Taxi putting riders in blood drive
Residents soon will be able to book blood-donation appointments on touch-screens in city taxis, officials said.
It's a part of the latest efforts to ease the blood shortage in Shanghai hospitals.
Starting in September, passengers can view a video clip by local stars who volunteered to promote blood donations via a channel provided by Touchmedia, a touch-screen technology installed in taxis. The cost of the system is split by the city and the company.
Those who schedule an appointment will be prompted to enter contact information so blood center workers can get in touch with them.
The channel will be seen in local 21,000 cabs, said the city blood donation center. The practice will be extended to taxis in five other cities in China.
Local residents are asked to give blood because the city's donation rate is just above the minimum required to meet the most basic needs. --(8/27)
PBOC eyes expanded property tax trial
China should expand the trial of a property tax to replace home-purchase curbs as the government continues to battle runaway property prices, the central bank said yesterday.
To meet the demand of end-users, different mortgage policies should be implemented, the People's Bank of China said in a report released on its website.
The PBOC proposed that a 30 percent down payment and comparatively low fixed interest rate should be adopted for first-time homebuyers, while those who are upgrading their homes should put a down payment of between 40 and 50 percent and be charged an "appropriate" fixed interest rate.
The central bank reiterated that investors should not get any credit support.
It also pointed out that while the home-purchase curbs have proved to be quite effective in reining in speculative demand, the policy may have created negative co-effects.
The PBOC suggested some genuine demand from end-users could have been stifled by the curbs which may lead to a significant rebound in pent-up demand in the future, unleashing a surge in property prices.
If the home-purchase restrictions are enforced for too long, home prices in China may drop abruptly, which will be devastating to the economy, the PBOC said.
Albert Lau, managing director of Savills China, said: "Austerity measures such as home-purchase curbs shouldn't be applied for too long as they may hurt the long-term development of the industry." --(8/25)
Waiting on Metro Line 2 cut to 3 mins
Metro Line 2 will shorten the intervals between trains to 3 minutes, 21 seconds less, during peak hours on weekdays, starting from August 26.
The new schedule applies to trains running between Songhong Road Station to Guanglan Road Station, a main section across downtown Shanghai.
Waiting time for trains running between East Xujing Station to Songhong Road Station will be shortened to 6 minutes, Metro officials said.
The schedule for non-peak-hour services will not change.
Metro Line 2 will test the new schedule tomorrow and Sunday to ensure it is good for full implementation in September. --(8/24)
Index falls on poor earnings report
Shanghai stocks fell yesterday as investor confidence remained weak due to the delay in stimulus measures and poor earnings reports.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.5 percent to close at 2,107.71 points.
Analysts said the government may hold off monetary policy easing after the central bank injected a record 220 billion yuan (US$34.6 billion) into the market on Tuesday via reverse repurchase operations.
CITIC Securities analyst Fu Xiong said more Chinese cities recorded a rise in home prices in July and this, combined with expectations that inflation may pick up in August, led to a delay in further policy easing.
Poor corporate earnings also weighed on the market.
Soochow Securities Co shed 2 percent to 7.46 yuan. Founder Securities Co lost 1 percent to 4.21 yuan. Sinolink Securities Co retreated 1.8 percent to 10.82 yuan. --(8/23)
Baoshan launches drug recycling activity
Baoshan District Food and Drug Administration and Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Holdings Ltd launched a drug recycling activity yesterday at the Songnan Huashi Pharmacy.
Expired medicines are harmful to health and to the environment as well, but not many people realize the problem. A survey shows that nearly 80 percent of Chinese families store medicines and seldom remove expired drugs.
Most pharmacies are reluctant to collect expired medicines because it costs at least 2,500 yuan (US$ 394) to dispose of one ton of expired drugs.
Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Holdings Ltd will collect expired drugs through 12 Huashi Pharmacy outlets in Shanghai on August 25 and 26. --(8/22)
Drug sales on bail earns death
A drug dealer was sentenced to death in Shanghai as he delivered more than 10 kilograms of drugs while out on bail, a Shanghai court said yesterday.
The dealer, surnamed Ying, 45, was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2009 for illegally possessing 193 grams of drugs, but the court, in southwest China's Sichuan Province, allowed him out of jail on bail since he had hypertension and heart disease.
