主题：【文摘】姬宇阳：这次 让F1刺激你 -- 平头百姓

天比赛，3亿票房，中国体育球票销售的又一项历史纪录，将在这个周末的上海诞生，创造这个奇迹的是F1。

去年的这个时候，全上海人还在到处扑申花和国际德比的球票，一年后的今天，他们全部的热情都转移到了嘉定，这个以前被称为上海的乡下的地方，现在却随着F1的从天而降，变成最时尚最火爆最吸引眼球的所在。

我们曾经把申花和国际的扩张比作是一次烧钱运动，但是在F1面前，足球更像是烧纸而非烧钱，F1的每一笔投入，都是 今日焦点：

以亿元来作为单位，从8亿的总冠名到3亿的传播权，再到上赛场总计50亿的投入，在足球场上暂时失落的上海人，可以通过F1轻松地重新为自己找到十足的底气。

上海，注定正在和将要成为中国职业体育的最坚强的桥头堡。

上海有中国唯一的名副其实的足球德比，上海同样有中国最职业最具传统的网球大师杯和喜力公开赛，现在开始，上海将成为F1大奖赛的其中一站，虽然据说以后的竞争会很激烈，北京和珠海都在和上海争夺中国站的主办权，但是上海毕竟已经拥有了不敢说世界一流至少是中国最好的赛车场，不管从那个角度来说，上海已经注定成为F1在中国的必经之门。

郁知非的座椅背后就是一张巨大的上赛场“上”字型赛道图，指着“上”字的最顶端，郁知非对我说：“这是最刺激的，连续两个急弯。要撞车也就是在这儿了。”对于上海赛车场，这位前申花足球俱乐部的老总有着足够的自信。“我去过很多赛道，上海的赛道是比较刺激的，车手会喜欢上海赛道，因为在这里他们有足够的超车空间，比赛将会很激烈。”

身处上海这个城市，每天你的腰包都会经受诱惑和考验，据说F1大奖赛上海站比赛的一个口号就是：要掏光富人口袋里的最后一分钱，玩F1是烧钱，看F1更是花钱如流水，和所有车手在欢迎晚宴上共进晚餐的代价是每位1000美元，在最后的包厢里看F1的代价是三天800万人民币，办理一个限量发行的停车证的价格是3000元人民币。别说贵，所有上述这些，都在公布价格后以最快的速度销售一空。

当年曼联访华，上海体育场停车场的老头感慨说“这辈子从来没见过这么多好车”。从今天开始的未来三天里，无论是场外还是场内，当年看车人的那句感慨注定会重复重复再重复。

前两年，香港的口号是让全中国有钱人都到香港来购物；现在的上海是不是也应该有这样一句口号：欢迎全国富人来上海花钱，或者说是烧钱。

一组数字足以说明在F1中国站轰鸣的马达声中有多少钱在空中飞舞。上海国际赛车有限公司投资电视转播的费用是2个亿，投资场地建设50个亿，向国际汽联申请赛事费用第一年的费用是2000万美元，但是以后每年要以40%递增，而在收入方面，户外广告收入是3000万人民币，订票收入3个亿，中国石化2亿元买断央视三年F1转播冠名权，又花5个亿向国际汽联买断了大奖赛中国站比赛未来3年冠名权。而从更大的一个背景来说，上海正在想把嘉定建成自己的综合性汽车城，在整体规划占地68平方公里的嘉定国际汽车城蓝图中，总投资的预算将是3000亿人民币。

作为中国第一大经济城市的上海，具备了营造高端职业体育基地的足够底气，F1不过是一个开始，F1不过只是一个镜子，在上海，最好的是个模糊的概念，现在流行的，是最贵的。

中国的门票最高与相若经济水平的国家差不多（450美元），最低的部分却比较低（20美元一天，45美元3天）。窃以为这个定价方式太过保守，中国的收入两极化，高价部分太低（黄牛炒到一万二仍然卖清），可以考虑加倍，仍然不会影响销售数量，因为国内有很多富裕的车迷如要出国看，签证的麻烦与机票加两倍都不止。低价部分可以适量提高，20美元不过是两人在哈根达斯的支出，但是F1是一年一度的盛事。

