You see them on every street-Shanghai's plethora of convenience stores:Family Mart,Kedi,7 Eleven and Lawson's.They are the real kings of convenience,supplying to the city's most carnal needs:hot food,drink...You see them on every street-Shanghai's plethora of convenience stores:Family Mart,Kedi,7 Eleven and Lawson's.They are the real kings of convenience,supplying to the city's most carnal needs:hot food,drinks,cheap alcohol,and uh,sex toys/condoms.Pride of place at front of store are steel tubs flled with murky looking Soup and miscellaneous items on skewers,guan dong zhu[关东煮,derived from Japanese oden].Immensely popular with locals,they are often unfathomable to outsiders.But maybe we're missing out on something totally delicious?We sampled the lot of them,and here's the lowdown on the best of the bunch.展开更多
Go to any antique market,design store or souvenir shop in this city and you're guaranteed to come across the vestiges of Shanghai's golden age of marketing-from the old thermoses,tins and bikes to the vintage&...Go to any antique market,design store or souvenir shop in this city and you're guaranteed to come across the vestiges of Shanghai's golden age of marketing-from the old thermoses,tins and bikes to the vintage'Shanghai Lady'posters that never seem to fall out of favor.Although not many of the homegrown brands featured on these posters survived China's tumultUous 20th century,they all had a hand in producing the aesthetics of a uniquely Chinese modernity that remains familier and well-loved worldwide.The Shanghai brand lives on,and through tenacious products like these,it can be a part of your daily life as well.展开更多
China is not exactly known for discovering or set-tling any new overseas territories-and consider-ing Europe s colonial legacy,that's not necessarily something to be embarrassed about.However,the country would nev...China is not exactly known for discovering or set-tling any new overseas territories-and consider-ing Europe s colonial legacy,that's not necessarily something to be embarrassed about.However,the country would never have grown as large and influential as it did without at least a few brave souls who dared to venture off the map and into the history books.Some were tempted out to sea by the siren song of personal or national glory,while others defied the driest deserts and most dangerous seas in pursuit of knowledge.展开更多
For English-speakers learning Mandarin,easy words are few and far between–and should be appreciated when they crop up.“Sofa”is shāfā,“mango”is mángguǒ.The Venn diagram between English and Chinese always f...For English-speakers learning Mandarin,easy words are few and far between–and should be appreciated when they crop up.“Sofa”is shāfā,“mango”is mángguǒ.The Venn diagram between English and Chinese always feels like the middle,shared section is preciously small–but,in fact,the two languages have more in common than you might think.展开更多
"Night in Shanghai,night in Shanghai,you are a city that never sleeps.Bright lights,the car sounds,peacefill and prosperous song and dance."These are the opening lines to Zhou Xuan's"Shanghai Nights..."Night in Shanghai,night in Shanghai,you are a city that never sleeps.Bright lights,the car sounds,peacefill and prosperous song and dance."These are the opening lines to Zhou Xuan's"Shanghai Nights",still probably the most famous ballad to the"Paris of the East".展开更多
There may be some truth to the old trope that domestic tourists all point their cameras east to pose in front of the Oriental Pearl Tower,while Westerners turn the other way to photograph the old European-style archit...There may be some truth to the old trope that domestic tourists all point their cameras east to pose in front of the Oriental Pearl Tower,while Westerners turn the other way to photograph the old European-style architecture along the riverside.If you really want to understand this city,you have to look at both sides of the Huangpu Casting your gaze to Lujiazui will show you where modern Shanghai is going,but to understand how it got here,you can read the Shanghai story witen in the buildings of the Bund.展开更多
Despite its much-vaunted 5,000 years of continuous history,China has gone through long intermissions of disunity The most marked period of discord in the 20th century was what became known as the Warlord Era.Lasting f...Despite its much-vaunted 5,000 years of continuous history,China has gone through long intermissions of disunity The most marked period of discord in the 20th century was what became known as the Warlord Era.Lasting from the death of Yuan Shikai in 1916 until the conclusion of the Northern Expedition in 1928,China had no effective national government.Instead,the country was a patchwork of fiefdoms claimed by regional strongmen who maintained their own standing armies and listened to Beijing only when it suited them.展开更多
