Entries from July 2006 ↓

China’s premier Wen Jiabo’s sneakers are worn out and repaired and worn out again, and repaired again. It is praised as setting an examplary of being thrifty, a traditional Chinese virtue. But China’s rising economy also means that maybe this virtue is no longer what China needs today. 

Here’s a report from South China Morning Post dated 31 July 2006: 

…the story has also raised interesting questions on whether mainland leaders also need to set an example to boost consumption, the weakest link in the economy.

Just as a manager of the Double Star group, a private mainland firm which produced the premier’s shoes, reportedly suggested, Mr Wen should have bought a new pair of shoes - which cost only 100 yuan - instead of having his worn-out shoes repaired several times.

If everyone emulated the premier by repairing worn-out sneakers, the shoemaker could be in trouble, the manager said.

Indeed, the mainland media should make a big deal of Mr Wen finally deciding to swap the shoes for a new pair because the significance should be just as great.

For Mr Wen and other mainland leaders, turning domestic consumption into an engine of economic growth has been an important priority issue to rebalance the economy, which for the past 20 years has been powered mainly by exports and fixed-asset investments.

But they appear to be at a loss on how to encourage people to spend more, and many government policies appear to discourage spending. The latest example is the central government’s hot-headed policies to crack down on property speculation.

As property prices in major cities soar, the leadership has released a series of measures, including one ridiculous policy of 70/90, ordering local authorities to make sure 70 per cent of new residential properties contain flats of no more than 90 square metres.

It remains a mystery just how the magical figures came about, but the policy is causing controversy among officials and homebuyers, particularly in the cities of Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou…

Some former Mandarin teachers from Zhejiang University want to give Mandarin lessons in August in Hangzhou. Please see here.

Well, I don’t know how they are going to organize it. The former teacher of Zhejiang University at the forum said it is a simple plan. Yet, they plan to teach drama, intensive Chinese, etc. It cannot be too simple a plan, right?

Hangzhou seems all of a sudden to be a popular place for learning Mandarin. Friends of mine set the trend and started Manda School of Chinese, and then comes Tefl Academy, and now the former teachers of Zhejiang University. A flurry of activities. Well, good for those wanting to learn Chinese in Hangzhou, who have more choices now.  

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive says, to be eligible for canditates for the territory’s top job, one must be patriotic and competent.

Please tell me any other place where to be elected for the head of the government, the candidates being patriotic is one of the must-have conditions. It has been 9 years since Hong Kong’s handover to China and I am increasingly uncomfortable with the way the top government officials talk. Their words sound so inhuman and artifical, like that made from a political container.

It cannot be more apparent to me that a leader, first and foremost, should serve the people, and to be able to accomplish this, he or she must be competent and have the leadership. What else should matter?

If you are an English native speaker and want to learn Chinese in China, consider staying with a Chinese family. There is a Chinese language school in Beijing which has been in existence for some years, specializing in offering home stay to students. It charges hefty fees and I wonder why people are willing to pay the price. In fact, if you are a native English speaker, you can easily get free accomodation in exchange for teaching English. There is no need for you to pay a high price for a host family.

The Chinese would like their children to learn English so they would give you free accommodation just to get you to speak English to their kids.

Post on expatriate websites in beijing or shanghai, e.g www.thatbj.com, and I am sure you will find a lot of responses. But make sure that you have a clear deal with the parents that while you talk to their kids in English, you will also need to talk to them in Chinese during the stay, because you come to China to learn Chinese!

I am constantly struck by the stark contrast of pessimism expressed by China’s literati and intellectuals and optimism expressed by those wanting to study and live in China.

Yu Hua, a popular writer whose most recent novel “Brother” is a big hit on the mainland, says this when attending Hong Kong Book Fair:

“The Cultural Revolution is a tragedy; The modern China is a farce.”

“The Cultural Revolution is an era of unprecedented pressure; The modern China is an era of unprecedented sleaze.”

I guess you will understand how cogent his comment is if you know the history of China.

The face, in its figurative speech, is very important to Chinese. I was once told by my local partner to teach my foreign friend about this particular Chinese culture: “you are a Chinese and you should know “face” is an important part of Chinese culture. He was making me lose face.” He shouted.

Understandably, there was conflict between my this foreign friend and my this local partner, and my local partner was trying to defend his weak position by resorting to the “face” Chinese culture.

I have no respect for this face thing in Chinese culture, and sadly this face culture can be easily detected in the nowaday China. Just see how the rich spend their money and deliberately make others know that they are rich and hence they have power and status.  

They splash a stack of cash on the table in order to pay the bill in the restaurant; they easily find faults with those serving in the restaurants or clubs, and shout and blame; they drive recklessly in posh cars and never stop in front of the zebra crossing to let the big crowd of pedetrians pass.

I admire those going to great strengths for the dignity of life, but not those wanting to save their faces.

Rising to be an economic powerhouse, will China one day return to its once glorious culture and civilization?

I read something like this in a popular blog about China: don’t complain about the lack of rules in China. You come to China to do business so you’d better follow its rule, ie no rule to follow, only guanxi and guanxi.

My goodness. What kind of logic is that? China has no freedom of speech. So when the foreign media or companies go to China, they should also practice censorship? Like what Google does?

That view threw me and upset me profoundly. I wonder if that view advocate has had any experience of doing business in China as a foreigner? Does he understand what the hell is like when there is no rule to follow and corruption and fear thrive? I hope he just shuts up!