Shanghai Scrap

Let my contribution to the expanding body of “Chinese Economic Bubble” literature/postings be the following observation: commercial rents on Shanghai’s Hengshan Road have – over the last twelve weeks – quadrupled and even quintupled in value, forcing vacancies that are unlikely to be filled at the new prices. For those who don’t know it (most of my overseas readers), Hengshan Road is a busy four-lane boulevard that runs between two very important commercial sections of Shanghai. It is probably best known for a several block stretch packed with bars, many of which maintain thriving (ahem) side businesses. The following properties are located within the very heart of the street, and are currently available.

• Corner of Hengshan Road and Gaoan Road
• 170 m² – does not include the adjacent family-owned fruit stand.
• Price recently reduced from RMB 150,000/month (US$21,428/month), to RMB 120,000/month (Currently asking RMB 120,000/month (US$17,143/month).
• Prior to vacancy, the property was occupied by a Lawson’s convenience store and a coffee shop.
• Neighbors include four dive bars (three of which are, ah, reportedly involved in alternative businesses), a fruit stand, a pirate DVD shop, and a small family-owned office supply store. Nightly neighbors include three separate kebab stands run by migrants. Rumored rents for the other commercial tenants begin at RMB 10,000 (US$1428), and may reach as high as RMB 30,000 (US$4285).
• Located on first floor of run-down twenty-five story residential high-rise with large retiree population. One bedroom rents for expatriates available for as little as RMB 2700 (US$385).

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For all of the talk about racial tensions between Han Chinese and Tibetans, there has been surprisingly little talk about the obvious (to me) racial subtext to the anti-Chinese/pro-Tibetan protests in London, Paris, and San Francisco. But how can one miss the fact that the most vocal torch protesters (in much greater numbers than Tibetans) are white, while the most vocal torch supporters are Asian? Put differently, why are there so few Caucasians turning out to vocally support the torch run? Can the difference really be chalked up to politics and/or ignorance? After all, Chinese living in London, Paris, and San Francisco have access to the same news sources as Caucasians.

If one listens carefully to the commentary on these upcoming Olympics, there are two narratives. The Chinese narrative claims that the games are about sport and harmony; the Western narrative insists that they are about politics and human rights. To be sure, both narratives are legitimate, but I think it’s fairly obvious, especially after the last two weeks, that race (and the emergence of a non-white superpower) is becoming the central narrative of Beijing 2008. (more…)

It is likely that last night’s performance of Motzart’s Requiem marks the first time that a philharmonic orchestra has ever played inside of Shanghai’s century-old St. Ignatius Cathedral. The calculus is rather simple: prior to 1949, there was no philharmonic to play in the cathedral; after 1949, and especially after 1951, it was difficult enough to have priests in the church. According to a middle-aged priest to whom I spoke before the concert, it is unquestionably the first such performance since the church was returned to the Shanghai diocese, in 1978, after having spent the Cultural Revolution as a state-owned grain warehouse. “But even five years ago,” he told me. “Such a performance would have been unthinkable.”

And what a pity that is. Because, among other revelations, an audience of well over 1500 people learned tonight that St. Ignatius has extraordinary acoustics. From the first note, the grand old building amplified the sound without rendering it shrill; vocal solos were full, and the words were completely decipherable. That is no small trick in an eighty-foot high masonry room. (more…)

On March 31 and April 1, eighteen (some reports say seventeen) China Eastern flights departed Kunming with passengers, baggage, and cargo, flew around in circles, and then landed … in Kunming, leaving the passengers stranded and furious.

[UPDATE 4/8: Xinhua now reports that twenty-one flights were turned around.]

Now, what on earth could drive a perfectly well-trained pilot to do such a thing?

First, the circumstances:

Chinese airlines and pilots are currently involved in a contract dispute. And by airlines, I mean all of the airlines. And by all of the airlines, I mean the Chinese government – which has an ownership interest in the ones involved in this mess. Anyway, collectively, the airlines are asking Chinese pilots to sign 99-year contracts that include RMB 2.1 million (US$300,000) automatic payments if the pilot breaks the agreement (to compensate for the cost of pilot training). With no union – or court – to protect them, the pilots are basically faced with either signing the draconian contracts, or quitting. (more…)

Purchased yesterday morning at the Nanjing Road Olympic merchandise/bling shop.

