Shanghai Metro!!

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Biblical 7 Years - Op-Ed Tom Friedman

"" China did not build the magnificent $43 billion infrastructure for these games, or put on the unparalleled opening and closing ceremonies, simply by the dumb luck of discovering oil. No, it was the culmination of seven years of national investment, planning, concentrated state power, national mobilization and hard work.

Seven years ... Seven years ... Oh, that?s right. China was awarded these Olympic Games on July 13, 2001 ? just two months before 9/11.

As I sat in my seat at the Bird?s Nest, watching thousands of Chinese dancers, drummers, singers and acrobats on stilts perform their magic at the closing ceremony, I couldn?t help but reflect on how China and America have spent the last seven years: China has been preparing for the Olympics; we?ve been preparing for Al Qaeda. They?ve been building better stadiums, subways, airports, roads and parks. And we?ve been building better metal detectors, armored Humvees and pilotless drones.

The difference is starting to show. Just compare arriving at La Guardia’s dumpy terminal in New York City and driving through the crumbling infrastructure into Manhattan with arriving at Shanghai’s sleek airport and taking the 220-mile-per-hour magnetic levitation train, which uses electromagnetic propulsion instead of steel wheels and tracks, to get to town in a blink.

Then ask yourself: Who is living in the third world country?""

The Supervisor Of Riding Politely

Got this from David Harrison....Olympics and its creations!!

At a bus stop in Beijing's Central Business District, an old man raises a red flag and waves it vigorously as the bus comes in. He turns to the people waiting and barks at them: 'Don't push! Don't forget to validate your ticket! Sit on both sides!'

His job title is on his red baseball cap: supervisor of riding politely. His role is to teach bus passengers how to behave as they wait for and board the bus. The message on the red sash he wears over his yellow jacket explains his mission: 'Welcome to the Olympics and be civilised and create a healthy atmosphere.'

This dude is one of the vast army of people mobilised by the government to ensure that the country's image will be enhanced by the Olympic Games. On domestic airlines, immaculately groomed air stewardesses tell passengers not to spit on the floor or push people when boarding the plane; in Tiananmen Square, hundreds of students scrub the flagstones; and large groups of fast-food workers, lined up in rigid formations, are trained to smile and be polite. A city agency is co-ordinating campaigns to reduce spitting, littering and swearing, presumably to avoid offending the tiny proportion of the 500,000 foreigners expected to visit Beijing for the Olympics who will understand Chinese expletives.

Cars will be banned from the city centre, building sites will be closed and huge machines used to 'blow away' Beijing's choking pollution. Critics of the Olympics and other 'subversives' will be kept under house arrest. Around the city giant posters announce the government's lofty aim: 'Safe Olympics, Harmonious Beijing. Serving Hearts Minds and Spirit'

All this is well and good, but if China keeps up its visa policies for the Olympics, how many out of the expected 500,000 foreigners will actually get into china is another matter all together!!!

China and Cricket ?????

When you would think about China you would conjure up visions of the Great Wall, Shanghai Bund and Tsingtao, but How about China and cricket??

It seems China has taken some brisk and steady steps towards the sport of cricket...They even have a former Pakistani fast bowler as the coach for their cricket teams cutting across age groups and even the sexes...

The Chinese women’s team even reached the semifinal of the Asian women’s cricket tournament in Kuala Lumpur recently.

The current goal of the Chinese is to play well in the Asian Games at home in 2010.

Well.. Now I want to see how a HK Vs China match is played out!! hehehe

A Picture worth a thousand Words!!!

7.9 Earthquake Hits China!!

The Most powerful earthquake to hit China in 30 Years, has killed over 10,000 people with many more still trapped in buildings..

According to the news I have been reading.. almost 900 students are trapped under 2 collapsed schools in Sichuan province.. this is the region where the epicenter of the earthquake was.

I had friends in Shanghai and Beijing who were asked to evacuate from tall buildings.. Tremors were felt as far as Bangkok and Hanoi, almost 1500 Klms away from the epicenter.

A View Point on Tibet

A very interesting view point about The Tibet issue from Ke Yun..

"There is a cultural erosion going on in Tibet, there is no question about it. The railroad, for example, in the long run, is beneficial to the Tibetan economy, but detrimental to Tibetan culture. The government is encouraging Han migration into the region. Han culture has a tendency to assimilate cultures around it."

"Tibetan protesters have the justifications for being angry...... The cause of this anger, however, is ultimately the Chinese government."

"The Tibet issue does not deal with ethnic cleansing, cultural genocide, or religious oppression. In reality it deals with a failed ethnic policy. The Chinese government thought they could do the same to Tibet as they would to Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang. Evidence suggests Tibetans are not as friendly to Hans as Mongolians and Uyghurs. The Chinese government overlooked numerous issues with regards to their minority ethnic policies and ethnic conflict, as a result, has surfaced."

