I took my friend Linda from Australia to Yu Garden, the Shanghai must-see last weekend. Then Linda asked me:
‘what’s the name of this place?’
‘Yu Garden. ‘
‘But I saw different signs with different names though they were very similar.’ Read More…
Yu Garden, Yuyuan Garden or Yu Yuan Monday, August 17th, 2009
Huang Niu (Yellow Bull) - Scalper in Shanghai Thursday, August 6th, 2009
If you went to Nextage Department Store in Pudong last weekend, you must have experienced the big sale there because of the Men’s Day.
You might also notice that there were a group of men always near the Cashier holding a pile of vouchers in hand asked people if they need vouchers.
Those people are called Huang Niu (directly translated as yellow bull) in Shanghai, who are actually voucher scalpers. How they make money? Read More…
Men’s Day - 3rd August Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
It seems that the global economic downturn didn’t affect China too much, at least from the surface, the stock market is booming, the house price is going rocket high, stores are packed with people, long queues in front of the restaurants etc. But I did find much more sales promotions this year in every shopping malls, department stores in Shanghai. The stores try to use every opportunity to sell stuffs, such as public holidays like Labour’s Day on 1st May, Dragon Boat Festival on 28th May, Children’s Day on 1st June etc, so for the customers, everyday is a big sale day!
In this week’s newspaper in Shanghai, big sale advertisements again everywhere, so what is the special occasion is coming? Men’s Day! and on which date? 3rd August! Read More…
Stereotype views to native Shanghaiese - is that still true now? Friday, July 24th, 2009
As in China, I was told again and again by many people about native Shanghaiese. Basically, comments are pretty same. I generalize a few here, do you agree by your own experience when living in this city? I think it is something interesting though there have some changes to native Shanghaiese and comments may not be correct at all now. However sometimes we couldn’t change people’s stereotype perception as quick as we want. Read More…
How many toasts we have for a dinner in China Thursday, July 16th, 2009
Today Linda from Canada and I had a business dinner with one of our Chinese partners. During the dinner, Linda asked me an interesting question: ‘ how many toasts we are going to have for the whole dinner? I’ve had four or five from Chinese partner. However, they don’t seem like to stop!’
It is hard to tell how many toasts Chinese would like to propose during a dinner because it can be anything. Read More…
Chinese Western Food = Steak Thursday, July 16th, 2009
It seems that Keith and Graeme had some food issues in Shanghai. They stayed in a four star hotel in the suburb of Shanghai because it is close to where they work. They don’t have many choices of the food as there are not many restaurants nearby. All they can do was eating at the hotel.
They felt a bit bored with hotel Chinese food after a few days in China. Then they asked if the hotel can provide some western food. After having the yes answer, they asked what exactly the hotel could provide.
Steak!
Anything else?
NO, only steak. Read More…
Chinese Breakfast in Shanghai Hotel Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
I never knew that the Chinese breakfast could be one of the problems of choosing hotels in Shanghai until I heard the story from Keith and Graeme.
They originally booked a four star hotel in Shanghai and stayed for a couple of days. But they decided to change to a five star international hotel afterwards.
Why? The Breakfast. Read More…
Shocked by Michael Jackson’s Death Monday, June 29th, 2009
Shocking news came one after the other last weekend, Michael Jackson’s death, 13 floor apartment building collapsed in Shanghai…. what’s wrong!
Lots of people asked about Chinese reactions on Michael’s death. My reply is: huge, bigger than any artist ever!
Michael could be the first western artist whose music influenced generations of Chinese. His music was firstly introduced in China mid 1980s when China just opened the door to the outside world. Chinese started to listen to the pop music for the very first time since then. People who were born in 1960s and 1970s were hugely influenced by his music at that time. His moon walk, his movement all became the cool stuffs for every young Chinese. Read More…
The Chinese Way of Drinking (Part two) Thursday, June 25th, 2009
If you are doing business in China, you might have experienced this. Whenever you have a meal with Chinese hosts, they will try to get you drunk. That is why the Chinese host gave whisky to Ian during the lunch which is not usual in the business world.
I found this drunk drinking culture is not so often found in Shanghai probably because Shanghai is a more international city in China. But if you go to some small and medium (less developed) cities in China, you can strongly feel this culture.
When I was in some small cities, the host usually gave the guest a completely full glass of wine. After the toast, everybody just bottom up. If the guests didn’t do the same, they would complain. Read More…
The Chinese Way of Drinking (Part one) Thursday, June 25th, 2009
Today I went to Yancheng, which is a medium city in Jiangsu Province with my Scottish colleague, Ian. During the lunch, in order to show their hospitality, the hosts kindly asked Ian:’ how would you like to drink your whisky, with black tea or green tea?’
My Scottish colleague then totally got lost and asked what did he mean. OK, here comes a culture issue again.
Different countries usually have their different original drinks. For example, wine is France, beer is Germany. In China, we also have some original alcohol, such as Chinese liquor. Alcohol like wine, whisky are imported products and were just widely available in China decades ago. Read More…