How did you come up with the idea of setting up a Shanghainese website?
I was born in Shanghai and lived with my grandparents for 11 years before moving to Washington DC to live with my parents in 1988. In the United States, when chatting with my Shanghai-born friends via MSN, in chat rooms or through e-mail, I found most of them could not help using some Shanghainese words, which were usually very colourful and interesting. That's where the idea for the website came from.
What do you do on the website?
Shanghai people are not a leading force in mainland politics, but Shanghai's lifestyle is definitely the leading icon in China. The website contains nothing serious, such as politics, but focuses on the entertainment part of the culture. Shanghai-born people studying or working abroad are our most loyal Net citizens. They love talking about old Shanghai's lifestyles in the 1940s and exchanging news about their home town in our forum.
Young local people visit our website for fun. They are interested in the new clubs and restaurants we review, the Shanghainese rap songs we provide and the online 'Shanghai cute girl' beauty contest we organise monthly.
Is your website service free of charge?