Around Town

2015-06

Your news round-up for the month of June

Shanghai's First Food Bank
Shanghai's first food bank opened in Tangqiao, Pudong, at the end of last month. The trial run happened last year and was a success. It brought more than 30 tons of food to 20,000 people. Let’s hope we see more projects like this springing up in the coming year to help more of the less fortunate community members.
 
Be Prepared For A Hot, Hot Summer 

Shanghai will experience a very hot summer, according to weather officials. The highest temperature will be near 39 degrees Celsius, and on at least five other days it will be near 37 degrees. If that's not enough, two typhoons are predicted to visit the city and will be stronger than in previous years. Anticipating the downpours, floodprevention authorities have fixed levees across the city and opened a new pumping station in downtown Hongkou. You have been warned!
The Chongming Dao Connection
Transportation authorities are currently discussing the option of making Metro Line 19, the first metro to connect Chongming Island to downtown Shanghai, a CRH6 bullet train. It would make trips between the island and city in only 45 minutes, rather than the 90-minute car ride or the two-hour bus journey. This would be great news for Chongming Island-native Shanghai taxi drivers, who make up a large percentage of the city’s cabbies. It would mean that they could commute to work, instead of renting cheap rooms in the city. It’s also great news for city-dwellers looking to get out of the city on the weekend. We will keep our ears to the ground for more details.
 
China Bans Schools From Cutting Sports
Chinese officials from the Ministry of Education are banning schools in China from cutting sports programmes. A recent regulation stated that it is “forbidden” for schools to reduce the amount of time playing sports. This comes in the wake of China's renewed emphasis on young people's health, fuelled by a 2010 survey that showed young people's health was in decline. Let’s just hope that the pollution levels continue to improve as sport uptake increases.