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Since we recently bought an iPod, I have gotten obsessed with podcasts. For all of you not familiar with this term:

"A podcast is a collection of digital media files which is distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and personal computers." (Source Wikipedia Podcast)

In plain English Podcasts are a series of audio or video files, like a regular radio or TV show. Sort of like a spoken blog. You do not need to download each file but you can subscribe to a podcast via iTunes and new shows will automatically be downloaded when available. If you own an iPod, the podcast are automatically synced so you can take them on the road with you.

I stated to dig around and I came across several podcasts for learning all sorts of languages. As I am learning Chinese I checked out some Chinese learning podcasts. Among the many, I found 3 that I think are especially worth listening in to:

• Chinese Pod: This one is my favorite. It has lessons for everyone from novice to advanced level. As you advance the English gets replaced by Chinese more and more. In the end there is only Chinese (advanced). There are 4 hosts, Americans and Chinese who mix interesting conversations with learning new words and sentences.
• Chinese Learn Online: A little more serious then Chinese Pod, but non the less effective. This one is more serious and purely focused on learning the language. It also goes from easy to difficult with an increasing amount of Chinese speaking
• SWR2 Chinesisch für Anfänger: This one is for German speakers and focuses manly on beginners who want to learn basic language skills along with some Chinese culture. It teaches in 70 short episodes enough Chinese to survive in China. What makes this one special for me is that the two of the hosts, Mr. Baus and Ms. Gu, have been my teachers at the Sinicum in Bochum, where I learned Chinese. Both very good teachers.

As most of the podcasts have fairly short episodes, they are a great  way to learn some Chinese where ever you are - waiting for the bus, standing in line at the supermarket, riding the metro…

At the end I would also like to mention MandarinTube, which is not a podcast but also offers spoken dialogs, videos and much more to learn Chinese the modern way. You cannot take it on the road but you can use sometime at home or during your lunch break to learn some Chinese.

In this sense 学习，学习，再学习 - learning, learning and again learning.

For a foreigner living in China, getting a good breakfast can be daunting. I like Chinese food but let’s face it, porridge, dofu or dumplings are not exactly my type of food in the morning. Though not a big bread-eater, I do enjoy some fresh rolls in the morning with my coffee. In Shanghai it is slim pickings but if you know where to look you can find some good quality for an ok price (not cheap but ok). Here are some places:

• Paul - The famous French bakery chain. There are three stores in Shanghai, one at Xintiandi, at Shanghai Center (Portman Ritz Carlton), at Dongping Lu and in Pudong at Thumb Plaza.
• Abendbrot - A German bakery which delivers to your doorstep (at least in certain areas). If you are a larger group with regular orders they also arrange deliveries outside the usual area. For example we get a delivery every Friday to our office.You can order online.
• Carrefour - The French retail giant also sells some decent quality bread. However you have to pick the right one. If you pick the Chinese style they will be very sweet and soft (as all the other rolls you normally get all across town)

Surprisingly the normally well stocked Cityshop does not have a good bread selection.

Finally I find some time to write something in my blog again. The last few weeks and months have been eventful to say the least. I think the photos I put online say it pretty well. Essentially I have been in and out of Shanghai over and over, more out then in recently. On the business side I just came back from Guadalajara, Mexico last week where I spend 2 weeks working at our plant. I would not have expected to go to this part of the world anytime soon but there it came. I would have rather figured my next trip would be Korea or Japan again. Speaking of which was my assignment before Mexico. Tokyo to be precise, a city I instantly fell in love with. Tokyo is hands down, the most perfect and best organized city I have ever been to. In Tokyo you get the impression that you are actually 10 years in the future. That certainly creates a huge drop once coming back to the, rather imperfect but still always reinventing itself, Shanghai.

