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Mens sana in corpore sano or TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) for Dummies.
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Sometimes Shanghai looks like a Sofia Coppola’s interpretation of Tokyo.
Small Talk with a Chinese Taxi Driver (selected extracts)
- I : Nihao, I am going to Shanxi nan Lu Changle Lu.
- He : Shanxi nan Lu Changle Lu ?
- (I am not upset any more each time a taxi driver repeats my road instructions; they are very keen in double checking what you just said in a very understandable Chinese)
- I : Yes.
- He : Have you had lunch today ? (It's 11am...) (And actually it means : are you ok?)
- I : Not yet. And you?
- He : Just finished. Where do you come from?
- I : Guess !
- He : You are American !
- I : No
- He : So you are European!
- I : Yes (Funny how Europe is more a nationality here than in our countries), I am French
- He : Oh ! French
- Option a : Sarkozy !!
- Option b : Chirac !!
- Option c : Platini, Zinedine Zidane (followed by an imitation attempt of the famous header)
- French are so romantic. Paris is such a beautiful city. Do you prefer Paris or Shanghai?
- I : I love both. Paris is really beautiful, and I have my family and friends over there. But Shanghai is great. Except the pollution.
- He : Oh, yes, pollution is bad. And Chinese people are so numerous. Are you married?
- Option a: yes (go to Q2)
- Option b: no (go to Q1)
- Q1 : Why not? How old are you ?
- Q2 : Do you have children ?
- Option a : Yes
- Option b : no (go back to Q1)
- You should hurry up!
- I : Hum... (Time to switch to another topic)
- He : Are you working in Shanghai ? How much is your rental ? Shanghai is more or less expensive than Paris ?
- I : Rents are quite expensive here but still Europe is more expensive.
- He : Shanghai is so expensive at the moment (followed by price inflation examples : food, train tickets, clothes etc.)
- My turn : are you Shanghainese?
- Option a: yes, from Puxi (west part of the city)
- Option b: yes, from pudong (east part, the new area)
- (can't say it equals Paris "rive-gauche rive-droite" rivalry but obviously there is something)
- I : Do you have children ?
- He : Yes, a girl, she is 24, she has a 1 year baby.
- I : Whouah, that's great ! But ... how old are you ??
- He : You guess.
- I : Uh... 50? (actually he looks 40 but it doesn't make sense)
- He : 59!
- I : "zhen de!" oh really ! (how is it possible ??!). Ok, here we are, next crossroads, turn on your left and this is it.
- He : next crossroads, turn on the left ?
- (I : Grrr... is my Chinese that bad?) Yes ! Bye bye "shifu" (which means master in Chinese.)
- He : "bye bye" (he says in a lovely English)
- And all this happened in spite of his horn incessant honking, the 3 pedestrians we almost knocked down and the bus driver even crazier who tried to make his taxi look like a shoes box. 14 kuais for a short distance trip (around 2 $)
Let me introduce you with the 5-star taxi driver concept.
5 stars is the highest ranking for a Shanghainese taxi, they are quite rare. More often you will get a no star or a 1 star cab.
So what is the point of having a premium taxi ? Is it a kind of high-end experience ?
Well, unfortunately, don’t expect any welcoming glass of champagne nor golden safety belt encrusted with diamonds (you will be lucky to find a normal one).
At the same time, don’t expect a long bill, you will be charged normally, as if you were in a no star taxi. 14 RMB for the first kilometers and then a per km rate.
But the driver should be a master of Shanghai streets (actually his name in Chinese means master “shifu”), he should speak some English (a mandatory for above 3 stars) and last but not least, he might have a good track record (no recent car accident).
Taxi drivers in Shanghai have to undertake exams and assessments to obtain their “stars” which are issued by Shanghai Taxi Administration. The cabbies are evaluated on aspects such as language, service and the condition of the car.
Data on taxis in Shanghai :
There are more than 50.000 taxis in Shanghai for 150 companies. Basically 1 company = 1 color; Biggest companies are blue ones, Da Zhong, and yellow Qiang Sheng. Both of them claim they have the best rated taxi drivers in town. Avoid the Red ones !
Almost 100% of the Shanghainese taxis are Volkswagen cars (“Santana” for the great majority).
They all know about Sarkozy, Anelka and Peugeot. Next time I will try to pretend to be Italian. Let’s guess : Berlusconi, Cannavaro and Fiat ? Which taxi driver in Europe could do the same ? (if we switch football to ping pong…)
Learn Chinese, lesson 2.
“Duibuqi, wo de zhongwhen bu hao”
Plus, if you learn those 3 words “you guai (turn on your right), yi ping pijiu (one beer please), hao bu hao (ok?) “, well, you are a master in Mandarin and you can come to Shanghai.
Xiexie Trini :)
Best business in town.
Weather experts report this was the wettest February month in Shanghai for 20 years. And March looks pretty much the same.
Cheap place and many clients all day long. Plus, summer time is no low-season as Chinese women keep buying umbrellas to protect their skin from
the sun and keep their face as white as possible. This is Shanghai economic miracle :-)
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Learn Chinese. Lesson 1.
Cute, isn’t she ?
Definitely.
Is she going to bring her familly good luck and fortune ?
Probably… but even more likely if she is a Dragon Baby Girl !
In previous dragon years, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and countries such as Singapore with a strong Chinese diaspora have experienced baby booms. In 2000, Hong Kong saw a more than 5% rise in the number of births, according to official data.
Last month, state news agency Xinhua reported that China was anticipating a 5% increase in the number of babies this year.
Families stock up on fertility treatments, and obstetricians and gynaecologists are asked to help delay or speed up a child’s delivery date.
Why?
It’s all because some parents want to have a “dragon baby”.
The dragon, the only mythical creature among the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac, is regarded as a symbol of might and intelligence. In ancient China, the dragon was associated with the emperor.
Boys born in the year of the dragon, especially, are said to be destined to be successful and wealthy.
And they will probably need the Dragon Spirit to protect them as ”It might affect this birth cohort when they get into school, go to the labour market because more people means more competition,” said Dr Tong Yuying, assistant professor, department of sociology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
But it is well worthwhile would testify Maggie Cheung, Deng Xiaoping or Bruce Lee, all of them dragons. Good luck to the 2012 Baby Dragons then !
Read more here.
Shanghainese in love with Valentine’s Day…
As everywhere else, roses are fine but bears are a must. This guy should be 100% right.
But Shanghai is also full of young single people. Here, an interesting article on the so-called leftover women (剩女) in Shanghai, a term that has only been around for a few years. Here, “any woman who remains single past the age of 25 becomes fearful of the “剩女” tag, which, although not negative in itself, has become associated with money-worshipping and often high-maintenance women” says the journalist. “However, I feel like the real 剩女 are often more talked about than talked to. Now, social groups of these women are forming, determined to show this “taboo” for what it really is: normality.”
But in China, the biggest pressure of all for being single is from family. See my previous post on the marriage market in People’s Square where middle-aged parents exchange their children’s CVs to find them the best match.
AFP PHOTO/Peter PARKS.
