Police probing blast at Apple supplier

(AP) – Shanghai police are investigating the cause of an explosion over the weekend that injured dozens of people at the factory of a Shanghai supplier to Apple Inc.

The government formed an investigation group and ordered safety checks at the Riteng Computer Accessory factory, a wholly owned subsidiary of Apple supplier Pegatron, said Gan Shanjun, an official in the information office in Shanghai’s Songjiang District.

Critics have taken Cupertino, California-based Apple to task for alleged violations of labor and environmental standards by its China-based suppliers, and the company has said it is working to resolve such problems.

Old photos awaiting owners

By Han Manman

More than 200 photos, taken by Jewish photographer Sam Sanzetti from the 1920s to the 1950s in Shanghai, have been posted online for people to identify the subjects that appear within.

The Israeli Consulate in Shanghai recently posted some old photos of Shanghai on its Sina Weibo and asked netizens to identify the people who are featured.

“By unveiling those pictures online, we hope people can identify them and tell us the story behind the photos,” said Chen Yuan, the consulate press officer, adding that some people may have lost pictures of their grandparents and this is an opportunity to find them again.

In 1922, Sanzetti, a Jewish photographer, arrived in Shanghai alone on a boat. He became one of the city’s most famous photographers, with hordes of people queuing up outside his studio at Nanjing Road waiting for him. In 1957, Sanzetti left Shanghai and settled in Israel, where he died in 1986.

Human error behind Shanghai subway crash

The operator of a train on Shanghai’s subway Line 10 said Wednesday that human error played a role in Tuesday’s crash that injured 189 people.

According to an initial investigation, a sudden loss of power caused the signal system to fail, forcing the trains to switch over to manual operation, Shanghai Shentong Metro Group Company said in a statement.

The train operators caused the crash by failing to follow the rules, the statement said, without elaborating.

Line 10 resumed full operation at 8 pm Wednesday after service was suspended at 12 stops for safety checks, the company said.

When service resumed, train speeds were limited to 45 kilometers per hour, it said.

The hospital is still treating 95 of the injured passengers, the city’s health bureau said.

The crash occurred at 2:51 pm. The subway train stopped for about 15 minutes after the power failure, and then continued before stopping again for another 10 minutes before crashing into the other train, a young passenger in the train’s first car said.

The signal system failed at 2:10 pm, after which the trains were directed by phone by subway staff, seriously reducing their speeds, the subway operator said.

The signal system is a product of Casco Signal, a joint venture of China Railway Signal and Communication Corp and Alstom, which reportedly supplies signal systems to subways in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Shenzhen.

Casco was blamed for a subway crash in Shanghai in 2009.

Casco also provided the centralized traffic control system for a railway in Zhejiang Province, where two bullet trains crashed on July 23, killing 40 people and injuring 177.

Jiang Jianhua, Casco’s chief engineer, could not be reached for comment.

A staff member at Casco’s headquarters declined to confirm with Xinhua if the company had launched an investigation into the accident.

Tuesday’s crash was the result of the third system failure on Line 10 in the last two months.

Yu Guangyao, president of the Shanghai Shentong Metro Group, said Tuesday at the briefing that Casco promised Shentong it would fix the signal system after failing to instruct a train on Line 10 to run in the opposite direction on July 23.

Five days later, another Line 10 train stalled in the tunnel after a control device broke down.

(Xinhua)

Shanghai fights to save dying dialect

By Zhang Dongya

For 68-year-old Wang Yiran, it is extremely frustrating that she can’t speak to her six-year-old granddaughter in her native Shanghai dialect.

Like many in her age group, Wang worries bitterly that the current generation will be the death of her language.

With the spread of standard Chinese across the country, many regional dialects are facing imminent death.

Rapid decline

Given the choice, most parents in Shanghai prefer to send their children to study English rather than Shanghai dialect.

According to a survey by the Municipal Working Committee of the Spoken and Written Language in 2010, fewer than 40 percent of the municipality’s elementary school students spoke the dialect at home.

The death of the Wu Chinese sub-dialect is being recognized first in the local arts.

Huju, or Songhu Opera, is the major folk drama form in Shanghai and is performed in Shanghai dialect. In recent years, Shanghai Songhu Opera Theater has been trapped in a recruitment crunch: it cannot find new students capable of speaking Shanghai dialect.

At this year’s April recruitment, many local children failed at speaking or came from other Wu-speaking regions such as Anhui and Zhejiang provinces. Applicants who showed some hope of mastering the language are being sent to a newly-opened speech training class to correct their pronunciation.

