Whilst exploring on saturday I managed to somehow stumble across the China X Games 2009. These were taking place just down a side street. It was a mixture of BMX, Skateboarding, In line skating events. There were a few western competitors whom i presume must have been quite famous. They weren't tony hawks or anything but they were still quite impressive. The chinese looked on in awe. I don't think they'd ever seen a bike ridden like that! There was also a music stage and more amusingly a street dancing stage. This was funny as at first the professionals got up and did a little dance, they then bribed volunteers to come and have a go - using bags of doritos as the bait. I've uploaded the two versions - professional and amateur. I'll leave you to guess which attempt is which but I think the locals have got some way to go just yet!Sunday, 22 March 2009
Teaching China to Dance
Whilst exploring on saturday I managed to somehow stumble across the China X Games 2009. These were taking place just down a side street. It was a mixture of BMX, Skateboarding, In line skating events. There were a few western competitors whom i presume must have been quite famous. They weren't tony hawks or anything but they were still quite impressive. The chinese looked on in awe. I don't think they'd ever seen a bike ridden like that! There was also a music stage and more amusingly a street dancing stage. This was funny as at first the professionals got up and did a little dance, they then bribed volunteers to come and have a go - using bags of doritos as the bait. I've uploaded the two versions - professional and amateur. I'll leave you to guess which attempt is which but I think the locals have got some way to go just yet!
f*cked up
I'm aware that my last posting was a little ahem.."effiminate" so i'll try to reassert my masculinity with this next post.
Saturday night I went to a place called Logo bar to watch Canadian
punk band "F*cked up". I've seen them play in England one or two occaisions and never really been that impressed but it was only £4 to get in and had nothing better to do on the saturday evening so thought why not. Also I'd heard that the bar was quite cool and was meant to be a decent live venue. The only thing that i thought was a bit off was that the night was being promoted by group called STD - so they stamped STD on everybodies hands as you came in. I'm not sure if the chinese would understand how funny this is.
The first thing I noticed ws just how small the area for music was. The stage was the size of a toilet cubical, the bar was about 2 feet away from that and the area for the crowd to watch was probably about 15 yards long. It was literally smaller than my front room at home. Having seen F*cked up before I knew that this was going to generate quite a good atmosphere.I turned up at 9pm as the clun opened at 8.30pm. It said on the 
flyer starts at 10pm but I thought that that meant F*cked up started at 10pm. In the end the first band came on about 10.30pm, and F*cked up didn't start till 1am. Still there was carlsberrg draft on tap and big steiners were 30yuan (£3) so i had 4/5 of those to get me in the mood. I met a nice chinese girl who spoke good english at the bar, she was waiting for her friends who had gone to a pop concert before coming here (contrast) so we kept each other company. Helpfully she looked after my glasses when ever i fancied going for a dance.
flyer starts at 10pm but I thought that that meant F*cked up started at 10pm. In the end the first band came on about 10.30pm, and F*cked up didn't start till 1am. Still there was carlsberrg draft on tap and big steiners were 30yuan (£3) so i had 4/5 of those to get me in the mood. I met a nice chinese girl who spoke good english at the bar, she was waiting for her friends who had gone to a pop concert before coming here (contrast) so we kept each other company. Helpfully she looked after my glasses when ever i fancied going for a dance.
The line up was completed by two chinese bands - one called "The Mofos" who specialised in playing Ramones covers - which was quite good fun- and then a kind of hardcore/emo band called The Rogue Transmission - who were actually pretty decent to listen to. I'd heard some of their stuff when they were sound testing and wasn't impressed but they were really good for the actual show. I didn't get to see any Chinese bands last time I was here, but I did manage to buy a few cds so it was good to actually see some chinese punk in the flesh.By the time the headliners came on the room was completely jam packed full. Mixed between 
local indie kids and expats. There were a few mentalists but it was all good fun. F*cked up are fronted by this massive fat skin head, who is quite good fun to watch. He often made his way into the crowd and was joining in with all the dancing. Whilst I went thinking I wouldn't like the music, i knew that he would put on a good show, and in the end I was quite impressed. Definitely worth the £4 it cost to get in - in england it would have 4 or 5 times that to go and see them.
