2005-12-22 20:52

Thanks everyone! Merry Christmas. I am also happy to be back.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2005-12-23 15:42

Wangjianshuo's Blog is Experiencing Difficulties

Tue, 20 Dec 2005 14:18:07 +0800

Hi all,

Sorry that the blog was down for more than 7 days, since Dec 13, 2005. This is the most difficult time for this blog since it was created. I am working very hard to solve this problem and hopefully, the blog will be online before Christmas.

**What happened? **

As I explained for the 8 hour down time for this blog, the ISP I chose, ipowerweb.com found there is some phishing content on my site (as they said), and it was their legal responsibility to shutdown the site (also as they said). The result is, they deleted the content I built in the last 3 years within one minute. I am working with them to get the data from the backup server. Meanwhile, I have switched to another hosting company. I should have done this earlier. When you see this small note, it means the DNS change has been replicated to most DNS servers (at least yours), and the website is served from this new server. It is already a big progress.

Sorry for Outage 8 Hours

Wed, 14 Dec 2005 04:10:04 +0800

Saw this? Congratulations! You are a frequent visitor to this blog.

Image in courtesy of ipowerweb

There are about 8 hour outage of the service today. All pages under home.wangjianshuo.com are not accessible, including hosting services for my friends mvm, wendy, claire and elfe.

I got an email from ipowerweb.com:

Hello,

Unfortunately, we have been forced to suspend your domain account for

the following reason:

For more information about this suspension, please contact

Happy Birthday to Chenta

Wed, 14 Dec 2005 01:13:05 +0800

Happy Birthday to chenta, as she wished.

Shall I Mention People's Name in Blog?

Tue, 13 Dec 2005 07:16:57 +0800

There are always choices when writing a blog, especially a blog that have many readers from different part of the world. The key, I believe, is to keep consistent for the chioces all the time. Frequency is a choice. My choice is (try) to keep it up everyday. Topic is another. I (try to) write only those things related to life, instead of too much technology or business, so it is not that boring for non-tech people and don’t reveal too much things people consider to be a secreate for business.

Happy Birthday to Robert Mao

Tue, 13 Dec 2005 05:04:01 +0800

The other day, on the street of Los Gatos, I saw a plate before a garden shop (I don’t know how to put it better. It is a shop selling flowers, garden tools and decorations). It says: Friends are flowers in the garden of life.

I have a lot of flowers in my garden of life. Robert Mao is one. Today is his birthday, and I’d love to send a happy birthday card. My card is special, a page on my blog (this page). He runs UUZone and inspired me a lot about the new ideas, philosophy of life and how to think out of box and get actively involved in the technical discussion around the world - he, as the CEO of a Nanjing based company, actively participate in many international events, that really helped a lot on the business.

Weekend at San Jose

Mon, 12 Dec 2005 14:54:37 +0800

Stayed in San Jose for the weekend. Thanks RC for taking care of me and showed me around the region and Carroll/Jim to host me for their trimming tree party at their beautiful house. I learnt a lot recently about how the U.S. society works. Some very interesting details I found:

Head in or Rear in?

At all the parking lot, most cars will put their head into the slot and rear pointing to the road. It seems the nature way. In Shanghai, most drivers will reverse to the parking lot, let the head of the car facing the main path. This seems to be abnormal behavior. This unified behavior may be because of “reverse to parking lot” is one of the test in the driving test in China. What an interesting result of the unified education! It is the same case to see majority of people in China only use right hand, dress similar with each other, and keep silent at class….

Hotmail Does Not Work

Sat, 10 Dec 2005 10:17:11 +0800

My password for my hotmail does not work now. There must be delay for replying your email. I also have some emails inviting me to dinners, sorry that I cannot make it or reply the email from hotmail due to the password problem, and I don’t remember the email address. :-( How bad. But thank you very much for your kindness.

28 Comments

Perhaps you can't even remember if there is cencorship in China?

LOL

— Bellevue · 2005-12-10 12:59

there's always the possibility some nasty person has found out your password and changed it...

— bob · 2005-12-10 17:01

Hey Bellevue, your comments are extremely boring and repetitive.

Yes, we know there is censorship in China. What else do you want to say?

By the way, if you choose a topic to rant about, spell it the right way. Its censorship, not cencorship.

— Brad · 2005-12-10 17:10

I want to say Wangjianshuo is a cheap liar, even if he spelled it right. You have a problem with that?

— Bellevue · 2005-12-10 21:27

Plus, Wangjianshuo is banning US embassy as a source in this blog. When I tried to quote a story from American embassy web page, I got 'this is a questionable source' warning.

A clear sign that what Wangjianshuo really believes in is anti-Americanism. He maybe talks nicely to Americans, but he can hardly conceal his diehard communist ideology.

— Bellevue · 2005-12-10 21:46

Confession:

Name:Constant Loser

Race:Male

Age:30 to 40

Race:White

Education:Master Degree in something and minor in Chinese

Relationship Status: Single (I used to date a girl, she though I am kind of intelligent guy, however, after three hours, she discovered that I am a single minded ass and might have some mental problem.)

Hobbies:Surfing internet and check out all of the Chinese blog to practice my Chinese and leave some comments and constantly reply them. I am always hoping someone can reply to me so I can fight back, since I don't have any friends, this is the only "human contact" I can get. Sometimes, I was so tired and bored by constantly hitting refresh button, then I will go to bath room to take a bio-break,

Eating habits: Breakfast: 7 up with Bacon

Lunch: Burger with French fries

Dinner: French fries with burger

Principles: Do not buying anything made in China. The only exception is my computer, since I really don't have time to check each of the parts.

Family: I grow up as a loveless child which might explain some my behavior, which is really not my fault.

Wishes: Please continue ignoring me, that is the only way I can die.

Happy holidays to everyone, since I really don't have anyone to say this to.

— Bellevue Alter Ego · 2005-12-11 01:32

LMAO that was hilarious, but it is right on. Maybe you should also mention that he got "yellow fever" and got dumped by some asian girl, probably a chinese. Thats how he got this serious hate.

— Peter · 2005-12-11 02:50

Wow how did you know all that stuff about me?

I am sorry for my behavior. Sorry for calling you a liar Jianshuo.

I realize that I have a problem :(

Please help me!

— Bellevue · 2005-12-12 15:03

Hey Bellevue, please post your pic along with the pic of the Chinese girl who dumped you. Then I can analyze them to see and understand why.

— Boveman · 2005-12-14 23:05

hotmail inbox is not opening

— sushila · 2005-12-30 18:31

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo ahhaha make me wanna

— trim · 2006-05-17 05:36

hotmail is again not working, that really sucks! why all this censorship in china? why!!!???

— victor · 2006-05-18 14:53

whay the hotmail company give this problam.and i don't know maybe this is my mistake.so any way please can help me.Opne my e-mail . Thank you!

— muhammad tanveer · 2006-05-19 00:15

just want to say just saw this site couple of minutes ago i was reading these comments and some of them seem really pointless. By the way this site is really good. But, some of the comments are a waste of space e.g: bellevue and brad. Just saying again this site is pretty cool.

— ... · 2006-07-01 09:34

cannot sign in msn messneger error 8004883

— tina · 2006-08-04 08:05

cannot sign into my msn messenger

— Tina · 2006-08-04 13:27

jow du a mek a msn adi ????? tell me plzzzzzzzzzzzz xxxxx

— georgi · 2006-09-10 04:06

hay guys i dont know how to make msn id please help meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee thanks

— khatira · 2006-12-02 01:53

mi computadora no funciona no me acepta el pasbor

— jairo · 2007-05-04 00:12

I have not been able to open my hot mail fof a week do not no what to do as have overseas mail how can i open and look at

— pete · 2008-01-19 07:04

Have a German Hotmail account, and have experienced no problems so far to log in - neither on the website nor on MSN Messenger.

If the problems persist, try to circumvent the standard traffic route...the web should offer a lot of hints on how to accomplish this. For example, if you're still registered with an institution (such as a university) in your home country, a VPN connection via that institution would an option.

— DB · 2008-01-19 09:58

I can't get into Hotmail, every time I try to go to the site it says that the Internet cannot connect to the site, saying that maybe my connection is down, but of course it isn't because I can get on every other site! MSN doesn't work either, it says "We were unable to sign you in to the .NET messenger service, possibly because of a problem with the service or with the service. Please make sure you are connected to the internet." But I AM connected, I'm on it right now!! Suggestions for help please?

— confused · 2008-04-20 02:12

hahahahahah that bellveu guy really got canned hahahahah probably a computer nerd sitting at home and jerking off...i think u hurt his feelings man...dont wanna b watching the news and find out a ceratin bellvue smith has commited suicide.

— shaun · 2008-08-13 21:16

Hotmail does not connect i push hone button abd when i select hotmail nothing happens and it says done on bottom left

— Michelle DesJardins · 2008-12-09 07:47

i have no problem with my passord althogth in won't get the messages cause hotmail doensn't work

alternative email exiledinohio@roadrunner.com

— Michelle DesJardins · 2008-12-09 07:55

now i can't sign either

— Michelle DesJardins · 2008-12-09 07:59

Reset my password for my hotmail account and I must have keyed it in wrong. Requested an email to the account to reset unable to access my hotmail now so, I cannot get into the hotmail account.

Also, how do I copy my categories over to my live id.

Thank you,

Shari

— Shari Olson · 2009-01-12 08:44

Now, I've forgotten my Live ID password. I haven't even started to drink that is YET.

Also, I want to use Outlook for this ID how do I go about setting this up.

Thanks

— Shari · 2009-01-12 08:58

SFO Pictures

Fri, 09 Dec 2005 14:00:56 +0800

Post some pictures in SFO on US 101. Victor was with me and took the pictures.

Photograph by Victor

Night, had dinner at Los Gatos - I love the small town - the town were lit up for X’mas - really nice place.

17 Comments

Such blue sky!

I can hardly remember when I saw the blue sky in Shanghai .

Maybe a few days during one year after a heavy rain or snow.

— odysseus · 2005-12-09 14:40

I was interested in your photos of the indoor skiing palce in Shanghai.

We will be there shortly. We have two teenage sons who are keen to ski.

Can you tell me how to get there from the Bund.

best regards

Elisabeth

— ELisabeth · 2005-12-09 16:23

Dear ELisabeth, easiest way is to jump on subway line no. 1 southbound to Xinzhuang Station (terminal station), then get a taxi from there.

If you can print this chinese text, it will be of big help for the driver !

上海七莘路1835号（近顾戴路口）

Otherwise, go to the english homepage (not very informative, but...) :

http://www.yinqixing.com/wgyy.htm

If you can, bring your own clothes, as the provided ones are not quite "delicate"...

Anyhow, the slopes is weak, but the skiing is fun, and watch lots of people trying to...!

— carsten · 2005-12-09 20:37

Dear ELisabeth, easiest way is to jump on subway line no. 1 southbound to Xinzhuang Station (terminal station), then get a taxi from there.

If you can print this chinese text, it will be of big help for the driver !

上海七莘路1835号（近顾戴路口）

Otherwise, go to the english homepage (not very informative, but...) :

http://www.yinqixing.com/wgyy.htm

If you can, bring your own clothes, as the provided ones are not quite "delicate"...

Anyhow, the slopes are weak, but the skiing is fun, and watch lots of people trying to...!

— carsten · 2005-12-09 20:37

Dear ELisabeth, easiest way is to jump on subway line no. 1 southbound to Xinzhuang Station (terminal station), then get a taxi from there.

If you can print this chinese text, it will be of big help for the driver !

七莘路1835号（近顾戴路口）

Otherwise, go to the english homepage (not very informative, but...) :

http://www.yinqixing.com/wgyy.htm

If you can, bring your own clothes, as the provided ones are not quite "delicate"...

Anyhow, the slopes are weak, but the skiing is fun, and watch lots of people trying to...!

— carsten · 2005-12-09 20:38

These buttons trick me... Computers !!! HA!

— carsten · 2005-12-09 20:41

Odysseus, this evening in Shanghai there are 1 moon and 2 planets, no stars.

I miss the blue skies too !

— carsten · 2005-12-09 20:45

ELisabeth,

The skiing site you want to visit is Shanghai Yinqixing Indoor Skiing Site.It locates at 1835 Qixin Rd, Minhang District.

You can take the Metro from Mid Henan Rd Station(direction: Zhongshan Park Station), then change to Metro Line 1 at next station People Square Station(direction: Xinzhuang Station). Arrive at terminal station(Xinzhuang Station), you can find free regular bus at the North Square of Xinzhuang Station after you walk out of the station. Every half an hour, from 9:00 am to 21:00 pm. Or, you can take a taxi at the square,it will cost you 20 Yuan to get there.

