Podcasts about Shanghai

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Last time we spoke about the Oyama Incident and decision to fight at Shanghai. In July 1937, escalating tensions between Japan and China erupted into war after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. As conflict spread, Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek, believing in his nation's resilience, called for unity to resist Japanese aggression. A pivotal moment occurred on August 9 at Hongqiao Airport, where a violent confrontation left several Japanese soldiers dead. The circumstances remained murky, with both sides blaming each other, further inflaming hostilities. Despite attempts at negotiation, the military standoff intensified, leading to a consensus that war was imminent. Chiang mobilized troops to Shanghai, a crucial city for both strategic and symbolic reasons, determined to demonstrate that China could defend its sovereignty. The Chinese forces, under Generals Zhang Fukai and Zhang Zhizhong, faced logistical challenges but aimed to strike first against the increasingly aggressive Japanese military. On August 12, both nations prepared for conflict, leading to a drastic escalation.  #157 The Battle of Shanghai Part 2: Black Saturday and Operation Iron Fist Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. On Friday, August 13 of 1937, the residents of Shanghai began enduring the sounds of rifle fire and machine gun salvos, punctuated by the distant booms of artillery.  Members of the Japanese marines, disguised in civilian clothes and posing as rowdy thugs, boisterous ronin, arrived at barricades manned by the Peace Preservation Corps at the northern edge of Yangshupu around 9:15 a.m. They began to provoke the Chinese guards with loud taunts and jeers. When the Chinese fired a warning shot into the air, the Japanese retaliated with deadly intent. The Chinese responded in kind, resulting in a lethal exchange. From that moment on, the situation was beyond control. As the day progressed, nervous skirmishes continued throughout the northern part of Shanghai. Chinese commanders dispatched patrols to conduct probing attacks, hoping to identify weak points in the Japanese defenses and push them back wherever possible. Meanwhile, their Japanese counterparts rushed to occupy key positions outside their main line of defense, aiming to gain an advantageous position should their adversaries launch a larger offensive. Small bands of soldiers from both sides maneuvered along narrow alleys to minimize the risk of detection; however, whenever they encountered each other, the results were deadly. In the western sector of the front line, where the Chinese Army's newly arrived 88th Infantry Division was preparing its positions, the center of activity was the headquarters of the Japanese marines near Hongkou Park. This location resembled a fortress, featuring a massive four-story structure shielded from air and artillery bombardment by a double roof of reinforced concrete. The building, which encompassed a large inner courtyard, occupied two city blocks and could accommodate thousands of troops at once. Highly visible, it represented both a significant military threat and a symbol of Japan's presence in Shanghai. The Chinese were acutely aware of their objective: they had to eradicate it. The Sichuan North road lies south between the marine headquarters and the Japanese section of the International Settlement. This road became the scene of frantic activity from the first day of battle. Japanese armored cars and motorcycle patrols, with machine guns mounted on sidecars, sped up and down the otherwise deserted street, while trench mortars positioned along the pavement lobbed grenades into Zhabei to the west. As columns of smoke rose into the sky from buildings in the Chinese district, Japanese officers squeezed into a narrow conning tower atop the marine headquarters, watching the bombardment's results through field glasses. Reports of Chinese snipers stationed in the upper floors of buildings along the road prompted Japanese squads, led by sword-wielding officers, to carry out door-to-door searches. Suspects were unceremoniously dragged away to an uncertain fate. Not a single civilian was visible in the area; everyone stayed indoors, behind closed windows and drawn curtains. On the afternoon of August 13, the Eight Character Bridge, located west of the marine headquarters, became the site of one of the battle's first major engagements. The bridge, measuring just 60 feet in length and spanning a minor creek, was deemed by both sides to have significant tactical importance. The Chinese commanders viewed it as a crucial route for advancing into the Hongkou area, believing that if the bridge fell into Japanese hands, it would be like a "piece of bone stuck in the throat." At around noon, Major Yi Jin, a battalion commander of the 88th Infantry Division, led a couple of hundred men from around the North Railway Station toward Eight Character Bridge. When the soldiers reached their objective at about 3:00 p.m., they spotted a small Japanese unit that had just arrived across the creek and was setting up defensive positions. The Chinese opened fire and managed to secure the bridge, prompting the Japanese to launch a brief artillery bombardment that resulted in several Chinese casualties. Gunfire near the bridge continued intermittently until 9:00 p.m., when a fragile silence fell over the area. Further to the east, in the 87th Infantry Division's sector, the day was also characterized by frantic maneuvering, punctuated by lengthy bursts of violence. Chinese reconnaissance parties infiltrated enemy-held areas, making their way to the Japanese Golf Club near the Huangpu River, where they began shooting at workers busy preparing the makeshift airfield. As the first volleys from the Chinese snipers rang out, clouds of dust filled the air, causing the workers to hastily seek cover. Japanese soldiers stationed in the clubhouse immediately returned fire, throwing off the snipers' aim. After about an hour, two Japanese vessels moored in the Huangpu River, the destroyer Run and the gunboat Seta were called in to assist the Japanese marines facing the 87th Infantry Division on land. Four- and six-inch shells screamed across the sky, exploding in the Chinese districts to the north. Shanghai University was also shelled, as the Japanese troops on land believed it had been occupied by Chinese soldiers. Ultimately, the last remaining staff members, two Americans, were forced to flee the campus. The naval artillery had come to the aid of the beleaguered infantry onshore, a scene that would be repeated continually in the days and weeks to come. Late that evening, Chiang Kai-shek finally ordered his military commanders to “divert the enemy at sea, block off the coast, and resist landings at Shanghai” Even before the mobilization of troops began, panic swept through Shanghai. Meanwhile, the city's waterfront took on an increasingly ominous tone. The China Daily News wrote “Arms, ammunition, and supplies streamed from several Japanese cruisers and destroyers onto the O.S.K. wharf in what appeared to be an unending flow. Additionally, a large detachment of soldiers in full marching gear disembarked, while a cruiser, the Idzumo, two destroyers, and nine gunboats arrived shortly before.” Zhang Zhizhong, the commander of the left wing, finally received the orders he wished to hear. Zhang intended to deploy all available troops in a bold effort to eliminate the Japanese presence once and for all, following the strategy recommended by the Germans. However, the plan had a significant weakness. The assault was to focus on the marine headquarters and the rest of the Hongkou salient while deliberately avoiding combat within the formal borders of the International Settlement. This decision was made as a concession to international public opinion and was politically sound. However, from a military perspective, it was nearly suicidal and greatly increased the risks associated with the entire operation. The Hongkou area represented the most heavily fortified position along the entire front. The marine headquarters was at the center of a dense network of heavy machine gun positions, protected by barbed wire, concrete emplacements, and walls of sandbags. On Saturday, August 14th, the Nationalist military command decided to target one of the most significant Japanese naval assets in Shanghai: the Izumo, anchored with support ships on the Huangpu River in the city center. Shortly before 11:00 a.m., five Chinese planes appeared over the rooftops, flying toward the river and the Japanese vessels. The aircraft released their bombs, but all missed their target, with several detonating on the wharves, demolishing buildings and sending shrapnel flying through the air. In response, the Japanese battleships unleashed a massive barrage, further endangering those unfortunate enough to live or work in the area as shell fragments rained down with deadly force. At 11:20 a.m., another Chinese air raid occurred, this time involving three planes, once again targeting the Izumo. However, for two of the pilots, something went horribly wrong. “From one of the four monoplanes, four aerial torpedoes were seen to drop as they passed over the Bund, far from their intended target... Two others fell on Nanking Road.” Either the pilot misjudged the target, or there was a malfunction with the release mechanism. Regardless of the cause, the bombs landed in one of the city's busiest civilian areas, where thousands were walking, shopping, and enjoying a hot August Saturday. At 4:46 p.m., the public health department's work diary noted, “Palace Hotel hit! Many injured and dead in street! Nanking Road opposite Cathay Hotel.” A reporter vividly captured the horror of the scene: “A bomb arced through the air, struck the Palace Hotel with a glancing blow, and unleashed indescribable carnage. As the high explosive fumes slowly lifted, a scene of dreadful death emerged. Flames from a blazing car danced over distorted bodies. Bodies wrapped in coolie cloth lay in shapeless heaps at the entrances to the main doorways and arcades of the Palace and Cathay hotels, their heads, legs, and arms separated from smashed masses of flesh. The corpse of a Chinese policeman lay dead in his tracks, shrapnel lodged in his head, and a disemboweled child was nearby.” To make matters worse, another pilot mistakenly released his bomb over Avenue Edward VII, another major shopping street. When the numbers were finally tallied, over 1,000 people, both Chinese and foreign had been killed. The bombs struck the International Settlement, a zone that was politically neutral and presumed safe. Hundreds of civilians were killed culminating in what would soon be referred to as “Black Saturday” or “Bloody Saturday.” By the time these tragedies unfolded, the Battle of Shanghai had already entered its second day.  Zhang Zhizhong's men prepared their positions for most of the day, then launched their attack late in the afternoon. Intense fighting erupted in the few hours before sunset, and it quickly became clear that the 88th Infantry Division was encountering resistance that was tougher than expected. In addition to the direct fire from entrenched Japanese positions, the attackers were bombarded by the Third Fleet's powerful artillery, which was awe-inspiring even when it employed only a fraction of its total strength of 700 pieces. However, the Chinese infantry lacked proper training in the use of heavy weaponry against fortified enemy positions. Their heavier guns, which could have made a significant difference, were held too far in the rear and missed their targets too easily, as inexperienced crews used flawed coordinates from observers who were not close enough to the action. Additionally, some of the Japanese positions had such thick defensive walls that it was questionable whether even the most powerful weaponry in the Chinese arsenal, the 150 mm howitzers, could do more than merely dent them. These tactics resulted in extraordinarily heavy losses for the Chinese, including among senior ranks. Around 5:00 p.m., Major General Huang Meixing, the 41-year-old commander of the 88th Infantry Division's 264th Brigade, was leading an attack near the marine headquarters. His divisional commander, Sun Yuanliang, attempted to reach him via field phone, but he was forced to wait. When he finally managed to get through to Huang, he cracked a rare joke: “It took so long, I thought you were dead.” Just minutes later, as if fate wanted to punish Sun Yuanliang for his black humor, Huang Meixing's command post was struck by an artillery shell, killing him instantly. Shock spread through the ranks as the news circulated, recalled Wu Ganliao, a machine gunner in the 88th Division. “Brigade Commander Huang was a fair-minded person, and he showed real affection for his troops. It was sad new”. Huang was by no means an exceptional case; Chinese officers died in large numbers from the very first day. One regiment lost seven company commanders in a single short attack. Several factors contributed to the high incidence of death among senior ranks. One reason was the ethos among some officers to lead from the front in an effort to instill courage in their men. However, leading from the rear could also be highly risky in urban combat, where opposing forces were often just yards apart, and the maze-like environment created by multi-story buildings and narrow alleys led to a fluid situation where the enemy could be just as likely behind as in front. Moreover, soldiers on both sides deliberately targeted enemy officers, perhaps more so than in other conflicts, because rigid leadership hierarchies placed a premium on decapitating the opposing unit's command. However, the massive fatality rates among officers, and even more so among the rank and file, were primarily the result of Chinese forces employing frontal assaults against a well-armed, entrenched enemy.The men who were dying by the hundreds were China's elite soldiers, the product of years of effort to build a modern military. They represented the nation's best hope for resisting Japan in a protracted war. Nevertheless, on the very first day of battle, they were being squandered at an alarming and unsustainable rate. After just a few hours of offensive operations with minimal gains, Chiang Kai-shek decided to cut his losses. In a telegram, he commanded Zhang Zhizhong: “Do not carry out attacks this evening. Await further orders.”In the weeks leading up to the outbreak of the battle of Shanghai, Chiang Kai-shek received a parade of leaders from various provinces eager to participate in the upcoming fight. After years of the Warlord nonsense , a new sense of unity began to emerge among them for the first time. All of these factions proclaimed they would lend their troops to his leadership if he pledged them against Japan. As a sign of his sincerity, Chiang decided to appoint the position of overall commander in Shanghai to one of his longest-standing rivals, our old friend, the finger nails inspector, Feng Yuxiang. This was a political savvy move directed at the Communists, trying to earn their favor.  Feng Yuxiang did not hesitate when offered the command. “As long as it serves the purpose of fighting Japan, I'll say yes, no matter what it is.” His appointment was announced just as the first shots were fired in Shanghai. Feng was about a decade older than his direct subordinates, which Chiang considered an advantage. He desired someone who was both composed and prudent to counterbalance the fiery tempers of the frontline commanders, as Chiang put it“ The frontline commanders are too young. They've got a lot of courage, but they lack experience.” Feng moved his command post to a temple outside Suzhou in mid August. Almost immediately afterward, he visited Zhang Zhizhong, who had established his command near the Suzhou city wall. At that time, Zhang was just beginning to realize how formidable the Japanese resistance in Shanghai truly was. His staff started to notice troubling signs of his deteriorating health, sensing that sickness and exhaustion were taking a toll on his ability to stay upright and effectively lead the battle. Perhaps this feeling of being overwhelmed was why he failed to undertake basic tasks, such as providing adequate protection from air attacks. Meanwhile, Shanghai society responded to the sudden outbreak of war. In July, the city's residents worked, ate, drank, and played as they had for decades. Beginning in August, however, they had to entirely remake their lives. Local institutions began to relocate; by late September, it was announced that four local universities would open joint colleges with institutions in China's interior. In the country's premier commercial city, business was being devastated. “Like a nightmare octopus flinging cruel tentacles around its helpless victims,” the North-China Daily News reported, “the local hostilities are slowly strangling Shanghai's trade.” A shopkeeper lamented, “We obtain a lot of business, of course, from tourists who visit Shanghai. What tourists are there these days?” For the foreigners in Shanghai, the war was seen as a violent diversion, but nothing truly dangerous, at least, that's what they thought. For the Chinese, however, life was unraveling. As the fighting intensified around the Japanese district, thousands of refugees poured into the streets, heading for Suzhou Creek and the Garden Bridge, the only link to the International Settlement that remained open. It was a chaotic and merciless stampede, where the weak were at a severe disadvantage. “My feet were slipping… in blood and flesh,” recalled Rhodes Farmer, a journalist for the North China Daily News, as he found himself in a sea of people struggling to escape Hongkou. “Half a dozen times, I knew I was walking on the bodies of children or old people sucked under by the torrent, trampled flat by countless feet.” Near the creek, the mass of sweating and panting humanity was nearly uncontrollable as it funneled toward the bridge, which was a mere 55 feet wide. Two Japanese sentries were almost overwhelmed by the crowd and reacted as they had been trained, with immediate, reflexive brutality. One of them bayoneted an old man and threw the lifeless body into the filthy creek below. This act of violence did not deter the other refugees, who continued to push toward the bridge, believing they were heading toward the safety of the International Settlement. Little did they know, they were moving in the wrong direction, towards the horrific slaughter of innocent civilians that would mark the entire Shanghai campaign. The American advisor Claire Chennault had been in the air since the early hours of August 14. After only a few hours of sleep at his base in Nanjing, he jumped into a lone, unarmed fighter to observe the Chinese air raid as a neutral party. The night before, he had been at the Nanjing Military Academy, in the company of Chiang Kai-shek and his wife Soong Mei-ling. That night, as war loomed, Soong Mei-ling in tears said “They are killing our people!” Chennault asked “what will you do now?”. She replied “We will fight,”. Chennault was the one who suggested bombing the ships on the Huangpu River because of the artillery support they provided to the Japanese infantry. Since there was no Chinese officer with the expertise to prepare such an operation, Soong Mei-ling had asked Chennault to take over. Although he was completely unprepared for this new role, he felt a growing affinity for China, fueled by excitement at the prospect of contributing to their fight. Eleanor B. Roosevelt, the wife of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was in Shanghai at the time of the bombing and was horrified by the loss of innocent life. She sent a letter to Japan's premier, Prince Konoye, urging him to seek ways to minimize the risk of Chinese air raids, which she argued were caused by the presence of Japan's military in the Shanghai area. The Japanese did not respond. However, the day after her letter, the Izumo was moved from its anchorage near the Japanese Consulate to the middle of the Huangpu River. The cruiser remained close enough to contribute its artillery to the fighting inland, but far enough away to significantly reduce the danger to civilians in the city. The 15th was surreal, even after thousands had been killed in battle, the fighting in China remained an undeclared war as far as the Japanese government was concerned, and it committed forces only in a piecemeal fashion. The Japanese Cabinet continued to refer to events in Shanghai and further north near Beijing as “the China Incident.” However, euphemisms were not enough to disguise the reality that Shanghai was becoming a significant problem. In the early hours of the 15th, a Japanese Cabinet meeting decided to send army reinforcements to the hard-pressed marines in Shanghai, leading to the deployment of the 3rd and 11th Divisions. The two divisions were to form the Shanghai Expeditionary Force, a unit resurrected from the hostilities of 1932. Many of the soldiers sent to war were reservists in their late twenties and early thirties who had long since returned to civilian life and were poorly disciplined. In their habitual disdain for the Chinese, Japanese leaders figured that this would be more than enough to deal with them. Underestimating the foe would soon prove to be a mistake they would repeat again and again in the coming weeks and months. To lead the force, the Japanese leaders brought out of retirement 59-year-old General Matsui Iwane, a veteran of the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War. Matsui was a slight man, weighing no more than 100 pounds, with a large 19th century mustache and a palsy affecting his right side. He was not an accidental choice; he knew China well and had been an acquaintance of Sun Yat-sen.  Hongkou or “Little Tokyo” had become an area under siege. Surrounded by hostile Chinese troops on three sides, its only link to the outside world was the dock district along the Huangpu River. From the first day of the battle, the area was bombarded with Chinese mortar shells, prompting an exodus among Japanese residents, some of whom had lived in Shanghai for years. An increasingly common sight was kimono-clad women carrying heavy loads as they made their way to the wharfs to board ferries taking them back to Japan. Hongkou, said visiting Japanese correspondent Hayashi Fusao, “was a dark town. It was an exhausted town.” Those who remained in “Little Tokyo,” mostly men forced to stay behind to look after their businesses, tried to continue their lives with as little disruption to their normal routines as possible. However, this was difficult, given the constant reminders of war surrounding them: rows of barbed wire and piles of sandbags, soldiers marching from one engagement to another, and the sounds of battle often occurring just a few blocks away. “Every building was bullet-marked, and the haze of gunpowder hung over the town,” wrote Hayashi. “It was a town at war. It was the August sun and an eerie silence, burning asphalt, and most of all, the swarm of blue flies hovering around the feet.” It seemed Vice Admiral Hasegawa Kiyoshi, the commander of the Japanese 3rd Fleet, had bitten off more than he could chew in aggressively expanding operations in the Shanghai area. August 16th saw repeated Chinese attacks, placing the Japanese defenders under severe pressure, stretching their resources to the limit. Rear Admiral Okawachi Denshichi, who headed the Shanghai marines, had to hastily commit reserves, including irreplaceable tanks, to prevent a Chinese breakthrough. That day Hasegawa sent three telegrams to his superiors, each sounding more desperate than the last. After his second telegram, sent around 7:00 pm,  warning that his troops could probably hold out for only 6 more days, the Naval Command ordered the marine barracks at Sasebo Naval Base in southern Japan to dispatch two units of 500 marines each to Shanghai. Following Hasegawa's 3rd telegram later that night, the navy decided to send even more reinforcements. Two additional marine units, consisting of a total of 1,400 soldiers waiting in Manchuria for deployment at Qingdao, were ordered to embark for Shanghai immediately. The Chinese, however, did not feel that things were going their way. The battle continued to be much bloodier than anyone had anticipated. Throwing infantry en masse against fortified positions was the only feasible tactic available to an army rich in manpower confronting an adversary with a clear technological advantage. Yet, this approach turned the battle into a contest of flesh against steel, resulting in tremendous loss of life. Chiang Kai-shek was losing patience. After several days of fighting, his troops had still not succeeded in dislodging the Japanese from the streets of Shanghai. The Japanese marines entrenched in the Hongkou and Yangshupu areas proved to be a harder nut to crack than he or his generals had expected. At a meeting with his divisional commanders, Chiang ordered a massive attack to be launched in the early morning of August 17. The troops were to utilize more firepower and be better prepared than they had been for the assault three days earlier. Codenamed Operation Iron Fist, it was the most ambitious Chinese offensive in the first critical week of the Shanghai campaign. Colonel Hans Vetter, the advisor assigned to the 88th Division, played a key role in planning the offensive. He aimed to employ “Stosstrupp” or “stormtrooper” shock troop tactics that the Germans had effectively used during the Great War. After an intense artillery bombardment, a small, elite group of determined, well-armed men was to punch through the Japanese lines and fight their way deep into the enemy camp before the defenders had a chance to recover from the initial surprise. This procedure was to be followed by both the 88th Division moving in from the west, targeting the area south of Hongkou Park, and the 87th Division conducting a parallel operation from the east. Zhang Zhizhong recognized a window of opportunity while he still enjoyed a significant, but likely temporary, advantage against the Japanese. This opportunity had to be seized before reinforcements arrived. However, the odds were not favorable. Urban combat with modern weaponry of unprecedented lethality was a costly affair, especially when the enemy had the upper hand in the sky. Japanese airplanes constantly threatened the Chinese positions, carrying out relentless sorties throughout the day. The Chinese Air Force remained a factor, but it was uncertain how much longer it would hold out against the more experienced Japanese pilots and their superior, more maneuverable aircraft. The growing Japanese presence overhead, supported by both shipborne planes and aircraft based on airstrips on Chongming Island in the Yangtze Delta, greatly complicated any major movements on the ground. Despite these challenges, the Chinese Army continued its troop build-up in the Shanghai area. The 98th Infantry Division arrived on August 15 and placed one brigade, half its strength, at the disposal of the 87th Infantry Division, ensuring that the division's rear area was covered during Operation Iron Fist. Operation Iron Fist kicked off as planned at 5:00 am on the 17th. Utilizing all available firepower, the 87th and 88th Infantry Divisions launched simultaneous assaults against stunned and bewildered Japanese defenders. In line with the Stosstrupp approach of rapid penetration, Zhang Zhizhong introduced a new tactical principle, prompted by the severe losses during the first few days of fighting. Forces under his command were to identify gaps in the Japanese defenses and exploit them, rather than launch massive, costly, and most likely futile attacks on heavily fortified positions. Once an enemy stronghold was spotted, the main forces would circumvent it and leave just enough troops to keep it pinned down. Chen Yiding, a regimental commander of the 87th Infantry Division, played a pivotal role in the assault. His soldiers, each equipped with provisions for two days, made good progress during the first hours of Iron Fist, leveraging their local knowledge and moving with the slippery dexterity of alley cats. They would enter a building on one street, knock down the wall inside, and exit onto the next street, or they would throw down beams from rooftop to rooftop, sneaking as quietly as possible from one block to another without being noticed by those on the ground. They proved elusive targets for the Japanese, who expected them to come from one direction, only to be attacked from another. Nevertheless, changing the tactical situation from the previous days was not enough. The attackers encountered well-prepared defenses that sometimes could not be circumvented, resulting in significant losses from the outset of the assault. An entire battalion of the 88th Division was wiped out while trying to take a single building. Despite their sacrifices, there was no major breakthrough anywhere along the Japanese defense lines. This was partly due to strong support from Japanese naval artillery stationed along the Huangpu River and partly a reflection of poor coordination between Chinese infantry and artillery.Equally detrimental to the Chinese cause was their careful avoidance, during the first days of combat in Shanghai, of fighting inside the International Settlement or even in the predominantly Japanese part of the settlement, in order to avoid angering the outside world and swaying international opinion against them. This approach frustrated their German advisors. “It was obvious that the attacking troops had been told to engage only enemies standing on Chinese territory, not the ones inside the international areas,” the Germans wrote, with an almost audible sigh of regret in their after-action report. This frustration was shared by several Chinese officers at the frontline. “We are much handicapped by the demarcation of the foreign areas,” the adjutant to a divisional commander told a Western reporter. “We could have wiped out the enemy if it had not been for orders from the Central Government and our commander to avoid causing damage to foreign lives and to give them adequate protection.” The presence of the large foreign community primarily played into Japanese hands. Many of Chiang Kai-shek's officers believed that if the Chinese had been able to move through the French Concession and the International Settlement to attack the Japanese from the rear, they could have won easily. Zhang Fakui would later say “Without the protection provided by the foreign concessions, they would have been wiped out,”. At the end of the day, the Japanese emerged victorious. Their defense proved stronger, as it had for four long years on the Western Front during the Great War. The challenge facing the Japanese was tough, but at least it was straightforward and uncomplicated: they had to hold on to Hongkou and Yangshupu while waiting for reinforcements to arrive. They proved adept at this task. In many cases, Chinese soldiers found themselves fighting for the same objectives they had targeted when the battle for Shanghai began several days earlier. By August 18, the Chinese attack had been called off. Operation Iron Fist had proven to be a costly endeavor for the Chinese, who endured heavy casualties in the vicious urban fighting. The Japanese, on the other hand, suffered approximately 600 casualties, of which 134 were fatalities, according to the Official Gazette. The Japanese marine units dispatched from Manchuria on August 16, the day of crisis for their compatriots in Shanghai, arrived in the city during the morning of August 18 and were immediately thrown into battle. A few hours later, the Japanese Cabinet announced the formal end of its policy of non-expansion in China, which, by that time, had already been a hollow shell for several weeks. “The empire, having reached the limit of its patience, has been forced to take resolute measures,” it stated. “Henceforth, it will punish the outrages of the Chinese Army, thereby spurring the Chinese government to self-reflect.” I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. On August 13, Japanese marines, disguised as civilians, provoked Chinese guards, leading to mutual gunfire. The fierce urban fighting escalated, especially at the strategically vital Eight Character Bridge. Despite determined Chinese assaults, heavy losses ensued as they struggled against well-fortified Japanese positions. As artillery and air strikes rained down, civilian casualties soared, culminating in the infamous "Black Saturday," followed by the failed Operation Iron Fist.    

