SHANGHAI — Cui Lizhen, who lined up two days before Friday’s opening of Asia’s largest Apple (AAPL) store, was hoisted in the air by the company’s retail employees and carried into the block-long outlet along tony East Nanjing Road. It was the start of a daylong pep rally that tapped into the yearnings of a new generation of Chinese consumers and signaled the emergence of a new center of gravity for the Cupertino company.

Cui had no words to describe the experience of entering the store with its circular glass staircase. “It’s beyond description,” the 27-year-old said.

Apple’s fifth store on mainland China is big enough to handle as many as 40,000 visitors a day. It’s located just a few miles away from Apple’s 16,000-square-foot flagship glass cylinder Pudong store, which, like Apple’s other nearby store in this city of 23 million, is unable to handle the crush of customers clogging their floors.

On Saturday, Apple plans to unveil its first store in Hong Kong, another ballroom-size outlet built to help the company overcome its biggest problem in Asia — an inability to meet the stampedelike demand for iPhones and iPads. The latest retail extravaganzas are down payments on the investment Apple is making in the emerging economic giant, whose swelling ranks of ready-to-spend Chinese could one day represent a market greater than that of the United States.

“Apple is a maker of high-end electronics products. China’s market is huge, with great consumption power,” said 20-year-old Qiu Shi, who, along with his friend, Lee Dongsheng, embarked on a 10-hour train ride from Guangzhou to queue up behind Cui for the opening of the three-story edifice that will employee 300 blue-T-shirt Apple workers. “When the two are together, they will create a great future,” he said, cradling a blue-covered iPad he used to photograph the new store, which was as crowded as a Shanghai subway.

This week, Apple also released its 3G iPad 2s in China, where previously consumers could only buy Wi-Fi-enabled tablets. Meanwhile, some analysts speculate the company is on the verge of launching a less expensive iPhone aimed at developing markets like China when it announces its new iPhone 5, expected to occur in coming weeks.

The store openings come at a time fake Apple stores are spreading across China and as some experts wonder if the company was simply unprepared for the frenzied demand for iPhones, iPads and MacBooks in this country of 1.3 billion people. Apple has plans for many more stores in China and across Asia. But its exacting retail strategy — not only are its stores designed down to the smallest detail to meet the art-house consumerism of co-founder Steve Jobs, but their locations in chic neighborhoods are painstakingly picked — makes quick store rollouts difficult.

“I do believe there is some desperation on Apple’s part to capture the moment in China,” Needham & Co. analyst Charles Wolf said. “The middle class in China is really nouveau riche — they really want to spread their wings and buy luxury items because they have been deprived of them for so long.”

Apple, which seems to never miss a business beat, appears to have miscalculated in China, said John Quelch, former senior associate dean of Harvard Business School and now head of the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai.

“It’s a brilliant company, but it’s highly U.S.-centric,” he said. “If they had foresight, they would have at least 50 stores in China. You can afford to be meticulous with a country with 2 to 3 percent GDP growth, but not in a country with 10 percent GDP growth.”

Apple, nonetheless, is increasingly relying on Asia to rev up sales.

The company in July reported third quarter sales were up 600 percent for what Apple calls Greater China — Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan — which translated into $3.8 million. “I firmly believe that we are just scratching the surface right now (in China),” Tim Cook, Apple’s new CEO, said during the conference call with analysts.

Upwardly mobile Chinese, ever on the lookout for products that can put a sheen on their social status, eagerly snap up iPhones and iPads, the ultimate gadget eye-candy — even for those who never learn how to use the devices.

“Every girl I know has an iPhone. They make 2,000 renminbi (about $313) a month, but they still have an iPhone,” said Ming Yang, an executive with a solar company. “The iPhone is like the ‘It’ phone.”

Official iPhone 4 prices in China start at about $780, though black-market devices can sell for more when supplies are low in Apple stores. iPads are popular gifts for government officials and business partners.  The new i phone 5 will soon be launched and Shanghai will go crazy for Apple.

