Blogs » Society » Shanghaiist Year in Review: 2012's Biggest Winners (Part One)
Blogs » Society » Shanghaiist Year in Review: 2012's Biggest Winners (Part One) |
- Shanghaiist Year in Review: 2012's Biggest Winners (Part One)
- Presented By:
- Shanghai girls losing virginity earlier than ever
- China's Top 10 Internet Memes of 2012: Naughty Uncles
- Father Of Murdered Daughter Upset With Court Ruling Runs Down 23 Middle School Students
- Tried and Tested Family Activity: Baby Sign Language Classes
- “Beijing Bellies” Is The Video You’ve Always Wanted To Make, But Didn’t
- China Inaugurates World’s Longest High-Speed Rail Line
- Chinese 'River Pig' porpoise could be extinct in 15 years
- Midweek Music Preview: Dec 26 - Jan 1
- Find of the Week: Alain Milliat's Juices and Nectars
- Watch: Shanghai destresses with mass pillow fight
- The Magi Of Shenzhen (An Expat Christmas No. 6)
- Watch: CCTV wishes you a merry Christmas with a documentary on Tibetan self-immolation
- The Gift (An Expat Christmas No. 5)
- Merry Christmas from CW!
- The Latest Hot Gangnam Video From China Features Violins
- Christmas In Changsha (An Expat Christmas No. 4)
| Shanghaiist Year in Review: 2012's Biggest Winners (Part One) Posted: 25 Dec 2012 08:00 PM PST  Continuing our countdown of the year's winners and losers, here are those people or organisations for whom 2012 will always be a year to remember. [ more › ]     |
| Posted: 25 Dec 2012 08:00 PM PST |
| Shanghai girls losing virginity earlier than ever Posted: 25 Dec 2012 07:00 PM PST  A Shanghai pregnancy hotline has reported that the average age that a female Shanghai student loses her virginity has fallen from 19,5 years in 2007 to 18.6 years this year. The young ladies are losing their V-cards in motels, love hotels and daily-rental apartments near university. About 31 percent admit to not using a condom. [ more › ] |
| China's Top 10 Internet Memes of 2012: Naughty Uncles Posted: 25 Dec 2012 07:42 PM PST |
| Father Of Murdered Daughter Upset With Court Ruling Runs Down 23 Middle School Students Posted: 25 Dec 2012 07:40 PM PST On Monday, a father upset over a court's decision to not give the death sentence to four men who murdered his daughter took his anger out on middle school students on lunch break. Yin Tiejun, 48, drove a car laden with firecrackers into Fengning No. 1 Middle School in Fengning, Hebei province around noon. Xinhua has the story:
Ten students were hospitalized, including one with a fractured skull. Thirteen students suffered minor injuries. Associated Press adds these details:
Yet again, we are reminded that violence can occur anywhere — schools not excluded. Chinese man hits students with car, 13 hospitalized (Xinhua) |
| Tried and Tested Family Activity: Baby Sign Language Classes Posted: 25 Dec 2012 07:28 PM PST |
| “Beijing Bellies” Is The Video You’ve Always Wanted To Make, But Didn’t Posted: 25 Dec 2012 07:17 PM PST Unless you're Michael Fischer, who strung together these pictures of Beijing men exposing their round bellies to the heat. It's the video we've all thought of making at some point in time – our cartoonist Torval has been talking about a similar "Babes of Beijing" calendar for a year now. Obviously this video would've been more appropriate for summer, but there's no bad time for this, I think. Maybe I'm wrong. You decide. |
| China Inaugurates World’s Longest High-Speed Rail Line Posted: 25 Dec 2012 07:05 PM PST Passenger service has started on the world's longest high-speed line, connecting Beijing and Guangzhou, a journey of 2,298 kilometers. The link cuts the travel time to eight hours from 21. It is a centerpiece in the build-out of the country's at times scandal and safety-plagued high-speed rail network which is due to cover 16,000 kilometers [...] |
| Chinese 'River Pig' porpoise could be extinct in 15 years Posted: 25 Dec 2012 06:00 PM PST  After spending more than a month tracking the blob-like animal along the Yangtze River, Chinese researchers have concluded that the finless porpoise is slipping towards extinction. Known lovingly (perhaps) as the "River Pig," the porpoise lives throughout the shallow waters on the Chinese and Indian coasts, and a unique fresh-water population lives in the Yangtze. On a previous trip in 2006, researchers were able to find 177 finless porpoises in the river, but this year's trip yielded only 91. [ more › ] |
| Midweek Music Preview: Dec 26 - Jan 1 Posted: 25 Dec 2012 05:00 PM PST  Midweek Music Preview is a rundown of all the events happening on stages across Shanghai. On the docket this week: Folk rock, Britpop and rock covers and shows by the usual suspects of the Shanghai indie scene await you. For classic and movie fans, SOAC has something special up in the sleeve: A concert with world famous movie themes. Our pick for the week: Namo live at YYT on Friday night. And then 2013 may come! And if that's still not enough, head over to our calendar for more. [ more › ] |