Also, you can visit the website: http://www.skiing.com.cn/ to get more information.It has English Version.

— odysseus · 2005-12-09 21:09

Only 1 moon at your first glance on the sky.Observe carefully, you can find 2 planets, seems that no stars.:)

— odysseus · 2005-12-09 21:17

Odysseus, I did, as I wrote to you! NO stars at all.

That's the point for the outcomers... :-)

But, this evening is 10 deg's warmer than the last 5 days, Yeehaaaa !

— carsten · 2005-12-09 23:12

Always check the weather here at : http://uk.weather.com/weather/local/CHXX0116

— carsten · 2005-12-09 23:15

odysseus, Your dream sky will re-appear if China runs out coal and oil.

— stephen · 2005-12-09 23:32

It's not just the blue sky I miss. I yearn for the crispy, clean and cool air outdoors as well as the non-smoking environment as well. I read in an article not long ago. Percentage of smokers in the Bay area stands at around 12%. Only 7% of the Chinese American men smoke there vs 67% of the men smoke in China.

— tw · 2005-12-10 06:55

JS, check your work email.

— RC · 2005-12-10 12:51

Above blue sky and all others, what you really must be missing in China is decent people.

How many Chinese look straight at your eyes when they are talking to you?

— Bellevue · 2005-12-10 12:56

LOL Bellevue, you sure got hate against chinese, well with minor modification, read how someone profiled you, imo, it is right on.

Name: Loser aka Bellevue

Race:Male

Age:30 to 40

Race:White

Education:Master Degree in something and minor in Chinese

Relationship Status: Single (Since I got "yellow fever", I used to date this chinese girl who dumped me coz of my "mental" problems. Thats why I hate all chinese, no exception!)

Hobbies:Surfing internet and checking out all of the Chinese blog to practice my Chinese and leave hate comments. I am always hoping someone can reply to me so I can fight back, since I don't have any friends, this is the only "human contact" I can get. Sometimes, I am so tired and bored by constantly hitting refresh button, but heck thats the price I am willing to pay for some human contact.

Eating habits: Breakfast: 7 up with Bacon

Lunch: Burger with French fries

Dinner: French fries with burger

Principles: Do not buying anything made in China. The only exception is my computer, since I really don't have time to check each of the parts.

Family: I grow up as a loveless child which might explain some my behavior, which is really not my fault.

Wishes: Please continue ignoring me, that is the only way I can die peacefully.

Happy holidays to everyone, since I really don't have anyone to say this to.

— Bellevue alter ego II · 2005-12-12 07:01

My gosh, Bellevue sounds like he could star in the sequel to the movie 'The 40 Year Old Virgin.'

— Bovemanm@yahoo.com · 2005-12-14 22:58

Jet Lag Patterns

Thu, 08 Dec 2005 13:54:40 +0800

Jet lag!I hate jet lag.

The pattern for my jet lag is clear and repeartable. Let me keep a record of my experience these days to make sure the next time I travel, I understand which part of the time is the most inefficient and try to avoid important meeting during these time slots.

The First Day

I don’t feel the jet lag the firts day. After UA858 arrives in the morning, the excitement of travel (and obviously combined with the excitement to be able to move after sitting there for 12 hours) makes the first half day wonderful. The lunch will be as exciting as normal, and I will be happy to eat something after being hungry the whole morning. In the after (SFO time), I am still feeling great until around 4:00 PM. I started to feel tired and 5:00 PM is the peak that I would quit from anything to fall asleep. I will wake up 5-8 times at night.

In San Jose Already

Tue, 06 Dec 2005 07:07:48 +0800

Don’t worry about me. Jia dropped us an SMS as early as 6:30 AM Shanghai time about whether we arrived safely. Thanks. I am OK. I am in San Jose already. The weather in California is great - as everytime I visit - sunny, cool wind, and nice color of the trees. California always seems so clean - there is a long way for Shanghai to go to get rid of pollution. I believe it is something meaningful that I want to spent more time on it.

Flying to SFO

Sun, 04 Dec 2005 22:30:02 +0800

Flying to San Francisco again tomorrow. I will be back to Shanghai on Dec 15, Shanghai time. During these 10 days, I will keep blogging but keep in mind that the time of the entries will be offset by 8 hours.

**Itinerary **

PVGUA 858 05DEC 1345 0810

SFOUA 857 14DEC 1355 1930+1

I hate jet lag, and I know I have to experience it again.

Life is the Accumulation of Mileage

My Connection to the City

Sun, 04 Dec 2005 21:59:46 +0800

To live in a city does not always mean you have a lot of connections with the city. Let me pause, look back and create a repository of the connections I have to this city.

Connection - by my definition, is the time/moment that I feel that I am in this city, not that city…

Weather.
Radio. I listen to radio on my way home in the car. Recently, I pay more attention to two programs, one is Liveitupshanghai from 10:15 to 11:00 PM at 93.4 FM, and Pian Pian Qing, from 9:00 to 10:00 PM at 89.9 FM. At home, when I cannot find out my radio set, I logon to web listen online.

Perhaps Love Movie

Sat, 03 Dec 2005 22:16:18 +0800

A cold Saturday. At night, since there is only one person at home, I drove (I even didn’t know why I drove there) to the Super Brand Mall to see movies. There are many movies on show recently, such as “The Legend of Zorro”, and “Wu Ji”, it seems the most attractive one is “Perhaps Love”. eBay is the sponsor for this film. I was involved in it. I feel deep connection with the film before it comes out already.

Shanghai is Still Highly Polluted

Fri, 02 Dec 2005 22:01:13 +0800

Today, the weather is the same (except colder) and the dark gray, almost yellow sky is still like several days ago. According to local newspaper, it had been the 8th continuous day of grade II (which means slightly polluted). Based on my observation, I guess today should be the 10th continuous polluted day. So called “slightly polluted” is already “very polluted” in normal people’s view, because it starts to do harm to people already.

World AIDS Day

Thu, 01 Dec 2005 22:10:36 +0800

Today is world aids day.

Today is the day to think, but this year, as the previous year, we don’t have a site to link.

I am not sure why the Linkandthink.org project was paused since 2003.

I liked to the site on 2002, and 2003.

6 Comments

I think it is necessary for us to start a page to introduce knowledge of AIDS, or furtherly, a site on AIDS with a BBS. There we can learn general knowledge of AIDS, and can exchange views on people that have been affected by the AIDS virus.

— cunning · 2005-12-03 09:39

Everyone knows that Wangjianshuo is not a native Shanghai folk. Instead Wang was born in Henan province, the very part of China plagued by the epidemic HIV/AIDS.

Yet you'll never read anything from this 'famous China blogger' on the fact of his home province. Like it never happend: the corruption of the local offical, the cover-ups, the persecution of the advocates and those unfortunate ones. At the mamont, the atrocity goes on.

So there is no censorship, huh? So China is 'peacfully erecting', right, Mr. Wang Jianshuo?

The real hero of Henan is Dr. Gao Yaojie, who braved the oppressive regime to fight the pandemic:

Grandmother Courage

She's just a retired country doctor, but GAO YAOJIE refuses to keep quiet about the plague ravaging China

By TIME staff HANNAH BEECH

Grandmas aren't supposed to raise hell. In general, they potter around their crammed apartments, grumble about their senile husbands and make endless mugs of tea for visitors. Gao Yaojie, a tiny 75-year-old from China's central Henan province, does all that-and a great deal more.

In 1996, the retired doctor examined a patient complaining of what he called "the strange disease." Then came another with "no-name fever." And another with "weird sickness." Alarmed, Gao notified provincial medical officials that thousands of peasants who had sold plasma to illegal blood banks during the mid-1990s were all being struck by the same deadly affliction: AIDS. Dirty needles and recycled blood, she discovered, had led to HIV infection rates of more than 50% in some Henan villages. In the village of Wenlou, for instance, three generations of one family died within a two-month period. Gao estimates that up to 100,000 people in Henan might be infected with HIV.

Instead of being lauded for her handy detective work, Gao herself was put under investigation. Local cadres told her to keep quiet, lest she bring bad p.r. to the province. Gao's phone was tapped and her mail seized. "They thought they could scare me into not saying anything," says Gao."But what can they do to an old woman like me?"

Undeterred, the diminutive doctor donned her frayed Mao jacket and, defying official orders, printed up hundreds of thousands of flyers and pamphlets to educate rural residents about AIDS. Gao has also spent thousands of dollars of her own pension to buy medicine for the sick of Henan. For her energetic endeavors, she was awarded the Jonathan Mann Award, a $20,000 prize from the Global Health Council. But the government, afraid that she would expose China's dirty secret, barred Gao from traveling to the U.S. to accept the honor. Instead, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan attended the ceremony in her place.

After years of playing dumb and losing valuable time to educate its citizens, Beijing has admitted that China has a burgeoning AIDS problem. But Gao is not convinced by the government's plodding "Five Year Plan" to stem the disease. Despite their big talk, Beijing cadres have only admitted to the existence of one AIDS village in Henan, ignoring the dozens of other hamlets where HIV is flourishing. Nor is the much-publicized money the government has sent anywhere near enough to treat the thousands of farmers who die before ever knowing the name of the disease that killed them.

Meanwhile, the nation is projected to have 10 million HIV-positive citizens by 2010. "The government says their plan will prevent an AIDS epidemic," Gao says. "But even an old woman like me knows the problem has already reached epidemic proportions." While the authorities continue to downplay China's AIDS problem, Henan's peasants know they can count on a wrinkled woman named Grandma Gao.

— Bellevue · 2005-12-05 20:38

Fighting against HIV/AIDS need people all over the world. We should take safeguard for ourselves but we should not be afraid of HIV/AIDS, The Scientists like He Dayi, is working hard on HIV/AIDS curing. But for us, common people, we should take more care of people who is infected by HIV/AIDS.

— R DU · 2005-12-06 11:10

News about Henan, Wangjianshuo's native province notorious for its 'AIDS village':

http://www.usembassy

-china.org.cn/sandt/henan-jiangnan-ribao.html

Title: Henan "AIDS Villages" Up to 62 Percent HIV Infection Rate

— Bellevue · 2005-12-10 21:39

help me in toeic

— ara · 2006-01-03 23:17

help me in toeic

— cv · 2006-01-03 23:19

Maglev Extended Time

Wed, 30 Nov 2005 23:03:55 +0800

Good news. Maglev extended the operation time from today, according to Shanghai Daily.

The trains will run from 7am until 9pm instead of the normal 8.30am to 5.30pm

I complained that although Maglev is my first-choice if I can take Maglev, I only took Maglev for once. I believe I am a frequent flyer, but I seldom take flight later than 9:00 or get back to Shanghai early than 6:00. So I missed Maglev. Maglev connects the airport to my home (somewhere 4 km away from my home) and it takes only 8 minutes, but I wasn’t able to enjoy te benifit.

Polution in Shanghai - Part II

Tue, 29 Nov 2005 22:42:32 +0800

This is the seconf part of Polution in Shanghai.

It is the second time my warm hearted reader Carsten send photos on Shanghai to me. Last time, carsten wrote

I would like to help people here to be more aware of, and understand, that if all do a little every day, it will have a tremendous impact.

This time, Carsten sent me another picture taken from CA164:

Shanghai Metro News

Mon, 28 Nov 2005 21:59:50 +0800

Here are some piece of Shanghai Metro news.

Folded Bicycles

According to the regulations, folded bicycles (not sure how I can put it. It is a bicycle that you can fold to make it smaller) are allowed on Metro. Some people ride bicycles to Metro Station, fold it, carry it onto the metro cart and unfold it at the destination station and ride to work.

Practically speaking, it is not so easy to carry it in rush hours, but many people do. The problem is, on some very crowded stations, say, from Cao Bao Road to Xujiahui, or Shanxi South Road to People’s Square on Metro Line #1, or from Dong Chang Road station to People’s Square on Metro Line #2, if someone carries a folded bicycle, it may reduce the capacity of the cart and someone may not able to get to that train. I believe I will feel bad or at least a little bit embarrased at that time, although it is accepted by the regulation.

Wheat Powder Fuwa (Olympic Mascots)

Sun, 27 Nov 2005 22:37:58 +0800

See this picture. I took it in Changfeng Park - the Beijing 2008 Olympic Mascots created by the woman. She used wheat powder and color to create the toys.

