Almost Like Being at Home...

Just got back from a glorious week doing absolutely nothing at all in Sanya, on Hainan Island. We stayed at the Hilton Sanya, a five star resort at the end of a row of 5 star resorts (Sheraton, Marriott, etc.).

Weather was mixed, no rain, but not quite as hot as I'd hoped (but, on Christmas, what can you expect?). The last 2 days were nice and hot, though.

We all had fun sleeping late, eating at the buffet, and lounging on the beach or by the pool (pictured here).

Pedal Power

It's impossible to visit China (Shanghai, Kunming, Lijiang, whereever), and not see bicycles being used for practically everything. My favorite most recently was a pressure washer sidewalk cleaner bicycle.

The photo to the left was taken in October in Lijiang (in Yunnan province), and is the classic flatbed bicycle that you see adapted so many different ways (with an arc welder, full of bootleg books, carrying 8 giant bottles of water, you name it).

New Frontiers of Advertising

Just when you think you've seen it all, Shanghai ad execs come up with a new way to put advertising in your face. Up to now, I've seen:

• LCD TVs running ads outside elevators in apartments
• LCD TVs in elevators
• Little LCD TVs in cabs
• Old-fashioned printed ads in elevators
• Ads on the back of airplane seats

New to the world of advertising

• Advertising on escalator handrails
• Large video displays on street corners

And last but not least:

Yes, you got it right: a large boat (now, two large boats) with giant TV screens motoring up and down the Huangpu.

This is Too Good

You may recall stories about American car companies naming their cars in silly ways for the foreign market (like the Chevy No va). Check out what SAIC (Shanghai Automotive Industrial Company) did with its newly-bought marque, Rover.

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/art/2006/10/25/295174/SAIC_makes_its_marque.htm

The Rong Wei 750!

A Brief Side Journey to Japan

China has three major holidays: New Year's, May Day, and National Day. These are each officially 3 days, but people work 6 days the preceeding and following weeks, so it ends up being 3 5 day vacations. (Of course, as you'd expect, it's awfully quiet on the Saturday.)

This year, since we're here, we decided to go someplace. We were advised by everyone to not travel in China. So, off to Japan. My former roommate, Lang, lives in Tokyo with his wife Mari, so, heck, we figured we'd stop by. Of course, he was traveling on business. So...

2 1/2 days in Tokyo: Ginza, temples, shrines, the fish market
1 day in Kyoto: temples
1 day in Yudanaka: Snow Monkeys!

You know, I'll never complain again about San Francisco being expensive. Geez. An OK, not excellent, sushi/tempura dinner in Kyoto for 3? 13,000 Yen ($100). A room in a Ryokan that hasn't seen renovation since 1978? 14,000 Yen/night.

Everyone is orders of magnitude more polite than in China, everyone queues up, like the British, everyone keeps to one side of the escalator if they are not walking, even the punk'd out kids.

But. Entirely different cellphones, so you have to rent one at the airport. Most ATMs only take Japanese cards, and using credit cards seems to be unheard of. Mind boggling.

Back in Shanghai, I can be in a bad mood and take it out on people on the subway and not feel guilty. I guess that's OK :-). And dinner for 3? Hmmm. Maybe $10.

Back in the US...

Back for 12 days of meetings and errands.

Someone asked me this morning how I was adapting to life in the U.S.

"Well, there're Starbucks on every corner, just like in Shanghai."

Well, so much for sun.

Nothing but Blue Skies...

Woke up today, the sky was blue, and it was almost cold! What a difference 10 degrees Celsius makes!

More on Traffic...

One of the things that stands out is how people just plain ignore the "Traffic Assistants," who blow their whistles frantically at scofflaw pedestrians and cyclists.

Another sign of how people in Shanghai interact was evident today. On the way to subway, I passed by a man having a raging argument with a cop, yelling, gesturing, everything. Can't imagine that happening in the states - he'd be flat on his back in a minute. Then, on the other side, a guy was having a knock-down drag out fight with a bus driver (who had stopped his bus right in the middle of the street). Lots of shouting, people restraining the guy, everything.

So, not much passivity here... :-)

Not Much Software Engineering in Shanghai

Just went to a BBQ hosted by an MIT alum. There were about a dozen alums, and assorted family members as well. It was in a renovated lane house, which was such a dramatic change from the high rise life. Though it was 40 feet from Shanxi Lu, a busy, busy street full of shops and traffic, it was like you were in the country, it was so quiet.

The striking thing about the alums is that though many/most of them were MechEng or EECS majors for their undergraduate degrees (in one case, a PhD in machine vision under BKP Horne), all of them were in either manufacturing, or in finance, or consulting, or private equity.

Not for the first time, it's clear that the core business of Shanghai isn't what I'm doing...

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!"

---
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!