On a personal level, I have also been traveling a lot (as this is my prime hobby, next to geocaching). My parents came over to visit and therefore I had planned a nice little trip throughout China: Shanghai > Beijing > Xi’an > Shanghai > Guilin & Yangshuo > Sanya > Shanghai. All in 2 1/2 weeks. You can imagine this was nothing for the faint hearted, all variables need to be carefully aligned planned trough, all flights exactly timed to achieve the maximum effect. One missed flight could have messed up the whole planning. But miraculously not a single flight delay, no overbooked hotel, all went according to plan. In the end we saw many fascinating places and people, experienced China from the north to the very southern tip and needed a vacation from the vacation after all was over.

So all the results I have documented with my camera, as usual to see on this site. So lets see where it goes next, stay tuned for more…

While just opening up my Google Maps Mobile on my Pocket PC, I instantly realized that something has changed with the satellite images of Shanghai. All of a sudden our compound was not just an open field anymore but I could see the building I live in. Opening up Google Earth on my laptop confirmed: Shanghai got some new shiny pimped up satellite images. It was about time since the old ones where over 4 years old. At that time the Shanghai World Financial Center (which was burning today by the way) was not even started and Lupu Bridge was only half way built across the river. The new images I would say are between 3-4 months old and cover complete downtown Shanghai and also Pudong. So go and have a look for yourself!

Putuo Shan is an island located some 200 km south east of Shanghai. Though the island is relatively small (only 12.5 km²) it has much to offer to easily keep you busy 2-3 days which makes it the perfect weekend getaway from the hustle and bustle of the big city.

Getting there

There are several ways to get to the island. The most traditional one is certainly by boat. If you don’t have much time you can also fly. However we decide to take the night ferry which leaves in Shanghai in the evening and arrives in the morning. Getting your hands on tickets is not so easy. The tickets go on sale 3 days prior to the departure day at 7 am. So you need to be quick as tickets are sold out within a few hours, especially the 1^st and 2^nd class tickets. We only could get 2^nd class which is a 4 bunk cabin with shared bathroom for 205 RMB per person (255 if you have to buy from the street vendors). First class is 2 bunk cabins. The lower classes are not advisable to take (as some friends told me) as they are pretty dirty and you have to share with 8, 10 or 12 people. Anyway don’t have illusions; also 2^nd class is not very nice. On top there is no restaurant or shops on the ship so bring some “Fangbian Mian” for dinner. The ship leaves at 20h at the Wusong Pier which is north of downtown at the Huangpu (near where it unites with the Yangzi River) and arrives in Putuo Shan around 7h the next morning. The easiest way is taking a taxi (about 80 RMB) from downtown which takes approx. 1h. If you find any information which says the ferry leaves from Shiliupu Pier, then this information is outdated. The departure place has been changed a few months back.

For the return trip we opted for the speed ferry which takes 4h back to Shanghai. It is advisable to buy the return tickets at the same time otherwise you might get stuck on the island if tickets are sold out. If you buy return tickets in Shanghai you get a receipt and then you need to pick up the actual tickets in Putuo Shan close to the ferry station. The last speed ferry leaves Putuo Shan at 13h and arrives in Shanghai around 17h. When you buy tickets for the speed ferry you can book with bus transfer back to the city (Nanpu Bridge). Plan another 1.5h for the bus ride as the ferry arrives at the southern tip of Pudong (Nanhui).

All tickets you can buy at  a ticket office at the Bund, right next to the “I love Shanghai”.

You can take the slow and the speed ferry in any combination but we think this is the best because you can start right after work, and you have the full next day, while with the speed ferry you arrive around 14h. On the way back you can take the overnight ferry which leaves in the evening but if you don’t have another day off, then you need to go right to work after arriving at 6h in Shanghai.

The third alternative is flying from Hongqiao (SHA) to Zhoushan (HSN). There is an early flight in the morning at 7h and sometimes you can catch a flight back around 22:40h. If you are lucky you can get a discount and pay around 400 RMB. Regular price is 550 RMB.

