Did I mention there's an Expo going on here in Shanghai? Maybe I forgot. Seems like quite a lot of people have, or at least they just don't give a shit. 70 million visitors? Unlikely.Anyway, two local-based music writers have recently turned their attentions to the Expo with a couple of interesting articles.
First up, Lisa Movius has bemoaned the lack of Shanghainese culture at the Expo:
"Considering the way the city's culture has been marginalized during the event, it's no wonder Shanghainese have grown resentful of the Expo, known in Chinese as shibo. Some are even using the initials SB as shorthand for the event--a pun on a common obscenity."
SB会 - genius. Anyway, read the whole thing here.
Meanwhile, over on his CityWeekend blog (and I assume in the magazine as well) Dan Shapiro has put forward an intriguing proposition - that the Expo saved Yuyintang from closure:
"So why was the venue allowed to re-open so soon? Could it be that the Changning District police were afraid of losing face just as the eyes of the world were descending upon Shanghai for the World Expo?"
You can read that one in full here.
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