04.25.08
Finally, A Reliable Source for Biased Reports
04.24.08
Best. Car. Name. Ever.
The NY Times provides a good story today on increasing car ownership in China. Most interesting part of the story? No, not the part about the explosive growth of the Chinese car market. And, no, not the part about wider segments of society gaining the ability to make large purchases like a family car. The best nugget (word trademarked by SHTig) is that Geely manufactures a car called the “King Kong“.
How awesome is that? Answer: super awesome.
04.18.08
Sorry Ms. Qianyuan (Grace) Wang
Dear Ms. Grace Wang 王千源:
We’ve read about your story in the New York Times and seen the postings of your countrymen all over the internet, like the summary of the “Wang Qianyuan Incident” here.
I’d like to commend you on your fantastic scholastic abilities, but if hadn’t been for what happened to you upon leaving the dining hall at Duke that evening, I wouldn’t have known about that. So, I’m writing to say sorry for the mess that you’re finding yourself in, but also to commend you for how you are handling it and yourself. Since I’m a “foreigner”, my commendation is of little value, if not harm, on this issue. But people like you can help bring positive change to China. Based on the attacks against you and your family - both virtual and ‘real’ - you can see that change is needed in China. You and other Chinese people need to be allowed to express a view, on anything, without being uniformly attacked by your countrymen. You are going to get a lot of mileage - and pain -out of this saga, but it is now your saga nonetheless. Please don’t back down and don’t give up. And, to be clear, I’m not talking about supporting the ‘Teabet’ independence / 藏独分子 issue per se, because personally I believe it is and should be a part of China. What I am talking about is much more important than one specific issue. It’s about the freedom to engage in an open-minded discussion about an important issue, about dialogue and compromise. You are seeing what that’s like at Duke. It’s not a clean and orderly process, but it is a beautiful one. You now have the opportunity to be a trail blazer of reform to help your people. I think the great Chinese people deserve the right to not have their minds dictated to them by anyone, and obviously so do you. Keep at what you are doing. Make it your cause. Don’t be afraid. Just like Susan B. Anthony, change may not truly come about during your lifetime, but you can be part of the catalyst for change.
You are a hero and one day Chinese people will recognize that. This too shall pass.
SHTig
Carrefour
An email petition swirling around the internet (search the Chinese characters to see the dozens of Chinese blogs carrying this):
重大消息: 法国政府准备拿出二千万美金，家乐福自己再拿出五百万美金，用于五一降价促消，听说家乐福高层很狂妄，让中国人在五一降价中挤破家乐福，最好踩死几个人．法国电视台也在积极做准备，拍摄中国人到家乐福疯狂购物的镜像．让中国人自打自的嘴．
如你是爱国的中国人，把此信息传给你的亲戚朋友，不要到家乐福购物，不要为了丁点的小便宜，而丢了尊严，丢了民族志气，让外国人笑话．再不能让外国人把我们看作东亚病夫了.虽然我们的努力可能微不足道,但大家团结起来一定要让外国人看看我们的力量,有良心的中国人转发10个朋友
SHTig Quick Translation: Important Information: The French government is preparing US$ 20,000,000, and Carrefour is preparing US$5,000,000 for a May 1st sales promotion. It’s said that Carrefour’s senior management is insolently planning to cram pack its stores on May 1st with Chinese people, with the hopefully result of causing some people to be trampled to death. French television is also actively preparing to record the mad rush of Chinese shoppers at Carrefour stores, to show Chinese people smashing each other up.
If you are a patriotic Chinese, send this information to your friends and family, and don’t go shopping at Carrefour to chase some tiny discount that will cause loss of respect, national spirit and will make the foreigners laugh. We can’t let the foreigners once again make us the sick men of East Asia. Even though our efforts might turn out to be negligible, by us all uniting together it will show our strength to the foreigners. Good hearted Chinese people please send this to 10 friends.
SHTig’s Quick Comments:
1. I don’t believe this in full, especially the ridiculous part about trampling and wanting the Chinese to lose face. I did go shopping at Carrefour on April 13 in Shanghai. They had a very good promotion running (spend RMB500 on select items, get a voucher for RMB250 to be used within April). April 13 was a Sunday. The store was crowded, but not nearly as it usually is. The checkout line was shorter than normal. Anecdotal.
2. This note has an unnecessary pandering tone to “the foreigners” as it is. Are any of us foreigners really that important?
3. Carrefour is an unfortunate target in all of this (as is the Olympic torch). Can someone tell these petitioners that Carrefour is not a State-owned enterprise, so attacking it is not akin to attacking the French government?
4. One thing is universal with these spam requests — no matter what the language, they beckon you to forward them to others. Would be funny if they had added “send this to 10 people or else your daughter will hook up with a laowai”
NATOR ADDS: I got this letter, with ” 爱国的中国人转发50个 ” (”Patriotic Chinese people please send this to 50 friends”) added to the last sentence.
04.16.08
Should CNN apologize?
Some idiot ranting and raving on CNN spews a bunch of nonsense about China’s recent actions. China demands an apology. From CNN. I have to say, I’m not sold on this one. Does CNN have to endorse each and every view of its commentators? Sure, the guy says a load of silly populist clap-trap about China stealing U.S. jobs. China’s leaders are “thugs and goons” he says. Is there an argument that they’re thugs? Yes, there is an argument. A pretty convincing one, given recent events. Should he apologize? I say maybe. He’s painting with a pretty broad brush and perhaps should limit his criticism to the government, not the people. Should CNN apologize? I say no. Feel free to disagree with me, I’m open to that.
By the way, the best way to disagree with me? Boycott Carrefour.
04.15.08
Olympic Flame Controvery Heating Up
Chinese netizens (网民) are rallying to boycott French products on May 1st in China. Emails like this are swirling around mailboxes in the PRC and beyond.
04.14.08
No Smoking (except for here, there and, um, everywhere)
When I first heard about the smoking ban in Beijing, I thought “Wow, fantastic. Beijing finally joins New York, London, Dublin, L.A. and Chicago.” They’re leaving the French behind as the last bunch of a-holes insisting on the right to smoke in people’s faces. Finally, I can go into a restaurant and not have to slurp down a pack of charcoal-filtered Honghe’s while eating my Xinjiang-style duan mian. And then I read this nugget.
Basically, restuarants (and, I’m sure, coffee shops and any other place that serves food) are exempt from the rule. “It’s just part of the culture” informs certified genius Zhang Peili, one of the Beijing municipal government officials involved in rolling out the rule. So is spitting. So is littering. So is getting loaded on erguotou at lunch. That is why the government bans these things. So that they are not part of the culture.
04.09.08
Spot the differences
Just wanted to share a not-so-recent discovery of mine, fake Chinese products are not limited to the offline world only.
See if you can spot the differences between Pacific Epoch and Market Avenue.
Pacific Epoch is one of the best English financial news sites in China. I strongly recommend subscribing to their daily news summary (you can do so from their home page).
Market Avenue provides a very similar service–in fact, almost identical. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, these guys are extremely sincere. Even better, they have provided a graphical representation of their “sincerity” in the above chart, which comes from this page. As best as I can tell, the “H” in the chart is Market Avenue, and the “Exemplar” is Pacific Epoch. At least they’re honest that they’re weaker in every single area.
If you have come across similar “sincerity” on the web please share it with us.