- Shanghai Daily

昪ਸ਼‫୐ݰ‬
B1
Saturday 30 April 2011
Vol. 053 No. 0028
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/minhang
[email protected]
Disney brings
roller coaster
of challenges
Hu Min
THE recent groundbreaking at the
site for Shanghai Disneyland has
local businesses abuzz.
Some, like Minhang’s Jinjiang
Amusement Park, are gearing up to
become more competitive. Others,
like Shanghai Liangxiang Intelligent Engineering Co, see a profit
windfall from work on the Disney
site across town in Pudong.
Jinjiang Amusement Park has
started working on a strategy to
counter what will be a formidable
rival in the theme park entertainment sector. The first Disneyland
on the Chinese mainland is due to
open in 2015, so Jinjiang has plenty
of time to formulate and execute its
counter-attack.
“We have stepped up efforts in
introducing a raft of new amusement
facilities in recent years to attract
visitors,” said Zhu Weimin, general
manager assistant of the Jinjiang
Amusement Park.
These facilities include a newly
opened 4D cinema, the Crazy Flywheel and the Motorized Roller
Coaster rides.
The park recently invested 80
million yuan (US$11 million)
to introduce the Giant Inverted
Boomerang from Vekoma Rides
Manufacturing BV, a Dutch roller-coaster design company. The
60-meter-high Giant Inverted
Boomerang, scheduled to begin
operation at the park in August, provides a thrill ride with completely
vertical spikes. There are only four
Giant Inverted Boomerangs in the
world — three in the United States
and one in Spain.
Jinjiang, located on Hongmei
Road and serviced by Metro Line
1 and various bus routes, opened in
1985. It was the first large amusement park of its kind in Shanghai
and the first to offer foreign ride
attractions.
Over the three-day Qingming
Festival in early April, an average
of 10,000 people went through the
turnstiles every day. Attendance to
the park has climbed to 1 million
a year.
“The city has room for more than
one amusement park, and each one
can be distinctive and appeal to different audiences,” said Zhu.
The park, a popular old brand in
Shanghai, has weathered the entry
of competitors in the past, like the
Happy Valley Amusement Park.
Some theme park competitors, like
the Universal Park, went belly-up
due to financial problems.
Jinjiang remains a favorite
among locals, such as Zhu Wei,
who accompanied his son to the
park recently.
“My parents brought me to the
park when I was a child, and I feel
strong nostalgia when I visit it
again,” said Zhu, 40, as he stood in
front of the landmark Giant Ferris
Wheel, the first of its kind in China
back then.
Zhang Qing, a young Shanghai
woman, said the park means a fun
outing for her.
“I have visited here several times,”
she said, adding that she will probably visit Disneyland when it opens
but she still thinks it will be hard to
beat Jinjiang.
While Jinjiang reinvents itself
as a Disney competitor, other Minhang businesses are sniffing out the
Jinjiang Amusement Park
has introduced a raft of new
amusement facilities as part of
its efforts to counter challenges
that the upcoming Disneyland
park will bring to Shanghai’s
theme park entertainment
sector. These facilities include
a newly opened 4D cinema,
the Crazy Flywheel and the
Motorized Roller Coaster rides.
opportunities that the new Disneyland presents.
Chen Xiaoqun, board chairman of
the Liangxiang Intelligent Engineering, said his staff of 300 specializes
in providing video surveillance
systems, weak current systems and
LED devices.
“We hope to get a share of the
big cake by providing intelligent
systems to Disney,” Chen said. “We
provided intelligent security systems, laser night vision devices and
weak current systems to the 2010
World Expo.”
He said innovation has been the
company’s hallmark since it was
established in 1993. The firm is
building an advanced research and
development center, which will engage the services of senior engineers
and academics to keep ahead of the
curve on new technologies.
“It’s just a matter of identifying
and capturing the opportunities,”
Chen said.
Disneyland is being hailed as
a godsend for Shanghai’s tourism
industry. The Shanghai Xinan Technical School, a vocational facility in
Minhang, sees a niche for itself.
The school will market its courses
in tourism and related service fields
to young people interested in careers
in the industry, said Ni Xiaolun,
president of the school.
“We are aligning our curriculum
with the blueprint of the city’s future
development,” he said.
He said the school will also offer
courses in architectural design,
interior decorating, logistics and
property management — fields that
stand to benefit from the construction and operation of Disneyland.
News
Feature
Business
People
The second low-cost housing
project in Minhang has
attracted many applicants
ahead of tomorrow’s deadline,
as residents who can’t afford
the high prices of mainstream
apartments still cling to hopes
of becoming homeowners.
Several towns in the Minhang District
provide excellent opportunities to escape
the urban treadmill
and enjoy nature
reawakening from a
long winter. We look at
what Wujing, Maqiao
and Pujiang towns offer.
The city’s biggest privately
owned bookseller opens a new
branch at the Minhang campus
of the East China Normal
University after closing three
downtown stores because of
high rent, low margins and the
rise of online book-sellers.
Twenty-nine-year Wang
Yongqiang, once a cleaner in a
golf club, took only three years
to become a professional golf
coach. The game brings fame,
money and joy to Wang’s life
and his story is an interesting
one of talent discovery.
Page 3
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Shanghai Daily
Saturday 30 April 2011
B2 EVENTS
Donor discounts
DONORS who donate blood in Minhang
are given vouchers to buy books at Xinhua
bookstores in the district at a 15 percent
discount. They also receive a 50 percent discount on the entry fee to the Hanxiang Water
Expo Park, where admission is normally 50
yuan (US$7.33).