local indie kids and expats. There were a few mentalists but it was all good fun. F*cked up are fronted by this massive fat skin head, who is quite good fun to watch. He often made his way into the crowd and was joining in with all the dancing. Whilst I went thinking I wouldn't like the music, i knew that he would put on a good show, and in the end I was quite impressed. Definitely worth the £4 it cost to get in - in england it would have 4 or 5 times that to go and see them.The chinese people I were with had gone home by the time the main band started so I kept my glasses in my pocket for safety. By the time 4 songs had gone I checked my pockets and both lenses had come out. The lenses were in my pocket but the frames are pretty bent. After this I couldn're really be bothered staying for the rest of the songs. I was knackered and quite swetty so got a taxi home to listen to the football results and to watch the arenal v tottenham game.
Doing his part to improve the reputation of westerners in shanghai
Barbie World
Friday night I went out for a meal with the other expat lawyers again, which was good fun but they were going away for the week so they didn't fancy staying out too late. They were going to Suzhou and invited me to go with them but I've been before and was playing football on the sunday and had vague plans for the saturday night so turned them down. Think we are planning on going away somewhere in april as we have a "bank holiday" one week - tomb clearing festival!
Saturday day with the others out of town I wasn't too sure what to do with myself so just ended up walking around again. This time I walked around the French concession and ended up staying out for about 5 hours. One of the things I bumped into was ths Shanghai barbie shop/museum. this was an absolutely fascinating place. 6 floors of bright pink with everything you could possibly think of emblazoned with the barbie logo and on sale for a ridiculous price. They had a circular stair case that went up from ground to 6th floor that was encircled with different barbie toys. There was even a barbie cafe with barbie burgers and pink drink!
The people in there were mainly shanghai's new rich with their spoilt kids and other curious foreigners. Some of the kids were throwing horrendous stops because their parents refused to buy them things. Most of the girls in there had an obsession with pink - as you can see from the photo at the bottom.The chinese have an obsession with blonde hair. The people who I were with before who had blonde hair would get stopped in the street all the time and people would try to pluck hairs from their heads as they walked past - so it's no wonder that they chinese have such love barbie. In all it was quite an odd experience - surely this type of thing only happens in china?
I'm a barbie girl - in a barbie world.First week at work
Its been a good first week. I've just about settled into the flat and have overcome the time difference I think. Its a lot more tiring now that i've started work though so hope I'm not speaking too soon. Working hours over here a little different. In Leeds I'd genereally get in to the office for 7.30-8am - over here people turn up between 9.30 and 10! I spend the first hour or so caching up on emails from england sent over night and then start work proper. England starts work at 4pm our time so this means we usually get some enquiries coming in about 5pm, this means that you still end up staying quite late and this week I've been leaving on average about 8/9pm. In keeping with my behaviour habits in the Leeds office i managed to loose my pass on the first day which I don't think they were too pleased about!
The office is quite small. I think there is about 9 lawyers in the office - 2 of which are australian, 1 of which is italian, the rest chinese. There are then secretaries and HR etc which probably brings the total number up to about 15 people in full - a start constrast to the 700 or so in Leeds! This makes for quite a small friendly team where everyone gets on. The office managing partner is Australian and he is really laid back so that makes for a really nice environment to work in. The core of the office is basically young chinese girls. The receptionist, trainee solicitors, secretaries and finance people are all between 22 and 30 - they're all good fun and have enjoyed trying to weasle some chinese out of me and are currently in process of conjuring up a chinese name for me. I'll let you know what they come up with.
Becuase the office is so small people are expected to pick up whatever comes in, this means that one day you can be doing one subject and the next you are doing something utterly different. This certainly makes for an interesting life but I think i'd prefer to be an expert in one thing rather than just a general good all rounder - although I'm some way off that even at the moment! This week I've done work on Competition and Antitrust, Emplyment law, Intellectual property and also got involved on a massive Biofuels project. I'm not too sure what i'll be doing this next week, but I think i've been drafted in as some kind of project manager on the biofuels thing so that will be interesting. The meeting lasted 8 hours so theres a lot of work to do on the back of that.
