Mad About Shanghai

China Car Facts

• The most expensive car made in China is the HongQi L9 at 5 million RMB

• The cheapest car made in China is Zoyte Z100 at 24,000 RMB

• 15 million new cars are sold last year in China

• Only 20% of car buyers in China take some form of loan. The rest pay in cold hard cash.

China Fact of the Day - English Speakers

Not an ad for HSBC but an interesting stat to share:

Kempinski Hotel Dalian

I have a favourable impression of Dalian. The last time I went there many years ago, I was impressed by the cleanliness of the city, natural sights and the almagation of Russian and Japanese culture in their city landscape. And of course the cheap and nice seafood there. I remembered the last time I went there I stayed at the superb Nikko Hotel.

A friend of mine Elyn, who has always been very kind to me, recently paid this northern up and coming city a visit for business and stayed in Kempinski Hotel Dalian. She took some photos and I thought I would share with you guys in case any of you are thinking of making a trip there and looking for hotel choices. The room photos on hotel websites can be all too deceiving at times. So here you go:

Elyn, can we have more photos of Dalian city sights next time you visit?

Most Expensive City in China 2013

When it comes to being the most expensive city in mainland China, it has always been a case of a tussle between Shanghai and Beijing. This year, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Shanghai takes the "honours" again. There are some surprises in the rankings too.

This is the ranking from EIU on the most expensive cities in China.

1) Shanghai

2) Shenzhen

3) Dalian

4) Beijing

5) Guangzhou

There you go,  I am surpised that Dalian actually surpassed Beijing!

On an overall scale, as expected, Tokyo remains the most expensive city in the world.

View From The Top : Hangzhou Bay Bridge

See that thin white line across the photo? That is actually the Hangzhou Bay Bridge. I took this on one of my flights towards Shanghai. I guess the view must be quite spectacular as you drive across.

This is one of the longest trans oceanic bridge in the world and took four years to build. The bridge shortened the highway travel distance between Ningbo and Shanghai from 400 km to 280 km and reduced travel time from 4 to 2.5 hours.

Little Known China Trade Facts - Violins

Do you know that China is one of the world's leading producer of violins ?

630,000 violins a year are manufactured for local and export use.

AMG Performance Center in Beijing as first "stand alone" store

Mercedes Benz has opened its first AMG standalone store in Sanlitun, Beijing. 

We bring you some exclusive pictures from Mercedes Benz:

 

Beijing Office Rentals Now More Expensive than New York

According to Cushman & Wakefield, a global real estate services company, Beijing has overtook New York in office rents. The report was released this month.

Thes are the top 6 countries in terms of having the most expensive office rentals:

1) Hong Kong

2) London

3) Tokyo

4) Moscow

5)Beijing

6) New York

More details can be found here.

Shanghai is the 8th most expensive city in Asia

These are the latest survey results released by ECA International on the cost of living in Asia.

The most expensive cities in Asia are:

1) Tokyo

2) Nagoya

3) Yokohama

4) Kobe

5) Seoul

6) Singapore

7) Beijing

8) Shanghai

9) Hong Kong

10) Busan

You can read more about it here.

Megacities in China

The six mega cities in China are:  

1) Beijing

2) Shanghai

3) Tianjian

4) Guangzhou 

5) Chongqing

6) Shenzhen

Cuurently, there are 660 million in China that live in cities, urbanised areas. By 2030, up to 1 billion is expected. To cope with this, five more mega cities are sprouting.

They are :

1) Shenyang

2) Xi'An

3) Chengdu

4) Changsha

5) Wuhan

If you are thinking of moving to China or relocating, thinking of options and dont really like the top 5, the sprouting five sure deserve some consideration.