04.29.08
Shanghai Subway Map - 上海轨道交通示意图
03.31.08
Dialing Int’l Calls from Shanghai ～ 0.4元/分钟
Call direct from your mobile phone. No calling card. Only 2x the price of Skype In, but better quality and you can call out!
在上海，申请中国移动的国际长途就发“3211”到10086。这样可以申请国际IP长途服务，每次拨国际电话号码，先拨：12593＋00＋国际电话号码，比如：
拨美国的“＋1－206－555－1212”，变成：
12593－00－1－206－555－1212
Give China Mobile a call and Sign-up for IP Int’l Long Distance. Just send an SMS containing only “3211″ to 10086. Each time you want to dial an Int’l number, just add: 1259-00, then the country code and the number.
如果你忘记你的密码，就发密码查询的拼音到10086，那就是：MMCX
If you forget your password, just send MMCX to 10086
如果要查你的账户还有多少钱，发“余额查询”的拼音到10086，那就是：YECX
If you need you current account balance, send YECX to 10086
03.26.08
China Mobile call to the USA for 30¢/minute
If you’re a China Mobile user, you may or may not be aware that you can get inexpensive international long distance (国际长途）by dialing 17951＋00 then the country code and number you want to reach. You can actual save the full number in your address book (not like using a calling card) for the people you call most frequently and make the habit of saving a lot. Note that you don’t want to save this as the primary number in your address book, else you won’t be able to send text messages.
That is 2.2元／minute (See complete IP talk Rate Chart), compare this to the direct dial price of 0.8元/6 seconds - or 8.0元/minute, it’s a savings of almost 80%. At the currently miserable USD exchange rate, using “IP Phone” from China Mobile is just over USD 30¢/minute.
If you check the Skype Rate Chart, calling to a China Mobile phone is only 2.4¢/minute, so Skype In is still by far the cheapest way to talk to someone on your mobile for a long conversation. Here’s China Mobile’s post about Int’l Long Distance…
国际长途 您打给国外朋友的长途电话 使用方式 1、确认您的手机号码已经开通国际长途功能； 2、您可以直接拨打： 00＋国家或地区代码＋城市代码＋对方号码 或00＋国家或地区代码＋对方手机号码 3、也可以加拨17951进行IP通话： 17951＋00＋国家或地区代码＋城市代码＋对方号码 17951＋00＋国家或地区代码＋对方手机号码 标准资费 1、至世界各地0.80元/6秒，采用分时段及国家法定节假日资费优惠的办法； 2、加拨17951具体资费以当地移动公司公布为准 特别提醒 目前国际长途可通达世界上280多个国家和地区。 具体开通情况，请以当地移动公司公布为准。
Details at Baidu “Know” (chinese) on a variety of Int’l calling options.
03.20.08
The Octopus is Alive…
Interesting eating choices around Shanghai…
Live shrimp: Yue Lai Jiu Jia
Price: ¥25.
Availability: They’re open 24 hours, but if you’re coming just for this, it’s best to come in the early evening, as they sell out later on.
81 Huanghe Lu, near Fengyang Lu, 6327 1026
黄河路81号, 近奉贤路Live fish: Spring Summer Autumn Winter
Price: Market price, depending on variety of fish. As a rough guide, expect to pay ¥150-200 per fish.
Availability: As long as there are fish in the tank.
3/F, Minfang Department Store, 593 Fuxing Lu, near Ruijin Lu, 2402 8111
复兴路593号民防大厦, 近瑞金路.Live octopus: He Lin
Price: ¥15 per octopus.
Availability: November to February is the high season for eating octopus, and during that time you’ll need to call in advance to reserve.
232 Ziteng Lu, near Qingshan Lu, 3431 3930
紫藤路232号, 近青杉路.
More at SH the Shanghai Magazine…
Also, here are some great Youtube videos of Squid eating…
02.03.08
What a difference a year makes… No Valentines day!
You may or may not remember my post last year about Shanghai being the new Paris - Three Valentines Day’s in a single year!