About 90 percent of restaurants and bars
on Longming Leisure Street in the Gumei
area — including the Cantonese Family
Restaurant and the 700 Bar — also offer
donors meal discounts of between 10 percent and 20 percent.
www.shanghaidaily.com/minhang
News in Focus
Folk pavilion
THE Dongxiang Culture Pavilion at
400 Pujin Road in Pujiang Town opened
recently.
The pavilion displays a large number of
historical records and materials related to
the folk heritage of Pujiang. It also offers
gourd-making, wood carving and indigenous storytelling, which involves local
legends, songs and proverbs.
The pavilion opening was preceded by six
years of research and exhibit-collecting by
folklore experts.
Rooftop view
A ROOFTOP garden opened at the Skymall
at 5001 Dushi Road recently.
The garden covers more than 3,000 square
meters and is decorated with bonsai plants
and other flora. Visitors can take a rest from
shopping, sip tea and enjoy the view.
The garden, on the fifth floor of the
mall, was renovated from an old rooftop
platform.
School to open
THE No. 2 Kindergarten of East China
Normal University is set to open in September. The kindergarten, near Minhang’s
Zizhu Science Park, will feature an international education mode, with emphasis on
art education.
Fitness for free
WUJING Town has distributed 26,000 free
fitness cards to its residents as part of a campaign to encourage more physical exercise
at the town’s sports center.
The center has a swimming pool, courts
for basketball, table tennis, badminton and
gate-ball, gymnasiums and a children’s
playground.
Each fitness card costs 100 yuan.
High-speed network
MINHANG will connect about 350,000
households with a fiber-optic network that
will operate at speeds of 100 megabits per
second by the end of 2012, according to an
agreement signed by the Minhang District
government and Shanghai Telecom.
Efforts to construct a wireless network
across the Hongqiao transport hub, the Xinzhuang transport hub and the Xinzhuang
Industrial Zone will be accelerated, and construction of 21 3G base stations in Minhang
Red Cross calls for more donors
People donate blood for human leukocyte antigen tests at a Minhang Red Cross stem-cell donation vehicle in the south
square of Xinzhuang Metro Station. The Minhang Red Cross Society is seeking more stem cell donors. Last year, there were 79
registered donors in the district. Two donation centers — one at the intersection of Qixin and Xinlong roads, and one at 7,388
Humin Road — are open daily from 9am to 8pm.
in Minhang, The former transfer terminal
in the Hanghua residential community has
been discontinued.
New stops include Hangxin, Wuzhong and
Xinzhen roads, and the Husong Highway.
will be finished within the year.
Local official estimate that the number
of subscribers to the Internet Protocol TV
service in Minhang will reach 180,000 by
the end of 2012.
facility contains advanced analytical and
testing laboratory equipment and commercial-scale product-processing equipment.
It is ExxonMobil Chemical’s third-largest
technology center in the world.
Promoting science
Food safety
Sunshine art
THE Zizhu Science Park recently set up a
volunteer association, attracting more than
200 people from 19 companies such as Intel,
Microsoft and Beyondsoft.
The volunteers will help promote knowledge about science and technology, help
needy students, raise awareness of environmental protection and help promote healthier
lives in local residential complexes.
MINHANG’S food safety inspectors reported they checked 108 batches of food
products in their most recent monitoring
campaign. About 96 percent of products
tested in the first three months of the year
were found to meet standards. Problems
were found in some meat and jelly products,
with warnings issued to producers who violated regulations.
THE Sunshine Home in Minhang’s Gumei
area has started offering mud-painting
classes for mentally challenged people. The
sessions will last two months, with final
works to be displayed at charity functions.
Lab construction
Bus route
A TECHNOLOGY center of ExxonMobil
Chemical, one of the world’s leading petrochemical companies, has begun operation
in the Zizhu Science Park.
The US$90 million, 27,000-square-meter
THE route of bus 709 has been extended
to Zhongchun and Xingzhan roads as part
of a transportation improvement program.
The bus now links Kaixuan Road in the
Changning District with Zhongchun Road
Shanghai Daily
Saturday 30 April 2011
NEWS B3
www.shanghaidaily.com/minhang
Cemetery
space
s
grows
scarce
Blind-date social attracts
romance-seekers
G
AO Weifeng, 31, put
on his most engaging smile and politely
introduced himself to
every woman he met at a recent
matchmaking event in Minhang.
Gao was among the 180 single
people who participated in a free
mass blind date organized by the
Women’s Federation of Minhang.
The 83 men and 97 women, the
majority of whom work in Minhang, all showed up with dreams
of finding Mr. or Miss Right.
Balloons, flowers and pink ribbons festooned the usually solemn
conference hall of the Minhang
District government for the event.
“I came partly under pressure
from my family and partly because
of my age,” said Gao, a native of
the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous
Region who came to Shanghai in
1999 and now works at the Xinzhuang Industrial Zone.
Gao admitted that he was at an
age when he ought to be thinking
about marriage, but he said his
time is consumed by work and a
pretty full exercise regime.
The function featured a series of
games, many composed of teams
of two, aimed at getting people
to relax and mix. Tables were set
up for six, and men who were required to change seats at intervals
to ensure that everyone met the
widest number of people.
Zhan Wei, a 25-year-old girl
who works at a Minhang-based
hospital, said she came because
she’s lonely.
“I hope to broaden my social
circle, which I blame for my single
status,” she said.
It was the first time Zhan said
she had ever participated in such
an event. She said she didn’t care
for the one-minute “speed dating”
that was part of the function.
“One minute is too short, and
sometimes we barely have time to
introduce ourselves,” she said. “I
can hardly remember the men’s
faces or information about them
because they are too many. When
all the rounds ended, I had a profound sense of relief.”
