“Here’s to China” Johnnie Walker TV ad
When the director said “We need to see a Caucasian more prominently,” that was my ticket to stardom. Don’t blink near the end.
Filmed on a frigid December evening on the outdoor deck at Attica on the Bund.
03.13.2007, 9:04 PM · Television, Video · Comments (2)
The five best albums of 2006 … so far
- The Starlight Mints, Drowaton: I got a weird look at the gym the other day because of this album. So I was singing on the elliptical machine — what’s wrong with that? This is infectious, catchy orchestral pop from the first place you think of when you hear the phrase “infectious, catchy orchestral pop” — that’s right, Oklahoma.
- Tapes ‘n Tapes, The Loon: I am going to try very hard not to say this debut album out of Minneapolis sounds like Pavement for the 21st century. Whew. Glad I didn’t say that. Listening to this album makes me wish I was drunk in a dirty bar. That is probably some kind of warning sign.
- Band of Horses, Everything All The Time: If you have been accused of listening only to “whiny indie rock” and you haven’t heard this album yet, then you, my friend, are no fan of “whiny indie rock”! I have listened to this album more than any other in the first half of 2006, but I have not listened to it much recently. Not sure why.
- Jason Collett, Idols of Exile: This not-quite-alt-country release from the Broken Social Scene member (seriously, name someone from Canada who isn’t in that group) is so relaxed and easy to listen to it scares the shit out of me: Does liking this mean I really am officially an old man? Have I totally lost my edge? And then Collett throws in a lyric like “I love it when my girlfriend calls me a cock-sucking faggot” — and I feel a little bit better about myself.
- Built to Spill, You in Reverse: Built to Spill and I go way back, so I put them here partly do to nostalgia. You in Reverse isn’t as good as the band’s previous efforts, but it is solid — and the opening track “Goin’ Against Your Mind” kicks so much ass it would make this list on its own. It’s an 8-minute 42-second song you never want to end.
- Links: Drowaton reviews, Starlight Mints official site, Starlight Mints @ Barsuk, The Loon reviews, Tapes ‘n Tapes official site, Tapes ‘n Tapes @ MySpace, Everything All The Time reviews, Band of Horses @ MySpace, Band of Horses official site, Idols of Exile reviews, Jason Collett @ Arts&Crafts, You in Reverse reviews, Built to Spill @ MySpace, Built to Spill official site
Read more mid-year lists (and post your own) at Shanghaiist.
07.20.2006, 10:44 AM · Music · Comments (2)
My Shanghai story in Budget Travel magazine
A few weeks ago, the July/August edition of Budget Travel magazine hit newsstands across America and, I’m assuming, some other countries, as well. Page 66 featured a full page, color photo of a 32-year-old American sometime-journalist/marginally-informative-blogger/handbag-entrepreneur. A random reader emailed the guy in the photo and said the “pic struck me as nice” and told him “don’t ever stop smiling!” Meanwhile, an immediate family member told the guy his smile made him look “beaver like.” Well, you can’t win them all.
So anyway, I have an eight-page story in the current issue of Budget Travel. And yes, there is a full-page portrait of me (shot by a New York Times photographer, I might add). And yes, the title of the story is “My Shanghai Is Better Than Yours.” Both the photo and the title were the magazine’s idea — I’m sure your Shanghai is just fine.
The story is split up into three parts — Eat, Shop and Play — and I suggest 15 or so places/activities in each one. It was a little tricky. I had to keep in mind that my readers, and anyone who would actually end up putting my advice to use, would likely be be new to Shanghai and their Chinese would be limited or nonexistent. I also had a word count to stay under. As is my habit, I failed miserably in that task, thus the version that appeared in the magazine was a little less detailed than the one I turned in — but that is my fault. I may post the extended version here sometime after August.
You can read the story at budgettravelonline.com or you can download a PDF of the magazine version here. And you can also download the addresses of the places I mention in my story (in English and Chinese) here.
Also, on Tuesday I played the role of China travel expert (don’t laugh) in one of Budget Travel’s “live” Trip Coach chats. You can find the transcript here. And if you are wondering how I can think so well on my feet, keep in mind that I was sleeping when the chat actually took place.
07.13.2006, 10:19 PM · Best of Shanghai, Culture, Stories, Travel · Comments (6)
Introducing Mudan Boutique
I have hinted at it a couple times on this site, and now I am finally ready to go public with my latest project. It’s a bit of a departure for me, but something I am really excited about. It’s an online store called Mudan Boutique. To start, we are featuring affordable pearls and jade and a variety of handbags, fashion accessories and gift items — all of which embody an Asian aesthetic. (We’re offering free worldwide shipping until July 17, too.)
Most exciting to me right now are the partnerships we are forging with local Shanghai designers, like Fiona Peng of Punk Pilgrim and Christine Tsui of Christine Tsui’s Fashion Club on Xinle Lu. That duo is responsible for Mudan Boutique’s current crop of handbags and clutches. And we’re currently working on adding more items from different local designers to the store — products and designs that until now were only available in small stores and boutiques in Shanghai.
Surprised by this? Yeah, me too. But something about Shanghai turns almost everyone into an entrepreneur. Ask most people what they do here, and their answer usually begins with, “Well, that’s a good question …” Most people I know have a few irons in the fire here. Maybe that’s why some people are calling Shanghai the new city of dreams.
So, I invite you to take a look at Mudan Boutique. I am really proud of the way the shop looks right now, and I really like the products we have been able to find thus far. We’re a small “company” — just a couple of us here in Shanghai and a couple of my oldest friends back in the States — but we have big plans and high expectations. Expect our product lines to grow in the very near future.
Mudan Boutique welcomes your input about anything. We have a boutique blog, a newsletter and you can always reach us by email: info at mudanboutique.com. If you are a China-based designer or artist and you think your work would be a good fit for Mudan Boutique, please email me directly at dan at mudanboutique.com.
You might also like to know that Mudan Boutique contributes five percent of net proceeds from each purchase to CARE, a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty.
So there you have it, my new baby Mudan Boutique. Please have a look and tell me what you think. Perhaps it (and Shanghaiist, celebrating its one-year anniversary today) offer some excuse for why I have been so out of reach and this site has been so neglected for, oh, I don’t know, the past year or so.
I sure am busy for an unemployed guy.
Mudan Boutique’s online store was designed by the great team at Rockbeatspaper and the product photography was taken by Brad at Shanghai Streets.
07.11.2006, 12:44 PM · Culture, Diary, Featured, Site News · Comments (1)
How to catch a pirate
The fight against global trade in fake goods is not just China’s problem
This story originally appeared in the February 27, 2006 edition of Business China, published by The Economist. Download a PDF version of this story here.
by DAN WASHBURN
In January when the Shanghai municipal government announced its plans to shut down Xiangyang Market—known simply as the “fake market” to locals—officials trumpeted the decision as a major victory in China’s battle against the rampant trade in pirated goods. Vice Mayor Zhou Taitong emphasised that the market was not just being “removed” but was being “abolished”. And the state media reminded readers that the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau handled 1,227 cases of trademark violation in 2005, confiscating 1.6m fake items from markets, including Xiangyang.
Another property deal?
