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shanghaidriverservice · 2 months ago

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Shanghai Inter-City Transfer: Reliable & Comfortable Service by shanghaidriver.net

Traveling between cities in China can be a hassle, especially when trying to balance comfort, time efficiency, and reliability. For those who need to move from Shanghai to nearby cities like Suzhou, Hangzhou, or Nanjing, the Shanghai Inter-City Transfer Service from shanghaidriver.net offers a perfect solution. Whether for business or leisure, this service ensures a smooth, hassle-free journey with experienced drivers, comfortable vehicles, and a commitment to punctuality.

1. Convenience and Flexibility

One of the most significant benefits of Shanghai Inter-City Transfer is its unparalleled convenience and flexibility. Whether you’re traveling for a business meeting, a family outing, or exploring the scenic beauty of nearby cities, this service allows you to plan your travel on your own terms. No need to worry about fluctuating train schedules or flight delays—your private driver will pick you up at your preferred time and transport you directly to your destination.

Key Highlights:

Door-to-Door Service: Enjoy pick-up from your home, hotel, or office and a direct drop-off at your destination city.

Tailored Scheduling: Choose your own departure time, making it perfect for travelers with tight or unpredictable schedules.

2. Comfortable and Reliable Vehicles

Traveling long distances can often be uncomfortable, especially in crowded trains or public buses. The inter-city transfer service from shanghaidriver.net eliminates this issue by offering private, well-maintained vehicles that prioritize comfort. From spacious interiors to air-conditioning and reclining seats, your journey will be smooth and relaxing.

Key Highlights:

Luxury and Comfort: Choose from a range of vehicles, including sedans, SUVs, and even luxury options, ensuring a comfortable ride.

Safety and Reliability: All vehicles undergo regular maintenance, and drivers are trained to ensure a safe and dependable journey.

3. Professional and Experienced Drivers

One of the key factors in the success of shanghaidriver.net’s Inter-City Transfer Service is their team of professional and experienced drivers. All drivers are licensed, well-versed in regional routes, and focused on providing a high-quality experience to every passenger.

Key Highlights:

Local Knowledge: Drivers are familiar with the best routes between cities, avoiding unnecessary delays or traffic.

Punctuality: With an emphasis on timeliness, you can rest assured that your driver will be on time for both pick-up and drop-off.

Language Support: For international travelers, the service offers English-speaking drivers to ensure smooth communication throughout the journey.

4. Efficient and Time-Saving

Public transport between cities can be time-consuming due to stops, delays, and connections. By opting for a private inter-city transfer, you cut down on travel time significantly. With no unnecessary detours and direct routes, the Shanghai Inter-City Transfer service is both efficient and stress-free.

Key Highlights:

Direct Travel: No stops, no delays—just a direct route to your destination.

No Waiting Time: Your driver will be ready when you are, eliminating the need to wait for buses, trains, or flights.

5. Cost-Effective and Transparent Pricing

Contrary to popular belief, private transfers can be quite affordable when compared to alternative forms of travel. With shanghaidriver.net, you get upfront, transparent pricing with no hidden fees. This makes it an excellent option for travelers seeking reliability without breaking the bank.

Key Highlights:

Competitive Rates: Get the best value for your money with fixed, affordable pricing.

No Hidden Costs: All fees are clearly stated before booking, ensuring there are no surprises at the end of your journey.

6. Ideal for Business and Leisure Travelers

Whether you’re heading to another city for a business meeting or enjoying a weekend getaway, Shanghai Inter-City Transfer services cater to both corporate and personal needs. Business travelers can focus on preparing for meetings while enjoying the privacy and quiet of a personal vehicle. Leisure travelers can sit back and relax, taking in the scenic routes.

Key Highlights:

Business-Friendly Services: Reliable, timely transportation that ensures you arrive at your meeting or event on time.

Leisure Comfort: A comfortable and relaxing ride to enhance your travel experience.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a reliable, comfortable, and efficient way to travel between Shanghai and nearby cities, the Shanghai Inter-City Transfer Service is the ideal choice. With professional drivers, well-maintained vehicles, and flexible scheduling, you can enjoy peace of mind knowing that your travel needs are in expert hands. Whether for business or leisure, this service ensures that you arrive at your destination on time, relaxed, and ready for what’s ahead.

Book your inter-city transfer today at shanghaidriver.net and experience hassle-free, comfortable travel across China’s beautiful cities.