Aside from similar complaints
about the event format being too
rushed and people not having
enough time to engage in longer
conversations, most of the participants were satisfied with the social
function.
Gao said he met one girl that he
was interested in, but during the
team segment when she was his
partner in one game, he found the
girl lacked initiative that cost them
a first price. Oh well, there are always others, he said.
A 27-year-old Shanghai man
who works at the Hongkou District
Finance Bureau said his aunt who
lives in Qibao in Minhang registered him in the event. He declined
to be identified.
“She got the information from
Minhang Weekly and asked me to
participate,” he said, noting that his
aunt is concerned about his single
status.
This young man was quite obviously popular at the event, no doubt
because of his good looks and what
is considered a stable public servant’s job. At least three girls came
up and exchanged contacts with
him when the 4-hour party was
approaching its end.
“I will contact some of them to
see if we have anything common,”
he said.
Staff of the Women’s Federation of Minhang spent about three
months preparing the event.
The federation said migrants and
other workers contribute much to
the development of the district, and
many are so wrapped up making a
living that they don’t have time to
socialize.
It’s a civic responsibility to help
those interested in marriage get
out and mix with the opposite sex
in casual settings that can lead to
harmonious relationships, said
A total of 180 single people
participated the free mass blind
date organized by the Women’s
Federation of Minhang.
Zhang Ming, a senior organizer of
the event.
The federation received 750 applications to attend the event, 494
from women or their relatives or
friends. A majority of applicants
were aged between 26 and 29, and
about a third were over 30.
“We had to host a lucky draw to
winnow the number of applications
down to what we could handle,”
said Zhang. “We plan to host
another one soon for those who
missed out.”
It was the first time for the federation to stage such an event. And
the matchmaking efforts don’t end
there.
A two-day tour to Tianmu Lake
in Zhejiang Province will take
place on May 14 and 15. Singles
who attend will be charged a fee of
498 yuan (US$73) to cover costs.
Zhang said the federation has
also set up a QQ instant-messaging
group to help singles get in touch.
The blind dating event even
attracted an older couple eager
to find a bride for their 44-yearold son, who has a good job with
Shenzhen Development Bank
but doesn’t seem inclined to get
married.
“We won’t tell him that we were
here scouting prospects,” his father
confided.
M
MINHANG
is experiencing a
shortage cemetery space, promptsh
ing local officials to encourage
in
oother options, such as sea burials
oof ashes.
There will be no land left for
graveyards in the district in 10
g
yyears, based on an average death
rate of nine per 1,000 people. The
ra
ddistrict had 1.81 million registered
ppermanent residents and 746,100
migrants by the end of 2009.
m
The number of seniors 60 years
aand older living in Minhang stands
aat over 220,000.
There are four cemeteries in the
district, and together they have
d
less than 100 square meters of
le
land left as grave burial plots.
la
The Tianguo Cemetery is almost out of land. In descending
m
order of land left are the Zhuanqiao Cemetery, the Fulu Cemetery
and the Xianhe Cemetery.
Grave burials are important in
Chinese culture. Chinese people
believe that burying urns with
the ashes makes the souls of deceased relatives immortal. It is
also a cherished way to honor the
memory of loved ones.
About 98 percent of residents in
Minhang choose small tombs of
about half a square meter to bury
urns of their deceased relatives.
Many people don’t correlate
size of plot with their boundless
memories of loved ones, said Gu
Xinmin, director of the Minhang
funeral management division.
The Zhuanqiao Cemetery has
put a lid of 333 square meters
on the size of land it will sell for
burial plots every year.
The district’s funeral authorities are calling on people to bury
the ashes of their ancestors at sea
or under a tree or in wall urns.
Incentives are offered.
Those who have permanent
residency in Minhang receive a
subsidy of 400 yuan (US$58) if
they choose a non-cemetery plot
burial. That’s up from a previous
150 yuan.
“We are considering further
raising the amount of subsidy as
an encouragement,” Gu said. A
one-square-meter grave plot costs
about 15,000 to 20,000 yuan on
average in Minhang, while sea
burial costs only 600 yuan.
Budget units draw queues of wannabe homeowners
THE second low-cost housing project in Minhang has attracted many
applicants ahead of the April 30
deadline, as residents who can’t afford the high prices of mainstream
apartments still cling to hopes of
becoming homeowners.
The project is located in the Junlian Residential Community at the
intersection of Duhui and Huguang
roads. It’s next door the Xinghewan
Complex, an upmarket residential
complex where units sell for between
50,000 yuan (US$ 7,331) and 70,000
yuan per square meter. The exact
number of applicants is being calculated and will be announced in May,
said Xiang Jiansheng, director of the
Minhang budget housing center.
Hundreds of budget apartments
are available in the new Junlian
low-cost project, with prices up to
50 percent cheaper than next door.
The community offers a pleasant living environment, with about a third
of the site is devoted to gardens and
other greenery.
Applicants must hold Shanghai
residency cards and have lived in the
district or county where they apply
for at least five years.
Qualified applicants also must
be currently residing in units of 15
square meters or less per person in
the household.
The income threshold has been
raised to allow more people to qualify. A household can now have per
capital disposable income of 2,900
yuan a month per person, compared
with 2,300 yuan previously. Percapita family financial assets cannot
exceed 90,000 yuan, up from a previous limit of 70,000 yuan.
Applicants also must not have
sold any apartments in the past five
years. When applications opened
on March 31, the Xinzhuang Community Affairs Service Center, one
of the 13 registration centers, had
queues of people making inquiries
or submitting forms.