Dear Article Clubbers,Thank you for the kind birthday wishes last week. It's true that our reading community is 10 years old. And we're just getting started!Just like that, we're in July, which means this week's issue is dedicated to featuring the article of the month and encouraging you to join our discussion.I'm happy to announce that this month, we're going to be diving into “The End of Children,” by Gideon Lewis-Kraus. Published in February in The New Yorker, the article explores the imminent stark drop in population around the world, most notably in South Korea.Don't worry: Even though the declining human fertility rate has become a political topic in the United States, this piece is nuanced and deeply reported. I'm certain you'll appreciate it, even if you end up disagreeing with the writer's stance.Inside today's issue, you'll find:* Melinda and my first impressions of the article (on the podcast)* My blurb about the article* A short bio of the author* A warm invite to join our discussion on July 27If you can't be bothered by all of that, and just want to sign up for the discussion right here and now, by all means, please do!The End of ChildrenGrowing up, I worried about many things. One source of worry was my family's evacuation plan in case of fire; it wasn't robust enough. Another source was the world's exponential population increase, which would inevitably doom us.Turns out, at the time, my concern was not unfounded. In 1968, Paul Ehrlich wrote in The Population Bomb that millions of people would die of starvation unless governments aggressively curtailed the fertility rate. But instead of population rising without bound, the opposite has happened. In 2023, for the first time ever, because on average each woman had fewer than 2.1 children (the “replacement rate”), the world's population shrank. All projections say this trend will continue, until one day, there won't be enough people for us to sustain as a species.In Seoul, where writer Gideon Lewis-Kraus focuses this article, “children are largely phantom presences.” There are more dogs than children. Ask anyone on the street, a Korean demographer said, and they'll know the country's fertility rate. (It is 0.7, the lowest in the world.) Kids bring ick. Many businesses are “no-kids zones.”The United States (fertility rate: 1.6) is headed in a similar direction, Mr. Lewis-Kraus argues. The truth is, for whatever reason (and there are many), younger Americans no longer think having children is an inevitability. As immigration declines, and climate concerns rise, and structural inequities worsen, our country may face the same problem as Korea. And that could lead to catastrophe.Should we care about the declining fertility rate? Or is it just a misogynistic conservative ruse to distract our attention from the deleterious effects of climate change? In my opinion, this is the first article written by a progressive that has looked seriously at the issue and presented it to a mainstream audience.By Gideon Lewis-Kraus • The New Yorker • 42 min • Gift Link➕ Bonus: Here's the article with my handwritten highlights and annotations.About the authorA staff writer at The New Yorker, Mr. Lewis-Kraus grew up in New Jersey and graduated from Stanford. He writes reportage and criticism and is the author of the digressive travel memoir A Sense of Direction as well as the Kindle Single No Exit. Previously, he was a writer-at-large at The New York Times Magazine, a contributing editor at Harper's magazine, and a contributing writer at WIRED magazine. He has lived in San Francisco, Berlin, and Shanghai, and now lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two small children. Mr. Lewis-Kraus generously recorded an interview with Article Club, which will be published in two weeks.About the discussionMy hope is that you'll read “The End of Children” and want to talk about it! (Even though we don't “debate” at Article Club discussions, I predict this topic will lead to a spicier-than-usual conversation.)We'll be meeting up on Zoom on Sunday, July 27, 2:00 - 3:30 pm PT. We'll spend the first few minutes saying hi and doing short introductions. Then after I frame the piece and share our community agreements, we'll break out into small, facilitated discussion groups. The small groups usually include 5-8 people, so there's plenty of time to share your perspectives and listen to others. That's where we'll spend the bulk of our time. Toward the end, we'll return to the full group, sharing our reflections and appreciations of fellow participants.If this sounds interesting to you, sign up by clicking on the button below.If you're unsure, I get it. If you don't know me, it might feel strange to sign up for an online discussion with total strangers. But I am confident that you'll find yourself at home with other kind people who like to read deeply and explore ideas in community. We've done this 58 times, and by now, it's not a surprise that we're able to create an intimate space, almost like we're in the same physical room together.I hope that you read the piece. If it resonates with you, I encourage you to take the plunge and join us on July 27!Thank you for reading and listening to this week's issue. Hope you liked it.

