Shanghai finds excuse to halt Maglev expansion

Transrapid on fire

The expansion of the Maglev or transrapid from Shanghai to Hangzhou has been suspended for fear of radiation, state media wrote this weekend. (h/t CDT). Official reason is the concern of citizens for their health.

An official with the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress confirmed a major reason for the suspension was the radiation concerns from residents living along the proposed route.

While I'm not a radiation expert, it sounds to me like a load of bullshit that is being used to look good in the eyes of the concerned citizens and to hide the real reason: the high costs. Accidents both a fire in Shanghai and a derailment in Germany had already complicated the negotiations with the German participants, the New York Times writes.

Big buildings and no fear of the GFW

Big building in Hangzhou

It is always fun to get reports from first-time visitors to China. Jeremy Zawodny was invited for a techie conference by Alibaba in Hangzhou and is still coming to terms with his jet lagged impressions.

People here seem not to think much of the Great Firewall. The technology savvy folks I talked to said that those who really want to get around it know how to, so it kind of doesn't matter.
If Hangzhou is representative of other similarly sized (or larger) cities, China is truly in the middle of a renaissance. Looking around, it's not hard to guess which of the
stores and large buildings are less than 5 years old. And there's a lot of new demolition and re-building going on.

Welcome in reality. Nothing beats a few own observations. More here.

BTW: The name Hoffa, when I use it in Google News search, triggers off some problems. Maybe he is not welcome in China?