But the government’s crackdown-on-counterfeits spin seems simply to have been a convenient byproduct of what the manoeuvre was really about: property. A few days after the Xiangyang announcement, local papers reported that Sun Hung Kai Properties, one of Hong Kong’s largest developers, was in “final talks” to purchase the market site—a prime plot on bustling Huaihai Road, in the heart of Shanghai’s commercial district—for US$450m.
A Xiangyang salesperson says the merchants have been asked to leave the market before June 30, adding that many shopkeepers will be happy with a change of venue because rents at Xiangyang are expensive, averaging about US$5,000 per month per stall. “We will continue to sell the same products, but in a different part of the city,” says the 22-year-old, who specialises in fake luxury handbags. “The government is already telling some shops to move to the Longhua area. The market will not go away.” And what if it did? Fake goods can be found stocking storefronts on nearly every street in Shanghai.
06.20.2006, 10:02 AM · Business, Politics, Stories · Comments (3)
Help offered
In a country with no tradition of classified advertising, eBay sees a bright future for an online version of it
This story originally appeared in the October 24, 2005 edition of Business China, published by The Economist. Download a PDF version of this story here.
by DAN WASHBURN
Already a multi-billion-dollar industry in the US, Internet classified advertising has arrived in China, courtesy of online-auction giant eBay. But China has no history of classifieds, online or offline. So it begs the question: can online classifieds in China make money? According to the people behind Kijiji.com, eBay’s entry into the international online-classifieds market, the answer is yes—easily. How do they plan to pull it off? By taking their online operation offline.
In August 2004 eBay purchased a 25% stake in San Francisco-based online classifieds pioneer Craigslist.com for a reported US$10m-12m. Six months later, eBay launched Kijiji (it means “village” in Swahili), a mostly non-English network of Craigslist-inspired community websites where people advertise jobs, apartments, goods, activities and services for free. After a series of acquisitions, Kijiji now has websites covering more than 150 cities in 20 countries. And Kijiji China, launched in February with the other Kijiji sites around the world, is leading the pack with more than 80,000 postings at any given time.
China’s huge population obviously provides Kijiji with a solid base from which to grow. Even with very low Internet penetration, the number of Chinese going online is estimated to be more than 100m, second only to the US. But China’s low labour costs allow Kijiji to try things there that it would think twice about in other parts of the world, especially when the operation has little or no revenue.
Still in the rough
The success of golf tournaments in China belies the tepid state of the country’s golf business
This story originally appeared in the November 21, 2005 edition of Business China, published by The Economist. Download a PDF version of this story here.
by DAN WASHBURN
Tiger Woods played in an official international golf tournament in China for the first time this month. It was a big one—the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai, the richest golf event ever held in Asia with a US$5m purse. This coupling of cash and the world’s top player brought the buzz surrounding the growth of golf in China to a crescendo. Zhang Lianwei, China’s most successful pro golfer, said Mr Woods’s presence “moved China golf forward by ten years.”
Hot ticket
China is emerging as a hot ticket for international golf tournaments. This year alone, the mainland and Hong Kong hosted five European Tour events—more than Scotland (four) or England (three). But golf in China is all big-money tournaments and almost no growth at the grass-roots level. Events like the HSBC tournament create great exposure for the game in China, but nearly everything about them is foreign. They include few Chinese golfers, even fewer domestic sponsors and lukewarm government support. Domestic media coverage is also perfunctory at best, though a gallery of some 5,000 people followed Mr Woods during the HSBC Champions’ final day.
“People are saying what a great year it has been for Chinese golf—I disagree,” says Nick Mould, senior vice president of Singapore-based World Sport Group. “It has been a great year for golf in China, but not for Chinese golf. This is not sustainable, because nothing is left behind.” He pointed to two high-profile tournaments in China prior to the HSBC—the BMW Asian Open and the Johnnie Walker Classic—where out of US$3.8m in prize money, less than US$50,000 ended up in the pockets of Chinese golfers.
Michael Bolton fans do not have a sense of humor
Well, at least two of them don’t. I’ve always dreamed about being linked to by michaelboltonclub.com, but for some reason I always thought they would like me. No, love me.
They don’t. Well, at least two of them don’t.
A little back story: Back in December I wrote a post on Shanghaiist about Paul McCartney. Sir Paul, rightfully, was outraged by some barbaric treatment of dogs and cats in China. And, because of that, he said he’d never visit China — and that he was planning to boycott all goods made in China. He implied that anyone who deals with China is complicit in the animal abuse that occurs here. While I shared Paul’s outrage, I thought his response was a little … much. (The post, not necessarily because of what I wrote, was followed by a rather entertaining string of comments.)
I finished my write-up with this:
To sum up. Torturing animals = bad. Beatles = good. McCartney’s stance = misguided.
And then, because Michael Bolton was about to appear in Shanghai at the time, I used McCartney’s false logic and added this intentionally, and I think obviously, outrageous statement:
And one important lesson learned: Michael Bolton is obviously in favor of butchering puppies and kittens.
That didn’t go over well in Bolton land. A superfan named angelsnearu fired off a response titled “Terrible Conclusion on Animal Abuse Support,” calling fellow Boltonites to action: “Anyone outraged at the conclusion of this article … should immediately go to this website and post their opinion.” (No one did, by the way.)
angelsnearu wanted to make it clear:
We all know this is B.S. I saw the footage they are referring to in this article and its some of the most horrific footage of animal abuse I’ve ever witnessed on the news and there is NO WAY Michael Bolton supports this country or animal abuse.
Another concerned Bolton fan, Linduhrella, guessed that Michael had no idea there was animal abuse in China. And then added:
One would think some inspirational artists might help, not hinder, the efforts to create a better and more civilized society in any part of the globe.
How true. angelsnearu then returned to suggest I find another line of work:
You know we’ve seen this kind of stuff for years from people who call themselves writers. You know the type…its called, “Climb aboard the stars gravy train” for the writer who seeks attention. I call those writers, “no names.”Gosh, it just seems so outdated for this kind of material to still be published. They just need to get a new line or a new job…
Woo-hoo! All aboard the Michael Bolton gravy train! Hold on while I count my money!
And then Linduhrella returned with what could only be the final word:
It’s sensationalism and they’re still using, and abusing, it. Any writer worth his/her salt doesn’t have to resort to it to keep their name in print but they do. Some have become quite rich from such tripe. However, they don’t have any staying power like Michael Bolton’s music does. There’s always that element of jealousy from such air-heads that leads one to the conclusion that were it not for the green-eyed monster, they’d have no motivation whatever to write anything. Lacking talent, AND motivation, they wouldn’t be getting paid for polluting the market with garbage. Maybe there would be more room left for quality literature if we weren’t bombarded with such a large quantity of trash.
Amen.
01.26.2006, 1:50 PM · Internet · Comments (11)
The Top 20 Albums Of 2005
Kind of hard to top that last post, so I won’t even try. I’m writing this from Manhattan’s Upper East Side. My fiancee (she has not changed her mind yet) in napping next to me. The sun is setting and everything is pink and gold outside my window on the 26th floor. We’re staying at my good friend Veronica’s place here in New York. Unfortunately, Veronica is not here — still sunning on one of the Caribbean islands. St. Barts, I think. Hopefully she gets back before Bliss and I fly back to Shanghai on the 6th.
