Coordinates: 30°39′35″N 104°03′48″E / 30.65972°N 104.06333°E / 30.65972; 104.06333
Chengdu (Chinese: 成都; Sichuanese: Cen2du1; pinyin: Chéngdū), formerly transliterated Chengtu, is the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status. The urban area houses 14,047,625 inhabitants: 7,123,697 within the municipality's nine districts and 6,730,749 in the surrounding region.
Chengdu is one of the most important economic, transportation, and communication centers in Western China. According to the 2007 Public Appraisal for Best Chinese Cities for Investment, Chengdu was chosen as one of the top ten cities to invest in out of a total of 280 urban centers in China. It was recently named China's 4th-most livable city by China Daily.
The fertile Chengdu Plain, on which Chengdu is located, is also known as the "Country of Heaven" (天府之国, Tiānfǔzhiguó), a phrase also often translated as "The Land of Abundance". The discovery of the Jinsha site suggests the area of Chengdu had become the center of the bronze age Sanxingdui culture around the time of the establishment of the state of Shu, prior to its annexation by Qin in 316 BC.
Paul Merton (born Paul James Martin; 9 July 1957) is a British comedian, writer, actor and television presenter. Known for his improvisation skill, his humour is rooted in deadpan, surreal and sometimes dark comedy. Considered by a number of critics, fellow comedians and members of the public to be among Britain's greatest comedians, he is well known for his regular appearances as a team captain on the BBC panel game Have I Got News for You, and as the former host of Room 101. He has also appeared as a regular panellist on Radio 4's Just a Minute and as one of Comedy Store's Comedy Store Players.
Merton was born on 9 July 1957 in Parsons Green, London to an English father (a train guard on the London Underground) and an Irish Roman Catholic mother. When his mother returned to work as a nurse, Merton and his younger sister were looked after by their grandfather, who lived with them in their council flat in Mitcham, South London.[citation needed]
He failed his eleven plus and went on to Wimbledon College, a Jesuit-run secondary school that had just become a comprehensive, where he received A-levels in English and History. His experience of victimisation there as a working-class boy became a frequent subject of his comedy.[citation needed] After leaving school, Merton worked at the Tooting employment office for seven years.
Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore
New York, Boston and Baltimore
They'll take you right down where you don't want to go
If you talk too fast and you walk too slow
Shanghaid, Shanghaid
Been locked up and Shanghaid
Shanghaid, Shanghaid
Been locked up and Shanghaid
I tried to live by the golden rule
Do unto others and they'll do unto you
Every time I get turned on I end up singing the same song
Shanghaid, Shanghaid
Been locked up and Shanghaid
Shanghaid, Shanghaid
Been locked up and Shanghaid
I was crossing the desert on a sunny day
I met two women that passed my way
They took me to a tent and they locked the door And all they
ever said was "More, more"
Shanghaid, Shanghaid
Been locked up and Shanghaid
Shanghaid, Shanghaid
Been locked up and Shanghaid
And I'm standing right here with my usual slack
Police got me for talking back
"You're out on the street, you'd better watch your step
If you talk too loud, now button your lip"
Shanghaid, Shanghaid
Been locked up and Shanghaid
Shanghaid, Shanghaid
Been locked up and Shanghaid
Sitting in a bar in West Berlin
Sipping on a glass that's low again
Talking to a woman I thought I knew
The lights went out and I did too
Shanghaid, Shanghaid
Been locked up and Shanghaid
Shanghaid, Shanghaid
Money in the bank ain't worth what it was since the bullion sank in a pool of sharks,
Shanghaied, shanghaied,
And I don't wanna wait for the banks to break,
And the waved to close on our perfect place,
Shanghaied, shanghaied
But I don't see your face anymore
Throw your knuckles down to the floor
Why do you have to lay awake?
Why do you pray?
'Cos there is passion going to waste
And you'd let loving die in your haste
Why do you have to lay awake?
Why do you pray?
To be on your own, to be on your own,
You took a knife to my life but as long as you say your sorry,
You took the sand from my hand but as long as you say you care,
But I don't see your face anymore
Throw your knuckles down to the floor
Why do you have to lay awake?
Why do you pray?
'Cos there is passion going to waste
And you'd let loving die in your haste
Why do you have to lay awake?
Why do you pray?
Changed
I feel changed
all unwound changed
Now.
Strange
voices strange
Hear the sound strange
Now.
Feel the ground shake
Feel the ground shake
Feel the ground shake
Now.
If every cell stayed the same
and seven years wasn't strange
then we'd be just like our names,