The Right Vote

That's one way to ensure a favorable ballot.

According to China Daily, Putian, a city in Fujian province, launched an online opinion poll asking netizens whether they were satisfied with government departments. It sounds like a great way for the government to see which departments need improvement. But, like most governments in the world, they weren't really interested in listening.

Netizens who voted "dissatisfied" for the majority of the 79 departments listed were met with a notice from the website stating that their vote "does not meet the requirement."

The Putian vote was definitely better than a previous online poll for a city in Jilin province that only provided the choices of "satisfied" and "very satisfied."

The lesson here is, if you're dissatisfied with the government, don't vote.

Dangerous Dates, continued

In response to a couple comments on the previous post about the sort-of-secret relationship Jia and I had during my first year in Shenzhen, I've decided to add to the story.

I spent most of the first summer living in the school apartment, which was also the storage space for the few returning teachers. All the other apartments were filled for a month with visiting Americans who were working at the summer camp in the unbearable Shenzhen summer. Jia worked six days a week, often until after 8pm, which meant I didn't see much of her. I spent plenty of time sitting in my air conditioned room, having a few beers in an air conditioned restaurant, or wandering through air conditioned shopping centers. I also continued studying Chinese in preparation for my parents' visit in August.

Part of my summer plan was to introduce my parents to Jia. Since Jia and her mom wanted to spend their brief summer holiday in Xinjiang, I planned for a few days in Urumqi. The other foreign teachers asked if I was going to meet Jia on my vacation since they all knew she was from Xinjiang. I figured there was no harm in admitting that we were at least friends (sooner or later they'd find out about our relationship).

As some of the teachers were leaving Shenzhen after their year at the school, we celebrated their departure. A few of the more gossipy foreigners loved to discuss our co-workers' love lives--and, of course, it came to me. Seeing as they were leaving, it was safe to let them in on my little secret. They weren't surprised--and one of them was fairly certain there was something going on between Jia and me because she kept running into us at odd times.

By the time the new term started, Jia agreed that it was safe to tell the foreign teachers about our relationship as long as they knew it couldn't get back to the Chinese supervisors. There were also two Chinese co-workers who were kept our relationship secret from the rest of the staff.

Dangerous Dates

I recently came across a few blog posts about dating in China--in particular, one at ShanghaiShiok caught my attention. And I realized I never wrote about my experience of dating Jia (though I use the term "date" loosely).

Jia and I began our relationship as co-workers and friends. She took it upon herself to plan a few weekend excursions around Shenzhen with Winnipeg and me. Of course, office gossip caught up with our friendly relationship--oddly enough, I wasn't the foreigner mentioned in the gossip.

By the time our relationship turned romantic (about a month after my arrival in China), we decided to keep things quiet. It sounded like a good idea, as I didn't know where it might lead. A month later it was apparent that we made the right decision to keep it quiet--Jia's boss warned her about hanging around foreigners. In a staff meeting for our Chinese colleagues, the boss made some veiled threats of termination if the Chinese staff spent time with the foreign staff outside school-approved activities. Not wanting to end our relationship, Jia and I kept it a secret.

We casually met at the bus stop, avoiding anyone we might know, and pretended that it was a coincidence that we were taking the same bus to other parts of Shenzhen. Somehow, we turned these chance meetings into dates, even though I had to fight with Jia to pay the bill at restaurants. She always found a way of either paying for part of a meal or paying for something else to even things out between us.

The most difficult part of our quiet relationship was explaining my travels. I took some impressive trips that first year, and had to claim that I took them alone (as well as hiding photos with Jia while using the school computers to email home).

We maintained our secret for the first seven months, though a few of the foreign staff guessed there was something going on (in particular, the foreign couple we kept running into late at night, which forced me to make up some lame excuses). Even after the summer, our relationship was kept quiet from the Chinese staff--even the other foreign teachers knew not to mention it.

My Chinese Wedding

A few days after Jia and I obtained our Chinese marriage certificate, we celebrated our wedding in Urumqi with family and friends (mostly hers).