“Songhu Opera relies deeply on the strength of the performers’ Shanghai dialect. We are using professional teachers to help our newest members,” a theater employee said.

Shanghai dialect is a subdivision of the Wu family, currently spoken by some 80 million people throughout Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.

Once the second most spoken dialect, the Wu family has been collapsing the last several years. Shanghai locals are now indifferent to their local dialect, and newcomers to the municipality are reluctant to learn.

“Ten years ago, we almost never spoke standard Chinese in the office. Around 2003 or 2004, we had a huge flood of non-locals come into Shanghai, and now that’s all we use. Even when we’re talking to local colleagues, we usually end up speaking the standard dialect,” said Edward Zhang, a 41-year-old Shanghai native.

Zhang said he still uses Shanghai dialect in the home, but switches to standard Chinese when out around the town.

“In the past, you would hear most people speaking Shanghai dialect at the food markets. Now, with many vendors coming from Shandong or Anhui provinces, we use the standard dialect,” he said.

Shanghai-Mauritius flight will open to boost tourism

By Zhang Dongya

A delegation from three island countries in the Indian Ocean – Mauritius, Madagascar and Reunion – including ministers in each of the country’s tourism bureaus, visited China this week to promote their countries.

On Tuesday, they announced that direct flights from Shanghai to Mauritius will commence on July 5.

This direct flight will make a stop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“China has developed very fast and is becoming an economic superpower. About 60 million Chinese traveled out of the country last year, and it is estimated this figure will reach 70, 80, 90 and 100 million very soon,” said Nandcoomar Bodha, Minister of Tourism of Mauritius, at a press conference.

“These tourists want to explore the world, and we – Mauritius, Madagascar and Reunion – want to present the Indian Ocean to the world,” he said.

Shanghai, as China’s financial center, is expected to attract more domestic tourists. The first flight will depart from Shanghai Pudong International Airport at 9:25 pm on July 5 and arrive in Mauritius after 13 hours and 40 minutes.

Currently, direct flights to Mauritius from China leave from only one place: Hong Kong.

“This flight from Shanghai is the only the first phase of our plans in China,” said Donald Payen, the executive vice president of Air Mauritius. “In the second phase, we will offer a non-stop flight from Shanghai that is expected to open next February to meet Chinese people’s travel plans during Chinese New Year.”

He said the third phase of development would add yet another non-stop route from Shanghai to Mauritius, and the fourth phase will create direct flights between Mauritius and Beijing.

Since all three countries have a vanilla-planting culture, they are promoting “vanilla island travel” as part of a package deal.

Tourists can transfer to Reunion and Madagascar after arriving in Mauritius. In Mauritius and Madagascar, Chinese tourists can get travel visas at the airports.

Visas to Reunion from Mauritius are free for Chinese tourists who depart from Shanghai.

Karl Mootoosamy, director of Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA), Pascal Viroleau, director of Reunion Tourism, and Volanirina Natalia Raveloson, director executive of the National Tourism Office of Madagascar, attended the conference and talked about their countries’ specialties. All expressed hope of promoting Indian Ocean tourism.

One-dog policy takes effect in Shanghai

(AFP) – Shanghai dog owners rushed to license their pets over the weekend as the city imposed a one-dog policy in response to the growing popularity of man’s best friend.

Hundreds of citizens microchipped and vaccinated their pets as a new law took effect last Sunday limiting households to a single canine in an effort to curb rampant barking, unscooped feces and the growing risk of dog attacks.

To encourage more pet owners to license their dogs, the government of the commercial metropolis slashed the cost of permits in the city center to 500 yuan from the previous 2,000 yuan, Shanghai Daily reported.

Residents who owned two or more licensed dogs before last Sunday will be allowed to keep them but must maintain each dog’s permit, state media reported.

The city’s human population was more than 19 million in 2009, according to the government.

Many dog owners postponed obtaining new licenses until the cheaper rate took effect, causing a spike in traffic at animal vaccination centers, Shanghai Daily reported.

Shanghai tops ranking of regional headquarters in Asia Pacific

By Zhao Hongyi

The overall Shanghai business environment ranks first compared with 24 Asian Pacific cities, including Hong Kong and Singapore, according to the latest survey by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China.

The report said “Singapore performs best on many key selection criteria including favorable legal and regulatory environment as well as stable and favorable political environment.”

Hong Kong is slightly behind Singapore and “remarkably strong in terms of administration, regulation and taxation.”

