Unremarkable at first glance, this is a photo of a Japanese colleague who serves in the charity org we’re connected with in China. She’s placing flowers at the memorial to Eric Liddell (the “Chariots of Fire” guy) in the Japanese internment camp where he died during the brutal Japanese invasion of China during WWII.

Of the Japanese I’ve met in China, it’s been the three Japanese Christians (two more plus the one pictured, all serving in the same NGO) who’ve gone out of their ways to personally and symbolically apologize for the actions of their country during WWII. On another occasion, an older Japanese couple hosted a special dinner for their Chinese colleagues and language teachers at which they personally and formally apologized on behalf of their nation.

Has anyone else seen or heard of individual Japanese making apologetic gestures in China? I assume it’s not just Japanese Christians who do this (though with the three I’ve mentioned, their Christianity has a lot to do with it). But I’m also assuming that these kinds of apologies are exceptional, since, as at least one scholar points out, “in Japan there’s almost a dramatic lack of any sense of responsibility.”

I’d love to know more about the dynamics of apology and forgiveness in honour-oriented, Confucian-heritage cultures like China and Japan. I’m also curious about the ways Mainlanders are likely to perceive these types of gestures.

And I wonder: Should Europeans and Americans do the same for the Opium Wars?

More on Eric Liddell and the Japanese invasion:

• Why they hate the Japanese
• Eric Liddell: McSaint (biography review)
• Marriage market, Eric Liddell, weekend slogan (finding Liddell’s former residence in Tianjin)
• Spitting is good for something! (interesting anecdote from Liddell’s Japanese internment camp)

P.S. – For some info about official Japanese acknowledgment of WWII atrocities in China, see this comment.

Click any of the photos below to see the best of our 2011 China photos. Most were taken in Tianjin, but a few are from Qingdao/Huangdao and Guangzhou.

People, places, food, “food”, Chinglish, traditions, festivals, social issues… basically we took photos of anything we thought looked or represented something interesting.

Captions in the photo gallery provide info and links.

You can browse a list of all our photo galleries in the sidebar of any photo gallery page.

And here’s some beer-in-a-bag… Merry Christmas!

War is failure.

We will not save ourselves.

(11-11-11 and Remembrance Day.)

Below are some screen stills and scene clips that some friends and I were extras in for the Jackie Chan/Chinese propaganda film “1911″ 《辛亥革命》.

For some photos from filming and info about the 1911 Revolution, see:

• We were extras in “1911″ — a big-budget Chinese propaganda Jackie Chan movie! (here are some photos)

You can see all the photos and screen stills at the photo gallery:

• Photos from filming Jackie Chan’s Chinese propaganda movie “1911″

Denver Library scene

1911 movie: Denver Library scene (YouTube)

Sun Zhongshan speech scene

1911 movie: Sun Zhongshan speech (YouTube)

Related stuff:

• We were extras in “1911″ — a big-budget Chinese propaganda Jackie Chan movie! (here are some photos)
• Photos from filming Jackie Chan’s Chinese propaganda movie “1911″

Filming 1911

It’s maybe not as big as that other big propaganda movie from this year, “The Founding of the Party,” because without the Party reality itself would cease to exist and Sun Yat-sen was into some stuff that the Party doesn’t really go for, but this is still big stuff. “1911″ is a big-budget Jackie Chan Chinese propaganda epic commemorating the 100th anniversary of the 1911 Revolution (辛亥革命, see below for historical info/links), with “over 70 famous Chinese actors” including Winston Chao (赵文瑄) as Sun Yat-sen (孫中山) and Lǐ Bīngbīng (李冰冰) as Jackie Chan’s wife.

And we were extras for two days of filming! Or, some friends and I were; Jessica had to stay home. So if we’re reeeally lucky I or someone we know will get part of an appendage in the background of a scene for a split-second.

On our first day of filming they needed foreigners to be political delegates for a scene where Sun Yatsen gives the speech announcing that he’s giving up the presidency of the brand new republic (knowing that he can’t retain power due to Yuan Shikai). Basically we stood around, and occasionally they filmed us standing around, clapping for Winston Chao/Sun Yat-sen, and acting surprised when he makes his announcement.