Before the celebration, we had a few more things that needed to be prepared. Jia had already booked the hotel--the Yindu Hotel, which was one of the nicest hotels in the city. To save some money, she contacted a friend who worked at another hotel to supply us with soda, wine, and baijiu (he agreed to buy back any unopened bottles). After picking up the drinks, we went in search of firecrackers--we had to set off a long line of them before we entered the hotel for the reception--and purchased a roll of 1500. We also had to purchase cigarettes to be places on each table--I didn't want to buy them, but I was told that guests would be very disappointed if we didn't have them (fortunately, most of Jia's friends were kind enough to smoke outside).

Jia stayed with her aunt and uncle who lived just down the street from our hotel, so it was easy for me to pick her up. Because my Chinese wasn't too good, I didn't have to play all the painful games that grooms must endure on their wedding day. Traditions include refusing to open the door until the groom answers questions and slips hongbao under the door, hiding the bride's shoes, and other obstruction tactics courtesy of the bride and groom's friends. The worst test I had to endure was carrying my bride down four flights of steps to the car (why couldn't they have lived in a building with an elevator?).

The firecrackers were lit as our car arrived at the Yindu Hotel. We stood at the entrance, waiting to greet our guests as they arrived over the course of an hour. We got to see how other people in Urumqi celebrate their wedding as another couple hosted a ceremony next to us. We had a bit of a laugh as we saw the bride in her Western-style white wedding gown next to the groom who wore dress slacks and short-sleeve shirt and tie. I was tempted to offer my services as a stand in with a tuxedo--they could later edit the photo with his head.

Before I arrived in Xinjiang, Jia also hired a photographer and MC for the day. I was a little confused about the MC, but Jia explained that he was just there to host the reception and provide a little humorous fun. To prepare me, she told me what questions the MC would ask so I could prepare my answers. Unfortunately, he spoke too quickly and didn't go in the order I was told--Jia had to translate a lot for me. He asked me questions like "How tall is your bride?" and "What size shoe does she wear?" The MC also came with a local musician from the university--she played a few instruments and was quite impressive.

After being roasted on stage and exchanging rings, dinner was served. Jia and I didn't get to enjoy dinner as we made our rounds and toasted our guests with wine and baijiu. My brother was disappointed as he thought he'd have to drink for me, which is the custom for the best man. After we toasted everyone, my brother made his rounds and tried to toast Jia's friends who became scared by the foreigner who wanted to drink baijiu.

I finally got to shovel some food into my mouth after two dozen drinks. I wish I could've eaten earlier because the food was excellent (or so I was told).

It was still early when the celebration ended. We decided to continue the party elsewhere after changing at the hotel. We rented a huge room at the local KTV--it had a projection screen and foosball table. We enjoyed more drinks and a buffet for a few more hours with about half the guests.

A Wedding Story

Jia returned from her business trip to China, and it was just in time as we celebrate our anniversary in a couple days (the Chinese wedding anniversary). And I realized I never wrote anything about our weddings (Chinese or American--yeah, we had two).

The summer before I started working at the graduate school, Jia and I planned our wedding--actually, she did most of the planning as I had no idea what needed to be done in China, nor could I communicate effectively in Chinese to know how to plan a wedding. All I had to do was set a date for my family to fly to China and pay for the whole celebration. The date was one of three lucky dates my mother-in-law obtained from a monk at a Buddhist temple.

A month prior, I had to visit the U.S. consulate in Guangzhou to obtain a notarized document stating that I was not currently married to anyone else, which then had to be translated and notarized in Shenzhen by a disgruntled government employee who questioned why he should notarize such a document even though we were paying for the service. After pleading with the notary for almost an hour, he agree to stamp the document so we would stop bothering him.

I met my parents and brother in Beijing and we flew out to Urumqi, as Jia's hometown is a two-hour bus ride from there. Before we could have our wedding reception, we had to visit the government office to obtain our marriage license. We only had four days between the license and the reception, unlike Jia's friends who waited almost a year for their reception. While my family was treated to an extended foot massage, Jia and I took a bicycle taxi across town with her friend (it was her job to take photos).

The government office was not what I expected. The first room had a lot of wedding decorations for sale--this was where we got our forms to fill out and our photos to be included in the marriage license. We then entered a larger room to wait our turn. We were the only couple getting married. The room was split in half by a banister. Jia explained that our side, which had rows of chairs in pairs, was for weddings, and the other side, which had a line or chairs around the perimeter was for divorces. I think the setup would be a great idea in Vegas.

