Why does a Google Blogsearch for 上海 turn up so many Japanese weblog? And why are 90% of indexed Chinese-language weblogs hosted on MSN Spaces? Anyhow, through Blogsearch found a couple of neat Chinese language posts. First, a post on how callous the Shanghainese can be towards the poor and homeless, with this traditional poem attached:
有人说，如果是一个穷人，
那就在印度做一个穷人，
千万不要在中国做一个穷人。
在印度做一个穷人，
可以睡在皇宫前的台阶上，
警察不许赶你走，
没有人可以把你随便抓起来，
你有基本的安全和尊严。
而在中国，
要做一个穷人，
比死还难受。
Some people say, if you must be poor,
Then go to India to be poor,
But never in a million years consider being poor in China.
A poor person in India
Can sleep on the doorsteps of palaces,
The police won't make you go away,
Nobody can arrest you indiscriminately,
So you have your basic safety and security.
But in China,
If you're going to be poor,
You'll find it's worse than being dead.
And then second, another person complaining about higher metro ticket prices. And they do calculations! Hooray for numbers! And some interesting news:
钱耀忠介绍说：“从11月份起，我们将对使用公共交通卡的常乘客实行优惠。即在一个自然月内，凡刷卡乘坐轨道交通票款值满70元，超出70元后的票价打9折，就是将获得10%的折扣优惠。”
除此之外，今年年底前上海将完成站点“一票通”改造，到那时乘客们在同一站体的枢纽站换乘时，就能够买一次票，乘距连续计算，这样的话，乘客换乘不仅能够更加方便，乘车的成本也会随之降低。
So starting in November if you use your swipe card for more than RMB 70 in a single month you will get 10% off further ticket purchases. Which is a pittance in my opinion. The other news is that by the end of the year there will be a single ticketing system for riding the light rail and metro. That will be more convenient, and supposedly cheaper.