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With the Chinese year closing and a New Year around the corner, my time as Editor in Chief at Urban Family Shanghai has also come to an end. Over the past year, I have made mistakes with print decisions, overlooked typos and had a few unsuccessful attempts in certain projects. But looking back, the ups easily outweigh the downs – I have had the opportunity to meet with interesting families, inspiring individuals and been to many intriguing places in Shanghai, not to mention the Aug/Sept cover shoot with those wonderful Third Culture Kids. And of course, I’ve had the chance to work with the fantastic team at UF and That’s. I hope I presented our UF readers with useful information and articles that made Shanghai family life a little easier, more interesting and convenient.
As for myself, it’s time for another venture. One, which very soon, will have me saying goodbye to Urban Family and Shanghai; but you are in good hands with the team here and I look forward to seeing from afar, what they continue to deliver to you. Now, let’s not drag on and get too sentimental here, as another exciting jammed-pack issue awaiting you!
In this issue’s cover story, we hardtalk health (p16). With new health theories springing up like mushrooms, it would be unwise to look past the urban health issue. We take a look at three dominant lifestyle theories and debunk the myths of modern diets, and you know what, I think we may have been too harsh on good old butter for the past decade.
Talking about health, we recommend the top five face masks on the market that are more than capable of holding at bay the high PM2.5 levels during winter (p14). And how can we skip exercise when talking about health? In our ‘My Shanghai’ column, Emily Beavers tells us about her music and movement classes at Jitterbugs, and how her program gets little ones active and ready for preschool (p8). We also showcase adorable eco-living illustrations by artist Lucie Guyard (p9) that convey her message: we can all contribute to saving the planet with small steps in our day-to-day life.
In the Learning section (p26), we delve into the minds of five outstanding young debaters to learn what drove them to become so passionate about this activity, and what skills they’ve developed while striving for greatness in the Shanghai, and world, debating arenas. Allow me to quote one of the students’ answers, “Everyone has an argument worth listening to.” Word of truth!
CNY in China is a holiday as big as it gets, however, during this period of family togetherness, you might find the streets are quieter than ever, with fewer places to dine. Well, we’ve done our research to provide a list of Chinese restaurants that will stay open during the holidays (p36), so keep calm and tuck in.
What’s on in the Entertainment front? Children’s theater regular Celine Song talks to the production team behind Beatles for Babies, to find out why this show is loved by toddlers around the world (p42), while our Arts Editor, Erica Martin, was genuinely moved to tears by the animation Coco (p46); take a handkerchief, you’ll need it.
I really could go on, but no more spoilers from here. So, for one last time I say, I hope you enjoy this edition, happy Chinese New Year and goodbye Shanghai!
Frances Chen
Editor in Chief
