2009 Year of the Ox

The Ox 牛

2009 ist the year of the Ox, which is also my sign in the Chinese zodiac. Well… must be a good sign!!

Characteristics of the Ox:
Dependable, calm, methodical, born leader (wow…), patient, hardworking, ambitious, conventional, steady, modest, logical, resolute, tenacious. Can be stubborn, narrow-minded, materialistic, rigid, demanding (not me… haha).

The Ox is the most balanced Chinese sign, loving peace, harmony and beauty. At the same time, Oxen can be strong willed, and behind their beautiful, serene faces can be a great temper and a critic that reacts angrily to anyone who threatens or harms them.

Do you recognize me ? 😉

Ox (1949, 1961, 1973, 1985)
Ox celebs: Barack Obama, Vincent Van Gogh, Walt Disney
Get on with: Rabbit (1951, 1963, 1975, 1987), Snake (1953, 1965, 1977, 1989), Rooster(1945, 1957, 1969, 1981)

Links
www.chinesisches-horoskop.de/bueffel (German)
www.chinapage.com/newyear.html
guiworld.wordpress.com/2010/02/11/happy-new-year

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09-03-29 Nanjing Lu

Oliver (my flat mate) and me shopping on Nanjing Lu 南京路 on a busy Sunday afternoon.

09-03-26 Lunch

Noudle soup

Noudle soup with octopus, with beef and with chicken (clockwise), with fried wantans and soy milk (matter of taste… not mine really…).
Lunch for three costs approx. 5 EUR in total.

“Hao chi” = lecker!

09-03-26

“Upon arrival in China, all foreigners must register their place of residence, whether it be a hotel, guesthouse, apartment or any other kind of housing. Those staying in residential houses, apartments or villas must go to the local police station within 24 hours of arrival to register.”

Hey… this feels like Germany 😉

So this is what I did today by the help of Angela, the company’s assistant. Here an impression from the police station and the officer handling my case:

09-03-25

Shanghai, here I am!

Frankfurt – Shanghai

everything went smoothly despite the fact that the airline asked me for 680 Euros! for 17 Kilos overweight luggage (Yes, 40 Euros for 1Kg extended luggage). China Eastern Airline… This “special” price was higher than the ticket price… Well, I decided to leave my diving gear in Germany…

Oliver (my flat mate) picked me up from the aiport, the taxi meter price Puxi – Airport Pudong is 165 Renminbi Yuan (RMB.Y), a little more than 17 Euros. Taxis drivers without meter will ask for more than double the price – so my visiting friends: be prepared to bargain hard!

We went to the apartment and than to the office to check out everything. Internet access is available at home and at the office. Some websites, for example youtube.com, are blocked in China. Well guys… but you can’t block all proxies… 😉
And: some Mails will take 9 hours or more to get through…

Jet lag will hit me for some days… but let’s get started…

This is the view from our apartment which wilddesign is providing (the place is called Brilliant City):

09-03-21

Today, it is Saturday…. three more days… Hey, Shanghai I’m coming…

Goodbye girls....

09-03-06

Why China, why Shanghai?

A question quite often asked of me…
So… I have been to China and Shanghai before. I love to visit big cities. And if I could live and work there for a while… well, even better!
Shanghai is a big city, it really is with more than 16 Mio people! 4 times the size of Berlin… A great place to be at least for a defined period of time.
This is why I want to stay there for a couple of months.

Chinese are nice, whitty, curious, friendly people
clubs, bars, restaurants are lots to be found – they are very cool, very western style
a lot of expats from all over the world live in Shanghai
local food is nice and tasty and not pricy
yes, they even have red whine (beer anyway)

it seems that everyone is on the run and in action, up to new endeavours
there is movement everywhere

and I would like to be part of it….