But only three months after release, he began trafficking methamphetamine, also known as "meth" or "ice," from Sichuan to Hunan Province and Shanghai, the Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court heard.
"Ying recommitted drug-related crimes especially after the Sichuan court leniently allowed him bail, so he must be severely punished for several crimes,¡± according to the court. --(8/21)
Charity donates record 13m yuan
Shanghai Charity Foundation will give 13 million yuan (US$2.04 million) this year in three areas, the biggest annual amount in foundation history.
Eight million yuan will be used to care for children with birth defects, migrant workers and families who lost their single child, while 2 million yuan will be used to improve the lives of the poverty-stricken and elders. The remainder will be used for companies to launch charity activities. Since 2008, this non-profit organization has spent 31.86 million yuan on 296 programs. --(8/20)
Golden moment
Diver Wu Minxia, winner of the synchronized 3-meter springboard and the women's 3-meter springboard, and sailor Xu Jiali, gold medalist in the women's laser radial class, at the recent 2012 London Olympic Games show off their gold medals at Hongqiao International Airport in Shanghai on their arrival this afternoon. Shanghai Olympians returned to the city with three gold medals and five silvers. More than 200 people, including Zhao Wen, vice mayor of Shanghai, and Li Yuyi, director of the city's sports bureau, went to the airport to welcome the heroes. Li said Shanghai's athletes did great in London as they almost matched the total they won at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. --(8/19)
Vendors to face new tougher standards
China's leading online vendors and home appliance retailers may soon face tougher standards in their marketing operations as the Ministry of Commerce responded to consumer concerns that the firms are engaging in sales stunts.
These companies are cutting the prices of electronic products and home appliances but customers are complaining that the reductions are merely marketing stunts and only a limited number of products are actually cheaper than before.
"The ministry will work on more detailed guidelines for online retailers' marketing activities and service standards," Wang Desheng, vice director of the ministry's distribution development department, said at a press conference in Beijing yesterday.
Starting the price war on Wednesday, 360buy.com said it will sell home appliances 10 percent lower than those sold at retail stores of Suning and Gome, China's two largest electronics retailers.
Suning and Gome responded by launching similar price cuts for their products. --(8/18)
Pudong car show disappoints
Visitors to the 1st Pudong International Automotive Exhibition, which opened yesterday in Shanghai, were dismayed at the lack of new car models.
Some visitors complained that automakers did not show off their new car models and also at the absence of the ubiquitous long-legged beauties gracing this type of show.
"Cars are boring without the presence of beauty," a local white-collar worker Zhang Xiahua said as he visited the show.
Wang Xia, director of the Auto Committee at the China Council For the Promotion of International Trade, said the first fair was organized in a very short period. He promised that future shows will be more appealing.
Auto manufacturing is expected to be a pillar industry in Pudong New Area by 2015.
Carmakers in Pudong produced 700,000 automobiles last year and car sales hit 30 billion yuan (US$4.7 billion), according to the government.
The five-day show, held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center, boasts more than 60 carmakers from around the world. The show will be staged every two years as a supplement to the flagship Auto China, which is held alternatively in Shanghai and Beijing. --(8/17)
Ring sold fake French wines
Shanghai police said yesterday they busted a ring of six people for producing and selling fake Chateau Lafite, a luxury brand of red wine.
More than 4,000 bottles of fake Chateau Lafite were found in hideouts in the suburban Fengxian and Minhang districts of the city, police said yesterday. They estimated the value of the bust at about 10 million yuan (US$1.6 million).
The Fengxian District police said they received a tip in April this year about the production of fake Chateau Lafite by a small company in the district.
On April 5, the police, working with the industry and commerce department, raided the company at Fengcheng Town and found hundreds of counterfeit labels and caps and a sealing machine. But the primary suspect, surnamed Lei, was not at scene, the police said.
At Lei's hideouts in Fengxian and Minhang districts, police confiscated 1,678 bottles of fake Chateau Lafite and 684 bottles of fake Chateau Margaux, another high-end red wine. Lei was caught near his home.
Police said Lei confessed that, since April 2010, the ring had purchased red wine from Hebei and Shandong provinces and bought caps, labels and packages from Guangdong and Shandong provinces and Shanghai to make fake Chateau Lafite at his company in Fengcheng. The suspects sold the fake wine to buyers in provincial regions of Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, Shandong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan and Guangxi.
