Jing'an Moments (May 2018)
Jazz festival
Musicians and artists from more than 20 countries presented free street shows along Nanjing Road West and in local shopping malls during the JZ Spring festival held from April 30 to May 2.
In Jing’an Park, jazz lovers were treated to outdoor concerts. A variety of interactive activities were held to celebrate the 100th anniversary of jazz in Shanghai.
Handicrafts were sold at a fair, and people were invited to join in some of the musical activities.
Vertical marathon
More than 600 runners challenged the 270-meter-high Wheelock Plaza, the highest building in the city's Puxi area, in the 2018 International Tower Running Grand Prix held on May 13.
They included students, retired workers, foreigners living in Shanghai and professional vertical marathon runners.
Ou Jiajing, one of the top vertical runners in China, won the men’s championship by climbing the stairs of the 58-story building in the time of 7 minutes, 3 seconds. Zhang Huiji, 51, won the women’s championship, clocking 8 minutes, 43 seconds.
The sport of vertical running was first held in the Empire State Building in New York in 1978. It subsequently gained popularity around the world, arriving in China only about five years ago.
Today, nearly 300 skyscrapers around the world have been registered as qualified venues for the competitions.
En garde!
More than 300 fencers from around the world competed in the three-day Westgate Mall Fencing Grand Prix Shanghai, held from May 18 to 20.
British fencer Richard Kruse, who won the European Fencing Championships in 2006, won the men’s top prize, while Russian fencer Inna Deriglazova, who won gold medal at the 2016 Olympics, won the women’s championship.
Jing’an has produced several great fencers of its own, like Wang Lei, who won gold in the men’s 2006 World Fencing Championships, and Zhong Weiping took gold in the women’s event at the same competition.
In recent years, top fencers visiting Shanghai for competitions have given lessons to elementary and middle-school students in the Jing’an district to promote the sport.
Tea rituals
The 2018 Shanghai International Tea Culture Tourism Festival will be held June 1-4 in the Shanghai Exhibition Center.
More than 200 stalls will feature at the event, offering an array of teas, ranging from black tea from Sri Lanka to white tea from China’s Fujian Province. Tea sets in Chinese laquerware and cast-iron teapots from Japan will also be on display.
“Tea planted in the high mountains in Shouning in Fujian Province will be introduced to Shanghai,” said Zeng Lianyu, executive of Daning International Tea City. “And as a modern touch, we will have robots serving tea to visitors."
Chinese and Japanese styles of tea ceremonies will be presented by masters of the art from both countries. They will wear traditional costumes.
Ahead of the festival, nearly 200 students from 40 primary and middle schools across the city have been participating in a competition related to tea rituals.
Childhood memories
Nearly 100 toys and stationery items used by people born in 1980s and 90s are on display in an exhibition that runs through June 25. The memorabilia includes tin toys, pencil boxes and video game series.
“We collected these items from more than 30 people, including Taiwanese and a woman from Ukraine who said her childhood toys were mostly made in China,” said curator Zhu Yuxiang. “Many visitors will be nostalgic to see items they, too, once used.”
The exhibition is on the fifth floor at 771 Huaian Road. It is open from 8:30am to 6pm, Mondays through Sundays. Admission is free.
Town on the Go
The Jing’ansi subdistrict has been honored as one of China’s “Go Towns” for its promotion of the game in the community for years. On May 14, the subdistrict announced it will strengthen that relationship.
It will cooperate with the city’s board game authority to give Go lessons to residents and hold a variety of Go-related activities among local white-collar workers.
The same day, veteran Go master Chang Hao appeared at the Jing’ansu Cultural Activities Center and played the game with aficionados there.
