Policy benefits aliens
A NEW policy adopted since early March this year regarding granting residence status to overseas Chinese and foreigners is benefiting a growing number of people.
May Day spending spree looks in the offing
INTERNATIONAL Labour Day will be celebrated with a week's holiday from May 1 to 7.
Visit strengthens ties with Haifa
MAYOR Xu Kuangdi expressed his desire for furthering mutual ties while meeting with Amram Mitzna, mayor of Haifa, one of Shanghai's sister cities.
Urban air slightly polluted
SHANGHAI's air quality deteriorated last week from the previous week, according to a report from the Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Centre.
US movie star Arnie back for fund-raising
ARNOLD Schwarzenegger, an international film star as well as the spokesperson for Special Olympics International, will lead a delegation to visit China in May to help raise money for and awareness of the Special Olympics China.
Singapore's leader hails Pudong's development
MUNICIPAL Party Secretary Huang Ju and Mayor Xu Kuangdi met with visiting Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong over the weekend.
Sheraton returns after two years
TWO years after its withdrawal from Shanghai's hotel market, the Sheraton Hotel Group has returned to Shanghai with the declaration of an agreement on Friday with two partners to establish a "Four Points Hotel" in Pudong.
Innovation contest kicked off at Jinmao
ORIGINAL ideas, innovations and inventions are invited for a "555 Inspirations" contest in search of progressive plans for social contribution. Five winners will be selected in July when the competition ends.
Ex-husband sets fire to marital home
A MAN was recently arrested for starting a fire in his ex-wife's house to vent his spite after she refused to let him stay the night, according to the Zhabei District Procuratorate.
Beware of thieves posing as friends
INGRATITUDE of several persons shown towards the kindness of their relatives or friends will result in their punishment.
Man gets 10 yrs for stabbing prostitute
A LOCAL farmer was recently sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment by Minhang District Court for stabbing a prostitute.
Fengshui fears foil telegraph
IN the present Internet and information age, it is interesting to look back to the time of the telegraph before modern com-munications.
Competition too hot in the ice cream market
ICE cream makers face a market meltdown in the coming summer.
Hi-tech mover
PUDONG New Area today will usher in Shanghai's first major international conference this year with United Nations officials and foreign scholars attending to discuss business incubation and technology innovation.
May Day, May Day calling all shoppers
MAY days will be soon upon us. And it is May days or May daze. The annual May Day (May 1) holiday is to be celebrated, not by just one day of rest, but as I am told, by a sybaritic seven days off in Shanghai. I still struggle to get my Western mind around the East's system of awarding holidays and how one day can become, like loaves and fishes, seven. Maybe, it is coming from crabby cultures where the day off was fought for tooth and nail over years of union militancy. All this will be of vicarious interest , however, as we here work right through. The subtle reason for the long break I'm told possibly finds its origins in the recent Spring Festival buying bacchanale. Did you venture onto Nanjing Road then, to be swept along powerless by swarms of shoppers? Therein lie some answers to expanding the market economy. The prime one is winkling out the wealth of thrifty Shanghai savers. They are putting the money in the banks and keeping it there. The theory is that given more leisure time and balmy days, it will be an unbeatable combination to loosen the purse-strings, resulting in some conspicuous consumption. Expats have no excuse not to shop. There are some real deals, and I mean real deals, of European brands lurking unbeknownst to locals. It is not the virtual reality of Huating Road and similar made-up, modish meccas but "genuine" brands. Authorities meanwhile are cracking down on copying, and not just the CDs and VCDs, with greater force co-operating with a number of the leading world makers who are most imitated. Could this mean an end to such dyslectic diamonds as: " RESBOK," "ADIAIDS," "BARBEERY," "LV," "SLIV" "GOCCI," "KALVIN CLEINDL," and one of my recent favourites, "ALFRED DUNNER"? No matter, there are top quality apparel items of 100 per cent natural fibres, that reside in names which are less than household words like: "KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE," or "BEAUTY DANCE." So forgo the Maypole dance and replace it with a round of the many marts offering cultural collectibles, clothing or even a culinary delight. Spend, spend, spend. Brian Cummins from Australia now works in Shanghai.
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