Police found another hideout of Lei's and more than 2,000 bottles of fake Chateau Lafite.
The fake French wine was one of nearly 900 infringement cases solved by the city's police this year, said Yang Lieyi, deputy director of the commercial crime department of Shanghai police.
Yang said yesterday that police had detained more than 1,900 suspects in the first seven months for intellectual property crime, and the total value of illicit money and booty reached nearly 300 million yuan (US$47 million). IPC cases related to fake branded clothes, bags and suitcases were still increasing during the past two years despite a series of crackdowns, according to Yang. --(8/16)
Chinese universities join Top 500 list
Forty-two Chinese universities entered the list of the world's Top 500 schools, its compiler Shanghai Jiao Tong University said today. They include 28 on the mainland, nine in Taiwan and five in Hong Kong.
It is the first time that China overtook Britain as No. 2, after the United States which has 53 schools on the list.
Tsinghua University, Peking University, Taiwan University, Hong Kong University and other three Chinese schools are among the Top 200, but no Chinese university entered the Top 100 rank.
Harvard topped the list, followed by Stanford and MIT. Yale dropped out of the Top 10.
Nine UK universities joined the Top 100 rank, including Cambridge (fifth) and Oxford (tenth).
The top Asian universities are Tokyo University (20th) and Kyodo University (26th).
China's top universities are Tsinghua University, Peking University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Zhejiang University, Fudan University, University of Science and Technology of China and Nanjing University.
The ranking was based on Nobel prize winners, Fields Medal winners and numbers of alumni, professors, mostly cited scientists, publications in Nature and Science journals. --(8/15)
Ecolab opens new plant near Shanghai
Ecolab Inc, a US manufacturer of cleaning chemicals, today launched a US$90 million production and distribution center in Taicang, near Shanghai.
It is the company's third-largest manufacturing facility with an output capacity of 150,000 tons a year.
Chairman and CEO Douglas Baker Jr. said he expects China to account for 6-7 percent of Ecolab's global sales in five years and 10 percent in 10 years from the current share of about 4 percent.
Ecolab's customers are mainly hotels and restaurants including Marriott and McDonald's.
Ecolab is optimistic about China's long-term growth and the company's diversified customer base could help deal with the overall economic slowdown, Baker said.
The new five-year plan (2011-2015) put forward by the Chinese government made clear that improving food quality and ensuring food safety will continue to be a major focus, and the new plant could help support that effort, he said.
Ecolab has invested US$150 million in China since 2008. --(8/14)
City may add streetcars
The northern Bund area and the Hongqiao business zone might get streetcars in near future as urban planners seek ways to boost public transport capacity and efficiency.
Shanghai will build more bus-only lanes and routes for the trams in the future to help tackle the shortage of transport capacity in the face of the rapidly growing daily travel demand, according to government urban traffic experts currently working on the city's public transport development guidelines for the next five to 10 years. The planned changes include setting up tram routes in the northern area of the Bund and inside the Hongqiao business zone.
Experts believed with dedicated ground tracks, trams could run consistently at more than 20 kilometers per hour, much faster than ordinary buses that constantly run into congestion.
Streetcars would also be expanded if they prove effective, according to planners. --(8/13)
Locals shown behind the scenes at airline's base
Local families were given a glimpse behind the scenes at China Eastern Airlines yesterday, when the airline invited members of the public to its base at Hongqiao International Airport.
The 10 Shanghai families were among 100 from across China given a tour - the first time a Chinese airline has done this.
Visitors, who were selected from applicants on the airline's microblog, were invited to view flight attendant training, in-flight meals being made and aircraft maintenance.
Also included in the visit was an emergency landing drill, while children dressed as attendants to serve food in a mock-up cabin.
"We hope such visits enhance mutual understanding and help us improve services," said Shen Xiaosheng, a publicity official for the Shanghai-based airline.
In the past, carriers had expressed security and operational concerns about visits.
China Eastern said it will continue inviting families to visit its Shanghai base. --(8/12)
Lujiazui plot sells for less than expected
A land plot in Lujiazui area in Shanghai's Pudong New Area was sold yesterday for less than market expectations, the latest sign the city's land market is still far from recovering despite improving property sales over the past few months.
Shanghai Wind Information Co, a Lujiazui-based financial data provider, purchased the 9,003-square-meter plot for 800 million yuan (US$126 million), or about 22,200 yuan per square meter.