“We received more than 50 people
in the morning, and were extremely
busy,” said one of the two staff in
charge of handling applications at the
center. During a site preview period
that ran from March 24 to 30, 322
people visited the Junlian complex to
see first-hand what’s on offer.
At least 100 wannabe homeowners
who didn’t meet application criteria
were told to skip the visit in order to
keep crowds down.
The center staff said many people
don’t realize that stocks they may
hold count in assessing their financial assets.
Chang Sheng, who visited the site
with her husband, left disappointed.
“My son’s hukou (resident permit)
is in Jiangxi, therefore, we failed to
meet the criteria regarding average
per capita space,” Chang said.
She said she thinks the criteria are
still a bit too strict.
Once the application process ends,
Minhang authorities from housing,
tax, civil affairs and public security
administrations will begin the work
of vetting the information provided
on application forms.
The names of successful applicants will be published online and
in newspapers.
Shanghai Daily
Saturday 30 April 2011
B4 FEATURE
www.shanghaidaily.com/minhang
Shanghai Daily
Saturday 30 April 2011
FEATURE B5
www.shanghaidaily.com/minhang
Make the most of spring!
Plant a veggie patch, pick strawberries, daydream among the bamboo
With pleasant sunshine, balmy breezes and moderate temperatures, springtime is the best season to get out and enjoy nature ... Several
towns in the Minhang District provide excellent opportunities to escape the urban treadmill and enjoy nature reawakening from a long
winter. So let’s take a short tour of what Wujing, Maqiao and Pujiang towns have to offer!
Hanxiang Water Expo Park
Xiangshuiwan Organic Farm
In Pujiang town, the Xiangshuiwan Organic Farm offers the opportunity
for urban residents to experience the quiet rural life and grow their own
fruit and vegetables.
HAVE you ever dreamed of picking
your own tomatoes, dicing up your
own cucumbers or sinking your teeth
into a strawberry freshly picked from
your own patch? Many Shanghai
people preoccupied with the stress of
urban jobs dream of the joys of having their own gardens. Well, why not
try it?
In Pujiang town, the Xiangshuiwan
Organic Farm offers the opportunity
for urban residents to grow their own
fruits and vegetables. It’s a real-life
version of the virtual farming on
Kaixin001.com, where young white
collar workers plow land, plant seeds,
harvest crops and sometimes even
pinch others’ veggies.
The farm is the first of its kind in
Shanghai, enabling city slickers to get
their green thumbs into the soil. After
paying a 3,280 yuan (US$482) registration fee, farm members receive a
67-square-meter plot of land that they
can plant for a year.
The farm provides more than 50
crops to plant, including cucumbers,
tomatoes and strawberries. Members
can do all the garden work themselves
or get local farmers do assist in jobs
like watering and fertilizing. Family
and friends can also lend a hand at
hoeing up a garden bed.
The farm provides its members with
gardening advice and arranges for delivery of fresh crops to their homes
during harvest periods.
White-collar workers who sign up
for a plot of land rarely have the time
to tend their gardens full-time, said
Jiang Qinglin, a senior staff member
at the farm. They are encouraged to do
at least a bit of the work themselves,
but many end up having the farm manage their plots once planted.
Members who don’t have the time to
get out to the farm on a regular basis
can check how their crops are doing
via online cameras.
The aim is to get people to appreciate the value of organically grown
fruit and vegetables and to get some
healthy outdoor exercise at the same
time, Jiang said.
About 200 plots of the 300 available
are already taken.
The farm, which covers about
345,351 square meters, also provides
members the opportunity to fish and
wander around amid unspoiled natural beauty.
Address: 2759 Humin Rd
Opening hours: 8am-9pm
Admission: free
Out and about in spring:
The Shanghai Beiqiao International
Horticultural Exposition Garden is
famous for its breathtaking garden
landscapes.
Some, including the Lingbi and Taihu stones,
each weigh a hundred tons. Many of the stones
are said to possess magical shapes: a girl reading, a monk in contemplation, a bird flying, a
boat floating.
One highlight in the park is the Stone Sail —
an 8-meter-high, 3-meter-wide stone inscribed
with a blessing for ships passing by. It was transported from the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous
Region.
The park’s forests include gingko, camphor,
crape myrtle and beech and 600 of the trees are
more than 1,000 years old.
Bridges connect areas of the park. There are
56 bridges more than a century old, relocated
here from their original sites. They are said to
represent the 56 ethnic minorities in China.
There are arch bridges, beam bridges, zigzag
bridges and covered bridges. Some date back
to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and Qing
Dynasty (1644-1911).
Every bridge has its legend.
The Hanxiang Bridge of five archways is
named after Han Xiangzi, one of the eight legendary immortals in Chinese mythology. There
is a Chinese proverb: “The Eight Immortals
cross the sea, each revealing its divine power.”
Han is said to have lived in Maqiao. Standing
on the bridge, visitors can enjoy a perfect view
of the Huangpu River.
The Thanksgiving Bridge, a stone arch bridge
dating back to the Ming Dynasty, has its own
tale to tell. Legend has it that a flood hit the
village of Jiangnan one day, and a six-year-old
boy was placed in a huge wooden barrel by his
mother to save his life. The barrel floated far
away, where the boy was finally rescued. His
mother was not so lucky. She was washed away
by the torrents. The boy spent 10 years carving
the stone and building the bridge to give thanks
to his mother and those who had saved him.
