www.marc.cn/blog.html - Shanghaied Weblog

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Mon, 08 Aug 2005 10:19:50 GMT

Due to problems wiht publishing through Radio Userland I have relocated this weblog to www.marc.cn/blog.html. Please change your bookmarks and/or XML feeds (www.marc.cn/atom.xml) .

Questions? please send me a message at marcvanderchijs (at) gmail dot com or contact me through Skype @ mcvanderchijs

Dragon TV International

Wed, 24 Nov 2004 02:34:14 GMT

There is always a competition between state-owned companies in Beijing and more privatized companies in Shanghai. Another nice example: The Shanghai Media Group is planning to set up a free-to-air English-language channel in China, named Dragon International. SMG already produces some English-language programming for its news and entertainment channel, Dragon TV, which is broadcast across China and to Japan and Australia via satellite. Dragon TV is a very popular local TV station in China. It was set up just over a year ago in Shanghai, and through massive advertising and good programming became well-known all over China.

According to an Associated Press report, SMG is awaiting regulatory approval from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. SMG is also hoping to gain approval to broadcast in North America. Dragon International would "compete" with state-owned broadcaster China Central Television's English-language network, CCTV-9. CCTV-9 is quite boring in comparison to the current Dragon TV, so either CCTV-9 needs to be completely overhauled (unlikely, as for CCTV standards it's already a very entertaining channel) or it might be wiped out very soon by Dragon.

Sometimes work is really fun

Tue, 23 Nov 2004 05:33:44 GMT

Just had a really nice job to do: for The Coffee Beanery (one of China Bay's clients) I had to taste several new pastries and cakes to check if they are up to western tastes. Nice mousses, cheesecake, black forest cake, chocolate cakes etc. All products that they might want to put on their menu. Only about 1/3 passed the test. Especially the cream used in the cakes was not yet good enough. Next week another round?

Also had to taste a new juice, made from rice. Tasted great, so I had another glass. Then I was told that the name was Mi Jiu. Jiu (alcohol)? Yes, they put alcohol in it. No wonder it tasted so good!

Christmas songs

Tue, 23 Nov 2004 04:45:44 GMT

Normally around this time of year I start playing my Christmas CD's (or actually start streaming my Xmas song mp3 playlists). However, due to the relatively high temperatures in Shanghai I have postponed that a bit. Last Sunday I actually came across Let it Snow on my iPod, while sitting outside in the sun enjoying a coffee at the Xujiahui Starbucks. It just doesn't fit together, warm weather and christmas songs. But acccording to the weather forecasts it will get colder from Thursday onwards, so maybe I can give it another try this weekend.

Apple

Sun, 21 Nov 2004 16:12:37 GMT

I hesitated for a few months, but finally made the decision: I bought an Apple Powerbook. No more sudden crashes of Windows XP, no more viruses and spyware. I recently formatted my hard drive and reinstalled XP, but within 6 weeks the situation was back to unbearable again. Friends and colleagues who have been using Apple never seem to have these problems, and were always laughing at me (I was the only one at the film company using Windows). So I got so sick and tired of Windows, that two weeks ago I decided to join the other side.

I know it won't be easy: many software packages are not available for Apple and also the operating system takes a while to get used to. I am now using both my Sony Vaio and the Apple Powerbook parallel, but plan to make the complete switch within the next 10 days or so. One problem seems to be that the Apple cannot import my Outlook emails (at least that's what the Apple salesman told me). I need to do some more research on that (I don't alway trust salesmen), but that would be a major hassle. At least Powerpoint, Excel and Word documents seem not to be causing any problems.

Plane crash

Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:57:07 GMT

Last Thursday the Shanghai Daily had an article about the fact that since more than 2 years no plane crashes had occured in China, which was a record. They were quite proud of this. Chinese always say that you should not mention these things, because it brings bad luck. I immediately thought about this when I read the news about the China Eastern plane that went down in Baotou this morning. The plane was on its way to Shanghai, but exploded right after the start and fell into an ice covered lake. I know Baotou a bit because Mercedes-Benz used to have heavy truck joint venture there, and also had 2 expats who lived there. Not the best place in the world to live (in the middle of a desert), and probably also not the best place to die.

Away for a few days

Sat, 06 Nov 2004 16:20:15 GMT

I will be on a trip all over China for the next few days with a Dutch business delegation. Chances are that I may not have much internet access (nor time) to update this blog. I should be back in Shanghai by next weekend.

Hitting golfballs between skyscrapers

Sat, 06 Nov 2004 15:59:31 GMT

This morning I decided to hit some golfballs to get rid of the stress of a pretty hectic week. I headed for the Lujiazui Golf Club, located next to the Jinmao Tower (the 88-story building in which the Grand Hyatt is located). It was the first time I went there, and I was pleasantly surprised. First of all it was not very busy for a Saturday, of the 98 driving bays only about 30 were occupied. On the second floor there was hardly anybody. The equipment (automatic ball distributors) worked fine, and the service was excellent.

For RMB 120 you can hit as many balls as you want for one hour during peaktime on the weekend. During other times it's much cheaper. On weekdays you pay RMB 20 for 30 balls (no time restrictions). A yearly membership is RMB 3000 and gives you big discounts: during the week you pay RMB 7 for 30 balls and you get a drink for free.

The best thing however, is the view from the driving range. You are literally surrounded by skycrapers. The driving range is located at one of the most expensive pieces of land in Shanghai, in the middle of Pudong's business district. In case the club does not run well the owner can probably get a nice amount of money by just selling the land to a real estate developer. It is the only outdoor driving range in the city center, so luckily he has not done it yet.