#Shanghai Inter-City transfer #Shanghai inter-city ride with private car

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worldhotelvideo · 7 years ago

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Hotel Avance in Bratislava, Slovakia (Europe). The best of Hotel Avance in Bratislava Hotel. Welcome to Hotel Avance in Bratislava, Slovakia (Europe). The best of Hotel Avance in Bratislava. Subscribe in http://goo.gl/VQ4MLN General services in the accommodation include wifi available in all areas. In the section of restaurant you can enjoy bar, room service, breakfast options, special diet menus (on request), breakfast in the room, restaurant (à la carte), restaurant and kid meals. For health, the establishment offers hot tub/jacuzzi, full body massage, fitness classes, personal trainer, yoga classes, sauna, massage and spa lounge/relaxation area. In relation to the transfer we will find airport drop off, electric vehicle charging station, secured parking, street parking, parking garage, airport pick up and airport shuttle. For the reception we will be able to meet newspapers, private check-in/check-out, 24-hour front desk, luggage storage, atm/cash machine on site, express check-in/check-out, tour desk, safety deposit box and ticket service. Within the related areas we will be able to enjoy terrace and sun terrace. The function of cleaning services will include shoeshine, dry cleaning, ironing service and laundry. If you arrive for business reasons in the establishment you will have meeting/banquet facilities and fax/photocopying. mini-market on site. We could highlight other possibilities as heating, air conditioning, non-smoking throughout, soundproof rooms, bridal suite, designated smoking area, non-smoking rooms, lift, facilities for disabled guests, allergy-free room and wheelchair accessible [https://youtu.be/vb2OgSuxJkc] Book now cheaper in https://ift.tt/2HTQVUV You can find more info in https://ift.tt/2FdsYVH We hope you have a pleasant stay in Hotel Avance Other hotels in Bratislava Tulip House Boutique Hotel Bratislava https://youtu.be/3I556YXEcWg Arcadia Hotel https://youtu.be/YbJJPTlFARc Marrol's Boutique Hotel https://youtu.be/8bQAJXP4J3w Skaritz Hotel & Residence https://youtu.be/Q6ZG3eNlUYs Radisson Blu Carlton Hotel, Bratislava https://youtu.be/6p9a9jxmzpA Other hotels in this channel Courtyard by Marriott Santo Domingo https://youtu.be/sMTEuFlGG-E OYO Rooms Ampang Point https://youtu.be/nMBpO4fh_wQ Hotel MiM Sitges https://youtu.be/Xwm4L54ielw Kyoung Dong Hotel Myeongdong https://youtu.be/Ke8gs2gTqhM https://youtu.be/tw-xvuBVsU0 Ramee Grand Hotel and Spa, Pune https://youtu.be/PZu8iMI-kHY Holiday Inn Amman https://youtu.be/MbCkoF6GPL0 Hilton Garden Inn Montevideo https://youtu.be/d6dHAp2brEY Threadneedles, Autograph Collection https://youtu.be/CCDE3Sx3vCA Phuket Blue Hostel https://youtu.be/Er4RFW3c8-E New City Hotel https://youtu.be/8OPAxPzvOcA Wave Hotel Pattaya https://youtu.be/pikuX13ZNbE Hôtel de l'Alma Paris https://youtu.be/QuTe_SD46qc Vendome East Inn https://youtu.be/Py8l0wLIpU0 Shangri-La Hotel,Suzhou https://youtu.be/IwPaAid3EVI In Bratislava we recommended to visit In the Slovakia you can visit some of the most recommended places such as Castillo de Bratislava, Castillo de Devín, Catedral de San Martín, Most SNP, Teatro nacional Eslovaco, Palacio del primado, Old Town Hall, Puerta de San Miguel and Museo nacional Eslovaco. We also recommend that you do not miss Slovak National Gallery, Palacio Hof, Fuente Maximiliano, Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum, Man at work, Museo de la ciudad de Bratislava, We hope you have a pleasant stay in Hotel Avance and we hope you enjoy our top 10 of the best hotels in Slovakia All images used in this video are or have been provided by Booking. If you are the owner and do not want this video to appear, simply contact us. You can find us at https://ift.tt/2iPJ6Xr by World Hotel Video

#whv #YouTube

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thewrosper · 5 years ago

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China’s digital currency experiment, and its lessons for India

Digital monies won’t crumble dollar-dominant financial ecosystem, but the idea is something India can positively build on Last month the Chinese Central Bank rolled out pilot testing for its home grown digital currency. The tests, slated to take place in the cities of Shenzhen, Suzhou, Chengdu and Xiong’an, will involve transferring salaries to government workers in the form of the new Digital Currency (internally referred to as DC/EP) and tying up with a set of designated merchants to facilitate transactions using the currency. The end goal is to have full-fledged functionality by the time the 2022 Olympics take place.China’s decision to move towards a digital currency has created waves in the policy community. In August last year, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) had said that it was close to rolling out what was then called the Digital Yuan: As early as April 20 this year, the first pilot tests were sanctioned for it. Alongside the rollout came a report in April this year in the state media outlet, China Daily, which observed that, “A sovereign digital currency provides a functional alternative to the dollar settlement system and blunts the impact of any sanctions or threats of exclusion both at a country and company level”.

