Shenhua's Fixtures 2009

Shenhua's home games until June....

2009-03-22 19:45. Shanghai Shenhua - Jiangsu Shuntian

2009-04-03 19:45. Shanghai Shenhua - Shandong Luneng

2009-04-17 19:45. Shanghai Shenhua - Shenzhen

2009-05-10 19:45. Shanghai Shenhua - Qingdao

2009-05-24 19:45. Shanghai Shenhua - Henan Jianye

2009-06-20 19:45. Shanghai Shenhua - Dalian Shide

Shanghai Shenhua....

There’s that moment at the football. The private excitement you feel when climbing up the steps inside the stand, trying to find the tier you’re sitting in. You’re climbing faster and faster, because it’s two minutes before kick off and because you’re excited, and you can hear the crowd and they’re roaring, louder and louder. Then suddenly you emerge from the hallway onto the stand, into the air. The rows and rows of seats, the immaculate green pitch laid out in front of you, the shouting, the smells, the colours, the lights and the flags.

 It’s magical, really, and only someone who has been there would understand. You feel so happy on the stand in that moment, you could be in your living room with a beer and ten thousand mates, everyone wants the same thing, everyone is shouting, willing it, willing the ref to blow the whistle so the game can begin.

Maybe I just feel like this because I’m quite new to it all, and I’ve only ever been to two other stadiums – Eastlands and the new Wembley. I’m spoilt. I never went to Maine Road, never saw the broken seats and the stink of piss and blood that I have been told defined the place. Never had to sit next to some fat, stinking drunk skinhead ranting about the linesman. No, all my memories of football are of sunny afternoons and pies at half time, comfortable stands, and nursing hangovers at the game knowing all my mates are watching it in the pub back home.

I expected by first football game in Shanghai to shatter all of this. There were always going to be problems turning up without tickets and trying to reach that fine line of haggling with the touts, whereby you get what you want and don’t look like a mug. Plus, being in a stand with ten, maybe twenty thousand Chinese dudes? All spitting and smoking and staring at the foreign guys, Jesus. I was half looking forward to it, but half dreading it.

But I was wrong, my untarnished image of live football remains intact. The arena, Hongkou, was fucking awesome, the fans were amazing, we could drink and smoke in the stands, and Shenhua – whose reputation is so bad in Shanghai that even my ageing neighbour, who speaks no English, had managed to tell me he didn’t think I should go – were on form.

It was an ACL game, the Asian Champions League, and it was Shenhua’s first step in making up with their fans after last year, when they crashed out of the competition with only one win and then blew the domestic title on the last day of the season.

 Whenever I write about football in Shanghai I almost always use the term ‘long-suffering’ to describe Shenhua’s fans, but you wouldn’t think it looking at them last night. They didn’t stop chanting once, their matching blue shirts and flags making them look like an army. There were no away fans, so the Blue Devils, as they are called here, were at both ends of the pitch, behind either goal, baiting each other with their chants.

 We were stuck up in the top tier because the tout only had ‘VIP’ tickets. Anyone reading this and thinking about going to the Hongkou should know that this means sit-as-far-away-from-the-pitch-as-you-can-tickets. Go for the normal ones, then, if you’re lucky, you might be able to get in with the ‘ultras’, and really get involved. Next time - and believe me there will be a next time, I am hooked - we’ll sit with them.

 As for the game, Shenhua played some sexy football, and they actually looked like they were enjoying themselves. Barcos, the Argentine striker who scored the penalty and netted a second in injury time, was relentless in his attack of the Singapore team’s defence. Yu Tao and Yin Xifu, brought on as a substitute late on, also scored in the last 17 minutes, making the final score 4 – 1.

 Injury time seemed to go on forever too, maybe the ref was enjoying the match as much as we were. My match report is on www.shanghaiist.com , so I won’t bore you with any more details. All that is for me to say is roll on next week, when my new team take on Japan’s Kashima Antlers, and probbly get thumped. Hell, I can take it, I’m a Man City fan.

Today's Shanghai Daily.... Featuring Tibet, Communism vs Democracy and cross-dressing...

I haven't been going to many gigs recently, but wanted to keep the blog going. 