P.S. Previous Issue of BusinessWeek on Microsoft

The Sept 26, 2005 issue of BusinessWeek is wonderful. I read almost every single article on this issue. The article “Troubling Exits At Microsoft” is a good one, as other articles in the magazine. I was surprised to two things: 1) BusinessWeek is sensitive to new stuff like AJAX, Tag, or Cyworld. 2) One statement in comment on this site is true: “No readers are interested in the questions interviewees are willing to answer”. There are many tough questions for Steve Baller. One example was “[some employees] question whether you should be CEO. What’s your response?”. OMG…

Busy as Keyword

Sat, 26 Nov 2005 21:25:49 +0800

How fun. Some one searched:

I am extremely busy recently in Google and got to my site. Haha.

my life is busy

P.S. I found a strange trend that when I ask my friends around me, “How are you doing these days”, the more common answer is “Busy” or “exteremely busy”. I have two or three friends who are always happy to describe how many lunched they have skipped or how many nights they didn’t sleep. The question is, is “being busy” something to show off? Is he taking “being busy” as an accomplishment or archivement?

Craigslist's Success

Fri, 25 Nov 2005 17:54:20 +0800

Hi my readers, I need some help for you. I am thinking hard about the success of craigslist in San Francisco and other cities in U.S. I just read an article on Craigslist written by a reporter from 21st Century Econoics Report. He visited SFO and interviewed Craigslist and created the nice report. (It is one of my favorite newspaper that I will buy at the news stand twice everyweek).

For those who has used Craigslist or highly rely on it, would you please help me to list top 5 most attractive things in Craigslist or the top 5 reasons why Craigslist is so successful? Thanks.

How to Read Shanghai Bus Stop Plate

Thu, 24 Nov 2005 22:53:52 +0800

Edward told me he is still confused when he read Chinese Bus Stop Plate in Shanhgai after living in the city for 3 years. He came from UK and travelled a lot in China. The most confusing part is about the difference between “Upward” and “Downward” route. Let me try to help explain it.

A typical bus stop plate in Shanghai

Here is the informaiton on the plate. People who do not understand Chinese may also recognize the information.

Inside the Shanghai Radio Staiton

Wed, 23 Nov 2005 23:42:38 +0800

I visited the Shanghai Radio Station this afternoon (for the first time) for a radio program.

The Security Check

Shanghai Radio and East Radio are two major (if not the only two) radio stations in Shanghai. It was easy to enter the building. Radio station is always a sensitive location in China. The security check was intensive. I waited in the line for quite some time before I arrived at the window of the gate outside the building. It was cold outside and three security guards were looking at me to fill a form with my name, gender, telephone number, home address, company name, the person I visit, the room number, and deposited my national ID card.

Some Recent Magazines about Me

Tue, 22 Nov 2005 23:32:14 +0800

Some pictures from the recent magazines.

I found the following pictures from keso’s flickr share - with wangjianshuo as tag. Thanks Keso. His camera seems great - with a nice long lens so the background is nicely blured.

The following was taken from the recent article of San Lian Life Weekly. Thanks Shangjin for organizing the great series on blog.

13 Comments

You are a star! btw, I like the hat. :)

— RC · 2005-11-23 00:09

you are famous man:)

keep on the good work.

— Shane · 2005-11-23 00:49

Indeed, blog shorten the distance between the person in that magazines and those who are reading the magazines. Is this one of Web 2.0 concept?

— Richard Hong · 2005-11-23 07:34

such a celebrity! watch out for the paparazzi on your next bike ride or jog!

— Brad · 2005-11-23 14:36

What is the name of the magazine and the title? More about it please.

— cyhloi · 2005-11-23 15:13

The first (keso's picture) should be the 21st Century Business Review （二十一世纪商业评论）, a very expensive magazine (from the normal people's view) - 18 RMB per issue. The later is "三连生活周刊", or the Sanlian Life Weekly.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2005-11-23 18:49

This guy is way too much into himself. His blog is basically a propaganda machine, always good things about Shanghai and himself. Where is the information about the big anti japanese protests in Shanghai? Avian flu? Skype blocking by the government?

Why is it wrong to discuss all this here? If all you are going to talk about are good things, I might as well read some government propaganda.

btw i was a big fan of this blog before the total censorship of the anti japanese protest (although there was one "rosy" report of the protest after some complaints by readers here). Sure, I dont have to read this if I dont like it and I intend not to. I suggest, go to Shanghaiist website if you need good solid and no holds bar information about Shanghai.

— Peter · 2005-11-23 20:50

中国网民：我们可以畅所欲言

Mr. Wangjiashuo, do you 畅所欲言 today?

Cheap garbage!

— Bellevue · 2005-11-23 21:28

Peter: this blogger actually knows nothing about the soul of the city he had moved in to seek fortune. In this blog, some part of reality was left out due to his self-censorship, like you had pointed out; other omissions are simply out of his own ignorance.

It's not easy to find out, that despite its tragic falling into the hands of communists in 1949, Shanghai still retains some Old World glory in its architecture and culture. Yet you'll never read a bit of it in his blog. For a crass nouveau riche such as wangjianshuo, Shanghai's past has never existed.

I pity this great city, for it is now represented in blogsphere by such a redneck, who cares everything about serving his communist master but nothing about history and heritage.

— bellevue · 2005-11-23 23:03

Bellevue:

Please do not step on garbage or produce garbage here.

— ander · 2005-11-24 11:13

This post seems too much to worship yourself.

— Oncerest · 2005-11-24 11:20

Haha. It seems so - some kind of "cult of personality". Sorr for that. Just want to make fun when I saw keso posted the pictures onto his Flickr. What a surprise and I want to echo to Keso's effort to take the pictures and especially adding a tag - what a great tool for people to find things since searching wangjianshuo in technorati.com and these pictures comes out. Yes. The pictures are too big - I even got red face when seeing that.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2005-11-24 12:46

I know this is your personal blog, Jianshuo. But, it is obvious that you are a kind of an official person already.

Just see the bottom of this page, you wrote that. Sounds like advertising ! No need for that, as your readers know you well.

Modesty is the rule for real heroes.

As you are living in Shanghai, postings could be more critical to be of help to outsiders visiting this town. Not only good things, but bad as well.

You have the chance to view the city with other eyes than born citizens of Shanghai, as you are a "foreigner" from outside of Shanghai (just like most of us readers).

So, Peter and Bellevue has some points, I think !

The lack of "nerve" in the postings...

However, I clearly understand your resistance to open up too much for the reality of Shanghai, as you don't want CCP to add you to their list of people with lethal holes in their heads...

Maybe start a new blog besides this ?

Your comment is very welcome, Jianshuo !

— carsten · 2005-11-29 19:21

Fun Toys on the Web These Days

Mon, 21 Nov 2005 17:17:59 +0800

How Much does This Blog Worth?

This is the question people like to know. So when http://www.business-opportunities.biz/ tried to answer this question, many people got so interested, although everyone know it is just a game. The rule is simple. The price is calculated by the incoming link on Technorati using the same link to dollar ratio as the AOL-Weblogs Inc deal. I don’t think I will put a link like this to my home page, but I’d like to play with some of the interesting tools.

Cycling in Pudong

Sun, 20 Nov 2005 19:27:05 +0800

What a nice Sunday afternoon. It has been quite some time before I can enjoy the peaceful weekend. I am so satisfied to stay at home and feel the good mood of “having nothing to do”, and start to think of doing something new, something crazy, and something unusual.

So, what is the unusual thing in my life? Yes. The bicycle. Since I bought the Giant bicycle and completed the Taihu tour in 2003, I seldom used the bicycle especially after I got my car in March, 2004.

Jian Shuo Wang in San Jose in Dec

Sat, 19 Nov 2005 16:48:41 +0800

I will have a trip to San Jose in early Dec. The weekend, Dec 12 and Dec 13, are open. I’d like to meet more friends there and take the opporunity to continue to improve my understanding about the U.S. sociaty and especially on technical side. Web 2.0 is a buzz word in China. I want to learn more new application and innovation. :-) If you happen to be in that area, feel free to post a comment or drop me an email.

IPEVO Skype Headset Hardware

Fri, 18 Nov 2005 23:26:36 +0800

Today, I tried the new Skype phone from PCHome-Skype from Taiwan. It is a wonderful application - very cute iPod-like design, cute buttons, and much improved voice quality above already very nice quality of Skype.

The Skype Phone

Although it is basically not a big change from using mouse+screen+software to a headset, when I experienced it, it still brings big difference into the experience.

The coolest thing is to press the green “+” button in the middle. It is the starting number of any Skype out. For example, I can call +862168xxxxx to call my home, or +8610xxxxxxxx to a phone in Beijing, or +861391614xxxx to call any mobile in China, even +1416xxxxxxx to call phone in Toronto… It is so nice. The rate is 0.017 Euro per minute. It is half the price for regular mobile phone’s receiving rate…

Added Tag to Category Archive Template

Thu, 17 Nov 2005 15:40:57 +0800

Tagging is important. MovableType does not support tagging. There is a plugin for it, but it only applies to MovableType 3.16 or higher, not my MovableType 2.66.

So I leveraged category as tag in MovableType 2.66. To add enough categories that covers all the “tag” I want to create. Maybe in the future, I need someways to automate the creating, mapping and final “save” action of the tagging system on MovableType.

Cold Winter Comes

Wed, 16 Nov 2005 23:50:55 +0800

Cold winter comes to Shanghai. The sky was clear, but really cold. It has been two or three weeks that Shanghai was cloudy. Today is the first day recently to see blue sky.

Branches of trees were cut, so they can preserve some energy for the winter. The green color disappeared leaf by leaf in my garden. The good thing I know is, I don’t have to worry about the grass for at least three months.

International Events in Shanghai

Tue, 15 Nov 2005 23:02:09 +0800

Today, I visited Ad:Tech briefly in the morning and attended the keynote panel. It was obvious Ad:Tech this year is an international event. Many people from outside China arrived in the Shanghai International Convention Center. There were not many people attending the conference. The conference hall was about 30% full.

The session was conducted in English at the beginning. COO of Sina and Director of MSN attended the panel. The language barrier was obvious. In which language a conference is presented now is an important decision. English seems to be the usual choice, but it really breaks down the communication this morning. It presents the same problem if the session is completely in Chinese. It is especially hard if English is not the native language for the panelists. I don’t know what about native English speakers; at least I tried very hard to understand.

Going to Ad-Tech Tomorrow

Mon, 14 Nov 2005 18:22:05 +0800

I didn’t think ad-tech is a big deal. I even didn’t notice that the conference is not far from my home. Recently, I got some emails asking about hotel or transportation informaiton. They started the mail like “I am going to the ad-tech…”

I realize it may not be a small event. To me, only COMDEX, or recent etech is big thing.

I happen to get the ticket for the ad-tech. So I decided to visit there with enough name card to see opportunities there. Starting from IT, now I can proudly announce that I am also in the advertisement industry - the classified advertisement. :-)

Fudan v.s. Tongji University

Sun, 13 Nov 2005 21:48:32 +0800

See the difference of really living in a city or away from a city? Some very obvious and easy to get information seems not so for people far away. I got inquery about comparision between Fudan and Tong Ji University today.

Hi Jian Shuo,

I came across your blog when I was trying to find out more about Tongji and Fudan University. Since you’ve visited (and apparently lectured!) at both, can you give me an insider’s perspective into what each school is like regarding education/teaching, location, student body/diversity, facilities, etc. Also, do you know how far apart the two schools are from each other? I couldn’t find the university’s addresses online. Any input from you would be greatly appreciated.

Boing Boing's Five Year in Blogging

Sat, 12 Nov 2005 23:22:27 +0800

Just found out Boing Boing’s recent post named “Five Years Worth of Boing Boing Post in one File on Jan 21, 2005.

years since Mark posted the very first post on the Boing Boing blog. In that time, we’ve posted a little more than 17,000 stories and entries here. To celebrate our first half-decade as a blog, we’ve put together a single html file containing 17,000+ posts (every post as of yesterday mid-day) in Movable Type export format. The whole file is released under a Creative Commons license that allows you to noncommerically remix and distribute it in whole or in part – go crazy

Beijing 2008 Olympic Mascots

Fri, 11 Nov 2005 23:57:19 +0800

The Official Mascots of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games was unvieled today:

Image in courtesy of Beijing-2008.org

How do you like it?

Update November 14, 2005

Huge traffic to this site again. Seems it has been indexed by Google 3 days after it was posted as the first page result for terms like olympic mascots, beijing mascots, even Beijing 2008. Amazing…

Since everyone is here, let me share some Beijing 2008 resources with you.