China’s decision to move towards a digital currency has created waves in the policy community. While there has been much furore about the threat to the current financial ecosystem, there are reasons to doubt both the immediacy and the scale of this rather tall claim. First, as observed by Harvard professor of economics, Kenneth Rogoff, the present dollar-dominant regime is backed by “America’s deep and liquid markets, its strong institutions, and the rule of law”. This becomes apparent in the Bank of International Settlements triennial survey of September 2019, where the US dollar retains its dominant currency status, being on one side of 88% of all trades and the SWIFT banking network, and as discussed in the report, continues to dominate global interbank money transfers.The renminbi continues to remain the eighth most traded currency in the world, primarily because of a secondary observation made by Professor Rogoff: “China’s burdensome capital controls, its limits on foreign holdings of bonds and equities, and the general opaqueness of its financial system leave the Yuan many decades away from supplanting the dollar in the legal global economy.” The concept of a digital Yuan however, begs further inquiry, and the fact that it will not overthrow the existing financial order should not stop us from interrogating the inherent value proposition of a digital currency. In a paper published in the China Economic Journal last year, former PBoC digital currency chief, Yao Qian, makes a compelling case for Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) with several observations holding equal weight in the Indian context.By highlighting three key dilemmas in the existing monetary systems — “traceability” (the inability to accurately monitor fund flows to the individual level), homogeneity (the inability to effectively target funding to particular sectors) and “real momentness” (the inability to guarantee the timeliness of disbursal) — he presents a case for programmable, digital money, issued by the Central Bank. In China, this has come in the form of the DC/EP, and there is a genuine case to be made for India to pursue its own. COVID19‘AI crew on Vande Bharat Mission can return to Gautam Buddh Nagar after Covid test’224 fresh cases in Delhi, 3 more private hospitals for virusHaryana: Nurse stabbed over social distancing in PalwalADVERTISEMENTHomeOpinionChina’s digital currency experiment, and its lessons for IndiaDigital monies won’t crumble dollar-dominant financial ecosystem, but the idea is something India can positively build onWritten By Vineet John Samuel |Published: May 10, 2020 12:00:24 pmNEXTChina’s decision to move towards a digital currency has created waves in the policy community.RELATED NEWSAs Chinese currency’s declines, it’s not all Beijing’s doingChina’s yuan down as US imposes fresh trade sanctions; stocks steadyChinese stocks, yuan down as US trade tariffs kick inLast month the Chinese Central Bank rolled out pilot testing for its home grown digital currency. The tests, slated to take place in the cities of Shenzhen, Suzhou, Chengdu and Xiong’an, will involve transferring salaries to government workers in the form of the new Digital Currency (internally referred to as DC/EP) and tying up with a set of designated merchants to facilitate transactions using the currency. The end goal is to have full-fledged functionality by the time the 2022 Olympics take place.China’s decision to move towards a digital currency has created waves in the policy community. In August last year, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) had said that it was close to rolling out what was then called the Digital Yuan: As early as April 20 this year, the first pilot tests were sanctioned for it. Alongside the rollout came a report in April this year in the state media outlet, China Daily, which observed that, “A sovereign digital currency provides a functional alternative to the dollar settlement system and blunts the impact of any sanctions or threats of exclusion both at a country and company level”.ADVERTISEMENTWhile there has been much furore about the threat to the current financial ecosystem, there are reasons to doubt both the immediacy and the scale of this rather tall claim. First, as observed by Harvard professor of economics, Kenneth Rogoff, the present dollar-dominant regime is backed by “America’s deep and liquid markets, its strong institutions, and the rule of law”. This becomes apparent in the Bank of International Settlements triennial survey of September 2019, where the US dollar retains its dominant currency status, being on one side of 88% of all trades and the SWIFT banking network, and as discussed in the report, continues to dominate global interbank money transfers.The renminbi continues to remain the eighth most traded currency in the world, primarily because of a secondary observation made by Professor Rogoff: “China’s burdensome capital controls, its limits on foreign holdings of bonds and equities, and the general opaqueness of its financial system leave the Yuan many decades away from supplanting the dollar in the legal global economy.”ADVERTISEMENTThe concept of a digital Yuan however, begs further inquiry, and the fact that it will not overthrow the existing financial order should not stop us from interrogating the inherent value proposition of a digital currency. In a paper published in the China Economic Journal last year, former PBoC digital currency chief, Yao Qian, makes a compelling case for Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) with several observations holding equal weight in the Indian context.By highlighting three key dilemmas in the existing monetary systems — “traceability” (the inability to accurately monitor fund flows to the individual level), homogeneity (the inability to effectively target funding to particular sectors) and “real momentness” (the inability to guarantee the timeliness of disbursal) — he presents a case for programmable, digital money, issued by the Central Bank. In China, this has come in the form of the DC/EP, and there is a genuine case to be made for India to pursue its own.ADVERTISEMENTAt present, there have already been significant policy nudges towards developing an Indian CBDC. The Draft National Blockchain Strategy tabled by the National Institute for Smart Governance earlier this year, has called for India to develop a Central Bank Digital Rupee on a national permissioned block chain, while also outlining the legal limitations faced by other crypto currencies in the country. Such a call seems particularly welcome in the context of the Coronavirus, as the government looks to optimise its financing mechanisms, and increase the impact of the limited funds that it has at its disposal.In the context of financial technologies, India has made several aggressive strides forward. While the UPI has enabled instantaneous transactions, its Aadhar integration and applicability at all levels of India’s commerce have enabled its rapid scaling. In such an environment, an Indian digital currency presents itself as a logical end to the ongoing transformation of cash into its digital avatar.India, more so than China, faces all three of the dilemmas highlighted by Qian. The opacity of our governance mechanisms only facilitates the attrition of money as it trickles down through various levels of government. A programmable digital currency that can be monitored at the central level would radically alter the capacities of our existing monetary policy. As conceived by Qian, a programmable currency could be programmed to target particular sectors, within a particular time period. In such a context, monetary policy could move away from traditionally targeting aggregate money supply and open new doors, like the precise targeting of interbank interest rates, and the establishment of dynamic sector-specific interest rates. Further enhanced by robust machine learning, a programmable currency could ensure that monetary policy chiefs are equipped with a significantly more potent arsenal for the future.Over the last decade, India has made significant strides in the field of financial technology and a Central Bank Digital Rupee presents yet another opportunity to continue this push. The Chinese began research on their Digital Currency with the establishment of their Digital Currency Research Centre in 2017. India’s monetary leadership must not fall far behind, and seriously consider charting for itself, a path out of the analogue realm and into the digital. Read the full article

