Jonathan Biddle – Made in Taiwan

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  • Hong Kong Babies

    Congratulations to Michael & Tanja!  Newest Mum & Dad in Hong Kong!

    Massively proud, and delighted to be able to drop-in on you before the big day … but not the most punctual baby in the world, might I add?

    See all of you soon!

    There is probably a rule about pregnant ladies not being allowed ice-cream.

    Michael practices photography on some other babies.

    WAS THAT IT?!  Ready?!  EMEGENCY!!  What?  Oh okay.  My nerves were on-edge, as I imagined myself helping rush Tanja to the hospital with Michael.

    Rules about giving up seats to those in need simply do not apply in Hong Kong.  I am positive someone would give up their seat if challenged, but it’s not really good enough, is it?

  • Yangtze Rail

    Kunshan station at sunset.  Along with the track hardware, the stations are impressive in their design intent.

    Beyond the Expo, the biggest impact to my China experience on this trip was the incredible improvements in the transport infrastructure, and in particular, the trains.  Most of our suppliers are located in the Yangtze River Delta region; an unimaginably dull expanse of land stretching west of Shanghai for several hundred kilometres.  Just imagine The Fens in East Anglia, but many hundreds of times larger, and packed with factories relocated from Taiwan.

    Getting around usually means relying on suppliers to send cars out to your hotel; the distances involved and the vagaries of travel in China leave you with little choice.  This does rather put you at the mercy of your vendors, though, and usually results in unwelcome round-table lunches and forced conversation, invariably discussing positive aspects of life in England, shortcomings of life in Taiwan, and which local Chinese town has the most famous foodstuffs.  Any way to prise this control away, and return the day to me is most welcome.  For this reason, the new rail networks being installed throughout China are a breath of fresh air, and offer as formative a change to my life as the Taiwan High Speed Rail.  It really opens up the area to exploration, allows increased connection to local travelers, and means I no longer need to stay so close to the vendors in Kunshan; a town of few features beyond the walls of the Swissotel.

    [mappress mapid=”1″]

    The Chinese high-speed rail network is expanding at an exasperating pace; the Beijing-Shanghai line was started in April 2008, and will be completed in Summer 2011, with trains operating at 380 kmh (240 mph).  Britain, I am embarrassed to write, has plans for high-speed lines to be completed in 2025, operating at a meagre 250 kmh (155 mph).  Our peak speed, Eurostar excepted, has not increased since the Mallard in 1938, when it set a record of 125 mph.  Does anyone in Whitehall understand what is going on here?  China is going to blow us into the weeds, at a rate that we cannot even begin to comprehend.  Britain, time to wake up.

    But this isn’t about the British Rail, this is about the newly completed Shanghai-Nanjing Huning Line.  Opened in July this year, it connects the major cities along the Yangtze; Shanghai-Kunshan-Suzhou-Wuxi-Nanjing, and several other cities you have never heard of before with populations over 4 million people.  But know these city names; they will enter common parlance as the reach of China extends.

    I still remember my first trip to Shanghai in 2006; at the weekend, I turned up at the train station wishing to buy tickets to go to Suzhou.  Huge queue, wall of people, unhelpful staff, crap Chinese, no dice.  Defeat.  Several more trips, and late nights, friends and all manner of distractions mean that I still don’t manage to escape.  Yes, I manage to make it to Hangzhou with Anke and Lars – but nothing under my own steam, as it were.  That is why, turning up to the station, facing the automated touch screens, punching in the coordinates, and receiving those tickets felt so good; I was finally free of the shackles.  Kunshan?  17 minutes.  Suzhou?  24 minutes, sir.  Nanjing, over 300 km away, is dispatched in a mere hour and ten minutes.  All your stations are belong to us.

    The stations match the track hardware in intent, matching or exceeding the architecture in Taiwan, and certainly better than the great majority of stations in the UK (though they ain’t no St. Pancras).  On that note, it was also amusing that at every opportunity China Rail made a point of including Taiwan on their network maps; cheeky, eh?  You can see the map here.

    With internet ticket sales apparently around the corner, these new tracks really open up this corner of China to exploration; something I really look forward to in subsequent trips.  Here are some photos of my first adventures.

    Kids hang outside Kunshan station on their rides

    Enjoying the sunlight

    Fading light

    Symmetry

    One of the regional trains.

    … and the more Shinkansen-ish high-speed trains.

    Transport cops on alert during Expo – all stations had x-ray detectors.

    End of the line in Nanjing.