I picked up the Shanghai Daily in Starbucks this morning, and was motivated to re-publish a selection of news stories from everyone's favourite state newspaper.

I thought they would be interesting for those of you outside China...

Front Page: Hu Promotes Tibetan Stability

PRESIDENT Hu Jintao called yesterday for the building of a Great Wall of stability in Tibet prior to the 50th anniversary of the foiling of an armed rebellion led by the Dalai Lama's supporters.

He stressed the need to promote development and stability in Tibet, as he joined a panel discussion with Tibetan lawmakers who are in Beijing for the annual session of the People's Congress.

Hu's remarks come ahead of several sensitive dates in Tibet.

The autonomous region will mark the 50th anniversary of the abolishment of slavery and the theocratic regime of the Dalai Lama on March 28th.

On March 10th, 1959, in an attempt to preserve the old serfdom, the nobles and slave owners staged an armed rebellion, which was foiled by the central government.

The riot changed everything in Tibet. The communists soon decided that democratic reform should be carried out immediately to demolish the entire old system led by the Dalai Lama.

From 1959 to 1966, one million slaves were granted land, houses and their freedom. 

The Dalai Lama, who fled to India, has maintained a government in exile since 1959, and China has charged that this group was behind the riot in Lhasa on March 14 last year and other areas in China. 

Earlier on Sunday, Legqog, chairman of he Standing Committe of the Tibet Autonomous Region People's Congress, said the Dalai clique had increased its secessionist and sabotage activities in Tibet this year.

Page 3

China Vows Never to Adopt a Western Political Model

China will never copy the political system of western countries, top legislator Wu Bangguo said in Beijing yesterday.

He called on lawmakers to maintain the 'correct political orientation', with the leadership of the Communist Party of China as the core.

'We will never simply copy the western model,' he said.

China had adopted a system of multiparty cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC, not a Western style multi-party system that enables different parties to come to power through elections, Wu pointed out.

As the ruling party, the CPC is at the core of the country's leadership, while other parties are participants.

Page 7

Skirt Teacher Sacked

A SCHOOL teacher in Beijing has been sacked because he liked to wear women's clothes.

Cao Jing, 46, got married in 2000 wearing a body hugging vest and colorful mini-leggings, the Southern Weekly reported.

But this enraged his wife and her family and the couple were soon divorced. 

In 2004, Cao went to a photographer's studio for a set of pictures of him wearing various skirts, including mini-skirts, as a declaration of his new life, the magazine said. 

But the high school he worked for immediately suspended him from duty.

Now Cao, who is seen around town wearing a white skirt and a red silk scarf, lives on just 600 yuan a month. 

Cao told the magazine he had always been in love with a male friend from primary school, but he had lost contact with him about 35 years ago. 

He had suffered several embarrassing moments during his studies. Once someone yelled "You're a homosexual' at him during class.

Cao now spend his days visiting book stores, CD and DVD shops and looking at skirt in women's boutiques he can no longer afford.

Jose Gonzales at Glamour Bar.... the idiots out in force.... bouncing balls song anyone?....

He's written a song for a Sony advert and he's from Sweden - this was all I knew about Jose Gonzales.

I hadn't heard the song either. It's been such a long time since we've had a TV. It makes you realise how cut off you are, it's hard to keep up with trends in music and TV when it's not rammed in your face everyday.

Swedish music is a bit of a mixed bag really, on the one hand they have produced some of the best heavy metal in the world, on the other they are responsible for Abba, a band I hate above all others. 

But I love guitar music, and I love to watch guitarists, mostly folk, very occasionally blues, I have a soft spot for Jack Johnson too. So I went along to the gig, because, as I have said before, live music is a rare luxury in China, and the tickets were free.

The first thing I noticed when Gonzales eventually took to the stage was his guitar. I liked it. It looked like a three-quarter size classical with a pick-up in the sound hole. Nylon strings, with the bass tuned real low, some sort of weird open tuning set up. Maybe G minor, maybe D, hard to say. 

He played with his nails, which was nice to see, and the nylon strings sounded awesome, warm and clean. The first few songs were mainly based around one or two riffs, played repetitively with occasional changes and vocals over the top. 