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joshuajacksonlyblog · 5 years ago

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PBoC to Test Crypto Yuan with Telecom Firms, Commercial Banks

People’s Bank of China is entering another stage of its tests for a crypto payment system. The central bank announced it had completed the preliminary tests and has turned to create a testing ground with the aid of major Chinese companies and banks.

PBOC Performs Pilot Tests for its Crypto

People’s Bank of China has tested its crypto-asset payment system since 2014 but has abstained from an official launch. Now, a news report suggests the central bank may launch a pilot test of the digital currency in the cities of Shenzhen and Suzhou, onboarding local large-scale commercial banks and local telecom giants like Huawei.

The current test will be a small-scale operation running until the end of the year, reported the Caijing magazine. Afterward, 2020 will see further testing, to establish the best model for a yuan-pegged digital coin.

The tests will be performed in a “horse race” model, with each commercial bank proposing a different payment model. The best ones may be used to launch the crypto yuan, explained a person close to the tests.

Digital Yuan May Circumvent Global Financial System

The actual situation with the digital yuan did not reach the promised launch “by the end of November”, which turned out to be an exaggerated rumor. Still, China is setting up a precedent that may have repercussions both for the crypto space and for the global financial system.

China’s digital asset may create a new pathway of money, potentially circumventing US-based sanctions, and going beyond the control of banks. This may end up financing regimes like North Korea, commented Paul Vigna at the Wall Street Journal.

China’s Digital Asset to Potentially Replace Cash for Private Users

So far, the PBOC is the first central bank to run detailed tests of it’s digital currency using the technology similar to Bitcoin, but also being backed by the State. The European Central Bank, under its new President Christine Lagarde, has admitted the possibility for creating a digital euro, but without advanced technical tests.

Fan Yifei, deputy governor of the PBOC, stated that the digital payment system is aimed at replacing M0, or actual cash in circulation. The central bank already uses a solely digital ledger for broad money and will keep the legacy system to transfer funds to commercial banks. But everyday money may be replaced by a technologically advanced version.

The usage of mobile-based payments, as well as the prevalence of WeChat and AliPay as fintech solutions also suggest the need for a more secure digital form of money.

The PBOC has no hard deadline for launching the crypto yuan, reminded the bank’s governor, Yi Gang. There will, however, be a series of tests to select the best model for supplying digital cash.

What do you think about China’s drive to introduce a crypto yuan? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Image via Shutterstock

The post PBoC to Test Crypto Yuan with Telecom Firms, Commercial Banks appeared first on Bitcoinist.com.

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kyuukancorbie · 8 years ago

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JG Summary 1-4 Mato

Mato, or the Devil’s City. 1940.

Disclaimer: 1. I assume everyone knows what’s already in the anime. 2. The information is based on the Chinese novel, I do not claim credit for translation. 3. Everything is quoted. My comments are in parenthesis. 4. Please do not post outside of tumblr. 5. Corrections are welcomed.

Main Character: Yukihito Kusanagi （行人　草薙）/ Fukumoto （福本）

Note on the title

Mato, or 魔都, is a name given to Shanghai, specifically the Shanghai Concession, by Japanese around the 1930s. If you remember 魔王 as the devil king, 魔都 would be the devil’s city, or sin city if you prefer. The word “魔都” is revived in China today as a slang for Shanghai.