I'm lucky that I've got experience in Competition law and Projects from the UK as these seem to be too really big areas out here at the moment. The first competition laws came into effect here last August so its a great time to be here to see how it develops. I wrote an article last week on a recent decision and this has been published on our website and is to be put in a magazine so I'll see if I can put it up on here. One of the best things about being an international trainee is that I get wheeled out for clients everytime they come - this has meant that i've been taken out for lunch all but one day this week- the other I ordered some fried rice to come to my desk (for 80p - excellent!).
We set up our Hong Kong office around 2 weeks ago and this week the two managing partners came to shanghai to see how we are doing here and see what improvements need making. One of the guys I know from Leeds so it has been good to have someone I know about the office. Tuesday night we went out for a big meal to welcome then to the office and then went out to an Irish Pub for St Patrick's day. It was possibly the strangest St Patrick's day I've ever had and Guiness was £6.50 a pint! Luckily I only had to buy two pints!
I know from last time that Chinese girls are not really big drinkers , and the girls from the office had never tried Guiness before but I think they enjoyed their first St Paddy's. The bar was good fun and they had a "traditional irish" band playing "traditional irish" songs - such as Fields of Athenrei and Bye Bye American Pie?! They also played various bar games like mini skittles to win prizes. Of course the place was mainly expats but there was still quite a few chinese getting into the spirit of things - This girl (Monica) clearly has some work to do on her two handed drinking technique.
The morning after the night before I was feeling quite roung and woke up to some strange banging and shouting. I really couldn't work out what it was. I jumped out of bed to investigate what was going out - in a state of undress - pulled back the curtains and was greeted by the following site. All I can say is that I hope the privacy glass on the window was working properly.
One of the things I don't like about the training contract process is that just as you get to know everyone in your department well and start to really like everyone you then have to move on to somewhere new. It usually take a few weeks for you to really find your feet and start getting good work and start making friends. Luckily, I seem to have hit the ground running in Shanghai though and seem to get on with people quite well all ready and even over this first week have done a wide range of good work.
The office is quite small. I think there is about 9 lawyers in the office - 2 of which are australian, 1 of which is italian, the rest chinese. There are then secretaries and HR etc which probably brings the total number up to about 15 people in full - a start constrast to the 700 or so in Leeds! This makes for quite a small friendly team where everyone gets on. The office managing partner is Australian and he is really laid back so that makes for a really nice environment to work in. The core of the office is basically young chinese girls. The receptionist, trainee solicitors, secretaries and finance people are all between 22 and 30 - they're all good fun and have enjoyed trying to weasle some chinese out of me and are currently in process of conjuring up a chinese name for me. I'll let you know what they come up with.
Becuase the office is so small people are expected to pick up whatever comes in, this means that one day you can be doing one subject and the next you are doing something utterly different. This certainly makes for an interesting life but I think i'd prefer to be an expert in one thing rather than just a general good all rounder - although I'm some way off that even at the moment! This week I've done work on Competition and Antitrust, Emplyment law, Intellectual property and also got involved on a massive Biofuels project. I'm not too sure what i'll be doing this next week, but I think i've been drafted in as some kind of project manager on the biofuels thing so that will be interesting. The meeting lasted 8 hours so theres a lot of work to do on the back of that.
I'm lucky that I've got experience in Competition law and Projects from the UK as these seem to be too really big areas out here at the moment. The first competition laws came into effect here last August so its a great time to be here to see how it develops. I wrote an article last week on a recent decision and this has been published on our website and is to be put in a magazine so I'll see if I can put it up on here. One of the best things about being an international trainee is that I get wheeled out for clients everytime they come - this has meant that i've been taken out for lunch all but one day this week- the other I ordered some fried rice to come to my desk (for 80p - excellent!).