“It’s the best gift,” said Yan Sun, co-founder of Shanghai-based Modim Technologies, maker of mobile video chat applications. He has brought armloads of i Pads back from Silicon Valley to give to prized employees and business associates.

Andrea Lui, a designer of high-end retail stores, recently got a taste of the Apple fanaticism spreading across Asia when she inadvertently left her handbag in a section of a Hong Kong Ikea store. When the store’s security department found it, they paged her. “They told me everything looked fine — they saw my wallet was in there, my keys. My BlackBerry was there. The cash was there. But the iPhone was missing.”

Even the dead seem to want Apple products. Chinese buy paper iPhones, iPads and MacBooks for sacrificial offerings to deceased relatives during funerals or days honoring ancestors. “They are easy to order, so they don’t have to line up,” Peter Chien, manager of a Hong Kong funeral parlor store for sacrificial items.

The fact that Apple has not been able to keep up with demand in Asia fuels “the intensity of zeal” among consumers, Quelch said. “China is a very brand-intensive society. The reason that brands are so very important is that they are a way to signal social status. When you have a country that is roughly four times the size of the United States, it is even more important to stand out in order to get noticed and get ahead.” China could quickly become as big a market for Apple products as is the United States, Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu said. “China is like the United States in the ’60s — people enjoyed 30 years of growth.”

What is remarkable is that Apple’s success in China has so far come without a partnership with China Mobile, the world’s largest carrier with more than 600 million subscribers. Apple has a partnership with China Unicom, which has about 170 million subscribers.

Apple and China Mobile have been in negotiations, though no deal has yet been announced.

That means countless Chinese have had to give up coveted China Mobile numbers to switch to China Unicom — or pay for two phones — so they can use an iPhone.

This is one of the reasons Ailing Wang “hates” Apple. Her other gripes include the difficulty of typing in Chinese on Apple devices, the fact most apps for the iPhone and iPad cost money — Chinese don’t like paying for software — and the company’s overall American approach to technology, even in China.

“Their attitude is, ‘We are Apple. We are who we are. We don’t change for Chinese people,’ ” said Wang, who works as a training director with a consulting firm that works with multinational companies.

Building 3, Xingfu Port, 1029 Zhongshan Nan Lu, near Duojia Lu
中山南路1029号幸福码头3号楼, 近多稼路
+ 86 21 3331 0202
www.havenshanghai.com
Open to public on the first Saturday of every month from 9 p.m.

A vampire venue down on the South Bund? One of the far far club/bar on the South Bund. It’s 10 blocks from the Cool docks.  Staged as Dracula’s secret residence, HAVEN is hidden in a warehouse in Dream Harbor, a motorcycle factory turned creative garden near the Cool Docks. Behind its heavy bronze doors lies a Gothic church inspired space with ten-meter-high ceiling and lancet windows. You also walk pass the elevator that is only used for the special V.I.P’s to the VI.P room on the second floor.  Let’s not for the beautiful vampire in the Purple Velvet coffin when you walk in.  Watch out for the vampire-summoning symbol on the floor, and be careful when you order a drink from the vampire bartenders.

A decadent private room is reserved for Dracula’s very important guests upstairs. It comes with a big swimming pool, separate KTV system.  The pool runs into the bar in the V.I.P room.

HAVEN is open to the public only once a month (every first Saturday of the month); it’s mostly a space for event booking, such as fashion shows, company events and even weddings. It will close down after hosting 666 events, so make sure you check it out next time it opens to everyone. A final note: two vampire inspired cocktails are on the menu for the blood-thirsty ones, namely Victoria Passion and A Bite From Vampire. – Stella Shu.  Yup, they served either Taittinger champagne or those drinks of Stella.

“Twilight” fans take note: Shanghai’s very first vampire-themed club will open its doors in a week’s time to satisfy your fantasy of socializing with blood-sucking vampies.

Haven, the luxury club is situated inside Shanghai’s Xingfu Port complex (幸福码头), a new creative zone on the South Bund inside a converted motorcycle factory once owned by Du Yuesheng (杜月笙).  The biggest Shanghai mafia back in the days.