We drove here in a rented Ford Taurus, through the Poconos along Interstate 380, where the roadside woods were either covered with snow or encased in ice. Trees, some leaning in from the weight, sparkled in the sunlight — they looked like they had tiny leaves carved out of crystal. The scene felt rather fragile, like one strong breeze could come in and shatter the entire forest and make it fall onto the soft bed of white waiting below.
During the ride we listened to Chad VanGaalen’s beautifully eery album Infiniheart, and that reminded me — although it appeared on Shanghaiist, I never posted my top albums of 2005 on this site. (And, no, not one reader has emailed to complain.)
For various reasons, I have failed to give this site the attention it deserves for the past half a year or so. I hope to change that soon. But my 2005 music list will have far fewer bells and whistles than my 2004 list. In fact, all you get are some snazzy italics. Anyway, for what it’s worth, here are my top 20 albums of 2005:
- Chad VanGaalen - Infiniheart
- Wolf Parade - Apologies To The Queen Mary
- Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
- Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy
- John Vanderslice - Pixel Revolt
- My Morning Jacket - Z
- Bright Eyes - I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
- Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production Of Eggs
- Spoon - Gimme Fiction
- Rogue Wave - Descended Like Vultures
- Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
- of Montreal - The Sunlandic Twins
- Brakes - Give Blood
- Iron & Wine - Woman King EP/In the Reins EP (with Calexico)
- Superwolf - Superwolf
- Stephen Malkmus - Face The Truth
- The Decemberists - Picaresque
- M. Ward - Transistor Radio
- The Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree
- The Capitol Years - Let Them Drink
Some images, links and mp3s can be found over at Shanghaiist or at my mid-2005 picks page. I may add albums beyond No. 20 as I think of them. As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions. If you are really quick, maybe I can be listening to some of your music picks on my long, long flight back to China.
Related:
The Top 25 Albums Of 2004
This is when I force my taste in music on you
On Shanghaiist:
Shanghaiist presents The Best Albums of 2005
25 after 7: The Best Music of 2005 (so far)
01.05.2006, 4:57 AM · Diary, Featured, Music · Comments (2)
Abigail Washburn and Bela Fleck in Shanghai
Monday was good. Got a rare glimpse inside the historic U.S. Consulate here in Shanghai. Met a fellow Washburn. And saw one of the best musicians in the world perform. All in a couple hours. American folk musician Abigail Washburn — no relation, as far as we know — is in China promoting her new CD, which includes two songs Washburn sings in Chinese (she’s lived here off and on since 1996). The album, Song of the Traveling Daughter, was co-produced by banjo player and living legend Bela Fleck, who also joined Washburn on her China tour. Washburn, Fleck, a violinist and a cellist performed an intimate invite-only — thanks for the invite, Paul! — concert last night at the U.S. Consulate on Huaihai Lu and Wulumuqi Lu (you know, the walled compound with armed guards across from the British Bulldog, a bar worth boycotting). The consulate occupies a grand old estate which likely has a fair bit of history, although my initial Google attempts turned up no details. It was nice just to have a look inside the place. I’d show you pics if my phone and camera weren’t confiscated at the gate for “security reasons.” Had a front row seat for the show. It was great. Abby’s voice is strong and beautiful. And Bela’s picking is amazing — when he solos it sounds like three or four banjos playing at once. (Also, I’m fairly certain he played part of one song with his teeth.) The band is playing another gig, open to the public, tonight at the Cotton Club. I encourage you to come. Just don’t take my seat!
Photos: Abigail and Dan Washburn [2], Me and Bela Fleck
Brad’s camera was not confiscated. His pics start here.
11.29.2005, 6:38 PM · Music · Comments (7)
Soon, you too can compete in the Masters Cup!
I scored some sweet Masters Cup tickets on Monday thanks to Shamus — who always has a VIP ticket for something — and the friendly people at Haworth office furniture. The brand new Qi Zhong Stadium is nice, really nice, a proper stadium. It has air conditioning, which immediately makes it better than most of the sports arenas in China. You have to wonder, though — why is it almost in Anhui Province? OK, it’s just a 100 kuai cab ride from city center, but weren’t there some vacant plots of land or bulldozable neighborhoods, say, 20 minutes from the city instead of 50? It’s a hike. And what are they going to do with a tennis stadium the other 51 weeks out of the year?
Anyway, the building is worth seeing even if the tennis no longer is. I managed to see Andre Agassi’s only match before he joined Andy Roddick, Marat Safin, Lleyton Hewitt and Rafael Nadal and withdrew from the tournament. Really, the way he played, his exit from the tourney was only a matter of time. Nadal came out to court to apologize to the fans for not being able to compete due to a foot injury. He could of at least limped! So, now we are left with Roger Federer and these “masters”: Guillermo Coria, Nikolay Davydenko, Ivan Ljubicic, Gaston Gaudio, David Nalbandian, Mariano Puerta and Fernando Gonzalez. Half the field is from Argentina … not that there is anything wrong with that.
11.16.2005, 5:38 PM · Photos, Sports · Comments (3)
HSBC Champions: Golf still an elitist pursuit in China
This story originally appeared on ESPN.com.
by DAN WASHBURN
Sheshan International Golf Club, site of this week’s HSBC Champions tournament, is about an hour west of Shanghai — if you are lucky. The only way to get there from downtown is a start-and-stop ride along the Hu Ning “Expressway,” an overcrowded stretch of asphalt that cuts through a grim part of the city you won’t find mentioned in any tour book. Most spectators are bussed in and bussed out and never set foot outside the picturesque private grounds. And if you were part of that crowd on Thursday and Friday, it would be easy to draw this conclusion: China loves Tiger Woods.
In a nation of 1.3 billion, crowds are not hard to come by. But on a golf course? That’s something new in a country with only an estimated 200,000 people who play the sport, a country that didn’t have a golf course until 1984. The gallery following Woods for the tournament’s first two rounds easily topped 1,000. Some guessed it was closer to 2,000. That’s more than four times the number of fans who followed Ernie Els during the final round of the BMW Asian Open here in May.
HSBC Champions: Ian Poulter’s ‘funny looking pants’
This story originally appeared in the November 13, 2005 edition of the South China Morning Post (subscription only).
by DAN WASHBURN
While the hordes were hovering behind Tiger Woods as he practiced at the driving range Saturday morning, Ian Poulter worked on his putting a couple dozen meters away. There was no crowd surrounding the Englishman, but nearly everyone who walked past him did a double take, stopped and took a photo. Why? Poulter’s pants, of course.
Much has been written about the maverick 29-year-old, his outlandish attire, spiky highlighted hair and reflective sunglasses. And, pants-wise, Poulter brought his A-game to Shanghai — four pairs spun from ornately embroidered Chinese silk.
“A lot have said ‘nice pants’ — the ones who could speak English, anyway,” Poulter said of the fans at the HSBC Champions tournament. “I find it good fun and I don’t want to be boring. There are loads of guys out here who just wear standard stuff, and that’s not what I’m about. I want to be different. And the silk pants were a nice way to do it out here in China.”
