Mad About Shanghai

HGTV is casting Americans Living in Shanghai for a New TV Show

Home & Garden Television (HGTV) is launching a new international series that features American expats telling their stories about what it’s like to live abroad.

HGTV Producers want to hear from fun, outgoing, enthusiastic Americans Expats who are living in Shanghai RIGHT NOW!

In each episode, our host will experience Shanghai through the eyes of expat families. From the design of your space (what features of your home are typical of properties in Shanghai?) to the lifestyle and culture of the area (what major life changes have you experienced as a result of your move? What do you do for fun?), the American Expats will give viewers a first hand look at what it’s like to live overseas.

Contact 

If you’re interested or if you have any friends that might be in applying, please contact Callie Zanandrie – Producer at czanandrie@highnoontv.com

Qipao Tailors in Shanghai

If you want a qipao just like the one Maggie Cheung worn in the movie, In the Mood for Love, this is the tailor to visit in Shanghai :

Han Yi (瀚艺), 217-221 Changle Road, near South Shaanxi Road

长乐路217-221号, 近陕西南路，

Tel : +86 21 5404 2303

Operating Hours: 9:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.

The establishment mentioned actually provided many qipao pieces for the movie.

Prices starts from RMB 1,800 for a simple silk qipao to RMB 10,000 for customized pieces. From the specimen we can see in the show, its well worth the premium.

Going a bit down the scale, the many qipao tailors at Maoming Road offers customise tailoring for qipao from about RMB1000 onwards.

If you want your qipao tailored in a no frills setting. the prices in Fabric Market at LuJiaBang Road starts from RMB 600.

 

Shanghai World Expo Smashes Visit Record

According to the organiser's website, the World Expo 2010 received 1 million visitors (yes, you read right. 1 million!) today. With this million, the number of visitors to the Shanghai World Expo surpassed the previous record of 64 million mark set by Osaka World Expo in 1970.

If you have not been to the World Expo yet, you better be quick as the event ends in 2 weeks time.

USA Pavilion at Expo 2010 Shanghai Launches Virtual Tour

3-D media interactivity brings Pavilion Experience to life for global audience

The USA Pavilion at Expo 2010 Shanghai launched a virtual tour at http://pavilion.expo.cn/c5001/ssize/en/index.html, which gives a global audience a glimpse of the Pavilion and the exhibits that have already delighted more than a million guests.

"World's Fairs are about creating enduring ties, and Expo 2010 is building a stronger relationship between the United States and China. This virtual tour will enable us to share those positive energies with those who are unable to visit the Pavilion in person," said U.S. Commissioner General Jose H. Villarreal.

Expo 2010 Shanghai is the first World's Fair to host an online platform that allows viewers to take a glimpse of all of the pavilions. While not meant to be a substitute for the real experience, the U.S. virtual tour doubles as a preview of what is to come for those traveling to China and a recap of the USA presence for visitors half a world away. Moreover, from the U.S. site, visitors have the opportunity to virtually tour any of the other country pavilions that are available.  

The virtual tour, a joint project from the USA Pavilion and the U.S. Department of State, closely resembles the actual USA Pavilion. Upon entering the site, visitors are "greeted" by a virtual Student Ambassador, representing the 168 Student Ambassadors who have become a favorite of guests visiting the actual Pavilion. From that point, visitors are free to examine the sights and sounds of the Pavilion on their own.

Highlights of the virtual tour:

·         Act I features an abbreviated greeting from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. President Barack Obama. 

·         In Act II, visitors can test their knowledge of American culture, history and entertainment through a quiz, which may even challenge a few Americans. In addition, Act II features a preview of "The Garden," the inspirational story shown in the main theater of the Pavilion of an American girl who dreams of turning a vacant city lot into a garden with the help of neighbors.  

·         Act III showcases the many U.S. companies which have sponsored the Pavilion. Through short films, photos and displays, the companies showcase efforts on sustainability, innovation and building a sense of a global community.

The site was developed by Crystal Digital Technology Co., Ltd. (Crystal CG), a sponsor of USA Pavilion, which also launched the official Expo Shanghai Online platform http://en.expo.cn/#&c=home.  

At over 60,000 square feet (6,000 square meters), the USA Pavilion is one of the largest national pavilions at the Expo. With the theme of "Rising to the Challenge," the United States presence will showcase American culture, values, innovation and business in one of China's most dynamic cities, while celebrating the friendship and cooperation between the United States, China and the rest of the world.  

USA Pavilion official website: http://www.usapavilion2010.com  

USA Pavilion photo stream: http://flickr.com/photos/usapavilion

International Living 2010 Quality of Life Index

The International Living 2010 Quality of Life Index has been released. Check out the table here.