The Xiangjing Bridge, meaning “a bridge
with a fragrant pathway,” got its name from a
visit by Emperor Qianlong (1736-95) to Jiangnan. At the time, the village had only a narrow
covered bridge. So locals built a new bridge to
Address: 518 Xianxin Rd (near
Sanlu Road)
Opening hours: 6am-6pm
Admission: 60 yuan
Beiqiao International Horticultural Exposition Garden
THE Shanghai Beiqiao International Horticultural
Exposition Garden has been called “a natural oxygen bar” for urban dweller seeking a bit of respite
from city pollution.
This hidden gem in Zhuanqiao is famous for its
breathtaking garden landscapes. A stroll through
the garden takes visitors a world away from urban
Shanghai. Springtime is a perfect season to visit
because of the evocative blend of rich greenery
and colorful buds..
The garden covers 57,600 square meters and is a
great place to take pets for a walk.
The garden offers advice on flower arranging and
sells bonsais, root and wood carving, paintings, clay
teapots, porcelain and calligraphy works.
IT’S said there’s nothing more soothing than
water, and that makes the Hanxiang Water Expo
Park in Maqiao, a restful place to take those
jangled nerves on days off work. The park is
more than just a water wonderland; it’s a serene
hideaway that’s a work of art in itself.
The park, covering about 800,000 square meters along the Huangpu River, contains streams,
trees, pavilions, rock formations and replicas of
ancient dynasty buildings.
It was built as an ecological protection barrier around one of Shanghai’s major sources
of drinking water. It’s sited where the ancient
Maqiao people lived more than 3,000 years
ago.
Visitors can sit in the riverside gardens, sipping tea and inhaling the fresh air of spring.
They can stroll through a bamboo forest, rest
their legs alongside an exquisite pavilion, do
a little fishing and marvel at the richness of
Chinese culture. It’s a slow-paced environment
where you can daydream and let the rest of the
world go by.
Inside the picturesque garden, there are
dozens of stones more than 10,000 years old.
For those seeking some very pleasant diversions to soak
up the spring environment, picking strawberries, digging
up wild veggies and spending a few days living with
farmers rank near the top of anyone’s list.
Luscious strawberries are ready to be picked in Pujiang
and Wujing towns. The U-pick strawberries are fresh,
fragrant and organic.
The Fengning Strawberry Farm at the intersection
of Yongnan and Zhaotai roads is a popular place for
strawberry lovers, who can be seen filling up baskets with
the fruit for family and friends. Those who get there first
get the plumpest of the crop, some weighing up to 100
grams each. It’s a good way, too, to get a bit of outdoor
exercise!
A kilogram of berries cost about 20 yuan, and the
harvest season runs through June. The strawberries are
grown in hothouses, so it’s best to dress lightly or risk
working up a big sweat as you pick.
fun things to do
Strawberries are supposed to be good for the liver and
can help avoid arterial clogging, heart disease and
scurvy. On the fringes of urban areas in Minhang, country
roads and hillsides often provide an abundance of wild
herbs and vegetables there for the picking. Look carefully
and you may find shepherd’s purse, a medicinal herb
from the mustard family; edible Indian aster and wild
leeks.
The Pujiang area is a great place to search. But
remember: Sometimes you have to pick through a lot of
weeds to find the edible treasures.
Shepherd’s purse is rich in Vitamin C and Vitamin K
and is used to control bleeding. It’s also a popular herb
in regional cooking. Indian aster, or Kalimeris indica, is
believed to remove toxicity from the body and relieve
diabetes. Wild leaks are supposed to be good for the
kidney and as an appetite inducer.
But don’t overdo it. These wild edibles can give you a
stomach ache if overeaten.
The best way to enjoy the delights of spring in a
rural setting is to do a farm stay, or as the Chinese say,
become a farm tourist, or nongjiale. The farm stays
enable visitors to live with farmers, help them with daily
chores and enjoy authentic country cooking.
In Minhang, there is a raft of options to enjoy the
nongjiale experience. They include Laojiayuzhuang on
Sanpu Road, which is known for its delicious fish and
turtle specialties; Shenzhu Nongjiale, where chicken and
pigs are bred; and Haibie Organic Farm, which is famous
for country cookery drawn from local produce.
And finally, what better way to let spring breezes ruffle
your hair and rejuvenate your spirit than to walk through
a sea of golden rape flowers. Wujing, Maqiao and
Pujiang towns provide city people with open fields of the
gorgeous rape blooms. Close your eyes and be swept
away by the moment!
For those seeking
pleasant diversions
to soak up the spring
environment, picking
strawberries, digging
up wild vegetables
and spending a few
days living with
farmers ranks close
to the top of many
peoples’ lists.
welcome Qianlong. Jiangnan was famous for
its jasmine, so locals spread flower petals on
the new bridge for the emperor to walk across.
Qianlong was so impressed that he named the
bridge Xiangjing.
All the buildings, corridors and pavilions in
the park feature dark gray bricks and black tiles,
decorated with wooden, carved red doors and
windows. The setting reproduces the architecture, colors and mood of ancient China.
The park also features an aquatic species
science pavilion and an ancient stage.
Address: 3805 Jiangchuan Rd W.
Opening hours: 8am-4pm
Admission: 50 yuan
Above and below: The Hanxiang Water
Expo Park in Maqiao is a relaxing place
to relieve the stresses of work. Bridges
connect areas of the park.
Shanghai Daily
Saturday 30 April 2011
B6 LIFESTYLE
www.shanghaidaily.com/minhang
Museum exhibition unfolds history,
culture of famed purple clay teapots
The exhibition
attracts a
large number
of visitors.
M
ore than 100 antique Yixing
zisha (purple clay) teapots and
artworks are on display at the
Minhang Museum through the
end of May, giving visitors an historical tour
of the development of Yixing clay craft.