The number of foreign visitors coming into China is skyrocketing: During the first half of the year, Beijing saw a year-on-year increase of 37%. Shanghai's Pudong International Airport alone saw a surge of 46% in foreign visits. What's fueling this rush in traveling to China? What can we expect going forward? What remain to be done to make China more accessible?

In this Season 10 finale of The Remarkable Retail Podcast, Steve interviews Vuori CEO & Founder Joe Kudla live on-stage during the closing keynote of the CommerceNext Growth Show in New York. Steve and Michael also are on-stage for a session gleaning the top retail trends of the year so far and set the stage for what's most important to focus on the balance of the year.Instead of covering the week's headlines, Michael and Steve zoom out to examine the trends that have defined the year thus far. Tariff turbulence remains the dominant storyline, with the July 9th extension deadline looming and limited trade progress made—raising uncertainty about supply chains, pricing, and margins. Retailers are already grappling with rising costs and making difficult decisions about whether to absorb the impact through vendor, consumer, or margin adjustments.They spotlight a troubling acceleration in store closures, forecasting 2025 as a record year for retail contraction, particularly in drugstore and department store categories. Meanwhile, growth continues to concentrate, with Amazon, Walmart, and Costco accounting for over half of all incremental retail gains. Smaller out-performers, such as Vuori and Abercrombie, stand out, but the middle is collapsing through a combination of unremarkable business designs and lackluster execution.The hosts also analyze the contrasting fortunes of Walmart's soaring apparel success versus Target's continued slump and reflect on emerging disruption from agentic AI—potentially reshaping how consumers search, shop, and connect with brands. With luxury contraction predicted for the first time in 15 years and labor dynamics in flux, retailers face a complex and volatile landscape.Then, it's over to an on-stage interview with Vuori CEO & Founder Joe Kudla, who joins Steve live for the closing keynote at the CommerceNext Growth Show in New York City for a candid and inspirational conversation about scaling a lifestyle brand with purpose. Joe shares how Vuori—rooted in the beachside town of Encinitas, California—pivoted from a near-collapse to a $5.5 billion valuation last year, thanks to an obsessive focus on product quality, fabric innovation, and deep community connection.Kudla walks listeners through Vuori's growth strategy: starting with DTC success, expanding to wholesale, and now operating over 80 physical stores—each serving as a local brand hub. He discusses how in-person retail drives stronger omni-channel customers and why authenticity in influencer partnerships is more important than ever in a crowded media landscape.As Vuori expands globally with new stores in London, Shanghai, and Seoul, Joe remains grounded in his role as the brand's chief product evangelist and men's fit model. His leadership lesson? Stay vulnerable, stay curious, and always lead with great products. About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.

Hello ! J'espère que vous allez bien ? Cette semaine je suis de retour pour vous parler d'un film japonais que j'ai vu au festival du film de Shanghai "Nemuru baka hypnic jerks". J'espère que l'épisode va vous plaire !

What if everything your school needed was right in front of you? In this special extended conversation, Shane sits down with his co-author Efraim Lerner for an unfiltered chat about their upcoming book "Change Starts Here" and why they believe schools need to rediscover confidence in their own communities. Shane and Efraim dig into how schools have gradually outsourced their decision-making, creating dependency on quick fixes and outside solutions. They challenge the assumption that expertise must come from outside, arguing instead that schools create the most powerful change when they leverage the knowledge already within their walls - from teachers and students to parents and support staff. They talk through their question-driven approach to change, featuring 40 questions that help schools discover what they already have rather than telling them what they need. Why do most change initiatives collapse within three years? How can schools create "resonant" change that feels authentic to their community? And why must schools build internal confidence before they engage with external consultants? These are the questions driving their thinking.Resources & LinksOrder "Change Starts Here: What If Everything Your School Needed Was Right in Front of You?"Amazon Pre-order LinkPublisher Website - RoutledgeWaterstones Pre-order Work CollaborativeWebsite: workcollaborative.com Connect with Efraim LernerLinkedIn: Efraim LernerJoin Shane's Intensive Leadership Programme at educationleaders.co/intensiveShane Leaning, an organisational coach based in Shanghai, supports school leaders globally. Passionate about empowment, he is the author of the best-selling 'Change Starts Here.' Shane is a leading educational voice in the UK, Asia and around the world.You can find Shane on LinkedIn and Bluesky. or shaneleaning.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David, Jono and I talk about what it means to be a sellout in the modern era. If that term even exists anymore in our fields. David is a magic the gathering player and a poet, and Jono is a singer/songwriter. All of us look at the term quite differently, because of our backgrounds but also because Jono is a bit younger than David and I.

Jasper van Dijk, Ad Verbrugge en Jelle van Baardewijk bespreken het nieuws van de week.--Steun DNW en word patroon op http://www.petjeaf.com/denieuwewereld.Liever direct overmaken? Maak dan uw gift over naar NL61 RABO 0357 5828 61 t.n.v. Stichting De Nieuwe Wereld. Crypto's doneren kan via https://commerce.coinbase.com/pay/79870e0f-f817-463e-bde7-a5a8cb08c09f-- Bronnen en links bij deze uitzending: - Nieuwsuur over de NAVO-top: https://npo.nl/start/serie/nieuwsuur/seizoen-2025/nieuwsuur_5125/afspelen- 'Wat gebeurt hier nu écht', Ad eerder deze week over de NAVO-top: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRKzhGXrRQs--00:00 Introductie4:59 NAVO-top, Trump en het caesarisme19:08 Iran kernprogramma, Shanghai cooperation36:30 NAVO-uitgaven en wapenwedloop44:05 Het kostenplaatje1:02:30 Asielwetten Faber1:23:40 Congres PvdA-GroenLinks1:34:00 Mobieltjesverbod en afronding1:35:20 Afronding--De Nieuwe Wereld TV is een platform dat mensen uit verschillende disciplines bij elkaar brengt om na te denken over grote veranderingen die op komst zijn door een combinatie van snelle technologische ontwikkelingen en globalisering. Het is een initiatief van filosoof Ad Verbrugge in samenwerking met anchors Jelle van Baardewijk en Marlies Dekkers. De Nieuwe Wereld TV wordt gemaakt in samenwerking met de Filosofische School Nederland. Onze website: https://denieuwewereld.tv/ DNW heeft ook een Substack. Meld je hier aan: https://denieuwewereld.substack.com/

In the new novel “Rabbit Moon” author Jennifer Haigh writes a drama set in Shanghai about a fractured American family with secret lives and an unbreakable bond between two sisters.

Al, Gemini and Rich feast on the food and hospitality provided by Todd Clore, the chef/owner of Henderson mainstay Todd's Uniquie Dining. Todd shares why he left The Strip to open one of the suburbs' first fine dining destinations more than 20 years ago. Also: STK's Stephen Hopcraft unveils new menu items, Lotus of Siam's Penny Chutima talks about her mother's James Beard Award from years ago, and we dive into nearly a dozen places we've visted in the past week.   

•⁠ ⁠பரபரப்பைக் கிளப்பிய அமித் ஷா பேட்டி!•⁠ ⁠EPS-ன் பெயரை குறிப்பிடாத அமித் ஷா •⁠ ⁠"NDA கூட்டணியில் தவெக இணையுமா?"- அமித்ஷா பதில்•⁠ ⁠"கூட்டணி ஆட்சியை மக்கள் விரும்ப மாட்டார்கள்” - வைகைச்செல்வன்•⁠ ⁠குழப்பம் ஏற்படுத்த வேண்டாம்: தமிழிசை•⁠ ⁠அமித் ஷா எப்போது தமிழகம் வந்தாரோ அன்றே திமுகவுக்கு பயம் வந்துவிட்டது - நயினார் நாகேந்திரன்•⁠ ⁠"எங்கள் குருதியில் குடியிருக்கும் பேரறிஞர் பெருந்தகை அண்ணா” - எடப்பாடி பழனிசாமி•⁠ ⁠"இஸ்ரேல் தலைவராக இருந்த சிவன்" - ஸ்டாலின்•⁠ ⁠தவெகவின் செயற்குழு கூட்டம் வரும் ஜூலை 4ம் தேதி அக்கட்சித் தலைவர் விஜய் தலைமையில் நடைபெறும் என அறிவிப்பு •⁠ ⁠எந்ததொரு அந்நிய மொழிக்கும் எதிர்ப்பு கூடாது - அமித் ஷா•⁠ ⁠ஹிந்தி அனைத்து இந்திய மொழிகளுக்கும் நண்பன் என்ற ஒன்றிய அமைச்சர் அமித்ஷாவின் பேச்சுக்கு திமுக எம்.பி., கனிமொழி பதில்•⁠ ⁠ராமதாஸை சந்தித்த செல்வப்பெருந்தகை? •⁠ ⁠ஜூலை 14ல் பொதுப்பிரிவு கலந்தாய்வு!•⁠ ⁠முன்னாள் விருதுநகர் மாவட்ட ஆட்சியர் ஜெயசீலனின் X தள பதிவு•⁠ ⁠Koomapatti: ``கூமாபட்டியில் ரூ.10 கோடியிலான பூங்கா'' - விருதுநகர் ஆட்சியர் அதிகாரப்பூர்வ அறிவிப்பு!•⁠ ⁠சிறுநீரில் கண்களை கழுவும் முறைக்கு மருத்துவர்கள் கடும் எதிர்ப்பு•⁠ ⁠மதுரை ஆதீனம் மீது 4 பிரிவுகளில் வழக்குப்பதிவு - சென்னை சைபர் கிரைம் போலீஸ் நடவடிக்கை!•⁠ ⁠நடிகர் கிருஷ்ணாவுக்கு 14 நாட்கள் நீதிமன்ற காவல்.•⁠ ⁠Shanghai: ஷாங்காய் ஒத்துழைப்பு அமைப்பின் பிரகடனத்தை நிராகரித்த இந்தியா!? - காரணம் என்ன?•⁠ ⁠அடுத்த வாரம் 5 நாடுகளுக்கு மோடி பயணம்?•⁠ ⁠"என்னைப் பொறுத்தவரை நாடாளுமன்றத்தை விட அரசியல் சாசனம்தான் மிக உயர்ந்தது.." -CJI கவாய்•⁠ ⁠தேர்தலில் போட்டியிடாத கட்சிகளை பட்டியலில் இருந்து நீக்கும் தேர்தல் ஆணையம்!•⁠ ⁠அமெரிக்காவை மீண்டும் தாக்குவோம் - கமேனி•⁠ ⁠இந்தியா - பாகிஸ்தான் போரை நிறுத்தியது நானே என 18வது முறையாக கூறியுள்ளார் அதிபர் ட்ரம்ப்!•⁠ ⁠தீவிரத் தாக்குதலுக்கு தயாராகும் ரஷ்யா?

Julie Curtiss was born in 1982 in Paris, France and lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts, Paris, during which time she undertook two exchange programmes; one at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Dresden and the other at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Curtiss graduated in 2006 with a BA and MFA. Recent solo exhibitions include White Cube Hong Kong (2023); Anton Kern Gallery, New York (2022; 2020; 2019); White Cube Mason's Yard, London (2021); Various Small Fires, Los Angeles (2018); and 106 Green, Brooklyn, New York (2017). Group exhibitions include Fondation Carmignac, Porquerolles, France (2024); Dallas Museum of Art, TX (2023); MCA Chicago, IL (2023); Yuz Museum, Shanghai (2023); FLAG Art Foundation, New York (2023); Leeum Museum of Art, Seoul (2022); Biennale des Arts de Nice, France (2022); The Shed, New York (2021); Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn, New York (2019); Perrotin, Seoul (2019); Clearing, New York (2019); White Cube Bermondsey, London (2017). She has been the recipient of a number of fellowships and awards, including Youkobo Art Space Returnee Residency Program, Tokyo (2019); Fellow of the Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program, New York (2018); Saltonstall Arts Colony Residency, New York (2017); Contemporary Art Center at Woodside Residency Program, New York (2013); VAN LIER Fellowship, New York (2012); Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy's Young Artists Award (2004); and Erasmus European Exchange Program Grant, Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Dresden (2003).Curtiss' work is represented in a number of museum collections, among which are Bronx Museum, New York; Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio; High Museum, Atlanta; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Maki Collection, Japan; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and Yuz Museum, Shanghai.

【欢迎订阅】 每天早上5:30，准时更新。 【阅读原文】 标题：The Rise of Chinese Brands: From Domestic Boom to Global Expansion 正文：The craze for Labubu dolls exemplifies the surge of Chinese consumer brands. At Pop Mart's Shanghai flagship store, throngs wait a week or more to buy these "blind box" toys,with a rare edition fetching $150,000 at auction on June 10th. Celebrities like David Beckham and Rihanna have publicly shown their appreciation, while Pop Mart's shares have soared 170% since the start of the year. This isn't isolated: Chinese brands are winning over domestic and international customers, challenging Western giants in sectors from cosmetics to hospitality. 知识点：craze /kreɪz/（英）；/kreɪz/（美），n. A temporary fashion or enthusiasm; a fad. ；狂热；时尚 • The new video game created a craze among teenagers.这款新电子游戏在青少年中掀起了热潮 获取外刊的完整原文以及精讲笔记，请关注微信公众号「早安英文」，回复“外刊”即可。更多有意思的英语干货等着你！ 【节目介绍】 《早安英文-每日外刊精读》，带你精读最新外刊，了解国际最热事件：分析语法结构，拆解长难句，最接地气的翻译，还有重点词汇讲解。 所有选题均来自于《经济学人》《纽约时报》《华尔街日报》《华盛顿邮报》《大西洋月刊》《科学杂志》《国家地理》等国际一线外刊。 【适合谁听】 1、关注时事热点新闻，想要学习最新最潮流英文表达的英文学习者 2、任何想通过地道英文提高听、说、读、写能力的英文学习者 3、想快速掌握表达，有出国学习和旅游计划的英语爱好者 4、参加各类英语考试的应试者（如大学英语四六级、托福雅思、考研等） 【你将获得】 1、超过1000篇外刊精读课程，拓展丰富语言表达和文化背景 2、逐词、逐句精确讲解，系统掌握英语词汇、听力、阅读和语法 3、每期内附学习笔记，包含全文注释、长难句解析、疑难语法点等，帮助扫除阅读障碍。

China's business landscape in 2025 is unforgiving—consumer spending is down, competition is fiercer than ever, and companies face a brutal reality: adapt or die. The old playbooks aren't working, traditional marketing approaches are falling flat, and while everyone knows they need to change, most don't know what to do or how to do it. In this environment, the difference between companies that thrive and those that merely survive comes down to one thing: innovative leadership that can actually navigate the messy, uncomfortable process of transformation in real-time. Today, we're diving deep into what it takes to transition into your innovative superpowers with Nishtha Mehta, a sought-after international change facilitator and ICF PCC innovation coach who has been helping Fortune 500 companies and startups do exactly that for the past two decades from her base in Shanghai.

