New Yorker blogger agrees with Chinese: a walk a day keeps the canary doc away

I've written before here about the habit Chinese men of taking your canaries to the park. Every morning in Zhabei Park, Shanghai, I'd watch more than 30 men sit and smoke cigarettes while their caged canaries enjoyed the fresh air, hanging in cages in the trees. It seems New Yorker cartoonist and writer Donna Barstow likes to do the same.

In a recent post on her blog Why I did it, Barstow mentioned an American Fair post I wrote on Chinese men taking their canaries to the park. Canaries need more Vitamin D (created in the body when exposed to natural sunlight) than many other common birds, like parakeets. Barstow wrote this is the primary reason she takes her canary on outings. Though I think the men in Zhabei Park enjoy these social morning outings just as much if not more than their canaries enjoy the sunlight, I appreciate the mention on Barstow's blog.

China charges into credit cards

Taken from the L..A. Times:

Banks are stepping up their marketing of plastic, but the penalties are harsh on delinquent payers.

By Don Lee, reporting from shanghai
October 22, 2008

Imagine there was a law that said if you missed two credit card payments in a row, you had to pay the full balance immediately, with heavy penalties. And if you didn't, your bank would take out an ad in your local newspaper, calling you a deadbeat. Or worse, thugs in suits might show up at your office, haul you down to the bank and keep you there for hours until you signed a promise to pay.

Welcome to the world of plastic -- Chinese style.

Read more

Bloomberg on China's economic worries

I've been asked to post more on the Chinese economy. But I was at the bottom of my micro economics class, so I'll just refer economic questions to Bloomberg. This is a good summation of China's slowing GDP growth in a nutshell. The big worries are a possible burst in the housing bubble and and a lower than average demand for Chinese-made toys during the Christmas season. TAKE A LOOK HERE

Qingdao is for fishers

I traveled to Qingdao, the home of Tsingtao Beer and the site of the Olympics sailing events, over the Golden Week holiday the first week of October. I'm finally getting around to posting my pictures and have put up a few here, and many more on my shutterfly site at http://americanfair.shutterfly.com/

Qingdao's beaches are known for the small minnow-like fish and quarter-sized crabs that live in the rocks on the shore. Tourists come and rent sieves and sand pales to search through the rocks for these little sea creatures.

But the week's main attraction was the Tsingtao International Beer Fest, which is held every year during Golden Week. Though my American friends and I really brought the international to the International Beer Fest, it was a wonderful experience with Chinese characteristics.

Construction cranes, the national bird of China

A student asked me recently about the word progress. During preparation for the Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam, she came across the word in a writing prompt that asked for the positives and negatives of progress.

"But I don't understand," she said. "If progress means buildings and streets, than when isn't progress good?"

Much has been written in Western media about the rapid infrastructure growth in China, a good deal of it negative. Most notably was the rash of negative coverage when the construction of Olympic buildings displaced nearly 1.5 million Chinese residents, a figure reported in USA Today.

It seems there are three rings of opinions on China's construction. The first, inner most ring is represented by my student's insular, traditional opinion taught to her and promoted by the state. My student's gut reaction was progress means new infrastructure and new infrastructure means increased standard of living.

If you move one ring out to the more inclusive world view of an academic, China's construction is talked about in a tongue in cheek way. A Chinese economics professor at Peking University coined the phrase the national bird of China is the construction crane.

The outer most ring is the world view China's diplomats confront on a daily basis. The international community seems constantly amazed by the breakneck speed of progress in China, taking turns criticizing and acclaiming it.

It's not the opinions I find fascinating, it's differences between them. It's just one issue that shows the stark differences in values, East to West. Take a look at these pictures and if you feel inclined to tell me your opinions on the matter, please do. As always, more photos are posted here.

The Dirty Thirty free-for-all

With doomsday warnings keeping most of the world's shoppers at home, Beijingers nearly stampeded a Diesel jeans store in Shin Kong shopping mall Thursday to get a pair of Diesel's "Dirty Thirty" jeans. The limited release jeans, there are only 30,000 worldwide, were Diesel's "gift" to fans--they were sold for a mere 390 RMB (compared to a normal price tag of 1,000+ RMB). Customers were "screaming, shouting," and punching security officers to snatch the coveted denim, according to the Beijinger expat blog. Read more here. 

Though the "Dirty Thirty" jeans are cheaper than the normally extravagant price tag, they're still out of the price range of most Chinese people. This microcosm of extravagant consumerism is rare, but it does give light to a small cadre of consumers who are unaffected in spite of the global financial crisis. 

Did China buy the American Dream?

When I called for information about Chinese classes, I got offered a job teaching English.

While admiring a friend’s calligraphy scroll in the university foreign affairs office, a school marketing person asked if she could hire me to pose for pictures holding the scroll.

When I was late to my friend’s TV show appearance and got a nosebleed seat with no view, the director asked me to move to the front row so I “could be seen.”

Many things come with difficulty in China, but jobs and networking opportunities aren't among them. Flocks of Americans are traveling to China for jobs, higher than average incomes and a wealth of foreigner-only opportunities. I’m starting to wonder if China bought the American Dream when it bought two-thirds of our bad debt.

Take me for instance: I came to China to travel with an income. I may stay because the income and opportunities are better than I’d get in the states, especially in the current American economy.

And I’m not the only one. 

Tianjin is a mega-city with a scant population of foreigners. Still, there’s an American style coffee shop that plays Janis Joplin and serves Earl Grey tea. The Spot Cafe is owned by Daygan Sobotka, a 30-year-old Virginian who’s lived in China for three years. Sobotka said he came here to learn Chinese, got hired as a Chinese TV actor, and then wanted to own his own business. 

He stays because no where else in the world could he have so many options in so many career fields.

Then there’s Hank, a gruff, former Chicago stock exchange worker from the Southside. He came to China nine years ago on business and “just never went back.”

He now owns Hank's Sports Bar, which serves real cheeseburgers and Italian sausage, packed by Hank himself. On Sunday’s, Hank opens the bar at 8 a.m. for an American all-you-can-eat breakfast and he does city-wide catering on Thanksgiving with real stuffed turkeys.

It’s not the same story for Chinese, as my Chinese friend Sarah reminded me. 

When she graduates, the best she can do with her English degree in China is work in tourism, Sarah said. Pretty Chinese girls with English fluency look great in front of tourists.

I know my weekly job offers exemplify the unequal playing field, but I’m taking advantage of the American Dream in China as long as I can, lest the bubble burst here too.

Avril in China

Avril Lavigne's career may be waning in the States, but support for her music is alive and well, even riotous, in China. The Beijinger Expatriate Blog reported a near stampede Avril's Beijing concert last night, ending her six-show China tour. Read more here.