Kids compete in cross-Straits drawing
SIX-year-old Wu Ye, who has a pencil behind her right ear, is attentively drawing the Oriental Pearl TV Tower in Pudong's riverside park along the east bank of Huangpu River.
Diamond plan
DIAMONDS, which have graced the necklaces of the late Princess Diana, US First Lady Hillary Clinton and Kate Winslet in blockbuster film "Titanic," are proving increasingly popular with China's consumers as earnings rise, especially in Shanghai.
Shipping soup in Shanghai
LAST week was a tough week to get through any year. You must, like Caesar, beware the Ides of March (15) and either proclaim your ethnic origins or become honourary Irish for a day on St Patrick's Day (17). In Shanghai, you also have to cope with the fickle March weather.
Chess master makes first move on-line
JOINTLY sponsored by Shanghai Chess Association and Shanghai Lotof Network Information Technology Co Ltd, a long-running chess match at www.lotof.com on the web was kicked off on Saturday.
Tourism development at top of agenda
SHANGHAI plans to transform itself into an international tourist metropolis by 2015, according to Zhou Muyao, vice-mayor of Shanghai. Zhou was speaking at the city's first tourism working conference which closed on Sunday.
Campaign to prevent polio comeback
AN incidence of polio (also known as infantile paralysis) in October in Northwest China's Qinghai Province has prompted a warning from experts that children from abroad must be vaccinated against the disease either before or soon after they come to Shanghai.
Women seek access to legal consultation
A 50-YEAR-OLD woman says tearfully she has sued for divorce four times over the past nine years, but she has been denied each time over property disputes.
Students broaden horizons overseas
PHOTOGRAPHS of Chinese high-fliers who studied in Britain adorned the entrance to the British Education Exhibition 2000, held two weeks ago in Shanghai.
Rush to wed breeds crime
THE proverb "marry in haste repent at leisure" took on a whole new meaning for two Shanghai residents recently.
Robbers ring up call-girls
A BOOK described as a "goldmine" by a debtor, because it listed the telephone numbers of call-girls, brought two men suspected of robbing four prostitutes before the Yangpu District Procuratorate recently.
Court fines nose biter $348
HONGKOU District Court has ordered a 38-year-old man named Liu who bit a bus driver's nose with such force that it required seven stitches to close the wound to pay 2,884 yuan ($348) in medical expenses and damages.
Controversy over keeping city wall
SHANGHAI city wall was built in a matter of months in 1553 to repel Japanese pirates, but it took more than 10 years to demolish it. In the mid-19th century, Shanghai was opened up to the outside world and gradually divided into the old Chinese city inside the wall and foreign concessions outside. The wall hindered both traffic and communications. The need to demolish it became increasingly obvious, but for decades Shanghai people resisted doing so. Finally in 1900, Li Ping, a local tycoon, spoke out. Li called on his people to have the city wall removed. It demanded great courage to say this because passions ran high about the wall. In Chinese, there is a saying: "The gun shoots the bird which sticks out his head from behind the leaves that conceal him." In other words, staying silent and inconspicuous is safe. Many of the city's inhabitants were not happy with Li's call to demolish the wall and they sent him death threats. He was even threatened with being turned into a "brick" and stuck into the wall himself unless he retracted his call. For many people the wall not only symbolized protection against invading forces, it was an inheritance handed down from older generations to safeguard the new. Traditionally, Chinese people are supposed to show the utmost respect to their elders and superiors. Things handed down from ancestors - whether a building or an established convention - are therefore regarded as sacred and to be accepted without question, never changed or removed. In the mind of many of the city's conservatives of the time, the wall was sacred and served as a stronghold against the "evil" thoughts and lifestyles of foreigners. In the end, Li's call to knock down the wall was rejected. In the years that followed, however, three new gates were opened in the wall to facilitate traffic and communications. After the Revolution of 1911 when the Qing Dynasty (AD 1644-1911) was overthrown, the proposal to demolish the wall was once again put forward and won support from officials as well as the people. In June 1913, the north half of the wall was dismantled, and in the winter of 1914 the south half was totally removed. The moat was also filled up and levelled and the bridges on the moat were all destroyed. With the removal of the old city wall, people from all over the country poured into the city and Shanghai gradually became a city of migrants. Shanghai absorbed people of many backgrounds and this generated great energy and created great prosperity. Today in Nanshi District, Renmin and Zhonghua roads loop the city and mark the original site of the old Shanghai city wall. Only a short section of the old city wall remains, however, at No 269 Dajing Road near the former Xiao-beimen, or small north gate. On the wall stands a Guan Di Miao, or Temple of the God of War that still protects the city. (By Shi Hua)
Copyright 2000 by Shanghai Star. All rights reserved.