The second day was better: we were foreigners sitting in the “Colorado Denver Public Library”. Sun Yatsen is in the States on a fundraising trip. He comes into the library, starts reading the paper and discovers in the headlines that revolution has broken out in China. He chokes on his food in surprise, and we foreigners look up from our books at the disturbance.

Here are a couple photos, with more in the photo gallery.

With Natalie on a veeeery cold set.

Dingle (aka James) poses cooperatively so I can get a shot of Winston Chao (赵文瑄).

The “Colorado Denver Public Library”.

The books were real.

More photos in the photo gallery!

Competing 1911 historical narratives

The 1911 Revolution marked the official end of five million years of unbroken imperial rule in China (this other propaganda movie is about the unification of China and the beginning of imperial rule). For a quick history lesson:

• China 1911: The Birth of China’s Tragedy (History Today)
  “…for all the celebrations in the mainland and Taiwan this autumn, the revolution of 1911-12 brought no real solution and left China facing decades of suffering.”
• Reading Round-Up: The Xinhai Revolution, One Hundred Years Later
• The Xinhai Revolution (Wikipedia)
  “The Xinhai Revolution…, also known as the Revolution of 1911 or the Chinese Revolution, was a revolution that overthrew China’s last imperial dynasty, the Qing (1644-1912), and established the Republic of China. The revolution, which began with the Wuchang Uprising on October 10, 1911 and ended with the abdication of the “Last Emperor” Puyi on February 12, 1912, is named after the Xinhai year in the sexagenary cycle of the Chinese calendar. The Xinhai Revolution marks the end of over 2,000 years of Imperial China and the beginning of China’s Republican era.”

And here’s an intro to the battle between Taiwan and China over the 1911 historical narrative:

• What really happened on Oct. 10, 1911?
  “In the run up to the 100th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution, Beijing has been performing a spectacular tightrope walk. Officials have been told that it should be a grand affair, but must be careful not to upstage the celebration of the Party’s 90th anniversary. This is because even though Sun Yat-sen is seen by many Chinese as the father of modern China, his ideas do not fit the country’s current direction.”
• One revolution, two interpretations
  “Taiwan and China have taken different approaches to commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Wuchang Uprising, which took place on Oct. 10, 1911 and marked the beginning of a series of revolutions that eventually ended dynastic rule and led to the establishment of the Republic of China.
  [...]
  “These differences are created by the complex history of and sensitive political disputes between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, who are both trying to put forward their interpretation of history as definitive.”
• China’s Communist Party celebrates 1911 Revolution in low key
  “Naysayers note however that celebrations for Sun Yat-sen and 1911 Revolution (Xinhai) are low-key compared to those in Taiwan, where Sun is seen as the ‘Father of the Nation’, and an inspiration for the country’s cardinal principles: nationalism, democracy and people’s wellbeing. Others believe that Sun’s low profile is probably designed not to overshadow the 90th anniversary of the Communist Party, celebrated last July.”
• A Century After Xinhai: Whose Revolution?
• 1911: the Xinhai Year of Revolution 辛亥革命
  “A hundred years on the Xinhai remains a controversial period. The year 2011 started with Ma Ying-jeou 馬英九 in Taiwan lauding the Xinhai centenary… On the other side of the Taiwan Strait reflections are not quite as sanguine. The previous official monopoly over the interpretation of history has long since been undermined.”
• Profound shift as China marches back to Mao
  “Both the Communist Party and dem0cr@tic activists claim the Xinhai Revolution as part of their historical ancestry.

  “”The left, in the sense of representing anti-dem0cr@tic dictatorship, does not own revolutionary legitimacy in China,” said David Kelly, research director at China Policy in Beijing and a visiting professor at Peking University. “The anniversary of 1911 brings into play the fundamental decision between social dem0cr@cy and revolutionary dictatorship.”"

If any interesting movie reviews come out, or if we get some incriminating screen stills, I’ll post them here.