When we were finally called to the desk for our marriage license, the clerk reviewed our documents to ensure everything was in order. She then insisted that we read a statement that claims we are not related--I thought it was funny, but the clerk insisted that I read the Chinese, which Jia had to help with as I only recognized every third character. A simple statement that should have taken two minutes took ten. The clerk disappeared for a few minutes to prepare our marriage license. When she returned, she proclaimed us husband and wife (or so I assumed considering my limited Chinese abilities). The first thing I did was look at our marriage license, which is written in Chinese and Uyghur. The clerk looked amused as Jia and I posed for photos with our marriage license in front of a large government emblem.

That night we celebrated with a banquet with Jia's relatives and friends--it was partly to make up for those who couldn't travel to Urumqi for the reception. We finished off the evening with a night out at Clone City--a large club featuring plenty of shanzhai (counterfeit) alcohol. Jia's friend had a ticket for a free bottle, and I was excited when it arrived at our table as it looked like Jack Daniel's. However, it turned out to be Jack Conte and it smelled like baijiu (my brother and I didn't drink it). They did have real alcohol, which was sold next to the shanzhai bottles (the price difference was a few hundred Yuan for the real thing and 10 Yuan for fakes). We decided to settle for Tsingtao.

Off the Coast

It really isn't surprising to anyone who has lived in China or follows the news of the country. But, this article popped up today about foreign companies leaving the coastal manufacturing areas of China.

The article begins with tales of workers demanding higher wages and better working conditions, such as the Honda plant strike in Foshan. It then goes into the attractiveness of sending some of the manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. or Mexico, or even some other Southeast Asian countries that don't have the manpower or infrastructure of China.

It only glances over the migration of factory jobs to inland cities. These cities are cropping up because of better roads and transportation improvements that make such factories competitive with their coastal counterparts. Inland cities are also more attractive to migrant workers because they might be closer to home and the standard of living is much lower, enabling workers to save more money. These cities are also attractive to smaller businesses and factories because the costs are lower--construction, rent, and wages are significantly lower than in places like Shenzhen and Shanghai. Only some of the rising cost of business in major cities is attributed to the rising exchange rate of the Yuan--the minimum wage increases in the regions plays a more important role.

Around Spring Festival, China Daily ran an article about the lack of returning employees to the major industrial cities of Guangdong Province. The estimated shortage of workers was in the hundreds of thousands. There was speculation then that the employees who didn't plan to return to their jobs were searching for work closer to home. Of course, Spring Festival is also the time of year for job hopping around China, which means most factories were already searching for new employees.

The next phase of the migration of factories is converting the old factory districts. What will become of the enormous factories around coastal cities? Some of these structures were built to accommodate more than 100,000 workers. What can be done with structures than take up so much space? In Shenzhen and Guangzhou, private schools and universities are opening up outside the center of the cities--Shenzhen has three top-tier graduate schools that share a campus in the northern city limits; and Beijing converted its old factories near the airport into the 798 arts district.

A silver lining to the exodus of manufacturing jobs from major cities may be that the heavily inflated real estate market will become more reasonable. Of course, such predictions have been made before and nothing has changed. In the coming year I'm certain there will be more predictions about real estate, the Yuan, foreign business, and overall manufacturing from the "experts" that will be proven wrong, just as they have been in the past.

June 4, 2010

Photo taken August 2006.

Too Many Cars

Shenzhen Daily ran a couple interesting articles about the city's traffic today. The first was about the growing concern about traffic and how residents are overly-optimistic because the traffic is better than in Beijing and Shanghai. I'll admit that Shenzhen's traffic is much lighter than Beijing's, but it's still pretty bad.

The article claims that there are now 1.5 million registered vehicles in Shenzhen--this figure doesn't include the electric bikes, small motorized carts, and cars with fake license plates. The one problem I have with the article is that unlike past articles it doesn't mention anything about the Special Economic Zone and the rest of Shenzhen--usually such articles only focus on the Special Economic Zone (Does anyone know the area of the entire city? Is it more than 2000sq. km.?) Also, the last time I read an article like this it separated the numbers between private vehicles and taxis and buses. From what I remember about a previous article a couple years ago, 1.5 million sounds like the number for private vehicles.