These exquisite wares feature delicate textures, beautiful colors and refined shapes. The
exhibits, which include 100 teapots, the most
famous of the Yixing clay ware, and 20 smaller
items, are on loan from the Yixing Pottery and
Porcelain Museum.
Some of the artifacts were made by craft
masters like Gu Jingzhou (1915-96), Wang
Yinchun (1898-1976), Zhu Kexin (1904-86)
and Jia Rong (1919-2008).
Artists imaginatively carved the clay into
shapes such as lotus and decorated them with
intricate patterns of landscape, fruits and
plants. Take a closer look and you find figures
like petals, bamboo and ripples on the body of
the teapots. Poetic inscriptions, calligraphy,
paintings and seals are also engraved.
Some pieces have beautiful lids shaped as
frogs and exquisitely designed handles.
“The craftsmanship is impressive, and I
am interested in learning about the process of
making Yixing zisha teapots,” said Xu Lin, a
visitor to the museum.
Zisha teapots are used for brewing superb
green tea. It’s said that the tea flavor is absorbed by the clay, so with an old pot, you can
just pour in hot water with no tea leaves and get
a perfect cup of tea with a wonderful aroma.
Soap should never be used when the teapots
are rinsed out, and a pot should be used only
to steep one type of tea to avoid infusing too
many flavors.
Zisha teapots are well-ventilated. They can
retain heat, reduce oxidization and maintain
the freshness of the tea leaves. They grow lustrous with age.
Dingshu town in the city of Yixing in Jiangsu Province is the cradle of zisha production.
Skilled craftsmen there pass their techniques
down from generation to generation.
Another highlight of the exhibition is a
chronicle of the history and development of
Yixing zisha teapots and how they are made.
The most common types of stoneware used
as raw materials are showcased. They include
purple, red and green sandy clays mined in
These exquisite wares
feature delicate textures,
beautiful colors and refined
shapes. The exhibits, which
include 100 teapots, the
most famous of the Yixing
clay ware, and 20 smaller
items, are on loan from the
Yixing Pottery and Porcelain
Museum.
Yixing.
The clay comes from deep underground,
sometimes under heavy sedimentary rock formations, and can be found in seams as thick
as one meter. The clay contains a high degree
of iron oxide, which gives the clay its reddish
hue.
Unlike common earth clay we think of as
mud, raw zisha clay comes in the form of rock.
It takes a number of refining steps to turn it
into a malleable substance.
Once removed from the ground, the clay
is exposed to sunlight until it dries. The dried
clay pieces are then pulverized into fine particles. The clay powder undergoes air screening,
and the screened clay is mixed with water into
a thick paste. Air bubbles are removed, and
then the clay is ready to use.
Zisha teapots are wellventilated. They can retain heat,
reduce oxidization and maintain
the freshness of the tea leaves.
They grow lustrous with age.
The museum exhibition also displays the
tools of wood, copper, leather, horn and bamboo used in the teapot-making process. It’s
said that there are hundreds of tools for zisha
teapot making.
The most valuable pots are shaped by hand,
requiring artistic sensibility, while cheaper
ones are produced by slip casting.
A wooden bat is used to forge the clay, which
will roll into a thin and long strip and be cut
into the sizes needed. It will then be pinched
together to form the basic shape of the body
of a utensil. A wooded paddle helps the body
be precisely formed into the desired shape.
Various parts will be assembled and carefully
adjusted and polished before firing.
The firing temperature is between 1100 and
1200 degrees Celsius.
The craft of Yixing zisha teapots dates
back to the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). The
story goes that during the reign of the Jiajing
Emperor (1522-66), a man called Gong Chun
saw people making water tanks with local clay
and decided to use the material to hand craft a
fine quality teapot. He became known as the
creator of zisha teapots.
The teapots thrived alongside the development of China’s tea culture and were extolled
in Chinese verse and paintings.
The Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) witnessed a
renaissance in interest in zisha teapots. They
became treasured possessions of the imperial court. It was during that era when glazed
enamels were applied to the teapots.
Zisha clay is also used in making flower
vases, figurines, glazed tiling, tables and ornamental rocks.
Yixing Zisha Exhibition
Date: Through to May 31
Opening hours: 9am4pm(weekdays), 9:30am3:30pm(Saturday), closed on
Sundays.
Venue: 5/F, Minhang Museum
Address: 255 Xinjian Rd E.
Shanghai Daily
Saturday 30 April 2011
BUSINESS B7
www.shanghaidaily.com/minhang
Book lovers' haven opens new store
JIFENG Bookstore, the city’s biggest privately owned bookseller, has
opened a new branch at the Minhang
campus of the East China Normal
University after shutting down three
downtown stores because of high rent,
low margins and the emergence of
online book-sellers.
The new 600-square-meter store
sells mainly social science and other
humanities books. It retains the atmosphere that has long distinguished
Jifeng — an intellectual ambience
where book lovers can browse through
the shelves or sit and read over a cup
of coffee.
Jifeng still has five downtown
stores, located in the middle of urban
bustle, so the decision to open a shop
in a more remote, sedate environment
came as a surprise to many people.
The new store is almost an hour’s
drive from Jifeng’s flagship shop on
Shaanxi Road S.
Jifeng decided to open the new
branch because of support from the
university, a nominal rent and the
proximity to students and faculty interested in books on the humanities,
said Yan Bofei, general manager of
the bookseller.
Yan declined to reveal how much
the company invested in the new
store. He said universities and suburban areas offer the only growth
potential left for his business.
“It doesn’t mean Jifeng is planning
to give up the downtown market,” he
said.