How to Tell if Someone Block You on MSN Messenger

Thu, 10 Nov 2005 23:32:37 +0800

Due to the privacy improvement of Microsoft on MSN Messenger, it seems definitely impossible to have a tool to check whether someone blocked you, or he/she is always offline. Many people claim they have MSN block checker. Unfortunately, they are useless, if the privacy setting is turned on (the default). It is very unlikely the person you want to check has changed the setting.

The only way I can think of is to call some friends (who also on that person’s contact list) and see if the status of the person is the same. If he/she appears offline on your MSN Contact List, but online on the other, you must be blocked by that person.

Tulip Sleeps in my Garden

Wed, 09 Nov 2005 23:55:16 +0800

After the Art of Travel, another book I am seriously reading these weeks are:

The Botany of Desire, a plant’s-eye view of the world

It is a book about plant’s world. Very interesting and help us to be more clear about the human being’s role in the world.

In the book, the author Pollan talked about four plants in four chapters

Apple, Tulip, Potato and Marijuana

They were taken as example of how the Botany of Desire of plants guided human’s behavior.

Running Around Century Park

Tue, 08 Nov 2005 23:26:34 +0800

On my list, there is one more item I would list under “the reason to love Shanghai”, because there is a great park called Century Park that we can run arround it at night, and there is a small gathering at 7:30 PM every Tuesdcay that many friends will run around the Century Park together. I am just back from tonight’s event. It was nice.

About the Activity

Geoffrey started the actitive about one year before, in Oct 2005. Every Tuesday, some young people will gather at the Gate 7 of the Century Park at 7:30 PM to start the 5km around park running. They have a website called yiqipao.com, which means “Run Together” in Chinese.

BBC's Interview

Mon, 07 Nov 2005 22:05:03 +0800

9:00 PM, my mobile rings. It was from +1915xxxxx, an American number. I picked up the phone and a girl with British tone asked if I am “Wang Jian Shuo”. Actually she called from London, a reporter for BBC. She asked about the China Blogger Conference which was just held this weekend. Questions were: “What is the aim of the conference and what is the key take-aways from the conference" I answered with what I think is right.

China Mobile Bill Structure

Sun, 06 Nov 2005 22:39:38 +0800

Just got the Oct bill of China Mobile. Actually, I didn’t pay much attention to the details of a China Mobile bill. I believe the first thing (at least first 20 things) a new comer to Shanghai will do is to get a local mobile. Chances are, you get a China Mobile wireless service and will get the same bill as I get after 30 days.

If you have other plans from China Mobile service, like Shen Zhou Xing (the difference), or different subscriber (China Unicom), it will be much different.

China Blogger Conference

Sat, 05 Nov 2005 18:04:30 +0800

Attended the China Blogger Conference this morning. I met many interesting famous bloggers. I am fortunate to witness the three years of blogging history in China. Now, many people came from Beijing, Guangzhou and Wuhan to the place - in China, it is not common for people to pay by themselves to attend a conference.

Wang Pei

Yezi

Christina

Mei

Renyang

11:18 AM

Topku

Topics Selection Guidelines

Fri, 04 Nov 2005 18:25:16 +0800

The entry of previous day Picture in Shanghai got a lot of comments. Let me explain more.

One’s Imagination v.s. Fact

I wrote about “depressed” because there are a lot of tough decisions to make on the business side, and I don’t think I will reveal it. “Depressed” is a good feeling that encourages people. I am grateful to what I am given so far at the age of 28. It helps for me to grow more mature. Not everyone has the opportunity to face the business size as I do. Well. Enough about me.

Picture in Shanghai

Tue, 01 Nov 2005 23:37:49 +0800

Building along the Nanjing Road

Very depressed these days. Just want to share a picture I randomly took on the street Monday morning.

BTW, late Happy Hollyween to people who celebrate this holiday!

48 Comments

Happy Halloween to you as well, Jianshuo:)

— Richard Hong · 2005-11-02 08:46

Just wondering what's on your mind when you said the "Old Shanghai" is "very depressed"!? I guess they (i.e. the Shanghainese) must have long assimilated you into one of them - which are famous for 排外 (Chinese exclusion, if you will) but happily embrace all byproducts of the Western culture.

Your recent postings (actually the lack of) prove this point. It's quite depressing not having a dedicated post to show your patriotism and significance about the National Day (October 1), especially when you had a full week off because of this . Worse yet, it's beyond imagination that there's no mention of the great success of Shenzhou 6.

There are 365 days in a year and you can talk about KFC, Starbucks, and what have you on any day but where were you during the Shenzhou "events", which most Chinese (may I say in particular the Beijinger and 华侨) would be extremely proud of this achievement. Don't you think these events at least worth a passing mention?

— farawaypanda · 2005-11-02 16:41

Above comments, I am not sure.

Let say ,do you expect an American who is writing the similar blog to mention something on July 4?

it is just a personal blog, he can write what he is interested, not a website running by some agency.

— Oncerest · 2005-11-02 17:21

A HAPPY DAY！

GOOD LOCK！

— jenny · 2005-11-02 18:23

南京路，新世界不到！地铁出口的地方吗？

— vivian.chen · 2005-11-02 22:16

Oncerest,

Of course you would expect the "average" American to write something about July 4 and they only get a 3-day long weekend vs one full week for the China National Day!!!

Sure, this project begun as a personal blog but with an intention to show the West what the East is. Granted, he is Chinese (can't change this FACT no matter how "Americanized" he has become!), living in one of the most lively cities in China, don't you think the National Day and ESPECIALLY the Shenzhou success deserve some attention?

If not, this just validates the "rumor" that the Shanghainese are famous for 排外 and numb to events that give China their rising national pride!!!

— farawaypanda · 2005-11-03 01:35

I strongly agree with farawaypanda

— balloon · 2005-11-03 01:57

Don't you mean Halloween?

— Dave · 2005-11-03 04:43

Hi

Can you contact me by e-mail ?

Thank you

— James · 2005-11-03 05:03

farawaypanda,

I think it's really inappropriate of you to make such irresponsible comments about Jianshuo and his blog. This is not a newspaper and Jianshuo doesn't have any responsibility to update any common events that mass media have poured so much attention already. And I don't expect to read anything that I can easily read from other media sources. From this site, many readers and I are expecting to read Jianshuo's unique comments. I am perfectly happy not to read another word about some major events that have been commented to the extreme on regular medias. This is a blog that many readers can find everyday life topics about China and especially Shanghai. If you expect to see any ultra-nationalism or patriotism sentiment that you may want to fill your void, I suggest that you find somewhere else.

— jqian · 2005-11-03 11:03

You wrote: "Of course you would expect the "average" American to write something about July 4 and they only get a 3-day long weekend vs one full week for the China National Day!!!"

The above comments are complete nonsense. I live in the US for more than 20 years. I seldom see American bloggers or average people write a lot to comment on July 4th. I did see the movie "Independance Day" which deliberately portrayed a destroyed state of union aired to movie theatres everywhere couple of years ago on 4th of July. This is truly the outcome of American democracy, how assimilated are you into American culture to see that?

You wrote: "I guess they (i.e. the Shanghainese) must have long assimilated you into one of them - which are famous for 排外 (Chinese exclusion, if you will)..."

I think you were trying to stir up narrow regionalist sentiment between Shanghainese and Jianshuo Wang by making such inappropriate comments.

— jqian · 2005-11-03 11:18

Farawaypanda, I don't think that you live in China. Am I right ?

I live in Shanghai.

The "China Man in Space" project is only a question of how many money the government pulls out of the pocket - practically all technology involved are of russian origin, just purchased for a negotiated price. Not much invented by the chinese themselves.

So, no reason to be THAT proud, huh ?

By the way, I think the money in China would be better spend to help poor people first instead of sending them into space.

Stop putting so many money in military and rockets. Rise the taxes paid by rich people and improve social security for the poor. That will give more national peace in the future.

Well, some of my relatives here actually DIED because they couldn't afford to go to hospital.

I helped of course, but it was too late... :-( 46 years old, and dead because "no money, no treatment".

About National Holiday - many people (who are able to do so) goes OUT of China to avoid the rush.

Personally I plan my vacations in these holidays, and order airplane tickets in advance.

And even the chinese have 7 days including a weekend, they have to work in a full weekend before or after, so in fact they have only 3 days off.

(This is of course for people working monday to friday.)

The National Day was declared by a tiny guy in Beijing 56 years ago.

But today apparently not all in China are happy about his "friends"

and the way they are doing things.

So actually, not all celebrates the National Day.

— carsten · 2005-11-03 11:34

Jianshuo, why depressed ?

— carsten · 2005-11-03 11:35

Maybe Jianshuo had some bad China days... Living in Shanghai is very unpredictable - you have good days and you have bad days.

Just like the air quality - some days the sky is blue and clear, some days the smog is really heavy.

I like Jianshuo's blog - he is a very true and passionate person.

— Sabrina · 2005-11-03 13:11

carsten,

Yes, money, Money, and MORE MONEY (sounds very much like a "classical" Shanghainese!). Do you really think the distribuion of money or the nation's wealth alone would solve the poor men's problems in China (or in any other places for that matter)? If so, taking an Economics class or two would hopefully improve your naive thinking... If it were really that easy, Bush would have gotten a Nobel Prize in Economics by now!

And do you really believe that only China has problems with rich people getting richer and poor men getting poorer? Many of the developed and more "sophisticated worlds" like Canada and US probably have worse social problems than China's now... That's why they are worried about job outsourcing and China's rise up as a Superpower...

— farawaypanda · 2005-11-03 15:37

Just relax, peace is expected here, do not always argue about things which you think to be right, each one has his own angle of watching this world.

— xiaoli · 2005-11-03 16:20

Farawaypanda,

At least in the US and Canada none of their people I think are dying of hunger and as Carsten mentioned above, lack or worst absence of funds for hospitalization purposes. I think if you want to discuss something of your desires then why not create your own blog and keep your ass out of here, stupid! You discuss there on your blog what your ass damn cares, period! Don't impose your selfish desires on others, coz I think that's just manifest you're sourgraping. And although you think money is not the solution to a problem, but may I remind you not to forget the saying, 錢不是萬能但沒有錢萬萬不能!

— Newbie · 2005-11-03 18:28

farawaypanda

Jianshuo has done a wonderful job - for no pay - in the past few years keeping many, many readers, in and outside China, informed and enlightened in a light-hearted manner about Shanghai-related (and other) matters.

He seems to be under stress from work these days. At the very least, any decent and civilized individual should pick another time to whip up antagonism... Fair comment, farawaypanda? :)

— WilliamW · 2005-11-03 18:35

I think farawaypanda has prejudice against Shanghainese. He repeatedly ridiculed Shanghainese as "money, money" and "discriminating other people". How many times did he visit Shanghai and how much he really understand Shanghai's culture? He wrote these silly pieces to vent his personal frustration, one sort or another, against Shanghai. He sounded like a long march veteran who never visited Shanghai for the last 30 years. I guess he has more problems to fix himself.

— jqian · 2005-11-03 23:03

From what sounded like, Farawaypanda currently lives in US or Canada, but he has a very pigeon holed view toward Shanghai, China that is making him frustrated. I met this kinds of guys a lot in the US. They don't socialize with Americans, they locked up in their small circle of friends day-dreaming the kind of China they wish to be. Talking about assimilation into US mainstream life? they have achieved nothing. And I find these kinds of guy are not very successful in their careers either. Probably they missed many opportunities in the US, getting very frustrated and wish for a Chinese miracle to save their butts. Obviously, he will not be able to find such miracle to cure his personal issue in this board. Jian Shuo Wang, keep on the good jobs, don't let these social parasites to let you down. And most importantly, be proud to be a Shanghainese with true open heartedness and spirit of pragmatism.

jqian

— jqian · 2005-11-03 23:13

farawaypanda,

I do admire your patriotism and sentimental feeling towards your motherland even when you are abroad.

Last week I stumbled into Wendy's blog and discovered very interesting subject titled 'sharing the truth on picture' and the content is very sad.

http://home.wangjianshuo.com/fanfan/20051028_906.htm

The whole question can be narrowed down to one word - POVERTY. The communist define the term as it is created by the exploitation of the capitalism and the ruling classes, while the capitalism define the same as uneven distribution of resource among people, which version do you pick to reflect the truth stand of China to-day?

— stephen · 2005-11-04 02:00

farawaypanda having patriotism? Yeah, you give him too much. The reality is more like this, due to his out-of-date and ideological way of thinking, he is having a hard time assimilating himself into the society (American or Canadian) he has to seek a livelihood from. From the isolation resulted from this failure, he is living in a make-believe patriotic sentiment despite the fact that he is probably not officially a Chinese citizen from his passport. He is creating this new sense of patriotism into himself to hopefully shield him from his real predicament, imagine this as an escape. This psychological phenomenon describes why so many overseas ex-Chinese seem to be more "patriotic" and judgemental. Another way to say it: Reverse cultural shock.