Chinese authorities and companies are taking steps to address the so-called "curse of 35", a discriminatory hiring practice that sidelines or dismisses workers age 35 and older due to labor costs. More employers across the country are easing age restrictions in their recruitment policies in an effort to promote fairer hiring.中国政府部门和企业正采取措施应对所谓的 “35 岁魔咒”—— 这是一种歧视性招聘做法，因劳动力成本问题将 35 岁及以上的劳动者边缘化或解雇。全国越来越多雇主在招聘政策中放宽年龄限制，以推动更公平的招聘。In Heyuan, Guangdong province, a government recruitment program announced earlier this month that 355 new employees would be hired for government departments this year. The general age requirement is 18 to 35 years old, but that age limit has been extended to 40 for candidates with master's degrees or for demobilized military personnel and their family members.在广东省河源市，本月早些时候公布的一项政府招聘计划显示，今年政府部门将新招聘 355 名工作人员。一般年龄要求为 18 至 35 岁，但拥有硕士学位的应聘者、退役军人及其家属的年龄限制放宽至 40 岁。Candidates as old as 45 who have doctorates and those up to age 50 with senior professional titles may also apply for the program.拥有博士学位的应聘者年龄可放宽至 45 岁，具有高级专业技术职称的应聘者年龄可放宽至 50 岁。Other provinces and cities have introduced similar changes. In November, Shanghai said applicants for the city's civil service exam must be between 18 and 35 years old, with the age limit raised to 40 for those with master's or doctoral degrees.其他省市也推出了类似调整。去年 11 月，上海市表示，该市公务员考试的报考者年龄须在 18 至 35 岁之间，拥有硕士或博士学位者年龄限制放宽至 40 岁。Guangzhou Pharmaceuticals Holdings, a major State-owned enterprise specializing in traditional Chinese medicine, biomedicine and healthcare, announced in May that it welcomes jobseekers under the age 45, with the cap extended to 50 for applicants with notable work experience.广州医药集团是一家专注于中医药、生物医药和医疗健康领域的大型国有企业，在 5 月宣布，欢迎 45 岁以下的求职者应聘，具有显著工作经验的应聘者年龄上限可放宽至 50 岁。"Companies generally seek to hire employees in economical and reasonable ways. That means workers must produce value equal to their pay, or companies may prefer younger candidates who have more energy and cost less," said Zhaopin, a leading online recruitment platform.领先的在线招聘平台智联招聘表示：“企业通常寻求以经济合理的方式雇佣员工。这意味着劳动者必须创造与薪酬相等的价值，否则企业可能更倾向于选择精力更充沛、成本更低的年轻候选人。”Cheng Yang, a senior partner at Beijing-based law firm Lantai Partners, echoed that view in a recent interview with Workers' Daily, a major national newspaper. Cheng said age caps are often used to control labor costs, as older workers may incur higher expenses for wages, healthcare and benefits.最近，北京兰台律师事务所高级合伙人程阳接受《工人日报》采访时对此观点表示赞同。程阳称，年龄限制常被用来控制劳动力成本，因为年长员工可能在工资、医疗和福利方面产生更高费用。However, she emphasized that older employees tend to be more experienced and skilled, and that eliminating age discrimination is becoming increasingly urgent. China began implementing a policy this year to progressively raise the statutory retirement age over 15 years — from 60 to 63 for men and from 50 or 55 to 55 or 58 for women, depending on the occupation.然而，她强调，年长员工往往更有经验和技能，消除年龄歧视变得日益迫切。中国今年开始实施一项政策，将在 15 年内逐步提高法定退休年龄 —— 男性从 60 岁提高到 63 岁，女性根据职业不同从 50 岁或 55 岁提高到 55 岁或 58 岁。Li Xinyu, 33, who works at an advertising agency in Beijing, said she feels growing insecurity and anxiety as she ages in a youth-driven industry.33 岁的李新宇在北京一家广告公司工作，她表示，在一个以年轻人为主导的行业中，随着年龄增长，她感到越来越没有安全感和焦虑。"Younger people are always favored in our industry because employers believe they have more creative ideas," Li said. "That puts a lot of pressure on those of us nearing 35."“在我们这个行业，年轻人总是更受青睐，因为雇主认为他们有更多创意想法，” 李新宇说，“这给我们这些接近 35 岁的人带来了很大压力。”She added that she has enrolled in numerous training programs over the past two years to stay current and enhance her skills, and hopes the government will introduce stricter rules to protect workers in her age group.她补充说，在过去两年里，她参加了许多培训项目，以保持与时俱进并提升技能，并希望政府能出台更严格的规定来保护她这个年龄段的劳动者。In recent years, China has rolled out several national policies aimed at curbing age discrimination. In September, the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, China's Cabinet, released a guideline calling for high-quality and full employment. The guideline pledged to eliminate unreasonable restrictions and discrimination in employment related to gender and age.近年来，中国已推出多项旨在遏制年龄歧视的国家政策。去年 9 月，中共中央和国务院发布了一份关于高质量充分就业的指导意见。该指导意见承诺消除就业中与性别和年龄相关的不合理限制和歧视。Cheng, from Lantai Partners, said stronger legal measures are needed to define and penalize age discrimination. She recommended that authorities establish a system to screen job ads for biased age limits, and publicly name and penalize companies that engage in discriminatory hiring practices.兰台律师事务所的程阳表示，需要更强有力的法律措施来界定和惩罚年龄歧视。她建议有关部门建立一个系统，筛查招聘广告中存在偏见的年龄限制，并公开点名和惩罚从事歧视性招聘做法的企业。重点词汇age discrimination /eɪdʒ dɪˌskrɪmɪˈneɪʃn/ 年龄歧视recruitment policy /rɪˈkruːtmənt ˈpɑːləsi/ 招聘政策statutory retirement age /ˈstætʃətɔːri rɪˈtaɪərmənt eɪdʒ/ 法定退休年龄labor costs /ˈleɪbər kɔːsts/ 劳动力成本

This week on Sinica, in a show taped in early June in Washington, Kaiser chats with Tong Zhao (赵通) of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a leading expert on Chinese nuclear doctrine, about why the PRC has, in recent years, significantly increased the size of its nuclear arsenal. Zhao offers a master class in the practice of strategic empathy.03:12 – China's nuclear doctrine: core principles06:56 – Xi Jinping's leadership and nuclear policy12:33 – Symbolism vs. strategy: Defensive or offensive buildup?16:55 – What's driving the nuclear expansion?28:33 – Trump's second term: Impact on China's strategic thinking34:34 – Nukes and Taiwan41:45 – Washington and Beijing nuclear doctrines perceptions48:04 - China's perspective on the Golden Dome program52:32 - China's Stance on North Korea's nuclear program 01:01:00 - Beijing's View on North Korean troops in UkrainePaying it forward: David Logan, at Tufts UniversityRecommendations:Tong: Yellowstone, TV series Kaiser: Gomorrah, TV series See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Episode: 3065 Victor and Eva Saxl: Love, War and Homemade Insulin.  Today, love, war and insulin.

As graduation season and summer vacation get underway in June and July, students are embarking on trips to domestic and overseas destinations with their peers, boosting the vibrancy of the tourism market, industry players found.随着毕业季和暑假的到来，学生们在六月和七月纷纷与同伴踏上前往国内外目的地的旅程，业内人士发现，这提振了旅游市场的活力。Theme parks, museums, cultural venues, internet-famous scenic spots, trendy business districts, as well as concerts, music festivals and other activities are all popular choices for students, and they have been increasingly pursuing personalized, flexible and new experiences.主题公园、博物馆、文化场馆、网红景点、时尚商业区，以及演唱会、音乐节等活动都是学生们的热门选择，他们也越来越追求个性化、灵活且新颖的体验。In June, the average airfare and hotel prices domestically are nearly 40 percent lower than those in July and August. For some high-school graduates and college students, their peak travel period starts after the National College Entrance Examination on June 10 and lasts until around July 10, said Qunar, a Beijing-based online travel agency.北京在线旅游机构去哪儿网表示，6 月国内机票和酒店均价较 7、8 月低近四成。对一些高中毕业生和大学生来说，他们的旅行高峰期从 6 月 10 日高考结束后开始，持续到 7 月 10 日左右。"Young consumers have become the main force in the cultural tourism market, boosting demand for more personalized and quality travel experiences. And more tourists are willing to explore domestic small towns and seek out some emotional satisfaction during their trips," said Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy.中国旅游研究院院长戴斌表示：“年轻消费者已成为文旅市场的主力，推动了对更个性化、高质量旅游体验的需求。更多游客愿意探索国内小镇，并在旅途中寻求情感满足。”For graduation travel, being together is the most important factor for students. For young travelers aged between 22 and 25, their hotel booking volumes in June jumped 22 percent year-on-year. Among these, hotel bookings for multiple guests accounted for over 70 percent of the total, Qunar found.去哪儿网发现，对于毕业旅行，“同伴同行” 是学生们最重要的因素。22 至 25 岁的年轻旅行者 6 月酒店预订量同比增长 22%，其中多人入住的酒店预订占比超过 70%。In terms of hotel bookings, the top five most popular domestic destinations for graduation travel in June are Beijing; Shanghai; Nanjing, Jiangsu province; Guangzhou, Guangdong province; and Chengdu, Sichuan province. Hotel bookings in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region grew the fastest, Qunar found.去哪儿网发现，从酒店预订来看，6 月毕业旅行最热门的国内五大目的地是北京、上海、江苏南京、广东广州和四川成都。其中，新疆维吾尔自治区的酒店预订量增长最快。Meanwhile, since the beginning of this year, there has been a significant increase in tourist demand for niche and in-depth travel products, said Tuniu Corp, a Suzhou, Jiangsu-based online travel agency.与此同时，江苏苏州在线旅游机构途牛旅游网称，今年以来，游客对小众深度旅游产品的需求显著增加。"Going for traditional cultural elements, trips that can help avoid summer heat and seaside leisure trips are among sought-after choices for visitors who take journeys in summer," said Qi Chunguang, vice-president of Tuniu.途牛副总裁齐春光表示：“追求传统文化元素、避暑旅行和海滨休闲旅行是夏季游客的热门选择。”In addition, booking volumes of outbound travel orders by graduates and college students have surged this summer, thanks to multiple countries' favorable visa policies offered to Chinese visitors.此外，由于多个国家对中国游客推出了优惠签证政策，今年夏天毕业生和大学生的出境游订单量激增。"This summer, some niche and emerging overseas destinations have received increasing attention from Chinese tourists," Qi said.齐春光称：“今年夏天，一些小众和新兴的海外目的地越来越受到中国游客的关注。”In particular, bookings of travel packages to Belgium, Luxembourg, Zambia and Greece have more than doubled year-on-year. And the bookings of travel packages to destinations such as Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan have jumped significantly, Tuniu found.途牛发现，特别是比利时、卢森堡、赞比亚和希腊的跟团游预订量同比增长超过一倍，格鲁吉亚、亚美尼亚和阿塞拜疆等目的地的跟团游预订量也显著跃升。For hotel bookings, some top overseas destinations include Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, and the popularity of the countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative has been growing the fastest. Chinese visitor bookings for travel products to Luxembourg, Kazakhstan, Montenegro, Georgia and Egypt have soared by more than tenfold over last year, Qunar found.去哪儿网发现，从酒店预订来看，日本、韩国、泰国、马来西亚和印度尼西亚等是热门海外目的地，“一带一路” 相关国家和地区的受欢迎程度增长最快。中国游客预订前往卢森堡、哈萨克斯坦、黑山、格鲁吉亚和埃及的旅游产品数量较去年激增十倍以上。In another development, the peak season for the domestic air travel market is approaching, and carriers have ramped up efforts to launch new flights or boost frequency on existing routes bound for popular tourist destinations.另一方面，国内航空旅行市场的旺季即将到来，航空公司已加大力度开通新航班或增加飞往热门旅游目的地的现有航线频次。Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines plans to boost the frequency of flights connecting Beijing Daxing International Airport with Baishan Changbaishan Airport, Jilin province; and Altay Xuedu Airport, Xinjiang.总部位于广州的中国南方航空计划增加北京大兴国际机场至吉林长白山机场、新疆阿勒泰雪都机场的航班频次。The carrier said it will operate wide-body aircraft on popular routes such as those connecting Urumqi, Xinjiang with Guangzhou and Shenzhen of Guangdong province; Beijing; Shanghai; and Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, and the number of wide-body aircraft used is likely to reach a new high.该航空公司表示，将在新疆乌鲁木齐至广东广州、深圳，北京、上海、浙江杭州等热门航线上运营宽体机，宽体机使用数量可能达到新高。For international flights, it plans to launch new flights connecting Guangzhou with Almaty, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, and new routes connecting Guangzhou with Uzbekistan's capital Tashkent on June 30, as well as a new service linking Harbin, Heilongjiang province with Vladivostok, Russia on July 1.国际航班方面，其计划于周三开通广州至哈萨克斯坦阿拉木图的新航班，6 月 30 日开通广州至乌兹别克斯坦首都塔什干的新航线，7 月 1 日开通黑龙江哈尔滨至俄罗斯符拉迪沃斯托克的新航线。重点词汇graduation travel /ˌɡrædʒuˈeɪʃn ˈtrævəl/ 毕业旅行personalized experience /ˈpɜːrsənəlaɪzd ɪkˈspɪriəns/ 个性化体验outbound travel /ˌaʊtˈbaʊnd ˈtrævəl/ 出境旅游Belt and Road Initiative /belt ənd rəʊd ɪˈnɪʃətɪv/ “一带一路” 倡议