Scene Clips & Screen Stills! [2011-10-30 update]

The movie’s out, and you can see video clips of the scenes we’re in and screen stills of us in action here:

• Scene clips & screen stills from “1911″ (we were extras!)

The photo gallery has been updated with all the new screen stills.

The carapace is tough but flexible. Biting down causes hot mush to burst out into your mouth. Two more chews and two squirts later it’s finally empty. You manage to down the bug guts in two or three swallows, but the outer shell is the challenging part. It takes a lot of chewing, and the thought of sliding it to the back of your mouth in order to swallow makes you wonder if you’ll gag. Your choice: try to swallow all of it quickly in one go and risk gagging, or chew and chew and chew, swallowing little shredded pieces of it at a time, prolonging the experience. You take the second option, feeling each piece of the exoskeleton slime across the back of your tongue and down your throat. Thankfully it doesn’t have much taste. And without legs and wings, it’s easier to eat than that giant cockroach in Thailand.

You can see more info and pictures of silk worm chrysalis (蚕蛹) here. I heard separately from friends and students that one of these things has the equivalent protein of three eggs.

We love this sidewalk BBQ place because of the 热闹 atmosphere. The wide sidewalks are usually filled with folding tables and stools and diners. This night we had to walk through the kitchen and eat in the back alley because three chéngguǎn were charged with doing nothing but standing on the opposite sidewalk from the afternoon until 12:30am to make sure none of these restaurants put out their tables! I went and complained to them. They were friendly, and said they had to manage that particular road (the restaurant is on the corner of a T-intersection). The other road, literally around the corner in plain view, had tables and stools and the usual illegal street vendors, but these three guys were only watching these particular restaurants on this particular road. All they did was stand there, for hours, looking at the opposite sidewalk. That’s how things work here. They’re the ones that said, Don’t worry, you can eat outside in the back alley.

The blurry, non-flash-or-tripod photo above on the right shows the true colours and lighting and warmth.

To put things in perspective, this place also offers giant (giant!) white snails, bullfrogs, the usual assorted animal organs, and… wait for it… sheep penis on a stick. So all things considered, silk worm larvae are not so far out of one’s comfort zone.

Related stuff:

• The Tianjin Chengguan Street Market Game
• Curiosity + China = way more than I bargained for
• Know your edible northern Chinese insects
• Dead puppies (don’t look, Grandma!) – menu included
• Snake soup
• Sheep brains (photo)
• An Irresistible Opportunity

This one’s for all the budding entomologists and/or homeschoolers out there.

If you’re the kind of person who stops to smell the flowers in Tianjin (yes, there are flowers, sure, sometimes they’re plastic, but let’s not be picky), then chances are good you’ve seen some of these lately:

Our two-year-old daughter loves to dig in the dirt and play with bugs. Recently (second half of May) the trees and bushes all over our district have been infested with these things, but I don’t know what they are or if they bite. They can jump and fly short distances, and they start to move away when they sense the camera but they’re not so fast that my daughter can’t accidentally squish them when she tries to “touch” them. Our neighbourhood grandpas told me a word that translates as “ladybug” (花大姐), but Google image search didn’t turn up anything resembling these. I’m not the first lǎowài to wonder what they are.

So I asked BugGuide.net, WhatsThatBug.com and the Natural History Museum. Some of these folks are quite the bug sleuths. It looks like these things are some kind of immature (nymph) form of one of the following, which I image searched in Google and Baidu and which may or may not all be the same thing — I wouldn’t know. Mouseover the Chinese for pronunciation and definition:

• 青黑白蜡蝉 (google – yes; baidu – yes)
• 蓝翅蜡蝉 (google – yes; baidu – yes)
• Lycorma (Google – yes; Baidu – yes)
• Lycorma meliae(Google – yes; Baidu – yes)
• Lycorma olivacea (google – yes; baidu – no)
• Lycorma delictula (google – yes; baidu – yes)
• Wax Cicada (google – yes; baidu - no)
• Fulgorid Leafhopper (google – yes; baidu – no)

It would make sense if these will one day grow up to be cicadas, because cicadas infest Tianjin in the summer so loudly that you have to yell when you’re reading Harry Potter out loud to your wife under a tree.