The plot was designated for commercial and office use and had garnered a fair amount of attention due to its prime location. However, only two companies participated in the auction with an asking price of 799 million yuan.
"The final price was about 30 percent cheaper than that of similar plots sold a few years ago," said Huang Hetao, research manager with Century 21 China Real Estate, operator of the city's largest estate chain in terms of outlet numbers. "The few number of participants also indicated that developers still remain very cautious in acquiring land even though buying sentiment has been picking up notably over the past months."
Land parcels, designated for all types of developments except public use and with a combined site area of 1.47 million square meters, were sold for 23.54 billion yuan in Shanghai in the first seven months of this year, a drop of 54 percent on an annual basis, according to Century 21 data.
In July, 47 of the 54 plots sold in the city only managed to fetch asking prices. --(8/11)
Showers return but not so strong
Showers are expected to come back today but should not be as big as earlier predicted with the weakening of Haikui, forecasters said yesterday.
The temperatures should climb above 30 degrees Celsius again.
Haikui, the strongest typhoon to affect Shanghai in recent years, arrived in Chizhou City in Anhui Province yesterday afternoon and its strength has weakened to a tropical depression, according to the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau.
Typhoon and rain storm alerts were lifted yesterday morning.
However, with the remains of Haikui hanging around, Shanghai should still be cloudy and overcast today and tomorrow with scattered showers, the bureau said.
The mercury today and tomorrow should be around 32 degrees Celsius. The temperatures should gradually increase in the next few days.
Residents evacuated after their homes are flooded last night started to return yesterday as Haikui moved on and floodwaters were drained.
All flooded roads were cleared yesterday, said the Shanghai Flood Control Headquarters.
Meanwhile, power cut to some areas by Haikui was restored after more than 9,000 workers were dispatched across the city, the headquarters said.
Officials said more work is needed to improve Shanghai's flood control system as it did not work to full capacity in Wednesday's downpour. The drainage department of Shanghai Water Authority said the rising of the city's inland rivers made it hard to drain the rainwater.
The only way to solve the problem would be building pumping stations at the water gates, which would take years to plan and construct, said Zhang Zhengyu, a coordinator of the flood control headquarters. --(8/10)
Vegetable prices set to rise
The price of vegetables and fruits could rise over the next few days as a result of severe damage to Shanghai's suburban fields and greenhouses.
Many greenhouses in Luchaogang in the Pudong New Area had their coverings blown away, leaving just the frame behind and unripe watermelons soaked by the torrential rain.
Growers had been relocated but got up early yesterday to return to check their fields, only to discover that their crops were ruined. Many said they had reinforced the greenhouses before leaving but the winds were too strong.
Planters in Jinshan District also rushed to harvest peaches yesterday morning before the rains swept over the orchards. But they were too late to save around 30 percent of the fruit from being damaged.
Most agricultural wholesale markets said they would have sufficient supplies of vegetables and fruits but much of them would have been transported from other provinces.
Haikui caused direct financial losses of nearly 500 million yuan in local agricultural production by 5pm yesterday, the Shanghai Agricultural Commission said.
Vegetables, fruits, livestock and aquatic production were all severely damaged with the arrival of the typhoon, with more than 5,300 hectares of farmland and orchards submerged and over 142,300 poultry killed, according to initial statistics.
Nearly 600 livestock stalls collapsed and 115,000 greenhouse covers were damaged in the driving rain and strong winds. --(8/9)
Haikui slows trains and halts ferries
Metro service between Guanglan Road Station to Pudong International Airport will be suspended this noon as strong gales from typhoon Haikui pose threat to trains running on elevated rails, Shanghai Metro operator announced.
It's still unclear when the service will resume.
Local railway officials also said the Shanghai-Hangzhou High Speed Rail has been closed out of safety concerns. They have stopped selling tickets for train services on Shanghai-Nanjing and Shanghai-Beijing High Speed Rails. Those who already booked their tickets can get a refund within 72 hours at three local stations.
Travelers could dial 12306 for information about schedule changes.
Traffic police are warning motorists to drive slowly in strong winds. A container truck overturned this morning on Nanpu Bridge, causing jams in nearby roads and the Puxi section of the Inner Ring Road. --(8/8)
Oriental DreamWorks unveiled today
Shanghai today launched Oriental DreamWorks, a joint venture with DreamWorks Animation of the USA, to produce films and run a recreational hub in the city.