Although the roads will supposedly reach maximum capacity with 2 million cars in 2012, the city is still working to extend the subway system. Unfortunately, as I found out from my students, drivers in Shenzhen are unlikely to forgo driving for the convenience of mass transit (it's all about face).

The other article was about a family suing the city police for negligence that caused the death of two people who were hit by a bus that drove through the highway median to avoid debris on the road. The problem with this accusation is that there are very few traffic cops on highways in China--they mostly stay at check-points along the roads (no speed traps like we have around here). I'm not sure what a reasonable amount of time is to remove a 22-ton piece of steel from the roadway, or if the police are responsible for its removal. 

What Are You Selling?

CNNGo ran a short interview with a fake watch and bag salesman in Shanghai. It's not all that informative or interesting, but it got me thinking of my encounters with these people.

On my first Spring Festival trip with Jia to Shanghai, I got sucked into some very touristy areas that had plenty of shops that I wasn't at all interested in visiting. In Yu Yuan, I was accosted by many people who shouted in my face, "Hello, friend, buy watch bag." The first time I heard this, I had no idea what the salesman said. The second time I wondered, "Why would anyone want a bag for their watch?" I asked Jia about it and she stopped at the next salesman. She explained that they were selling watches and bags, not watch bags.

Fortunately, the hawkers in Yu Yuan were far less annoying and aggressive than their counterparts at the Shenzhen Commercial Mall.

Tides of Change

My parents picked up a copy of National Geographic's Journey Into China, which was published in 1983. I haven't gone through much of the 500-page book, but I immediately flipped to the section on South China to read the writer's impression of the region as well as look at the photos of places I've been. I'm not surprised that two of the most prominent parts of South China are Gulangyu and Xiamian--islands in Guangzhou and Xiamen that are home to colonial-style structures.

On the journey through Guangzhou, the author, David Pearce, mentions that it is the center of a growing import and export industry--at the time they produced bicycles, watches, and radios. He also mentions that Beijing eliminated customs duties to and from Taiwan in 1979. The quote that accompanies this is that "There are no politics in business." Quite a change from what is in the news lately.

I'll have to read through more to see how some of my favorite destinations have changed in 27 years.

You're to Blame

I don't know why I read opinion articles anymore--they just make me want to bang my head against a wall. Political commentaries are the worst with mangled and bastardized "facts" and statistics that suit the particular writer's point of view while ignoring any contradictory argument no matter how well-supported it is.

But the opinion piece I'm referring to today has nothing to do with politics. It's about how Peter Hessler has ruined another foreigner's experience of living in China (yes, there have been others with this complaint). China Daily ran this article yesterday (which was posted elsewhere online a week earlier):

Peter Hessler singlehandedly ruined my life in China.

I've never seen Hessler, author of the bestsellers Oracle Bones and River Town, but I eke out a bitter existence every day in his footsteps.

Sounds rather harsh. Fortunately, the writer added a little bit of what passes for humor in some circles. The real complaint is that all the stories expats love to tell their friends back home have already been told by Hessler in one of his three books. There's nothing left for foreigners in China to do to impress the folks back home. Hessler previously issued an apology for "ruining" the China experience for everyone else.

After reading his books (I'm almost done with Country Driving), I can say that he didn't ruin anything for me as an expat in China or as a writer. I have many stories to tell that Hessler never experienced (or at least didn't write about). With the size of the country and how quickly it changes, there will be plenty of tales for foreigners to regale us with.

I met Peter Hessler at an author event at Asia Society last month and have exchanged e-mails with him (he is a very nice guy). He admits that there are still books to be written about China--but writers have to search a little deeper to find them now.

Openness

I thought I was reading The Onion, but it turned out to be China Daily. Today's headline reads: China says its Web open, welcomes Int'l companies. This is China's response to Google's latest memo about the possibility of exiting its business on the mainland due to censorship and cyber attacks originating in China. This also comes after Zhou Xisheng, deputy chief of Xinhua News Agency, told the world, "Our country's Internet situation is unique. Compared to all kinds of restrictions in foreign countries, China has the most open Internet in the world."

Another article adds to China Daily's: "Web companies must abide by 'propaganda discipline,' the official, Wang Chen, was quoted as saying. 'Companies have to concretely increase the ability of Internet media to guide public opinion in order to uphold Internet safety.'" Interpretation: all Web content must express the Chinese government's pre-approved view of all subjects discussed to further brainwash the masses.

