Yangtze Hotel is Good

Posted on by
4

screen-wangjianshuos.pick-logo.pngTo 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

Yangtze Hotel 扬子饭店

Yangtze is named after the Yangtze River – the longest river in China.

Location

Although I never been to the room of the hotel, one thing I can confirm is, you cannot easily find a hotel that has better location than this one. It is just at the People’s Square, the very center of the city. There is a church beside it. It is just at the No. 2 exit of the Metro Line 1 and #2.

The door of Yangtze Hotel opens just before the door of Raffles City (where I work everyday). It is near to almost everywhere – easily reached via Metro or taxi.

Here is the map.

Price

As of this week (March 13 – March 18), the standard room is 560 RMB (or 70 USD) per night.

The Room

I didn’t see the room myself, but my friend told me there are old style rooms and very modern style rooms. The sink in the modern rooms are made of glass, and there are curtain between the restroom and the bedrooms. They even have computers…. Let me find time to take a look.

The History

Yangtze Hotel looks like a very normal hotel from outside. I even didn’t realize there is a hotel at the gate of my office building. For me, it is only a cheap place to have lunch. We enjoy the fast food of the hotel – 15 RMB for the lunch – not bad.

I checked the history of the hotel on Internet. It has unordinary history. It was built in 1934, and was once named “the third best hotel in the fareast” in old times.

Wow. Let me take pictures of the hotel tomorrow. People always ignore important stuff besides us.

Reservation

Book it via CTRIP: Yangtze Hotel.

Forget about the 1078 RMB listing price. It never charged that high.

Yangtze Hotel

740 HanKou Road, Shanghai 200001

Tel +86 21 6351 7880

Fax +86 21 6351 6974

Email:sales@e-yangtze.com

Website

They have a website: http://www.e-yangtze.com/

If you stayed in the hotel, please share your comment.

P.S. There is always good and cheap motel like Motel 168, and Jinjiang Inn. They are 268 RMB or 168 RMB per night. They are also good – clean, fully equipped, and convenient. The only problem is, they are often fully booked. There are other hotels like this, Sports Hotel is one example.

Taihu! Taihu! Taihu!

Posted on by
2

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…

Report from Search Engine Strategies

Posted on by
Reply

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.

I met…

Hello from Nanjing

Posted on by
2

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

hours, and turned out…

Happy Birthday to Goudaner (2nd Year)

Posted on by
13

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.

The dealer was very reasonable, and agreed to return the car back to the warehouse. They said I can get back again after one week for another one. They did mean it. Just before they drive the car to the backyard, I felt although there is just several minutes, I don’t want them to drive “my” car away. You know, the feeling of the first ever car is interesting. I thought it is may be the feat of the car, and my feat that we meet. I know buying a car is all about luck. No one guarantees you that every car is exactly as durable and reliable as each other. I am afraid IF I get another one, I will regret that I didn’t pickup the first one I saw. It may happen.

So, that is the final decision. I happily drove the new car back home, and show the family about the car. I didn’t tell Wendy the scare for the first few weeks. We all love it. I made the good decision. In the last two years, Goudaner is reliable, and performs great. I enjoy driving it around. No one is perfect. So does a car. I tend to tolerate other’s imperfectness, just as many people tolerate mine.

First day on March 16, 2004

I gave the name Goudaner to it one week after we have it.

In the last two years, it accompanied us from home to work, and go to nearby locations. We went to Hangzhou for twice, and Suzhou once. We also went to Chongming once. Went to Pudong airport and Hongqiao Airport several times. Besides that, Goudaner didn’t travel far from my home.

Recently many people are looking at cars and plan to buy one. I always say: “To own a house does not change the life too much – to own a car does”.

Happy Birthday to Goudaner.

MagLev May Extend to Hangzhou – Confirmed

Posted on by
19

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.

How about the Residential Area?

One question I have is, how the government will deal with the Wanbang City Garden – the newly built residential garden just at the extended direction of the Maglev. Will they be teared down? Will the Maglev use the other path?

I am also curious about the plan of the rail of Maglev. I may pass the place where I live, since the area is just in the middle between Long Yang Road and the World Expo 2010 site. Anyone know some insight about the plan?

Mashup Camp China

Posted on by
3

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.

Here is Mao‘s page on mashup.

Here is Isaac’s.

Attendant list:

Robert Mao, blogger, Founder/CEO of UUZone

Isaac Mao, blogger, VP of UCI

Jian Shuo Wang, blogger, Head of Kijiji China

Jack Gu, blogger, Founder of podlook.com

Xiaofeng, Jin

Zheng, blogger

Xuer

Bruce

Michael

Johney

6e (luliang), blogger, CTO of bokee.com

Owen, blogger

The name was inspired by Mashup Camp, which we closely monitored in the Idea Factory China alias.

