'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.
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."
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.
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. To Shanghai's "Pepsi" generations, "Bubbling Well" or "yong quan" is remote and poetic, conjuring up a vivid picture. But where is Bubbling Well? Bubbling Well has long been associated with Jing'an Temple. Legend has it that early in 247 during the Three Kingdoms period, a temple was built on the north bank of Wusong River, also known as Suzhou Creek. Around AD 1008, the temple adopted its present name of Jing An Si or Jing'an Temple. The overflowing water and surging waves from the river kept eroding the base of the temple, however, and some houses kept leaning. Finally in AD 1216 during the Southern Song Dynasty (AD 1127-1279), the temple was moved to its present site. Near the temple there was a bubbling well. Through the following dynasties of Yuan (AD 1271-1368), Ming (AD 1368-1644) and Qing (AD 1644-1911), wars and fires destroyed the temple many times and each time Shanghai people rebuilt it. Up to the early 20th century there were "Eight Scenic Spots of Jing'an Temple," which included such sites as "Shrimp Pool," "Bubbl-ing Well" and "Green Cloud Cave." The name "Bubbling Well," or "yong quan" in Chinese, is imbued with Buddhist wisdom and Chinese mythology. Buddhists believe if ever someone does you a favour, you must pay him back many times over later on. A common Chinese saying goes like this "To him who ever gave you a water-drop of favour, you should pay a bubbling well in gratitude." Chinese people also believe there are channels or paths between some spirit wells and the sea. In many Chinese fairy tales, dragon kings usually make their appearance to the ordinary world via a spirit well. And quite often, according to legend, a good man who fell into a spirit well later on found himself in a dragon king's crystal palace at the bottom of the sea, perhaps even winning the love of the beautiful princess of the dragon. As foreign invaders made more aggressive inroads into China with warships and cannons in late 19th century, Shanghai was opened to the outside world as a port city . The British first secured their concession near the Bund. They kept encroaching on more land. The serenity that had characterized Jing'an Temple was changed forever. In 1862, the British began to pave a new road from the horse race track on what is now People's Square to Jing'an Temple. The British expanded their concession to the west. Chinese people called it Jing'an Temple Road and foreigners called it Bubbling Well Street. Finally in 1919, the well that kept bubbling for centuries was filled and levelled . Also swept away were the other seven pastoral scenic spots. Today no one knows the original site of Bubbling Well. Since the 1920s, the Jing'an Temple area has gradually become one of the busiest parts of the city and business has boomed along what was once Bubbling Well Street. In 1945, Bubbling Well Street, or Jing An Si Lu became Nanjing Road West. As time passed, the name "Bubbling Well" or "yong quan" was almost forgotten. One thing, however, remained. At No 395 Yuyuan Road near Jing'an Temple, there stands a municipally protected Spanish-style "Yong Quan Fang" or "Bubbling Well Alley," which is a typical residential area of old Shanghai. I told Sophie the elderly Shanghai woman was either from Bubbling Well Alley or Bubbling Well Street. Or maybe, she was in fact a spirit who was visiting this world via old Bubbl-ing Well from the dragon king's ocean realm. (By Shi Hua)
Copyright 2000 by Shanghai Star. All rights reserved.