As Seen by TV

I was strolling around the city this past weekend doing some shopping and happened to stumble upon a parade in preparation…

Well, I’m somewhat of a New Yorker myself… born in Morningside and matured (somewhat, actually maybe not) in Brooklyn.  So I know me a block party.  Close… Converse set this one up on Moganshan Road with head-lining musical act Jeru the Damaja, a legendary 90′s underground MC.  I’d seen him before in NYC, but never this close and this out-of-step with his listeners… but that’s not his fault, that’s almost solely the fault of the Chinese.

The police department shut this party down early citing “noise complaints”, which is utterly hilarious in it’s own right, never mind the 24/7 construction (even at 6am on Sunday’s), or the constant car horns, or the firecrackers outside every wedding or business openinig, etc. It’s just sad that the police/government has to clamp down on any form of creative expression, especially in concern with things they don’t understand (like music and art; or just life in general). Jeru said it himself when someone shouted out “f*ck the police, f*ck the government” to which he replied “yeah, you can say that, but I surely can’t say that sh*t cuz I still gotta get outta here.”  True.

Anyway, about the pics… some stuff with graffiti, some “typical” NY food, a dope MC, and some dude getting his hair cut (which for some really strange reason was a massive success with the photographer/videographers in the crowd).

Peace & Love.

April 1st saw the kick off of the 2011 season of the Chinese Super League (CSL), the premier league of football in China.  It was a decent match, ending in a 3-3 draw… but the main reason for this post the utter LACK of information on attending a match.  The official Shenhua website is only in Chinese, and information in English is pretty much non-existent.  So here you go:

They play at Hongkou Football Stadium (metro line 3 & 8), located at 上海市虹口区东江湾路444号 (map). 
Tickets are available from hundreds of scalpers that hound you from the moment you exit the metro to when you finally reach the official ticket window.  Official tickets are 50/80/100/150 depending on seating location for league matches (they have a stadium diagram, just point), and season tickets are [I think] 300RMB.   I attended this weeks (April 19) Asian Champions League match versus FC Sydney (2-3, damnit) and tickets were priced up.  Exact seat is stated on the ticket, but like everything in China, no one pays any attention to that (seating section does matter).  Beers and sodas are available around the entire stadium for 5RMB, but you must have a paper cup if you want to bring the beer to your seat.  Smokers: don’t worry, they don’t confiscate lighters… actually a security check pretty much just doesn’t exist.  Official gear can be found all around the stadium as well, make sure to shop around and not just go into the first stall you see, there are more, you’ll just have to walk.  Prices range from 100-300RMB depending on which team jersey (they have several) and what add-ons (sponsor, number, etc). 
You can find more info on the Shanghai Shenhua (squad, fixtures, etc) here. 

As for the quality of football and stadium atmosphere, of course it doesn’t compare to Europe (the last worthy football match I watched live was Feyenoord-Ajax in the mid 90′s, the rioting before/during/after the match resulted in fans being banned from each others stadiums the following seasons, so yeah, no comparison really), BUT, it ain’t that bad, and I must add that for the price of a beer in Europe you can grab a seat in China and watch 90 minutes of CSL football.

I still prefer my name for Holland Village… SHANGSTERDAM.

Holland Village [map], another housing project part of the “1 City – 9 Towns” initiative the Shanghai Planning Commission set up in 2001.  Designed by Dutch architects, this project, like Thames Town (see my posts of Thames Town here and here), is not quite a success, partly because it is located too far away from the city (20min walk to metro, then over an hour to Peoples Square), and partly because Chinese tastes do not suit with Dutch architecture, nevermind the price tag of 35,000RMB per square meter.  Hardly as intricate as the “British” Thames Town (not even a single bike stall!), but definitely worth a visit and walk around.  Just about as much as a ghost town as the “British” Town, but a few more locals walking around, as Holland Village (aka Shangsterdam!) is better integrated with the surrounding town of Gao Qiao, whereas Thames Town was a seriously locked-down housing complex (with only 2 entrances/exits).

To visit Shangsterdam, you can easily walk from the North Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone station, the second to last stop on line 5.  Then an easy, and picturesque (see previous post) 20min walk following the river through traditional Chinese streets and you’ll eventually see the windmill located on an island in the middle of the river you’ve been following.