Entries from August 2007 ↓

I am stunned to see such a beautiful public toilet in China, in a photo, after painful memory of using China’s public toilets.

This-probably-the-most-beautiful-public-toilet-in-China is in Hangzhou, near the Bazi Bridge. However, the photo shows the hand wash area only, not the toilet behind the door, which may not be on par with the outside environment.

It is reported that people come here for business meetings because of the nice environment. Well, I don’t think I will ever want to go to a toilet for a meeting, no matter how beautiful the environment is. But the Chinese have the courage to try everything.

You probably do not know what osmanthus tree is. It doesn’t matter. But I can tell you it smells so wonderful when the tree is in blossom, producing a light, fresh and pleasing fragrance with its small yellow flowers. 

To experience this very delightful smell, you must visit Hangzhou in September. For osmanthus is the city flower of Hangzhou, which is one of China’s five osmanthus producing areas. The Manjuelong Village to the south west of the West Lake is the spot for smelling the tree flowers. There, more than 7000 ostmanthus trees are planted, with some 200 years old.

“Manjue” means complete enlightenment, a very beautiful name, hinting at the area’s historic link with Buddhism and temples.

The Osmanthus Festival is held in the area every autumn, where some colorful tents are set to serve tea and cakes made from ostmanthus flowers, with some game (like mahjong) tools provided for entertainment.

Because of the increasing popularity of the area, a big park called Manlong Osmanthus Rain has stood there since 2000.

There is public transport to the area of Manjuelong. Bus No 308, 324 and 508 reach the area.

If you don’t want to travel a bit far, then look no further than the city itself. You can smell it at many corners of the city, or just walk along the West Lake.

According to the statistics of Bank of China, the debt of China universities has accumulated to the tune of RMB200 billion. The No.1 borrower is Jilin University (RMB3 billion debt), followed by Guangdong Industrial University (RMB2.3 billion debt), Zhengzhou University (RMB2.1 billion debt), Nanchang University and Guangzhou University (RMB2 billion debt respectively).

It is the first time that the China Government has admitted to the scale of debt problem faced by the higher education institutions.

Another higher education problem in China is the scale of unemployment among university graduates. China’s Ministry of Education predicts that this year there will be over one million graduates who cannot land a job.

I recall that when I ran a language school business in Hangzhou, eastern China, a graduate in international business came for job interview. She was then working as an assistant in a university’s Chinese language program. Asked why she chose to study for international business when the chance for her to work in a related profession is remote, she just smiled. She was not able to give an answer. You will guess it right. I didn’t hire her.

And major in international business in a university in Hangzhou?? Where to find the real expertise to teach such a subject? She may forget that Hangzhou is a tourist city, not a business city.

Maybe the kind of choice some China students make is partly to blame for their unemployment upon graduation.

I recommend using this website (www.homtel.cn ) to rent an apartment in China, for its wealth of choice. I was told, however, that the photos displayed on the webs do not match the reality. And the landlord/lady will charge you extra money for this and that.  Given that there are so many fake products in China, a fake photo should not come as too much of a surprise.

The tip, therefore, is not to pay anything before you actually see the apartment.

I have quite nice experience with using the website though. Through the website listing, I found an apartment in Dalian, Liaoning province.

 This is the apartment I found at Dalian, costing RMB3,000 monthly.

I called at the posted contact number and the lady sounded very friendly and sincere. Normally, you are required to pay the rent before your booking is confirmed. But I told her I was not inside China so I would only pay upon arrival. She sounded very positive about this and raised no objections.

And the apartment was just like what it was shown on the photos, with all the modern household appliances, as promised on the internet. The lady even came to the airport for free pickup. The website didn’t mention internet connection but the apartment actually included this. In the middle of the month-long stay, the internet connection broke down. The lady was a bit slow in taking action to fix it but it was finally fixed after a week. No water or electricity bill was charged during the stay.

But as a foreigner, your not being able to speak Mandarin may be the downside. The lady in Dalian speaks very little English but she asked her English-speaking friend for help. Where there is business, the property owner will find a way. So no worries.

Because of the recall of made-in-china toys by US toy giant Mattel, a HK businessman, whose factory manufactures bulks of these recalled toys, could not foot the bill and committed suicide in his factory in Foshan, Guangdong province, China. The toys are found to contain toxic lead paint.

According to new reports, the businessman Cheung Shu-hung, 50, was deceived by his good friend in China, who supplied him with the toxic lead paint, a fake plastic pigment. As a result of the recall, he was left with a HK$200,000,000 (US$3M) debt.

The man was greatly missed by his employees, who said he was a kind boss. It is reported that he made sure his employees had their pay-check before killing himself.

I am saddened by the tragedy. Hong Kong businessmen/women are among the first group of people going into China to do business, who contribute in a big way to bridging China to the world. Many of them set up factories as early as 20 years ago in the Pearl River Delta, especially in places like Foshan and Dongguan. But now they are facing an uncertain future and a dim prospect because of the changing environment. The rising labour cost, the unstable electricity supply, the higher environmental standard and miscellaneous charges imposed by the local government, and the culling of the tax benefits, are just some of the factors leading to their predicament.

Adding to this is the human factor - you can be cheated even by your so called good friend, who like so many others in China, can provide you with fake products. Also, to do business in China, you have to take care of things like connection and corruption.

The odds are turning against HK businessmen/women. They have done so much to help China open its door to the world, but now, it seems, the country is turning itself against them.

The death of Cheung tells it all.

I once recommended in this blog Diqiucun (Global Village) Language Institute in Beijing as the choice of language school for studying Chinese in China. A primary reason is that its tuition fee is low. Given that its teaching doesn’t seem to be worse than, if not same as, that of the famous BLCU (Beijing Language and Culture University), the school looks like a fair choice.

The school’s students are predominately Korean and that explains why its website is in Korean only.

Two forum discussions here and here will give you more information about studying in Diqiucun, including the price, the teaching, the schedule, etc. You will find it very helpful.

But I have explained earlier that, don’t expect too much of a western approach to teaching in China. The teaching method in China is simply far from ideal, be it in BLCU or Diqiucun, or any other Chinese language school.

If you want to go to China to study Chinese, what matters most is not what you learn in the school/university, but how you can make use of the language environment to speak more and learn more. The school/university course will force you to learn a bit every day in a formal way, but what you can learn outside the classroom, such as conversation practice on the street, is ultimately what can get you somewhere in your endeavor to master Chinese language. 

If I tell you that China has probably the world’s biggest government building, you would think that it must be in big cities like Shanghai or Beijing. Wrong. It is in Jinan, the capital city of Shandong province in eastern China.

According to local newspaper reports, the building occupies an area of 240,000 square meters, and has 15 floors, 400 elevators and 45,000 computer ports. It will host 49 government departments. The construction project is said to cost up to 4 billion RMB.

In fact, luxury government buildings like Jinan’s are everywhere in China, even in poor areas. In Puyang County, Hunan Province, which is rated as a poor county in need of special help from the provincial government, the local government has built a luxury government building in the style of Beijing’s Tiananmen. Look at the photo and you won’t believe it!

Why do the local governments build grand and luxury offices like crazy? There are a few obvious reasons. Firstly, it is in the interest of the government officials to work in a grand and comfortable office, isn’t it? Secondly, since the construction project inevitably involves huge sums of money, it gives rise to a whole range of chances for corruption and embezzlement - time to pocket the public money. Thirdly, a grand office represents achievement and calls for public respect, something that the officials desperately want. 

How corrupt is China? Look again at the photos of the grand office buildings and you will understand.