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Asian ‘gendercide’ in Canada — our local paper opens an explosive can of worms (
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Wow, the Portland Chinese community – the ones I..."
Fair Trade iPhones (
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I remember a Starbucks cup from several years..."
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“Saving the world…one cup at a..."
China’s ‘century of humiliation’ and the Olympics (
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The most irmpotant reason why China may not invest in the..."
Foreign baby in China essentials: IMPORTED BABY FORMULA (
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I am going to have a baby in china , are there USA..."
Steve Jobs, Apple, China and Us [updated] (
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Dr Ross Grainger: "
The American CEOs I mentioned are less..."
Affordable gadgets vs. Chinese workers’ rights (
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Joel 大江: "
Do you know what got him interested in Chinese..."
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Mike Daisey, who is featured in the CBS News article..."
Happy Lantern Festival 2011 from Tianjin, China! (
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Hi Rachel! These photos and video were taken on the..."
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We are expats in Teda, and this is our first..."
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Chinese take-out
Good good study, day day up!
Pronounced: guó bǎo
Literally: National Security/National Treasure
Means: The two terms are homophones, and "national treasure" often means "panda". A writer at Seeing Red in China explains the rest: "how panda becomes the symbol for Chinese security thugs: Chinese national security (more like secret police) is called 国保 (guó bǎo) for short, and it’s pronounced exactly the same as 国宝, national treasure. Netizens sometimes refer 国保 as 国宝, jokingly, hence Panda, China’s national treasure. Kungfu Panda movies provided the basis for Panda to be a martial character."
With the recent confrontation between Batman actor Christian Bale and some infamous Chinese security thugs, online Chinese are been passing around "Pandaman vs. Batman" jokes, and photoshopping "Pandaman" into all kinds of scenarios, including movie posters and images from other security embarrassments and scandals. See here, here and here for more.
- 2011/12/19
InterWǎng Debris
Recent China internet debris.
Affordable gadgets vs. Chinese workers' rights
Three recent news articles (and one response) return the spotlight to the mammoth electronics factories in China that make most of our favourite electronics, pointing out what everybody knows and no one wants to think about:
Happy Chinese workers spell the end of affordable tech (ZDNet)
"Human and worker rights reforms in China would have serious negative consequences for the efficiency and cost of the gadget supply chain.
[...]
"Foxconn’s client list reads like a celebrity tech roster that includes Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Intel, Lenovo, IBM, Cisco/Linksys, Netgear, Microsoft, Sharp, Sony, Motorola, Asus, Acer and Vizio... tablet runners and e-reader champions Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Yes, your Kindles and Nooks are also made by the very same companies with the same awful working conditions that make products for Apple."
The dark side of shiny Apple products (CBS News)
"...our most popular electronic devices are largely made by hand ... MANY hands, as it turns out ... hands that often are very over-worked, or so industry's critics contend."
[...]
""I met workers who were 12. Do you really think Apple doesn't know?"
"But what was news were the suicides..."
In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad (NYT)
and
BSR: New York Times’ Apple-Foxconn article contains untruths, inaccuracies, and misleading info (Mac Daily News)
- 2012/02/06
Those aren't Chinese New Year's fireworks; they're "recreational munitions"
From Nankai Rob's Chinese New Year 2012 post "Spring Festival Time. . .Lock and Load":
"...parties are held on a scale so massive that Caligula would have nodded in approval, and enough recreational munitions are set off to make the Battle of Waterloo feel like a suburban bar mitzvah. You’ll notice my careful word choice here: “recreational munitions” rather than “fireworks.” “Fireworks” as a term carries with it more celebratory, even innocent connotations, but you can’t define Chinese celebratory fireworks by the intent behind them. Certainly they’re set off with great excitement and joy, but you can, after all, also lob a grenade into a dumpster with great excitement and joy, and most of what is being set off these days qualifies for inclusion in the dumpster-grenade category. So: recreational munitions."
For more about the genuinely stunning Chinese New Year fireworks phenomenon with photos and video, see:
Happy Chinese New Year!
- 2012/01/22
Tension rising with Mainland students in American universities
Interesting observations at China Law Blog about how Mainland Chinese students studying in the USA -- in contrast to Chinese from other countries -- are apparently generating a lot of anger among the American students: Chinese Students In America. It's Bad Out There.
It seems that Mainland Chinese attitudes toward education don't play well among their American classmates. For example:
"They cheat all the time. It is pretty unbelievable how often I have seen them cheating. I am always complaining to my professors about this, but they usually just act like they are too important to deign to deal with something like this. Just come watch a test being adminstered and it will be obvious. They are allowed to get away with it because they pay the foreign tuition rate."
"One student told me of how all the students not from China agreed not to speak one day to see what would happen. There was no class discussion and the teacher asked them not to do it again."
- 2012/01/11
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[...] Foreign baby in China essentials: FRIENDLY STRANGER FINGER SHIELD [...]
Joel, one thing I love about reading your blog is that you always manage to turn bad things (strangers sticking their dirty, germy fingers into darling infant’s mouth) into almost-fun cultural experiences! Thanks!
What I would add is that it is very easy for a “superstar” to become a “diva”. I personally work hard at avoiding these sorts of encounters (though fun, friendly, and ego-boosting they may often be). I just don’t think it is healthy for a young child to grow up thinking she is so special and expecting to be the centre of attention.
wow… i have been missing soooo much! one good thing about having a sick kid who is coughing the whole night through is that i can catch up on reading your blog!
ok. oh how amazing and precious are those photos…. everyone looks so happy to see her! love all the smiles!
great posts! from red panties to be nice to the kitties… loved every minute of it!
Glenn — haha: “almost-fun cultural experiences.” And I hear you about the diva thing, though most often when I people bring it up it’s usually attributed to growing up with “ayis” and other forms of privilege rather than the public attention.
The only foreign kids I’ve been around enough to see how they react to the extra attention are the two English brothers in the “Our friends the rockstars” link above (funny photo there). Don’t know how they were as toddlers, but by kindergarten and grade 2 they were resenting the attention. Occasionally they might ham it up in front of a group (dance around or whatever), but often I would see the younger one pull and run away from strangers in parks who wanted to grab his arm or touch his (very blond) hair. Sometimes he would smack their hands away, make an angry face, etc. Definitely it’s something we have to get with other expat parents about. Gotta read all those third-culture kid books, too.
Ruth — see what fun you’re missing? We’re having a total blast with my parents here.
[...] Foreign baby in China essentials: FRIENDLY STRANGER FINGER SHIELD [...]
[...] is routine whenever we take Lilia out for walks. A friendly stranger or two (or ten) will often stop to try and make her smile, and that often involves touching. Younger people like [...]
[...] Foreign baby in China essentials: FRIENDLY STRANGER FINGER SHIELD [...]