Shane sits down with Nathan Burns, widely known as "Mr Metacognition," to tackle one of education's most discussed yet frequently misunderstood concepts. Nathan brings refreshing honesty to the conversation, immediately acknowledging that metacognition is complicated and that existing definitions don't do a particularly good job of explaining what it actually is. Far from being the latest educational fad, Nathan traces metacognition back to John Flavell's work in the 1970s, highlighting how education often repackages established concepts as revolutionary new ideas. Nathan offers his own practical definition of metacognition as "the little voice inside your head that's guiding your planning and your evaluation." He breaks down metacognition into six foundational pillars: knowledge of task, knowledge of self, knowledge of strategies, plus the regulation processes of planning, monitoring, and evaluation. This framework provides concrete areas that schools can focus on rather than treating metacognition as an invisible, unmeasurable concept. Perhaps most valuably, Nathan provides clear guidance on when schools are actually ready for metacognition work. He's refreshingly direct that metacognition isn't a silver bullet and certainly isn't the right starting point for every school. As Nathan puts it, "if chairs are being thrown, then that's not the next step in that journey." Instead, metacognition works best in schools where strong teaching foundations already exist and leaders are ready for long-term improvement focused on incremental gains.Guest InformationNathan Burns, known as "Mr Metacognition," brings over half a decade of expertise in metacognitive theory and practice to schools across the UK and internationally. He's the author of two five-star reviewed books on metacognition published by Sage Publications and has contributed articles to leading education platforms including TES and SecEd. Nathan collaborates with major educational organisations like Oxford University Press and has built a reputation for making complex educational theory accessible and practical for classroom implementation. Resources and LinksEducation Endowment Foundation (EEF) Metacognition and Self-Regulated Learning Guidance ReportNathan Burns' website and resourcesNathan Burns on Twitter/XNathan Burns on LinkedInJohn Flavell's foundational 1979 research "Metacognition and Cognitive Monitoring"Nathan's book "Inspiring Deep Learning with Metacognition"Nathan's book "Teaching Hacks: Fixing Everyday Classroom Issues with Metacognition" Episode PartnerThe International Curriculum Association: Learn moreJoin Shane's Intensive Leadership Programme at educationleaders.co/intensiveShane Leaning, an organisational coach based in Shanghai, supports school leaders globally. Passionate about empowment, he is the author of the best-selling 'Change Starts Here.' Shane is a leading educational voice in the UK, Asia and around the world.You can find Shane on LinkedIn and Bluesky. or shaneleaning.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

IRAN: B-2S  AND BOMB DAMAGE ASSESSMENT RYAN BROBST, BRADLEY BOWMAN FDD,  1937 SHANGHAI

Last time we spoke about Operation Chahar. In July 1937, the tensions between Japan and China erupted into a full-scale conflict, ignited by the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. Following a series of aggressive Japanese military maneuvers, Chiang Kai-shek, then enjoying a brief respite at Kuling, learned of the escalating clashes and prepared for battle. Confident that China was primed for resistance, he rallied his nation, demanding that Japan accept responsibility and respect China's sovereignty. The Japanese launched their offensive, rapidly capturing key positions in Northern China. Notably, fierce battle ensued in Jinghai, where Chinese soldiers, led by Brigade Commander Li Zhiyuan, valiantly defended against overwhelming forces using guerrilla tactics and direct assaults. Their spirit was symbolized by a courageous “death squad” that charged the enemy, inflicting serious casualties despite facing dire odds. As weeks passed, the conflict intensified with brutal assaults on Nankou. Chinese defenses, though valiant, were ultimately overwhelmed, leading to heavy casualties on both sides. Despite losing Nankou, the indomitable Chinese spirit inspired continued resistance against the Japanese invaders, foreshadowing a long, brutal war that would reshape East Asia.   #156 The Battle of Shanghai Part 1: The Beginning of the Battle of Shanghai Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. On August 9, a bullet riddled sedan screeched to an abrupt halt at the entrance to the Hongqiao airport along Monument Road. The gruesome scene on the dashboard revealed that one of the victims had died in the car. He had been dragged out and subjected to brutal slashing, kicking, and beating until his body was a mangled mess. Half of his face was missing, and his stomach had been cut open, exposing the sickly pallor of his intestines, faintly glimmering in the night. The other man had managed to escape the vehicle but only got a few paces away before he was gunned down. A short distance away lay a third body, dressed in a Chinese uniform. Investigators swiftly identified the badly mangled body as belonging to 27-year-old Sub-Lieutenant Oyama Isao, while the other deceased Japanese man was his driver, First Class Seaman Saito Yozo. The identity of the Chinese victim remained a mystery. At first glance, the scene appeared to be the aftermath of a straightforward shootout. However, numerous questions lingered: What were the Japanese doing at a military airfield miles from their barracks? Who had fired the first shot, and what had prompted that decision? The Chinese investigators and their Japanese counterparts were at odds over the answers to these questions. As they walked the crime scene, searching for evidence, loud arguments erupted repeatedly. By the time the sun began to rise, they concluded their investigation without reaching any consensus on what had transpired. They climbed into their cars and made their way back to the city. The investigators were acutely aware of the repercussions if they failed to handle their delicate task with the necessary finesse. Despite their hopes for peace, it was evident that Shanghai was a city bracing for war. As they drove through the dimly lit suburbs on their way from Hongqiao back to their downtown offices, their headlights illuminated whitewashed trees, interspersed with sandbag defenses and the silhouettes of solitary Chinese sentries. Officially, these sentries were part of the Peace Preservation Corps,  a paramilitary unit that, due to an international agreement reached a few years earlier, was the only Chinese force allowed to remain in the Shanghai area. In the hours that followed, both sides presented their versions of the incident. According to the Chinese account, the Japanese vehicle attempted to force its way through the airport gate. When members of the Peace Preservation Corps stationed at the entrance signaled for Saito, the driver, to stop, he abruptly turned the car around. Sub-Lieutenant Oyama then fired at the Chinese guards with an automatic pistol. Only then did the Chinese return fire, killing Oyama in a hail of bullets. Saito managed to jump out before he, too, was gunned down. The commander of the Chinese guards told a Western reporter that this wasn't the first time someone Japanese had attempted to enter the airport. Such incidents had occurred repeatedly in the past two months, leading them to believe that the Japanese were “obviously undertaking espionage.” The Japanese account, predictably, placed the blame for the entire incident squarely on China. It asserted that Oyama had been driving along a road bordering the airfield with no intention of entering. Suddenly, the vehicle was stopped and surrounded by Peace Preservation Corps troops, who opened fire with rifles and machine guns without warning. Oyama had no opportunity to return fire. The Japanese statement argued that the two men had every right to use the road, which was part of the International Settlement, and labeled the incident a clear violation of the 1932 peace agreement. “We demand that the Chinese bear responsibility for this illegal act,”. Regardless of either side, it seemed likely to everyone in the region, war would soon engulf Shanghai.  Meanwhile, as the Marco Polo Bridge Incident escalated into a full blown in the far north, General Zhang Fakui was attending a routine training mission at Mount Lu in southeastern Jiangxi. A short and small man, not considered too handsome either, Zhang had earned his place in China's leadership through physical courage, once taking a stand on a bridge and single handedly facing down an enemy army. He was 41 years old in 1937, having spent half his life fighting Warlords, Communists and sometimes even Nationalists. In the recent years he had tossed his lot in with a rebel campaign against Chiang Kai-Shek, who surprisingly went on the forgive him and placed him in charge of anti communist operations in the area due south of Shanghai. However now the enemy seemed to have changed.  As the war spread to Beijing, on July 16th, Zhang was sent to Chiang Kai-Shek's summer residence at Mount Lu alongside 150 members of China's political and military elites. They were all there to brainstorm how to fight the Japanese. Years prior the Generalissimo had made it doctrine to appease the Japanese but now he made grandiose statements such as “this time we must fight to the end”. Afterwards Chiang dealt missions to all his commanders and Zhang Fakui was told to prepare for operations in the Shanghai area.  It had been apparent for weeks that both China and Japan were preparing for war in central China. The Japanese had been diverting naval troops from the north to strengthen their forces in Shanghai, and by early August, they had assembled over 8,000 troops. A few days later, approximately thirty-two naval vessels arrived. On July 31, Chiang declared that “all hope for peace has been lost.” Chiang had been reluctant to commit his best forces to defend northern China, an area he had never truly controlled. In contrast, Shanghai was central to his strategy for the war against Japan. Chiang decided to deploy his finest troops, the 87th and 88th Divisions, which were trained by generals under the guidance of the German advisor von Falkenhausen, who had high hopes for their performance against the Japanese. In doing so, Chiang aimed to demonstrate to both his own people and the wider world that the Chinese could and would resist the invader. Meanwhile, Chiang's spy chief, Dai Li, was busy gathering intelligence on Japanese intentions regarding Shanghai, a challenging task given his focus in recent years. Dai, one of the most sinister figures in modern Chinese history, had devoted far more energy and resources to suppressing the Communists than to countering the Japanese. As a result, by the critical summer of 1937, he had built only a sparse network of agents in “Little Tokyo,” the Hongkou area of Shanghai dominated by Japanese businesses. One agent was a pawnshop owner, while the rest were double agents employed as local staff within the Japanese security apparatus. Unfortunately, they could provide little more than snippets, rumors, and hearsay. While some of this information sounded alarmingly dire, there was almost no actionable intelligence. Chiang did not take the decision to open a new front in Shanghai lightly. Built on both banks of the Huangpu River, the city served as the junction between the Pacific Ocean to the east and the great Yangtze River, which wound thousands of kilometers inland to the west. Shanghai embodied everything that represented modern China, from its industry and labor relations to its connections with the outside world. While foreign diplomatic presence was concentrated in nearby Nanjing, the capital, it was in Shanghai that the foreign community gauged the country's mood. Foreigners in the city's two “concession” areas nthe French Concession and the British-affiliated International Settlement often dismissed towns beyond Shanghai as mere “outstations.” Chiang Kai-shek would throw 650,000 troops into the battle for the city and its environs as well as his modest air force of 200 aircraft. Chiang, whose forces were being advised by German officers led by General Alexander von Falkenhausen, was finally confident that his forces could take on the Japanese. A German officer told a British diplomat, “If the Chinese Army follows the advice of the German advisers, it is capable of driving the Japanese over the Great Wall.”   While Chiang was groping in the dark, deprived of the eyes and ears of an efficient intelligence service, he did have at his disposal an army that was better prepared for battle than it had been in 1932. Stung by the experience of previous conflicts with the Japanese, Chiang had initiated a modernization program aimed at equipping the armed forces not only to suppress Communist rebels but also to confront a modern fighting force equipped with tanks, artillery, and aircraft. He had made progress, but it was insufficient. Serious weaknesses persisted, and now there was no time for any remedial action. While China appeared to be a formidable power in sheer numbers, the figures were misleading. On the eve of war, the Chinese military was comprised of a total of 176 divisions, which were theoretically organized into two brigades of two regiments each. However, only about 20 divisions maintained full peacetime strength of 10,000 soldiers and officers; the rest typically held around 5,000 men. Moreover, Chiang controlled only 31 divisions personally, and he could not count on the loyalty of the others. To successfully resist Japan, Chiang would need to rely not only on his military command skills but also on his ability to forge fragile coalitions among Warlord generals with strong local loyalties. Equipment posed another significant challenge. The modernization drive was not set to complete until late 1938, and the impact of this delay was evident. In every category of weaponry, from rifles to field artillery, the Chinese were outmatched by their Japanese adversaries, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Domestically manufactured artillery pieces had shorter ranges, and substandard steel-making technology caused gun barrels to overheat, increasing the risk of explosions. Some arms even dated back to imperial times. A large proportion of the Chinese infantry had received no proper training in basic tactics, let alone in coordinated operations involving armor and artillery. The chief of the German advisory corps was General Alexander von Falkenhausen, a figure hard to rival in terms of qualifications for the role. Although the 58-year-old's narrow shoulders, curved back, and bald, vulture-like head gave him an unmilitary, almost avian appearance, his exterior belied a tough character. In 1918, he had earned his nation's highest military honor, the Pour le Mérite, while assisting Germany's Ottoman allies against the British in Palestine. Few, if any, German officers knew Asia as well as he did. His experience in the region dated back to the turn of the century. As a young lieutenant in the Third East Asian Infantry Regiment, he participated in the international coalition of colonial powers that quelled the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. A decade later, he traveled through Korea, Manchuria, and northern China with his wife, keenly observing and learning as a curious tourist. From 1912 to 1914, he served as the German Kaiser's military attaché in Tokyo. He was poised to put his extensive knowledge to good use in the months ahead. Chiang believed that Shanghai should be the location of the first battle. This decision was heavily influenced by Falkenhausen and was strategically sound. Chiang Kai-shek could not hope to win a war against Japan unless he could unify the nation behind him, particularly the many fractious warlords who had battled his forces repeatedly over the past decade. Everyone understood that the territory Japan was demanding in the far north did not need to be held for any genuine military necessity; it was land that could be negotiated. The warlords occupying that territory were unpredictable and all too willing to engage in bargaining. In contrast, China's economic heartland held different significance. By choosing to fight for the center of the country and deploying his strongest military units, Chiang Kai-shek signaled to both China's warlords and potential foreign allies that he had a vested interest in the outcome.  There were also several operational reasons for preferring a conflict in the Yangtze River basin over a campaign in northern China. The rivers, lakes, and rice paddies of the Yangtze delta were much better suited for defensive warfare against Japan's mechanized forces than the flat plains of North China. By forcing the Japanese to commit troops to central China, the Nationalists bought themselves the time needed to rally and reinforce their faltering defenses in the north. By initiating hostilities in the Shanghai area, Japan would be forced to divert its attention from the northern front, thereby stalling a potential Japanese advance toward the crucial city of Wuhan. It would also help safeguard potential supply routes from the Soviet Union, the most likely source of material assistance due to Moscow's own animosity toward Japan. It was a clever plan, and surprisingly, the Japanese did not anticipate it. Intelligence officers in Tokyo were convinced that Chiang would send his troops northward instead. Again in late July, Chiang convened his commanders, and here he gave Zhang Fukai more detailed instructions for his operation. Fukai was placed in charge of the right wing of the army which was currently preparing for action in the metropolitan area. Fukai would oversee the forces east of the Huangpu River in the area known as Pudong. Pudong was full of warehouses, factories and rice fields, quite precarious to fight in. Meanwhile General Zhang Zhizhong, a quiet and sickly looking man who had previously led the Central Military Academy was to command the left wing of the Huangpu. All of the officers agreed the plan to force the battle to the Shanghai area was logical as the northern region near Beijing was far too open, giving the advantage to tank warfare, which they could not hope to contest Japan upon. The Shanghai area, full of rivers, creaks and urban environments favored them much more. Zhang Zhizhong seemed an ideal pick to lead troops in downtown Shanghai where most of the fighting would take place. His position of commandant of the military academy allowed him to establish connections with junior officers earmarked for rapid promotion. This meant that he personally knew the generals of both the 87th and 88th Divisions, which were to form the core of Zhang Zhizhong's newly established 9th Army Group and become his primary assets in the early phases of the Shanghai campaign. Moreover, Zhang Zhizhong had the right aggressive instincts. He believed that China's confrontation with Japan had evolved through three stages: in the first stage, the Japanese invaded the northeast in 1931, and China remained passive; in the second stage, during the first battle of Shanghai in 1932, Japan struck, but China fought back. Zhang argued that this would be the third stage, where Japan was preparing to attack, but China would strike first.   It seems that Zhang Zhizhong did not expect to survive this final showdown with his Japanese adversary. He took the fight very personally, even ordering his daughter to interrupt her education in England and return home to serve her country in the war. However, he was not the strong commander he appeared to be, as he was seriously ill. Although he never disclosed the true extent of his condition, it seemed he was on the verge of a physical and mental breakdown after years in high-stress positions. In fact, he had recently taken a leave of absence from his role at the military academy in the spring of 1937. When the war broke out, he was at a hospital in the northern port city of Qingdao, preparing to go abroad for convalescence. He canceled those plans to contribute to the struggle against Japan. When his daughter returned from England and saw him on the eve of battle, she was alarmed by how emaciated he had become. From the outset, doubts about his physical fitness to command loomed large. At 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, August 10, a group of officers emerged from the Japanese Consulate along the banks of the Huangpu River. This team was a hastily assembled Sino-Japanese joint investigation unit tasked with quickly resolving the shooting incident at the Hongqiao Aerodrome of the previous night. They understood the urgency of reaching an agreement swiftly to prevent any escalation. As they drove to the airport, they passed armed guards of the Chinese Peace Preservation Corps stationed behind sandbag barricades that had been erected only hours earlier. Upon arriving at Hongqiao, the officers walked up and down the scene of the incident under the scorching sun, attempting to piece together a shared understanding of what had transpired. However, this proved to be nearly impossible, as the evidence failed to align into a coherent account acceptable to both parties. The Japanese were unconvinced that any shootout had occurred at all. Oyama, the officer who had been in the car, had left his pistol at the marine headquarters in Hongkou and had been unarmed the night before. They insisted that whoever shot and killed the man in the Chinese uniform could not have been him. By 6:00 pm the investigators returned to the city. Foreign correspondents, eager for information, knew exactly whom to approach. The newly appointed Shanghai Mayor, Yu Hongjun, with a quick wit and proficiency in English, Yu represented the city's cosmopolitan image. However, that evening, he had little to offer the reporters, except for a plea directed at both the Japanese and Chinese factions “Both sides should maintain a calm demeanor to prevent the situation from escalating.” Mayor Yu however was, in fact, at the center of a complex act of deception that nearly succeeded. Nearly eight decades later, Zhang Fakui attributed the incident to members of the 88th Division, led by General Sun Yuanliang. “A small group of Sun Yuanliang's men disguised themselves as members of the Peace Preservation Corps,” Zhang Fakui recounted years later in his old age. “On August 9, 1937, they encountered two Japanese servicemen on the road near the Hongqiao military aerodrome and accused them of forcing their way into the area. A clash ensued, resulting in the deaths of the Japanese soldiers.” This created a delicate dilemma for their superiors. The two dead Japanese soldiers were difficult to explain away. Mayor Yu, likely informed of the predicament by military officials, conferred with Tong Yuanliang, chief of staff of the Songhu Garrison Command, a unit established after the fighting in 1932. Together, they devised a quick and cynical plan to portray the situation as one of self-defense by the Chinese guards. Under their orders, soldiers marched a Chinese death row inmate to the airport gate, dressed him in a paramilitary guard's uniform, and executed him. While this desperate ruse might have worked initially, it quickly unraveled due to the discrepancies raised by the condition of the Chinese body. The Japanese did not believe the story, and the entire plan began to fall apart. Any remaining mutual trust swiftly evaporated. Instead of preventing a confrontation, the cover-up was accelerating the slide into war.  Late on August 10, Mayor Yu sent a secret cable to Nanjing, warning that the Japanese had ominously declared they would not allow the two deaths at the airport to go unpunished. The following day, the Japanese Consul General Okamoto Suemasa paid a visit to the mayor, demanding the complete withdrawal of the Peace Preservation Corps from the Shanghai area and the dismantling of all fortifications established by the corps. For the Chinese, acquiescing to these demands was nearly impossible. From their perspective, it appeared that the Japanese aimed to leave Shanghai defenseless while simultaneously bolstering their own military presence in the city. Twenty vessels, including cruisers and destroyers, sailed up the Huangpu River and docked at wharves near "Little Tokyo." Japanese marines in olive-green uniforms marched ashore down the gangplanks, while women from the local Japanese community, dressed in kimonos, greeted the troops with delighted smiles and bows to the flags of the Rising Sun that proudly adorned the sterns of the battleships. In fact, Japan had planned to deploy additional troops to Shanghai even before the shooting at Hongqiao Aerodrome. This decision was deemed necessary to reinforce the small contingent of 2,500 marines permanently stationed in the city. More troops were required to assist in protecting Japanese nationals who were being hastily evacuated from the larger cities along the Yangtze River. These actions were primarily defensive maneuvers, as the Japanese military seemed hesitant to open a second front in Shanghai, for the same reasons that the Chinese preferred an extension of hostilities to that area. Diverting Japanese troops from the strategically critical north and the Soviet threat across China's border would weaken their position, especially given that urban warfare would diminish the advantages of their technological superiority in tanks and aircraft. While officers in the Japanese Navy believed it was becoming increasingly difficult to prevent the war from spreading to Shanghai, they were willing to give diplomacy one last chance. Conversely, the Japanese Army was eager to wage war in northern China but displayed little inclination to engage in hostilities in Shanghai. Should the situation worsen, the Army preferred to withdraw all Japanese nationals from the city. Ultimately, when it agreed to formulate plans for dispatching an expeditionary force to Shanghai, it did so reluctantly, primarily to avoid accusations of neglecting its responsibilities. Amongst many commanders longing for a swift confrontation with Japan was Zhang Zhizhong. By the end of July, he was growing increasingly impatient, waiting with his troops in the Suzhou area west of Shanghai and questioning whether a unique opportunity was being squandered. On July 30, he sent a telegram to Nanjing requesting permission to strike first. He argued that if Japan were allowed to launch an attack on Shanghai, he would waste valuable time moving his troops from their position more than 50 miles away. Nanjing responded with a promise that his wishes would be fulfilled but urged him to exercise patience: “We should indeed seize the initiative over the enemy, but we must wait until the right opportunity arises. Await further orders.” That opportunity arose on August 11, with the Japanese display of force on the Huangpu River and their public demand for the withdrawal of China's paramilitary police. Japan had sufficiently revealed itself as the aggressor in the eyes of both domestic and international audiences, making it safe for China to take action. At 9:00 p.m. that evening, Zhang Zhizhong received orders from Nanjing to move his troops toward Shanghai. He acted with remarkable speed, capitalizing on the extensive transportation network in the region. The soldiers of the 87th Division quickly boarded 300 trucks that had been prepared in advance. Meanwhile, civilian passengers on trains were unceremoniously ordered off to make room for the 88th Division, which boarded the carriages heading for Shanghai. In total, over 20,000 motivated and well-equipped troops were on their way to battle.  On August 12, representatives from the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Italy, Japan, and China gathered for a joint conference in Shanghai to discuss ceasefire terms. Japan demanded the withdrawal of Chinese troops from Shanghai, while the Chinese representative, Yu Hung-chun, dismissed the Japanese demand, stating that the terms of the ceasefire had already been violated by Japan. The major powers were keen to avoid a repeat of the January 28 Incident, which had significantly disrupted foreign economic activities in Shanghai. Meanwhile, Chinese citizens fervently welcomed the presence of Chinese troops in the city. In Nanjing, Chinese and Japanese representatives convened for the last time in a final effort to negotiate. The Japanese insisted that all Peace Preservation Corps and regular troops be withdrawn from the vicinity of Shanghai. The Chinese, however, deemed the demand for a unilateral withdrawal unacceptable, given that the two nations were already engaged in conflict in North China. Ultimately, Mayor Yu made it clear that the most the Chinese government would concede was that Chinese troops would not fire unless fired upon. Conversely, Japan placed all responsibility on China, citing the deployment of Chinese troops around Shanghai as the cause of the escalating tensions. Negotiations proved impossible, leaving no alternative but for the war to spread into Central China. On that same morning of Thursday, August 12, residents near Shanghai's North Train Station, also known as Zhabei Station, just a few blocks from "Little Tokyo," awoke to an unusual sight: thousands of soldiers dressed in the khaki uniforms of the Chinese Nationalists, wearing German-style helmets and carrying stick grenades slung across their chests. “Where do you come from?” the Shanghai citizens asked. “How did you get here so fast?” Zhang Zhizhong issued detailed orders to each unit under his command, instructing the 88th Division specifically to travel by train and deploy in a line from the town of Zhenru to Dachang village, both located a few miles west of Shanghai. Only later was the division supposed to advance toward a position stretching from the Zhabei district to the town of Jiangwan, placing it closer to the city boundaries. Zhang Zhizhong was the embodiment of belligerence, but he faced even more aggressive officers among his ranks. On the morning of August 12, he was approached by Liu Jingchi, the chief of operations at the Songhu Garrison Command. Liu argued that the battle of 1932 had gone poorly for the Chinese because they had hesitated and failed to strike first. This time, he insisted, should be different, and Zhang should order an all-out assault on the Japanese positions that very evening. Zhang countered that he had clear and unmistakable orders from Chiang Kai-shek to let the Japanese fire first, emphasizing the importance of maintaining China's image on the world stage. “That's easy,” Liu retorted. “Once all the units are deployed and ready to attack, we can just change some people into mufti and send them in to fire a few shots. We attack, and simultaneously, we report that the enemy's offensive has begun.” Zhang Zhizhong did not like this idea. “We can't go behind our leader's back like that,” he replied. Zhang Zhizhong's position was far from enviable. Forced to rein in eager and capable officers, he found himself acting against his own personal desires. Ultimately, he decided to seek the freedom to act as he saw fit. In a secret cable to Nanjing, he requested permission to launch an all-out attack on the Japanese positions in Shanghai the following day, Friday, August 13. He argued that this was a unique opportunity to capitalize on the momentum created by the movement of troops; any further delay would only lead to stagnation. He proposed a coordinated assault that would also involve the Chinese Air Force. However, the reply from Chiang Kai-shek was brief and unwavering: “Await further orders.” Even as Chiang's troops poured into Shanghai, Chinese and Japanese officials continued their discussions. Ostensibly, this was in hopes of reaching a last-minute solution, but in reality, it was a performance. Both sides wanted to claim the moral high ground in a battle that now seemed inevitable. They understood that whoever openly declared an end to negotiations would automatically be perceived as the aggressor. During talks at the Shanghai Municipal Council, Japanese Consul General Okamoto argued that if China truly wanted peace, it would have withdrawn its troops to a position that would prevent clashes. Mayor Yu responded by highlighting the increasing presence of Japanese forces in the city. “Under such circumstances, China must adopt such measures as necessary for self-defense,” he stated. Late on August 13, 1937, Chiang Kai-shek instructed his forces to defend Shanghai, commanding them to "divert the enemy at sea, secure the coast, and resist landings."  I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. In July 1937, tensions between Japan and China escalated into war following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. Confident in his country's resolve, Chiang Kai-shek rallied the Chinese against Japanese aggression. On August 9, a deadly confrontation at Hongqiao Airport resulted in the deaths of Japanese soldiers, igniting further hostilities. As both sides blamed each other, the atmosphere became tense. Ultimately, negotiations failed, and the stage was set for a brutal conflict in Shanghai, marking the beginning of a long and devastating war.