Note

Met Lucifer Chu (Zhu Xueheng), the founder of OOPS (Opensource Opencourseware Prototype System). He donated his time, and money to translate all opensource opencourseware, like the MIT’s open courseware project, into Chinese. The project is a nice one. Lucifer has a personal award for sci-fi type of novelist. This idea inspired me a lot that you can help to promote something by setting up an award. :-)

Back from Snowing Hangzhou

Posted on by
5

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.

It snowed heavily when we left. I worried that the expressway may be closed soon if the snow continues for 1 hour. We were lucky that very soon, we left the snowing area. It didn’t snow in Shanghai section of the road, while the snow continues in Hangzhou for quite some time.

One observation: the expressway have been extended from 2 lanes before to 4 lanes. At a service area, I saw a notice to drivers:

Do not use the left most lane in a four lane express-way too long – you will be fined for 100 USD if caught by policement.

Hangzhou

Hangzhou is so nice, but the traffic in Hangzhou is really a mass at weekends. So complained by many people in Hangzhou. It may be because many people rush to Hangzhou to Shanghai. :-)

Hangzhou looked so beautiful this time to me. The west lake, and the mountains, look great whenever it is rainy or sunny, or snow, like today.

2,880 RMB Round-Trip to U.S.

Got an email from Northwest Airlines. The latest promotion from Northwest is surprising. They offer 2880 RMB (about 350 USD) for round trip flight from Shanghai to San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland. The criteria is to book before April 24, leave before April 27, and get back before June 11. Sounds attractive.

Hello From Hangzhou

Posted on by
23

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

Posted on by
1

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.