这个赛事的门票情况会是奢侈品在中国消费的上佳指标。

这些金钱的背后是F1那么多年在中国的精心培养，以及F1背后很多很多的东西。

个人觉得着和上海烧钱没什么太大的关系。要是NBA在国内来设个比赛场地，你可以想想规模，如果NEC高尔夫呢～～～？？ 呵呵

玩的起。

国外人曾说，这个世界上有两个“麦克尔”全球闻名。一个是篮球巨星麦克尔?乔丹，另外一个就是F1车手麦克尔?舒马赫。舒马赫的收入现在全球体坛独步。

F1跑起来的时候，气动板产生的向下的压力高达一个G(原理和飞机正好相反)，也就是理论上说在那个时候F1赛车可以在天花板上跑。

清晨起来看到这一篇，来不及翻译(呵呵，也实在翻译不好)，各位老大见谅。拿来算作一家之言吧。

The Playground

I was checking into my hotel. The polite receptionist in a sharp

uniform processed my details and gave me a key for four days. I was

confused. I thought that I would leave in three days. She told me that

the room was kept for me the day before. It was booked half a year ago

for over four hundred dollars per night. I was a bit taken aback and

asked if it was the same for everyone else. "Of course, it's F1", she

replied.

Lucky someone else was paying my bill.

Shanghai was hosting the Grand Prix for the first time. It was another

coming-out party for Shanghai. The hotels in the city were having a

blast. The Grand Prix venue had capacity for 150,000 and was sold out.

Tens of thousands flew in to see the event. The event could increase

tourist dollars by $150 million. I had not seen a spectacle like this

since the Three Tenors at the Forbidden City two years ago.

As the global economy has recovered, businesses around the world again

go over the top to entertain their top clients. Where they choose the

venue depends on which city happens to be hot. Shanghai is it for now.

No self-respecting financial types want to hear 'wow, you haven't been

to Shanghai'. Hence, businesses around the world want to entertain

their top clients in Shanghai. The Grand Prix offered the occasion for

hosting such parties.

I took a taxi to join a dinner with a bunch of financial types. I told

the taxi driver in Shanghainese dialect on where to go. He replied in

Mandarin or Putonghua. I asked him if he was local. 'You don't have to

learn Shanghainese. We speak Putonghua here', he replied proudly.

'What's wrong with my Shanghainese?' I asked. 'Your Shanghainese

sounded out-of-townish. So I spoke Putonghua to help you out', he

replied.

I was mortified.

Ten years ago, a Chinese Indonesian businessman took me to an

entertainment venue-one of those places for overseas Chinese businessmen

in Shanghai. I asked a waiter for a drink in Shanghainese. 'You little

bi-san, how did you get in here', he screamed at me.

'Never speak Shanghainese here. When you speak Mandarin, try to sound

like someone from Hong Kong or Taiwan', he advised me.

He was born in Shanghai, raised in Taiwan, and migrated to Indonesia to

take advantage of its textile export quotas to the US. He could speak

both Shanghainese and Mandarin perfectly but had to fake a bad Southern

accent to get around.

Shanghai was experiencing a massive boom then. It offered

foreigner-only properties to Taiwanese and Hong Kongie buyers. Many

took up the offer and fueled the boom. Taiwanese businessmen were often

buying properties to keep mistresses in the western part of the city,

where high-rise apartment buildings went up first. Expensive

entertainment venues were popping up for entertaining Taiwanese

businessmen where they probably met their mistresses first. They were

the only ones with money in town.

The boom crashed; property prices dropped by over a half in the

following five years. Many of those Taiwanese guys went belly up,

leaving behind a wave of bad debts behind at Chinese state banks that

still haunt China today.

'Did I try to forget Shanghainese subconsciously?' I thought guiltily to

myself.

The restaurant was on the top two floors of an old colonial building

along the Huangpu River-part of the riverfront strip that was the

British Concession in Shanghai popularly known as the bund. Expensive

marbles seemed to fill every bit of the surface in the restaurant. The

furniture looked similar to a funky fusion restaurant in Sydney. Maybe

the owners were Australian.

The Grand Prix crowds were appearing in the restaurant. The waiters

were scurrying around to keep champagne and wine flowing. There were

occasional protests on how long it took food to arrive. Considering the

patronage level, the restaurant was as efficient as any in London or

Sydney.

The patrons were mostly westerners. The Chinese around were speaking

English also. Quite a few white people were waiting there. When I saw

the bill, it became apparent why they wanted to work there instead of

Sydney or London.

Fireworks went up on the other side of the river during the dinner,

illuminating the shiny skyscrapers towering along the riverbank. The

diners could see the striking shapes of the skyscrapers in varying

glows.

'See the buildings! It's all tangible! So bullish', one guy gushed.

Shanghai has created an impressive skyline on the east side of the river

that was paddy field fifteen years ago. The colonial buildings on the

west side have been kept. Neon lights profusely adorn the old and new

buildings, creating the pride of Shanghai-a postcard view of a modern

city.

