Shanghai expo 2

Hey The Chinese guy,

I have a question for you!

I visited the Shanghai expo last month! It was impressive in its size and displays. But I got a sense that this was mainly for the Chinese public NOT for foreign tourist because I only saw few of them including myself. If this is the case, why the HUGE Chinese pavilion, I mean that thing covered several blocks. Don't the Chinese public know this already!

Is my view right in that the expo is primarily to impress the Chinese people or maybe the gov. are trying to say something here?

Thanks
Marcus from USA


Dear Marcus

Excuse the lack of lucidity, last night was a night on the town and my hangover is killing me.

You got it in one there, the Chinese expo in Shanghai is merely a dick waving opportunity for the Chinese communist party (CCP). They have not missed a chance at dick waving for a very long time. Though sometimes they go a bit far, like the Song Class Sub appearing in a USN exercise.

Quite frankly it is for the CCP to say how great they are and how wonderful they are. the British government near election time does this all the time. The thing is there are no elections in China . Well strictly this is not true as there are sort of elections right down at the street level who then elect others etc. But the old men who embezzle and drink the blood of the citizens cannot be touched.

But there is a big fear of the old men that there will be a big insurrection, 1989 proved people would pay in blood for chance, change happened (to be rich is Glorious) but not in the way the demonstrators quite wanted. They changed from an nasty state where the old men of the government lived lives of champagne socialism, to a capitalist state where the old men of the government lived lives of champagne socialism....

Oh wait a minute did I just describe the U K?

Thus everyday is potentially (correct me if I'm wrong) 2nd Amendment type election day meaning they have spread propaganda daily as if it is a normal election day about how good their lives have been. Granted the CCP HAS improved the lives of SOME, however the income gap is HUGE. This is just one of the parts of the jigsaw of the state control machine of course.

Recent other propaganda things have been the China space programme and also the Olympics, though admittedly the Olympics were mildly impressive. Wandering around through China even HK they regularly show propaganda alluding to the above. However when you have an endless pool of cheap expendable labour anything is possible. (regarding the Olympics). The CCP needs this propaganda because quite simply support for the CCP is waning.... especially in their core, i.e. the rural communities.

I've mentioned it before but the community bonds which tied the Chinese together are being destroyed and exploited. The young don't really give a damn about Mao's personality cult and are not exactly nationalistic. Kaiwen has an excellent article about China's rising ant colonies I archived somewhere. That the Chinese children are being screwed over too, they too were tricked into the MYTH education = good career. This hasn't been true in the Westernised nations for a good 10 maybe 15 years.

It's a bit like the book 1984, but just not so sinister... if anybody has read it Winston Smith works for the ministry of truth, he edits old newspaper articles to make it seem as if Big brother was right all along and for revisionista history purposes. Or he will edit it such that Big Brother underestimates the industriousness of the people in Oceania.

Some might say it mirrors the book closely what happens in China with the simplification of the language, though personally I don't think it is as sinister as normal people find Chinese bloody difficult to read and write therefore a simplification which is run in parallel with the old style language as well as wide spread English teaching isn't to oppress ideas. Guns are more useful for these purposes.

Anyway back on topic, it's more of a buy British Campaign or Buy American Campaign. If you're old enough you'll probably remember such things, when the Japanese products were arriving on our shores our own companies were caught with their pants down. China gives limited space to others to make itself look bigger... AND so less people can see other countries technical wizardry.

The Toyota violin playing robots for instance are great. And thus there are stunningly big queues to see things which we consider to me mundane and completely ordinary in our home countries. But really this I suppose is because there are plenty of poor people who haven't travelled and thus haven't seen tech of the rest of the world and want to have a glance. Which is funny in a way because it actually lessens the propaganda value of the Chinese pavillion* as it shows others are better in some ways than the CCP.

Though I suppose this demonstrates less of a strangle hold unlike the NK propaganda.