2002

MovableType Successfully Installed on Windows XP September 11, 2002

Network Infrustucture in my Home in Shanghai September 13, 2002

Webcam Set Up, Broadcasting Shanghai September 16, 2002

Real-Time Stream Broadcasting Cookbook September 18, 2002

From Pu Dong Airport to People’s Park September 19, 2002

Foreign Companies in Shanghai September 21, 2002

Net Send – Yet Another Type of Spam September 23, 2002

My Site Remains Illegal in China September 26, 2002

Mountains and Snows in Daocheng October 07, 2002

MSN Messenger Virus BR2002 October 09, 2002

Learning Swimming October 26, 2002

Skiing in Shanghai October 29, 2002

Applying a U.S. Visia October 31, 2002

Usability of Pudong Airport November 03, 2002

United Airlines is Good November 04, 2002

Stop NET SEND spam November 07, 2002

Living Cost in Shanghai November 08, 2002

Autumn in Seattle November 12, 2002

Is English Skill That Important November 14, 2002

Flighting back for NET SEND SPAM November 20, 2002

Install Perl on Windows XP November 24, 2002

My Wireless Dream November 26, 2002

My Google PageRank Increases to PR5 November 28, 2002

Xujiahui – Night November 29, 2002

Really Living in Shanghai December 05, 2002

Cracking XBox December 08, 2002

Hero of Zhang Yi Mou December 25, 2002

2003

Wireless Access in Pudong Airport January 12, 2003

Blogger in China January 13, 2003

My Life Begins to be Busy January 20, 2003

DB_File Error When Installing MovableType January 31, 2003

Shanghai Pudong Airport to Suzhou February 06, 2003

Remove Xupiter.com Toolbar February 08, 2003

Golarger.com – NET SEND Spamer and Comment Spammer February 27, 2003

Fight Back for Golarger Spam February 28, 2003

Guestbook March 02, 2003

My New Mobile – Alcatel OT715 March 03, 2003

Alcatel OT715 March 11, 2003

Comments on My Daocheng Pictures March 14, 2003

Mobiles in China – My Personal Perspective March 15, 2003

Micropayment with Mobile SMS in China March 16, 2003

Marriage Announcement March 17, 2003

Difference Between Quanqiutong and Shenzhouxing March 19, 2003

SARS Outbreak – How Bad Is It? March 23, 2003

Wedding Anniversary March 24, 2003

SARS Symptons March 26, 2003

No SARS Case Found in Shanghai March 27, 2003

Bill Gates Murdered by Media in China March 29, 2003

My Dream Travel Destination April 02, 2003

Thanks for your Comments April 03, 2003

Hospitals and Hotlines for SARS in Shanghai April 10, 2003

MSN Messenger Spam April 13, 2003

No SARS Case in Fujian – People Daily April 14, 2003

SARS Websites in China April 15, 2003

Daily Life – SARS Related April 17, 2003

East Radio Station Goes Online April 20, 2003

How do you Feel if Being Misunderstood? April 21, 2003

China is Taking SARS Seriously April 22, 2003

Shanghai SARS: Situation Severe April 23, 2003

SARS Pictures From Beijng and Shanghai April 24, 2003

Protect China – Not Only Against SARS April 25, 2003

WHO Reports Shanghai Findings April 27, 2003

My Dinner Impacted by SARS April 28, 2003

With SARS, All We Have is Time May 02, 2003

6 SARS Cases in Shanghai May 07, 2003

Emails and Privacy Policies May 08, 2003

Shanghai Quarantine – Mandatory May 09, 2003

Flight to Shanghai: A Journey in the Plague Year III May 10, 2003

Tahiti May 13, 2003

Caroline is Back to Shanghai May 15, 2003

My Home Goes Wireless May 17, 2003

Webcam Shanghai Resumes May 18, 2003

SARS Almost Goes to an End May 19, 2003

Starbucks in Shanghai May 20, 2003

My New Camera – Sony DSC-P8 May 21, 2003

Shanghai Hand-Made Map May 24, 2003

Travel Plan to Kanas Lake, Xinjiang May 27, 2003

Aerial Picture of Anyplace in US May 29, 2003

Traffic Rules in Shanghai June 04, 2003

Paraskevidekatriaphobia June 13, 2003

SARS Update in Shanghai June 16, 2003

PVG: From Pudong Airport to Nanjing June 19, 2003

Life, An Accumulation of Mileage June 24, 2003

EndAds and BlockMessenger July 01, 2003

Alcatel OT715 Software July 04, 2003

Run Your Blog with Your Own Domain Name July 06, 2003

Use GPRS in Shanghai July 07, 2003

World Airport Website Report – Terminal Map July 13, 2003

PVG: Book Domestic Flight in China July 14, 2003

Living Cost in Shanghai – Part II July 18, 2003

Websites About Shanghai July 20, 2003

Typical Rush Hours in Shanghai July 23, 2003

Trip to Xiamen August 04, 2003

Beijing 2008 Olympic Emblem Unvieled August 04, 2003

Crime and Beggars in Shanghai August 05, 2003

Upcoming TOEIC and MSF Practitioner Exams August 07, 2003

Pudong Airport Maglev in Depth August 09, 2003

MSN Messenger Emotion Pictures August 12, 2003

Lost My Passport of P. R. China August 13, 2003

Shanghai Hotel Guide August 15, 2003

My Experience of TOEIC Exam August 16, 2003

Secret Wealth Spam August 18, 2003

Find a Job in Shanghai August 20, 2003

Shutdown DefeatMessenger And FightPopups Spam August 22, 2003