"Defenders of China's positions often misunderstand people who wish to further the cause of human rights as anti-Chinese. This is not true. Sometimes they come off as anti-Chinese, but their cause is against the government and not against the Chinese people. Not everything in the western media is biased."

"Both sides have a skewed view of what "China" represents..........Chinese troops don't roam the streets and monks don't get beaten up for practicing their religion. China is not a military state. Life in China for an ordinary citizen is actually fairly good. You try to make ends meet, just like everywhere else in the world, but at the end of the day you come home from work, cook dinner, watch some TV, and look after your kid and try to help him/her finish math homework. Most people are very apathetic about politics in China, and also unaware of perceptions of China abroad. If you speak against the government in a manner that is outrightly questioning their legitimacy to rule, then you are deemed a political opponent and probably will be jailed. However, it is a very common occurrence if you trash talk former Premier Li Peng at the dinner table, or bitch about your local party secretary on the streets."

"China's government is not a vicious dictatorship who wishes to extend their claws and crush people like bugs. China's government is composed of a group of technocratic, scientific-minded engineers who are trying to craft and maintain a macroeconomic policy and political framework that will suit both popular demand and party legitimacy without the constraints of a traditional democracy. It knows that if it lacks either, it will be toppled. A country of 1.3 billion people is hard to rule. The CCP is afraid."

Suzhou Trip

Suzhou is an old city filled with gardens and lakes.. Very Pretty place.. Was there last weekend.. Holiday with some friends.. Interesting Crowd.. 8 People... 6 Nationalities!!!!

..Suzhou By Night..

..Chinese Tea by the river..

What u see below is Meat on a Stick.. Get it on the road side.. Dirt cheap.. The catch.. U never know what the meat is.... (Chicken/pork/cat/dog/rat) Choose one!!! :)

Scarlet: Inside Hip Hop.. Outside Meat Stand

At the Hotel.. Singing Group!!

Another beautiful picture of Suzhou

Hot Pot: A Large bowl in the centre of the table.. Its constantly heated to keep the liquids inside boiling hot.. The waiter keeps brining in meat and vegetables.. u add to the liqueds.. Once is spicy.. the other has some oriental taste.. u leave the meat in there for 10 mins.. and eat it then.. Yum

This garden is over 500 Years old

Hole in the wall!!!

According to ancient traditions.. these small places in the palace were for the prince to take a leak if he so desired.... Funky!!!

The Chinese New Year Party!!

Balcony Party!!

Tunkak Tunak Tun


!!!Indians In the House!!!

Snow Slams China!!

"More than 67 million people have been affected by the weather and
economic losses are expected to reach as much as $3 billion, Chinese
officials say.
Blizzards have snapped power lines and destroyed
houses and farmland, prompting fears of food and energy shortages.
Twenty-four people have died and some 827,000 people have been evacuated in 14 different provinces."

"We've never seen such a cold weather lasting for such long a time,"
said Tang Shan, a man in his 70s in Changsha, the capital of Hunan
province. "The last time we had one here was over 50 years ago, and not
this bad."

The snow and sleet have paralyzed roads, railways and airports, leaving tens of millions of travelers marooned.

It could not be at a worse time as an estimated 178 million Chinese will travel by train, and 22 million
more by plane for the traditional Chinese New Year also called Spring Festival..Millions more will take long-haul vans
and buses...

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Revising The Chinese Economy

"Many of the prices in China had not been accurately measured since
the late 1980s; in 2007, new data indicated that food, rent and other
items had become a lot more expensive than had been accounted for in
official measurements. Higher prices, of course, mean lower Chinese
real wages and a smaller size for the Chinese real economy.

China
is much further from world economic leadership than we may have
thought. Furthermore, poverty in China remains severe; the data
revisions imply that China has 300 million workers — about the size of
the entire United States population — earning less than a dollar a day.
Given these weaknesses in the Chinese economy, the yuan may not be so
undervalued after all."

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Its Snowing!!!

It snowed last night here.. So I am freezing even more now.. But atleast now it feels like Winter.. No too much snow.. but more is expected over the next few days....

Oh well, I am gonna be sweating it out in Mumbai in 3 days time so.. .. Life like that!!

At the Office!!

Me with Sean.. We are the South Asia Sales Team.. (Yup just the 2 of us...)

Good guy to work with and loves Indian food.. Now thats perfect :)

First Party in Shanghai

Was in Shanghai last weekend.. Its was great catching up with Bence who was my team mate from my MC days in Budapest.

Had a blast with a good amount of Jiving to the good old AIESEC tunes and Some Good and some wierd Drinks....

Looking forward to this weekend and the coming party this saturday !!!