Staying there

View from outside our Hotel

There are several hotels on the island. All have one in common: they are all way overpriced for the value you get. The best hotel is the Putuoshan Hotel (4 Stars) but you pay up to 800 RMB for a standard room. We went for the Citic Hotel(中信普陀大酒店)which is 3 stars and cost 580 on weekends and 460 during the week. The hotel was clean and quite ok but as I said totally overpriced. Check some of the websites below for hotel info.

What to do

In Putuo Shan you can basically do 3 things: Hiking, Praying and Sunbathing. The island offers perfect spots for all 3 activities:

Basically the whole island is good for hiking. The island is basically a mountain that rises 300m from the ocean and is coved my tranquil forests. You can hike once around the whole island in a day. One spot I particularly liked is Shancai Road. This part of the island is a little secluded and not so overrun buy tourists and pilgrims. On the eastern peninsula you can also visit two caves, Fanyin Dong and Shancai Dong. The trail takes you by both places.

No matter if you are into Buddhism or you just like to visit beautiful Chinese temples you are in the right spot. The island is packed with Temples. The three most important ones are Puji Temple, Fayu Temple and Huiji Temple. You best visit these temples in this order as this is the route for pilgrimage. On the way you can see true believers who get on their knees every 3 steps and pray. The temples are all very old and beautiful, each in its own way.

The island also offers great places for sun and sea lovers. Long sandy beaches, clean water and a light breeze from the ocean are perfect to relax after some temple spotting. Basically all beaches are rather clean, which goes for the whole island by the way; I have never seen such a neat and well cared for place in . However the only beach where swimming is allowed is the "Hundred-Step Beach". You have to pay 25 RMB to get in but for this you get some great beach fun.

General tips

Here I would like to point out some practical tips to take into account before and during the trip:

• Bring some “fangbian mian” (Instant Noodles) as there is no food on the ship and also decent restaurants are scarce on the island
• During summer make sure to bring some sun block and bug repellent
• Make planning for the trip at least a week ahead since boat tickets and hotels are often booked out days before. Book a hotel at least one week in advance, you can still cancel if you are not going
• Check the weather forecast frequently as the weather can change quickly
• Make sure to bring some cache as there are not too many ATMs on the island. However big hotels take credit cards
• If you want to take the mini busses you should go to the stops at the pier or at major sights where many people get off. Then you have a chance to get a space. Otherwise the busses will just pass with out stopping.

Links

Hotels: http://english.ctrip.com/Destinations/DistrictHotelIndex.asp?District=16
Hotels: http://www.putuoshan-hotels.com/en/introduce.html
Travel guide: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/zhejiang/hangzhou/mt-putuoshan.htm
Weather forecast: http://weather.tq121.com.cn/detail.php?city=%D6%DB%C9%BD
Official Website: http://www.putuoshan.net/english.html
Travel guide: http://www.smartshanghai.com/out-of-town/putuoshan
Zhoushan Website: http://en.3011000.com/
Flights: http://www.elong.net/flights/

Oh my god! Right now I am on Huangshan. This is actually a quite cool place, as long as you do not want to go back down by cable car with a couple of hundred Chinese at the same time. It is quite horrible waiting time is 3h total. Actually on foot it would be faster but since it is raining also quite dangerous. I am not a wuss, but the mountain is very steep and every year there are many people falling down. So it really sucks but I cannot help it. The only good news is that I got my phone with me and good Internet coverage up here, so I can at least use the time to blog. Anyway, more later…

Wow, those last few weeks have been quite amazing and also very strenuous. I have been on business trip most of the time. Germany, North China, South China and North China again. Now I am finally back and hopefully stay for a few weeks in Shanghai.

Even though I like to be on the road and see lots of different places and people, it is always good to come home after a trip. Yes, I consider Shanghai as my home. Actually it feels much better if you accept a place as home. I do so very fast. Where ever I live is my home. I think it has a lot to do with accepting the new and growing attached to it to a certain extend, but not too much that you can still leave and do something new after a while. Of course I still feel a little attached to all places I have lived and called home for a while. And I think it is good since I have many places in the world I feel home when I come back there. Anyway, just some thoughts that came to mind as I type. I think writing blog is great because I can let my thoughts wonder while I type.