A Car Plate = 38500 RMB in Shanghai August 24, 2003

What Can I Do With My Own Mountain August 28, 2003

PVG: From Pudong Airport to Hangzhou August 30, 2003

Hard to Buy a House in Shanghai August 31, 2003

Microsoft is Hiring in Shanghai September 01, 2003

Relocating to Shanghai September 03, 2003

Shanghai Hotel Guide – Part II September 06, 2003

Traveled to Beijing with China Eastern Airlines September 07, 2003

Dopod 515 – SmartPhone in China September 09, 2003

PVG: Has Maglev Started Operation? October 02, 2003

Mandarin or Shanghaiese? October 03, 2003

PVG: Maglev Started Carry Passengers October 10, 2003

Went to Shanghai Community Church October 19, 2003

Kecak.com – Comment Spammer October 20, 2003

PVG: Location of Maglev Station October 21, 2003

Hand-Made Map of Pudong Area October 23, 2003

JW Marriott in Tomorrow Square Opens October 28, 2003

Houses in Shanghai October 29, 2003

My New Toys – Clock, Radio and TV November 01, 2003

Volkswagen Polo November 03, 2003

Shanghai Metro Map and Timetable November 04, 2003

PVG: Closer Look at MagLev November 05, 2003

All Work and No Sports Made Jack a Dull November 08, 2003

Going to Europe? November 10, 2003

Muzimei’s Sex Blog Brought Trouble November 12, 2003

Starbucks in A Day November 22, 2003

Starbucks in A Day – Part II November 23, 2003

Watch Out Bad Shanghai Taxi Drivers December 02, 2003

Wangjianshuo’s Blog Meetup December 16, 2003

Discrimination Against Foreigners in Shanghai? December 19, 2003

Friend is Sick. Please Show Your Support December 20, 2003

10 Things You Love/Hate About Shanghai December 23, 2003

Where to Study Chinese, Beijing or Shanghai? December 25, 2003

2004

Got Flu and Went to Hospital January 04, 2004

Bring Your Mobile and Internet to Shanghai January 05, 2004

Salary in Shanghai January 06, 2004

MSN Messenger Virus Jitux.A January 07, 2004

Satellite Dishes Still Forbidden in China January 08, 2004

Write Better Weblog January 14, 2004

Wow. Shanghai is Snowing January 18, 2004

Future Plan of Shanghai Metro January 19, 2004

Webcam+Windows Media+GPRS+SmartPhone=? January 20, 2004

Happy New Year January 22, 2004

Wireless (WiFi) Hot Spots in Shanghai January 30, 2004

Xiangyang Market – the Shopping Paradise January 31, 2004

Service Shock in Shanghai February 02, 2004

Shanghai Map Viewer February 03, 2004

Free .TK Domain Available February 04, 2004

Does Hotmail Work in CHina? February 05, 2004

I am a RUBIK Cube (Magic Cube) Solver February 05, 2004

Hello From Beijing February 08, 2004

Business Trips February 11, 2004

Voted as Top 10 Blogs in China February 12, 2004

Beijing Impression February 16, 2004

About Jian Shuo Wang February 18, 2004

Professional English February 19, 2004

Pudong or Puxi February 21, 2004

Rent an Apartment in Shanghai February 28, 2004

Hardship of Living without Twix March 01, 2004

Continue to Seek for an Apartment March 02, 2004

March 20 Taiwan Election March 06, 2004

Just Few Steps Away from My New Car March 07, 2004

Old Houses in Shanghai – Part III March 09, 2004

Using Contact Lenses March 10, 2004

Jian Shuo Got His Car March 15, 2004

FIAT Siena 1.5 HL Pictures March 16, 2004

Sanya Travelogue – The Holiday Inn Resort March 21, 2004

Stealing in Xiang Yang Market March 24, 2004

Still Working with IPowerWeb April 04, 2004

DHL Airwaybill Number April 05, 2004

PVG: Buses to Hangzhou, Suzhou… April 09, 2004

Learn Shanghainese April 11, 2004

Drive-Ins in China April 18, 2004

Maglev – A Failure? April 19, 2004

Experiencing Maglev Shanghai April 20, 2004

My Own Cartoon Picture with Home Style+ April 23, 2004

Sony Ericsson GC75 in Shanghai April 28, 2004

U.S. Paused All Visa Application in China April 29, 2004

Kodak Digital Image Printing Kiosk May 01, 2004

Luoyang Tour – Day 1 May 03, 2004

MovableType 3.0 Released May 14, 2004

Salary in Shanghai – Part II May 19, 2004

Running in Pudong. May 19, 2004

Cheap and Clean Motel in Shanghai – Motel168 May 24, 2004

Polution in Shanghai May 25, 2004

Broadband Internet Providers in Shanghai June 04, 2004

PVG: Transition to Hong Qiao (SHA) June 08, 2004

I am a Tough Customer June 13, 2004

Exchange RMB to/from Foreign Currencies June 16, 2004

Shanghai is the Second Unhappiest City June 16, 2004

Volunteers Wanted June 16, 2004

Personal Social Network Management June 17, 2004

Shanghai is Experiencing Energy Crisis June 22, 2004

English Instructions in Yantai June 23, 2004

Traffic Rules in Shanghai – Part II June 28, 2004

Five Years in Microsoft June 29, 2004

Price Rules in China Market June 30, 2004

Transferred to Microsoft Consulting Service July 06, 2004

Public Transportation in Shanghai July 07, 2004

PVG: One Million Passengers for MagLev July 07, 2004

My New Laptop – Dell Latitue D600 July 09, 2004

Group Drive to Yang Cheng Lake July 10, 2004