— jqian · 2005-11-04 02:34

Overseas Chinese are looked as 'loser' or 'international MINGONG in eye of 'Successful' local Chinese, and they are reciprocal 'sour-grape' in each other's eye. I've seen 'successful' local Chinese, how they are humiliating overseas Chinese regardless whether they are interfering with each other. And here is just another example, no surprise!

— annick · 2005-11-04 04:03

Look like you guys got it all wrong and each of you just derived whatever conculsions or stereotypes you think it's right or want from the various comments! AND I was not attacking Jian Shuo or Shanghainese in particular. Even though it's a personal blog, don't you think it was disappointing to not see some notes about the National Day and the Shenzhou events? Don't you think those events are important to the growth of the Chinese society? That's was all in my original post! You guys are reading and DREAMING way TOO MUCH!

And what makes you think the overseas Chinese would be "losers" when just about anyone from the Mainland would want to exit the country and many would try EVERYTHING they can including risking their lives? How many times have you heard of ships full of Mainland Chinese captured in the US, Europe, and even more obscure places in Latin America this year?

If you are such a good psychologist, can you explain why the "Old Shanghai" would make one "depressing"?

— farawaypanda · 2005-11-04 06:06

I think that Shanghaise are materialistic. This is definitely true. They discriminate more based on ECONOMIC CLASS than anything else.

But, the phenomenon isn't just in Shanghai, it's spreading everywhere in China, where money is more important than morality, where women throw themselves at foreigners and hating their own kind. That was the impression i got when I visited China in May of this year.

Me and my wife (both ethnic Chinese) dress as what we would do in the US, casually, went shoppin gin Shanghai one day. You should see the type of uppitiness from some of the SERVICE people. We're basically upper-middle class, own our own home, etc. in the US. I guess we just don't wear some stupid business suit when we go on vacation, unlike most mainlanders. Anyway, she heard of some shop that makes good traditional chinese dress on Nanjing road and went into the Peace Hotel for directions. The lady in there was soooo rude -- it's funny, because she's really nice to the white guys and gals there, just not us. She even tried to talk to us in her BROKEN-ASS English in order to impress us, and my wife just reply back in English back to her face.

The store isn't much better, until we spend $100 USD on a single dress. Then you see them FLOCKING toward servicing us - i.e. materialistic.

It's pretty pathetic that Shanghai will assume that just because you're a white guy, you're rich, but when an ethnic overseas Chinese come back, they're automatically assumed to be poor. Here's a hint -- most of teh white guys who teach English in China are POOR ASSES when they get back to the US -- they're only advantange is the cost of living adjustments. And, most of them are extremely conservative and would love to see China fall onto its ass and engage in civil war (they're also proud supporters of Japan).

Patriotism in China? I see none, i just see a bunch of whores thinking foreigners are better than their own. It's the sad truth.

However, unlike the previou poster, i'll say that the Chinese space program is something to be proud of. To be sure, the design of the original space craft was based on an older Soviet design -- however, every space expert agreed that the design was heavily modified and changed and you really cna't say it's just another Russian copy. And most if not all of the major components are manufactured in China. Sure, it's late, but only 3 countries in the world have sent people to the space on their own - and let's not forget that the entire US shuttle fleet is GROUNDED right now. Unlike the US, i don't think China will stop its man-space flight program.

As far as the poor goes -- there have always been a wide gap between rich and poor in China -- the solution isn't economic re-distribution, but to enforce a fair and equitable treatment of the poor in terms of LEGAL and LAW and ORDER, something for which China lacks. And if this isn't addressed soon, all the Shanghaise are gonna suffer big time when the next revolution occurs. If CHina doesn't address it's lack of law and order (it's legal system is about who has politcal power or money, not about justice), there will be another revolution and civil war.

— Tony · 2005-11-04 07:52

@annick, truth is that most senior management positions in MNCs are still filled by 'losers', whereas 'successful' locals have a hard time moving into this group.

— Xiangjiao · 2005-11-04 08:32

'successful' locals are those who have no idea what changes mean;

'successful' locals are those who only know how to work hard but not work smart;

'successful' locals are those who like to show off their broken English whenever possible;

'successful' locals are those who have no sense of humor and are extremely defensive.

'successful' locals are boring people, period.

— jj · 2005-11-04 08:44

See, from all the comments, it proves Wangjianshuo doesn't post any well known news on his blog is correct choice. And also, I think it is a style of Shanghainese blog, a guy in Beijing may blog very differently.

— Oncerest · 2005-11-04 10:43

stephen,

Don't sad for poor Anhui province countryside.

I come from Anhui province,rich man is not happy man.

the poor countryside is problem in china.

shirley

— shirley · 2005-11-04 10:54

"If you are such a good psychologist, can you explain why the "Old Shanghai" would make one "depressing"?"

When did Jian Shuo say that? You must have cooked it up yourself.

Not all overseas Chinese are losers. But guys like you trying to turn a private blog into front pages of People's Daily do have "loser mentality". If this blog is customarily filled up with boring People's Daily style commentaries on National day, I guess it won't be voted as one of the top ten bloggs in China. Besides, please go back to read your own posts again, it takes no rocket scientist to see your obvious attempt to instigate regionalistic sentiment among Shanghainese and non-Shanghainese. You are wrong, symbolic events like National days are not important to the growth of China. There was a National Day in 1966, did it help China grow better then? What's important is pragmatism that the spirit of Shanghai culture is bringing about, not symbolic and castle in the sky patriotism.

— jqian · 2005-11-04 11:01

Oncerest,

Exactly, Jian Shuo Wang's blog being voted one of the best blogs by American media is no coincidence. It was voted the best because it is mostly aligning itself to the pragmatic spirit of true blogging which is considered a standard in the global society. We from the west comes to love it because of its simplicity, sincerity and out-of-box thinking. The worst night mare would be to come here one morning and find that it's saying the same thing as published in People's Daily. Unfortunately, some guys who's been brain washed by 50 years extreme leftist rule didn't understand that.

— jqian · 2005-11-04 11:16

Tony, what you have experienced is very true in China, even some other asian countries. Generally, service people assume white are rich and generous, and it is a correct assumption based on their everyday experience. So they are willing to serve with good spirit. For Asian people, you have to dress up well, give service people the first impression that you are rich :) otherwise, they assume you are not rich, and not worthy to serve well. Not just in Shanghai, but Shanghai is more obivious on this aspect.

— Oncerest · 2005-11-04 11:24

Tony,

Whatever happened to you, in my eyes, they are very common. And this should not be anything that you should find unexpected. If you dress poorly, no matter where you are in Asia, be it in Tokyo, in Singapore or in Hong Kong, you would expect some less than ideal services. What you are decribing is more a culture difference issue than a real Shanghai or China problem. In Asian culture, dressing up is utmost important. In Shanghai, dressing up has become a necessity. To many people there, dressing up is sometimes more important than anything else. I live in the States for 20 years. During my first visit back to Shanghai, I also ran into similar situations and made lots of complaints, just like you. Now, I feel I am supposed to dress better if I have to attend a public meeting or go shopping in Asian countries. The service personel in a typical Asian shop has no way to tell if you are American or a local Chinese. All they see is your Asian face. Matter of factly, they will treat you no different from the way they treat the rest of local Chinese. If you happen to not follow the rule, then you have to expect some sub par services being rendered upon you. You can blame nobody.

— jqian · 2005-11-04 11:44

Oncerest,

I don't think there exists significant difference no matter where the blogger lives in china.

I seldom saw my friend wrote national day's news or shen6's on their blog. these news have occupied the mass media. I guess blogger would like to share some personal and easy topic. By contrast, Fen Qing would rather argue with others on bbs or public forum.

— roadmana · 2005-11-04 11:51

BJ and SH are 2 biggest and most dynamic cities with strong culture background. The culture backgrounds are very different. So I am sure if the blogger write what they feel, there is a difference. I am not saying which is better, but they are unique

— Oncerest · 2005-11-04 12:02

one line of blog, with so many comments. I wish my blog can have so many readers :)

— Oncerest · 2005-11-04 12:06

Tony

I find it quite funny how judgemental you are of people living in your `old' country when you and your wife obviously couldn't get out of the country fast enough. You have a very narrow view of the world and you paint with a very wide brush.

You also call the people of your `old' country whores who think foreigners are better. Well, you are the one who sold out and moved to a foreign country - for what purpose? Better opportunities? More money? Aren't you the whore in this context?

You also suggest that every `white guy' who teaches English in China wants to see a civil war in China and they support Japan! What are you talking about?

Finally, you have the audacity to say that the Shanghainese are materialistic and discriminate about class - then in the next paragraph you talk about how you are `Upper Middle Class' own your own home in the US and went to spend $100 on a dress! Can you say `Hypocritical'?

Take a look at your own attitude before critisicing others. Maybe the lady was rude to you because she was sick of the attitude some expatriated American Chinese like you have.

I am an expat living in Shanghai, I love the people here. They have a vibrance and enthusiam about improving their life that many people don't have. I can smile and laugh with the people, even when they are focusing on making money (like trying to sell me something). Making money is what people all around the world do. Money provides a lifestyle and better living standards, this is a relatively new experience here, and people in China are wanting to catch up on what they have missed out on over the previous 60 years. So please don't be so judgemental on people that you don't know whilst you sit in your nice Upper Middle Class house in the US where all the struggle of trying to establish good living standards by the people was done long before you got there.

Ps. I know I'm not Chinese, so I may get treated differently, however my girlfriend is Chinese, and I experience a lot through her. And no Tony she is not a `whore' that threw herself at me. We met in Sydney, and I in fact pursued her for some time. We decided to move to Shanghai for a few years so I could be exposed to the culture. I am not afraid of living here - why are you?

— Guran · 2005-11-04 12:19

I heard many people saying now Chinese are too focus on making money, and more and more. It is not bad, but government and society should pay attension, because this attitude can have very unstable effects too. Small effects can be unhappy, stressed, unsatisfied.

— Oncerest · 2005-11-04 12:39

i know that you like to share and the community site, so why not post all your pictures at http://www.flickr.com/, here you can find the 37724 pictures of shanghai already shared by members (me include :p) :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/shanghai/interesting/

— speedyop · 2005-11-05 02:00

@Tony,

The prelude of revolution which is civil unrest is already happening at the door step of Shanghai.

Last july, I was encountered by a large group of vigilante taxi drivers outside Longyuan station who were unilaterally asking for higher than normal fare despite the police was looking on, the scale was so big and they controlled the entire outbound lane, this constitutes open defiance of the authority and the society.

May be these are the 'loser' of the rat race, but I cannot discount the possibility such defiance can develop into full scale civil conflict like Frence is facing to-day.

— stephen · 2005-11-05 05:27

Is this "one of the best blogs"? Never say "yes"too fast! To my knowledge, there are many better Shanghai blogs (in English) . Here, I just want to mention one undated on a daily basis:

http://spaces.msn.com/members/sevencastles

Seven Castles (A Shanghai blog featuring news and views of great interest)

— Yoyo · 2005-11-05 07:51

Yoyo;

see what I get

Space not available

Sorry, we are unable to complete your task at this time. The MSN Spaces service is experiencing difficulties. Please try your task again later.

— Oncerest · 2005-11-05 17:25

Ha, ha, everyone can claim they have a best blog, but ultimately the true measures to test is user traffic.

— jqian · 2005-11-06 01:22

Anyhow, the chinese are not all THAT selfish and ignorant. The people will not accept the social difficulties for long in China. After the first few hundred millions gets more financially foundated, they will begin to think of helping other chinese too. Just wait 5-10 years.

However, the CCP (with only 5% of the people as members, and decreasing) should already now begin to think of a very radical change of the social system before it's too late.

"High flying - deep falling".

— carsten · 2005-11-09 14:04

Is the building in the photo with the large circular dome Radisson Shanghai New World Hotel?

— Lucincia · 2006-01-28 22:35

Your commentaries and those of others seem to be quite interesting. I hope to read all of your storeis and the notes on others when I have more time. If anyone has the time to take a picture of the house (if it is no longer exiistant, then the site) in which we last lived in in Shanghai it would please me immensely. I hope to return/visit Shanghai next year.

— Toby · 2006-01-31 19:00

"Ha, ha, everyone can claim they have a best blog, but ultimately the true measures to test is user traffic."

