I was skating again today. Do that quite frequently recently 😉 And I ran over a red traffic light. So what? That’s China here… I skate around the Century Park as usual, clock-wise, so to my right-hand side there is always the park, no street coming from there. All traffic lights are due to streets coming from the left, no obstacle for me, nobody stops if there’s no street to your right. So what? There was a police car next to the traffic light. So what? Police cars are exactly those cars running over a red traffic light second-most frequently. (Most frequently do that these always blue huge construction or container trucks, no matter if police around or not.) The officers were watching the intersection. So what? They sometimes do that…also need to earn money. There were other bikes (cycles, e-cycles, motor bikes) on the bike lane where I use to skate. So what? There’s always traffic. They all had stopped. Continue reading Guilty Conscious
Tag Archives: Asia
Chinese Notebook: Haier W18
Another step in my preparation for several months of traveling: I recently bought a new notebook here in Shanghai. A Chinese make:
Thurnberger Sausages and DVD Subtitles
I started to feel hungry. That unfortunately happens nearly every evening. Since I am now working 2 days per week only (yea!) I have to take care of myself alone the other days :..(. This noon I had only a comparably small lunch at a simple Thai place. Not bad…but I had expected a soup and a Pad Thai to fill me, but it was a bit small.
So I decided for German bread (yeah, Marco Polo sells something they really call 德国面包 = déguó miànbāo, which tastes as close to a German bread as you can get here) plus some warm side dish. And searching my fridge I came across a nice buy from Carrefour:
Continue reading Thurnberger Sausages and DVD Subtitles
Yangshuo 阳朔
“Ah, Yángshuò, that legendary backpacker hang-out just 65km south of Guìlín. Guìlín gets all the press, but Yángshuò , a great, laid-back base from which to explorer other small villages in the nearby countryside, arguable surpasses it visually. […] Pedalling through the rice fields amid the splendid green-topped limestone peaks for a day, or three, is for many their top China experience.” Lonely Planet China guide Book introduction to Yangshuo. While I would argue if LP was right on Guilin I have to say: It is absolutely right on Yangshuo!
Continue reading Yangshuo 阳朔
Guilin 桂林
“Say ‘Guìlín’ and watch the looks of rapture (and pride) on the faces of Chinese people. Dotted with supernaturally lovely karst topography gracing the Li River (Li Jiāng) – these bizarre limestone upthursts shape-shifting in dancing mists and haze – the city’s beauty has been celebrated for generations by painters and poets.” This is how the Lonely Planet guide book on China starts describing Guilin. Thereafter also come some warnings about dminished charme due to modern development and cashing-in on the tourist attractions. But prepared with such statements you nonetheless start your journey with highest expectations. Continue reading Guilin 桂林
The Year of the Pig – Status and Plans for the Future
(see last year for explanation 😉 Continue reading The Year of the Pig – Status and Plans for the Future
Writing
I am feeling a bit like being back to elementary school, but it is absolute fun and also highly educative: Despite different announcements I am hand-writing Chinese characters.
Continue reading Writing
Shanghai Christstollen
Shanghai is probably not yet famous for its traditional Christmas. But we’ll gonna help that reputation bit 😉 My family has been baking Christstollen for decades. My mother took up the tradition from her mother. And I, otherwise not a big home baker, have been once so crazy to gather some friends back in Frankfurt to try it ourselves. The result was overwhelmingly good. And so the idea to try it again here in Shanghai was probably quite straight-forward. Continue reading Shanghai Christstollen
Service Culture
I saw it already quite often, whenever sitting in a restaurant or just ordering a coffee at Starbucks. But recently I had a talk with a Chinese colleague, who spent several years in Germany. And being pointed to it she confirmed my probably pretty western point of view:
It is about how to deal with service. I can remember very well that my mother tried hard to make me say “please” and “thank you” during my childhood. (Well, she actually tried to make me say “Bitte” and “Danke”, but it means the same… 😉 ) I cannot forget her pointing to the back of a public bus, which we one day happened to follow. On its left back side was a sticker. On it a car in red and a bus in green on the right side of the street at a bus stop. Attached to the bus was a big green arrow, which curved back on the street in front of the car. Meaning was clear: Please give way to busses pulling out of bus stops. And below that the word “Danke!”. Continue reading Service Culture
Best of Press: Farmer banned from flying home-made plane
I am coming across funny newspaper articles every other day. Articles, which are likely meant to be serious, but shed an interesting light on China. So I think as a European at least.
And I thought, if I don’t have too much time to write articles, then let me share some with you from other sources. (Hope I don’t get into trouble copying them…)
Here’s one from today’s issue of Shanghai Daily.
The story is good for 2 reasons:
- The act as such: Who would do that in Europe? But it’s somehow cool!
- The reason given for intervention: There are many reasons stated, all of them completely obvious to me, which is one of the reasons why I never made a plane myself at home. (Hey, as a small boy I did dream of that!)Chinese might seem to need this detailed explanation, however, to understand why home-made planes need to be banned.
Farmer banned from flying home-made plane
Li Xinran
2006-07-24
THE Zhejiang provincial branch of China’s aviation industry has launched an investigation into a farmer-turned pilot, who flew his home-made plane earlier this month, Qianjiang Evening News reported yesterday. The authority said “do-it-yourself” aircrafts are banned from flying in China’s skies.
Xu Bin, the farmer-turned pilot, kicked off a 25-minute test flight in his 30,000 yuan (US$3,750) airplane in Quzhou, eastern China’s Zhejiang Province, at about 3pm on July 8.
Reaching an average height of 50 meters, Xu reportedly accomplished a series of maneuvers, including dives and sudden swerves.
Having heard of the flight via local media reports, Zhejiang aviation authorities immediately launched an investigation, and discovered that Xu did not register his flight, which breached the Aviation Law of China and several other relevant regulations. They banned Xu from making any future flights.
Home-made planes may face hidden safety problems, which are very dangerous to pilots, passengers and people in the vicinity. If the plane loses control, it may cause a terrible accident, so the government won’t allow any unapproved flights and will strictly handle the breach to protect citizens and their assets, said Wang Jian, the vice director of the flight criteria department in the Zhejiang office of the CAAC.
Xu made the 130 kilogram plane with an engine he purchased from a Website. The cockpit seats were taken from a car as well as the DIY frame and other components.
Copyright © 2001-2005 Shanghai Daily Company
Categories: Shanghai
Originally Created: 07/24/2006 04:29:00 PM
Last Edited: 07/24/2006