Well, I’ve got to visit LA over the next week and I’ll be flying back to Shanghai on the 13th. I’ll actually arrive in Shanghai on the 14th at about 9:00 PM (about 6:00 am Valentines Day back in LA). Assuming that the flight isn’t late and customs is fast, that should get me home about 11:00 PM on Valentines Day — so I shouldn’t say “No Valentines Day”, but only for about an hour…
I guess it’s an opportunity — all of the flight attendants on All Nipon should be in unusual mood ~ I’ll be practicing my Japanese 
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こんにちは。私はライアン!
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01.22.08
For anybody with a cold who needs cheering up….
As you’re sitting there sick, imagine how hilarious it was when I lost my voice and went to the hospital to check it out. Of course I couldn’t talk so everybody thinks “this dumb foreigner has no clue what’s going on — let’s send him to the foreigner hospital ASAP” - and of course I’m way too chinese to pay 2 times the price for the same service, only spoken in really bad english that I can’t understand anyway…
So I used my mobile phone to just type in chinese what I need to tell them - which of course they think a chinese friend sent to me and try to send me away… Finally in chinese I type: “You damn idiot ~ my voice is gone ~ I need to see the doctor!” Of course, I had to repeat this process 12 times at each level of hospital bureaucracy to actually see a Doc.
01.20.08
Jim Rogers in Shanghai Again…
I was extremely pleased to get another chance to meet Jim Rogers, though this time only at a brief speech ~ not really any time to chat. This was the first time I’ve seen Jim speak in public and I thought he did an excellent job! There are a few speaking notes that I think anyone can take away:
Humanize it - Turn it into a story. If we were looking for only the cold, dry facts, we could scan through the 10Ks ourselves, but few financial reports are truly memorable - we remember stories!
Repeat It - Jim would say the same thing over and over and over. He would say it 10 different ways. He might have 1000 other peals of wisdom that quickly get thrown out, and a few will appeal to different sections of the audience, but the core of what you are trying to persuade MUST BE REPEATED - use the same words, and then use different words, but repeat it.
Slowly. Speaking, like art is not a race. The whitespace in an Ad, the open space in a courtyard, and the silent pauses while you are speaking are all equally important. Do not talk to fast!
Additionally, there were 3 questions that I was particularly interested in, and Jim was able to answer them for me quite quickly.
1. Doesn’t the fact that the US Federal Debit is denominated in US Dollars make the actual $9 Trillion dollar figure much less important that it appears to be?
Not to quote Jim response, but basically, there will come a time when other countries are no longer willing to continue financing the US debit. As that happens, interest rates in the USA will rise - potentially quite high.
Jim did not mention this, but I would expect that one day we’ll see other nations demanding that US treasuries are denominated in a basket of currencies, rather than dollar debt backed by yet more dollars…2. The British Pound once served as the global reserve currency. How did this change and what was the process like?
There was a long period of recession in the UK, making it a miserable place to live. This period was not short, and caused extensive changes throughout the UK economy. Again, I’m just paraphrasing an answer, but this topic is now the single economic topic that I’m most interested in… What happened to the Pound Sterling?
3. Do you worry about China’s centrally (mis)-managed investment in Gas Stations where there are no cars stopping for Gas (every 1km in Xinjiang, every station empty), empty airports in Zhuhai (16 terminals, but 2 FLIGHTS DAILY - TOTAL) and empty high rises all over the country?
Jim partially answered by saying that he would NOT be in China’s real-estate market, particularly in any of the “Tier-1 Cities” - Prices are all hyper-inflated and due for a large correction. Shanghai is probably number one in that group… As for the empty capacity - well, at least it’s better than just the excess consumption in the USA - at least they do have a gas station to show for it, rather than just another empty Starbucks cup in a landfill…
My good friend Wu Yi (who I met the day I first met Jim Rogers in Shanghai) also came with me Saturday morning for Jim’s speech 
(BTW: Pic came out badly…. But was in a hurry and I’m not a suit guy to begin with…)