The new branch, which boasts a
stock of about 40,000 kinds of books,
is planning a series of events to publicize its opening, including inviting
authors show up in person and interact with readers.
Despite the fanfare, bricks-andmortar booksellers are finding little
to celebrate nowadays as rents rise
and the popularity of lower-cost online sites erodes their customer base.
“It will be difficult for Jifeng to
survive,” Yan admitted. “But I want
to keep the stores going as long as
I can.”
The branch at the Shaanxi Road S.
Metro station that launched by Jifeng
has been in the red since 2008, when
its rental agreement of 2 yuan (29 US
cents) per square meter a day expired.
The rent immediately doubled.
Jifeng also has to contend with online booksellers offering discounts of
up to 80 percent.
This all comes at a time when
household disposable income (that
means discretionary income after
fixed costs) is shrinking in an inflationary climate, Yan said.
Jifeng has shuttered three of its
stores within a year. One was located
in Xujiahui, and two were in the
Jing’an District.
High rent was blamed for the
closure. “We can no longer bear the
rents, which surged to 20 yuan per
square meter a day last year,” Yan
said, citing one store in Jing’an as an
example.
Jifeng has a profit margin (margin
is the difference between Jifeng’s
purchasing and operating costs per
book compared with the price it sells
the book for) of about 4.4 percent,
Yan said.
He said he is hoping the government might rescue private
booksellers by extending them
preferential treatment, but he didn’t
sound optimistic.
“It will be difficult for
Jifeng to survive ... But I
want to keep the stores
going as long as I can.”
Jifeng has become a cultural landmark in Shanghai, similar to Eslite
Bookstore, one of the largest bookselling chains in Taiwan.
Xu Jilin, a history professor of the
East China Normal University, said
the city needs Jifeng.
“I think Shanghai faces a shortage
of book stores that have their own
distinct character,” he said.
“Book stores should not be only
commercial sites for buying books,”
he explained.
“They should be places where
people who love and appreciate books
can stroll around amid the aroma of
coffee and soothing music.
“It’s part of a lifestyle thing for me.
Sadly, they are disappearing.”
His view was echoed by Yao Xinbao, director of the journalism and
communications at Shanghai Jiao
Tong University.
“We expect the arrival of Eslite
Bookstore in Shanghai soon, but we
should do more to help Jifeng survive,” he said. “It’s sort of a cultural
name card of the city.”
Above and left: The
new Jifeng bookstore
branch, which boasts
a stock of about 40,000
kinds of books, also
provides a comfortable
and soothing ambience
for visitors and readers
to relax themselves while
enjoy reading.
Companies use ingenuity to counter quake
COMPANIES in Minhang that conduct import-export business with Japan are feeling
the pinch of the economic aftershocks of the
devastating March earthquake and tsunami.
Some are showing great resourcefulness in
coping with the setback.
At the Shanghai Tiqiao Textile & Yarn Dyeing Co, Yang Qinrong, vice president and sales
manager, has been busying writing emails to
Japanese customers to ascertain what they
need most.
The privately owned company, located in
Pujiang Town, makes colored yarns, knitted
fabrics and clothing. It exports 90 percent of its
products to overseas market, with 40 percent
going to Japan.
Yang said the company has seen a sharp
decrease in orders from Japan and is trying to
diversify into the domestic market and other
international markets to bridge the gap.
“We will provide textiles to Yiwu, the heart
of the small commodities industry,” Yang said.
“We reckon we will see a rise in demand for
cheaper clothing after the quake.”
Tiqiao is also producing more low to midend knitted garments for Japan and is searching
for new markets in Europe, Yang said.
The firm has established links with Walmart, the biggest US retailer, and other clothing
chains such as Gap and Marks & Spencer.
Meanwhile, at Shanghai Star Modern Agriculture Equipment Co, a Sino-Japanese joint
venture, the staff is accelerating their efforts
to develop the company’s own parts in face of
a break in the supply chain from Japan.
Ding Weikang, general manager of the
company, said he remains optimistic about
the company’s prospects, despite the disaster
that left parts of Japan in ruins.
“Our company is affected by a shortfall of
parts for agricultural equipment, but the situation is not as dire as one might be expected
because we were already involved in efforts to
build out own parts here,” he said.
The majority of parts used by the company
were previously imported from Japan for assembly and processing in Minhang. Now the
factory is making 90 percent of its own parts
and even exports some to Japan.
“It’s dangerous to be too dependent on a
single source of supply,” he said.
The firm is developing a mowing and flattening machine, which costs about 170,000
yuan if imported from Japan but is half the
price manufactured on site here. The new
equipment is expected to come in line within
a year, Ding said.
The company is also adjusting its export
strategy. Last year, it exported 20 million yuan
of products to Japan and 6 million yuan to
other countries, including South Africa, Iran
and Britain. This year it expects exports to
Japan to halve, while exports elsewhere will be
expanded to more than 10 million yuan.
Shanghai Daily
Saturday 30 April 2011
B8 PEOPLE
www.shanghaidaily.com/minhang
Coming from nowhere, rank amateur
proves he’s up to par on the golf links
T
Wang Yongqiang, used to be a cleaner, takes only three
years to become a professional golf coach.
wenty-nine-year Wang Yongqiang held the putter firmly,
adjusted his body position to
make it parallel to the target
line. With an intense look of concentration, he gently hit the ball into the
hole.
It’s hard to imagine that Wang, a professional golf coach, was once a cleaner.
His story is an interesting one of talent
uncovered.
Coming from nowhere, Wang took
only three years to obtain a certificate
as a golf coach, thanks to a natural talent for the sport and his determination
to succeed. Wang began working as a
cleaner of the Qizhong Golf Club in
Minhang in 2002, after graduating from
a technical school in Henan Province.