No, that shows what most people are looking at. It will not show "best" as that is opinion based - and the "best" things are not necessarily the most popular.

This site has articles entitled "Pu Dong Starbucks is Nice". Seriously.

If that is the "best" then I am sure no one else can compete with it.

This site is written by a simpleton, for simpletons. There are many simpletons in the world, thus the traffic.

Again, a site with articles saying "I saw a lovely cat today", and then having 34 comments saying "yes what a lovely cat!" really means it's the "best". right.

— Kobayashi · 2006-01-31 21:11

how do i design my own picture likle that

— vfnhfhjfjfg · 2007-01-23 04:15

Conflicting Ideas from SJTU EMBA Program

Sun, 30 Oct 2005 21:59:12 +0800

Immediately after I came out of the class of SJTU EMBA program, Wendy and I went to a villa in Zhujiajiao. There are too much stress in the previous week that I have to find a place to stay quiet for some while.

During the class, surrounded by 60 executives in the eCommerce course of the SJTU EMBA program, I demoed how to blog with this entry: I am at an EMBA Class in SJTU. I showed how easy it is to create a blog, and helped people to understand that you don’t have to enter a file name for what you write…

I am at an EMBA Class in SJTU

Sat, 29 Oct 2005 17:40:45 +0800

Very honored to stand on the stage and demo how to blog to about 60 EMBA students in the class. The demo is to show executives how to blog and how easy blogging is.

Just a demo. Hope it works.

Let’s go.

11 Comments

Hopeless, I guess.

— Rocky · 2005-10-29 20:18

how many of them were interested in blog?

I was curious in it.

— china · 2005-10-29 21:21

it maybe useful,I think, everyone must think, so they will blog.

— xiaoli · 2005-10-30 10:35

It is good to have some idea what is Blog. But most of the people in the class did not see bussiness oppertunity.

— EMBA 2005 Srping · 2005-10-30 10:45

Jian Shuo did a great job. The EMBA students were amazed about it. Watch out for the new wave of bloggers. Their comments were, quoting Wen Xin of bokee : "I think, therefore I blog!"

— aweigend · 2005-10-30 10:47

Someone wrote "But most of the people in the class did not see bussiness oppertunity."

How come?!

Probably most of the bloggers blog just for fun, but there certainly are lots of business possibilities: be a blog service provider, develop blog software, use blog as your tool (if you are e.g. a researcher, journalist, author, analyst...), advertize in blogs, earn by having ads in your blog, ask bloggers to try out and write about your products or services (must be honest, otherwise the effect may be negative regardless of what they write), follow up blogs to know what people are writing about your (or your competitor's) products or services, run competitions (e.g. around the world tours) asking the participants to blog as they go, lift corporate image by asking the top management to blog (they do not have to write about the business all the time, can be personal too), etc. etc.

...just to mention few. :-)

— John · 2005-10-30 15:21

The reason is that who has the money to invest for the blog business will not go to write blogs,or even though have time to read the blog in China. Since these men come from traditional industry,they are not interested to share their thoughts with others. In China, if u want to have a successful career,go to a high level,pls keep silence.Do not give the competitors any opportunity to know what u are thinking.

Perhaps ten years later,the children grow up in the era of blog,it's a suitable time to recommend economic of eyeball.

— Jean · 2005-10-30 20:24

Well, when all these CEOs understand what blog is about, and how blogs might bring them business bla, bla, bla ... I am sure by then there will be more other things that the CEOs or newer CEOs would not understand the WHYs ...

Generation gaps will always be there. No matter what.

Perhaps this class has gone too technical for these CEOs? I do agree that some participants questioned the curriculum. To me, perhaps the both screening of the candidates + curriculum. But, it is a new programme, lots of learning curves.

— Cindy · 2005-10-31 11:19

Interesting. That must be a Chinese program (taught in Chinese) so I guess you presented in Chinese.

I'm part of the GEMBA program at SJTU. Would have been interesting if you presented for us.

— ls · 2005-11-02 04:47

I am surprised there is a blog demo as part of an EMBA program. If I were one of the students, I would ask for refund....

— Eddie · 2005-11-08 13:46

Eddie, Why asking for refund? What is the reason?

ls, what does GEMBA mean?

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2005-11-08 16:23

According to Supervisor's Notice

Sat, 29 Oct 2005 15:11:55 +0800

Notice in metro city

This is a typical notice in Shanghai, or in China. The note says:

According to Supervisor’s notice, this W.C. will be removed

I recently notice almost all the posters in Shanghai metro starts from the same sentence: “according to supervisor’s notice”. Following this starting sentence, there are many events, like: “no baggers are allowed”, “the business time will be extended” or the “Dongfang Road station will be closed”…

Biggest Kijiji Logo So Far

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 23:59:42 +0800

This is maybe the largest Kijiji logo we painted so far in Kijiji China.

Update November 16, 2005

More information about the pictures.

I took the picture in Anji in Zhejiang province. It was an outing with Kijiji team. We brought projector and projected the slide to the mountains or village houses. The last picture was the Chinese version of the Kijiji logo on the mountain. It is HUGE. Although on the picture, it is not as bright or big as it really seemed to be.

KFC Dropped Potato Wedge in Shanghai

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 00:53:58 +0800

Wendy reported that from today, KFC removed Potato Wedge and Pepsi Coke from all the suites. Instead, they provide vegetable salad and orange juice.

It seems it is a national wide change in KFC.

I remember this Monday when I had lunch there before the Beijing trip, Potato Wedge was still included.

There is always big conflict between a product in U.S. and in China. I think KFC is making a wise change to adjust their product to China marketing. Kudos.

Back from Ji'An Trip

Sun, 23 Oct 2005 23:22:03 +0800

Just back from camping in the mountains of Ji’An in Zhejiang Province with Kijiji team, media and community members. Here are some pictures I took during the trip. See what happened on the date of 2005-10-23. Obviously, we only have this day once in our entire life.

Thanks for Flickr (of which I am a pro users). It seems I can use only very few percentage of the bandwidth limit they set for me - 2G.

Fudan, Tongji and SJTU

Sat, 22 Oct 2005 03:02:17 +0800

Recently visited the three universities in one month: Fudan, Tongji and Shanghai Jiaotong University. Received three small gifts from each university and I will post photos later.

Now on the road to Anji in Zhejiang Province. Tomorrow will camp on the mountain. Must be interesting.

Update Gifts from three universities November 15, 2005

Gift from Fudan University

From SJTU

From Tongji

Thanks for giving me the honor.

Pictures in Shanghai Metro

Wed, 19 Oct 2005 23:28:40 +0800

Share with you some pictures I took with Nokia 6670 mobile phone. How exciting that in China, 45 million mobile phones with camera capacity will be shipped this year.

17 Comments

well you always keep the passion for 'art of traveling' :)

— DX · 2005-10-20 10:58

this is a good life attitude, just find beauty around us everyday!

— xiaoli · 2005-10-20 12:20

I cannot figure out what is exciting for?

— kevin · 2005-10-20 12:31

jianshuo showed that how more and more phones with built-in camera change our daily life. it is just a little bit part of mobile usage i think, but more interesting.

— raenoll · 2005-10-20 14:22

Not really relevant to this topic - but I hope that Jian Shuo doesn't mind as he is in favour of education and the betterment of people's lives.

I just want to let you know about a special Career Development seminar being held in Shanghai in November by one of Australia's leading corporate coaches. He works with companies such as Coca Cola, GE, Sun Microsystems, AMP, QANTAS and Honeywell. So if you want to know how to get ahead and have a successful career with a companies like these - have a look at: http://anonymouse.org/cgi-bin/anon-www.cgi/http://madaboutshanghai.blogs.com/mad_about_shanghai/2005/10/career_developm.html

Jian Shuo - if you were interested, we would love to have you attend as our guest!

— Brad · 2005-10-20 23:16

"I cannot figure out what is exciting for?", this is cute, kevin, :-)

I have a Canadian friend told me about his accent pointed out by Londoners: "Why are you always so exited everyday?", hehe...

What I really mean here is, JianShuo is apparently a positive thinking person, and there are lots of things that I, as a Chinese fellow living outside China, don't feel so exiting too: there are better and far more advanced metro system in US and Europe, there are better cars and fancier digital gadgets (Palm Tero, BlakBerry, PSP, XBOX... other than just a Nokia 6670 with a buildin camera), but he manages to figure out his pettet daily amusement, in boring urban life, and my point is: upon the time that you are no longer exited by something around you, some tiny things that are truly cheerful but easily be neglected, then you've lost the Zen of life.

Smile, and find your happiness around you, don't be afraid to be seen as naive or silly, as long as you are "exited", whoelse would care?

— zhang · 2005-10-21 05:58

as a Chinese fellow living outside China, don't feel so exiting too: there are better and far more advanced metro system in US and Europe, there are better cars and fancier digital gadgets (Palm Tero, BlakBerry, PSP, XBOX... other than just a Nokia 6670 with a buildin camera)

希望你还看得懂中文，因为我实在不喜欢英文这种比较低级的语言，我只是想说，你说的东西国内都有，而且用Treo(不是Tero)入网后还可以包月，不用算流量，PSP,XBOX等东西更是比国外来得便宜，醒醒吧

— to zhang · 2005-10-21 10:06

什么叫"低级的语言" :P

— Micah · 2005-10-22 06:12

低级的语言means sour grapes.

— samdl · 2005-10-22 20:37

我在海外生活，相信我用英文的时间比你长，所谓低级，以你的程度很难理解，英文是phonetics，天生比中文低等一级，你喜欢吃sour grape你自己吃。

— to samdl · 2005-10-22 21:32

你真的丢了生活禅了,没看懂我在说什么,还要给语言分等级。用流行的话来说,鄙视你一下。呵呵。

— zhang · 2005-10-22 22:55

To tosamdl: great, this is getting interesting man, you are living in overseas, oh, big deal! Nigeria or Combodia? you jump to the conclusion that ur comand of English is higher than mine, I guess you are right, because at least you know what sour grapes means.

I only have three words for you: "SHAME ON YOU"

btw, I am a kindergarden kid in Shanghai.

— samdl · 2005-10-23 00:17

Would webmaster please delete those irrelevant / coarse comments? Or, create a junk folder?

— Mainlander · 2005-10-23 13:54

Jian Shuo,

Happy birthday to you. Its my first time into your blog site - and I must say, Im impressed. I wanted to know about the Aussie fellow who will be giving a Career development Seminar here in Shanghai in November. Are you able to provide any leads that will help me to contact him? Thank you.

Keep up the great work your doing! :o)

P.S. Dont worry about the distractors and their comments, they're just jealous because they dont have a blog (or wouldnt know how to go about building one ha ha) of their own (or if they do, then it must SUCK, cos' they're in your site dumping - LOSERS!))

— Dahvida · 2005-10-26 11:23

Hi Jian Shuo, excellent blog!

I live in Belgium and will move to Shanghai soon.

Is it allowed to take a folding bike to the metro? and if it's allowed, considering the crowds during rush hour, do you think it is physically possible to take one?

thks

— panji · 2005-11-25 19:48

2244.web.fc2.com

— csikcsongor · 2008-02-27 07:16

Hi, i will be going to shanghai soon. will like to know what is nice there which we can visit and cant miss?

— Eileen · 2008-03-17 17:43

Happy Birthday To Me

Tue, 18 Oct 2005 23:53:09 +0800

Happy birthday to me. It is my 28th birthday. Mean time, happy birthday to my friends who enjoy the birthday these two days: Dengjia (tomorrow), Joanna (yesterday), and burcu from Turkey…

Night.

At McDonald of Hongqiao Airport. Wendy is flying back from Beijing tonight, but the flight was delayed till 21:55. No surprise at all. The flights are always like this. It is the right time to sit down to look back to what happened in my life in the last year.

Call a Taxi on the Phone? In English?

Mon, 17 Oct 2005 23:32:07 +0800

My friend dropped an email and complain about waiting for half an hour or even one hour for taxi everyday - seems he is living in a very “decent” place that even taxi won’t go there to break the peace of the area. He asked if there is any telephone number he could call to book a taxi. He does not speak Chinese.

Well. There are many numbers to call in Shanghai for taxi services, but not many offers English service, so far as I know.

Kijiji New Community

Sun, 16 Oct 2005 23:42:45 +0800

Livid created the new community for Kijiji and this is the beta:

It is a very nice initiative. Livid enjoys the launch of the beta, so do I. According to the metrics, on average one user visits more than 14 pages. This is very high. Well done, Livid!

4 Comments

Why there is no comment for this entry? Wired?