‘Foppish’is a tragically underused word.We were therefore delighted when it was the first one that came to mind upon en-tering UTAU.Then,quick as a flash-‘dan-dyish.’Clearly,we were both on a roll.But alas and ala...‘Foppish’is a tragically underused word.We were therefore delighted when it was the first one that came to mind upon en-tering UTAU.Then,quick as a flash-‘dan-dyish.’Clearly,we were both on a roll.But alas and alack,our dear old-fash-ioned hearts sank to the floor when the triple-tiered tea tray settled on our table.No scones.No clotted cream.展开更多
Since The Boulevard opened a year ago,the bookcase-door entrance has become somewhat of a tired trope,spreading to at least two other establish-ments in the city With this in mind,newly established speakeasy-style bar...Since The Boulevard opened a year ago,the bookcase-door entrance has become somewhat of a tired trope,spreading to at least two other establish-ments in the city With this in mind,newly established speakeasy-style bar FLASK has brought something new to the table,by having patrons pry open and walk through not a bookcase,but a refrigerator at the back of a Spartan fresh juice joint on Shaanxi Nan Lu.展开更多
文摘You see them on every street-Shanghai's plethora of convenience stores:Family Mart,Kedi,7 Eleven and Lawson's.They are the real kings of convenience,supplying to the city's most carnal needs:hot food,drinks,cheap alcohol,and uh,sex toys/condoms.Pride of place at front of store are steel tubs flled with murky looking Soup and miscellaneous items on skewers,guan dong zhu[关东煮,derived from Japanese oden].Immensely popular with locals,they are often unfathomable to outsiders.But maybe we're missing out on something totally delicious?We sampled the lot of them,and here's the lowdown on the best of the bunch.
文摘Go to any antique market,design store or souvenir shop in this city and you're guaranteed to come across the vestiges of Shanghai's golden age of marketing-from the old thermoses,tins and bikes to the vintage'Shanghai Lady'posters that never seem to fall out of favor.Although not many of the homegrown brands featured on these posters survived China's tumultUous 20th century,they all had a hand in producing the aesthetics of a uniquely Chinese modernity that remains familier and well-loved worldwide.The Shanghai brand lives on,and through tenacious products like these,it can be a part of your daily life as well.
文摘China is not exactly known for discovering or set-tling any new overseas territories-and consider-ing Europe s colonial legacy,that's not necessarily something to be embarrassed about.However,the country would never have grown as large and influential as it did without at least a few brave souls who dared to venture off the map and into the history books.Some were tempted out to sea by the siren song of personal or national glory,while others defied the driest deserts and most dangerous seas in pursuit of knowledge.
文摘For English-speakers learning Mandarin,easy words are few and far between–and should be appreciated when they crop up.“Sofa”is shāfā,“mango”is mángguǒ.The Venn diagram between English and Chinese always feels like the middle,shared section is preciously small–but,in fact,the two languages have more in common than you might think.
文摘"Night in Shanghai,night in Shanghai,you are a city that never sleeps.Bright lights,the car sounds,peacefill and prosperous song and dance."These are the opening lines to Zhou Xuan's"Shanghai Nights",still probably the most famous ballad to the"Paris of the East".
文摘There may be some truth to the old trope that domestic tourists all point their cameras east to pose in front of the Oriental Pearl Tower,while Westerners turn the other way to photograph the old European-style architecture along the riverside.If you really want to understand this city,you have to look at both sides of the Huangpu Casting your gaze to Lujiazui will show you where modern Shanghai is going,but to understand how it got here,you can read the Shanghai story witen in the buildings of the Bund.
文摘Despite its much-vaunted 5,000 years of continuous history,China has gone through long intermissions of disunity The most marked period of discord in the 20th century was what became known as the Warlord Era.Lasting from the death of Yuan Shikai in 1916 until the conclusion of the Northern Expedition in 1928,China had no effective national government.Instead,the country was a patchwork of fiefdoms claimed by regional strongmen who maintained their own standing armies and listened to Beijing only when it suited them.
文摘‘Foppish’is a tragically underused word.We were therefore delighted when it was the first one that came to mind upon en-tering UTAU.Then,quick as a flash-‘dan-dyish.’Clearly,we were both on a roll.But alas and alack,our dear old-fash-ioned hearts sank to the floor when the triple-tiered tea tray settled on our table.No scones.No clotted cream.
文摘Since The Boulevard opened a year ago,the bookcase-door entrance has become somewhat of a tired trope,spreading to at least two other establish-ments in the city With this in mind,newly established speakeasy-style bar FLASK has brought something new to the table,by having patrons pry open and walk through not a bookcase,but a refrigerator at the back of a Spartan fresh juice joint on Shaanxi Nan Lu.