11.15.2005, 10:15 PM · Sports, Stories · Comments (1)
HSBC Champions: Tiger who?
This story originally appeared in the November 12, 2005 edition of the South China Morning Post (subscription only).
by DAN WASHBURN
While some 2,000 golf fans weathered rainstorms to track every move of the world’s best golfer Friday in the second round of the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai, Yao Guang Mei swept leaves with a bamboo broom. She just might have been the only person at Sheshan International Golf Club who had never heard of Tiger Woods.
“All I know is that foreigners will come here to compete,” she said.
Yao, who lives in a village 30 minutes away from the course, gets paid five dollars a day to work at the club, where a lifetime membership costs $148,000 and furnished villas average $2 million. And she’s happy to do it.
“It looks great,” she said of the grounds. “But all of these big houses look the same. Sometimes I get lost.” Yao stopped to chuckle before adding, “Back home, I don’t get to see much of this modern society. When I got the chance to work here, I was very excited to see all of these new things.”
HSBC Champions: Hope lies on Hu’s slender shoulders
This story originally appeared in the November 11, 2005 edition of the South China Morning Post (subscription only).
by DAN WASHBURN
The boy who has been dubbed the future of Chinese golf spends 11 months of the year in Florida, and he appears equally comfortable conducting interviews in English and Mandarin. Sixteen-year-old Hu Mu, the eighth-ranked junior golfer in the world according to Golfweek magazine, has a lot resting on his slight shoulders, he’s used to it. He’s been the future of Chinese golf since he was 11.
“There is a bit of pressure to be called that,” admitted Hu, who looks toward the ground when he talks and speaks just above a whisper. “There are so many talented Chinese golfers out there. I do want to be the future of Chinese golf, though. I want to inspire other young kids to learn the game in China.”
Hu is the only amateur participating in the HSBC Champions tournament this week at Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai. He opened Thursday with a disappointing 6-over 78, closing with a triple bogey in the rain on the final hole.
An American wedding, Tiger Woods and sleep deprivation
So sorry for my silence recently. Been pretty damn busy. Went to the States a little while back for a week, caught a cold and attended a wedding (photos). Sleep patterns screwed up, several deadlines converged and now I’m pulling long shifts while filing stories from the HSBC Champions golf tournament, which is an annoying commute out to Songjiang District. Why people buy million dollar villas this far from downtown is a mystery to me — Thai Food Station doesn’t deliver out here. Anyway, here’s a story I filed for ESPN.com last night. I hope to get back to regular sleep and posting patterns soon.
11.12.2005, 12:56 PM · Diary, Sports, Stories · Comments (1)
Golden Prods and Organism Waves: An infomercial script
The folks at Gridskipper, and others, enjoyed my post about my first infomercial shoot (up until the point when my payment got stolen, I assume). So, I figured I’d provide you with what I know you are all craving: MORE DR. JAMES. Below you will find all of my “lines” from the infomercial in the form they were originally given to me — and you will see why Johnson, Bliss and I reworked the lines to a point where they kind of made sense. I actually had my first two lines — the long ones — memorized, but none of this mattered. Since the entire infomericial will be dubbed in Chinese, what was coming from the mouths of the “talent” mattered not — they just wanted the impression that this infomerical was taking place somewhere in, say, Burbank, California. I’d get about 30 percent through one of my lines and the director would yell, “Cut! Print!” I had filled the allotted time with my white man mouth movements and it was time to move on. After my first two lines, we just bullshitted our way through the rest, making fun of the product, the director and this odd chapter in our lives. No one was the wiser — or, more likely, they just didn’t care. In fact, one of the girls in the infomercial was from Argentina, and she did all of her lines in Spanish.
So, here they are: The lines for Dr. James, the unshaven inventor or 发明者 or fa ming zhe of the low-powered stun gun known as “Dolly” (or “Doli,” as it is called in the script):
照片放大后 就能找到答案，使用多丽的半个脸，皮肤更紧绷；额头、眉心、嘴角的15条皱纹，9条彻底消失、6条显著变淡；浮肿的脸型变得瘦美！所以看上去琼斯太太整整年轻了20岁！
After zoom in the photo, the answer can be found!
Using doli, you can find it keeps the skin of half face tense! Originally there are 15 wrinkles from brow, corners of mouth and between eyebrows, now 9 of which are disappear, others become less deeper, the puffy face is changed! So that’s why Mrs. Johns look younger more than 20 years old!
10.17.2005, 8:33 AM · Humor, Observations, Television · Comments (6)
7,000 photos moved from Gallery to Flickr … easily
In preparation for the major redesign Frank has in store for Shanghai Diaries, we had to figure out a way to transfer all of the photos from our existing photo gallery to my space over at Flickr. Gallery is a fine app, but I just find Flickr much easier to use. And Flickr seems to be more adaptable, too — Frank’s already done some cool stuff with it over at Shanghaiist. We both like the community aspect of Flickr, as well.
Anyway, I figured the Gallery-to-Flickr switch would be a time-consuming nightmare. Actually, I expected I would have upload all my pre-Flickr photos — some 7,000 of them — from scratch using iPhoto. And I was dreading this, because many of the photos from early in my digital days are not very well, um, organized. Thankfully, Frank stumbled upon this page, where a guy offered up $200 to the first person who could solve the very same problem we were dealing with. Someone delivered, Frank installed the script, I started the transfer process before I went to bed one night … and next morning I had 7,598 photos in 69 photo sets (albums, tags and captions survive the transfer, as well) over at Flickr. For free. Pretty slick.
The one downside is that since these photos were tranferred from Gallery and not uploaded directly from iPhoto, they are small. For some reason, I only uploaded pics to Gallery at a 400 or 500 pixels max for height and width. Sorry.
If you’d like to check out my photos from the past three years, head to my Flickr page. Here are some direct links to some of my recent photo sets:
- China: Fujian (2005)
- Shanghai: My First Infomercial
- Shanghai: Asian Gaelic Games
- Shanghai: Shanghaiist.com Launch Party
- Shanghai: Sex Products Expo
- Shanghai: Mr. Window
- Shanghai
- Shanghai: People (2004- 2005)
- Shanghai: Scenes (2004- 2005)
There are about sixty other photo sets that I don’t feel like typing in links for. They include all the photos from my 18-province trip through China and plenty of photos from outside of China: Cambodia, Georgia, Hawaii, Montana, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C. and Wyoming. Check it all out here.
10.16.2005, 9:39 AM · Internet, Photos, Site News · Comments (1)
Almost Famous: Google News adds Shanghaiist to sources
Google News tells users they can “search and browse 4,500 news sources updated continuously.” Make that 4,501. Upon the recommendation of DCist editor Rob Goodspeed, I submitted my side project Shanghaiist to Google News for their consideration (you can do the same — go here). And less than 24 hours later, I received a response saying that we had been approved:
Hi Dan,Thank you again for your submission. We have reviewed www.shanghaiist.com and will be including it in Google News in the near future. You should be able to find your articles in Google News within a few weeks.
Thank you for providing your articles to Google News.