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2005-11-21 00:26

english bulldog puppies on adoption

— victoria · 2007-07-15 09:53

english bulldogs on adoption

— victoria · 2007-07-15 09:55

english bulldogs on adoption

— victoria · 2007-07-15 09:57

Mao and Hengge in my Home

Sat, 15 Oct 2005 23:48:46 +0800

I welcomed Robert Mao (from uuzone.com)and Hengge (from Blogbus.com) (and his little ballet) to my home. Very nice gathering and we enjoyed the small garden under our “sweet-scented osmanthus”. It is the autumn time and the smell of the tree is wonderful.

4 Comments

I took some photos about osmanthus in Hangzhou botanical garden:)

http://blog.donews.com/rosemaryxie/archive/2005/10/13/587662.aspx

— rosemary · 2005-10-18 10:36

Osmanthus!!!!! Jian Shuo, I remember pinching a cluster of flowers off one of those trees years ago when I was travelling someplace in hopes of finding out what it was and if it could grow where we live. But, by the time I got home the flowers were dried and crumbled and I was not able to identify it. Now I know! And it looks like we *can* grow them here. I will plant a "Chinese sweet tea tree" or "tea olive" as soon as I can find one, and it will always make me think of my friend in your country :-) Thank you so much for helping me figure this out at long last!

— Carroll · 2005-10-19 00:12

Osmanthus! Years ago I pinched a cluster of flowers from one of those lovely fragrant trees while I was traveling, but by the time I got home the flowers had dried and crumbled and I was not able to identify the plant. Thanks to you, I know now that it will grow in our area! As soon as I can find one I will plant a "Chinese Tea Tree" or "Chinese Sweet Olive" in our yard and it will always make me think of my friend in your country :-)

— Carroll · 2005-10-19 00:18

I'm so sorry! It's early in the morning here inside my head!! Feel welcome (my goodness! This comment failed due to "questionable content" when I originally used the word "fre*" instead of "welcome") to delete that second post (and this one) But what a great excuse to send more birthday hugs!! ;-)

— Carroll · 2005-10-19 00:22

Closed Trackback

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 23:56:39 +0800

I removed the trackback script from the system which means there is no way to post track back to this site. I also removed the trackback information from the page.

The Death of Trackback on My Site

Three years, trackback brought a lot of fun to me, when not many people blog and not many people know about blog. That was really exciting expertiment.

Recently, many people know blogging, especially many “smart” spammers. They turn to use Trackback in a more efficient way than normal bloggers. They send thousands of trackbacks to my site.

Four Must-See Roads in Shanghai

Thu, 13 Oct 2005 23:38:43 +0800

Johnny asked about four must-see roads in Shanghai. My answer is:

Nanjing Road - for the commercial scene of Shanghai.
Shi Ji Road (Centuary Road) - for the development of the Pudong area.
Henshan Road - to know the beauty of residential areas,
Small roads in Yu Yuan - to discover the history of Shanghai

Enjoy your Shanghai trip on Shanghai street!

11 Comments

HuaiHai road!!!

— yes_no_maybe · 2005-10-15 08:10

I would definitely second HuaiHai Rd...The "buxing jie" roads like Nanjing Rd have become so common, it seems every "big" city or wannabe big city has their own version, but HuaiHai Road is pretty unique.

— boran · 2005-10-15 13:57

Zhongshan East Road

— Bill · 2005-10-16 22:43

happy for you

— zhoujierun · 2005-10-17 14:48

I just returned from Shanghai, Oct 14th 2005 and am already homesick ..i was visiting my son and his family that have lived there for three years.My photos are lovely but do not capture the expansive views or beauty..do you have a good photo of the red and gold tree that is standing in yuan gardens now?..it appeared as if the chinese folk throw red ribbons with prayers or wishes up into the artificial tree covered in gold leaves..i would appreciate any email i miss the city. thank you, elizabeth

— elizabeth sandoval · 2005-10-17 18:41

I agree about HuaiHaiLu, but each of these roads are so long, that you can't see the end of them for the Shanghai air pollution. Especially today. oct. 17.

The sun set before reaching the skyline.

So you would say - what have this foreigner done himself :

I have tried to contact the Shanghai Environmental Bureau at http://www.sepb.gov.cn/index-en.jsp

3 times to ask when they will open up an annual regular exhaust inspection of trucks and buses, like in other big cities.

This is SO easy, because it can be done in a snap in this country.

(I'm sure that Greenpeace will agree :-)

BUT - NO reply ever (but I'm NOT a chinese, so who cares about my english emails).

Fact is - We ALL breathe the filthy air in this lovely city !

All are barking and coughing here.

But what to do ?

All chinese I have spoken to said : "Ohh, I can't do anything - it's a problem for the city government." However - I'm just a laowei and have nothing to say.

I think - if you're a chinese, YOU can do something !

Send them 1000's of emails what they really intend to do.

This is new times, I think they will listen to reasonable arguments.

— carsten · 2005-10-17 21:40

当然是衡山路,有一次秋天的下午,我路过衡山路,秋叶飘落,很美,有点象的小说.有时间我想写个上海的小说,好好的描述一下上海马路.

还有华山路,有一次,我从希尔顿附近,一直延华山路走,走了3-4站路,到华山路与淮海路.一路上房屋很有30年代风味.

shirley

— shirley · 2005-10-18 17:23

Hi,

I'm doing this report on the geography of shanghai, and I need to know some important stuff about the shanghai culture, such as what the cool music is, what kind of things magazines you read, and if you can, maybe even some pictures. So far, your information about shanghai has been such a great help to me. No website or book has given me information as well as your blogs. Thanks!

-Hannah (Los Angeles, California)

— Hannah Benet · 2005-12-03 00:50

Thanks, Benet.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2005-12-03 09:57

Just starting to gather info for a trip 4 of us are taking

to Shanghai in August. Should we plan on getting a

car and driving around the countryside during our

1 week stay?

— Ken · 2007-02-10 05:57

Ken, I don't know where you come from. My suggestion is, never thought of driving a car in Shanghai, even in country side if you are not from China. That can be exciting, and challenge, also dangerous. 1 week is too short for you to get used to the road system in Shanghai. You know what, even people from nearby cities like Hangzhou or Suzhou need to help a guide to sit in their car to find the destination.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2007-02-10 17:52

Chongming Hotel

Tue, 11 Oct 2005 23:45:23 +0800

This question is rare, since not many people go to Chongming.

Dear Sir,

I visit your personal web site and blog site, because I trying to find

somes information about Chongming Island.

In fact I need to find a hotel on Chongming, where I will stay during 2

weeks for works, but I can not find any hotel information on the web.

Could you please help me and tell me if it is more easy to stay in Shanghai

Two Side of the World - Where Should I Stay?

Mon, 10 Oct 2005 14:35:59 +0800

How interesting that on one hand, so many people are looking for services and goods and on the other hand, many services and merchants are spending too much but still cannot find customers.

I often receive emails to help on recommend good tour guide, hotel to stay, or places to buy stuff. Many times, I have to reply that I don’t have much more information than the information already on the Internet, or on my blog. :-)

Hit by Caribe.sis Virus via Bluetooth

Sun, 09 Oct 2005 23:34:03 +0800

So exciting. One week after I switched to Symbian phone Nokia 6670, I was hit by a virus distributed via bluetooth.

Yesterady, when I had coffee at Starbucks, my phone ringed and displayed “die*_*lucky is sending you a file via bluetooth”. I accepted, and it promoted me to install an application. I realized something wrong happened. So I interrupted the installation and turn to Google for the name of the application:

Where to Buy Digital Cameras and Phones

Fri, 07 Oct 2005 16:59:02 +0800

Aliza asked:

Hi, I am looking to buy a digital camera in Shanghai, can you please

recommend a reputable store? I will be here for 2 more days.

In Shanghai, there are two major places where you can buy low price 3C product - digital cameras, phones, computers, MP3…

Metro City

Metro city is the traditional gathering place to buy these products. Here is the location:

The nearby Pacific Digital Plaza is also a good place to go.

Super Girl Concert in Shanghai

Fri, 07 Oct 2005 12:26:48 +0800

Yesterday is next to the last day of the long vacation. Around 4:00 clock, Wendy suddenly brought up the idea to go to the Super Girl Shanghai Concert. Well. It sounded not bad. Although I am not a big fan of super girl - the competition, the TV show and the crazy SMS voting campaign, but I don’t think I am old enough to say: “Let those kids go there and play…”. The Super Girl Concert is a big event in Shanghai - at least in certain rage of age of people. How about just go there and experience the real-time effects of the end of this crazy show?

MU2043 from Luoyang to Shanghai

Thu, 06 Oct 2005 11:32:57 +0800

I took the Luoyang to Shanghai flight MU2043 and safely arrived in Shanghai.

Luoyang is a small city. Around 12:30, I got on board a green CITROEN taxi - Citroen taxis are among the better class of taxis in Luoyang.

Luoyang airport is near the central of the city - about 10 km away. 10KM is a long distance in Luoyang. The road to the airport is very good, and more importantly, no too much traffic.

Luoyang Trip Report

Wed, 05 Oct 2005 23:08:15 +0800

During the Oct, I am back to my hometown in Luoyang. Here is the photo report of the city. Let me spend some time to explain what the photos mean. Please keep in mind Luoyang is a second tier city in China - it is not Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou or a privince capital. It is just one of very normal cities in China with 1 million urban population and 6 million total population.

OOB for Vacation in Luoyang

Mon, 03 Oct 2005 23:08:49 +0800

I am having my National Holiday vacation in my hometown Luoyang. OOB for several days.

P.S. You can see my pictures of the trip on my flickr homepage. I have setup my new phone Nokia 6610 with Flickr so I can upload pictures I take to the site. Here is the latest one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jianshuo/49032772/

2 Comments

Have fun and take care! :-)

— Ollie · 2005-10-04 00:25

Have a good time, Jianshuo.

— admin · 2005-10-04 17:31

Some Hot Keywords in Google

Sun, 02 Oct 2005 23:20:42 +0800

I changed the design of individual page a little bit and found it helps a lot. The individual page on this site appeared on some very hot keywords. It brings me a little surprise. Here are some examples:

eBay China

[China Job](http://www.google.com/search?q=China Job)

[Blogger China](http://www.google.com/search?q=Blogger China)[flight ticket](http://www.google.com/search?q=flight ticket)

[shanghai metro](http://www.google.com/search?q=shanghai metro)

8 Comments

Hi. Can you tell me how many people in China have access to the internet? I run a no cost website for writers and would like to have it translated into Chinese. How would I go about that? My website is: http://www.storyarrow.com

Please don't delete. I am not selling anything.

— john keats · 2005-10-11 06:55

Write for Hollywood or be a Novelist.

We have a site to help aspiring writers or professionals succeed.

Check out our links and our feature content…all of which will help you succeed….

Please click on the help us on top of page to donate. We need your support to keep our site alive.

http://www.storyarrow.com

— John Keats · 2005-10-24 07:54

I am looking for hotkey words fot the blog

Every one is welcome to suggest about my blog at http://Diamondjewelryinformationcenter.blogspot.com

— Zulry · 2007-01-11 21:12

There are so many resources for writers. I will add this one to my blog list.

— Cheryline · 2008-02-26 20:57

Its great!

— imran ali · 2008-03-24 20:19

Yes that is great. Can anyone tell me the way to find the most searched keyword phrases on google in the last 6 months or so?

Thanks,

imran

— imran ali · 2008-03-24 20:21

I have created new web only 1 year.I'd like to increase traffic,meanwhile my work is web designer and progrmmer. Hoping getting some business on web. My web is located in china.

who can tell me some useful method.

thanks,

richard

— richard · 2008-09-11 00:42

Do you have any keywords in Chinese?

— hu · 2008-12-30 20:13

Back from Donews Shanghai Meeting

Thu, 29 Sep 2005 03:34:00 +0800

I am back from Donews Shanghai Meeting. It is a successful event. Recently, I have to give up some very good habbit, including “camera-on-hand all-the-time”. I don’t have a photo of the event to share, because I spent the whole afternoon talk with all great people and got around 100 name cards.

Donews is an IT community with many active users in IT industry and IT related media. Around 600 people attended the event - a very big one.

Back to Tong Ji Univ. with Jun

Tue, 27 Sep 2005 23:02:34 +0800

I am back to Tong Ji University again with Jun Tang, CEO of SANDA (NASDAQ:SNDA) and my old manager Hong-Wei Hua. This time, Jun presented his fantansitic experience in U.S. The students were so amazed by the presentation. The lecture ended about one hour later than expected because of students’ request to share more stories, and un-interruptable Q&A session. MC’s several attempt to stop Q&A failed many times. Meanwhile, a book named “Beyond” written by Miss Xie was release today. It is a book about Jun and Microsoft. There are some short paragraps about me in it. The book will hit the market tomorrow.