The chamber listed five criteria in selecting 25 Asian Pacific cities for evaluation, namely closeness of relationship to clients and markets, legal and regulatory environment, political environment, business environment and tax environment.

Shanghai is doing well in improving the overall regulatory environment and bureaucratic burdens, ensuring the availability of qualified and experienced talent in sufficient numbers and having improved coordination between different regulatory bodies, according to the report.

In financial services, the report says the city needs to decrease the level of bureaucracy, implement stable and reliable regulations, and adopt international monetary and transparency standards if it aims to become an international financial center by 2020.

In maritime transportation services, the Shanghai port’s current regulatory and operational characteristics demand particular improvements to ensure advancement into the league of truly international shipping centers like Singapore and Hong Kong, the report said.

The report recommended the city ease working and residential visa application processes for foreign managers and their families.

The 45 percent personal income tax and 30 percent corporate tax are weakening the city’s attractiveness to foreigners, the report said.

Corporate taxes in Singapore and Hong Kong are 17 and 16.5 percent and income taxes are 20 and 17 percent, according to Yu Dahai, local board member of the chamber in Shanghai.

The inflexibility of the yuan is preventing Shanghai from becoming a world financial center, the report said.

The chamber has complained that single foreign investors are prohibited from taking shares from Chinese banks, such as the Bank of China, exceeding 20 percent.

In the industries of insurance, securities and funds, foreign investors are also forbidden to take shares exceeding 50 percent.

“This discourages foreigners to further participate in the development of these industries,” the report warned.

But local experts believe the income tax and corporate tax are necessary in a big country like China. “We must keep the income gap in check,” said Wang Jun, professor of economics at Peking University.

“The finding reflects China’s growing importance in the world and the significance of Shanghai as the largest center of business and finance in China,” said Piter de Jong, vice president of the European Chamber and Chairman of the Shanghai Board.

Of the 67 European companies in the region that responded to the study, close to two-thirds already have set up one or more headquarters in the region, Reuters reported.

Most of their Asia-Pacific regional headquarters are located in Singapore, followed by Shanghai, Hong Kong and Beijing. Some have headquarters in Tokyo, Bangkok and Guangzhou.

As an annual routine practice, the chamber, together with Roland Berger Strategy Consultants from France, which has its Asia Pacific headquarters in Shanghai, conducts a survey on economic outlook and obstacles in China.

IKEA bans proxy buyers in Beijing, Shanghai

By Zhao Hongyi

Swedish furniture designer and retailer IKEA opened its first China store 15 years ago in Shanghai. Since then, the chain has expanded to seven other mainland locations, including Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Nanjing, Dalian and Shenyang.

But for the bulk of the country, IKEA’s products remain inaccessible due to aggressive delivery fees tacked onto purchases made through the company’s official store.

IKEA is known in second-tier cities and the countryside for selling modern furniture designs at low prices.

To meet demand for IKEA products, a second industry of proxy buyers has developed. The agents present IKEA products at their online stores and showrooms and provide purchasing, delivery and assembly at a fraction of IKEA’s fee.

This week, the retailer began banning these bulk purchasers from its outlets in Beijing and Shanghai to “protect end buyers.”

“The number of these buyers is very limited, and we give them warnings the first few times we see them,” Wang Zhiling, a clerk, said of the repeat faces.

Proxy agents have responded with anger.

“I started my business of reselling goods from IKEA Beijing 10 years ago. It’s crazy that we’re being stopped not by the authorities, but by IKEA’s own discriminatory practices,” said Wang Yajun, an agent running an IKEA shop.

Official IKEA delivery costs 60-80 yuan per cubic meter, depending on the size and shape of the product, the distance the recipient is from an IKEA store and the floor the home is on. Most precuts cost between 300 and 500 yuan to deliver, making proxy buyers a popular alternative.

The IKEA proxy purchasing industry has grown so big that an estimated several billion yuan pass through the hands of the buyers each year.

IKEA said it plans to open between eight and 10 malls in second-tier cities during the next five years.

“IKEA, like many foreign multinational corporations, has faced many unexpected challenges and lost business opportunities in operating on the mainland,” said Song Liqun, a professor of business at Beijing Technology and Business University.

Song said IKEA’s best option is to lower its delivery fees to make the official IKEA store more competitive with the proxy agents.

However, he also said the proxy agents have unrealistic expectations about the longevity of their industry. Logistics is developing rapidly in China, and as the country becomes more connected, the price of official delivery services is bound to fall.

Many proxy sellers are beginning to recognize their industry is unlikely to survive in the long term.