The music was pretty soft, the kind that generally accompanies an emotionally complex scene in an American teen soap opera. You know, the bit where the guy has had a row with his girlfriend and then thinks about it and decides that actually it was him who was in the wrong and goes to make up and then finds her on the beach and says 'I thought I'd find you here'....

And, hell, that's OK for ten minutes or so. But then song four came on, then song five, then song six... Jesus, this isn't going to pick up tempo, this is it. The songs went on, and on, and on. One emotional teen soap soundtrack after another. Relentless. 

It was as if he had come up with a nice riff, then played it for two minutes and then stopped, making no effort to develop any of the songs beyond the superficial. The lyrics prattled on about fog and mist and, no doubt, the pain of life and love, and when the riff was exhausted he just stopped and smiled and the crowd screamed their approval.

And the crowd.... shit. Most people were gathered around the bar, drinking and chatting, but there was a hardcore by the stage who were the weirdest bunch I have seen in a long time. Half of them, eyes closed, swaying and other half turning around every five minutes and shusshing at anyone who was talking. Who are these freaks? They looked like a posse of evangelical Christians, with their beards and v-neck jumpers, their heads thrown back, swaying and smiling wildly. Shit, they must really like that Sony advert. 

The one saving grace for me was song 13 or 14, I can't remember, which I was told is Gonzales' second single. It was the first song that actually had rhythm, and some semblance of structure. He also did some cool percussive stuff on the bridge with his right hand, which I am a sucker for. I don't remember the encores (encores?! Jesus...), because I was getting stuck into £4.50 bottles of beer in a last ditch attempt to beat my hangover, but I am told he absolutely murdered a classic song with a horrendous cover, which is always a great way to finish a gig. 

To be fair, I'm sure for the fans Gonzales was awesome, after all, that's what they came to see. He has a great voice and great technique, as well as some cool riffs. Maybe in a few years the songs will develop and get some depth, but until then it remains, whether in an advert or on the OC soundtrack, little more than background music.

D.O.A tearing up Shanghai.... Introspective trances.... Near-broken cameras.

Expectations were high on this cold night in Shanghai. The support band had just finished and around 200 people, huddled together in their coats, sip Yuyintang's watered down Tiger, eyes fixed on the stage, waiting. 

Joey Shithead looks exactly how you would expect him to. A 40 year old dude in a sawn-off denim jacket. His face aged, wrinkled and long. The other two guys had fared better, that much is obvious. He steps up to the mic: 'We're D.O.A, and we're going to fuck you up'....

... At least, I think that's what he said. You see, to be honest I was having a piss when D.O.A came on because, as usual, I had drunk two pints during the support band to try and get myself in the mood.  I was trying to take pictures for this gig. I had to try and get at least two decent ones for my girlfriend's website review. I had a new flash but no idea how to use it. When I get nervous, I have a few beers. Life is a lot easier after a few beers. 

So the pit exploded almost as soon as D.O.A started, and I was caught in the middle, fumbling with the fucking thing, trying to throw elbows at the same as adjusting my settings. But although I spent most of the time trying to get decent pictures, the gig was fucking awesome, and anyone who missed this because they couldn't brave the cold, well, you missed out bad. The Canadian three-piece stormed through what must have been two-dozen songs, covering classics like Fuck You, Police Brutality and Marijuana to a crowd that didn't drop a beat. The place was a sea of elbows, fists and sweaty faces - both local and foreign - screaming the words, urging them on. 

D.O.A took me back to the first time I heard real punk rock. When I was 13 or 14 and some older friend put Conflict or Exploited on. I remember feeling a buzz down my spine, a tingling in my neck, an excitement which, years and years on, I have never lost when I hear bands who have fury and passion. I treasured those LPs, and still today I have them in a box in my Mum's loft. I've been on a lot of highs in my life, but it doesn't matter what you drop, drink or do, nothing beats real loud rock music that you relate to... 

There are only four or five times that I have felt that buzz like I did on this night in Shanghai. Iron Maiden in 2003 at Donnington, surrounded by my best mates. Pennywise in 2001 at Docklands, my first gig. And, of course, watching Neurosis in the pissing rain at Hellfest 2007 with my friend. Stoned and soaked-through. He turned and told me he felt like he was having a religious experience, and as that brutal, crunching wall of distortion swept us away, I totally understood.  They are moments you won't forget, moments you listen to music for.

