Well, you can’t always be number one, but China seems to be pretty good at being number 2.
I mentioned previously, it was announced early this year that China beat out Japan as the second largest economy in the world.
I also posted when they broke ground for Shanghai Disney (links: my blog, Shanghai Disney Resort) which will be the second Disney resort in China (the first being Hong Kong Disneyland).
In the past couple days I have been reminded of a couple other 2nds happening in Shanghai:
The world’s largest IKEA is in Sweden, naturally. The world’s second largest IKEA – SHANGHAI! At 49,400 square METERS (almost 532,000 sq. feet), the largest IKEA in Asia and the second largest in the world opened today in Pudong. Link
Shanghai, as the article mentions is the first city in China to have more than one IKEA. A third will be opening in 2014, and discussions are underway for a forth. Apparently, the growing middle class needs furnishing.
Shanghai is home to the 3rd tallest building in the world (the Shanghai World Financial Center seen from my bedroom window below) but why stop there. It was briefly the 2nd tallest (after the Taipei 101 Tower) until the Dubai Tower (Burj Khalifa) was built in 2010. But we will let the SWFC slip back to 4th place in order to put ourselves back in second place.
The Shanghai World Financial Center and the Jin Mao tower as seen today from my bedroom.
Under construction for some time now, the Shanghai Tower (or Shanghai Dragon) is starting to make an appearance as its construction has hit the 100 meter mark. By 2014, when it is completed it will be 632 meters, dwarfing the 492 meter SWFC and the 366 meter Jin Mao Tower it will sit next to. Of course, there are plans for an even taller building to be completed in Shenzhen, China in 2015. But we will take number two while it lasts.
You can see some pictures of what the cool tower will look like and the construction so far here: Link
Or you can just check out my view point. By moving from my bedroom to the kitchen and REALLY utilizing the zoom on my little canon, I come up with this shot of the cranes working on the new tower right between SWFC and Jin Mao.
This might be something big...
Looks like my view is only going to get better… maybe I should stick around awhile. 
Second is better than last, which is how our milk is rated. As the Chinese dairy industries have the lowest standards for milk in the world: Link. Why I drink the stuff is beyond me, but it hasn’t killed me yet.
Second place is also better than being used a second time, as are many of the bottles from imported beers and liquors. Oh yes, I have long known that you must be wary of the quality of beverages you are served in bars. So when I saw this little piece of news about thousands of bottles – with foreign labels – being refilled with local cheap beer I wasn’t terribly surprised. Link
Okay, enough of China’s seconds. What about being first! Well, according to North Korea’s “Global Happiness Index” China is the happiest place on earth! The United States, by the way, according to North Korea – is in 203rd place. Link
Ah, yes…. life is grand in Shanghai!
August 9th, 2011 at 1:44 pm
[...] months back that China is number one on their “Global Happiness Index”, see my post Shanghai Seconds, China has recently let us know that Shanghai is far from the happiest place in China to live. In [...]