WaikitChung.com » General

Ancient Water Towns near Shanghai: Wu Zhen and Xi Tang

waikit — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 03:11:58 +0000

During my 2 years stay in Shanghai, I have made 2 one day trips to two ancient water towns, both at around a 2 hour drive distance from Shanghai.

The first one was Xi Tang, which I have actually visited it twice, once just with my wife and the other time with my family who came to visit us.

Xi Tang became ‘famous’ after Mission Impossible 3 was filmed there. I remember that I had just bought my first SLR Nikon D40 camera on the day before I went to Xi Tang for the first time. We stayed over night to experience the night scenery and the quiet and peaceful night. By the way, if you go during the work week then you do not need to pay the entrance fee.

Two weeks ago, I went with some friends to another water town called Wu Zhen. We rented a 8 person van for around 800rmb. The obvious difference between Wu Zhen and Xi Tang is the size. Wu Zhen is much larger and spacier as Xi Tang is a very compact town.

I would still recommend to go both towns if you don’t have enough of these water towns after one visit. These are great places for great photo shooting, having Chinese tea or traditional Chinese food along the canals. Go there if you want to escape the crowded Shanghai.

Putting Life Back Into This Blog

waikit — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:58:12 +0000

Shot at the Bund in Shanghai

Hello there,

If you are reading this, then you have probably followed my profile link from Product Design Forums or LinkedIn or you found me through Google because you are interested to know more about design in Shanghai or it happened that you have discovered about my blog through a design site that is linking to me.

I hardly believe that you have bookmarked my site and just came back to here to check if I finally have a new post. If yes, please let me know in your comment.

Anyways, I am back from a busy and difficult time and I am planning to continue blogging about my journey in Shanghai. I will, yes I promise I will at least update you about what happened in the period of time that I haven’t posted at all. Since October 2008 this blog was basically ‘dead’ and now I want to put some life into it, because from the statistics I still see people visiting this place.

Cheers,

Waikit

Edushi.com / amazing pixel art maps

waikit — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:53:50 +0000

Check out Edushi.com and view different Chinese cities in pixel art format. View Shanghai ! It is really fine detailed. Enjoy

PicLens – Interesting Image Viewer

waikit — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 13:30:13 +0000

PicLens instantly transforms your browser into a full-screen, 3D experience for viewing images on the web. Photos will come to life via a cinematic presentation that goes well beyond the confines of the traditional browser window. With PicLens, browsing and viewing images on the web will never be the same again.

Try this browser plugin, if you haven’t done it yet. It’s a brilliant online image viewer. Check it out here

How to build a portfolio?

waikit — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 05:07:14 +0000

Check out some tips and advises for creating a portfolio here. And post your portfolio images or website in this forum to get feedback. Also DesignSojourn wrote some useful portfolio tips.

Here are a few good sites where you can create your online portfolio for free:

Coroflot
Carbonmade
DesignRelated
Finalcrit

Happy 2008

waikit — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 10:33:55 +0000

Hello readers, who are still checking this place out even I haven’t blogged for 2 months. Maybe blogging is not my favorite habit. I want to wish you a happy and healthy new year (yeah i know i am late) and want to update with some few things:

What has happened and what have I experienced and learnt so far in the past 4 months working and living in Shanghai?

The first few important things in my new life here is that I have met a small group of very nice HongKong Chinese friends ,from the Christian community (yes I am a Christian), with whom I regularly meet for dinners and activities. They are an import part of my life here, becuase they make me feel home.

Also my Mandarin has improved quite well according to my Chinese colleagues. Well, I need to thank them, since I learned the most from them. Able to speak Mandarin makes life more easier here. Fortunately I am able to speak Cantonese (Chinese dialect used in HongKong) which is a good foundation for learning Mandarin.

Furthermore, I moved to my own apartment at HongQiao Road beginning December, 40 minutes commuting time to my work. Before, I stayed at my friend’s apartment in ZhongShang Park.

Before Christmas, our company had a Christmas party at a KaraOke bar (yeah KaraOke is very popular here). We exchanged gifts, some were quite crazy. And we said farewell to our Japanese collegeau Tomoko Obana, who has already been moved to Berlin.
During Christmas I went back to Holland for a short week to visit my family and friends. It was a warm and cozy stay

That’s it for now. Hope to be back soon here. By the way, check my latest sketch here.

Second International Designer Gathering

waikit — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 13:16:03 +0000

Anke and Lars will held the second international designer gathering in Shanghai. If you are a foreign designer in Shanghai and want to have a drink with others like you, then you should come to the event. It will be held at Jonathan Li’s (Design Manager of Asentio Design) Winebar ‘Just Grapes‘

Time: Wednesday, Nov 21
Place :: Just Grapes (2nd floor 462 DaGu Roa)

Please email me so that I can forward your reservation to Anke and Lars, who are the organizers of this event.

Starting my career in Shanghai

waikit — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 05:37:00 +0000

Why did I choose Shanghai to start my career? Well, I have read and heard some positive things about the development of industrial design in China and while I was in China during my trip last April/May, I did a couple of interviews in Shanghai. One of them was at Asentio Design, where I work now.

I believe that a work experience in China can become a valuable experience, because design in China is getting more and more important as the number of design conscious consumers, who are able to afford good design, is rising. That is why Western companies are settling down here. And ofcourse it is good to be here as the manufacturing of products is happening here.
So I hope I am able to learn a lot about designing in China for both the local and western markets. And to learn how to efficiently communicate with Chinese people.

An important question is ‘can I get used to the work culture and life here in Shanghai?’. I need to discover that…
Anyways, one work week has passed and I think the first thing I need do do is to get used to the hot and humid weather here(now I am missing the weather in Holland) and the food (weak stomach)

I hope to post some photos next time. Check back later!

The purpose of this site

waikit — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 21:56:56 +0000

Why am I starting this blog? Well, on the 22nd of August 2007 I will leave the Netherlands, where I was born and grown up and graduated as a industrial designer, and fly to Shanghai to start my design career at Asentio Design, a studio that enables Western and Asian clients to deliver deeply personal and addictive experiences to their target markets through consumer research, design strategy, and product design. Asentio’s portfolio includes mobile devices, media players, digital home artefacts, maritime cameras, interactive spaces, personal adornments and urban outfitting.

In the first place, I would like to share some of my interesting experiences on this blog during my stay in Shanghai. Those experiences would be mostly design related, but I would also blog about my daily life in Shanghai.
This blog is targeted to all my friends and designers who are curious about my adventure.

I hope you will enjoy my posts here and please motivate me to keep blogging, cause I know it will be hard. And feel free to let me know what you want to know about Shanghai. I will try my best to inform you about interesting stuff.