Shanghai Weather in Oct

Mon, 26 Sep 2005 23:57:52 +0800

We are going to enter October.

October is among the best weather in Shanghai (if not contain spring in April). Typically, it is not hot and not cold - just the best time for people to live and visit.

A T-shirt can do and a sweater is also OK. The autumn comes. As the old sayings put it, it is the time you can wear whatever you want - not so hot and not so cold.

Some Ideas on SEO

Mon, 26 Sep 2005 06:30:43 +0800

Just note some ideas that may help to dramatically drive volumns to a site - while not neccessarily be the best way.

Basic Idea

Users may use a lot of different keywords to come to this site, but most keywords we don’t know or don’t have time to create a page around it.

Meanwhile, it is the most frequently used words people search, instead of our words.

We can see these words in the access log.

Comment System is OK Now

Mon, 26 Sep 2005 04:50:41 +0800

I felt strange that there were no new comment after I posted my last comment at 25, 2005 12:55 AM. I thought it may because of weekend. To my surprise, I found the site stopped accepting new comments after that.

The reason is, I put “…” into the banned world list of my MT-Blacklist tool. Three dot means to match any three chracters. Some readers may lose some comments that they spent much time to write. Sorry for that. The good news is, the system is back to normal…

Do You Believe in Living Cost Index?

Sun, 25 Sep 2005 11:52:59 +0800

The big difference between really living in a city and not is, you have better sense of the relative environment of a city.

There are many reports on living cost. Shanghai sometimes ranked very high in the list - in the top 10 most expensive cities. The recent 2005 report says, Shanghai is the 30th most expensive city in the world. One of the key factor is the change of RMB price.

Mannual Way to Manage my Directory

Sat, 24 Sep 2005 13:02:33 +0800

FTP to home.wangjianshuo.com with my user name and password (I won’t tell you though)
Go to /scripts/links folder/admin/data folder.
GET links.db to local disk.
PUT links.db links-2005-09-24.db (as a backup of the old file)
Notepad links.db to get the content
Click here (password protected) to rebuld the links source.
Check out this page.
Open links.db and check out the first number in the text.
Search for the number in the new linksfeed.htm and copy all the content before the number.

100 Anniversary of Fudan

Sat, 24 Sep 2005 10:48:18 +0800

Today is 100 Anniversary of Fudan University. Big congratulations to this famous university in Shanghai.

Typically, the two best universities in Shanghai are:

Fudan University

Shanghai Jiao Tong University

And people typically list the order with Fudan in the front.

100 Years of Fudan

Although China is an old country, there are not many old universities. SJTU past its 100 anniversary in 1996. Beijing University followed at 1998. Now, Fudan, and Tsinghua’s 100 anniversary will be held in 2011.

Is this Water Safe to Drink?

Fri, 23 Sep 2005 23:38:58 +0800

Wendy and I was in a decent restaurant the other day. A well-dressed couple from Florida were seated next to us. We chatted a little bit when they seek for help to order the Chinese dishes.

After they completed the order, the lady pointed to the glass of water before her and asked: “BTW, is it safe to drink the water here?”

“Well. I think so”, I answered.

Safe or Not? What is the Standard

Not Perfect English is Fine, So does Correction

Tue, 20 Sep 2005 00:15:40 +0800

After I arrived to home, ate a banana, took a hot bath, and logged onto my home computer at around 11:00 PM, I was surprised to see hot argument in my previous entry: Removed my Email from Blog. I wasn’t able to checkout comments at day time yet.

The thread started by bob’s correction of a sentence in my English writing. Itself, to be honest, does NOT seem offensive to me.

Removed my Email from Blog

Mon, 19 Sep 2005 02:46:27 +0800

Today, I removed my email address signiture from every page of my blog.

Old footer of individual page in this blog

I put on my email into my blog from day one of blogging. I enjoy being interactive with my readers. When there is not so much traffic, it was very rare to get any email from reader. Later, after my monthly page view reached about 1 million, I got two or three emails everyday. Most people seek for help about Shanghai. The questions helped me to find good topics to write about Shanghai.

Happy Autumn Festival

Sun, 18 Sep 2005 23:36:03 +0800

Happy Autumn Festival (Mid-moon Festival) everyone! I just had wonderful moon cake with Wendy at home. There are clouds in the sky in Shanghai but the moon is clearly seen behind the cloud.

7 Comments

Happy Autumn Festival, Jian Shuo!

— Ollie · 2005-09-19 00:55

Thanks!

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2005-09-19 01:33

Jim and I watched the moon come up from behind the far hills last night. I will think of you and Wendy when we admire it again this evening :-)

Happy Autumn Festival to you and your friends and family!

— Carroll · 2005-09-19 01:54

Happy Mid Autumn Festival to you all!

Ying and I enjoyed a walk through China Town (Sydney) where she had a moon cake.

I must admit, I don't actually like moon cakes. I find them too sweet and too heavy - but I like the symbolism of sharing and showing your friends and family that you are thinking of them.

Our next Mid Autumn Festival (Moon Cake Festival I always remember it as) will be in Shanghai - so I look forward to sharing it with Ying and her family.

— Brad · 2005-09-19 10:04

Happy Mid Autumn Festival !

The moon is bright last night.

shirley

— shirley · 2005-09-19 15:05

Happy Mid Autumn Festival !

The moon was bright last night.

shirley

— shirley · 2005-09-19 15:06

I wish that an Autum fest was properly celebrated in New York.

Autumn is my favorite season, and it's one of the few comfortable times to be in the city these days. The air is crisp and cool, pencils are sharpened, I pull on my corduroy jacket and head to work every morning with a smile on my face and wind in my hair.

— Bella · 2005-09-26 22:39

87 Entries Included in Google Blog Search

Sat, 17 Sep 2005 23:48:37 +0800

Google released Blog Search. Chedong used inurl to see how many entries are included in Google search. I tried and found Google indexed 87 blog entries out of my 1000+ entries. It takes some time to index all - if Google really index those older entries.

P.S. I created my sitemap file at http://home.wangjianshuo.com/sitemap.xml to include all links.

Although I was surprised that I still can find time to work on these technical details, I still insist to have certain level of involvement into the new things on the Internet by MYSELF, instead of reading articles about “cool” new things.

Shanghai World Financial Center

Fri, 16 Sep 2005 00:54:42 +0800

World Financial Center under construction. Picture taken by Jian Shuo Wang

Yes. I can confirm it - the building, Shanghai World Financial Center, which was held during the Asia Economic Crisis, starts construnction again.

As you can see, the building is just a little bit higher than a bus yet, but it has much more potential to grow than a bus.

The picture above was taken at night from my taxi window. It may takes 3 years to complete. Then it will become the tallest building in the world. Below is a concepture picture of the building.

China Internet Conference

Thu, 15 Sep 2005 01:13:51 +0800

I found one picture of the China Internet Conference in my camera. This picture was taken on Sept 1, 2005, in Beijing.

Photograph by Jian Shuo Wang

Let’s remember this hot season again - as many speaker repeated, the warmth felt in this conference is exactly like that in 2000 - the year before the big bubble bursted.

2 Comments

Do you know why the Internet franzy is appearing again in China, but not quite in other places such as US?

— JH · 2005-09-19 07:00

Как-то в 2005 не очень солидно, сейчас уже наверное не так

— Filter · 2009-12-06 23:34

Tips to Get a Taxi

Tue, 13 Sep 2005 23:30:16 +0800

Taxi is becoming a headache in Shanghai. I remember about three years ago, taxi is was still abundant resource and I can could hire a taxi easily - empty taxis are were everywhere. (Update: Thanks Fang Fang to correct spelling of this paragraph)

However, recently, it is very hard to find a taxi. It is not rare to wait for half an hour in People’s Square area or Lujiazui area. There are no empty taxi at all and there are more than 20 passengers are waving their hands to call a taxi.

eBay China Job Opening - Part II

Mon, 12 Sep 2005 23:19:12 +0800

After I posted job posting for one friend in eBay, it seems it worked and another friend asked me to post more for their organization. Besides posting to Kijiji, let me also try here. If you are interested in working in eBay, why not have a try?

Technical Job Openings in eBay Shanghai office

Want to join a great team of professionals that built the largest e-commerce site in the world?

Three Years of Blogging

Sun, 11 Sep 2005 22:29:28 +0800

This is the first day of the forth year of my blogging.

After three years (or 1095 days) of blogging, I thought this may be a bigger event for my life, but I didn’t feel it that way when this day come. This is a normal Sunday for me - Typhoon hits Shanghai again, and it starts to rain. The subtitle of Shanghai Oriental TV reminds people to stay in home and check windows and doors. Four year ago, on the same day, 9-11 event happened in New York (BTW, the most admirable exhibition I ever heard of is Here is New York). Maybe the rain brings more blue mood for me and an three year anniversary reminds me to look back to see what happened in the days before.

Wangjianshuo's Blog Change Log

Sun, 11 Sep 2005 00:15:15 +0800

23:29 2006-7-31

Project:

Remove Google Adsense code from Individual Entry Archive

Propose:

Increase user experience by providing ad-free browsing on

Individual Entry Archive page.

Increase Google Adsense revenue to improving overall CTR rate.

Success Metrics:

Get earning back to 40 level, from 28 (after the change).

Steps:

Template -> Archives tab -> Individual Entry Archive
Remove the following code from under

Chinese Blogger Conference

Sat, 10 Sep 2005 23:15:03 +0800

Chinese Blogger Conference will be held in Shanghai on Nov 5 - 6, 2005 in Shanghai. It is a weekend.

Image in courtesy of Blogger Conference Organizer

I don’t know why, but I just have the mixed feeling of this event. I didn’t got any notification/invitation of this event yet. I am worrying about this event. I met Isaac and discussed my concerns: it is more like a conference of only some people, instead of the blogging world. BSPs like blogbus, bokee, blogcn, anyp.cn seem not involved yet, and many bloggers like me are not involved yet. The speakers are great persons but seem to be only in a small circle. Although many bloggers are encouraged to participate, but there is not good way to organize the participation. There are many pannel discussions, but I worry how to organize it if there are so many people - I don’t know what the pannel discussion will look like if it is 100 people conference…

Short Time Flight Ticket

Fri, 09 Sep 2005 22:04:58 +0800

Question

When I get to Shanghai Oct 10, I need to get a one-way flight to Chengdu on 13th. Will I be able to do that on the 10th or 11th? No web site that I can access in US permits reserving a one-way ticket. If you think trying to get a flight on 2-3 days notice is not realistic, could you suggest a travel agent located in Shanghai that might assist me. I love Shanghai and wish I had more time to spend this trip. Thanks for your help.

My 17 'OR' Articles

Thu, 08 Sep 2005 13:08:38 +0800

Chedong is my good friend and a search engine expert. He wrote an article on his blog named: 15 OR of Wang Jian Shuo (I found this is 976th article from him already)

We discussed two topics I wrote: one is Enjoy Doing or Being Able to Do and Dislike Doing or Starting to Do. Then Chedong get back and used Google to get a list of 15 articles. I just searched and got 17 results (Maybe I changed to English interface?) The question I asked include:

We Filled Our Lives But Lost Our Souls

Wed, 07 Sep 2005 23:52:42 +0800

Wendy wrote an article named We Filled Our Lives, But Lost Our Souls (Chinese) and posted it on her blog. It is very real comment from a normal person in Shanghai. The original version was very well written. Let me try to translate part of them.

These are among our frequent topics: I went to English, and you visited Europe, and he went to America; your house is at Lian Hua Metro Station, and mine is at Pudong, and he has several villa; The Peace Masion on Fen Yang Road is not bad, and Ying Qi on Ju Lu Road has great taste, and the Rose Garden is Pudong is OK; We care about taste, and we care about sentiment; we care about thoughts; We will have afternoon teas, and we will enjoy German black beer…

Cheng Shan Road Opens

Tue, 06 Sep 2005 23:43:19 +0800

After one year of construction, the Cheng Shan Road near my apartment finally opens these days. It provides a new way to directly go to the Lupu Bridge directly from my home.

Along the road, there are still many villages. Although it is the site of the Shanghai Expo 2010, currently, there are still villages in the cities. The villigers are planning their new life since the villages will be moved to other places, and modern buildings will raise at the same place. The road is the first step to kick off this kind of construnction. I believe in the year 2010, this area will be completely another new look.