“More and more consumers who like IKEA products own private vehicles,” Wang Yajun said. “It’s making it very difficult for us to attract new customers who have the money needed to buy these goods.”

Flagship Barbie store in Shanghai closes

(Beijing Today website’s blog section does not represent any view of Beijing Today or its reporter. Anyone interested about the story can find the original text from the link above the article. The Blogger column aims to introducing foreign media’s interesting stories and expat blogs in China to more Chinese readers, as 50 percent of Beijing Today readership remain young Chinese who have experience of living abroad, white colors or school students. Authors who does not want his or her story linked at Beijing Today’s website, please email to info@beijingtoday.com.cn to take down the stories.)

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-03/08/c_13765814.htm

(Xinhua) — The flagship Barbie store was closed on Monday in the Chinese business hub Shanghai after just two years.

The popular brand’s owner explained the closure as a change in strategy.

Mattel Incorporated, the world’s largest toy maker, confirmed the store’s closing but said that Barbie dolls will remain available in more than one thousand retail outlets in China.

The toy maker said that closing the concept store was a change in strategy and that the company would continue to increase investment in China.

The Shanghai flagship store opened in March 2009 as Mattel celebrated the Barbie brand’s 50th birthday. The store was meant to attract customers in the world’s most populous country.

The six-story store covers a total area of 3,500 square meters and has spa, cafe, design studio, fashion stage and shelves of Barbie dolls and Barbie products.

However, sales at the flagship store failed to take off, which analysts attribute to fierce competition and the unfamiliarity of Chinese consumers with the iconic American doll.

Mattel is not the only foreign retailer with a large investment in the Chinese market that had to change its strategy.

U.S. retailer Best Buy announced last month that it had closed its nine outlets in China and its head office in Shanghai.

1930s Jazz Waltzes Under Shanghai’s Bund

(Beijing Today website’s blog section does not represent any view of Beijing Today or its reporter. Anyone interested about the story can find the original text from the link above the article. The Blogger column aims to introducing foreign media’s interesting stories and expat blogs in China to more Chinese readers, as 50 percent of Beijing Today readership remain young Chinese who have experience of living abroad, white colors or school students. Authors who does not want his or her story linked at Beijing Today’s website, please email to info@beijingtoday.com.cn to take down the stories.)

http://www.chinaexpat.com/2010/09/24/1930s-jazz-waltzes-under-shanghai%e2%80%99s-bund.html/

By Chris Devonshire-Ellis

Now that Shanghai’s Peace Hotel has been renovated in spectacular style, and the famous Jazz band lovingly re-installed, its time to reminisce about other aspects of Shanghai just close by that have now sadly been lost forever.

Staying at the Peace Hotel some 20 years ago, I was able to enjoy a massive suite of rooms; now part of the “heritage” wing. There were seven huge suites all decorated in the style of different nations. Somewhat presumptuously I stayed at the Indian suite. It was huge. Back in the 1920s and 1930s moving to Shanghai was a big deal – passengers tended to arrive by ship, a journey that may have taken three months from Europe, and if staying at the then Cathay Hotel (as the Peace was then known) traveled in style, with butlers, maids and gigantic amounts of luggage. The seven suites were designed for such use – essentially 200 square meter apartments with rooms for the staff as well as the lord and lady living it up. Those have now been re-sized, and predictably are much smaller than they were. But as a throwback to when travel really was stylish, the Cathay certainly put on a great show.
The Jazz Band of course still played on, with the original members still just about clinging on as I caught them, then in their 80s, in their prime they had been a hot ticket. Not restored however has been the pine sprung dance floor that used to be just in front of the band. Ripped up several years ago to make more space for tables, the bar has lost a priceless piece of history. Just outside what is now the main entrance (the original entrance faced the Bund, and is a partial homage to the discoveries of Ancient Egypt that captured the imagination of the day) and to the side of the soon to open Swatch Peace Hotel was a night market. Replaced long ago by a shopping mall, its delights included roast sparrow on sticks, and boiled thrush eggs. You’ll be hard pushed to find such proletarian cuisine in Shanghai today, least of all just off the Bund.

The remake of the Bund itself has seen the underpass just outside the Peace Hotel disappear. That used to be the haunt of an elderly gentleman with a wind-up gramophone and a stack of vintage Shanghai jazz 78s. Elderly Shanghainese couples would pay a few jiao, request a favorite tune and he’d dig out the recording and play it. Couples would dance, slowly, remembering the halcyon days of Shanghai’s 1930s. To remember the past then, here’s a snip of one of the tunes of the day.