FreightWaves honors the remarkable life and legacy of Fred Smith, the visionary founder who built FedEx into the world's largest cargo airline. Learn how his hands-on leadership and strategic aircraft acquisitions transformed the company into a global commerce leader, even through ventures that didn't succeed. Erez Agmoni of Interwoven Ventures, who previously led innovation at Maersk, shares insights on how combining AI computer vision with dynamic digital twins allows for significant efficiency improvements, as seen in Maersk's container unloading, which achieved 82% accuracy in prediction times, and drayage operations, which saved millions by consolidating information for optimization. Geopolitical tensions are disrupting freight flows, as demonstrated by Maersk's decision to stop Haifa service prior to Iran missile attacks, underscoring the delicate balance shipping giants must maintain for crew safety and operations. This suspension, amid escalating conflict, contributed to increased container rates from Shanghai to European ports, showing broader market uncertainties. For the trucking industry, prepare for a hot, tight July 4th freight market, where spot truckload rates are expected to rise, offering a significant opportunity for carriers to capitalize on higher rates. Freight brokers, however, face the challenge of proactively managing margins against potentially surging spot rates as tender rejection rates climb nationally and in key regional hubs. Fuel prices are also in the spotlight, with the benchmark diesel price now at its highest level in almost a year after a big jump, even as ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) futures markets recently plunged. This surge, following initial fears of supply disruptions from Middle East conflicts, means diesel consumers are still feeling the pinch at the pump. Finally, we highlight innovative strides in fleet management as Samsara introduces its 2025 North America Customer Advisory Board, bringing together industry leaders to shape the product roadmap for AI-driven tools. Discover how customers are leveraging Samsara's AI-powered platforms to achieve impressive ROI, including millions saved in maintenance costs and significant reductions in accidents and theft. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"You're gonna need a bigger boat." MyFSHD is our summer blockbuster passion project. We discuss how to get it done, whatever your "it" is, in the FSHD space, as well as our trip to Shanghai and Hanoi to continue our efforts to help FSHDers around the world.