| Find of the Week: Alain Milliat's Juices and Nectars Posted: 25 Dec 2012 05:02 PM PST |
| Watch: Shanghai destresses with mass pillow fight Posted: 25 Dec 2012 04:00 PM PST Shanghai certainly wasn't sleeping on Saturday night, when pillows were put to better use at Shanghai's 2012 Super Pillow Fight. Marketed at the stressed out white collar crowd, the mass party attracted about 200 people including students who took out all their stress in a 10 minute whirl of feathers and frustration. [ more › ] |
| The Magi Of Shenzhen (An Expat Christmas No. 6) Posted: 25 Dec 2012 04:00 PM PST
By Justin Mitchell I have spent enough Christmases in China that hearing "Mamacita, Donde Esta Santa Claus?" and the barking Jingle Bells dogs pumped at 110 amps in late October in a Shenzhen wet market no longer phases or even makes me wonder WTF? Few have been especially memorable except one that I'll call the Gift of the Magi. It was a classic deep and dark December in Shenzhen – wuss weather compared to anything Beijing dishes out so coldly and cruelly, yet enough chill and attendant "fog" in the air that it felt like you could spoon chucks outta the muck and spit them out. I was having a classic foreigner vs. local-downstairs-neighbor-and-property-agent clash as my circa 1993 "Flying Swallow" washing machine was leaking water directly into my aggrieved neighbor's apartment. She spoke fluent English, which I initially thought was an advantage as my eight- or 10-word Chinese vocabulary doesn't cut it even when it comes to reliable cab rides. But nooo… it backfired big time on me. Attempts at negotiations led nowhere as I was "obviously" at fault because I flushed toilet paper instead of tossing it into a waste basket where it would become a cockroach and sanitation-free amusement park that the Atlanta Center for Disease Control would've killed to study. Though it was obvious to me that bad plumbing in the kitchen where the washing machine churning out its aqua evil was the culprit, all Chinese eyes were on the toilet paper disposal. Nearly 2,000 kuai in compensation to the neighbor became as useless as the used TP, and the situation escalated to the point that she began calling me at 5:30 am to complain about a load of wash I'd done at 8 pm the previous night. My fuse blew and I responded with what I thought were witty, culturally cutting text messages. "I curse you for eight generations!" She threatened to sue. My pithy response was "Chinese law is bullshit. Like your tofu apartments. I am doing a load of laundry now so I won't smell like a zhu tou (pig face) like you. Deal with it." She threatened more legal action and took steps to have me fired from my state-owned media group where I toiled as a "foreign expert polisher." Not a small threat, actually, as there was precedent when former naughty laowais had suddenly had their contracts and visas cut loose for "disturbing the social order" following a bar fight that had nothing to do with their otherwise professional duties. She informed me that she had saved all my rude messages that had hurt the feelings of Chinese people, most especially herself, and said she'd begun trying to contact my employer. Enter the classic deus ex machina. Through random circumstances I'd become friends with a notable Chinese female composer, pianist and conductor whose father was a well known, distinguished multilingual professor and editor of a respected Guangzhou university literary publication. I'd never met him, and my relationship with his daughter – who calls composers such as Tan Dun "little brother" due to being close classmates back in the day – was entirely chaste. But we enjoyed one another's company and a few days before Christmas I spilled out my house rent blues to her over dinner. She offered to call my rabid neighbor and property agent as a mediator. She did so and then I learned she'd played the cultural card, plus an inventive twist of high fiction. After establishing her academic/musical credentials with the neighbor she mentioned her father, whom she described as a "good friend" of mine, so good, in fact, that I had once offered to donate blood to him for a serious operation. This time the bitch caved. She knew the father's reputation and was stunned to hear that an evil, foul-mouthed, ass-wiping and flushing foreigner would do such a thing. Well, maybe I would, but it never happened. Nonetheless it came to pass on Christmas Day that the