    Threads on display outside the station.

    The Chinese ability to make pointlessly large displays of flowers is unmatched.

    View from near the station over to Nanjing downtown.

    … and venturing further away … workpeople at rest.

    Novelty petrol stations on the route to one of our vendors.

    Amusing views from the car.

    Team photos – a common sight.

    … but no matter how good the transport system, with 1.3 billion people wanting to travel some people are going to have to wait.  And wait they do, for painfully long periods of time.

  • Shanghai Trendspotting

    Shanghai is a huge, vibrant, emergent city that has had the world’s gaze upon it for at least the last five years.  I might argue, however, that there has not been a any cultural development coming out of the city that has really influenced the rest of the world; and ‘modern Chinese style’ doesn’t count – I think it just as likely that this fad is being spun by foreign design agencies eyeing Shanghai.  No, there is not yet a Harajuku, Carnaby Street or South Compton that is setting the world’s imagination alight, and no youth culture, musical or style trends that have had any meaningful effect outside of China.

    But that is not to say it won’t happen.

    This trip, far more than any previous visit, I was struck by the sophistication of the young people on the trains, buses, and on the street.  They were dressing more cohesively, colouring their hair, flaunting their iPods and demonstrating the embers of individuality that a large city like Shanghai should be driving.  The general manner of people (ie: selfish and rude) also suggests to me a capacity for individualistic, independent thought; probably more-so than what I see in Taiwan.  I could be entirely wrong about that though; who knows what a Quasi-Communist education does to you.

    But no, this trip I saw people dressed in some tasteful clothes, expressively vulgar clothes, and a whole host of trying their best to piece together a ‘look’.  It will be interesting to see how this evolves since the media is so restricted.

    A local lad stands proudly, showing off his purple mane.

    The other thing I couldn’t help noticing were the number of Sony PSPs and Nintendo DSs on display during underground train rides.  It’s perfectly possible that these were fakes, and simple movie players instead of bona-fide games units, but it was interesting none the less.  What I found more surprising were the sheer number of female players; clearly the macho game scene of the west is translated a bit differently here.

    Indeed, on my last day, I came across a Nintendo demonstration area in the mall beneath the hotel.  A hoard of girls were demonstrating the things you could do with the DS to a delighted crowd of females and children; boyfriends and fathers in tow.  There were tables showing-off make-up games, cameras and games … I have heard of female purchasers being persuaded by tangible benefits rather than brutal features, and it was interesting to see this demonstrated.

    Make-up apps.  Isn’t it funny that I now say ‘app’.

    Other stands welcoming a stream of visitors.

    But this is still China, and demonstrations of wealth still rule the school.  Ferraris and Porsches were everywhere, and there were as many Bentleys and Rolls Royces as you could shake a stick at.  Best of all was this modified Buick (a premium brand in China, bizarrely!) … smooth.

    Gin & Juice

    But as I have said before, I maintain that what makes Beijing cool is the Chinese (the rock music, the art …), what drives Shanghai are the foreigners.  Tony and Kelly took me to a British-style gastropub called The Waterhouse.  Serving hearty, modern food in a distressed warehouse atmosphere, it offered the perfect vantage point for looking out at Pudong and the amazing developments happening there.

    New York’s scene is, by definition, driven by immigrants and foreigners.  And maybe Shanghai’s will be in a generation’s time, blurring the line between what ‘foreign’ and domestic Chinese trends mean.

    View from The Waterhouse restaurant roof bar (avoid the cocktails, though).

  • Britain: A Showroom for Chinese Automobiles

    There is little that is more depressing than considering the slow, lingering death of the British car industry, but in China at least, the heart of British industry beats strong.  In a complex turn of events, both Rover and MG were bought by SAIC, and for reasons I cannot quite fathom they changed the name of Rover to ‘Roewe‘.

    I have been chatting to taxi drivers and other people during this trip, and it seems that many people consider the brands to be British, and they do seem to actually be respected.  It’s odd just how much resonance the ‘noble and rich’ side of British aristocracy carries here, with all the glitz and trimmings.  Perhaps that will be what the UK becomes; a showroom for Chinese automobiles.

    The Roewe 750 … rather like the Rover 75

    MG – alive and kicking in Shanghai

    Interesing that they spell out the whole ‘Morris Garages’ nomenclature … I doubt many people in the UK know it means that.  With so many Chinese companies shortening their names to TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms), like HTC, KHS and DEM, perhaps it makes sense to spell out its ‘Englishness’.

    Yes, it really says that.