FreightWaves honors the remarkable life and legacy of Fred Smith, the visionary founder who built FedEx into the world's largest cargo airline. Learn how his hands-on leadership and strategic aircraft acquisitions transformed the company into a global commerce leader, even through ventures that didn't succeed. Erez Agmoni of Interwoven Ventures, who previously led innovation at Maersk, shares insights on how combining AI computer vision with dynamic digital twins allows for significant efficiency improvements, as seen in Maersk's container unloading, which achieved 82% accuracy in prediction times, and drayage operations, which saved millions by consolidating information for optimization. Geopolitical tensions are disrupting freight flows, as demonstrated by Maersk's decision to stop Haifa service prior to Iran missile attacks, underscoring the delicate balance shipping giants must maintain for crew safety and operations. This suspension, amid escalating conflict, contributed to increased container rates from Shanghai to European ports, showing broader market uncertainties. For the trucking industry, prepare for a hot, tight July 4th freight market, where spot truckload rates are expected to rise, offering a significant opportunity for carriers to capitalize on higher rates. Freight brokers, however, face the challenge of proactively managing margins against potentially surging spot rates as tender rejection rates climb nationally and in key regional hubs. Fuel prices are also in the spotlight, with the benchmark diesel price now at its highest level in almost a year after a big jump, even as ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) futures markets recently plunged. This surge, following initial fears of supply disruptions from Middle East conflicts, means diesel consumers are still feeling the pinch at the pump. Finally, we highlight innovative strides in fleet management as Samsara introduces its 2025 North America Customer Advisory Board, bringing together industry leaders to shape the product roadmap for AI-driven tools. Discover how customers are leveraging Samsara's AI-powered platforms to achieve impressive ROI, including millions saved in maintenance costs and significant reductions in accidents and theft. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

China's national weather authority activated a Level III emergency response for significant meteorological disasters on Thursday as heavy rainfall continued to lash central and eastern parts of the country, triggering flash floods, disrupting transportation and prompting mass evacuations.上周四，中国国家气象局对重大气象灾害启动了三级应急响应，暴雨继续袭击该国中部和东部地区，引发山洪暴发，扰乱交通，并促使大规模疏散。Since Wednesday, heavy rainfall has hit several regions, including the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Chongqing and the provinces of Sichuan,Hənan and Həbei.Severe convective weather has also been detected in parts ofHənan and Həbei, the China Meteorological Administration said.自周三以来，强降雨袭击了几个地区，包括广西壮族自治区、重庆以及四川、河南和河北省。中国气象局表示，河南和河北部分地区也检测到强对流天气。Over the next three days, heavy rainfall is expected to continue across areas from the eastern part of Southwest China to central and eastern regions. Authorities have warned of risks such as mountain torrents, geological disasters and urban waterlogging.在接下来的三天里，预计从中国西南部东部到中部和东部地区的强降雨将继续。当局警告称，存在山洪、地质灾害和城市内涝等风险。In Chongqing, downpours began on Wednesday, causing flash floods and road interruptions in multiple townships. Railway operations were also affected, with 17 trains suspended on Thursday, including services to major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, Guangdong province.在重庆，暴雨于周三开始，造成多个乡镇的山洪暴发和道路中断。铁路运营也受到了影响，周四有17列列车停运，其中包括通往北京、上海和广东省广州等主要城市的列车。In Taiyuan township of Chongqing, torrential rains destroyed large areas of crops. About one thousand and five hundred residents were safely relocated, including eight hundred who were moved to centralized shelters, according to the local government.在重庆太原镇，暴雨摧毁了大片农作物。据当地政府称，约有1500名居民安全搬迁，其中800人被转移到集中避难所。By Thursday afternoon, multiple areas in Henan had issued red alerts for heavy rainfall. In Zhengzhou's aviation port area, rainfall exceeded 100 millimeters, with a maximum recorded precipitation of one hundred and thirty point five millimeters..截至周四下午，河南多个地区已发布暴雨红色预警。在郑州航空港区，降雨量超过100毫米，最大记录降水量为135毫米。Despite the heavy rain, railways and airports inHənan maintained normal operations, local authorities said.当地政府表示，尽管下了大雨，但河南的铁路和机场仍保持正常运行。In Hunan province, a rainstorm battered the northern part of the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao autonomous prefecture. The township of Da'an in Longshan county recorded three hundred and eighty one point eight millimeters of rain in 24 hours—a local record—causing inland rivers to swell and resulting in severe waterlogging.在湖南省，一场暴雨袭击了湘西土家族苗族自治州北部。龙山县大安镇24小时降雨量381.8毫米，这是当地记录，导致内陆河流泛滥，造成严重内涝。The local hydrologic bureau in Longshan issued a red flood warning as the Guoli River rose by seven point one meters, reaching four hundred and fifty point fifty two meters—surpassing the station's previous highest recorded water level of four hundred and forty nine point ninety six meters.龙山当地水文局发布了红色洪水预警，因为郭里河上涨了7.1米，达到450.52米，超过了该站之前记录的最高水位449.96米。Meanwhile, in Guangdong, which was recently hit by typhoon-triggered rainstorms, authorities on Thursday ended the Level IV flood emergency response as rainfall subsided and water levels in rivers and lakes stabilized.与此同时，在最近遭受台风引发的暴雨袭击的广东，随着降雨消退，河流和湖泊水位稳定，当局周四结束了四级洪水应急响应。In Huaiji county of Zhaoqing, the water level of the Suijiang River had begun to slowly recede from a historic peak of fifty five point twenty two meters recorded on Wednesday. Power supply is gradually being restored in affected areas based on real-time water level changes, local authorities said.在肇庆怀集县，绥江水位已开始从周三创下的55.22米的历史峰值缓慢回落。当地政府表示，根据实时水位变化，受影响地区的电力供应正在逐步恢复。According to the latest forecast from the China Meteorological Administration, heavy to extremely heavy rainfall—ranging from 250 to 280 millimeters—were expected in parts of the provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu, Hubei, Hunan and Guizho, as well as Guangxi, between Thursday and Friday.根据中国气象局的最新预报，预计周四至周五，安徽、江苏、湖北、湖南、贵州以及广西部分地区将出现250至280毫米的强降雨。Thunderstorms, strong winds, or hail of level 8 or above are forecast in areas across Northeast, North, Southwest and Southeast China, the administration warned.政府警告称，预计中国东北、华北、西南和东南地区将出现雷暴、强风或8级或以上冰雹。meteorological disastersn.气象灾害urban waterloggingn.城市内涝

Fluent Fiction - Mandarin Chinese: From Raindrops to Dreams: A Botanical Encounter in Shanghai Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/zh/episode/2025-06-22-22-34-02-zh Story Transcript:Zh: 上海植物园里，一片生机勃勃。En: Shanghai Botanical Garden was full of vitality.Zh: 夏日的阳光温暖而明亮，各种植物释放着醉人的香气。En: The summer sun was warm and bright, and various plants emitted intoxicating scents.Zh: 正值端午节，湖面上彩色的龙舟在激烈竞赛，人们的欢呼声此起彼伏。En: It was Dragon Boat Festival, and colorful dragon boats raced fiercely on the lake, with people's cheers echoing all around.Zh: 小明是个年轻的城市规划师。En: Xiaoming was a young urban planner.Zh: 他爱大自然，希望找到一个分享这份热爱的朋友。En: He loved nature and hoped to find someone to share this passion with.Zh: 他看着湖面，脑子里想着如何让城市更环保。En: He looked at the lake, thinking about how to make the city more eco-friendly.Zh: 他是个内向的人，和陌生人交谈让他紧张。En: He was an introverted person, and talking to strangers made him nervous.Zh: 在他身边，李娜正拿着相机，专注于拍摄龙舟赛的瞬间。En: Beside him, Lina was holding a camera, focused on capturing moments of the dragon boat race.Zh: 她是一名摄影师，寻找能激发灵感的真实瞬间。En: She was a photographer, always in search of authentic moments that could inspire her.Zh: 李娜的眼中只有镜头，没注意到身边的人。En: Lina only had eyes for her lens and didn't notice the people around her.Zh: 小明看到了李娜的认真。En: Xiaoming noticed Lina's concentration.Zh: 她拍出的画面让他心动，于是他决定勇敢一次。En: The images she captured moved him, so he decided to be brave just this once.Zh: 他走近李娜，微笑着说：“你的照片真美。En: He approached Lina and smiled, saying, "Your photos are really beautiful."Zh: ”李娜放下相机，看了一眼小明。En: Lina put down her camera and glanced at Xiaoming.Zh: 对于有人注意到她的作品，她感到惊讶。En: She was surprised that someone had noticed her work.Zh: 她回以微笑：“谢谢！En: She returned a smile, "Thank you!Zh: 你也喜欢拍照吗？En: Do you like photography too?"Zh: ”小明摇头说：“不，我是城市规划师。En: Xiaoming shook his head and said, "No, I am an urban planner.Zh: 只是喜欢自然，想看看如何用这些美丽的景色为城市增添活力。En: I just love nature and want to see how we can use these beautiful landscapes to invigorate the city."Zh: ”这时，天边飘来厚厚的乌云，雨点突然落下。En: At this moment, thick clouds floated in from the horizon, and raindrops suddenly began to fall.Zh: 两人跑到附近的凉亭避雨。En: The two ran to a nearby pavilion to take shelter from the rain.Zh: 雨声淅淅沥沥，凉亭下聊着天的人越来越多。En: The sound of rain was continuous, and the crowd under the pavilion grew.Zh: 在雨声中，小明和李娜聊起了他们的梦想。En: Amidst the sound of rain, Xiaoming and Lina talked about their dreams.Zh: 小明说他想设计一个充满绿色的城市，而李娜想用相机记录最真实的生活。En: Xiaoming expressed his desire to design a city full of greenery, while Lina wanted to use her camera to capture the most authentic aspects of life.Zh: 两人发觉他们有许多共同点，都被彼此的热情所打动。En: They discovered they had many things in common and were moved by each other's passion.Zh: 雨渐渐停了，天空露出了一丝光亮。En: The rain gradually stopped, revealing a bit of brightness in the sky.Zh: 小明和李娜交换了联系方式，约好再见面。En: Xiaoming and Lina exchanged contact information and agreed to meet again.Zh: 小明的心中充满了信心，而李娜找到了新的灵感。En: Xiaoming was filled with confidence, and Lina found new inspiration.Zh: 植物园再次回归宁静，但小明与李娜的生活却因这场际遇而丰富起来。En: The botanical garden returned to tranquility, but the lives of Xiaoming and Lina were enriched by this encounter.Zh: 他们的相遇，为各自的梦想添上了新的一笔。En: Their meeting added a new chapter to each of their dreams. Vocabulary Words:vitality: 生机勃勃intoxicating: 醉人的cheers: 欢呼声echoing: 此起彼伏urban planner: 城市规划师introverted: 内向strangers: 陌生人nervous: 紧张photographer: 摄影师authentic: 真实concentration: 认真invigorate: 增添活力horizon: 天边shelter: 避雨continuous: 淅淅沥沥trades: 交换confidence: 信心inspiration: 灵感tranquility: 宁静encounter: 际遇capturing: 拍摄landscapes: 景色pavilion: 凉亭rain: 雨点clouds: 乌云revealing: 露出bright: 明亮moments: 瞬间passion: 热情dreams: 梦想

Es una de las series que más ganas teníamos de que llegara España, es todo un evento, un acontecimiento, el estreno en Filmin de 'Blossoms Shangai', la primera ficción para la televisión de Wong Kar-wai, el director hongkonés autor de títulos como 'Deseando amar'. En este episodio analizamos esta fascinante crónica del capitalismo y, además, como somos muy diversos, también le echamos un ojo a 'Olympo', la nueva serie juvenil de Netflix. 

Murph & Markus - Hour 4: Fred Lynn joins the show, Raffy Devers will not play first base this weekend, & WDYTLT: Chris Berman's old jukebox trick at Shanghai Kelly's See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Murph & Markus - Hour 4: Fred Lynn joins the show, Raffy Devers will not play first base this weekend, & WDYTLT: Chris Berman's old jukebox trick at Shanghai Kelly's See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Esto se anima. Semana de grandes estrenos en busca del taquillazo del verano. Danny Boyle regresa con '28 años después', la nueva entrega de sus zombies en el Reino Unido del Brexit. Con el director y los actores protagonistas charlamos, y también, atención, con súper Pamela Anderson. Al fin se estrena en España 'The last showgirl', la película de Gia Coppola con la que la actriz ha renacido para Hollywood. Además, tenemos varias propuestas del cine español, y en televisión, una de las series más esperada, la primera ficción de Wong Kar-wai, una fascinante crónica de la llegada del capitalismo en Shanghai.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has been fielding questions about New Zealand's relationship with the Cook Islands as his government cuts nearly $20 million in funding to our Pacific neighbour. Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters confirmed the funding freeze after the Cooks signed partnership agreements with China without consulting New Zealand. Deputy political editor Craig McCulloch spoke to Lisa Owen from Shanghai.

Most people who leave Wall Street after twenty years either retire or find another way to make a lot of money. Chris Arnade chose to walk through cities most travelers never truly see. What emerged from this approach is a unique form of street-level sociology that has attracted a devoted following on Substack. Arnade's work suggests that our most sophisticated methods of understanding the world might be missing something essential that can only be discovered by moving slowly through space and letting strangers tell you, their stories. Tyler and Chris discuss how Beijing and Shanghai reveal different forms of authoritarian control through urban design, why Seoul's functional dysfunction makes it more appealing than Tokyo's efficiency, favorite McDonald's locations around the world, the dimensions for properly assessing a city's walkability, what Chris packs for long urban jaunts, why he's not interested in walking the countryside, what travel has taught him about people and culture, what makes the Faroe Islands and El Paso so special, where he has no desire to go, the good and bad of working on Wall Street, the role of pigeons and snapping turtles in his life, finding his 1,000 true fans on Substack, whether museums are interesting, what set him on this current journey, and more. Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video on the new dedicated CWT channel. Recorded February 27th, 2025. Help keep the show ad free by donating today! Other ways to connect Follow us on X and Instagram Follow Tyler on X Follow Chris on X Sign up for our newsletter Join our Discord Email us: cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu Learn more about Conversations with Tyler and other Mercatus Center podcasts here. Photo Credit: Bryan Jones

In 2014, the writer Christopher Beam published a humorous, heartwarming story in The New Republic about an unlikely team of American football enthusiasts in Chongqing who went on to defeat their archrivals in Shanghai to win a championship. The piece was optioned by Sony Pictures, and had some big names attached, but was ultimately never made — not, at least, by an American studio. Eleven years later, Chris has written about a film that was made: Clash, produced by iQiyi, hit theaters in China earlier this year and followed the Chongqing Dockers in the same story arc, but with important and telling differences. His new story was published in The Atlantic, and he talks to me about the Dockers and the long, strange story of the film that wasn't and the one that was.03:50 – The Meaning of Chinese YOLO05:33 – Chris's First Meeting With the Chongqing Team13:11 – Chris McLaurin's Background15:54 – American Football as a Symbol of Masculinity19:50 – The Failed Hollywood Adaptation25:34 – First Impressions of the Film31:55 – Bridging Perspectives: Can a Movie Speak To Both Sides?36:42 – A Lost Moment in GlobalizationPaying it Forward: Viola ZhouRecommendations: Chris: Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte (short story collection)Kaiser: Becoming Led Zeppelin (documentary); the Beijing-based artist Michael Cherney.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Darkest Indiana Jones AdventureIn this episode of The Most Excellent 80s Movies Podcast, hosts Krissy Lenz and Nathan Blackwell dive into the controversial second installment of the Indiana Jones franchise, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984). This prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark takes our hero to Shanghai and then India for what many consider the darkest chapter in the series.The hosts explore how the film's darker tone was influenced by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg's personal lives at the time, with both going through difficult periods that affected the creative direction. Despite being considered the black sheep of the original trilogy, Temple of Doom has gained appreciation over time for its unique qualities and memorable moments.Nathan shares his childhood memory of seeing the film in theaters and covering his eyes during the infamous heart-ripping scene—the very scene that, along with Red Dawn, prompted the creation of the PG-13 rating that changed Hollywood forever. Both hosts give the film high marks (8-8.5 out of 10), placing it just below The Last Crusade in their rankings.Key topics discussed:How Temple of Doom works as a prequel set in 1935 (before Raiders)The incredible Shanghai club opening sequence and its filming challengesShort Round as one of the best sidekicks in the series who sadly never returnedKate Capshaw's performance as Willie Scott and her real-life sedatives for the bug scenesThe film's cultural insensitivity issues and how they were meant to be portrayedWhy the mine cart chase might be 20% too long but remains iconicPractical effects including stop-motion animation and early compositing techniquesIndiana Jones' character as more of an anti-hero than classic heroThe brilliant suspension bridge finale and Mola Ram as a memorable villainIn their deep cut recommendations, Nathan suggests exploring Bollywood classics like Om Shanti Om featuring Shahrukh Khan, while noting that Amrish Puri (Mola Ram) appears in the classic DDLJ. Krissy recommends checking out Ke Huy Quan's (Short Round) recent renaissance, including his Oscar-winning performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once.Whether you're covering your eyes during the heart scene or laughing at Willie's dinner reactions, Temple of Doom remains a unique, polarizing adventure that helped define 80s action cinema. --We couldn't do this without your support of The Most Excellent 80s Movies Podcast! Thank you!Join now for: $5/Month • $55/year • Learn More

GOODBOYS take over the decks of the iconic boiler room set up in RADi Club for the 1001Tracklists takeover of INS Land in Shanghai!

