A new year and a new douche bag to add to our “Bad Laowai” category. Ryan Fedoruk, a 40-year-old former part-time English teacher from Canada, sublet about 30 apartments to more than 100 foreigners in Shanghai before taking the money and running.
shanghai Posts
Video: Shanghai in time-lapse
Title really says it all. As monster cities go, Shanghai has got to be one of my favourites — this video is a nice tribute to her.
Doin’ time: how to end up in a Chinese jail
iLook China recently ran a guest post by Lionel Carver (no idea if that’s a pseudonym or not), which details the writer’s experience being a guest of the government in a Chinese jail.
Subtitled with “A Cautionary Tale for Expats in China“, I was curious to read both what Carver endured and, perhaps most voyeuristically, what he did to get there.
His description of the long boring days (all eight of them), spartan comforts, and brief brush with man-on-man-on-man action were not without their charms. However, throughout the telling, I was finding it hard not to feel like Lionel got exactly what he asked for.
Have a nice Shanghai home? Show it off on HGTV
Home & garden Television (HGTV) is hunting for some Shanghai-based American expats to feature on a new international series profiling 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.
If you’re interested in taking part email photos of you and your family along with photos of your home to the show’s producer: Callie Zanandrie ([email protected])
Shangdown — Interview with Shanghai spaghetti western director Jakob Montrasio
When Shanghai-based expat Jakob Montrasio first told me he was directing a spaghetti western set in his adopted city, I’m sure I blinked uncomprehendingly. The movie, Shangdown: The Way of the Spur is an east-meets-west kung fu cowboy mashup.
This Bruce with boots (or Clint with a kick) premise for a film seemed strange and intriguing, so I decided to probe a bit further into what the movie was all about. My interview with Jakob is below. But first, how about a more official synopsis (and a trailer):
Delta Rats
Recent chatter on the sinoblogosphere has brought to my attention a rivalry of which I’d previously been unaware. Now living in Shanghai, I am all to familiar with the idea that there are two parts of China, namely Shanghai and then the countryside.
And I also know there’s much talk about whether Beijing or Shanghai is the better city, at least among expats in Shanghai. But what I hadn’t previously had was a sense that there was a rivalry between the waiguoren in the interior and those in the cushy costal towns. Little did I know that the Chengdu/Kunming crowd saw this division.
I’d like to break things down further and introduce a new category of regional laowai. I call them the delta rats, and I proudly consider myself among their ranks. We’re the forgotten few in the lower reaches of the Changjiang. We’re the Zhou-dwellers.
Fact or Fiction X: Moving On Up
Welcome back one and all to the September edition of Fact or Fiction. Those of you who read any or all of the last seven will know, every edition I will have a guest and we will discuss a few of the big issues in China of the day. Every answer will have a “Fact” or a “Fiction” and some justification to go along with it.
My guest today is someone you may recognize from Chengdu Living, or China Travel, Sascha Matuszak. He is a West-side Laowai who spent most of his 10 years in China living in Sichuan. He is currently living and working in Shanghai with his wife and son. You can check out more of his stuff at www.saschamatuszak.com.
Sascha and I have something in common (other than being devilishly handsome), we both have recently moved from from smaller, 2nd Tier cities to larger 1st Tier ones (that being Chengdu to Shanghai for him, and Suzhou to Guangzhou for me, for those of you keeping score at home). So today we are going to talk about the perils and pitfalls of moving within China, and life in a Chinese metropolis compared to a “small town” of a few million people. Join us today for Fact or Fiction X: Moving On Up!
Fact or Fiction VIII: Hey Ho! Expo!
Welcome back one and all to the July edition of Fact or Fiction. Those of you who read any or all of the last seven will know, every edition I will have a guest and we will discuss a few of the big issues in China of the day. Every answer will have a “Fact” or a “Fiction” and some justification to go along with it.
My guest today is Katherine, better known around here as Baoru. You can read her work on CNReviews where she posts a great deal about life in the Middle Kingdom. Quite recently her informative posts on the Shanghai Expo have received a great deal of web traffic, and for obvious reasons. She also writes a blog in Expotia, the Official Hotel Reservation Service Provider of Expo 2010. If that wasn’t enough, depending on your perspective, she is either lucky or brave enough to be a volunteer at the World Expo in Shanghai.
Looking at my guests resume, the topic seems rather obvious to me. We will be talking about the biggest event to currently be underway in China, the Shanghai Expo. We will be tackling issues like lines, toilets, and our favourite pavilions, so join us for Fact or Fiction 8: Hey Ho, Expo!
Photos surface of Shanghai’s new Apple Store to be
Entrance to Apple's Shanghai Store
The store will join Beijing’s Sanlitun Lu shop [image], which opened back around this time of year in 2008 … hmmm… Summer 2008/Beijing Olympics, Summer 2010/Shanghai Expo… maybe Guangzhou can expect their own shop sometime in November?
Trouble getting on Shanghai Expat?
Our friends over at Shanghai Expat asked for our help getting the news out about some access problems their visitors might be experiencing. Always happy to help out our friends in the ‘sphere, here’s more information from them:
