How expensive is it to live in Pudong, Shanghai?

Heidi was concerned about the cost of living in Shanghai. “My friends told me you would need more than RMB 20,000 per month just for renting an apartment.” She said.

My eyes popped up: “Are you kidding me?”

Yes, comparing to Beijing, Shanghai is more expensive. However, RMB 20,000 per month for an apartment is way out of line.

The place that I stayed this month, Belgravia Serviced Residence, pretty much the most expensive serviced residence in the Pudong area, charged me RMB 558 per day, including high-speed internet and breakfast. The rate can be cheaper if I stay for more than 30 days.

The place has a full kitchen, two bathrooms, one bedroom, a separate dinning area, two separate A/C systems, and is equipped with a washer and a dryer.

I admit that the breakfast menu contains only Chinese, Japanese, and American style, which is a bit boring, but I did enjoy its Chinese menu. However, no way one could get starved. There are a lot of shops nearby, including three bank branches, a Spa, a grocery store, and a couple of restaurants, even a dessert shop (Honeymoon Dessert), which offers everything 30% off between 3:00PM and 6:00PM each day.

The place is convenient to get around, although to find this residence itself takes some efforts. It takes less than 10 minutes to walk to the major subway station ”Century Avenue”, where I can catch a Line 4, 6, or 10 train. The extremely mild weather of this month has been a plus. The only downside is that I should have packed more of my summer clothes instead of winter heavy ones.

New visitor

For the entire summer, we often heard the musical chirps around 5:00PM. Peeking from our window, there was that female red cardinal feeding her baby from the bird feeder hang out of our balcony.

Fast forward to October. That cute and fragile baby cardinal is now all grow-up, who comes often for food alone nowadays.

Today is the first snow that we had for the fall, so we know that he’d show up. 

Wathcing quietly from our window, it is so amazing that the once browny baby has grown into a young cardinal and can hunt for food himself. ^_^

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Time flies!  This year October 3rd is the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival.

Darn, I wish I could have arrived in Beijing one day earlier. It is the time for moon cakes, and gathering with families and friends. As can be seen by the famous MaoDou the Piggy, making the moon cakes can take a lot of efforts.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Today is your birthday, my China!

Today is the 60th birthday of the People’s Republic of China.

Time flies! Happy birthday, China!

I could not return to celebrate with the locals today, but wait for three more days… then Beijing, here I come!

I already regret thousand times for missing the 2008 Beijing Olympics. There is no way that I am going to completely let go this one.

I have been drooling over these parties, entertainment shows, art events, stage performances, ancient parks that have been arranged, organized, or decorated for the celebration.

Nothing can better describe what I feel right now than this song, “Today is your birthday, my China”.

This is a relatively old and slow melody, originally sung by Wenhua Dong. The lyrics was written by Jingting Han, the song was composed by the famous Chinese musician Jianfen Gu. 

TODAY IS YOUR BIRTHDAY, MY CHINA (今天是你的生日, 我的中国)

Lyrics by Jingting Han (韩静霆), Music by Jianfen Gu(谷建芬), Translation by minifish

今天是你的生日我的中国 Today is your birthday, my China
清晨我放飞一群白鸽  This morning I release a flock of doves
为你衔来一枚橄榄叶 To bring you an olive branch
鸽子在崇山峻岭飞过 They fly through mountains and valleys
我们祝福你的生日我的中国 We celebrate your birthday, my China
愿你永远没有忧患永远宁静 We wish you peace forever and no misery
我们祝福你的生日我的中国 We celebrate your birthday, my China
这是儿女们心中希望的歌 This is the song deep from your children’s heart

今天是你的生日我的中国 Today is your birthday, my China
清晨我放飞一群白鸽 This morning I release a flock of doves
为你带回远方儿女的思念 To bring you the love from your children from a distance
鸽子在茫茫海天飞过 They fly over infinite ocean and sky
我们祝福你的生日我的中国 We celebrate your birthday, my China
愿你月儿常圆儿女永远快乐 We wish for your children’s happiness and family togetherness
我们祝福你的生日我的中国 We celebrate your birthday, my China
这是儿女在远方爱的诉说 This is the love sent by your children from a distance

今天是你的生日我的中国 Today is your birthday, my China
清晨我放飞一群白鸽 This morning I release a flock of doves
为你衔来一棵金色麦穗 To bring you a stalk of golden wheat
鸽子在风风雨雨中飞过 They fly through storms and winds
我们祝福你的生日我的中国 We celebrate your birthday, my China
愿你逆风起飞雨中获得收获 We wish you to prevail and prosper through storms and turmoils 
我们祝福你的生日我的中国 We celebrate your birthday, my China
这是儿女们心中希望的歌 This is the song deep from your children’s heart

I am also curious about that super-hyped movie “The Founding of a Republic”, supposedly with over 170 movie stars in it.

The humors are, nowadays a common greeting “Have you had meals yet?” is changed to “Have you counted the stars [in that movie] yet?” An actor or an actress who was not cast for the movie became so worried that he or she was no longer considered as an “A-lister”, that even after the movie entered into post-production, the producers and directors still received phone calls from stars asking to participate.

Let me hope that I can still catch up some fun after I get to Beijing.

Happy Birthday, China!