Magi appeared: my composer pal, a property agent, and some schmuck in a bad suit and company lanyard hanging from his neck. The schmuck left quickly, but the two women held up more than half the sky that day. I possess the hardware and plumbing skills of a half-wit dingo, but they were diligent. The composer — originally from Guangzhou — had grown up in Inner Mongolia during the Cultural Revolution where she was both able to still play violin and study music, but had also learned basic skills that the American tool guy takes for granted. They spent nearly seven hours calling in plumbers and doing their own calculations, squatting in my kitchen muck til finally the washing machine ran like the Flying Swallow it was meant to be, no muss, no fuss, no drainage. I imagined my composer on a podium or sitting at a piano in formalwear as she labored under my sink and felt both ashamed and grateful. It was like watching the likes of Leonard Bernstein fixing my garbage disposal. But I can think of no better Christmas present or past, here, there or anywhere. God bless them, everyone. |
| Watch: CCTV wishes you a merry Christmas with a documentary on Tibetan self-immolation Posted: 25 Dec 2012 03:00 PM PST Titled Facts About Self-Immolation in Tibetan Areas of Ngapa (Aba), the documentary, aired on Sunday on CCTV-4, is certainly not a biased film. To be sure that this isn't conspiracy fodder, Xinhua says, "the documentary [asserts] that the Dalai clique masterminded the self-immolations in order to split China." Tibetans haven't faired well this holiday season (and/or the past 50 years) and this documentary certainly doesn't represent any change in attitude from the Chinese government. [ more › ] |
| The Gift (An Expat Christmas No. 5) Posted: 25 Dec 2012 07:58 AM PST
By Jocelyn Eikenburg When you spend Christmas in China as an expat, it's easy to feel a little forgotten by the holiday season. But in 2004, when I lived in Shanghai, I had just visited the Shanghai Marriage Bureau to register with my Chinese sweetheart, John — a man who I had spent the previous two Christmases with — so I considered myself somehow immune to that feeling of isolation. Or so I thought. My employer gave me Christmas off. John also had no classes that day, and promised to take a break from his dissertation work — work that, for the weeks leading up to the holiday, meant lengthy trips to Hangzhou and exhausting late evenings typing away at his computer. Since I always loved playing "Santa Claus" to John, who of course never grew up with stories of this jolly old man, I presented him with his gifts first — two wool turtleneck sweaters, one in royal blue and another in deep maroon. John beamed at them, and I couldn't help but smile with pride, knowing I'd nailed the perfect gifts. "So, what did 'Santa Claus' bring me for Christmas?" I asked John. By then, he already understood that "Santa Claus" was our little euphemism for the gifts we gave to one another. His smile evaporated. "I'm sorry." My heart sank as I noticed that no other gifts, cards or bags sat under our tiny artificial tree in the corner. "You forgot?" Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised. He never even celebrated Christmas until he met me, and even then, he usually left his gifts in plastic bags under the tree, sometimes even with the receipt. Plus, in late 2004, the pressure to finish the draft of his dissertation before Chinese New Year had probably distracted him so much he didn't realize that this was, to his foreign wife, as important a time of year as guonian. Yet I couldn't think about any of that, not on a morning I had anticipated for weeks. Even a few pairs of socks — something he had been known to buy for me in past Christmases — would have cheered me. But the absence of any gift from my favorite "Santa Claus" only magnified the loneliness and isolation that can come from spending the holidays in a country where Christmas carols are often nothing more than great karaoke tunes. I hung my head and started to cry. To John, though, my tears were a catalyst. "You wait here, I'm going to find something for you." He jumped up, threw on his jeans and a sweater, and headed for the door. A few hours later, a grinning John burst through the door with two plastic bags in hand. "Shengdan kuaile," he said as he placed them in my hands. Inside the first bag, I found several pairs of cotton socks in my favorite colors, including red and pink. But from the second, I pulled out a knit scarf and matching hat splashed in waves of brilliant apricot, creamy yellow, and a light toffee brown. Even the style, right down to the button on the brim of the hat, felt as unconventional as the clothes I wore outside the office. Only John could have known I would love this scarf and hat. That thought warmed me from head to toe, even in our drafty apartment, and turned a "forgotten Christmas" into something unforgettable. Jocelyn writes Speaking of China, an award-winning blog about love, family and relationships in China. |