  • Zhouzhuang – Water Town

    After several years of trying (admittedly, probably not trying hard enough), I finally made it to one of the ‘Water Towns’ in the Jiangsu province, near to Shanghai.  The whole country had come to a stop to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, which I understand indirectly commemorates overthrow of Mongol rule (although I have never quite understood the full background of the story).

    Zhouzhuang is proudly titled ‘Venice of the East’, though it should be noted that along with nearby Tongli, Wuzhen and Zhujiajiao, seventeen places also make the same claim.  According to Wikipedia, seven places also call themselves Paris of the East, but since Casablanca is actually further west, I don’t think these claims hold much water.

    The massive expanses of coastal plain around Kunshan and Shanghai are perfect for mega-scale manufacturing sites, but you can forget escaping it with the same ease that one can in Hong Kong or Taipei; places like this are normally bulldozed to make way for factories, well, making parts for computers.  So, while the weather was suffering as a result of a Typhoon hitting Taiwan, and there were a couple too many tour groups led by leaders with loudhailers and flags, it made for a thoroughly pleasant break from the grind of factory visits and sitting in offices waiting for parts to be spat out of a machine.

    A girl poses beside one of the bridges.

    While the towns are increasingly pure tourist centres, some people are evidently still going about their daily business, and there are still signs that people still live there.

    One of several temples in the town – the number of temples and religious establishments here are dramatically less than in Taiwan; indeed, one Chinese person quipped to me ‘Taiwan has too much religion.  And too many dogs.”

    Falling in line with my Rules of Graphics Design: there is no logo that cannot be improved with lightening bolts.

    Mirror evidence I think of some subtle Fengshui at work.

    Boats on the river ply their trade (of tourists).

    Hide-out.

    Back garden.

    My obsession with shooting windows and doors continues.

    Toys on display on the street.

    Modification of the roofs for modern conveniences.

    Super shapes.

    Laid out bare.

    I watched for a while this mysterious hand sell traditional toys on the street.

    This shop, as far as I can tell, sells round things.

    More roof details.

    I got a serious earful from the lady on the left before, during and after taking this photo.

    Ladies wot lunch.

    Monkeying around.

    Portraits of eminent leaders … but can you spot some of the others in the background? …

  • Shanghai Manners

    In Shanghai, it’s apparently oh-kay to clip your fingernails on the underground train.

    Apparently, it is also okay to leave a pile of clippings on the seat for the next customer.

    This made me physically revolt, more even than seeing people spit everywhere. Rant over.

  • 474m, 100 Floors, 500 Posts

    And what better way to mark it than with an introduction to the skywalk in the Shanghai World Finance Center? While I had been there before, I had not had the chance to experience a death-defying encounter with a 474m drop, in the world’s highest observation deck (higher, even than the Burj). All I can say is ‘sweaty palms’; I was not in very good shape, and all my natural instincts to ‘fight or flight’ kicked in at the same moment. Humans, I am convinced, are not supposed to walk on glass floors, half a mile in the sky …

    Just a normal day at work – wave at the funny foreigner with the camera.

    Nothing can phase those guys.

    My hotel – the Renaissance at Zhongshan Park – is the building at the middle-top.

    A split personality.

    Just watching the world go by.

    I was really pooing myself.

    An impressive sight!

    Window cleaners.

    What made it even scarier were all the mirrors everywhere … when I walked in, I was actually a little disorientated to know what was floor, and what was glass.

    Said mirrors.

    Exit at the junction.

    Silhouettes.

    I think this captures all the main buildings!

    Quite a view …

    The first punchline …

    … the second punchline is that they sell a bottle opener of the building in the shape of a bottle opener!  Sadly, it was huge, metal and about thirty quid!  Get me a fake, please.

  • Expo Shanghai

    “China, meet World.  World, meet China.”

    It’s statement is pretty clear.

    World Fairs and Expositions are a chance for the nations of the world to trade ideas and peddle their cultural and industrial wares.  This year’s show, held in an emergent and increasingly confident Shanghai, seems to be less for the benefit of the global community, and rather a chance for the people of China to experience the world they are set to inherit.

    If the future is reflected between the pavilions and edifices, it is one full of Chinese people.  Over 52 million people have visited the fair thus far, and even though I chose a quiet Tuesday evening to attend, queues stretched around the (futurist) block.  After seeing the line-up for the British pavilion stretch past the two-hour marker, and similarly long lines for the other ‘blue chip’ countries, I decided not to enter any pavilions at all.  Nope – if someone asks me which countries I visited, I am not about to say ‘Belgium and The Philippines’; I would simply prefer to spend more time walking around and taking it all in.