Wangjianshuo’s Photo Album July 15, 2004

Exciting Shanghai Night Life July 18, 2004

HP Pavilion a610cl – My New Home PC July 19, 2004

Bulk Purchase from IKEA July 21, 2004

MSN.COM Offers 2G Storage? July 21, 2004

Hot Hot Hot Shanghai July 22, 2004

House of Flying Daggers (or Shi Mian Mai Fu) July 24, 2004

Blogcn is Down for the Third Time July 27, 2004

Train from Beijing to Shanghai August 01, 2004

250MB from MSN Hotmail August 03, 2004

Nice Meetup with Hailey and Roddy August 04, 2004

Starbucks in a Day – Beijing Version August 05, 2004

Why I Don’t Have an English Name August 07, 2004

Why Shanghai’s Taxi is Good August 14, 2004

Starbucks Tour in Beijing August 16, 2004

Shanghai Taxi Colors August 16, 2004

I can Swim Now August 18, 2004

How to Go to Hong Kong via Shen Zhen September 01, 2004

If I were a Visitor to Shanghai September 06, 2004

Shanghai’s Growth is Slowing Down September 09, 2004

Last Post in Year II September 10, 2004

Going to F1 Grand Prix September 14, 2004

Negative Comments for this Blog September 15, 2004

Goudaner Scratched by Drunk Driver September 15, 2004

Posting my Mobile Number September 16, 2004

PVG: Bus to Suzhou, Nanjing, Hangzhou September 22, 2004

F1 Grand Prix Shanghai Pictures September 26, 2004

Travel by Train in China – Part I September 27, 2004

Ideas on Chiba in Japan? October 04, 2004

Shanghai is Cooling Down October 04, 2004

Inside Pudong Airport Maglev Train October 12, 2004

Happy Birthday to Me October 18, 2004

So Many Typos in Shanghai Metro October 19, 2004

Why We Use English Signs? October 24, 2004

So Many Typos in Shanghai Metro – Part III October 27, 2004

A Car Towed Away for Temp Parking October 28, 2004

Winter in Shanghai November 01, 2004

Planning to Travel to Tokyo November 02, 2004

Two Cats in my Garden November 04, 2004

Youth Hostels in Shanghai November 05, 2004

Homepage Version 3 November 07, 2004

Basic Geographic Knowledge about China November 09, 2004

Going Back to China? November 11, 2004

Jian Shuo Wang is Going to U.S. November 12, 2004

I Got my U.S. Visa November 15, 2004

I Got Wallop Invitation November 17, 2004

Boston for Dummies and More. November 18, 2004

Top Three Innovation that Failed in Shanghai November 19, 2004

Top 10 Places to See in New York City November 20, 2004

Edward’s New Satellite TV November 25, 2004

Hong Qiao (SHA) v.s. Pu Dong (PVG) Airport November 27, 2004

Xiang Yang Market Again November 28, 2004

U.S. Trip Update December 01, 2004

Thinking about Sony F828 December 02, 2004

Rejected by ANA and Postponed Travel December 04, 2004

Arrived in Seattle December 07, 2004

Getting Shore Pass (Temp Visa) for Japan December 09, 2004

Back from Geek Diner in Bellevue December 10, 2004

Chicago is Amazing December 13, 2004

New York – Day 2 December 16, 2004

Chinatowns in U.S. December 24, 2004

Cold New York December 28, 2004

2005

Is the Real Estate Cooling Down? January 03, 2005

Life in New York is Tough for Me January 05, 2005

MagLev May Extend to Hangzhou January 09, 2005

Flying and Flying… January 11, 2005

Top Two Differences in China January 12, 2005

Donation Needed for Zhan Xiao Feng January 15, 2005

Is the Real Estate Cooling Down? – Part II January 16, 2005

Converting RMB to USD? January 17, 2005

Is the Real Estate Cooling Down? – Part III January 19, 2005

Spring Festival in 2005 January 20, 2005

Rainy Crazy Friday Night in Shanghai January 21, 2005

Seoul Changes Chinese Name January 22, 2005

On Ethic January 23, 2005

In China, His Pay is Hers to Spend? January 26, 2005

Got Cold Again January 27, 2005

Kung Fu Hustle is Great January 31, 2005

Do Chinese Move to Small Cities February 01, 2005

Meningitis in Shanghai February 04, 2005

Is This London Undergrand? February 19, 2005

My Favorites in Shanghai February 27, 2005

Life in a Low Cost Labor World February 28, 2005

Helping by Hiring March 01, 2005

Jia You, Shanghai Metro! March 03, 2005

What does Happiness Depend on March 05, 2005

MSN Virus omg.pif March 07, 2005

Dislike Doing or Starting to Do March 09, 2005

Beijing is Cultural Center March 13, 2005

No Baggars Premitted on Metro? March 19, 2005

Luoyang Telephone Number Upgraded March 20, 2005

Does Shanghai have Beach March 21, 2005

Jian Shuo on Wired Magazine? March 22, 2005

L’Invitation au Voyage March 28, 2005

Jian Shuo Wang at Kijiji China April 04, 2005

Is 10,000RMB/Month a Ridiculous Offer? April 06, 2005

T.I.C Moments April 11, 2005

Spring Comes to Shanghai April 14, 2005

I Feel Like a Rabbit when I Eat Salad April 22, 2005

Lugu Lake May 01, 2005

Vacation Ends May 09, 2005

Black Day for Shanghai Stock Market May 09, 2005

Trusted Tourism Agency May 10, 2005

Hire a Taxi? Avoid Rainy Friday May 14, 2005

Work Life Balance May 16, 2005