Regards,
The Google Team
Pretty easy. It will be interesting to see what kind of a bump in traffic Shanghaiist will see because of its inclusion. Right now we’re fast approaching around 2,000 visits a day, which is not bad for a relatively new, mostly English language website in China. We’d like to be up to around 5,000 daily visits within the next six months. We’ll see.
If you’re curious, here is what I said to Google News when I made my request for Shanghaiist’s inclusion:
We are Shanghai’s only group news blog, part of the Gothamist.com family of sites, and I think readers of Google News would benefit from our inclusion in your service.
Pretty simple. And I think mostly factually accurate. I was thinking about mentioning that I am “famous” and that I “clearly love” Shanghai, but That’s Shanghai magazine did that for me in their review of Shanghaiist in their current issue. It was a very nice review, and I wish certain parts of it were true. Like where they say I have “six staff and twenty contributors” at Shanghaiist. And, yes, the whole famous thing. It must be the Michael Stipe/Athens, Georgia kind of fame where people go out of their way to “pretend” that they don’t have any idea who I am. I get that a lot.
Related:
Write for Shanghaiist
Gothamist LLC
10.15.2005, 1:55 PM · Internet · Comments (1)
This National Day holiday I …
- … flew south to Fujian Province with Bliss — whose ancestors are from Fujian — and her friend Emily, who is visiting from Seattle. My photos from the four-day trip can be found at Flickr. (They can also be found in the Shanghai Diaries photo gallery — I spent a good chunk of yesterday making sure that section of the site was up to date — but, really, I suggest you view the photos on Flickr. Better. Easier. We should be making a total switch to Flickr with the coming redesign of the site.)
- … got a little bit wet thanks to Typhoon Longwang. But was happy to have avoided the flood of people that hit Shanghai. Ri-f*cking-diculous.
- … missed out on the hot springs at Xiamen’s Riyuegu Resort (thanks to the typhoon), but settled for a private room at The Retreat, where I got an hour-long massage, soaked in a hot tub treated with aromatherapy oils … and got my ears cleaned.
- … became an uncle, again.
- … rediscovered the fact that I actually do like Chinese food. Quite a bit.
- … got lost on Gulangyu Island … again.
- … repeatedly bombarded Andrea with questions about what to do/where to go/how to get there in Xiamen. Felt kind of bad, but she is the editor of What’s On Xiamen. Andrea always kindly obliged. I gave her a Shanghaiist t-shirt for her troubles — nothing says “thank you” like a little shameless self-promotion!
- … took a great day-trip into Fujian’s rural Nanjing Province to soak in a little Hakka culture. Was amazed at the size of their tu lou earthen roundhouses. (If you are traveling to Xiamen, I highly recommend a travel agent named Apple. She speaks English and can be emailed at lemon60606(@)hotmail.com.)
- … bought one of these hats for 5 kuai.
- … bought this painting from my friends at oceansbridge.com headquarters in Xiamen.
- … went to a masseuse/chiropractor in Xiamen recommended by Andrea. A burly man, he was unable to crack my back. Is this a good or bad sign?
- … was unable to fit a Blue Frog “Montana Burger” into my mouth.
- … met with a Singapore-based book editor about my book proposal … and received a couple more rejections from the US (news I’m sure Billy Baldwin is very happy to hear).
- … discovered a great new sandwich shop in Shanghai. Very cheap, and near my apartment, too. It’s called Nangka Cafe.
- … listened to Chad Van Gaalen’s great new album again and again and again.
- … confirmed that the pork ribs at Di Shui Dong are among my favorite dishes available at local restaurants.
- … likely gained a few pounds.
- … found out that there is a very good chance I will be playing the role of Santa Claus in an upcoming Chinese Pizza Hut commercial.
- … tried to convince friends and family that China’s new tightened control of the internet likely won’t affect me. Am I being naive?
- … started viewing season two of Lost and still can’t figure out why it won the Emmy for best drama … or why I can’t seem to stop watching it.
- … watched England qualify for the World Cup and realized that my illegal satellite hook-up is better than the one at the Big Bamboo.
- … spent one morning watching the Yankees lose, one watching them win and today woke up at 4 am to discover their game had been rained out.
- … wondered whether American celebrities will hold telethons for the victims of Pakistan’s awful earthquake, the same way they did for tsunamis and hurricanes this year.
10.09.2005, 4:53 PM · Bars, Culture, Diary, Food, Music, Observations, Photos, Sports, Television, Travel · Comments (2)
I am the Johnny Drama of blogging
And so are 289 other people
Yep, I’m a B-list blogger, which means I might get invited to the major Bloggywood parties — but only because my younger more attractive brother happens to be an A-lister, a rising star in the cutthroat world of blogging celebrity. And if a hot blogger groupie flirts with me, it’s because she wants to get into my brother’s pants, not mine. Every now and again I’ll score a part in a Movie of the Week (read: Boing Boing link) but I’m always one f*ck-up away from the online equivalent of reality television (which I guess would be this.) Maybe I’ll get “spotted” when I go out, mostly by guys — no, always by guys … most of them drunk — some of whom might buy me a shot of Sambuca. (Thanks, Pat!) But, mostly, hardly anybody knows who the hell I am. I’m a B-list blogger for chrissakes. And if people think they do know me, they often get it wrong. Way wrong (or, at least, that is the story I’m sticking to). Take this Shanghai forum poster, for example:
After a quick look I concluded I somehow do not fit in this site’s target audience. By the way who is this Dan Washburn guy? I heard this name before. Is he the CEO of a major automaker in China who got fired for massive fraud (I know the story was release to the media in a different way)?
If you haven’t seen the excellent HBO series Entourage, much of this post likely made little sense to you. But really, why haven’t you seen Entourage? And no, living in China is not a good excuse.
Related:
B-List Zen
08.25.2005, 11:44 PM · Internet, Observations · Comments (4)
The best hummus in Shanghai
BEST OF SHANGHAI: ‘One man’s opinion’
I “studied” for a semester in Athens, Greece. Course load included Greek Culture, Greek Language, Creative Writing: Poetry and something called the Philosophy of Love and Sex, taught by a gay man who wore leather pants and a purple scarf and drove to class on a Harley. Our earliest class was at 2 pm. All classes were pass/fail. And, for some reason, the school provided us with ample spending money. That, my friends, is a recipe for disaster. I gained 15 pounds that spring, despite playing shooting guard for the school basketball team. (Granted, we only practiced twice a week and most practices were interrupted by several cigarette breaks.) Copious amounts of beer and wine likely played a factor in the weight gain, but most of it can be attributed to the Greek food. It’s easy to fall in love with. I’m hoping the arrival of Mediterranean Sandwich and Coffee Bar to the neighborhood (it used to be way out in some place called Hongqiao) doesn’t equal another 15 pounds.
