I do enjoy living Shanghai. Well, for the most part at least... Just the other week, I tried to catch a taxi on a Friday night (quite a feat) - finally flagged one down and an elderly lady rushed ahead of me. I politely told her that I was actually standing there first, and she looked at me and yelled "but I have children!" and proceeded to slam the door in my face. Just note that her children . . .
The Nail House
Being in Shanghai, you see things that you never thought you would. You hear about stories that are way too close for comfort. I mean...we recently had a food scandal where they found that people were distributing millions of dollars worth of meat from the 1970s. Read here if you don't believe me. They can fake eggs, watermelons explode, and we have dead pigs floating down the river - but all . . .
Quarter of a Century
As I listen to 'Close to You' by The Carpenters on the way to work, it really hits me that I've reached a quarter of a century. The big day was last week, and despite the splattering of cosmopolitans on its eve...the birthday weekend was comprised of a quiet weekend away from the city. (Note: Shanghai is a city of 23 million, Suzhou's population of 10.5 million is quiet in perspective.) Gone are . . .
Space Conservation
We are constantly hearing about the serious lack of space for housing in all the major cities. Jakub Szczesny of Centrala decides to work around it by building the (ridiculously skinny) Keret House in Warsaw, Poland: Wedged in a passageway between two city buildings, the house will be used as an artist's residence and art installation space. Measuring just 47 inches wide at the front and 27 . . .