Over the last couple of years I’ve had countless conversations with foreigners who do business with Chinese state-owned monopolies, and – during most of those conversations – we’ve eventually reached a point where the foreigner says something like this: “They’re still better party hacks than businessmen.” I’ve been inclined to believe that, generally, but my belief has been tempered by the lack of firm examples. So – a special thanks to Chen Xianwen, deputy director of the China Iron & Steel Association, who today announced that Australia’s iron miners “can experience revenge in the future” for having had the temerity to demand market prices. He has achieved Example-hood.

Bur first, some background. (more…)

On the occasion of the first observance of Qingming Festival (Tomb Sweeping Festival) as a public holiday in modern Chinese history, I’d like to return to a topic that I mentioned in February. Namely, the unfortunate tendency of honored, filial neighbors to burn ghost money in the stairwell of my apartment building (for additional instances of this practice, see my February post and the related comment thread). Let me be clear: I think that the burning of ghost money – not to mention, tomb sweeping – is a wonderful tradition, and I respect it. Again, my only issue is when it is done in stairwells.

Like on Sunday, when my morning coffee was interrupted by smoke billowing from under my door (see photo, above). To be honest, I had a pretty good idea of the source, but I was nonetheless astonished by the scale of the commemoration. It looked like somebody was holding a barbecue – not a solemn ceremony (why did they cut the lights?). I won’t go into the argument that ensued – let’s just say that it was less solemn than what was taking place before I interrupted the whole mess with my camera.

[Update 4/5: ISpyShanghai has found a Shanghai building were the management has gone through the trouble of posting an explicit ban on the indoor burning of ghost money. Thanks to Micah for the tip!]

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As promised in today’s earlier post – some photos taken this morning at the Sheshan Marian Basilica in Songjiang District, Shanghai. The building is currently undergoing repairs (my reason for traveling out there was to see the work) and receiving a general “gussying-up” in advance of what promises to be the busiest May in the building’s sixty-three year history.

Most notably, on May 24 Sheshan will hold a mass to coincide with and recognize Pope Benedict XVI’s declaration that the day be devoted to prayers for China’s Catholic Church (“This day is dedicated to the liturgical memorial of Our Lady, Help of Christians, who is venerated with great devotion at the Marian Shrine of Sheshan in Shanghai.“). As a symbolic event, this mass (to be celebrated by Bishop Jin Luxian) is surely one of the most important in the history of Chinese Catholicism, and surely one of the most explicit signals of unity with Rome since China’s Catholics began to emerge from the persecutions of the Cultural Revolution in the mid-1970s. (more…)

Back in February the Sunday Times ran “China repents and seeks to woo Pope,” a story which claimed – on the basis of the comments from an anonymous Vatican source – that China and the Vatican are/were at an advanced stage in their negotiations over a resumption of diplomatic relations. For the moment neglecting what might be the dumbest and most wildly inaccurate China headlines of the last year [and one completely demolished by this one], I feel obliged to ask: Do these stories really matter? That is to say: Is the Vatican-Beijing story the one that matters most to China’s Catholics? Or is it just the one that the media prefers – for whatever reason – to cover?

It seems to me that these questions go to the very heart of how foreign media covers religion in China, and how – over the last few years – it has failed in its coverage of Tibetan Buddhism. Or, to put it more bluntly: Looking back over the last few years, isn’t it now obvious that far too many resources have been devoted to covering the Dalai Lama, and not enough to covering the peculiar and angry circumstances of everyday life in Tibet and its monasteries? To be sure, the former story is – on balance – much easier to cover. But which story would have equipped reporters – not to mention, readers – with the background knowledge and sources to explain the month’s news from West China? (more…)

One highly reflective refrigerator door; two faces of a Shanghai trade show.

A special thanks to the good folks at Enodis China who opened their Hotelex Shanghai booth to me.

[And a promise to my readers, that I will have a more substantive (penitent?) post within the next 24 hours.]