I'm still trying to figure out what China means by "open." With countless Web sites blocked in the country (YouTube, Twitter, imdb, Danwei.org, Facebook, Blogspot, Wordpress, and many more), just how open is that door to China's Internet?

Running Dry

As I browsed some of my photos from China, I stopped on this one of Elephant Hill in Guilin.

On our trip down the Li River to Yangshuo, I remember seeing huge sections of the river dried up--a winter phenomenon that allowed the locals to dig up the rocks for other uses. This surprised me as it was constantly raining during our journey through Guilin and Yangshuo (I don't think we had a single dry day). Recently, the lower water level on the Li River has become more than just an annual phenomenon--there is a serious drought in most of China. While most of the news focuses on the effects of the drought in the northern part of China, Guangxi province has also be affected.

I've seen photos (I'm still searching for them so I can post links) that showed a similar angle of Elephant Hill with significantly lower water levels--the river has nearly disappeared during the drought.

Back to the Future in Chinese Computing

A hundred comedians at a hundred typewriters for a hundred years couldn't come up with a joke like this--and it's a true story.

According to The Telegraph, Microsoft is running into more legal troubles in China. A court ruled in favor of Zhongyi, a Chinese company that created a font for Windows but did not license the font for multiple versions of the operating software. I figure this is retribution for Microsoft's attack on pirated operating systems software about a year ago that outraged many users who knowingly purchased illegal copies of Windows.

The best perspective on the case comes from the Chinese company's lawyer, Ling XinYu: "By winning this case against an internationally well-known company like Microsoft, it shows that China, although still a developing country, is taking positive steps to protect intellectual property rights." You just have to love when lawyers throw in Party propaganda lines that state that a developing country has every right to infringe on intellectual property.

Until Microsoft wins an appeal on the matter, it is only allowed to sell version of Windows 95 in China, which should either cripple China technologically or force the country to run Linux. Or maybe this is Apple's chance to make some headway in the computer market.

China is Listening

The Chinese government wants to make the use of eavesdropping in corruption investigations legal, according to today's China Daily. Now, take a second to think about that sentence again.

You're probably thinking, but China already spies on its citizens, why would they need to make it legal? Law professor Zhu Wenqi says, "The current law does not specify whether it is legal and I think they are illegal measures as they are offences to people's privacy." I'm fairly certain that if the law doesn't specify it, it's legal as far as the Chinese government is concerned. And when was the last time the CCP cared about other people's privacy?

Apparently, the government wants to be able to use a variety of methods to catch corrupt politicians and businesspeople. "In addition to wiretaps and eavesdropping, modern methods such as lie-detector tests, hypnosis, mail checking and satellite locating are also included." Wait a second...since when is hypnosis a modern method of gathering evidence?

The lesson here is, if you're living in China you should watch out for Big Brother Hu listening in on your conversations. I'm sure the CCP enjoyed my mundane weekly conversations with my parents.

Revaluing the Yuan

Since Obama planned his trip to China there has been speculation as to whether or not he'd press China to revalue the Yuan. Rumors of revaluation pop up at least once a year, and occassionally the rumors are true (when I first moved to China at the end of 2005, the exchange rate was a little more than 8 to the dollar; when I left it was about 6.8 to the dollar--I should've saved more money). The value the US would like to see is probably along the lines of the standard of living, which would be around 2-3RMB to the dollar, but that is unlikely to happen for a long time.

Revaluing the Yuan is a touchy subject in China--many view it as pressure from Western powers to slow the Chinese economy or just a plot to destroy the economy (I had more than a few students write essays about this subject with little to no supporting details). Many Americans believe that a stronger Yuan will help the American economy, while many Chinese believe that a stronger Yuan will hurt the Chinese economy.

In the short term, a revalued Yuan won't do much of anything. It will improve the Chinese buying power of non-Chinese products, which are extremely expensive when considering the standard of living in China. But, it will also make Chinese products more expensive abroad, which could lead to people spending less on Chinese-made products. It is not likely to make Chinese products more expensive in China, which is the real fear of the working class there.