Elma Ji, Haven’s brand ambassador, told us that the Gothic club would offer a variety of services, from high-end clubbing — open to public on the first Saturday of every month with a RMB 500 entrance fee — to tailor-made event planning to offbeat wedding ceremonies.

“We don’t want to be considered as another nightlife spot because we also open during the day [for events] and provide a head-to-toe planning service,” said Ji.

And when Haven boasts a vampire decor, it means it.

Designed by Lime, a firm hailing from France, the former factory building’s interior has been re-styled into a castle.

The whole space is lit up by bat-clinging ceiling lamps, equipped with blood-spattered lifts, served by demon-like waiters and dotted with vampire badges sourced from around the world.

And don’t scream if you come across a pile of skulls out of the blue, they are just telephones.

Several secret tunnels are embedded in this five-story venue to shield any celebrities or socialites longing for a vampire night out from paparazzi.

More mysterious than the ambiance is the identity of the club owners. Ji refused to give more information than referring to them as several American-Chinese who preferred to be known as Earl Drakial.

“Vampire stands for mystery, high privilege and classiness,” explained Ji, when asked about the motivation behind Haven’s vampire theme.

“[Haven] is targeted at those on top of the spending pyramid and willing to burn bucks to buy a good memory.”

Anyone who is tempted by this high-end Dracula lifestyle better go as soon as possible as Haven won’t stand forever.

According to Ji, the club will be totally demolished after hosting 666 events because “we want to leave our impression to people when it is the best.” Ji estimated Haven will operate for two to three years.  A hidden door, small crawl space and a ladder leads to another private room for people seeking a more private setting. They’re only planning to do 666 events and then close.

I definitely want to arrange a bikini party in the V.I.P room, off the walls in Shanghai.

The average price for a license plate rose 1,054 yuan from July, Shanghai International Commodity Auction Co said yesterday.  The prices keep going up, by the end of the year they will bee around 80,000 RMB.

The lowest price rose 100 yuan to 51,000 yuan. Both prices set records since the current auction system was adopted in January 2008.

The all-time high was set in December 2007 at about 56,000 yuan.

Despite a drop in the number of bidders, dealers said demand was strong and license plate prices will likely remain high.

The government auctioned 9,000 car plates this month, the same as in July. The plate supply has been increased from 8,000 in March and 7,500 in February in an effort to meet demand.

About 21,544 people participated in the auction this month, 308 fewer than in July. Before the auction, many industry insiders had estimated the price would drop as continuous price rises in the past few months surpassed expectations.

But with September traditionally a strong month for car sales, dealer He Jian said it’s unlikely plate prices will drop in the short term.

A dealer surnamed Zhao said some are stocking second-hand car plates and waiting for the right time to make a bigger profit.

“I already have three plates and it’s just a matter of time before the price goes up further,” said Zhao.

Passengers must show proper identification when buying tickets for train services classified with the letters C, D and G, which indicate that the trains’ speed is at least 200 kilometers per hour.  The funny thing is I saw 2 guys get off the Shanghai – Nanjing train cross the platform and try to go back to Shanghai.  The problem is that they had local cheap tickets to another city.  They were caught and they said they just wanted to ride for free and go back to Shanghai.

Beijing and Shanghai had already begun selling real-name tickets for high-speed trains.

The real-name system allows passengers to use 23 types of identification, including residence permits and passports. Juveniles under 16 who are taller than 1.5 meters can also use student identification cards, according to the Ministry of Railways.

If a passenger cannot show an original version of a certificate, a copy is also acceptable.

The ministry said the launch of real-name tickets is aimed at reducing ticket scalping. Random checks will be carried out by railway authorities at all levels to confirm the identity of the person tendering the ticket.  The funny thing is that htey check tickets after the train starts to move.  There is no way to get off or throw you off!!.

Sun Zhang, a professor with Shanghai Tongji University and a rail expert, said real-name tickets represent an improvement in the country’s rail services and will help China gain experience for the launching of an online train-ticket-sales system in the future.

Sun suggested passengers keep their tickets with due care, even after they are used, because the tickets bear passengers’ names and ID numbers.