08.12.2005, 9:30 PM · Best of Shanghai, Food · Comments (3)
I knew I should have worn my Testaverde jersey
I was going to write something here about how I don’t get the whole Chinese hip-hop thing, how it’s a rather unoriginal way for Chinese youth to express their individuality, how it would be nice to see these kids clinging to something more Chinese, something that could grow in China organically, the way rap did in America in the 1970s. I was going to write all that — but then I realized to do so would be stupid and hypocritical. These kids have just as much right to their rap music — maybe more — as little white Danny Washburn did in lily-white Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania in the 1980s. And I listened to rap music. Lots of it. I hooked up my stereo to a TV cable and was able to get Power 99-FM from Philadelphia. So I knew about all the new rap and R&B before even the guys at the record store on Main Street. It made me feel special. I liked being different. Eric B and Rakim were some cool motherf**kers, and because Follow The Leader occupied my Walkman, so was I. What’s more absurd: And honor student in rural Pennsylvania listening to gangsta rap or city kids in China flashing gang signs for photos?
The kids I saw last night at the Shanghai Hiphop II Party at Club Fusion had the style down, alright. In fact, it looked as though the event was cosponsored by Champs Sports and IcedOutGear.com. (Actually, it was cosponsored by ShanghaiNing.com and Sony-BMG, which helped release the Shanghai Rap CD that Friday’s partygoers got for free.) Where can you get cool retro NBA jerseys in huge sizes in Shanghai? Ask this guy. And if you’re a Christian in need of some bling, this guy might be able to point you in the right direction. And what of the music? Hard to say. I couldn’t understand any of the lyrics, save for the odd “baby girl,” “check it,” “murder” or “word up.” Actually, most people in China wouldn’t have been able to understand the lyrics. They were in Shanghainese, which is cool, because the dialect is at risk — fewer and fewer young Shanghainese are learning it. The beats, however, were universal — and, often, very tired and familiar. The only thing original about the music was the language. But give these guys some time. It’s early yet. And hey, Shanghainese rap is already less annoying than Vanilla Ice.
Links:
42 of my photots from Friday night on Flickr
All Flickr photos tagged “shanghaihiphop”
My videos from the show on YouTube (Direct links to the three clips: Bamboo Crew, Super Rap Crew, Super Rap Crew slows it down)
Shanghai Rap page on ShanghaiNing.com, with downloadable songs
Shanghai blogger Josh reviews Shanghainese rap songs
More at Shanghaiist.
07.30.2005, 9:01 PM · Audio, Music, Observations, Photos, Video · Comments (3)
This is when I force my taste in music on you
It’s already been a great year for music … and it’s still July. The following are my five contributions to the Shanghaiist The Best Music of 2005 (so far) list. Other albums on the Shanghaiist list that I highly recommend are I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning by Bright Eyes, Face The Truth by Stephen Malkmus, Gimme Fiction by Spoon and Illinois by Sujan Stevens. After these five blurbs, I’ll list some other albums that are on my personal Best of 2005 (so far) list. Why should you care about any of this? That is a very good question.
The Mysterious Production Of Eggs by Andrew Bird
I was somewhat — no, very — surprised to like an album by a former Squirrel Nut Zipper, but I’ve always had a thing for professional whistlers.Buy | Reviews | Official site | “A Nervous Tic Motion Of The Head To The Left” | Stream the entire album
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Shhhh. Hear that? If you are quiet, you can hear the buzz surrounding this Brooklyn band from any spot on Earth. Arcade Fire for 2005.Buy | Reviews | Official site | “In This Home On Ice” | “Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood” | “Over and Over Again (Lost & Found)”
The Sunlandic Twins by of Montreal
“We’ll have bizarre celebrations,” sings Kevin Barnes, and that’s exactly what this album is. This is what happens when indie psych-pop boys play with computers.Buy | Reviews | Official site | “So Begins Our Alabee”
Black Sheep Boy by Okkervil River
No new Wilco album this year? Not to worry. This Austin band offers homespun tunes and stories … and some of the year’s weirdest album art.Buy | Reviews | Official site | “For Real” | “Black”
Apologies To The Queen Mary by Wolf Parade
This album “officially” doesn’t get released until late September, but jump on this Montreal band’s bandwagon now. Partially produced by Isaac Brock, and it shows.Buy | Reviews | Official site | “You Are A Runner And I Am My Father’s Son”
07.30.2005, 6:30 PM · Music · Comments (4)
The best steak in Shanghai
BEST OF SHANGHAI: ‘One man’s opinion’
I wasn’t expecting much from the Backyard Cafe, just a semi-normal sandwich within walking distance from the apartment. What I got was the best steak I’ve eaten in nearly three years in China. So tender, so tasty, so juicy … so ridiculously cheap. For just RMB 69, Backyard serves up a thick 220 gram beef tenderloin prepared on a proper outdoor grill. It comes topped with a black pepper sauce that provides just the right amount of spice and, as if that wasn’t enough, Backyard also throws in some spinach and potatoes, too. Still not enough? Add two ears of corn on the cob for 19 kuai. Yep, they’ve got that, too.
It was so perfect, I had to wonder — was this all a big joke? Was this some sort of Spanish Prisoner-esque ruse that ends with me returning to the restaurant the following day only to find that it’s really an abandoned warehouse and Steve Martin has run off with my life’s savings? (If so, the joke’s on you, Steve. I have no life’s savings. Ha!) Aware that Chinese television has been dabbling in reality, I started looking for hidden cameras, worried that I might be the unwitting subject of a new Shanghai TV production called The Make A Foreigner Think He Finally Gets A Good Steak In China And Then Visciously Rip His Heart Out And Dip It In That Brown Sauce His Ayi Drowns Everything In, Lycra Show. (It’s a working title.)
07.21.2005, 8:38 PM · Best of Shanghai, Featured, Food · Comments (3)
They shoot catfish, don’t they?
Nah. They grab ‘em!
I love America. Home of the free. Home of the brave. Home of people who fish for giant catfish with their bare hands. Now, I’m not talking about catfish this big. Or even this big. But still, pretty damn big. I mention all this because a friend sent me this story from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution yesterday:
“Hey, we’re rednecks,” Brown said. He cracked open a Bud Light as he aimed his 16-foot Alumacraft johnboat toward a mound of rocks where water eddied under a low-hanging limb. “We like any kind of fishing.”
Brown, Owen and anyone else hoping a fish will bite their fingers can thank the Georgia Legislature for the privilege. Legislators this year passed a bill making noodling — also called grabbling, hand-fishing or hogging — just as legal as using fishing poles, rod-and-reels and trotlines for freshwater fish. Georgia joined neighboring states Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina in opening the state’s waterways to noodlers.When they heard noodling would be legal Friday, Brown and Owen made sure to have the day off work for a day on the river. By midmorning, they were on the Flint, five miles south of Concord, waiting for something to move under their hands.
They didn’t wait long.
“Whoop!” Owen, 39, came out of the water like a dog, shaking himself, then plunged back under a gray rock in 4 feet of water. He thrashed once, twice, then came back out, grumbling.
“Got away” he said. “It was a little ‘un.”
When I lived in Georgia, handgrabbin’ was illegal. Can you believe that? It’s our God-given right as Americans to do stupid shit. I wasn’t about to let the damn state gubment keep me down. So, I drove over to the right-thinking state of Mississippi to stick my hand up in some catfish. (I actually rather enjoyed myself.)
I know I’ve linked to this story before. But hey, chicks dig it. And it’s the Fourth of July — so I thought this rather fitting. Our founding fathers would have wanted us to go noodlin’. I know that for a fact.
Happy Independence Day!