The partners will establish a film studio in Shanghai to produce "Kung Fu Panda 3,"a sequel to the blockbuster "Kung Fu Panda," in 2016 and produce about three animated films each year afterwards.
"We'd like to promote Chinese-made animated films and show Chinese culture to the world through our films,"said Li Ruigang, chief executive officer of Oriental DreamWorks.
The joint-venture studio plans to produce its first film in 2017. Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DWA, said previously that there are seven different proposals being considered for the film.
The partners also signed an agreement today to invest about 20 billion yuan (US$3.1 billion) to build the Dream Center in the West Bank Media Port in Shanghai's Xuhui District. The recreational hub will have theaters, restaurants and bars.
The West Bank Media Port, with the Dream Center as its main attraction, is expected to receive 20 million visitors a year, according to data from Xuhui District government.
"In the long term, we may set up Dream Center in other Chinese cities or even build them abroad," Li added.
DWA and three Shanghai-based state enterprises -- China Media Capital (CMC), Shanghai Media Group and Shanghai Alliance Investment Limited -- signed a deal in February to form a joint venture focusing on animation production, with the Chinese partners being controlling shareholders. --(8/7)
Rainy days ahead for Shanghai residents
Shanghai will have some rain today and there will be gales off the coast with the approach of a new typhoon, Haikui, forecasters say.
Haikui, which was about 800 kilometers southwest of the city last night, was moving northwest toward China's coastline at 15 kilometers per hour.
Stronger winds were already being felt in some parts of the city, especially in the Pudong New Area.
Fishermen have been warned of high waves on the East China Sea close to Shanghai and neighboring Zhejiang Province today.
The weather this week in the city is expected to be mostly rainy and cloudy, the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau said.
Temperatures will range from 25 to 32 degrees Celsius, the bureau said.
How much of an influence the typhoon will have on the city is not yet known.
The weather bureau said yesterday it would be keeping a close watch on the storm but its route was still uncertain.
The National Meteorological Center said it expected Haikui to bring heavy rain to Shanghai and adjacent Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces.
Shanghai residents enjoyed a sunny weekend after two earlier typhoons, Saola and Damrey, had weakened and made their way inland.
Tomorrow marks liqiu, or the beginning of autumn in the Chinese lunar calendar.
Meanwhile, due to the severe flooding in northeast and southern China, some train services were suspended yesterday but officials in Shanghai say services will gradually resume.
Air travelers are advised to check their flights because of the approach of Haikui.
There were no major delays reported over the weekend. --(8/6)
New storm heads in direction of east China
A new tropical storm is moving toward east China just as Shanghai escaped serious damage from two storms in the past two days, officials said yesterday.
Haikui, the 11th tropical storm this year, was formed about 8am yesterday in the northwest Pacific, nearly 1,400 kilometers southeast of Okinawa, Japan, according to the China Meteorological Administration.
Haikui is strengthening, moving northwest at 20 to 25 kilometers per hour and not expected to affect coastal areas of China in the next three days, forecasters said, adding that it's too early to predict its route.
Operation of the city's airports resumed yesterday as the typhoon alert was lifted. Damrey and Saola hit China's mainland coast and faded between Thursday night and yesterday morning.
Although the two storms did not hit Shanghai or cause any serious showers, the pair still had caused more than 130 flights to be canceled and more than 500 flights to be delayed since Thursday, authorities said.
Trains from Shanghai to the coastal provinces of Zhejiang and Fujian were also suspended on Thursday and is expected to resume today.
Saola was in Fujian Province at 2pm yesterday and moved northwest at 15 kilometers per hour.
Due to the influence of its outer circulation, strong gales were created above the coastal waters of Shanghai but not in urban areas.
Damrey was in Shandong Province at 2pm yesterday and was moving north.
Shanghai's weather is forecast to be cloudy today with scattered showers and a maximum temperature of 33 degrees Celsius.
The rain should stop tomorrow and the mercury is forecast to hit 34 degrees Celsius, said the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau. --(8/5)
Yellow alert as Shanghai waits for the storms
Shanghai issued a yellow typhoon alert yesterday, the third highest in a four-level system, as the city prepared for the arrival of twin storms Saola and Damrey.