Also in between I finally reinstalled my computer after my Windows was dying a slow death. Don’t we all love Microsoft for the countless hours we sit in front of a practically non functional Windows system that crashes more then it runs, that does not let you install any programs anymore and in the end kills your Outlook without even feeling sorry about it. And then you live with it because you don’t have the time to spend at least 3 days without sleep and eating to backup all your stuff, reinstall, install all your programs, reinstalling again because your new system got messed up by some halfway installed driver crashing in the process, reinstalling all your programs again. That is where I am now (after exactly those 3 days, ok with some sleep and a little food). Welcome to the world of Windows Installation + 365 days. 

But the good news is, finally my Flickr Uploadr works again (which was also not the case for about 4 months). So finally I could upload all the amazing, stunning, dazzling, awesome and magical photos I took over the last few months. Ok I got a bit carried away concerning my talent as a amateur photographer, but the Hong Kong Skyline at night really kicks ass!

Last week Shanghai was the host of one of Asia’s biggest automotive expos, the Auto Shanghai. Of course, working in the automotive industry in China there was no way to miss this event. You could marvel at the newest concept cars, the latest from Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini and Co, as well as normal street cars for normal people to own. Next to the cars you could also behold some very pretty girls, especially at the Chinese car makers, some of them really in need to distract the visitor from the design of their cars

This one I call anti theft by design

Some of the Chinese cars even look suspiciously like Mercedes, BMW or Lexus. I thought, hmm a Merceses SLK, but no, it is the BYD (their logo reminds me distantly of some Bavarian car maker also with 3 Letters, starting with a B ;-)) F8.

BYD F8 or is it a Mercedes?

It was an interesting show with lots of beautiful girls… ehhhhmm cars I meant to say.

2 birds on the roof

Feeling unwatched

Nice backside

Chinese beauty

After a long period of absence, not only from blogging but also from ‘the most exciting city in the world’ (I am talking about Shanghai of course), I am finally back. The last few weeks I was in Germany visiting my family and taking care of lots of administrative stuff. I also found the time to visit one of my best friends in Edinburgh, Scottland, who I had not seen in a while. We had a great time there despite the weather was awful most of the time. Ok you don’t expect good food when going to the UK either, so no surprise on that end. On the way back I took a 2 1/2 day stopover in London which I used to explore the city with my GPS, going from geocache to geocache. And trust me there are many of them. My GPS ended up to be the best tour guide ever, since I sort of accidentally ended up seeing about every major sight.  You can see some photos in my gallery or on Flickr. By the way, since my flickr upload did not work for a few weeks, I finally got a chance to upload everything from Xmas to now, so many new photos on (Hangzhou, Xiamen, etc.)

So far the fun part.  What actually is very disturbing is the reverse culture shock when coming back home. It is like slamming the breaks at 200 kph. Or to put it in terms of population, from 18m to 16k. And the quietness can be very strange because this is one of the few things you do not find in Shanghai. But after a few days I enjoyed it very much to be home again.

So now I am back for good and will start working soon. So expect more China stories and photos.

Till then Zaijian!

I think I started into the Chinese New Year on the wrong foot. First I got hit by a bad cold (again) caused by the stupid aircon and just as my cold got better my tooth began hurting like hell. So I spend half the time in the hotel room nursing my cold. The good side however was that I spend some great time with my parents in law and all of my wife’s grandparents uncles, anties and cousins eating (lots and lots, probably gained 2 kilos) and playing Majiang.

So because of my not so well being and of the weather which was not much better either, we canceled all further trips and flew back to Shanghai yesterday. You can imagine what the air pressure up and down during the flight did with my hurting tooth

Anyway, I thought the Wuhanese were crazy with fireworks but yesterday night I thought Taiwan is attacking. They shot fireworks in the street between our building and the buildings on the other side, so that they exploded right in front of our 16th floor windows. Unbelivable! I took a video that give you an idea

Enjoy!