07.04.2005, 4:34 PM · Sports · Comments (4)
Hurry! Three more days to catch Alien vs. Predator!
I wrote this for Shanghaiist, but since we’re not live yet over there, I figured I’d post it here, too.
If you’re like Shanghaiist, you like going to the movies. And if you’re like Shanghaiist, you rarely go to the movies in Shanghai — because, well, most of the movies that show here are crap. (And because you can buy 10 DVDs on the street for the price of one ticket to the theater.) Thank God then for the Shanghai International Film Festival, which concludes this weekend. Finally, we get some indie and art house fare on the big screen. Right? Right?
Well, you tell me. This year’s SIFF, the eighth annual event, includes high-brow offerings such as The Pacifier, Alien vs. Predator, Ice Princess, 13 Going On 30, Van Helsing, Meet the Fockers and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. That’s an average Metacritic score of 42, people.
OK, with that off our chest, we should note that the festival also includes plenty of films that are worth seeing: Sideways, Vera Drake, Big Fish, Sin City, Hotel Rwanda, We Don’t Live Here Anymore to name a handful. But many of them are kind of old, films that would have shown on the real festival circuit years ago. Still, some of them would be nice to see on the big screen instead of a pirated screener with “For Review Purposes Only” flashing on the bottom of the screen.
Speaking of old, Fei Mu’s classic 1948 chamber drama Spring in a Small Town is also showing. The Hong Kong Film Awards Association named that the best Chinese-language film of all time.
The SIFF also includes many films that Shanghaiist admittedly has never heard of. So for those, we defer to That’s Shanghai reviewer Wayne Hsu’s recommendations. Some of them look pretty interesting, especially the Hitler pic Downfall, which is getting excellent reviews. Shanghaiist has had beers with Wayne and you have our word that he is a good guy (and deceivingly young looking). Another friend of Shanghaiist recommends two Chinese films: buzzworthy director Jia Zhangke’s The World and Lu Yue’s The Foliage.
Hurry up, though. The festival closes on Sunday and some of these films don’t show after tonight. Here is the somewhat cumbersome festival schedule.
Pictured: A scene from The Foliage.
06.17.2005, 2:00 PM · Movies
‘Consummate’ your relationship with the internet
‘0 people would do ShanghaiDan.’ Awwwww.
“ShanghaiDan is a 31-year old boy located in Shanghai, who is taken and looking for boys and girls for friends, online buddies, and consumating fun!”
So begins my profile on the social/dating website Consumating, which according to its tagline is targeting the “Hot nerdy girls and indie rock boys! With glasses!” crowd. You might be wondering why someone who labels himself “taken” would sign up for an online dating site (or maybe you’re not … some chicks dig “unavailable” guys). I signed up for Consumating because it’s the site Shanghaiist is going to partner with for personals — and right now there are a total of two Consumating users living in Shanghai. It’s me and Micah, and he only signed up because I asked him to. I’m trying to build up a base of Shanghai users before Shanghaiist officially goes live in a couple weeks. So, head on over to Consumating and sign up!
You don’t have to be single. You don’t have to be looking for a date. It’s a social site, not just a dating site. And it’s 2005 — I think the stigma associated with meeting people online has gone the way of the Yunnan Box Turtle. Especially in a sometimes intimidating city of 20 million, it’s often easier to meet people with similar interests online than inside a shabbily appointed, smoky bar playing a Celine Dion/Kenny G/Whitney Houston/Mariah Carey mix CD. Of course, if you’re from Shanghai and your interests aren’t similar to mine or Micah’s, you are pretty much screwed right now. That’s why you need to get all your friends to sign up for Consumating! Or else you’ll spend all your time at the site flirting with hipsters in Seattle. And, I guess there are worse things in the world to do than that.
Consumating uses the oh-so-hip tagging technology, which is like crack for computer geeks. Oh, the site is free, too. That’s also pretty cool. (And, one of Consumating’s creators is the editor of Austinist.)
Finally, Shanghaiist will also be running a feed from 43 Things, a goal-sharing social site. This is what 43 Things’ Shanghai users want to do with their lives.
So, check these sites out. (And would someone please give me a thumbs-up at Consumating? This is getting embarrassing.)
06.15.2005, 4:43 PM · Internet, Site News · Comments (3)
Do you want to write for Shanghaiist.com?
Site will be better than Star Wars III. I promise.
While in New York a few weeks ago, I had lunch with Jake Dobkin, publisher of the highly-successful Gothamist family of city blogs. We met at a bagel joint on 20th and 3rd. I had a very tasty Reuben and a Diet Coke. I can’t remember what Jake had, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that Jake and I decided to team up and launch Shanghaiist. It will be the first -ist site in Asia — and I’m confident it won’t be long before Shanghaiist is considered the best website about Shanghai on the internet.
I am in the process of of putting together the Shanghaiist team. Interested?
06.06.2005, 1:50 PM · Culture, Site News · Comments (13)
ESPN.com’s package on golf in China
You just might recognize the author
ESPN.com, the internet’s sports website of record, is running two stories I wrote about golf in China:
• Golf in China grows bigger by the day
• Chinese events bring interesting questions
At the time of this posting, the package was ESPN.com’s featured story on the site’s main page. But that changes pretty often, so here is a screen shot. It’s also the lead story on ESPN.com’s golf page (screen shot).
And yes, I think this is all pretty cool. It’s not too often you get to write for one of your favorite websites. (Even if they do initially spell your name wrong.)
05.19.2005, 2:20 AM · Featured, Sports, Stories · Comments (2)
MLB invests in China’s baseball growth
A version of this story appeared in the May 11, 2005 online edition of Baseball America.
by DAN WASHBURN
SHANGHAI — The China Baseball League celebrated its Opening Day in April, but in Shanghai, the country’s showpiece “international city,” the invitations must have been lost in the mail. As the fledgling pro league’s Shanghai Eagles and Tianjin Lions battled it out in the ironically named Shanghai Sports Palace, a dusty field far northwest of city center, there was more activity at a bustling fish market nearby.
About 75 fans and curious onlookers were scattered throughout the stadium’s 800 or so seats, and they were treated to an exciting game. Shanghai, last in the league in wins and attendance since the CBL launched in 2002, squandered a 4-0 lead in the ninth inning and ended up losing 9-5 in 12 innings. Most of the cheering during the game, however, came from the dugouts.
05.17.2005, 3:48 AM · Sports, Stories · Comments (2)
Luxury cars, pro golfers and dirty underwear
The nice thing about covering a professional golf tournament sponsored by BMW is that there’s always a chance you might catch a ride home in a BMW. That happened to me three times during the Asian Open, which concluded Monday — a day late because of rain — at Tomson Golf Club in Pudong.
On Sunday, I shared a 7 Series Sedan with a caddie and two golfers who were competing in the tournament … and I had no idea who they were. I didn’t want to ask — I thought that would be insulting. It would also have been a little embarrassing. I mean, I was wearing a media badge — I was writing about the freaking tournament — so you would think I should be able to recognize the competitors. But I couldn’t. You’d be surprised how little golf you actually watch when covering a golf tournament.