And yeah, despite the weather and the shit beer, D.O.A was one of those moments. Perhaps I have just missed punk rock, missed the attitude and the anger. But it was a belting gig. Whether or not their presence in China contributes to the progress of punk rock in this country, I'm not qualified to say. But we can only hope. If nothing else, in a world where most music - punk not excluded - stands for fuck all, for 90 minutes or so D.O.A made this bitter old punk rocker very happy.

Storms... Olympics.... the rest

There was a hell of a storm in Shanghai last night. The thunder rocked the buildings and the lightning lit the skies for hours. The summer storms are magnificent here. The lighting bolts come right down in between the buildings. The rain hammers down, it's relentless. It's fun though. Epic. 

The Olympics are ongoing. The Liu Xiang fiasco all kicked off this week. I feel sorry for the guy. I mean, how long must he have trained for that race? Only to injure himself during training. Man, he must feel devastated. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to win the gold, in Beijing, and that happens. Awful. In Shanghai emotions are running high because he is from here, Shanghainese born and bred. Everyone was gutted. Not as gutted as he is though, I imagine. 

But other than the major dramas the Olympics do not really interest me. My students often ask me how many medals team GB has and I have to say that I don't know. They think that's pretty funny. I'm just pleased that the football season has started again. I wasn't able to watch England last night, as it would have involved staying up until 3 am and I have work today. I have learned, over many years, that watching England is not worth that kind of commitment. 

The roof is leaking again. It started the other night. I have come to the conclusion that nothing ever really gets fixed in China. It just gets patched up for a bit. It's the same with our shower, which was fine for a few weeks after the 'plumber' came round but is now back to normal. Hey ho, I guess the same happens in the UK. But at least you can complain there, not like here, it's futile. 

The heat is dropping. I think autumn is on its way. We can only hope...

At some point I am going to start tackling Important Issues on this blog. Discussing Things That Matter and the like. But not yet, it is too soon. If I start getting all heavy with my safe, sheltered internet opinions people will think I'm just another crazy, and, by God, there are enough of those already.

No, I want to talk a bit about teaching English, mainly to let off some steam, but also because I know plenty of people will be tempted to come out here and do it. I am a firm believer in getting the facts out there, and I would like to throw my hat into that ring. 

So, teaching English here is a bit like bar-work in the UK. Anyone can do it, and although most bars will ask for 'previous experience', they don't really give a shit if you're willing to stand on your feet for eight hours getting shouted at by fat drunk fucks for minimum wage. Yes, that is what English teaching is, except without the drunks. Most schools out here say you need a TEFL qualification - which is basically a cash in for the hundreds of companies world wide that offer them to gap year students. It's pretty pointless, as unless you are throughly retarded you can teach English - especially as most of the time you are reading pre-prepared lesson plans to the class. I'm not sure what they would teach you on the course, since I don't have one, nor do I intend to get one. 

The people I have met teaching are a mixed bag, some of them are good people who are just trying to make a living in China, others are weirdos who haven't got the stomach for a real job. They frighten me a bit. The work is frustrating at times, especially if you lose your cool. It doesn't help anyone to start getting irate and talking to students like they are monkeys. But, hell, everyone has done it as some point. The annoying thing is the management side of it. I hoped that leaving the UK I could get away from things like 'self assessments'. It is one of these new business things where everyone is encouraged to 'understand their weaknesses and work together to formulate manageable solutions'. That kind of language makes me want to buy an automatic weapon and take down as many people as I can before turning the gun on myself. But it seems that even 6,000 miles from home I could not escape it.

Yesterday I had a 'work appraisal', you know the kind of thing - rank yourself from 1 to 10 on your abilities, strengths, weaknesses, all that shit. I am a firm believer that if you have enough time to spend 20 minutes rating yourself then you are not working hard enough. Case in point. But, you know, I want my work permit, and without this job I won't get it, so I am having to jump a few hoops. But hell, what am I going to say? I just marked myself as excellent for everything, I mean, why would I start criticising myself? If I can't read pre-prepared lesson plans to students for 40 hours a week then I'm probably ready for the bone-yard. 

Anyway, on that note, it is time for me to go to work. More on this later. 

Keep the faith

Mickey