Another disclaimer, the military ranking may not be accurate, as it is very confusing trying to match Japanese and English terms, when I can only refer to Chinese terms. So any corrections are welcomed.

Story is told from the perspective of Sergeant Eiji Honma. The anime follows the novel quite closely, so I’ll just be focusing on the characters rather than the whole plot. I will still add details in the end to give you guys a flavor but you should really just wikipedia as I do not intend to write a history essay.

List of characters:

- Eiji Honma (英司　本間) (Honma): Storyteller, former officer of the Tokubetsu Kōtō Keisatsu in Japan (特別高等警察, or literally Special Higher Police, the Japanese secret police. See bottom of the post for notes). Transferred to Shanghai Kenpeitai 3 months ago and has difficulty adjusting to the locality. He is tasked by Captain Oikawa to investigate internal information leaks.

- Masayuki Oikawa (政行　及川) (Oikawa): Captain of Shanghai Kenpeitai. Relatively slender and delicate build for a soldier, engaged to the daughter of Lieutenant General Yokozawa and about to get a promotion.

He was known to be a perfectionist and a mysophobe, but this eventually led to his mental demise in the 5 years working in the Western Shanghai District, the most dangerous area of all Shanghai. He states that 5 years is too long. He fell for gambling, drinking, whoring, and agreed to secretly exchange opium kept by the Kenpeitai for his own pleasure. It is revealed that he sells military intelligence as well. To hide his crimes, he instigated a robbery of the Kenpeitai’s opium warehouse, hired a boy from the casino to kill Nobuteru Miyata, then blew up his own house so the series of events looked like the works of anti-Japanese terrorists.

There is a detailed analysis of Oikawa’s background and the historical locations in present day real life by the same person I linked last time, in Chinese. Please note that the photos of Shanghai are taken by the author herself and should not be reproduced without her permission.

- Nobuteru Miyata (伸照　宮田) (Miyata): Sergeant Major of the Shanghai Kenpeitai, killed not long ago in the alleys, shown in the beginning of the anime episode 4. He was originally investigating the missing opium from the Kenpeitai, before secretly killed.

- Yutaka Yoshino (豊　吉野) (Yoshino): Leading Private of the Shanghai Kenpeitai. He is Oikawa’s accomplice in smuggling opium. However in the end the poor guy killed Oikawa for killing his lover.

- Hajime Shiotsuka (朔　塩塚) (Shiotsuka): Graduate from Tokyo Imperial University, present day Tokyo University, and currently a writer for a Japanese newspaper based in Shanghai. As a student he was caught by Tokuko (特高) police reading a left-wing magazine, but quickly broke and swore repentence (…) after some questioning and was subsequently released. He left China some time before Honma’s encounter with Fukumoto, who used him as a disguise.

- Yukihito Kusanagi (行人　草薙) (Kusanagi): D-Agency spy of the episode. Graduate from Tokyo Imperial University, classmate of Shiotsuka. He is identified by Shiotsuka as a D-Agency spy, although the Shiotsuka that Honma meets is probably Kusanagi in disguise. In the anime, Kusanagi is Fukumoto.

Kusanagi is described as extremely smart in school, a mysterious loner, with a fair, cold face like a mask. No one knows anything about his family, though some students speculated he is a bastard of an important guy and a geisha. There is no evidence for this. It is also rumored that after graduating with exceptional grades he continued to study somewhere abroad.

When Honma looks at Kusanagi’s graduation photo, he notes that his face is not one of an extremist, those he usually dealt with in the Tokko days. Although the photo is a front picture, it feels as if Kusanagi is looking sideways. While the photo is taken for an entire group of students, it seems as if his personal picture. Honma realizes that Kusanagi has the expression of egotist who believes in noone but himself, aperson who takes huge risks and difficult tasks just because he can.

(This is a possible background for Fukumoto, except for the fact that the Shiotsuka describing this is probably Kusanagi/Fukumoto himself. No doubt he is using Honma, but he may be playing with him as well, as I’ll mention on a later point, but the graduation photo seems real. It is possible that Yukihito Kusanagi is his real name).

———————-

Notes:

Tokkō (特高): the Japanese secret police that patrols the country for communist suspects. They are called Peace Police but are known more notoriously as Thought Police. They are initially a division of the Home Ministry but was added to the command of the Kenpeitai in occupied regions. Before WWII every Japanese embassy in China had a police department with a Tokko division. (Honma worked as a Tokko officer in Japan, but is not a Tokko when transferred to Shanghai).

Shanghai International Settlement: The following is an introduction from wikipedia.