“Travelers should tear up the tickets after they are used to prevent leaks of personal information,” he said.

I was invited to go on a team building trip with French Company.  We started off on a Friday afternoon and flew into Tsingtao.  The good thing is that the plane from Shanghai leaves from Hongqiao airport instead of going to Pudong. 

The flight to Tsingtao was a little over 2 hours.  We did not go for the beer fest.  That’s about 2 weeks later.  The airport to the city is about 20 minutes.  We got in just in time for dinner.  We headed over to restaurant row; it’s about 4 blocks long filled with all restaurants.  The funny thing is that the big restaurants from the start of the block are all from Shanghai. 

We found a girl driving a BMW Z3 and asked her which restaurant is the best and she pointed us in the right direction.  You can see a picture of the restaurant and the name.  I miss placed the name card.  The restaurant was 5 floors high and the seafood looked great.  They had so many tanks full of seafood.  The only problem we found is that they refuse to serve the seafood raw.  They would not serve the oysters raw or the sea urchin raw.  We were disappointed about that.  The food was so so, I think when you find a restaurant to big the food is not at its best. The drink for dinner was of course Tsingtao beer.  The beer taste weaker than the beers we see in Shanghai. 

The next stop was baby Face Tsingtao.  They recently opened in Tsingtao.  The bottles are inexpensive at 520RMB with green tea and a fruit platter.  It was a long night since we drank 4 bottles.  Half the girls were tipsy when they left for the hotel.  We went to late night supper on the same street different restaurant, late night very little business but food was prepared so much better with less people.

I always heard that Tsingtao girls are tall and cute.  I think they all left Tsingtao.  The club looked like a carbon copy of the Shanghai baby face the only difference is that they have lots of KTV rooms in Tsingtao.  I asked around and they say it’s the hottest club in Tsingtao.  It’s barely full and a lot people than the Shanghai Baby Face.

Day 2

The tour guide wanted to take us to the aquarium, as we drove the place all we saw were tour buses and lots and lots and lots of people.  I said I will wait on the beach for them and then we all decided to go to the beach instead.  The people in China are very interesting, 75% of the people go to the beach in regular clothing.  They roll up the cuffs of the pants to the knee and walk along the water.  You can see the pictures in the picture section.  Shanghai women they just love food.  We got to the beach and all these guys walking around with food, the girls were eating in less than 2 minutes. 

We opted to go back to restaurant row for lunch.  The food was very good again, then off to star bucks to people watch.  Yes, still in search of the beautiful Tsingtao girl.  After 2 hours of girl watching all we found were Korean cute girls.  They were very cute.  Tsingtao has lots of Koreans.  We actually asked around and found the perfect restaurant to have dinner at.  The restaurant is on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean.  We got to the restaurant and got the last table.  The view was so beautiful.   The food again was excellent. 

Our next adventure took us to the best KTV in Tsingtao.  It was huge.  It took up a 3 story building and the rooms were all beautiful with flat screens and bathrooms.  The drinks were not expensive.  The usual buy 2 bottles get 1 free and fruit platter and some small snacks.  The girls were not great looking.  No real sexy girls and no Tsingtao local’s girls that looked good. 

I also checked out club Feel which is the local hot club.  It’s 3 times bigger than Baby Face and half block down.  It’s all local very few foreigners.  The girls are very very local and no real cute women either.   It’s a very raw rough feel in this club.  They have a very young and crowd and an older crowd. 

Day Three

I had a plan to go see the Tsingtao beer factory but the girls were against that.  The tour of the Beer factory was 50 RMB.  I sort of pushed everyone to go.  I mean how can you go to Tsingtao and not go see the beer factory.  The tour was so so, but the fun part was after a tasting they had this room where you walk into that is at a 90 degree angle and you stand and look in you feel like the room is spinning and your drunk.  Actually we were still drunk from the night before.  We didn’t get back till 4 in the morning and we were up at 8:30. 

We found a whole long street of restaurants across the street from the brewery.  I looked thru them and picked the one that had the freshest and best seafood.  It was the best meal we had in Tsingtao.  The actually were willing to serve the blood clams near raw.