“We got yer pizza …” American cuisine well-represented at Expo 2010.

Another observation from my day-long visit to the Expo 2010 (World’s Fair) soft opening: if you like American fast food, you’re in luck. KFC. Papa John’s. Burger King. Mister Donut. Starbucks (let’s call a spade a spade, shall we?). They’re all there. And so are some of the usual Chinese suspects, too. Makes sense, of…

“We are not ready.”

Yesterday I spent 12 hours wandering Day 2 of the Expo’s Soft Opening and – like pretty much anyone who’s been down there in the last three days – I was alarmed by just how unprepared the staff (the volunteer guides only know their immediate vicinity; I checked), the grounds (basic landscaping was still happening…

Paradise for People: Inside the North Korean Pavilion at Expo 2010

Lately I’ve been seeing advertisements promoting Expo 2010 (World’s Fair) as an opportunity “to see the world without leaving Shanghai.” To my mind, this is good marketing: after all, not everyone has the chance to travel abroad, and you might as well enjoy second-best if, for whatever reason, you’re not able to get yourself on…

Orphans and Woodcarvers: Shanghai’s Prodigal Memorial Gate Returns Home.

The upcoming Expo 2010 Shanghai (World’s Fair) is an un-apologetically forward-looking event, intended – at least in part – to solidify Shanghai’s place as the Next Great World City. This is all fine and good. But lost in all of this talk of the future is scant acknowledgment of Shanghai’s relatively brief but fascinating past.…

Beyond Security Theater: Unsecured Theater, and the Shanghai Metro X-Ray Machines

Not long after the 9-11 attacks, Bruce Schneir, a US security expert, coined the term “Security Theater.” The original definition was made in his book, Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly about Security in an Uncertain World, but for the purposes of this post, let’s use the definition presented in this easily accessed essay from the New…

As Shanghai fakes its commitment to IP protection, I happen upon a Fake Swarovski Feeding Frenzy

I was passing through the Jing’an Temple metro station late this afternoon when I came across a frenzy of young women crouched down and clawing at something – a something that turned out to be boxes and boxes of fake Swarovski jewelry (note: my camera served to scatter many of the customers). Nothing unusual in…