Language Exchange Partners Wanted May 17, 2005

Thinking in English or Chinese May 22, 2005

Waiting for More Metro Lines May 23, 2005

Do You Have a Calendar? May 27, 2005

I Love Shanghai! June 04, 2005

Celebrating 1000 Days of Blogging June 06, 2005

Complicated Paying Process June 07, 2005

Second Day of College Entrace Exam June 09, 2005

Blog Registration in China June 10, 2005

Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005) June 10, 2005

Bought iPod Mini as Gift for Wendy June 11, 2005

Tea House vs Coffee Shop June 15, 2005

My Site is Almost Legal in China June 18, 2005

How to Win Free Cross China Travel? June 18, 2005

US Credit Card Fraud Infected China (and Me) June 23, 2005

Pressure is About Expectation June 28, 2005

Shanghai is Hot June 29, 2005

Shanghai Under Stress Test July 04, 2005

eCommunity Center in Shanghai July 08, 2005

Pudong Starbucks is Nice July 11, 2005

Back from Beijing Trip July 13, 2005

When the House Prices Goes Down July 14, 2005

Donghai Bridge July 17, 2005

RMB Finally Goes Strong July 22, 2005

Typhoon Hit Shanghai August 07, 2005

Different Views on Typhoon August 12, 2005

I Watched Super Girl, Finally August 14, 2005

This is the Top 356 Blog? August 18, 2005

Yu Garden August 19, 2005

eGuo One Hour? August 21, 2005

Super Girl is Super Hot August 24, 2005

eBay China Job Opening August 25, 2005

Baidu Post August 31, 2005

Price Increase of Shanghai Metro September 05, 2005

We Filled Our Lives But Lost Our Souls September 07, 2005

Three Years of Blogging September 11, 2005

Tips to Get a Taxi September 13, 2005

Removed my Email from Blog September 19, 2005

Not Perfect English is Fine, So does Correction September 20, 2005

Do You Believe in Living Cost Index? September 25, 2005

Where to Buy Digital Cameras and Phones October 07, 2005

Hit by Caribe.sis Virus via Bluetooth October 09, 2005

Happy Birthday To Me October 18, 2005

Pictures in Shanghai Metro October 19, 2005

KFC Dropped Potato Wedge in Shanghai October 27, 2005

I am at an EMBA Class in SJTU October 29, 2005

Picture in Shanghai November 01, 2005

BBC’s Interview November 07, 2005

Running Around Century Park November 08, 2005

Beijing 2008 Olympic Mascots November 11, 2005

Fudan v.s. Tongji University November 13, 2005

Cold Winter Comes November 16, 2005

IPEVO Skype Headset Hardware November 18, 2005

Jian Shuo Wang in San Jose in Dec November 19, 2005

Cycling in Pudong November 20, 2005

Some Recent Magazines about Me November 22, 2005

Inside the Shanghai Radio Staiton November 23, 2005

How to Read Shanghai Bus Stop Plate November 24, 2005

Craigslist’s Success November 25, 2005

Polution in Shanghai – Part II November 29, 2005

Flying to SFO December 04, 2005

In San Jose Already December 06, 2005

Jet Lag Patterns December 08, 2005

SFO Pictures December 09, 2005

Weekend at San Jose December 12, 2005

Pressure at Year End December 27, 2005

P.S. I am going to Hangzhou tomorrow and be back on Sunday. Hangzhou is very near to Shanghai – the backyard city for Shanghai.

Happy Women’s Day

Posted on by
20

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.

I dressed up in suite today, and stood at the entrance of office to hand out cut flowers to every single female employees in the morning with other managers. I like the program designed by the admin team very much. It is a different Women’s day, for girls and for me.

Anyway, it is a good day to have. Happy Women’s Day.

P.S. Wendy also had a half day leave, but now, at 9:00 PM, she is sitting besides me to process all the backlog emails she left in the afternoon.

Adding Tag Support to MovableType

Posted on by
1

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.

Below is the list of tags I have:

screen-categories-mt.PNG

The list is long.

Adding Tag Chart to Template

One of the key feature distinguishing tags from other category or keyword based classification is, tag chart or tag cloud. Like this:

screen-tag.chart-mt.PNG

In Category Archive template, use the following code:

<!–tagging map–>

<p class=Headlines><MTCategories>

<a style=”text-decoration:none” href=”<$MTCategoryArchiveLink$>” title=”<$MTCategoryCount$>”><$MTCategoryLabel$></a>

</MTCategories></p>

<script language=javascript>

e = document.getElementsByTagName(“A”);

for(i=0; i < e.length; i++)

{

if(e[i].title != “”)

{

t = e[i].title;

if(t > 256) e[i].style.fontSize = “150%”;

else if(t > 126) e[i].style.fontSize = “140%”;

else if(t > 68) e[i].style.fontSize = “130%”;

else if(t > 16) e[i].style.fontSize = “120%”;

else if(t > 8) e[i].style.fontSize = “110%”;

else if(t >= 2) e[i].style.fontSize = “100%”;

else if(t = 1) { e[i].style.fontSize = “80%”; }

}

}

</script>

<!–end of tagging map–>

The codes (including the VBScript) are self-explained.

