The weather in Beijing today is not too good. Hot (33 degrees) and very smoggy.

Right now I am on the plane from Shanghai to Beijing. The plane is overloaded, because another flight got cancelled and all passengers were rebooked on this flight. I suspect Air China is doing this on purpose, it is not the first time I have seen this. If one plane does not have enough passengers they just cancel it and put two flights together.

Terminal 2 at Hongqiao Airport, this morning before take-off.

I thought Hongqiao airport would not get any major renovations anymore, and would be closed down after the second terminal at Pudong would be ready. But this morning I was surprised to see the the new Air China terminal at Hongqiao airport (not sure how long it’s been open, but I have not flown out of Hongqiao for at least two months). Suddenly the check-in area looks like a new airport. Of course that’s all that changed, the rest of the airport is still as crappy as it used to be. I also noted that Hitachi seems to have sponsored the renovation, its name is in huge letters next to the arrival/departure screens when you enter the check-in area, and every single monitor has the Hitachi name in big letters on it. Smart move, because whether you are waiting to check in or waiting for customs you will always have the name Hitachi right in front of you. But I am surprised that a Japanese company and not a Chinese company was chosen for this. Money was probably more important than patriotic feelings.

Today is 7-7 according to the Chinese calender, meaning that it is Chinese Valentines day. China is probably the only country in the world where you have two Valentines Days every year, one commercialized day in February and one more traditional day about half a year later. But also this one is getting more commercial, with people sending flowers and cards. I have not seen any special restaurant menus for couples yet, like they have on Feb. 14, but I won’t be surprised that will come soon as well.

I often have new business ideas, but do not have the resources to work on them. A few days ago I had dinner with a manager of Carrefour. I told him that one of the things I hate about shopping there are the lines for the cashier (especially on weekends) and the wait for a taxi (up to 1 hour sometimes – almost a reason to buy a car, which is useless for any other purposes in Shanghai). For that reason I hardly go there anymore, only when I really need certain products that only Carrefour sells.

So I asked him if online shopping is not something Carrefour could introduce here. He said it is not something they are currenlty considering. As far as I know it does not exist yet. Some western style supermarkets deliver (City Supermarket), but I am not aware of any websites where you can order groceries. With cheap kuaidi (delivery) services, it should be so easy to set up.

How would I do it? Talk with the three giants in the Shanghai market – Carrefour, Wal-Mart and Metro and see if they are willing to cooperate. Set up a website with the products you can supply, with prices 10% above regular shop prices. Preferably on the site of one of the shopping giants, but stand-alone is also OK. Then find a reliable kuadi company (there are many) to work with. They can charge the client the delivery costs, or you can have a system that delivery is for free over RMB 400 (incentive to buy more!) and pay the kuadi yourself. Seems easy to set up, why has nobody done this so far?

Is there a market for this? I think so. Of course I am aware that Shanghainese are extremely price sensitive. But then again, if you have time constraints and money is not a real issue anymore (as it is for many double income – no kids families) there should be a target group willing to pay for this. I asked several of my friends, and easily found a couple of them who would love to be able to shop for groceries in this way.

(picture: long lines at Wal-Mart Shanghai on its opening day, source: Yahoo News)

UPDATE: A reader sent me a mail saying that City Supermarket also takes orders by phone, fax and email, but does not have a website with all its products. However, if you know what you want you can contact them and they will deliver. Click here for more information.

After the Baidu.com buying frenzy last week on Wall Street, now Yahoo might be setting a new step on the Chinese maket. The company is in advanced talks to purchase a 35% stake in China’s biggest homegrown e-commerce company Alibaba.com for almost $1 billion, in what would be the biggest investment by a foreign company in China’s Internet industry to date, sources close to the negotiations said. Alibaba runs two sites, Taobao.com (auctions) and Alibaba.com (trading) that are both very popular in China.

Shanghai has launched a crackdown on hairdressers, restaurants and residents stealing power from the municipal grid, which is already strapped by severe summer shortages.

More than 1,000 inspectors from the city’s power department have teamed up with local police to scour Shanghai for electricity larceny, 95 percent of which was committed by “residential power thieves”.

I wonder how many people get hurt or even die each year when trying to steal power. (Source: Xinhua/Reuters)