The settlements were established following the defeat of the Qing army by the British in the First Opium War (1839–1842). Under the terms of the Treaty of Nanking, the five treaty ports including Shanghai were opened to foreign merchants. Unlike the colonies of Hong Kong and Weihaiwei, which were sovereign British territories, the foreign concessions in Shanghai originally remained Chinese sovereign territory. However, the Qing government gave up sovereignty in the concessions to the foreign powers in exchange of their support to suppress the rebellion in 1853-1855. The following year the British and American settlements formally united to create the Shanghai International Settlement. As more foreign powers entered into treaty relations with China, their nationals also became part of the administration of the settlement, but it always remained a predominantly British affair until the growth of Japan’s involvement in the late 1930s.

The Marco Polo Bridge Incident: September 7th, 1937.

Also known as the July 7th Incident, the Lugou Bridge Incident. (七七事变、卢沟桥事变)

The battle marked the beginning of Japanese invasion of North China and the Second Sino-Japanese War from 1937 to 1945, which is also part of the Pacific front of WWII. The story of Mato or Episode 4 takes place in 1940, which means China and Japan had been in state of war for years. The novel notes that since then the British have been favoring the Chinese government in Chongqing and tends to turn a blind eye to anti-Japanese activity in Shanghai.

The Battle of Shanghai: August 13th, 1937.

This was one of the largest and bloodiest battles of the entire war, described by Peter Harmsen as “Stalingrad on the Yangtze”. The Chinese and Japanese were fighting in Shanghai for 3 months before the Japanese took control of city. After the battle, the originally bustling Zhabei and Nanshi Districts were destroyed, the Chinese area of the Shanghai concession became essentially slums, the international settlement north of Suzhou River was seriously damaged and occupied by Japan. The settlement south of the River, as well as the French part of the concession, was left out of the battle and continued an eerie four-year prosperity called the “Lone Island Era （孤岛时期）”. The Western District of Shanghai, under Japanese control, became the hotbed for crime, which is where the soldiers in the novel are working.

Yuuki’s designs for Shanghai:

(Note: In the anime, it is revealed in the end that, by encouraging a person from the Kenpeitai to deal with Kenpeitai’s internal issues, the Agency helped the Kenpeitai save face and thus, the army has agreed to Yuuki’s plans. However it does not say what the Yuuki’s plan is, possibly because of the time limit, or because it involved a good deal of political and historical complications. In the novel, Shiotsuka told Honma their plan, and Honma reasons it out in considerable detail.)

The plan: 2.5 billion fake notes of Chinese Yuan brought into Shanghai, to be distributed throughout the country. According to the novel, this is worth the sum 3 years of Chinese military expense in 1937. Numbers aside, this is intended to wreck the Chinese economy with inflation, destroy the currency’s credibility, and ultimately prevent them from importing weapons and raw materials from abroad.

While supposedly this plan can win the war without a fight, not only the army, but also the public if they ever get to know about it, will definitely accuse the plan as being utterly dispicable.

The Green Gang（青帮）: To carry out the currency warfare it is also rumored that the D-Agency will be cooperating with the Green Gang in China. They are a secret society unrelated to national sovereignty, similar to the Japanese Yakuzas. While there were historically many secret societies in China, the Green Gang based along the Yantze River and in Shanghai are said to be the most powerful yet and now commands China’s underground economy. The Green Gang’s primary source of income is opium. Honma remembers how much damage opium has already caused in China and how unsettled he feels every time he passes an opium den in Shanghai.

The War: Honma believes that the objective of war was supposed to be freeing Asian people from the oppression of European imperialists. He then wonders why the war has come to this distasteful state.

Looking at Kusanagi’s photo again Honma feels like Kusanagi is looking down upon the whole world, laughing at every existence. He then remembers several words: daemon, devil, dangerous, darkness. Honma ponders about the meaning of the name “D” agency, but stops himself from overthinking and leaves the scene.

At the end of the chapter, Honma is in Oikawa’s office watching the dead bodies, and he sees the bodies of two men bewitched by Mato, Shanghai, the Devil’s City. A question is raised: “will you be able to handle situations like this?” The final sentences describes a pair of eyes peering at Honma from the dark.

Note: speculations on why Kusanagai/Fukumoto gives Honma Kusanagi’s name

1. He may need a second alias becausing leading Honma to the night club under the name Shiotsuka could perhaps cause unnecessary suspicion. 2. He needs an alias that interests Honma enough to make Honma follow his lead. 3. He announces the presence of the D-Agency as a headsup or warning for Honma to keep an eye out as the agency will continue their surveilling, and they may need direct cooperation from the Kenpeitai in the future.

Or 4. Kusanagi/Fukumoto is playing with him because he can.

A funny note: when disguised as Shiotsuka, he states that even if Honma learns all the languages and habits involved in Shanghai culture, locals will still be able to tell a Japanese apart from sight. The way they wear their clothes could be different, even they way they wash their faces are different. At this point Honma asks about what is the difference. Shiotsuka demonstrates that while the Japanese have their hands closed, moving up and down their faces, the Chinese move their faces up and down their hands. Honma takes note of this.