Send us a textSend me feedback hereDr. Bobby begins with a walk through his local deli, which sparked a deeper investigation into what actually goes into processed meats. He outlines how processed meats are defined by the USDA as those altered through salting, curing, or smoking for preservation, dating back to Paleolithic food practices. The real concern, he explains, lies in compounds like nitrates (NO3) and nitrites (NO2), which can convert into nitrosamines, a group of chemicals potentially linked to colorectal cancer.Citing the American Institute for Cancer Research and the International Agency for Research on Cancer, Dr. Bobby notes that processed meats have been labeled carcinogenic, with consumption linked to an increased cancer risk. However, he contrasts this with a weak recommendation from the Nutritional Recommendations Consortium, which found low-certainty evidence that processed meat increases cancer risk, suggesting most people could continue their usual consumption patterns.He scrutinizes observational studies like the UK Biobank study and a meta-analysis of 15 studies involving 2.5 million participants, both hinting at a modest increased risk but fraught with methodological flaws such as poor adjustment for confounders like diet, exercise, and lifestyle habits.The conversation deepens with the Shanghai study that found nitrate-related cancer risk only in individuals with low vitamin C intake, pointing to the potentially protective effects of antioxidants. Supporting this, Dr. Bobby highlights that 70% of dietary nitrates come from vegetables like spinach and beets, which are associated with lower cancer risk, adding nuance to the nitrate debate.And it gets more paradoxical—beetroot juice rich in nitrates has been shown in 75 randomized controlled trials to lower blood pressure by up to 7 points systolic, rivaling medication.To put things into perspective, Dr. Bobby crunches the numbers: if processed meats raise colorectal cancer risk by 13%, your lifetime risk might increase from 4% to 4.4%—a marginal difference. In real terms, out of 1,000 people who completely avoid processed meats, only four might avoid colorectal cancer.Other additives like sodium erythorbate and sodium ascorbate appear non-problematic at normal levels, and while sodium may raise blood pressure in salt-sensitive individuals, it's not linked to cancer risk—explored further in Episode 27.Dr. Bobby closes with a pragmatic and humor-tinged "bacon hack": since vitamin C may counteract the formation of harmful nitrosamines, consider enjoying your bacon with a glass of orange juice—a personal theory grounded in biochemical plausibility but not tested.Takeaways: If you enjoy processed meats, the absolute cancer risk appears minimal based on current evidence. Leafy vegetables, despite their high nitrate content, are protective—likely due to vitamin C and other antioxidants. To balance pleasure and prudence, pair your bacon with a side of vitamin C, and above all, remember: wellne

How far can a film take you? This week in Shanghai, the answer is: everywhere. The 27th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) is a vibrant celebration of global storytelling, where memory, culture, and imagination collide. With filmmakers from five continents coming together, we're reminded of cinema's unparalleled power—a universal language that transcends borders and speaks directly to the soul. On the show: Heyang, Steve Hatherly & Yushun

The Terrace Podcast Episode 497

Analizamos sin spoilers "Blossoms Shanghai", la primera serie dirigida por Wong Kar-wai, una superproducción que mezcla negocio, nostalgia y estilo visual único ambientada en el Shanghai de los 90. Estreno: 17 de Junio en Filmin Sinopsis: La historia de un millonario que se hizo millonario a sí mismo en Shanghái durante la década de 1990, desde un joven oportunista con un pasado turbulento hasta las alturas de la ciudad dorada. Únete a nuestro chat de telegram en el que miles de personas hablamos cada dia de series: Telegram – Grupo de debate: https://telegram.me/fueradeseries Telegram – Canal de noticias: https://t.me/noticiasfds Twitter: https://twitter.com/fueradeseries Facebook: https://twitter.com/fueradeseries Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fueradeseries/ Youtube: youtube.com/fueradeseries Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the best second-round picks in NBA history, Cuttino Mobley, stopped by Podcast P for another edition of Story Mode. The Philly native shared stories of his unconventional route to the NBA, how Scottie Pippen saved his NBA career, hanging out with Yao Ming in Shanghai, and much more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 469 of the Lens Shark Photography Podcast In This Episode If you subscribe to the Lens Shark Photography Podcast, please take a moment to rate and review us to help make it easier for others to discover the show. Sponsors: - Build Your Legacy with Fujifilm. Latest savings at FujfilmCameraSavings.com - Shop with the legends at RobertsCamera.com, and unload your gear with UsedPhotoPro.com - 20% OFF Nanlite PavoTube II XR and kits at NanliteUS.com. - More mostly 20% OFF codes at LensShark.com/deals. Stories: The X-E5 and XF23mm f/2.8 R WR. (#) Laowa's 8-15mm fisheye wide-zoom. (#) Nikon's latest Z8 firmware adds useful features. (#) ON1 turns 20. (#)   Connect With Us Thank you for listening to the Lens Shark Photography Podcast! Connect with me, Sharky James on Twitter, Instagram Vero, and Facebook (all @LensShark).

On this episode, Liz Wheeler explores the radical communist roots of Neville Singham, better known as Roy Singham. An avowed communist who sold his software company for $785 million, Singham now lives in Shanghai, China, and funds dozens of groups pushing anti-American, pro-Chinese Communist Party, and pro-Palestinian propaganda. Watch to learn how this web of communist groups is carrying out the violent riots that are terrorizing our country's major cities. SPONSORS: PREBORN!: Your tax-deductible donation of twenty-eight dollars sponsors one ultrasound and doubles a baby's chance at life. How many babies can you save? Please donate your best gift today– just dial #250 and say the keyword, “BABY" or go to https://preborn.com/LIZ. CROWDHEALTH: Get started today for just $99 per month for your first three months. Go to https://JoinCrowdHealth.com and use promo code “LIZ”. CrowdHealth is not insurance. AMERICAN HARTFORD GOLD: American Hartford Gold: Tell them I sent you, and they'll give you up to $15,000 dollars of FREE silver on your first order. So call them now! Click here https://offers.americanhartfordgold.com or call 866-996-5172 or text LIZ to 998899. ALL FAMILY PHARMACY: Because you're part of this movement, use code LIZ20 at checkout for an exclusive discount. Check out https://allfamilypharmacy.com/LIZ, code: LIZ20. BLAZETV: If you're ready to keep winning, shop your values and make sure we don't lose the ground we've gained—go to https://BlazeTV.com/liz and subscribe today. Use promo code LIZ, and you'll save 20 bucks right now off our annual plan. BlazeTV. Unfiltered. Unafraid. On Demand. -- Like & subscribe to make sure you don't miss a single video: https://youtube.com/lizwheeler?sub_confirmation=1 Get the full audio show on all major podcast platforms: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-liz-wheeler-show/id1567701295 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4LhlHfocr5gMnLj4l573iI iHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-liz-wheeler-show-82737301/ Subscribe to The Liz Wheeler Show newsletter: https://lizwheeler.com/email Get VIP access to The Liz Wheeler Show on Locals: https://lizwheeler.locals.com/. Stay in touch with Liz on social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialLizWheeler Twitter: https://twitter.com/Liz_Wheeler Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/OfficialLizWheeler Rumble: https://rumble.com/LizWheeler Website: https://lizwheeler.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Sinica, I chat with Stephen Platt, historian at UMass Amherst and author, most recently, of the book The Raider: The Untold Story of a Renegade Marine and the Birth of U.S. Special Forces in World War II. Like his previous works, Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom and Imperial Twilight, it offers a compelling narrative history of an overlooked chapter through a deeply empathetic and well-researched examination of individual lives. Please make sure to listen to the excerpt from the audiobook at the end of this podcast.04:21 - Evans Carlson: A forgotten hero07:49 - The Real Carlson vs. the constructed Carlson10:04 - The book's origin12:20 - Carlson's ideological transformation16:50 - Carlson's religious beliefs and public perception20:04 - Emerson's influence on Carlson's thinking 23:46 - Inner conflicts: Soul-searching or regret?27:15 - Carlson's relationship with President Franklin D. Roosevelt30:39 - Gung Ho Meetings: meaning, practice, and legacy33:34 - Zhu De's influence on Carlson 40:28 - Carlson's relationships with Agnes Smedley and Edgar Snow47:49 - Hopes for U.S.-China alliance 51:57 - Carlson's death and his legacy 58:01 - Lessons from CarlsonPaying it Forward: Peter Thilly, Emily MokrosRecommendations: Stephen: 11.22.63 by Stephen King; Ted Chiang (author); Otoboke Beaver (band); Book of Mormon (musical)Kaiser: Wobbler (band); The Religion by Tim Willocks; Zappa (2020)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Watch on Philo! - Philo.tv/DTHThe movie kicks off mid stand off. This dude is asking Ethan for the Rabbit's Foot. Ethan is like I gave you to the Rabbit's Foot. He's like you have until the count of 10 or I kill your boo thang over here. There's yelling. It's serious. Ethan is like I'll help you find the Rabbit's Foot but you gotta let her go. Dude says 10 and it cuts to the Mission Impossible music, back to form!  Cut back a bit. Ethan is just living a normal life and he is engaged to a women named Julia. She's not Nyla and we'll never hear from her again. We're at their engagement party when Ethan get's a call. He knows it means to meet at the gas station, so he goes to "get ice". At the gas station, he sees his buddy John from the IMF. He tells him about a mission to rescue one of Ethan's proteges, Lindsey Farris, who was captured while investigating arms dealer Owen Davian, who is the guy from the beginning of the movie. Normally IMF would disavow captured agents, but Farris may be their only clue to get to Davian who is a high priority for the IMF.  After a night of sleep, Ethan decides he in. He's met by his old pal Luther and a couple of other folks. They raid the warehouse where Lindsey is. She tells Ethan that she needs to talk to him but there's no time. They get to the helicopter and Lindsey begins to complain about serious pain in her head. Ethan uses his fancy head scanner and discovers a micro-explosive implanted in Lindsey's head. He tells her he needs to use a defibrillator to disable the decide. But before they can charge it, it goes off and she dies.  When he gets back to the IMF, he is in big trouble. IMF director Theodore Brassel tells him that he's lucky to even be alive now.  Ethan finds out that IMF technician Benji Dunn recovers enough from the damaged laptops that they took from the warehouse. He finds out that Davian is gonna be at the Vatican City to get the "Rabbit's Foot", something he's planning to sell for 850 million dollar. So Ethan once again has to tell Julia that he's gotta travel for work.  Before leaving, he and Julia have an impromptu wedding at the hospital's chapel and then kiss big ones!  And off he goes to infiltrate the  Vatican City and capture Davian. The plan goes perfectly, complete with masks, switch em up, it's a whole thing. And they all escape on a boat. It's a perfect plan. They even make everyone think that Davian died in a car explosion. On the flight back, Davian wakes up and immediately threatens to kill Ethan and his wife. This makes Ethan very mad and when Davian won't share where the Rabbit's Foot is and who his buyer is, he dangles Davian out the plane. After landing, Ethan learns of a video of Lindsey warning that she believes IMF Director Brassel is working with Davian. Just then, the convoy that has Davian is suddenly attacked and Davian escapes. Ethan is able to get his hands on the briefcase though that contains the location of the Rabbit's Foot.  Ethan is very concerned about Julia. So he rushes to the hospital to warn her but it's too late. Davian calls Ethan to give him 48 hours to recover the Rabbit's Foot for Julia's life, but then Ethan is captured by IMF. Brassel holds him there and calls him a rogue agent. His buddy Agent John Musgrave from the beginning comes in to "question him" but really is there to mouth instruction for how to escape and get to the Rabbit's Foot's location and gives him a knife to help him escape.  Armed with a delightful disguise, Ethan hops on a plane to Shanghai and meets his team, which Musgrave sent there under the guise of another operation. Ethan and his team raid the building where the Rabbit's Foot is secured and tell Davian that they have the Rabbit's Foot.  Ethan goes to deliver the Rabbit's Foot with almost no time to spare. Davian tells him to arrive alone. He tags the Rabbit's Foot and send the info to Musgrave so he can track it.  He is forced to show up alone with the Rabbit's foot. He is then given a liquid to drink that knocks him out. When he wakes up, he is injected with the same micro-explosive Lindsey had in her head. Suddenly, we're back to the beginning with Davian questioning where the Rabbit's Foot is which Ethan is confused by because he had it in his hand when he drank that stuff. It's not good enough for Davian and he shoots and kills Julia.  Musgrave then walks in. Turns out, it wasn't really Julia. It was Davian's head of security in a Julia mask.  They put a Julia mask on her to force Ethan to tell the truth about what he brought. Musgrave reveals himself as the mole, not Brassel. He explains to Ethan that all of this is to get the US to attack the middle east in order to make sure they don't use the Rabbit's Foot.  But Musgrave knows about Lindsey's message. He demands to know what it was. Ethan won't tell him. So he calls up to show that he does indeed have Julie captive. Ethan bites his hand. He calls Benji and asks him to track where the last call from Musgrave's phone was to. Benji gives him the info despite Ethan being a wanted man.  He stays on the phone with him and leads him through Shanghai to get him to Julia. Unfortunately, Davian is also there. He tells Ethan he's going to kill Julia in front of him.  But Ethan fights back, pushes him out onto the road, rolls Davian on top of him so he gets hit by a truck that passes over Ethan perfectly.  He runs back to free Julia but Ethan has that micro-explosive in his head. He stumbles around trying to find a defibrillator. So he makes a handmade one, teaches Julia how to use a gun, asks her to exlectrocute him and bring him back to life. She proceedes to do all of that perfectly, including killing Musgrave. She punches Ethan in the chest until he comes back.  He explains to Julia who he really is and brings Brassel the Rabbit's Foot. Brassel tries to convince him to stay on but all Ethan says is "I'll send you a postcard." The whole office cheers as Ethan and Julia walk off together.