Micah Sittig - China, Shanghai, Books

July 1, 2006

Here's an interesting article via the Shanghai Daily, "Fare boxes help cheats take buses for a ride, drivers say":

Shanghai has 18,000 numbered buses serving 933 routes. Most buses use fare collection boxes in which passengers put fare money beside the driver. The box is transparent but drivers say it is difficult to see what passengers are putting in, especially at peak hours.

Huang said that some passengers would tear a 10-yuan-note in half, quickly use one half and then ask passengers for change.

Zhao Jun, a driver of the No. 933 bus, said: "If there is no conductor in the bus, it is very difficult for a driver to confront people found to be cheating."

Drivers also said fare boxes slowed down passenger flow.

Because the box is beside the driver, passengers can only get on the bus at the front, while previously, they could enter the bus through both doors.

This brings up two interesting issues. Since buses do not give change, I occasionally see people resorting to the method described above. However, I've never seen it done on a crowded bus. The other issue is more interesting, and that is that both the drivers and the bus companies consider the fare box to be a step back from using human ticket sellers to sell tickets. In an article I linked to a long time ago, it was mentioned that several lines were being down-(or up?)-graded away from the fare box because they did not meet size requirements for installing them. Now even larger buses are asking to switch back to the human ticket seller. That's interesting development, and a piece of 人性化 that I'll be happy to see return to the city.

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July 10, 2006

Description of a certain expat group from a Shanghaiist commenter that strikes a chord:

I mean, who hasn’t wanted to take a 9-iron to the all the clean-cut white boys wondering Shanghai’s summer streets in three-quarter length Capri pants? Or those same guys when they step out at night in their striped, untucked dress shirts, boot-cut blue jeans and slipper-esque, fake-ass Pumas? Or that same group, still again, when they’re working their ubiquitous preppy boy polo shirts or soccer, er, football jerseys about town as they troll for local talent.

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July 14, 2006

I actually read this in print before looking it up online, "Illusions on Sale in Shanghai":

Just as Stalin erected Potemkin villages to display the glories of communism to outsiders, Shanghai is creating its own illusion of prosperity out of the world's most luxurious brands.

Offering cut-rate rents to top-tier fashion houses, this city of about 18 million is determined to make itself look like a world capital of high fashion.

And the Burberrys, Hermes and Chanels are all too happy to join in the charade.

Certainly matches my experience. This article has a good explanation of the dynamics behind the empty luxury stores, mainly the reduced or free rent offered used to lure them into setting up shop.

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