You can put this piece of code to other pages, like homepage.

Done

It is just as simple as using the existing functions to create a new way of presentation. Anyway, categories, keywords, and tags are not too different in nature.

Happy blogging!

Business of Zhending Chicken – Part II

Posted on by
15

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 culture and 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.

People Takes People-People Relationship Seriously

I am reading some China ancient books, like confusious, and Laos, Daos. They all focus much more about the relationship between people – how you should be havior to archive the harmony of the relationship (instead of efficiency).

In Kening’s comment, I, for the first time, learnt the term: Judeo-Christian. During my search for this term, I was let to this page:

But what does “Judeo-Christian” mean? We need to know. Along with the belief in liberty — as opposed to, for example, the European belief in equality, the Muslim belief in theocracy, and the Eastern belief in social conformity — Judeo-Christian values are what distinguish America from all other countries. That is why American coins feature these two messages: “In God we trust” and “Liberty.”

With the common believe of God (the system we are in), people in U.S. are more willing to follow the rule instead of people. However, in China, at least from what I see, people tend to follow other people’s instruction, stead of laws. Why a policeman at the cross-street can greatly help to enforce the traffic law is an example of “people-people relationship” or “people-system relationship”.

Customer’s Need: Price or Quality?

I totally agree that quality, consistency, and value are very important for business, but businessman need to have much better insight into the Chinese market before using exactly the same belief in China.

For example, Price really rules in China. See the long line in the shopping mall. When people said they are willing to pay more for something if the quality is better, they are not typical customers. Whenever people are willing to pay additional money for better quality, that means it is just a very small portion of spending in their life. What if it is the major one? I still remember the time when I was in university. To go to KFC is very luxurious for the 20 RMB meal. We only plan once or twice in the whole term to go there. In this sitution, Zhending Chicken obviously offers much more than KFC. We always need to distinguish the so-called “middle-class” (i don’t like this term), and the majority of consumers in China.

China is changing

China is changing, and consumer’s behavior is changing (in a very slow fashion).

Booking China Domestic Flight Outside China

Posted on by
37

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

SHAPEK: March 19

PEKSHA: March 21

Expedia.com price: 308 USD or 2464 RMB. There are two flights to be chosen from.

screen-shanghai.beijing-expedia.png

Image in courtesy of Expedia.com

From CTRIP.com (The largest China online booking system)

SHAPEK: March 19

PEKSHA: March 21

CTRIP Price:

SHAPEK: CA178 08:20 10:30 767 Y 50/40 1130 620

PEKSHA: HU7603 17:00 18:40 767 Y 50/40 1130 570

The lowest combination is 1190 RMB, or about 150 USD.

There are 42 flights to be chosen from on the day of March 19, from Shanghai to Beijing…

Example 2: From Shanghai to Guiyang

Let’s choose another route – a more rare route.

SHAKWE: March 19

KWESHA: March 21

Round trip.

Expedia Price: 579 USD

CTRIP Price: 1440 RMB or 180 USD

For other routes, the local price is definitely cheaper than U.S. price.

Conclusion: Find Friends in China to book your tickets

So when you are traveling with limited budget within China, and you need to transit to cities other than port cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou), my suggestion is to find local friends to help you to book the ticket using domestic agent, or just use ctrip.com/elong.com.

The difference for International flights are not so big compared to China domestic flights. There are several reasons: 1. For domestic flights, the discounted price is the mainstream offering. You can easily find 70% to 50% discount prices. 2. Domestic flights are not in the global distribution system, so it is invisible for most users.

The airline market in China, as many other areas, are highly competitive, and flexible – by flexible, I mean the price, the service, and the schedule are not fixed. It is not always good thing, (also, not always bad thing to have). This kind of flexibility seldom gets reflected in the international systems.

P.S. Previous, I have published an article called PVG: Book Domestic Flight in China

Network Speed of my FTTB+LAN

Posted on by
17

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

Request timed out.

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=400ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=398ms TTL=50

Request timed out.

Request timed out.

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=403ms TTL=50

Request timed out.