A little internet digging told me that the professional athlete seated directly in front of me in the passenger seat was Richard Sterne. The professional athlete to my left — seated on the hump seat — was Wade Ormsby. “I’ll sit in the middle,” he offered. “I’m small.”
05.04.2005, 2:38 PM · Humor, Observations, Photos, Sports · Comments (1)
China’s top golfer demands more domestic support
Zhang: Playing for PRC an “ordeal”
Coverage of the BMW Asian Open, a professional golf tournament co-sanctioned by the European Tour and the Asian Tour. A version of this story appeared in the May 1, 2005 edition of the South China Morning Post (subscription only).
by DAN WASHBURN
SHANGHAI — China’s top-ranked golfer Zhang Lian Wei criticized his government and Chinese companies Saturday, delivering an emotional post-round press conference that elicited applause from members of the Chinese media covering the BMW Asian Open at Tomson Golf Club.
Zhang, who turns 40 on Monday, said he has never received any state funding during his historic 11-year career. He added that he has zero domestic sponsors.
“It’s such an ordeal playing golf in China over the years,” Zhang said, his voice cracking at times. “It’s tough, it’s difficult and it’s lonely. I know golf is not an Olympic sport, but I think the sports authorities should at least have shown some kind of support, like air tickets or something, to show their appreciation of my contributions to Chinese golf.”
05.03.2005, 1:20 PM · Photos, Sports, Stories · Comments (2)
Els to fans: Put your phones on vibrate
Coverage of the BMW Asian Open, a professional golf tournament co-sanctioned by the European Tour and the Asian Tour. A version of this story appeared in the April 30, 2005 edition of the South China Morning Post (subscription only).
by DAN WASHBURN
SHANGHAI — There are, by the most recent count, some 330 million mobile phones in China, so it’s not too surprising that one of them happened to be five feet away from Ernie Els as he lined up a putt Friday during the second round of the BMW Asian Open at Tomson Golf Club in Shanghai.
Els was at hole No. 6 and, already at 13-under for the tournament, enjoying a rather commanding lead. He was putting from 10 feet for his third consecutive birdie, his fifth on the first six holes of the back nine.
And then that darn phone rang.
Els stopped his putt in mid-swing, turned around and smiled at the phone’s owner, a middle-aged Asian woman. Others weren’t so kind. Fans yelled at her in English and Mandarin. She managed to stop the ringing — and then the phone rang again.
“It happens a lot more over here,” said Els, the world No. 3. “It seems like everyone has a camera and everyone has a mobile phone that can also take pictures. Most of the time I take it in stride, but hopefully it doesn’t happen too often over the weekend, because it is a bit of a distraction. You want a bit of quiet over the ball.”
This post has absolutely nothing to do with Japan
It’s about soccer
Or footie, as the cool kids call it these days. Sunday evening, Cecil, Gavin, Marina and I headed over to Hongkou Stadium to watch some China Super League action. Shanghai Shenhua vs. Inter Shanghai, to be specific. This is called a derby. But it’s pronounced darby, I think. Now would be a good time to admit something: Living in Shanghai, I believe I have learned more British English than I have Chinese.
When I was around six years old, my mom bought me some new pajamas. The shirt had a picture of two guys playing soccer on it. And, since some 6-year-olds are stupid, it also had the word “SOCCER” printed in big bold letters. I threw a fit. Screaming. Crying. Why? Because I’m an American, Godammit! We hate soccer.
And then my family moved to England. The West Midlands. Sutton Coldfield. I attended the Penns Combined School — uniform required. Everything changed. I wore Adidas Sambas. I played Subuteo. I collected soccer sticker albums. I pulled for Aston Villa. I played soccer, excuse me, football — with a tennis ball, on blacktop — during recess. (I also played marbles, something called conkers … and got sent to the headmaster’s office because I somehow convinced a fellow second-grader to, inside our Ally McBeal-style co-ed bathroom, pull her knickers down. I still feel bad about that. Kind of.)
04.27.2005, 1:22 AM · Observations, Photos, Sports, Video · Comments (2)
Just what were the anti-Japan protesters thinking?
Chatting with a Shanghai college student
Well, Japan has apologized to China … again. But Japanese officials also visited the highly controversial Yasukuni Shrine … again. (Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi hasn’t made his annual pilgrimage to the shrine — yet. He was busy meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Indonesia. A recent poll by Japan’s liberal Asahi Shimbun newspaper, by the way, shows that nearly half of Japanese voters wish Koizumi would halt his visits to the shrine, which honors Japan’s war dead — including 14 convicted World War II Class A war criminals.) And so, China responded to the apology by saying Japan needs to match its words with actions … again. And now, the feud turns to school textbooks … again. This time, Japan is calling China’s history books “extreme.” Not exactly breaking news.
The China-Japan issue is not going away any time soon. If you have read the comments to my previous post, that is abundantly clear. (And if you haven’t read the comments yet, don’t try to do it in one sitting.) Most Chinese feel one way. Most outsiders feel the opposite. The Chinese don’t understand the outsiders. The outsiders don’t understand the Chinese. This is not the first time in history this has happened.
04.25.2005, 3:16 PM · Observations, Politics · Comments (18)
Tens of thousands take to the streets of Shanghai
Huge crowd has fun hating on Japan
Click here for photos of today’s anti-Japan march in Shanghai.
[UPDATE: Video clips of the march are here, here and here.]
So, I ended up going to Shanghai’s anti-Japan march this morning anyway. Going against the advice of a Chinese friend who told me the protest would be “very dangerous.” Going against the advice of the American government which warned U.S. citizens that China’s blanket hatred of all things Japanese could mutate into acts of violence toward all things foreign. I picked up the protest near People’s Square at around 9:30 a.m. expecting to see lines of Shanghai police, worrying slightly that my camera could get confiscated, not necessarily because it is a Japanese-made Canon — although that thought did cross my mind — but because I figured Shanghai authorities, desperately worried about the image of China’s most international city, would be doing everything in their power to limit the event’s exposure to the outside world.
Well, nothing of the sort happened. There were no lines of police. There were some, of course. But the majority of police that I saw today were smiling and laughing and marching along with the protesters. No one said a thing about my camera — not one of the police officers atop their Yamaha motorcycles, definitely not the Chinese student who wanted me to answer a question into his Sony video camera.
04.16.2005, 3:50 PM · Observations, Photos, Politics, Video · Comments (100)
‘A detailed instruction on the Protest Against Right Wing Japanese’
And other notes about ‘warm patriotic sentiments’
The following is a translation of an email making the rounds in Shanghai regarding the fun-filled weekend the city has in store. The instructions include some tips that I think we can all apply to our everyday lives, like “If you are spotted throwing stuff at the consulate, smile at the policeman” and “Be careful when burning the Japanese flag and the Prime Minister’s portrait! Don’t end up burning yourself!” That’s just common sense.
Not sure if you were planning on checking out the protests in person or not — a little too early in the day for me — but the organizers promise it will be “quite a view.”
Here, comrades, is everything you need to know:
04.15.2005, 1:15 PM · Observations, Politics · Comments (21)
The best vegetarian restaurant in Shanghai
BEST OF SHANGHAI: ‘One man’s opinion’
My girlfriend is a vegetarian. Actually, no she’s not. Well … kind of. Really, she’s a