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Source:Global Times Published: 2014-10-30 18:48:02

From the thread "The most affordable cities for young people"

On Monday, YouthfulCities, a youth initiative group, released the Affordability Index which measures 25 cities across the world in terms of their affordability for young people aged between 15 and 29. Shanghai was the only Chinese city to make the list. It ranked 22. The ranking soon aroused heated discussions online. Local experts don't think the ranking should be taken seriously.

The ranking took into account the costs of rent, public transportation and taxes in each city, as well as the minimum wage. It also took into account the prices of goods and services such as eggs, movie tickets and concerts. The top three most affordable cities for young people were Paris, Toronto and Los Angeles.

Li Guohua, secretary-general of Shanghai Real Estate Economic Institute, thinks this ranking is unreliable.

First, he thinks the cities should be selected according to one standard, such as cities with large populations. But in this ranking, some cities listed were large while others were small. Second, the ranking does not clearly explain what standard is used to judge whether a city is affordable.

Li thinks the Affordability Index is vaguely defined and lacks supporting data or necessary comparisons. Besides, Shanghai has different national conditions, population and living standards than other countries. So the ranking is meaningless.

From why.com.cn

From the thread "Friendship in the workplace"

In China, there used to be an unstated workplace rule that you should never make friends with your co-workers.

But these days, many workers spend more time with their colleagues than with their families, so it seems nearly impossible to avoid making friends with the people you work with.

The Laodong Daily surveyed 1,106 people online and found out that 17 percent of respondents refused to make friends with co-workers. More than 35 percent expected to make friends with colleagues, but acknowledged that they probably wouldn't be close friends. About 47 percent believed they could become close friends with someone with whom they worked.

The results defy tradition. The survey suggests that people make friends with co-workers because their work requires a lot of close cooperation among workers. The second reason is that workers spend a lot of time together, so it is easy to become friends. Making friends with co-workers can also make their hours spent at work more enjoyable.

Although more than 80 percent of respondents believe they will make friends with their colleagues, they acknowledged that work friends are different from other friends.

The survey also found that people are work friends when they talk about their personal lives or complain about their boss, other colleagues or clients.

From labour-daily.cn

Posted in: Society, Metro Shanghai

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