Micah Sittig - China, Shanghai, Books

October 22, 2005

Hey, a blogger actually went to the "Urbanizing Shanghai" talk and then wrote a summary that was almost as good as a recording!

But the prize for best contribution has to go to the audience member who posed the final question of the night, asking each of the panelists for their take on what will have happened to the old lane housing in the zone running 4kms inland from the Huangpu over the next 5-10 years.

Follow the link for the exciting conclusion.

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October 24, 2005

Sporadic Shanghai weblogger Billy Qiu wrote a nice entry recently on Shanghai Online Map Services with some map sites that I hadn't wandered across. This should be fun to check out:

Now more and more online service provider in China followed the google's good example "Google Maps" by providing china city maps services online.

I was thinking today... one of my unlinkable, friends-only LJ friends wrote a post with a long list of things he misses about his home in the USA. For me, the first time I was in China for a longer period, I was finally able to put into perspective everything I had learned about being American in my 10 years living in the States in a way I had been unable to while at "home".

And Fons drops a gem: I estimate that about 50 percent of Shanghai is illegal.

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October 28, 2005

From another Shanghai weblog, China Moments:

It feels like life in LA is all about catering to other people's egos, and maintaining face. Funny that this would strike me so much since I come from Shanghai, where Face is supposed to be so much more important.

大同小异.

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October 31, 2005

Austin Arensberg is putting up some good original content on his weblog. As popular a bashing target as the USA is abroad—and I admit I'm a prime participant, but then heaven knows the US has enough fervent supporters—I still think his reflective piece on the positive aspects of [North Korean] culture is thoughtful and valuable for its originality:

As I have mentioned before, heading to North Korea was much like landing on the moon. And if you ever get a chance to see the documentary “A State of Mind’ on the Mass Games you will notice just how serious the break is from western individualism is there. Their cultural adherence and devotion to confucist familial values, authority, and self reliance are far too comlex to simply sum it up as ‘mind washing’.

This article that I am linking to sets out some of the critiques of the western individualism, going so far as to call it a kind of narcissism. Going to North Korea made me think just how narcissistic our goals and lifestyle can really be.

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