    So, starting roughly in the middle with Europe (America is comically marginalised at the absolute extreme far end of the site), I began my international stroll.  The British pavilion, designed by Thomas Heatherwick, was a triumph; and possibly even more dramatic than the huge, Blade Runner-esque Chinese building.  People gawped (me included) at the explosion of rods, seemly frozen in time and hanging in mid-air, as if smoke.  Rounding it a couple of times, it was interesting to compare it to some of the adjacent sites which were lighter on drama and heavier on content.  Italy and Spain both seemed to be far more full of actual things to look at and do, and others were at least packed with restaurants; most of the Norway site was filled with its Salmon restaurant, and Belgium even featured a chip van parked out the front (I do admit to stopping their for a refuel).

    Rule Britannia … one thing I like about the design, is that it seems to accidentally mimic the Union flag.  What can I say – I guess it felt good to see the flag flying in front.

    Amorphous shape.

    On the fence.

    What must they think?

    Subtle commercial activities.

    Other blatant political messages dotted the site.  The aforementioned Taiwanese pavilion, themed like a sky lantern, was placed within arms reach of China, only slightly further away than Macao and Hong Kong.  And much like America, Japan was placed at the absolute far end of the site, keeping Kazakhstan and Vietnam company.  Meanwhile, Koreas North and South were separated by the major walkway linking the site together.  Laying out the plots must have been akin to organising a wedding banquet.

    Click to see who is on China’s Christmas card list this year.

    Plenty of eco-ness pervaded the event, but you can’t help but wonder about the amount of energy used to transform the site, and ferry the legions of people in.  While pavilions such as New Zealand made proud boasts about the amount of energy they were using, others (notably Taiwan) seemed to take it upon themselves to fuel those solar panels through the night with an wanton display of LED-showmanship.  2010 is clearly the coming-out party for the humble LED as an architectural element.

    And just as my feet were beginning to get tired, it suddenly struck me what the whole thing felt like.  It was like visiting a showroom for domestic and international airports, all clustered together in one site.  Without the airplanes, of course, but still with the faint feeling that you were just about to pick up your luggage.

    I actually attended the Hanover Expo, ten years previously, and I think I was left with the same impression; numbness.  Disney without the rides.  Airports without planes.  Experience, but without the understanding.

    Yep – even the UN gets their own pavilion.

    Spain’s was huge, and covered in door mats.

    People really enjoyed the fashion show outside Germany’s building.

    The Greek pavilion.

    Some areas of the world made more effort than others.

    The show, of course, was not really for international visitors; it was for the legions of Chinese, coming in from other cities and towns; it was amazing to see the variety of faces, and equally humbling to think about the reactions that they would be having to some of the more ‘challenging’ pavilions (like the UK), when they probably would have been perfectly happy with a fake castle.

    A light show from Taiwan… looking up to big brother on the other side of the walkway.

    Let’s hope your next project isn’t, well, Taiwan.

  • Land of the Rising Sun

    Well, it’s been a while, Shanghai, but it’s good to be back; a great night out with Gerhard and the Shanghai design mafia, and home in time to see the sunrise from the 49th floor.  I might regret this tomorrow!

    Before I head out.

    Macdonalds on the edge of Zhongshan park, punctuating the darkness.

  • Taikang Road

    So I am here in China for the first time in six months or so; at least since joining the Latitude design team.

    I am here during Expo, and I will be sure to take the chance to go and take a look at it in the next fortnight, hopefully finding a way to avoid some of the worst queues. But before I even step foot in the Expo, I can see the collateral effects that it is having on the city.

    Taikang Road (where I am sitting right now) was one of my favourite design spots in the city, always offering an easily-accessible good vibe, some interesting design, and all washed down with a good cappuccino.

    Now? Well there are still the design shops, but it’s been heavily cleaned up, and some of the more interesting businesses have made way for little more than tourist nick-nack outlets. Not unpleasant, exactly, but it’s certainly lost some of the pioneering atmosphere that it once had.

    I suppose every ex-pat had the same stories; “I remember when this place was authentic.”. At least it has not been demolished to make way for a shopping centre – though the street opposite has managed to sprout one in the last six months.

    What’s the next project for China after the Olympics and Expo? I asked the taxi driver this afternoon if China could just relax for a bit, and he laughed a knowing laugh of “no, our next project is the world.”