Jaywalkers Face Public Shaming
Shanghai Daily
2006-04-26
JAYWALKERS in Shanghai could soon face public humiliation, while those who refuse to pay fines or are belligerent to police will be taken to the police station for questioning. Traffic police launched a citywide campaign in the middle of this month to address lingering traffic problems, particularly jaywalking. The city's General Team of Traffic Police has told officers they must ticket jaywalkers instead of just giving out warnings. More than 2,100 pedestrians and nearly 5,500 cyclists were ticketed since the campaign started. But police say their experience from the past two weeks shows it usually takes three to four traffic officers about 15 minutes on average to deal with an uncooperative jaywalker. One woman is currently spending 10 days in police custody for abusing police after they tried to fine her for jaywalking last Thursday. The woman's tirade was captured on video by TV reporters who were doing a story on the traffic campaign at the time, and broadcast on the evening news. She was so embarrassed by the situation that she resigned from her job with an education consulting company yesterday. More jaywalkers could find themselves facing public humiliation if the Municipal Office for Promoting Cultural and Ethical Progress has its way. The office wants to set up billboards in busy downtown locations to post photos of jaywalkers in an attempt to shame people out of the practice.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Sunday, April 23, 2006
China Tour 2006
Whew! It’s been a tornado of activity here in China over the last few weeks. The 12-person shopping maelstrom, also known as our family, blew into town last week, sweeping up every possible knick-knack in sight, from pashmina scarves to lacquered screens to some statuette known only as “pee-pee boy”. Their determination was relentless, and their selection indiscriminate; they left in their wake a swirl of dust where knock-off bags once sat, and crowds of grinning, waving Chinese shopkeepers. China is assured of yet another year of double-digit GDP growth...
Tiffany and I flew up to Xi’an for Easter weekend (note the side picture of the live Easter chick/bunny/duckling exhibit in our hotel-bird flu anyone?) to meet up with the tour, and it was great to see our parents and family for the first time since we left the States. On Saturday, we saw the legendary Terra Cotta Warriors, the 2200 year old clay army of an ancient emperor. It turns out that
some of the live soldiers were actually “put to sleep” and baked in clay, but that practice stopped as the emperor watched his army dwindle. Out of the estimated 66 tombs that were mentioned in ancient writing, only about 4 or so have been discovered so far. The most impressive one is about the size of two football fields. We then saw an old Buddhist temple, followed by an endless dumpling dinner (maybe 15 different courses of dumplings?) and a colorful dancing show. 
The day was long, and as the lights went down for the dancing show, some of our tour took the opportunity to catnap.
While Tiffany and I had to leave Sunday to get back to Shanghai, the tour, which had already hit Beijing, moved on to southern China and the beautiful rivers of Guilin. Apparently the list of purchased items was about thaaat close to including a time share holiday home in Guilin, if that’s any indication of how much they enjoyed themselves! 
Last Monday, Tiffany and I met up with another contingent of my family, the Jangs, who were in Shanghai on a separate China tour. 
Then on Wednesday our parents et al. arrived in Shanghai, and Tiffany traveled with the crew to Suzhou on Thursday, where the local silk inventory was decimated by our hardy shoppers, and then Tiffany took charge of the tour on Friday, leading our family through Shanghai’s finest collection of fak
e goods and Chairman Mao watches.
It all wrapped up with a big end-of-the-tour party at our apartment Friday night. Tiffany’s friend, Stacey, set us up with an amazing caterer, and we thoroughly enjoyed an 
18-course Chinese meal cooked up in our kitchen by an ex-Peace Hotel chef (a famous old hotel in Shanghai on the Bund). We also threw in an order of 5 extra large pizzas, as everyone had been eating Chinese food 3 meals a day for the entire tour. The pizzas barely hit the table before being enthusiastically wolfed down as well!
We also invited some of our good friends from Shanghai, so our family got a chance to meet some of our friends and got a glimpse of our lives here in China. Oh, and in case you were wondering, the total cost of Chinese food for 25 people and in-home cooking services of the caterer? $80.
On the right you can see Stacey, Vanessa and Tara, three of our fun, young friends. They are all like 21 and either make us feel really young or really old, I'm not quite sure.
In the end, we stuffed ourselves to contentment and traded war stories about China: near-death traffic experiences, favorite bargaining battles, and overall culture comparisons as West met East. It was a satisfying end to a whirlwind visit.
It was so great to see our parents and family, and to get to show them a little bit of our lives abroad. As much as we can describe to them on the phone and in 
our blog about what it is like to live in China, I think they now have a whole new understanding of the fun and craziness of our day-to-day existence out here! The China 2006 Tour was a
big success, and we look forward to the reunion tour………
Monday, April 10, 2006
We LOVE Visitors!
