A few years ago, the China Sex Museum was forced out of Shanghai due to prohibitive rents. A sad occurrence, except it was all for the better. With its new home in Tongli, the museum seems to have prospered, and out in the 'burbs, it even has room for a sex garden. According to the museum's website, it now maintains branches in six additional locations. Yay!
Founder Liu Dalin is a professor of sociology at the University of Shanghai. While his museum is basically one of a kind in China, it's not quite up to international standards: straight sex rules here, and online visitor reviews indicate that the gay stuff is relegated to a small section with other 'abnormalities', though this may be improving.
Express buses depart Shanghai Stadium and take about 1.5 to 2 hours to reach Tongli from Shanghai. A feasible day trip to snag that picture for your blog.
We've already reported about China's attempts to educate Chinese travelers on the kind of etiquette their hosts will expect. Now the Chinese are looking inwards, and the results of a recent Shanghai survey on civilised behaviour give us some interesting insights into this new world power.
In an opinion poll asking about what the respondents considered the most uncivilised things about life in Shanghai, loud and aggressive pets, disregard for the environment and unfriendly neighbors were all mentioned. But top of the list was the wearing of pyjamas. Despite the fact that 25% of people claimed they sometimes wore their nightclothes out in public, it was still reported to be one of the most irritating aspects of daily life in the Chinese metropolis.
For all you travelers out there, the lesson is simple. Don't wear your pyjamas in public in China. And we know you wanted to.
If Jack Bauer's lucky, by the time he arrives in Shanghai, his captors will put him up at the JIA. (Also, they may want to clean up his face a bit, but there should be plenty of time on that slow boat they're taking) JIA is opening a second hotel in Shanghai--their first was in Hong Kong--this October. Near People's Square, it is the first "boutique hotel" in the city.
Because the Chinese are more efficient than the rest of us, the rooms don't suffer from dreaded hip hotel shrinkage like they do in the U.S. and Europe. The standard size is 500 feet. Jack should appreciate the Philippe Starck design, bright colors and cheerful furniture after all that time in the cargo hold, and because it's close to the tony shops of the city, Jack might be able to pick up a nice bracelet for Kim. Have a nice trip, Jack!<
The Stones' next stop on their "A Bigger Bang" world tour is proving to be their most difficult. Unlike the freewheeling Brazilians (several of whom were sired by Mick) packing Copacabana Beach to hear them, the Chinese could care less about the band's upcoming concert in Shanghai.
First, Mick and Co. had to downgrade their venue from a 100,000 seat stadium to a 8,000 seat theatre, and they're still struggling to sell the remaining tickets all down the line. A simple economics lesson might help: tix are going for 300-3,000 yuan (37 to 370 dollars), and the average monthly salary in Shanghai is about, well, 1,700 yuan total.
The country's Ministry of Culture has already banned the Stones from playing many of their big hits with "raunchy lyrics". How oppressive! That would never happen in the U.S. Except, of course at this year's Super Bowl performance, when some of the lyrics to "Start Me Up" were bleeped.
Still, in a culture where rock n' roll is known as "spiritual pollution", the show must go on; the Stones take the stage on Saturday. As for the Chinese, don't they know that the Rolling Stones and capitalism go together like cereal and milk?
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by djk