When living in Henan, Wang said he
had no particular ambition in life and
moving to Shanghai was simply an opportunity to improve his prospects in a
bustling big city.
So he spruced up fairways, picked
up stray balls, cleaned balls. And for
his labors he earned 500 yuan (US$74)
a month, the lowest of the club’s pay
scales.
“I have never heard much about the sport
of golf at that time,” Wang recalled.
But his work put him in proximity of
the game and opportunities emerged.
Because golf wasn’t as big then as it
is now, the club offered an incentive to
its staff: Those who did their jobs well
were allowed to play golf free on their
time off.
Wang worked very hard and racked
up a lot of time on the course. Since
he had no training, he simply watched
other golfers and read newspapers and
magazines about the sport.
“I simply got addicted to the game,
which has now become part of my life,”
Wang said.
As interest in golf picked up, the club
found it was short of coaches. It hired a
coach from South Korea to train its staff.
Wang was among the lucky students.
The game of golf tends to look easy
to the uninitiated, but it’s really a tough
sport and success never comes easily.
Wang said he couldn’t even hit the ball
at first and had to work extremely hard
to improve his skills. He spent 14 to 15
hours a day at the club, learning how to
play golf after his eight-hour shift ended.
To improve his physical fitness, he ran
10 kilometers every day, accompanied
by rigorous exercises like sit-ups and
chin-ups.
In 2004, he participated in the Shanghai golf tournament for amateurs, but
didn’t perform well. The poor showing
steeled his determination to work even
harder at the game.
“I simply got addicted to
the game, which has now
become part of my life ...
No matter how tired and
frustrated I became, I was
determined not to give up.”
The managers of the club were impressed by Wang’s flair and efforts, so
they finally agreed that he could quit
his cleaning job and devote all his time
to practice. They recommended he try
competing in nationwide competitions
to improve his nerves.
Wang’s wife, who works in the catering
industry, spared no effort in supporting
him. Her income, around 1,000 yuan a
month, kept the household afloat while
he practiced and entered tournaments.
Accommodation, transportation and
meals for an out-of-town competition
could cost up to 7,000 yuan. Those were
hard times for a household that really
had no savings to speak of.
“The support from my wife was my
greatest impetus.” Wang said. “No matter how tired and frustrated I became, I
was determined not to give up.”
Surmounting plateaus in his game
proved the most difficult. Wang said he
would lie awake at night thinking about
how he could improve his skills and
even dreamed about golf.
“I told myself that I couldn’t give up,”
he said.
His grit paid off.
He received his certificate of a professional golf coach in 2005, and grabbed
the championship of the Tianma lag of
the Shanghai golf tournament as a professional golf player last year.
His success changed his personality.
The former reticent cleaner became an
extrovert.
“I was shy when I came to Shanghai,
but as a coach, I must communicate with
confidence to people,” he said, with an
engaging smile that must help in that
effort.
Wang remains busy. He plays golf
every day and spends the rest of his time
teaching others the game. As his reputation spread, more and more wannabe
golfers search him out as a coach.
“I feel happy because the job makes
me healthy, and more importantly, I am
making much more money than before,”
Wang said.
Indeed, though they had no deposit,
the couple was able to purchase an apartment last year in the Zhuanqiao area in
Minhang, thanks to Wang’s increased
income.
Wang is currently preparing for the
national golf tournament to be held in
Shanghai in September. He is among
the four players selected by the Shanghai Golf Association to participate in
that event. But Wang has his sights set
even higher. “Golf will officially become a game in the 2016 Olympics,”
he said. “Now wouldn’t that be a goal
to strive for?”
Elderly shutterbug films scenery — and traffic
FOR 80-year-old Jin Kunsheng,
joy is capturing life around him
through a lens.
Jin, a retiree from the Minhang
Auditing Bureau, said he enjoys
just strolling around the city,
taking photos of everything that
interests him. Outward appearances aside, he is by no means an
ordinary shutterbug.
Several days ago, the Shanghai
Public Security Bureau received a
letter with four recommendations
on how to alleviate traffic congestion in the area of Hongxin and
Donglan roads in the Hongqiao
area.
The suggestions included banning left and right turns at some
points, adding more traffic police
and tightening surveillance on illegal parking and unloading.
The proposals came from Jin,
accompanied with 11 photos.
Jin first took notice of the
problematic traffic area when he
took the Hongqiao transit hub Bus
1 to Hongqiao in December and
got stuck in traffic for 30 minutes.
He subsequently revisited the area
twice by bicycle, seeking to nut out
the cause of the congestion.
“I hoped to share
the joys of my lens
with others.”
“I noticed that congestion was
worst between 2pm and 4pm,” Jin
said, who also watched and photographed traffic patterns. Traffic
officials welcomed his suggestions and deployed more staff to
the area.
Jin said he enjoys taking all
kinds of photos — anything that
catches his eye and his fancy. He
visited World Expo Shanghai six
times last year, taking 1,000 photos. He then chose the best photos
and had them made into calendars
to give to friends and neighbors.
“I hoped to share the joys of my
lens with others,” he said.
He also made calendars to memorialize a tour he took to Mount
Huangshan in Anhui Province.
Currently, he is busy capturing
the beauty of the plum blossoms
in Xinzhuang Park and the cherry
blossoms in Gucun Park.
“I will make more calendars and
present them to others,” he said,
with a proud smile.
Jin Kunsheng, 80, a retiree
from the Minhang Auditing
Bureau, loves to take photos of
everything that interests him.