April is an exciting month as we gear up for lots of visitors! Our friends from Boulder, Megan and Greg, kicked off the month with a visit to China. They started in Beijing, and did a great job navigating the city on their own. They arrived in Shanghai with lots of fun stories and observations, but a bit low on their main source of food, power bars. Zach and I used this as an excuse to take them out to lots of fun meals, all of which included cocktails and desserts.
We also had a great time showing them around our home and taking them to favorite places like the fabric market and the crowded streets of Shanghai. Don't they look great in their fabric market purchases?
They were filled with adventurous spirit and embraced everything Shanghai. We had to bribe Megan with dumplings to get her off the outdoor gym equipment!
We were sad to see them go, but are getting excited for the next few rounds of visitors, which include both sets of parents, Zach's sister and brother-in-law, and lots of Zach's aunts, uncles and cousins, including the Jang family! Thanks, Greg and Megan for making the trip!!!!
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Riders on the Storm
Tiffany and I had our first experience of the Shanghai death-defying act known as bike riding. We and a few friends signed up for a bike tour which we thought was to take place outside of the city. But no no no, we were sadly mistaken. Instead we got a 4 ½ hour tour of the city on wheels.
We were all completely terrified for the first 15 minutes of riding through the daily traffic madness, but after that, we actually figured it out, sort of. Basically the key to riding in Shanghai is to follow the masses. So we merged into the flow of scooters, motorcycles and other bicyclists and went when they went, and stopped when they stopped. It ended up being a lot of fun, and we pretty much got to see the entire city in one trip. 
On the left is the ferry that we took to cross the Huangpu river over to Pudong to continue our ride. We then took another ferry to cross again to the north.
To the right is more proof of the Chinese total lack of self consciousness. This was on a main avenue trafficked by thousands of people, cars, bikes, and yet these two decided it was the perfect place for a nap. If a Chinese person is tired, they'll go to sleep most anywhere. We've seen people napping in a wheelbarrow, at their desks at work during lunch break, or just like these guys, out on the street.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Blurb
On another note: Now that I’m back with Credit Suisse, the internal mail system is again delivering my mail. That is to say, when I was with them in New York, I regularly got newsletters, convention invitations, etc. When I left the firm, there was nowhere for the mail to go, so presumably they threw it out. Now that my name is back in the system, though, they are actually forwarding my mail to me in the Shanghai office. So today I received information on the 75th National Housing Conference. The envelope was addressed to me in the New York office and was forwarded out here!
Miss Manners Takes on Shanghai
March 21, 2006- Tiffany
After living in China for 6+ months, the first words that come to my mind when describing a typical Shanghainese person's manners do not include courteous or refined. As China prepares for it's international debuts (Olympics and World Exhibition), the government is taking steps to correct the country's bad behavior, as highlighted in the following article. What Zach and I were most surprised about was the fact that the 'spitting' habit was not addressed.......
Shanghai Gets a Manners Makeover
Shanghai Daily, February 22, 2006
TEACHING local residents not to stare at foreigners and scream out laowai (translates to outsider/foreigner in Mandarin) will be one of the main focuses of an etiquette program that begins on Saturday. The program is also aimed at teaching people how to act in society, with family, in the office, and on campus. One million local families are expected to take etiquette classes as part of the program over the next five years so that they can politely welcome visitors from around the globe when Shanghai hosts the 2010 World Expo. "Shanghai is developing into an international metropolis. Accordingly, Shanghai people should also master international etiquette. It is an emergent and important task," said Qu Meng, an etiquette expert. The city is currently recruiting 400 volunteers to teach etiquette classes in neighborhood communities. A survey conducted by the Shanghai Women's Federation suggests most local women are eager to learn more about etiquette. The survey suggested some current faux pas include walking along the street in pajamas, and using vulgar language.
After living in China for 6+ months, the first words that come to my mind when describing a typical Shanghainese person's manners do not include courteous or refined. As China prepares for it's international debuts (Olympics and World Exhibition), the government is taking steps to correct the country's bad behavior, as highlighted in the following article. What Zach and I were most surprised about was the fact that the 'spitting' habit was not addressed.......
Shanghai Gets a Manners Makeover
Shanghai Daily, February 22, 2006
TEACHING local residents not to stare at foreigners and scream out laowai (translates to outsider/foreigner in Mandarin) will be one of the main focuses of an etiquette program that begins on Saturday. The program is also aimed at teaching people how to act in society, with family, in the office, and on campus. One million local families are expected to take etiquette classes as part of the program over the next five years so that they can politely welcome visitors from around the globe when Shanghai hosts the 2010 World Expo. "Shanghai is developing into an international metropolis. Accordingly, Shanghai people should also master international etiquette. It is an emergent and important task," said Qu Meng, an etiquette expert. The city is currently recruiting 400 volunteers to teach etiquette classes in neighborhood communities. A survey conducted by the Shanghai Women's Federation suggests most local women are eager to learn more about etiquette. The survey suggested some current faux pas include walking along the street in pajamas, and using vulgar language.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Ten Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Our Life In Shanghai
From Tiffany's perspective:
10. Online bill pay is not an option…….and for some reason unknown to us, we have to pay all of our bills in cash at local convenience stores.