We set up our Hong Kong office around 2 weeks ago and this week the two managing partners came to shanghai to see how we are doing here and see what improvements need making. One of the guys I know from Leeds so it has been good to have someone I know about the office. Tuesday night we went out for a big meal to welcome then to the office and then went out to an Irish Pub for St Patrick's day. It was possibly the strangest St Patrick's day I've ever had and Guiness was £6.50 a pint! Luckily I only had to buy two pints!
I know from last time that Chinese girls are not really big drinkers , and the girls from the office had never tried Guiness before but I think they enjoyed their first St Paddy's. The bar was good fun and they had a "traditional irish" band playing "traditional irish" songs - such as Fields of Athenrei and Bye Bye American Pie?! They also played various bar games like mini skittles to win prizes. Of course the place was mainly expats but there was still quite a few chinese getting into the spirit of things - This girl (Monica) clearly has some work to do on her two handed drinking technique. 
The morning after the night before I was feeling quite roung and woke up to some strange banging and shouting. I really couldn't work out what it was. I jumped out of bed to investigate what was going out - in a state of undress - pulled back the curtains and was greeted by the following site. All I can say is that I hope the privacy glass on the window was working properly.
Saturday, 14 March 2009
Fellow Secondees
Friday night I met up with a few of the other trainees that have been seconded to the magic circle firms in the city. From memory they work for Alan + Overy, Clifford Chance, Freshfield and Linklaters. We went for a really decent meal in quite an upmarket chinese restuarant that specialised in food from Yu'nan. We had a good mixture of dishes - pork,chicken,beef,prawns,sea bass. It was all really nice. After that we went to a couple of bars and had a few more drinks. Good times and hopefully get to meet up with them more in the future.The Bund 外滩 and Pudong 浦东
The Bund is one of the most famous tourist destinations in Shanghai. The Bund itself is about 1 mile long and has 52 buildings most of which are old colonial buildings, banks and trading houses built by the numerous countries that set up concessions here and carried out trade in China in the early 1940s.
The bund runs along side the Hangpu river. On the opposite side of the river is Pudong. Pudong in complete contrast to the bund itself is a collection of brand new sky scrapers and high rise buildings. This is where most of the international companies, hotels etc are. Last time I visited shangahi the weather was really cloudy and hazy and you could barely make out the otherside of the river but luckily today it was sunny and the view was perfect.
The biggest buidling is the old HSBC building which is flanked on either side by the Customs House and China Merchants Company 
building. The buildings are magnificent and really show you the european influences that were abundent at the time.
With the World Expo coming to Shanghai in 2010, the Chinese have replicated what they did in Beijing and have started ripping things up and tearing things down, so unfortunately some of the area is off bounds at the moment. I'm not too sure what they are doing. I think they are making some alterations to the road.
building. The buildings are magnificent and really show you the european influences that were abundent at the time.With the World Expo coming to Shanghai in 2010, the Chinese have replicated what they did in Beijing and have started ripping things up and tearing things down, so unfortunately some of the area is off bounds at the moment. I'm not too sure what they are doing. I think they are making some alterations to the road.
The bund runs along side the Hangpu river. On the opposite side of the river is Pudong. Pudong in complete contrast to the bund itself is a collection of brand new sky scrapers and high rise buildings. This is where most of the international companies, hotels etc are. Last time I visited shangahi the weather was really cloudy and hazy and you could barely make out the otherside of the river but luckily today it was sunny and the view was perfect.I walked along the river bank for about an hour taking in the sunshine and views and taking a few photos. After that I decided the chinese were right and thought i'd better get home and put some more clothes on!
Nanjing Road Shopping
When I arrived in China it was raining heavily. On the second day it was raining heavily. When I got to work I asked someone in the office whether it was always like this, they replied "it has rained for 20 days and 20 days, but tomorrow it will be sunny". To tell the truth I was sceptical but I'll give the chinese weather forcasters their dues as come saturday morning it was bright sunshine and clear blue skies.