If anyone wants to provide a definitive answer, be my guest!

But the bug experts didn’t answer the most important question: do they bite? So I took matters into my own hands. The next time we were out I grabbed one and shook it around to see if it would bite me, and OOOWWW! HOLY COW! … just kidding. Nothing happened, so now I let our daughter play with them. :)

Of course, this is not our first notable photogenic insect encounter in China:

• Know your edible northern Chinese insects
• Nine Dragon Mountain weekend getaway
• Flower-Bird-Fish-Bug Market
• Creepy, eh? (Taiwan)
• Elephant Mountain hike (Taiwan)
• An Irresistible Opportunity (Thailand)

P.S. – Curse you to the Nth generation, Great FireWall of China! Trying to do Google image searches when your proxy has been torpedoed (temporarily, I hope!) is as frustrating as it’s intended to be.

According to one of the greeter/usher/crowd-control guys (who just became my best friend for finding me a place — out of range of all the ā​yís and their unsolicited advice — where I could change a mid-Sunday school poopie diaper), the Shanxi Lu Three-Self church can hold almost 1600 in the pews. These pictures are from this morning, half-way through the early (8:30) service, outside the overflow room where people who couldn’t get seats inside the main split-level auditorium or who can’t climb stairs watch the proceedings on a video screen.

Looks like they ran out of stools.

People were even camped out around the corner listening through the side doors and windows of the overflow room:

I would have had better pictures, but these were all I was able to squeeze out of my dead camera batteries if I let them rest in between shots.

Shanxi Lu is the biggest of the four Three-Self churches in Tianjin. “Three-Self church” means a legal, registered Chinese church that is officially under the “Three-Self Patriotic Movement”, which is one of two Party organizations controlling all legal Protestant church activity in China (there are other organizations that control the Catholics). The term “three-self” is a missiological term from the 19th century referring to missionaries’ desires to have local churches be “self-governing, self-supporting and self-propagating.”

ABC News’ “True Believers” feature has recent reportage on the legal, illegal-but-tolerated, and illegal-and-not-tolerated churches in China.

We often take our daughter for walks around here because it’s the neighbourhood right next to ours:

This month, the right half of the notice board is filled with what are probably the most colourful and, um, educational propaganda posters we’ve seen so far, compliments of the Tianjin City Anti-Evil Cults Association (天津市反邪教协会) and the Tianjin People’s Government Guarding-Against-and-Dealing-With-the-Evil-Cults-Problem Office (天津人民政府防范和处理邪教问题办公室). Click either picture for a bigger view:

Here’s what the posters say (mouseover the Chinese text to see the pronunciation and definition). Translation corrections welcome.

1. The “Five Musts”

To Guard Against and Resist Evil Cults, Must Do the “Five Musts”
防范和抵制邪教要做到“五要”

1. Must not listen to, not believe, not pass on;
   要做到不听、不信、不传；
2. Must actively report and expose the illegal activities of evil cults;
   要主动检举揭发邪教的违法活动；
3. Must eliminate superstitious thinking and properly treat ‘the four miseries of human life’;
   要破除迷信思想，正确对待生老病死；
4. Must properly treat the bumps in life’s road; strengthen and pursue confidence in a nice life;
   要正确对待人生坎坷；增强追求美好生活的信心；
5. Must establish becoming-rich-with-science-and-technology and becoming-rich-by-one’s-own-efforts thinking; create a nice life with your own two hands.
   要树立科技致富、勤劳致富思想，通过自己的双手创造美好生活。

Left image:

• [Yellow bubble] “Hold up science, oppose superstition” 崇尚科学，反对迷信
• [Red books] Science 科学
• [Sign board] Little demi-god 小半仙
• [Bad guy speaking] “No one at all believes in computer fortune-telling!”
  “电脑算命都没人相信了！”

Right image:

• [Blue card] ** (name of evil cult/teaching)
• [Woman speaking] “Put your hand and foot down!” “把手脚放下！”
• [Woman’s paper] Divorce 离婚
• [Red book] Law 法律