Countries are evaluated based on cost of living, leisure & culture,economy,environment,freedom, health, infrastructure, risk and safety.

The top three respectively are: France, Australia and Switzerland.

Expat Taxation and Work Permit Information Afternoon - 22 Nov

Useful event for all expats in Shanghai. Best of all its free!

Check out the link below for more info:

http://www.shanghaiwhatsup.com/events/index.php?com=detail&eID=4938

Strangers in a Strange Land

Found this by accident on Dan Washburn's blog.

Interesting articles about expats in China featured on Good Magazine.

Read them here:

Article 1
Article 2

Shanghai is the 8th Costliest City in Asia for Expats

Shanghai is the 8th costliest city in Asia for expats. Yes, 8th. Seoul is the most expensive, surpassing Tokyo,  at least according to ECA.

Top ten most expensive cities in Asia for expats are:

1) Seoul
2) Tokyo
3) Yokohama
4) Kobe
5) Hong Kong
6) Taipei
7) Beijing
8) Shanghai
9) Singapore
10) Guangzhou

Read the article here.

Fabric & Tailor Market in Shanghai

Whilst everyone is crazy about Xiangyang market, few know about the other market - the fabric and tailor market where you can pick the material you want and get custom made shirts and business suits for a tenth of the cost that you would get it for in most of the western countries.

We  heard about this market not long after we arrived in Shanghai from some expats who have lived here for years.  They raved about how cheap it is to get a custom made suit for only RMB500 - 700 and to get a business shirt for RMB150 - 200.  The best method is to take an example of your clothes and get the tailor to copy it, that way you make sure the style is right (everyone knows Chinese people are good at copying stuff).

Eventually we managed to go to the market the other day and found it to be in one of the oldest areas of Shanghai near the Bund, old rundown houses serve the shop front, constantly you would notice filthy kitchens and gross smells from inside. Despite this, business in the market is prosperous. We went there on the weekends - lots of Chinese and Western people alike were  looking around picking their favourite material and getting their customised clothes made. It is not as crowded as in Xiangyang market and nobody constantly comes up to you trying to sell you something. You can just take your time strolling around.

The one thing they share with Xiangyang market is the double - standard pricing system, ie., higher price for foreigners and lower price for Chinese people (sometimes even lower price for local Shanghai people). Every time when I ask about  material price, they say "for you I don't ask too much, if it were him (referring to Brad), I would ask at least twice as much.) As a result we came back with a great sense of triumph - for a total of RMB510 we got Brad a wool business suit with an extra pair of pants; the price includes the wool material , the lining material and the cost of making.

The lead time is about a week. The following week we picked up the clothes - Brad was very happy with the quality - they did exactly what he requested. However so far from our experiences, they are good at copying men's clothes, but not women's. Maybe women's clothes require more skill of tailoring in terms of style , design and details which they do not understand.

So if you need to get some business clothes, a good place is the Fabric and Tailor market. Don't forget to haggle prices and you had better bring your own examples for them to copy (but there is plenty of books to choose styles out of).

It is also a good place to discover another side of Shanghai - opposite to the modern skyscrapers and shopping centres, it is old, rundown and smelly.  A few taxi drivers told me that part of the market has actually moved to a place near Nanpu Bridge (Lu Jia Bang Road) , the current market will be demolished soon for new constructions for 2010 World Expo.  It looks like that our next mission is to find out where is the new market.

The current market address is: Dong Jia Du Road & Weitan (the Bund). You will need to walk up Dong Jia Du and look down the alley ways. Once you start to see lots of awnings and bolts of cloth hanging around - you know you have made it.

_____________________________________________________________________

The quality of services offered on hawaiian airlines makes everyone go airlines even more. Now information on Hawaiian as well as midwest Airlines is available online and information about airline jobs are also available on their website.

______________________________________________________________________________

Number Plate in Shanghai

Do you how much a number plate is worth in Shanghai? Between RMB20,000 - 40,000!

Do you know when you register a  Rep Office in Shanghai, a FREE number plate is automatically allocated to you?

From my experience, lots of people (ie, expats) who have registered a Rep Office in Shanghai do not know the above fact.  But lots of people DO know (local people), these people are trying to buy unused number plates from those rep offices at about RMB13,000 - 15,000 and re-sell them at a much higher price.

My friend who works in a rep office told me the other day that he received a fax which says they would like to buy the allocated number plate at RMB13,000. My friend talked to the boss, who didn't know the existence of the allocated nunber plate and who doesn't want to buy a car in Shanghai either, and he got 100% support from the boss - sell the number plate to whoever is eager to buy!

So if you are living with an unused number plate, do something about it - just do not waste it!