Around Town

We all came across the hashtag G20blue at some point last month, and it seems that we weren’t just imagining things – the city actually enjoyed its best air quality for five years. The key factors of this were supposedly the moderate climate and a good distribution of air, according to the Shanghai Environmental Protection Centre.

The environmental authority reported that 93.5 per cent of the days in August had an air quality rated as excellent or good, with the Air Quality Index no higher than 100. Unbelievably, only two days were reported as being slightly polluted, and that was primarily due to hot weather.

Unfortunately, however, the future is not looking so blue. According to Duan Yusen, chief forecaster of the Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Centre, more pollution is expected with the approach of autumn and winter, which usually brings poor diffusion conditions and pollutants transferred to Shanghai from other provinces. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

 

Shanghai Disney Resort and AIC-General Motors have opened a new experience inside the park - TRON Realm, Chevrolet Digital Challenge. TRON Realm invites guests to explore three exciting interactive zones – Imagine, Create and Drive – designed to immerse guests in the future of transportation.

In the Imagine zone, guests can virtually suit-up in a specially designed TRON Light Suit and drive through the world of TRON. The signature design experience, Advanced Vehicle Design, in the Create zone, allows guests to create next generation vehicles. In the Drive zone, guests can drive a TRON Light Runner through the compelling digital world of TRON from the seat of a Chevroletinspired Driving Pod. Don’t let the kids drive you crazy this month, get on down to TRON Realm.

 

Climbing The Rankings

Shanghai has just laid claim to more bragging rights, with the city’s Fudan University breaking into the top 50 of the QS World University Rankings for the first time. Fudan University placed at number 43, up eight places from last year, and well ahead of local rival, Jiao Tong University, which came in at 61, up from 70 in 2015.

The QS World University Rankings annually provides an index of the world’s leading higher education institutions, based on assessment of university performance in research, teaching, employability and internationalisation. Great news for the city’s youngsters! 

 

The inaugural Michelin Guide Shanghai was released last month. Eighteen of the city’s restaurants received one star, seven received two stars and only one was awarded three stars. T’ang Court, at the Langham Shanghai, Xintiandi, received the highest accolade, being named, “exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey”.

Controversy surrounded the announcement, however, as many in the Shanghai food and beverage industry claimed that the judges had a French and Cantonese bias, didn’t know the Shanghai restaurant scene well enough and did not award stars to some of the city’s stalwart restaurants, such as Jean Gorges and Franck. Many were also shocked that Paul Pairet’s Ultraviolet only clinched two stars.

Since the announcement, one star winner, Taian Table, has been forced to cease operations, for the meantime at least, due to the discovery that their licence was not in order.