2. What is an Evil Cult?

Uphold Science, Oppose Evil Cults, Build Harmoniousness Together
崇尚科学，反对邪教、共建和谐



What an Evil Cult is 什么是邪教

An evil cult organization fraudulently uses religion, qìgōng or the name of other kinds of established things, deifies the ringleader, exploits and uses methods like creating and spreading superstitious rumours and heresy (etc.) to seduce and deceive people, and to expand control of their members and their illegal harmful-to-society organization.
邪教组织是指冒用宗教、气功或者其他名义建立，神化首要分子，利用制造、散步迷信邪说等手段蛊惑、蒙骗他人，发展控制成员，危害社会的非法组织。

Image:

• [Left] *** / *，*，* (name and slogan of the evil cult)
• [Right] Anti-science, anti-humanity, anti-society (mirrors the evil cult’s slogan) 反科学、反人类、反社会

3. The Characteristics & Dangers of Evil Cults



The Characteristics of Evil Cults 邪教的特征

1. Use the pretense of religion and science to concoct sophistry and heresy;
   打着宗教、科学的幌子编造歪理邪说；
2. Deify the gang leaders of evil cults, conduct mind control;
   神化邪教头子，进行精神控制；
3. Establish underground organizations, conduct illegal activities;
   建立地下组织，进行非法活动；
4. Scam to raise funds by any and all means;
   不择手段地骗敛钱财；
5. Oppose the government, look with hatred on society;
   反对政府，仇视社会；
6. Proclaim that “Doomsday is approaching”.
   宣扬“末日来临”。

The Dangers of Evil Cults 邪教的危害

1. Incite opposition to the government, harm ‘grass-roots political power’;
   煽动反对政府，危害基层政权；
2. Engage in illegal criminal activities, harm society;
   从事违法犯罪活动，危害社会；
3. Wreck regular production and living, harm the masses’ mental and physical health;
   破坏正常的生产生活，危害群众身心健康；
4. Corrode and poison the minds of minors.
   侵蚀和毒害未成年人。

Image:

• [Speech bubble] I want to reach a higher level! 我要上层次！
• [Blue book] ** (evil cult’s name/teaching)
• [Headband] *，*，* (evil cult’s slogan)
• [Knives] Slaughter children, chop fathers, kill mothers 宰子女，砍父，杀妻

4. Evil Cult’s Scam Tricks

Evil Cults’ Mass Deception Scam Tricks 邪教欺世骗人的伎俩



1. Use the pretense of religion or qìgōng to deceive people;
   打着宗教或气功的幌子蒙骗人；
2. Use cures and bad luck avoidance to entice people;
   用治病、免灾诱惑人；
3. Use all kinds of cheap tricks to frighten people. For example: reading facial features to tell people’s fortunes, deceiving people by pretending there are ghosts, writing characters with ants, making words appear on white paper, doing the Fu talisman trick, smearing eel blood to attract bats, circulating things like poisonous toads;
   用各种把戏吓唬人。如看相算命、装神弄鬼、蚂蚁写字、白纸显字、玩符谶把戏、抹鳝鱼血招蝙蝠、投放癞蛤蟆等东西；
4. Get close to people to rope them in;
   套近乎拉拢人；
5. Bribe people with small favours;
   小恩小惠收买人；
6. Use violent methods to coerce people.
   用暴力手段胁迫人。

Image:

• [Bottom left] Reading ants 蚂蚁识字
• [Bottle] Honey 蜜
• [Clothes] Divine 神

5. The Main Differences Between Religions & Evil Cults

The Main Differences Between Religions and Evil Cults 宗教与邪教的主要区别



1. 1, Our nation’s religions advocate that their believers fit into society, serve society, benefit the people, defend society’s harmoniousness, support the leadership of the Communist Party of China, and support the socialist system. The essence of evil cults is anti-societal; they poison and inflame members to look with hatred on society, they harm society even to the point of having wild political schemes, they agitate for and inflame people to overthrow the Chinese Communist Party’s leadership and the socialist system.
   一、我国宗教倡导信徒融于社会，服务社会，造福人群，维护社会和谐，拥护中国共产党的领导，拥护社会主义制度。邪教本质是反社会的，它们蛊惑、煸动成员仇视社会，危害社会，甚至带有政治野心，鼓吹、煸动推翻中国共产党的领导和社会主义制度。
2. 2, The things religions believe in and worship are each religion’s specially designated god, which are fixed and don’t change. Religions believe in opposing people who compare themselves to deities and boast about possessing “spiritual powers”. An evil cult, by contrast, worships the founding person himself.
   二、宗教信仰和崇拜的对象是各个宗教特定的神，是固定不变的，宗教信仰反对人自比神明和自吹具有“神力”。邪教崇拜的则是教主本人。
3. 3, Our nation’s religions have lawfully registered organizations and activity locations. Religious citizens’ collective religious activities are held at registered religious activity locations.
   三、我国宗教有合法登记的团体组织和活动场所，信教公民的集体宗教活动在经登记的宗教活动场所举行。

Bottom bar:

• Tianjin People’s Government Guarding-Against-and-Dealing-With-the-Evil-Cults-Problem Office 天津人民政府防范和处理邪教问题办公室。
• Tianjin City Anti-Evil Cults Association 天津市反邪教协会。

Image:

• Guilty of unpardonable evil 十恶不赦。
• *** (name of the evil cult’s founder)

6. Five Reasons the Common Masses Follow Evil Cults

Five Reasons the Common Masses Mistakenly Enter the Evil Cult Wrong Road
普通群众误入邪教歧途的五种诱因



1. The first is that when people meet sudden misfortune in life, they have a desperate state of mind toward real life, and evil cults will then enter by taking advantage of this weakness, they will use vague and illusory devious heresy to mislead, and cause people to be taken in and cheated;
   一是当生活中遇到突然变故，对现实生活产生绝望情绪时，邪教便会乘虚而入，利用虚无缥缈的歪理邪说进行诱导，使其上当受骗；
2. The second is that when people meet special difficulties in life, evil cults will seize the opportunity to show a helping-in-trouble and assisting-the-poor appearance, they’ll use small favours or help in a short-term difficulty, thereby people are filled with thankfulness psychologically and join an evil cult organization;
   二是当生活中遇到特殊困难时，邪教会趁机以济困助穷的面目出现，施以小恩小惠，帮其暂度难关，从而怀着感恩的心理加入邪教组织；
3. The third is when people suffer illness and are unable to get well for a long time and are suffering, evil cults will, by introducing ancient traditional secret recipes and by promoting some kind of qìgōng extra-sensory-perception abilities, lure people into taking the bait;
   三是当身患疾病、久治不愈、饱受折磨时，邪教会以介绍祖传秘方、宣传某种气功的特异功能为由，引诱其上钩；
4. The fourth is when people need to make their health and bodies stronger, some evil cults will seize the opportunity to proclaim some qìgōng methods’ mystical capabilities, luring people through group exercise over a long period of time, etc., cause people to unwittingly become members of an evil cult;
   四是当有强身健体需求时，一些邪教会趁机宣扬某功法的神奇功能，引诱其通过长时间集体练功、会功等，使其在不知不觉中成为邪教成员；
5. The fifth is the psychology of blindly following. They see the people around them practicing some kind of qìgōng method and they are caused to follow the crowd, the “hurry after the crowd” effect, so they confusedly become members of an evil cult.
   五是盲从心理。看到周围的人在练某一种功法，受到他人怂恿或随大流、“趋众”影响，糊里糊涂地成为邪教成员。

7. How to Report an Evil Cult



Methods for Exposing and Reporting the Discovery of Evil Cults’ Illegal and Criminal Activities 发现邪教违法犯罪活动的揭发检举手段

1. Report to the lowest-level Party organization. 向基层党政组报告；
2. Make the situation known to the local police station. 向派出所反映情况；
3. If you meet a public trouble-causing gathering, etc., you can immediately call 110 and report it to the police.
   遇有公开聚集滋事等情况可直接打110报警。

Image: (A man turns over some evil cult materials that he found in his mailbox to the Anti-Evil Cults Committee 反邪教委员会。)

8.



