Unlike a lot of other cities in China, Shanghai has a ton of English book stores. Virtually everything you would want, you can find either at Garden Books on Changle Road, or one of the many shops near People’s Square. The problem is that these stores are all very overpriced. I love to read, but when a short novel with a USD price on the back that reads $8.99 costs 200 RMB ($30) or more, it becomes a luxury.

Meeting the demand for reasonably priced books are street vendors. Like vendors selling DVDs or CDs on the street, a lot of entrepreneurs put up shop on the side of the road with a cart or wagon full of English and Chinese paperbacks of dubious origin. The selection is obviously limited, but it’s rare that you won’t find something interesting.

Unlike buying movies or Wii games, you’ll have to bargain a bit, and it’s best to do it when nobody else is around. Depending on the size of the book, 10 – 20 RMB is about right.

The notable thing about these books the vendors sell is that the quality is so good, you’d never know they were fake. Contrast this to some of the books we picked up from street vendors in India, where not only was the paper quality and binding job ridiculously poor, they were often missing pages or even chapters! Ever read a book only to find after 200 pages, every other page is missing although numbered correctly? LAME.

Sometimes in Asia you come across some insanely cheap deals on airline tickets. The airline may be crap, and you may have to book several weeks ahead of time, but there are deals to be found. Because of this, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on ticket prices, even if you’re not planning a vacation.

For example, some friends recently informed us of this crazy deal from Cebu Pacific, a budget airline in the Philippines: Shanghai, China <-> Manila, Philippines (in early February), return ticket including all taxes and fees: 540 RMB (or $85 CAD.) Insane!

I had no plans to visit the Philippines, but at this price, I seriously couldn’t afford not to. It’ll be worth it for the mangoes alone.

I’m not sure what the deal is, but lately I’ve been noticing this fad in China (and Japan too) of western fast food chains offering burgers with multiple patties. Since a lot of Asians don’t particular like hamburgers all that much, consider western fast food as more of a trendy snack item than a meal, and generally prefer small, cutesy things, I’m wondering why massive hamburgers would be big sellers here.

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Whatever you do, do not fill out any survey from Shanghai Daily lest you want to have your phone number and email address disseminated to every expat-targeted marketing agency in the city.

Out of stupidity and boredom, I recently filled out their survey (with a chance to win free plane tickets or something, I forget) on the upcoming Shanghai World Expo, and I’ve been harassed ever since. I’ve received countless spam emails, SMS messages, and now unsolicited phone calls from the lowest-of-the-low expats from telemarketing agencies, wanting me to make stupid investments or sign up for ridiculous financial services.

Ridiculous services aside: who the hell comes to Shanghai to be a telemarketer? Go teach English you assholes.

The worst thing? The emails have no unsubscribe option, and I highly doubt that Shanghai has any Do Not Call registry. Shanghai Daily, YOU SUCK.

Earlier this week, the Chinese cargo ship 德新海 De Xin Hai was kidnapped by a group of Somali pirates.

This isn’t the first time a Chinese ship has had a run-in with Somali pirates. In December 2008, pirates in the region attempted to hijack the Zhenhua 4. The pirates, armed with rocket-propelled grenades, boarded the ship and tried to take the crew hostage.

Things didn’t quite go as planned. The Chinese crew fought off the hijackers using Molotov cocktails made out of beer bottles, a water cannon, and anything else they had laying around. Eventually, the hijackers gave up. The company that owned the ship gave each of the 30 member crew $10,000 USD as a reward, and they were considered heroes.

The crew of the De Xin Hai was not so lucky. They are now held hostage by the pirates, presumably for a hefty ransom. The Chinese government has apparently sent out two People’s Liberation Army (PLA) navy warships to get the crew back at all costs. Details are short since the government does not want to threaten the lives of the abducted; the pirates have warned that if the PLA comes to the rescue, they’ll murder all the hostages.

It must be a very difficult moment for the Chinese government and PLA right now – China has a lot on the line. Obviously first and foremost is the life of the crew. If they’re murdered, the Chinese public will demand answers, and also demand retribution. China’s government and military will also lose face, not only to the Chinese public, but to the world. Add to that the fact that – as far as I know – the PLA hasn’t seen much ‘real-world’ action. China has quietly been modernizing its military, but I believe this is the first non-training exercise their navy has been deployed to deal with.

Considering all this, it almost seems like the safe bet would be to just pay the ransom.

I think they meant Mango, but I love dried mango so much that I forgive them.

I’ve yet to visit NYC, so I have no idea how authentic the sandwiches at Shanghai’s New York City Deli are, but I do know one thing: they are absolutely amazing. So far I’ve tried the Turkey and Corn Beef Reuben, and damn… I’m at a loss for words. I don’t think I’ve had a better sandwich anywhere. The sauce is incredible, the meat is plentiful and perfect, and it’s so filling I can rarely finish one in one sitting.

Aside from sandwiches, they also sell enchiladas (tried once, fantastic) and burritos. For desert, they sell these homemade chocolate chip cookies that are like narcotics. Seriously. I’m not even a big fan of cookies or sweets, but these things are incredible.

They’re slightly pricey at about 40 – 60 RMB for a sandwich, but definitely worth it. NYC Deli is also the only restaurant I know of in the city that serves Snapple.

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China is pretty notorious for not being very vegetarian-friendly. This is understandable: in the not so distant past, food was scarce, and meat was exclusively for the wealthy and the elite. Now that meat is cheap and plentiful, the idea that someone would choose not to eat it is bizarre to most Chinese.

If you walk into the average restaurant in China and try to explain that you don’t eat meat, you’ll get a lot of puzzled looks. Good luck finding something on the menu that doesn’t contain (or was prepared with) meat or animal products. Even most vegetable dishes you order come sprinkled with some pork or bits of meat. Vegetable dishes are considered ‘cheap.’

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We were at a pub this weekend and the topic of “How many countries does China border?” came up. It was very interesting to listen to everyone’s speculations. So I thought I make this post to put all our minds at ease, and you never know, some other people in this big wide world may be pondering about this right now, I hope this will be of interest to them too.

So China borders 14 countries in total, not counting those which shares its oceanic boundaries. These countries are: Mongolia, Russia, North Korean, Vietnam, Laos, Burma, Bhutan, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. (China does not border Thailand, I repeat,  China does not share a border with Thailand!)

Last week’s Canadian Thanksgiving dinner, courtesy of Ellen and City Shop:

Olives: 9 RMB
Salad: 13 RMB
Full roast chicken: 38 RMB
Foccacia bread: 14 RMB
Tsingdao beer (stubby x2): 9 RMB

Total: 83 RMB (~ $12.50 CAD)