I will say this as absolute nonsense. Bet 99% that Shiotsuka/Kusanagi/Fukumoto is just playing with the poor sergeant.

@jgfiles

#joker game #Fukumoto

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tripstoshanghai-blog · 6 years ago

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Why Shanghai Day Tours Is Most Popular Tour Guides For Visitors?

Visitors to Shanghai are not only dazzled by the modern city and entry to a developing China, but also by its single mix together of modern and conventional, east and west. Being the financial hub of China, Shanghai Day Tours boasts of good-looking sky scrapers on the North Eastern section in Pudong, while Puxi has some old styled structural design like gardens, museums, temples, and etc. This difference just looks like an old city in a new city.

Shanghai is a busy and big city with plenty of tourism resources, each having its own distinct characteristic and wonderful places to visit. There are so many things to do and see in Shanghai, you will be amazed. Things to do in Shanghai Day Tours including shopping on the famous Nanjing Road, climbing up Shanghai's Oriental Pearl Tower or Jinmao Tower and getting thrilled with the fantastic view of the entire city on the top of either of them. The other places like the elegant Yuyuan Garden, the Shanghai Museum, the milk-white Jade Buddha at the Buddha Temple, the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall and the ancient water town of Zhujiaojiao, which is called as "The Venice of the East" should not be missed on your Shanghai Tour Guide.

Nightlife and Entertainment in Shanghai: At night Shanghai is especially lovely when the lights are lit. When the neon lights are on in the evening, Shanghai comes to life. The nightclubs and bars are always booming in Shanghai. The Nightly Portman acrobatic show, the evening Huangpu River cruise are the most two evening entertainments for catering to tourists.

Recommended Shanghai Tour Guide and around:

Day 01: Shanghai Be met and be transferred to your Hotel or Railway Station.

Day 02: Shanghai Visit the Shanghai Museum and the TV Tower.

Day 03: Shanghai - Wuxi Visit the Yu Garden, the Bund and the Nanjing Road, then drive to Wuxi.

Day 04: Wuxi Visit the beautiful Yuantouzhu Park and the Xihui Park.

Day 05: Wuxi - Suzhou Today you will drive to visit Tongli, one of the famous water towns. After the tour, you will drive to Suzhou.

Day 06: Suzhou Visit the Lingering Garden and Fishing Net Garden. And then continue to visit the Silk Factory to get a general knowledge of how the beautiful silk is made.

Day 07: Suzhou - Shanghai Today you will drive back to Shanghai to your next destination.

Shanghai Private Tour [http://www.tripstoshanghai.com/] - Professional Shanghai Tour Guide with tailor made service. Come with us to see China with your own eyes and touch this ground with your hands. All services are private and in small group with English speaking tour guide and license driver.

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party-hard-or-die · 6 years ago

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In Europe

YIWU, China/MALASZEWICZE, Poland (Reuters) – When cargo trains from China began arriving at the Polish border town of Malaszewicze almost a decade ago, they were considered a novelty – able to ship laptops and cars to Europe in as little as two weeks, but extremely infrequent, with one service a month.

General view with containers is pictured at Europort terminal near Malaszewicze, Poland May 24, 2018. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

However a surge in the number of trains over the past year, fueled by Beijing’s plans to grow trade along ancient Silk Road routes to Europe, has left authorities scrambling to meet demand that has ballooned to as many as 200 locomotives a month.

Rail shipments have experienced delays of over ten days at land ports in both Europe and China, bogged down by insufficient infrastructure and paperwork pileups, shippers say. That congestion is anticipated to worsen as Chinese authorities encourage a further ramp up in volumes.

The situation illustrates how China’s Belt and Road initiative is delivering some successes but also how its partners are struggling to keep up.

The rail network, used by companies like Hewlett Packard, the sports gear company Decathlon and the carmaker Volvo, handled 3,673 train trips between China and Europe in 2017, up from 1,702 in 2016 and just 17 in 2011, according to China Railway, the national operator.

To view a graphic on China-Europe Railway Express img, click: tmsnrt.rs/2txkLZJ

The network remains unprofitable and heavily supported by subsidies, but Chinese city authorities have launched new services with fervor after it was subsumed under the four-year-old Belt and Road initiative.

In 2016, China’s top state planner named the network “China Railway Express” and said it wants train trips to hit an annual number of 5,000 by 2020.

By April, the number of regular rail services linking China and Europe jumped from just one in 2011, between Chongqing and Duisburg in Germany, to 65, connecting 43 Chinese cities and 42 destinations in 14 countries including Spain and Britain, China Railway said on its website.

Carsten Pottharst, managing director of InterRail Europe, is among a number of freight forwarders who expressed frustration to Reuters about congestion on the network, citing insufficient government investment in European railway infrastructure.

“They believed that they would come, but they didn’t believe that it would become that big,” he said.

