Well's spiritual tale bubbles over
ONCE upon a time, Shanghai Star British copy editor, Sophie Gale, met an elderly Shanghai lady. The bespectacled, quaint woman, in her 80s, speaking in English, told Sophie she was from Bubbling Well.
'365' project for better housing
IT is now very hard for Wang Jilin to pick out the exact location of his old house on the expanse of green land now covered with flowers he once lived on for over 40 years.
Pimp kills wife's client
A MAN who had been acting as a pimp for his wife and helped bludgeon one of her clients to death, was recently prosecuted at Zhabei District Procuratorate.
Internet helps in fight against crime
WHILE computer hackers are a headache for the police, the web is also a useful weapon for the police in investigating crimes.
2 husbands face court hearing
YANGPU District Court recently prosecuted a man who tried to gas his wife, his lover and himself after his wife refused to agree to a divorce.
Tianyuan signs court pact
AN agreement to prevent possible cases of corruption during the relocation of Tianyuan Chemical Plant (Tianyuan) was recently signed by Changning District Procuratorate with the plant.
Winds, rain freshens urban air
STRONGER winds and more rain helped disperse air pollutants in Shanghai last week, making the city's air cleaner.
Move to Pudong
AS the 10th anniversary of the opening up of Pudong New Area draws close, major domestic financial institutions are shifting their Shanghai business headquarters to the Lujiazui Financial and Trade Zone, billed as Shanghai's new financial centre.
Seeking solutions to pollution on-line
DO you dream about sleeping without being woken by noisy trucks in the middle of the night or power drills in the morning? Touring the Bund and being able to breathe fresh air? Or walking along the brilliant Nanjing Road pedestrian mall without getting your nose assaulted with cigarette smoke?
Tourists can stay 2 days visa-free
ALL overseas tourists who come to Shanghai via Pudong International Airport or Hongqiao International Airport may now stay for up to 48 hours without having to obtain a visa beforehand.
Banks on y2k alert for leap year change
DESPITE the smooth global transference into the third millennium virtually Y2K bug-free, local banks said they are still on the alert for millennium bug glitches today and yesterday - also considered high risk days.
Hongqiao airport ranks top in China
HONGQIAO Airport ranked top among China's airports, handling 752,300 tons of cargo and mail last year, according to statistics released by the Civil Aviation Administration of China yesterday.
Shanghai to have 11 metro lines
A NETWORK of rail track including a total of 11 metro lines, seven light rail lines and three rail tracks is to be constructed in the city, according to Shanghai Urban Planning and Administration Bureau.
Waiting for your ship to come in
A LIFE-size cardboard cut-out of a blonde air stewardess with "WELCOME" written across her midriff greets customers of China Travel Service (CTS) shipping department, inside the Jingmen (Golden Gate) Hotel on Nanjing Road West. A notice on the wall at reception reads in Chinese "Whatever your needs, we will promptly meet them." When I turned up one morning, six pages of shipping forms in hand, one assistant on reception was smoking, one was reading the newspaper and the rest were fast asleep. I woke somebody up and handed over my forms. Suddenly the soporific atmosphere became charged: men who had been sleeping awoke and scratched their heads; smokers crowded round me, tut-tutted and blew smoke in my face and the words bu xing (impossible!) were bandied about. I had a distinctly sinking feeling. It turned out that CTS was worried the stamp and the business licence from my "work unit" might not meet customs regulations. I would have to get a second set of forms stamped with a different stamp and a copy of another kind of licence so that the two sets could be submitted together. Later I was asked to accompany someone from CTS to Shanghai Customs. The Customs officer dealing with my application was holding the two sets of forms and documents I had been required to submit. Looking up at me over his glasses, he said: "So, which is it to be, Hmmm? Which set of forms should we use?" Completely thrown, I tried to think quickly. Was this a trick question? Had he perhaps not noticed the two different stamps? Or maybe he suspected there was something awry because he had not been presented with exactly the right stamp? I had come so far. If I chose the wrong set, would I now forfeit the right to ship my things home? I blurted out: "How should I know, I was asked to get the two sets because I was told you would want them - shouldn't you choose?" "Very well," he said, "I choose, um, this set." He seemed to me to be speaking with the manner of a man deciding whether to take a caramel or an orange cream from a box of Quality Street. His finger hovered over the two sets of forms before alighting on the original set. He said: "Okay, there should be no problem, I will approve your application." The key words in every conversation I had with CTS were ingai (should) and kenang (maybe). ("These forms should be okay, but maybe we need some others;" "We should be shipping the stuff on Wednesday or Thursday" - and then, "maybe after Spring Festival.") In the end, however, China Travel Service did good. Shipping my things with them saved me over $600 compared with the quotes I had from other shipping companies in Shanghai. They were always friendly and they never lost their cool, even when I did. So, if you want to ship things the budget way, I'd recommend them - maybe. CTS Shipping tel: 6237-6226 (2 cu. m, Shanghai to London, cost 6600 yuan or $800, including customs clearance in England.) (Sophie Gale from Britain now works in Shanghai.)
Copyright 2000 by Shanghai Star. All rights reserved.