No one has to die at 30!

So, one of the things you notice first taking the subway to work in Shanghai is, "Geez, these people are young." Now, from what I see about stats of the age of people in Shanghai, it's one of the areas with the largest proportion of old people. Confusing.

But for people working for larger or state enterprises, the retirement age is something like 55. And because of the overwhelming privitization of state owned enterprises, a lot of the older population have been (unofficially) retired. And many of the technical people in my cohort (or just before) left China as fast as they could after the Cultural Revolution, so there's a huge gap in the technical sector for senior engineers and managers. Those returnees are making big bucks, since they know how western enterprises run, and know how mainland culture works, so they are a critical part of the success in foreign enterprises in China.

Dunno, it's making me feel old. "I have a copy of K&R older than some of these people!"

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OK, got my SciFi movies wrong... It was Logan's Run where everyone over the age of 30 faces "renewal," or making a run for it...

Blogging is a Family Thing...

Check out Robbie's blog, Eloise in Shanghai. Also check out Julia's. In a sign of things to come, Julia has become the expert on "how to do things in Blogger."

Traffic in Shanghai

Compared to some of the other Chinese cities I've seen (OK, the two other Chinese cities I've seen, Beijing and Guangzhou), city planners seem to have done a reasonably good job with traffic planning. There is plenty of clearance for the elevated freeways, and signage is really pretty good.

It's not their fault that traffic has exploded. People regularly double or triple the "no traffic" time when figuring how long it takes to get someplace. Don't even try to get a taxi to take you from Pudong (the new part of town) to Puxi during rush hour. Half to three quarters of the taxis will flat out refuse.

The drivers remind me of rabid Bostonians: very aggressive, but since there's so much traffic, it seems that there is little real danger. If you can get yourself into the intersection, you're good. If you can push your nose into a lane, you can take it. If no-one is parked in the parking lane, well, hey, there's another lane for you.

Mix in motorscooters, bicycles, and pedestrians, and it makes for a very non-Berkeley kind of traffic experience. You really have to keep your eyes open. Pedestrians have no right of way, or, none that is respected. Right turn on red after stop? Sure, and skip the stop! Zebra crossings really are a way to concentrate pedestrians so it's harder to ignore them. There are "traffic assistants" at busy intersections, but they're there mostly to prevent pedestrians from doing the same thing as the cars: pushing into the street and laying claim. Too many fatalities, I expect.

Like I said, reminds me of Boston....

Getting Used to the Big City

So the picture to the right is Nanjing Lu, one of the main shopping streets in Shanghai. This particular street is a pedestrian mall. Think it's gaudy? Get used to it. In Shanghai, neon is a virtue. Even the 45 story Citigroup building has flashing neon on it, with a giant Jumbotron making moving geometric patterns on it.

Our apartment is steps from Nanjing Xi Lu (West Nanjing Road), which is a slightly more sedate street, filled with small shops selling European watches, fancy tailored suits, high end designer clothing, and imported food (you can get your Frosted Flakes at US prices plus import costs!).

Right next to Nanjing Xi Lu is Wujiang Street, which is full of street vendors and restaurants selling any kind of food you can walk around and eat: chicken wings, lamb skewers, fried dumplings, steamed dumplings, cold rice noodles, juice drinks, etc.

Next... Traffic in Shanghai

Getting Settled in Shanghai

We've now been in Shanghai a full week and a day. No more excuses about jet lag!

However, with temperatures near 40 (near 100 for the metric-impaired) and humidity at Washington D.C. levels, we've got an excuse for looking for air conditioning.

So far, we've:

• Bought a bunch of housewares by gesturing and pointing
• All gotten sick in our own way
• Eaten food bought from street vendors and survived
• Started school
• Had a dozen conference calls early in the morning
• Been to our first American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) meeting

It's time to get rolling - everything's mostly set up and ready to go.

Pictures soon!