Left image:

• “The fire-fighters are great!” “消防宫兵们真棒！”
• “Look! As soon as I use my kungfu powers, the fire is extinguished!”
  “瞧！我这一发功，雨就下了，火也灭了吧！”

Right image:

• “You only have to believe our **, and this bracelet is yours.”
  “只要相信我们**，手镯就是您的了。”

9.



Left image:

• [On clothing] Kingdom of Heaven 天国； *，*，* (evil cult’s slogan)； perfection 圆满； divine 神； look with hatred on society 仇视社会； Doomsday is approaching 末日来临； Reach a higher level 上层次。
• [Underneath] illegal activity 非法活动

Right image:

• [On clothes] *，*，* (evil cult’s slogan)
• [Papers] Don’t need to take medicine 不用吃药； qìgōng healing 气功治病； use kungfu powers to avoid disaster 发功免灾； divine 神。

10.



Image:

• [On building] Local Police Station 派出所
• [Arm band] “On duty” (a member of the Neighbourhood Committee 居委会)
• [On prisoner] “****” (name of the evil cult)

These posters most definitely have a specific “evil cult” in mind; they name it repeatedly in the pictures, just not in the main text. In the picture on the right, this group’s name is written on the “faithful running dog” (忠实走狗) of Uncle Sam (山姆大叔), who isn’t directly named but is clearly insinuated by the tall skinny legs and striped pants. In other words, they’re insinuating that the U.S. uses this group to try and destabilize China.

This group is among the top three most hated/least tolerated groups in China, and were one of the biggest China stories of the 90′s. They’re the people who were outside the Chinese consulate in Vancouver when my parents went to get their visas, who my mom didn’t know about and almost walked in to apply for a Chinese visa with their material in hand (my dad made her leave it in the lobby). I didn’t translate the parts of the posters that identity this group specifically because those terms are just too sensitive for the Chinese internet.

I’m not blogging this for the politics so don’t go writing or linking about them explicitly in the comments. I’m blogging it for the Chinese practice and to show what normal people in one average Tianjin neighbourhood like ours are getting propagandized with (each neighbourhood seems to choose its own posters; I’ve only seen this particular kind of poster in two or three different neighbourhoods; it’s not a city-wide thing). If you want to know more about this particular “evil cult”, read the third chapter of Ian Johnson’s Wild Grass: Three Portraits of Change in Modern China. I do, however, wonder if this kind of “evil cult” rhetoric will begin to appear in the increasingly tense on-going showdown in Beijing. There are alarming similarities between both situations, but also crucial differences.

And if you just can’t get enough of translated propaganda posters, here’s one more:

• Behaving yourself… with Tianjin characteristics
• Share:
• Email
• Facebook
• StumbleUpon

A while back the news said some Chinese cities had started using web cameras to shame citizens into better public behaviour. I have no idea if this is directly related or not, but today we discovered these signs on the side of our building:

“Warning: Up and to the side there’s a web cam. Your defecation behaviour will be uploaded to the internet and displayed!”
警告：侧上方有摄像头，你的排便行为将会被传上网络展示！
and
“Warning: Up behind there’s a web cam. Your defecation behaviour will be uploaded to the internet and displayed!”
警告：后上方有摄像头，你的排便行为将会被传上网络展示！

And sure enough, two cameras have been installed:

We’ve seen signs before about cleaning up after your dog/self…

“Civilizedly lead your dog. Don’t bring your dog to in front of the window to take a dog poo.”
文明迪狗：不带狗到窗前拉狗屎
and
“Defecating is strictly prohibited”
严禁大便

… but this is the first time we’ve seen them threaten to put offenders’ pictures online!

And, for the record, I’ve never noticed any conspicuous amount of… evidence of bad behaviour on this side of our building. And our daughter wanders around back here several times a week. But apparently someone is fed up! Too bad they didn’t list the website.

You can see pictures and translation from the last major campaign to curb undesirable public behaviour here: Behaving yourself… with Tianjin characteristics.

(P.S. — Blue sky day!!!)