CONGESTION

While congestion occurs across the network, much of the shippers’ frustrations are being directed at Malaszewicze, which handles roughly 90 percent of the cargo.

Containers are seen through the railway at Europort terminal near Malaszewicze, Poland May 24, 2018. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

There, containers which travel from China through Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus on Russian gauge tracks are transferred to other trains running on European standard ones.

The land port processed nearly 74,000 containers in 2017, four times the volume it handled in 2015, earning Poland nearly 400 million zlotys ($109.02 million) in tax and customs revenues last year, Polish tax and customs authorities said.

But PKP Cargo, the Polish state-controlled rail operator that runs the main terminal, said in March that the current infrastructure was unable to handle the anticipated growth. Europort, which runs a private rail terminal, said that in late 2017 there were queues as long as 100 trains awaiting entry to Poland from Belarus.

“This is a huge challenge and a huge chance,” said PKP Cargo’s chief executive, Czeslaw Warsewicz in March.

PKP Cargo said in an e-mail that there were currently no queues at its terminal, and that it was looking to expand capacity and cooperate with private terminal operators to shorten loading times. Poland’s infrastructure ministry, meanwhile, said the government was considering opening a second border crossing with Belarus.

However, shippers say they are concerned that the improvements will not happen fast enough.

This is worrying locals such as Krzysztof Iwaniuk, mayor of Terespol Municipality, which includes Malaszewicze, who has seen the town and surrounding areas benefit from the rail trade.

On a recent visit to Malaszewicze, Reuters saw navy blue shipping containers emblazoned with the China Railway Express logo stacked up in rail terminals, as well as new roads and a local government headquarters.

Iwaniuk said he was worried that PKP Cargo’s upgrade plan would not meet anticipated volume growth and that the town would lose traffic to other transhipment hubs.

“We are sounding an alarm that we use this historic opportunity,” he said. “If we don’t properly use these five minutes in history, it will be over.”

AMBITIOUS TARGETS

In China, meanwhile, the flood of containers into Europe is expected to keep surging as city authorities try to outdo each other promoting Belt and Road, President Xi Jinping’s signature foreign policy initiative.

Chongqing in southwestern China, which recorded 663 trips last year, is targeting 1,000 trips, while Xi’an, home to China’s terracotta army, also wants to hit 1,000 trips, according to state media and government statements.

Yiwu city in the eastern province of Zhejiang, home to one of the world’s largest wholesale trading centres, plans to increase trip numbers from 168 in 2017 to 350 this year, said Simon Jian, assistant to the chairman of Yiwu Timex Industrial Investment, a rail service provider.

Slideshow (7 Images)

Industry executives say the network is currently unprofitable as cargo volumes have not reached a sustainable level, and costs are higher than shipping by sea.

But it is attracting business from companies selling goods like cars and electronics because it can deliver them as much as 20 days faster than sea at a lower cost than by air.

“We’ve probably managed to reduce our logistics costs thanks to China Railway Express,” said Hu Jie, a Suzhou-based logistics director at Pegatron Corp, a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer that began using the rail route in 2015.

For now, Chinese government subsidies are supporting the rail operations.

A study published by the Shanghai-based Donghua University last year estimated that provincial governments in China had collectively spent $303 million subsidizing China-Europe block trains – generally those carrying goods to destinations without being split up en route – between 2011 to 2016.

Jian said that firms would likely need to charge $10,000 per container to make a profit but subsidies allowed many to charge about $3,000-6,000 per container. Some were offering rates as low as $1,000 per container, about the same as shipping by sea.

“It’s very chaotic,” he said.

INFRASTRUCTURE

There is currently far less rail congestion on trips back from Europe to China, reflecting the large trade deficit between two partners.

Polish government sources said there was concern that China was not doing enough to open its market to foreign producers. One official said there was growing concern that the new Silk Road might become a one-way gateway to flood Europe with China-made goods.

The United States is currently threatening a trade war with Beijing in a bid to cut its own trade balance with China.

As trains pile up in Malaszewicze, some shippers are looking to move goods through Finland, which launched a rail freight service with China in November, or Lithuania and Estonia.

But new transhipment hubs also had drawbacks, they said, citing longer travel times and less familiarity with services and issues like processing paperwork.

“We need the entire network to be upgraded and more railway stations to be built,” said an executive at Wuhan Asia-Europe Logistics, which manages trains from Wuhan, in central China.

Ronald Kleijwegt, the managing director of Jusda Europe, a logistics unit of the contract manufacturer Foxconn, said that would be an uphill task in Europe.

“It’s a win-win if we start ironing out all these bottlenecks,” said Kleijwegt. “But the demand and requirements of supply chain are sometimes difficult to understand for politicians to understand.”

Additional Reporting by Andrius Sytas in VILNIUS and SHANGHAI Newsroom; Editing by Philip McClellan

The post In Europe appeared first on World The News.

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dragnews · 6 years ago