The fear that the Chinese government has is that a revalued Yuan will force foreign companies to move to cheaper countries. Some companies have already done so, but it was more about the rise of minimum wage in areas like Shenzhen (minimum wage is 1000RMB per month). Most companies can't move to countries with cheaper labor because those countries don't have the infrastructure or number of laborers that China has. Also, it costs money to build a factory and train new workers. The exodus of manufacturing jobs from China will not happen quickly--it's more likely that it may happen gradually over the next 10 or 20 years. This gives Chinese companies ample time to adapt to the changes.

The greatest fear should come from American businesses. With a stronger Yuan, Chinese businesses will have more money to spend abroad, which they would happily spend on acquiring foreign businesses and product lines (such as Hummer). Acquiring such companies and product lines will improve the image and quality of Chinese products abroad. And, Chinese businesses are not likely to keep manufacturing units in the US, thus costing more jobs in the American economy.

Absurdity of the Job Hunt

I've seen my share of absurd requirements for jobs--five years experience for an entry-level position? But apparently the public security bureau (aka police department) in Fujian province takes the lead in absurdity. According to China Daily, the bureau had to apologize for their attempted hiring practices.

For some reason the bureau had to hire a food washer (I would guess that they have a cafeteria at the station) and posted a job ad. The requirements for this job were that the person must be female, good-looking, at least 1.58 meters tall, and hold a bachelor's degree in Chinese or journalism.

It's difficult to decide what the worst part of those requirements is. It's sexist for them to want a good-looking, tall woman for the position. But the candidates also need a bachelor's degree!? For a job that pays 800RMB per month!?

Then again, it does show how much respect the police have for journalists in China.

Maoist the White House

Since moving back to the US I've been amazed by the commercialization of President Obama--I've seen his face on a lot of cheap products. I guess it's a good marketing ploy in such a poor economy. In some ways it is reminiscent of all the kitschy Mao Zedong memorabilia (or Mao-morabilia) for sale in all the tourist traps in China (I recently read about Mao snowglobes and glow-in-the-dark Mao figures).

Now that America's love affair with President Obama is waning, other countries are still showing their support through new and questionable marketing campaigns featuring the commander-in-chief's image. We've already seen him advertising real estate and the non-copyright-infringing Blockberry in China.

Now, they're even putting his image in place of Chairman Mao. That's right folks, for a limited time you can purchase your own Oba Mao t-shirts in China (original link). Maybe you tell the vendors that he's your president they'll give you the very best international friend price.

Piracy in China?

If you didn't get the sarcasm in the title, you probably work for the media. This isn't the first time I've read an article about China that was old news to anyone who actually knows anything about China. Reuters makes it sound shocking that intellectual property thieves are selling illegal copies of Windows 7 only a week before its release. I've got news for Reuters, bootleggers have been selling illegal copies of Windows 7 for more than a year.

There is some logic in the article from analyst Matthew Cheung: "If you're trying to sell a program that costs 2,000 yuan to a student living on 400 yuan a month, that's simply not going to work out for most consumers." Really? Thank you, captain obvious.

It's not so much the individual users that software companies have a problem with--personal computers are still not as common as they are in the US. The major problem is Internet cafes and businesses that use pirated software--and the people who get the pirated software for these businesses don't usually buy it on the streets.

The media really needs to stop blowing these stories out of proportion. It might help if the people they hired to write these stories knew anything about China.

Some Wedding Traditions

Chinese weddings can be a lot of fun. And some of the traditions seem unbelievably strange to foreigners. And others just should be avoided. (I was fortunate enough to only endure the fun traditions.)

According to a recent online post (in Chinese), a bride went a little too far.

Part of the wedding tradition is that family and friends of the bride are supposed to make it difficult for the groom to pick up the bride and take her to the reception--I've heard of playful beatings, bringing gifts for relatives, hiding the bride's shoes, and other shenanigans. This particular wedding was held up by the bride who would not allow the groom to enter her home until he purchased a new flat-screen TV for their home, which he apparently promised to buy beforehand.

After being held out of the home to take his bride to the wedding, the groom gave up. Not only did he call off the wedding, he went out and found another girl he went to school with and proposed to her. And she accepted.

I guess some people can only push the wedding traditions so far before it all goes horribly wrong. At least the groom found someone new quickly.