| Posted: 25 Dec 2012 07:10 AM PST |
| The Latest Hot Gangnam Video From China Features Violins Posted: 25 Dec 2012 04:09 AM PST Ten violinists at a Beijing concert on Saturday gave their creative take on this year in viral music, with Gangnam Style taking the fore. Explains Sina:
In case you missed it, this part of the performance was called "Disturbing Style." But it's violins, damnit! Nothing disturbing about it unless the players are on a sinking ship, about to die. (H/T Alicia) |
| Christmas In Changsha (An Expat Christmas No. 4) Posted: 24 Dec 2012 10:30 PM PST
By Amanda Roberts This is the third Christmas my husband and I have spent in Hunan, and we have worked on each one of them. The first two years we were teaching at schools that didn't make any special to-do about Christmas, and they didn't want to give us time off since a four-week break for Spring Festival was so close behind. This year we are working at a computer game company that's also not giving time off. Because of this, what we've learned about Christmas in China is the same thing we learned about Halloween and Thanksgiving: holidays are what you make of them. In America, Christmas isn't just about presents: it permeates every facet of life. In China, there is only the materialistic aspect, and because of that — in Changsha, at least — very few places have any kind of "holiday cheer." Another hindrance to Christmas festivities in Changsha is the fact that many foreigners simply leave town. Changsha isn't a tourist destination. If you live here, you can find a few fun things, but it's not really worth the trip in just for a holiday. The weather is abhorrent. Winters are cold and wet — rainy, not snowy — and a gray gloom settles over the city that can last for months. I think last winter we went four months without seeing the sun. So the foreigners who can leave town usually do. The few who remain are usually working, so there aren't many people left to gather for holiday fun. Because of these reasons many people might give up on having any kind of Christmas fun here in the 'sha and simply bunker down under an electric blanket and wait for spring to arrive. But not all is hopeless. On Sunday, my husband and I hit the streets to find some Christmas. We went to the ID Mall and were greeted by polar bears giving out hugs (ok, just guys in polar bear suits that actually looked a little more like wolves… but whatever, just go with it). There was a very large center display in the basement level which you could see even from floor five because the mall is open air to the top floor. For most of the day, there was a young lady in the middle of the display playing the harp. It was quite lovely. We were amazed when the young lady left and a very authentic Santa Claus came out! The Chinese people were simply ecstatic and rushed to get their picture taken with him (and most of these were older teenagers and adults, not little kids). That night, we went over to La Nova Mall to see the giant outdoor Christmas tree on display. There was a lighting ceremony for it last week, but it wasn't advertised very well. But for people who don't want to wander through malls for a Christmas experience, there are always people who generate their own brand of celebration instead of waiting for things to happen. Several people like spending Christmas with their students, maybe buying a tree on Taobao and reading The Night Before Christmas or Skyping with folks back home so their pupils can see what a real American home decorated for the holidays looks like (students really love this). Hooligan's Pub, the local expat watering hole, is always open, and many expats will gather there for fun and relaxation. Seth and I will be wearing our Krampus shirts and subjecting our friends to a viewing of The Star Wars Holiday Special – the best worst holiday film ever made. This is actually what we would be doing if we were back in the States anyway, so Christmas is pretty much the same no matter where we are. Hopefully others can find a similar joy. Amanda is an American living in Changsha. She blogs at Two Americans in China. |
It's still Christmas in some parts of the world. BJC's "An Expat Christmas" | You are subscribed to email updates from Update » Blogs » Society To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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