Damrey, a strong tropical storm, was first to have an effect on the city with its outer reaches bringing yesterday's short spell of rain. There were no reports of flooding.
The storm was expected to hit an area between Jiangsu and Shandong provinces last night, according to the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau.
Saola was weakening yesterday after hitting Taiwan. The typhoon is forecast to hit north Fujian or south Zhejiang this morning and its impact is expected to be felt in Shanghai.
Today's weather is likely to be cloudy to overcast with showers and a maximum temperature of around 32 degrees Celsius.
Tomorrow should be cloudy with showers in parts of the city and a high that could reach 33 degrees.
The influence of the storms should start to fade from tomorrow, the bureau said.
On the Bund yesterday, tourists seemed unaware that bad weather was on the way after several days of sunshine. But behind them workmen were removing boards that blew down in the wind.
One workman said: "The typhoons are coming" as the first raindrops began to fall.
Cleaners were busy clearing rubbish and sludge from drainage channels yesterday and the city has plans to close parks and suspend amusement facilities if there is a high-level typhoon alert.
On the Metro, train speeds on overground tracks will be limited in the event of a red alert.
In the sky, the storms are already taking their toll with flights canceled or delayed at Shanghai's two airports.
Most of the affected flights were bound for Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea.
At Shanghai ports more than 50 foreign ships canceled plans to leave or dock, port authorities said.
Some passenger liners from Japan advanced their arrival time in Shanghai to dodge the storms, officials said.
Ferry services to Shanghai's three islands were canceled yesterday afternoon and the Shanghai Railway Bureau stopped selling tickets to coastal areas in southeast China today and tomorrow. --(8/3)
1 million Shanghainese reside overseas
More than 1 million Shanghainese are residing or studying in 159 countries and regions around the world, with the United States being the most popular destination, authorities said yesterday.
The number of overseas Chinese with Shanghai hukou (permanent residence permit) and Shanghai native with foreign citizenship reached 1.02 million, surging 50 percent within the past eight years, according to the latest report.
The report, released by the Shanghai Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, is the third large-scale study on overseas Shanghainese in the past three decades, following previous studies in 1985 and 2004.
Among the 1.02 million people, 41 percent have acquired foreign citizenship.
The US, Australia, Japan and Canada are the top four destinations as about 71 percent of overseas Shanghainese live in these countries, according to the report.
About 33 percent of the working overseas Shanghainese are technical professionals, with the majority working in computer software, education and cultural industries.
The city also has 1.08 million returned overseas Shanghainese, including students who once studied abroad and their spouses, a number that soared about 48 percent compared with the figure in 2004, according to the report. --(8/3)
Some English signs still wrong
About 15 percent of English-language signs in the city's public areas are still wrong or misleading two years after the city's English language signage standard went into effect, city authorities said yesterday.
The Shanghai Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau, which issued the English signage standard, said recent checks by language experts and volunteers found most of the so-called "Chinglish" and incorrect signs have been corrected since a city campaign before the 2010 World Expo.
"Continuing the corrections, the bureau is now considering issuing other standards to regulate signs in languages such as Japanese and Korean with help from the Shanghai Language Work Committee," said Shen Weimin, deputy director of the bureau.
The city started intensive campaigns to end "Chinglish" before the Expo, but efforts seemed to fall off after the event. There are also few channels for expats to report incorrect English signs. --(8/2)
Problems plaguing city's free Wi-Fi service
A free Wi-Fi program financed by the city government has been just launched downtown but is currently troubled by weak, unstable signals, unready support facilities and small user numbers due to low publicity.
The program, called i-Shanghai, offers everyone two hours of free wireless Internet service on their mobile phones or laptops while they are at certain public venues.
But a Shanghai Daily investigation showed the service was far from satisfactory at many localities it covers during its trial operation.
The reporters yesterday tried the service with smartphones at the Shanghai Railway Station and the Shanghai South Railway Station and discovered its Wi-Fi signal was unstable and users frequently faced sign-in failures.
Several passengers at the stations tried logging onto the network but they repeatedly failed to receive an effective password that is supposed to be automatically sent to their mobile phones to open the free Internet service.
Also, the program signal was strong in certain areas but impossible to track in places such as corridors by the waiting lounge, the reporters found.
And users would need to stand still when using the program as the signal would suddenly disappear or turn very weak when the users walked around. --(8/1)
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