For the last week or so, the whole of the French Concession has been sneezing. The air is thick with pollen and unless you stay at home, you cannot avoid goig out in it, breathing it in, filling your lungs with dirt and filling your blood stream with those nasty PM2.5 pollutants. Everywhere you can… Read More »
I walk past the statue of Rabindranath Tagore at least once every day and I did stop once to have a look at the dedication to him. Today however, on that corner a large crowd was gathered with phone held high in the air pointing at what? As I got closer I could see a… Read More »
I am a sucker for an old building, especially one which serves food and coffee so I made my way down to the Shun Pao building on Hankou Lu on the junction with Shandong Zhong Lu. The building looks uninviting from the outside with an grey austere facade but a peep through the window gives… Read More »
So it has been 3 weeks since I kicked off the company formation and time for another meeting and a catch up with my agent. Fortunately the government office in charge of registering company names liked my first choice so I am not stuck with anything ridiculous. This time I chose Wagas on Donghu Lu… Read More »
There is a chap who I have written about this man before. He is a legend in the FFC. There is always a queue coming from the little window from which he sells his potato cakes for 5p each. I have only ever had 3 or 4 because I am rarely prepared to queue for… Read More »
I had been to good ol’ Ikea to pick up some salmon and a lampshade and as I was waiting for the train home, a man next to me and his young son were hiding behind a pillar. He peeked around the edge and waited until the platform attendant disappeared before dashing into the toilets.… Read More »
It’s getting towards exam time and the students have a lot to think about. They are surely regretting their earlier laziness and are now ankle deep in catch up exercises and walk around the place with a look of panic. The parents’ meeting last weekend was indicative of the importance of the various subjects not… Read More »
She was running along beside him, holding hands. Why oh why would you want to go on a date with a guy who insists on using his electric scooter and makes you run alongside him? Maybe it’s a macho thing – my girl loves me so much she’ll be happy running alongside me. This is… Read More »
Now there is the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, setting up a company has (allegedly) become easier and cheaper so I thought I’d have a go. I found an agent who was recommended to me and went to visit him in his very small office in a very nasty part of Pudong. There are no gleaming… Read More »
I was surprised this week to find a display of musical instruments on the metro system at Shaanxi Nan Lu metro station. It was in the new part of the station where line 10 and 12 meet. And what a nice change from the advertising posters which normally line the walls, screaming out at us… Read More »