My first proper full day here and sunshine - a great opportunity to explore. Because of the lovely day I thought i'd better make the most of the opportunity and whip out the shorts. The area near me is quite modern with massive shopping malls, restuarants etc but about move about 2 blocks over and you're back to "proper china" where you can buy meals for 5op and big bottles of beer for even less. 
I'd forgotten to pack any work shoes so thought I'd go out and try to find some. I walked along nanjing road (main shopping area in Shanghai) to have a look what I could find. Now, it appears that the one thing Chinese people like staring at more than white people in general, is a white person who looks vaguely like harry potter and even more than that they like to stare at white people who look vaguely like harry potter wearing shorts and t shirts. Wherever I went I caused constent outroar. People nearly got ran themselves ran over trying to take photos as I crossed the road. Every two steps was "woah, so cold". It was bloody boiling and the chinese were still wearing at least 4 layers. ridiculous!
Anyhow, I managed to find some shoes. They are not the most stylish in the world but are leather and were only £20 so was quite happy paying that. I then grabbed a little lunch and some beer from a stall in one of the malls I was looking around. I had roast duck and rice with a beer - came to £2.50 - and was bloody delicious!Arrival and Room
I arrived in Shanghai on Thursday at 10.00am. We were half an hour late arriving due to some old fogie falling up the stairs and cutting her leg open. She demanded on getting on the plane still which meant that paramedics had to come on to see her. After about an hour they decided she couldn't fly and carried her off - despite her best efforts to argue that she was OK to stay on. The whole time this was happening I was growing more furious because first class were getting drinks and I was getting sodd all!
My anger soon relented when we took off and the drinks trolley came round. They offered me a champagne or wine, I asked for beer - they replied "heneiken, budweiser or LONDON PRIDE" QUALITY!!! I ordered two cans on each rotation. The lady sat next to me actually looked a little worried as I quickly polished these off and pressed the assistance button in order to get some more. I justified this to myself as necessary in order to escape jet lag (i think it worked). After 8 cans I'd finished watching the film,had had my dinner and was well ready for some sleep.
I live in Hong Kong Plaza in on huahuailu. The apartment is lovely.You can see from the pictures that it is quite modern and clean, and I think there is a cleaner to help me keep it that way. There is a spare room that should come in handy if any visitors want to come and stay. The apartment block has the use of a swimming pool, gym,sauna,jacuzzi and tennis court so there are plenty of things to do in my spare time other than watching fake dvds and drinking in bars etc.
I live about about 5 minutes walk from the Office and extremely close to a modern area called Xintiandi which is home to a good collection of modern bars, nightclubs, restaurants, coffee shops etc. There is also a cinema showing western films anda huge shopping complex. It's probably too expensive for me to eat there everyday but is still much cheaper than western prices for the equivalent. Its good being close to this as means can just nip out for coffees and go for a quick beer after work.
My anger soon relented when we took off and the drinks trolley came round. They offered me a champagne or wine, I asked for beer - they replied "heneiken, budweiser or LONDON PRIDE" QUALITY!!! I ordered two cans on each rotation. The lady sat next to me actually looked a little worried as I quickly polished these off and pressed the assistance button in order to get some more. I justified this to myself as necessary in order to escape jet lag (i think it worked). After 8 cans I'd finished watching the film,had had my dinner and was well ready for some sleep.
I live in Hong Kong Plaza in on huahuailu. The apartment is lovely.You can see from the pictures that it is quite modern and clean, and I think there is a cleaner to help me keep it that way. There is a spare room that should come in handy if any visitors want to come and stay. The apartment block has the use of a swimming pool, gym,sauna,jacuzzi and tennis court so there are plenty of things to do in my spare time other than watching fake dvds and drinking in bars etc.
I live about about 5 minutes walk from the Office and extremely close to a modern area called Xintiandi which is home to a good collection of modern bars, nightclubs, restaurants, coffee shops etc. There is also a cinema showing western films anda huge shopping complex. It's probably too expensive for me to eat there everyday but is still much cheaper than western prices for the equivalent. Its good being close to this as means can just nip out for coffees and go for a quick beer after work.I've just added a few more pictures of the apartment.
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