Results tagged “hanchinese”

Today's post by Andrew Sullivan on his blog over at the Atlantic discusses the specter of racism within China, and the implications it could have on both the social and economic future of the country. As the ratio of retirees to workers is set to double within the next fifteen years, questions surrounding the economic sustenance will begin to necessitate an influx of emigrants to keep the economy growing.

Is it us or have there been a lot of political news stories and incidents in recent weeks? A few weeks ago, the restive group of villagers in Guangxi rioted over fines relating to the one-child policy, a glimpse of which you can see in the video on the left. Then maybe on Thursday or Friday night of last week, hundreds of Zhengzhou students rioted in the streets, after a student vendor was beaten by some inspectors. Down in Shenzhen, thousands of workers protested outside a plastic Christmas tree factory, citing long working hours as the source of their discontent. (Note to self: get real tree and throw away plastic tree currently hidden in closet before December.)

One of the nice features on Google Calendar is the ability to add the lunar calendar on top of the western one, which helped us verify that today, Thursday, is indeed the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar.

While some choose to generalize and lump all Chinese into one big pool of "Confucian consumers," others might say that to do so would be akin to corporate suicide (not to mention just plain stupid). For example most young Shanghainese want iPods and the latest mobile phones while their counterparts in Guangzhou would be happy with a nice mobile phone that doubles as an mp3 player. The expert in this interesting International Herald Tribune story calls the kids in Guangzhou "pragmatic cool." We suppose youth in Shanghai are legitimately cool ... or just rich and spoiled.

• A roller coaster ride attendant at the Shanghai Carnival was killed when he walked on the track and his coat got snagged, he got hit by the roller coaster, and fell off the highest point in the track. Actually, no one knows what the hell happened.
• Chinese beauty must have an oval face, willow-leaf shaped eye-brows and a mouth that curves upwards at the corners.The length of a woman's eyes should be 24 to 28 millimeters, with a distance of 35 millimeters between the two eyes. No, this isn't Shanghaiist's specifications, we're less picky (read: desperate). But this is what Beijing based Mirror newspaper said came from some International Cosmetics and Fashion week. Don't ask us, we just work here. Warning: this is not a joke, though Hitler might it find it funny.
• China has completed the world's highest railroad track, now connecting Golmud in Qinghai province to Lhasa, and is scheduled to go into operation July 2006. It goes through marshes, tundra, and the high plains, through some of the world's most inhospitable environments. They say the workers each carried 5 kg of oxygen on them whenever they worked in areas above 4600 m. OK, that's the basic info, and now we're going to talk shit about this railroad. First off, the article states that Western media have said that this railway could be compared to the Great Wall (被西方舆论称为“堪与长城媲美”). “媲美 （pi mei)" is an interesting use of words, because it implies that two things are of comparable use, goodness, or beauty. Shanghaiist cannot for the life of us figure out how in terms of aesthetic quality, railroad tracks in the tundra could possibly compare with the Great Wall. LeBron James isn't about to take his Nikes and digital camera out to Golmud any time in the near future. Secondly, the Great Wall was built thousands of years ago for the sake of protecting China, whereas this this railroad serves the more mundane purpose of increasing the logistical ease with which China can put down insurrection in Tibet and bring more Han settlers allowing more trade, tourists, etc. to flow from Tibet to Qinghai and beyond. If you don't believe us, take a look at the part where the article says: 寄托西藏人民千年梦想, which means this railroad has somehow fulfilled a thousand year dream of the Tibetan people, the dream that all the unwanted Han Chinese can take the train back to where they belong for greater connection with the motherland. (See also this Guardian story: The railway across the roof of the world.)

Shanghaiist likes writing about movies that elicit strong reactions -- love it or hate it, there's at least something to write about. Not so for current offering from acclaimed Hong Kong action director Tsui Hark, whose latest wuxia (武侠) epic, Seven Swords (七剑), came out in late July. This film doesn't actually suck, but might be compared to lukewarm soup -- served hot it might have been real tasty, served tepid it's not yet cold enough to taste completely lousy.