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=403ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=402ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=403ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=399ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=401ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=401ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=403ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=403ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=406ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=405ms TTL=50

Request timed out.

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=399ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=403ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=400ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=402ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=405ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=403ms TTL=50

Request timed out.

Request timed out.

Request timed out.

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=408ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=399ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=406ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=397ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=406ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=400ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=401ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=401ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=401ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=403ms TTL=50

Request timed out.

Request timed out.

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=413ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=401ms TTL=50

Request timed out.

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=402ms 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=406ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=400ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=410ms TTL=50

Request timed out.

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=406ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=404ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=406ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=401ms TTL=50

Request timed out.

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=404ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=401ms TTL=50

Reply from 216.227.219.43: bytes=32 time=404ms TTL=50

Here is the TRACERT result.

C:\Documents and Settings\Jian Shuo Wang>tracert home.wangjianshuo.com

Tracing route to home.wangjianshuo.com [216.227.219.43]

over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms 192.168.2.1

2 12 ms 9 ms 9 ms 218.1.22.82

3 3 ms 3 ms 3 ms 218.1.22.81

4 6 ms 8 ms 4 ms 4ge0-ip-yl-012.online.sh.cn [218.1.2.65]

5 5 ms 4 ms 2 ms 218.1.2.1

6 9 ms 6 ms 6 ms 218.1.0.202

7 4 ms 5 ms 6 ms 202.101.63.206

8 10 ms 8 ms 8 ms 202.97.33.30

9 198 ms 198 ms 204 ms 202.97.51.118

10 203 ms 207 ms 206 ms aer1-gigabitethernet4-4.LosAngeles.savvis.net [208.173.55.197]

11 405 ms 416 ms 405 ms 208.174.194.18

12 * * 204 ms ge1-1.ar01.lax02.mzima.net [64.235.224.214]

13 238 ms 219 ms 208 ms ge1-lunarpages.cust.lax02.mzima.net [216.193.192.66]

14 * 401 ms 403 ms alnitac.lunarpages.com [216.227.219.43]

Trace complete.

The result is, ipowerweb.com is still much faster than lunarpages.com. Here is part of the result for ipowerweb.com:

C:\Documents and Settings\Jian Shuo Wang>ping wangjianshuo.com -t

Pinging wangjianshuo.com [66.235.199.101] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 66.235.199.101: bytes=32 time=203ms TTL=50

Reply from 66.235.199.101: bytes=32 time=206ms TTL=50

Reply from 66.235.199.101: bytes=32 time=213ms TTL=50

Reply from 66.235.199.101: bytes=32 time=214ms TTL=50

Reply from 66.235.199.101: bytes=32 time=212ms TTL=50

Reply from 66.235.199.101: bytes=32 time=214ms TTL=50

Reply from 66.235.199.101: bytes=32 time=202ms TTL=50

Reply from 66.235.199.101: bytes=32 time=233ms TTL=50

Reply from 66.235.199.101: bytes=32 time=205ms TTL=50

Reply from 66.235.199.101: bytes=32 time=207ms TTL=50

Reply from 66.235.199.101: bytes=32 time=204ms TTL=50

Reply from 66.235.199.101: bytes=32 time=205ms TTL=50

Reply from 66.235.199.101: bytes=32 time=204ms TTL=50

Reply from 66.235.199.101: bytes=32 time=204ms TTL=50

Reply from 66.235.199.101: bytes=32 time=211ms TTL=50

Reply from 66.235.199.101: bytes=32 time=203ms TTL=50

Car Numbers Explode in Shanghai

Posted on by
13

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.

Today, everything changed. The area looks so crowded. Of cause, it will become more and more crowded in the future. The good thing is, they still have underground garage for future expansion.

How I miss the old days when there is barely no any customers in Decathlon (as a customer). Now it is fully packed of people, and you have to wait in line to try out some cool equipments.

© Jian Shuo Wang. First posted in May, 2005, under Running in Pudong.

Two years means a lot in Shanghai – everything from the business of a store, to the availability of cars and parking lot change.

P.S. With this entry comes the new round of price cut from major car manufactures. With the price cut, I believe cars will become more popular in the next few years.

Slow Internet Connection at Home

Posted on by
30

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.

I miss ADSL again, but it is not available in my home. Sometimes, I will have to switch to China Unicom CDMA solution. It is even faster than the broadband at home. It is ridiculous.

My Favorite: Jifeng Book Store

Posted on by
10

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

Posted on by
2

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.

P.S. The training center at 17th Floor of the Shanghai No. 1 Department Store New Tower is a pretty decent place to host small scale training. Highly recommend – to find a good place at the Metro station of the People’s Square at the Nanjing road is not always easy.

Have a good night (day, afternoon, evening – depending where you are), everyone.