9. People in China love to sing and aren’t afraid to do so in any public situation. You’ll often find people walking down the street singing their heart out or taxi drivers burst into solos (these people are rarely using walkmans or singing along with the radio). In ill-fated attempts to get me to join the trend, cab drivers often scan the radio channels to find American songs to play really loud for me when I’m riding alone in their cabs. They’re particularly fond of Air Supply and boy bands…….I haven’t succumbed to the music yet, but may at some point just to see how they react.
8 When you have your clothes tailor-made, there are no tags. It’s great, because you can always pretend you’re a size small!
7. China only lets 10-15 foreign films enter the country each year, but the DVD black market is a big business. We can usually buy a high quality version just about any US movie as soon as it hits American theaters for about $1/copy. We’ve learned the good shops to go to, and how to ask for the real copies, but even we get tripped up every once in a while and end up with the handy cam version (a la Seinfeld) with crowd noise and all.
6. Staring is considered a national pastime and not considered in the least bit rude. If you look different or do something out of the ordinary, be prepared for lots of rubberneckers.
5. Our local grocery store resembles more of a pet store than the local Safeway. While they rarely have skim milk or wheat bread, they, without fail, always have low, water-filled bins (with open tops) filled with living frogs, eels and crabs. It always surprises me that there are really no measures taken to ensure these creatures stay confined. I've learned it pays to tread lightly down the aisles.
4. Cash is king in Shanghai. Credit cards are not accepted anywhere (except for western hotels) so we’ve taken to carrying huge wads of cash around in case we need to pay our bills or stop by the grocery store.
3. Pedestrians never have the right of way, even on the sidewalk.
2. One of the favorite street foods here is called Chou Doufu (literally translated to mean stinky tofu). The delicacy is served in squares on a stick and has a nauseating smell that is somewhat like sweet smelling, gamey meat gone bad. One of our friends was shocked, yet a bit relieved, to find out the smell was due to the Shanghainese delicacy and not just a really bad form of air pollution.
1. I know we’ve brought it up before, but it still blows my mind. Spitting in the street is considered a way to stay healthy during cold and flu season, as it clears your lungs of all the germs.
10. Online bill pay is not an option…….and for some reason unknown to us, we have to pay all of our bills in cash at local convenience stores.
9. People in China love to sing and aren’t afraid to do so in any public situation. You’ll often find people walking down the street singing their heart out or taxi drivers burst into solos (these people are rarely using walkmans or singing along with the radio). In ill-fated attempts to get me to join the trend, cab drivers often scan the radio channels to find American songs to play really loud for me when I’m riding alone in their cabs. They’re particularly fond of Air Supply and boy bands…….I haven’t succumbed to the music yet, but may at some point just to see how they react.
8 When you have your clothes tailor-made, there are no tags. It’s great, because you can always pretend you’re a size small!
7. China only lets 10-15 foreign films enter the country each year, but the DVD black market is a big business. We can usually buy a high quality version just about any US movie as soon as it hits American theaters for about $1/copy. We’ve learned the good shops to go to, and how to ask for the real copies, but even we get tripped up every once in a while and end up with the handy cam version (a la Seinfeld) with crowd noise and all.
6. Staring is considered a national pastime and not considered in the least bit rude. If you look different or do something out of the ordinary, be prepared for lots of rubberneckers.
5. Our local grocery store resembles more of a pet store than the local Safeway. While they rarely have skim milk or wheat bread, they, without fail, always have low, water-filled bins (with open tops) filled with living frogs, eels and crabs. It always surprises me that there are really no measures taken to ensure these creatures stay confined. I've learned it pays to tread lightly down the aisles.
4. Cash is king in Shanghai. Credit cards are not accepted anywhere (except for western hotels) so we’ve taken to carrying huge wads of cash around in case we need to pay our bills or stop by the grocery store.
3. Pedestrians never have the right of way, even on the sidewalk.
2. One of the favorite street foods here is called Chou Doufu (literally translated to mean stinky tofu). The delicacy is served in squares on a stick and has a nauseating smell that is somewhat like sweet smelling, gamey meat gone bad. One of our friends was shocked, yet a bit relieved, to find out the smell was due to the Shanghainese delicacy and not just a really bad form of air pollution.
1. I know we’ve brought it up before, but it still blows my mind. Spitting in the street is considered a way to stay healthy during cold and flu season, as it clears your lungs of all the germs.
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