The crowds surged onto the terrace after the meal to enjoy the river

view in a gentle autumn breeze. Suddenly, the lights went out. 'Who

switched off the lights? Is the bubble bursting?' a colleague murmured

fearfully in the dark.

'Don't worry. It is regulation time to switch off the lights. The

party is still on', I tried to put the people at ease.

We decided to abandon the dark terrace for an expat hangout in the old

French Concession area. It was a French colonial building in the middle

of a park. Throngs of people, mostly westerners, were surging into the

building through a tunnel of neon lights. The bouncers were trying hard

to keep out many who were already drunk.

Inside, the people, mostly westerners, were packed solid in the middle.

Many tried to dance. But it was mostly jumping up and down. Many

financial types in Hong Kong decamped for Shanghai in 2001 after the

tech burst. Some of them were in the dancing crowd, celebrating their

good fortunes again.

There was a sit-down section on the side where crowds of Chinese were

speaking loudly in English to each other. They were mostly overseas

Chinese or Chinese Chinese who had spent sometime abroad. Many probably

joined western companies to work in Shanghai. With their international

salaries, they could pay Hong Kong prices in Shanghai.

Through a side door, there was another hall; the youngish crowds packed

the place and were dancing to techno beat. The DJ was a white guy. It

was just loud music. Everyone in the crowd looked spaced out. I saw

similar scenes in Jakarta in 1996.

Speaking English is the new sign of status in town. The bad southern

accent doesn't carry the same prestige as before. Some Chinese guys

that I had come across faked to have forgotten Chinese after spending a

couple of years abroad. Shanghai is in a hurry to move up.

Taiwanese guys are buying up a lot of the apartments in Shanghai at

steep prices. I heard that Taiwanese and Hong Kongies accounted for 80%

of the buyers at the top end of the Shanghai property market. Their

money is fueling the boom. Poor Taiwanese now spend more money but get

less respect.

The 'Buckingham Palace' was going up this time. I saw it. It was an

apartment block. I always guessed that it would happen one day but

didn't expect it so soon. I thought it would be a sign of the top.

Many Taiwanese want to live in the Buckingham Place and would pay up, I

guess.

Selling apartments in the city center to non-residents has been the main

source of money for building Shanghai. Hundreds of thousands of

original residents have been resettled to outlying areas. 'People speak

English in the center, Mandarin in Putong (or East Side of the Hungpu

River), and Shanghainese in Nanhui' goes one joke. Nahui is a farming

county two hours away from the city center. Actually, it was mostly

Taiwanese properties in the city center. The westerns just rent from

them.

There were more trees, I noted. I was puzzled at first: how could trees

grow so fast? Then I saw the big urns holding up the trees on top of

concrete payments. Shanghai found a quick way to make the city green.

Shanghai's flexibility is why it has risen so fast. No other city in

the world would have vacated the city center to build properties for

non-residents in exchange for money to put up high-rises, elevated roads

and neon lights. Shanghai is willing to pay any price to be a great

city again, it seems.

Taiwanese money is at the center of Shanghai's rise. Hundreds of

thousands of Taiwanese had taken their life savings to Shanghai. These

people missed Taiwan's boom and wanted to get rich in Shanghai's

development. They have opened thousands of restaurants, boutique shops

and entertainment venues in a 21st gold rush. They are investing so far

ahead of Shanghai people's income (average wage $215/month last year)

that most of them would fail, I believe. But Shanghai would get to keep

all those nicely decorated shops.

Investing in Shanghai property is the biggest game for Taiwanese. Most

believe that Shanghai property prices would go up and Renminbi would

appreciate. They just cannot have enough of a good thing. Shanghai

sold 22 million square meters or $13 billion (or 17.3% of Shanghai's

GDP) of new residential properties last year. This year's sales are

rising at least by 10% in volume and 30% in value.

Taiwanese export businesses along the coast have made enormous amounts

of profits from taking advantage of cheap Chinese labor. These monies

usually go into USD assets via Hong Kong financial institutions but have

poured into Shanghai properties since Renminbi appreciation became a hot

topic.

The expectation that Renminbi would appreciate is keeping money pouring

into China even though the US has raised interest rate three times and

China hasn't. The game keeps going as long as the money keeps coming.

Andy Xie (from Shanghai)

谢国忠是个很有意思的人。几个大量投资中国网络公司的基金经理小心翼翼地询问他对中国网络业前景的看法，小谢同志扶了扶眼镜说，中国网站都是靠黄色笑话和图片支撑着，早晚都要完蛋。

在其他方面，小谢同志看问题还是很准的，只是时间上判断不太好，牛市吹熊风早了一年。