*A funny story was done by Kawasaki once in the 1980s, they released the new an improved GPZ1100 or something. They also bought along their older GPZ900 so journalists could try back to back how improved the bike was compared to the old model... Journalists had rides and most of them prefered the older bike to the new one and thus the new bike was canned and the older bike improved and continued for several years instead.

Stares

Hello Chinese fellow,

It has been a very long time since I visited in China, over ten years. I enjoyed my trip very much. I stayed in Shanghai mostly with entry and customs in Beijing. I noticed something, the staring. I have been to other Asian countries as well as many countries around the world and no where were people less abashed about openly string at me. I am pretty stereotypically Scandinavian in my looks so I can understand some looking but people on the street just seemed to stare at me, straight in the face and eyes without looking away. Made me kind of feel very uncomfortable and kind of like a freak. Is this a common reaction and why did I seem to encounter so much more of it in China than other countries?

Also in contrast the customs/immigration officials did not look at my face at all. They just looked at my passport and visa and did not look up once even to match that I was even the same race as my picture. I have been enjoying reading some of the posts in your blog, I have not gotten too far yet but subscribed for future reading.

--Skeptigirl


Dear Skepticgirl

You know your email name is almost identical to a Polish poster recently?

Anyway in Europe/Western cultures your mother always taught you never to stare it's rude, in China as recently as 20 years ago staring was perfectly acceptable and some people due to the unequal changing and shaping of society is still is acceptable. The ten years ago you talk about is when foreigners were REALLY rare in China. I still remember the mid 1990s when Beijing was chocka with bicycles the bicycle footbridges still exist today but are no longer used as the car and moped have taken over. I guess you found it more prevalent in China because foreigners in China are still fairly rare China sees them in movies and has the odd English teacher but there are few large groupings of foreigners in China.

In the UK you have China town, India town, Korea town... areas like South London where the population is predominantly black. In China it is hegemonic and everywhere you look Han Chinese.

If you find it annoys you then simply stare back 9/10 time times they will look away and blush.

Don't worry though TCG gets stared at in China all the time for the most mundane things, at the end of my 2009 big motorbike ride (see link at the top of the page) I ended up in Beijing. I wore army boots because they could be ridden and walked in easily. I could feel people staring at me... Though in truth a combination of a westernised diet and environment has caused me to look different from other Chinese people. Stand me next to my relatives who stayed in China and HK and it is easy to spot me apart (I actually find it hard to blend in whilst in China. My sister has identical experiences. So don't worry about it.


The looks you will receive are usually out of curiosity especially if you are in a city where few foreigners live. When I travelled to Urumqi China (essentially the middle of nowhere) I was stared at a lot as I simply did not blend in. For most people in China their lives are not great. They work long hours in factories or uninteresting jobs which are both dull and repetitive. Your brief appearance may lighten up their day and act as some sort of interest for them to talk about later on and thus they are scanning you.

In fact many of them are having an internal struggle in their heads attempting to muster up the courage to talk to you. I mean there are 10000s of schools of English in China and yet nearly 100% of the people who go to these schools have no opportunity to use what they have learnt.

Granted this is rude to us, but it's pretty normal in China.

So you get stared at, it's just the culture. As stated earlier you can stare back! I do this whenever I get the chance (not often). Usually, the offender starer drops the gaze and turns red. If I'm nasty I will keep looking at them (though this has more than once almost led to violence).

Then smile and walk away or even approach them if you want to have a chat.

Some people may take photos of you too, the thing is they will have double standards! Yank out your camera and take photos of them or photo bomb them and make the photo look bad.

But don't take yourself too seriously in China. Have fun and enjoy the attention. People are just curious. It might get annoying after awhile but hey you're (semi) famous!

Remember as a foreigner you will need to accept that you will be stared at simply for being different. You will usually be taller, fatter, and often paler then most Chinese, and this means that the more of your white skin that you expose, the more staring you will receive. You are expected to abide by a different set of rules simply because you are a foreigner, and you will be treated differently as such even if you act or dress in the same way as the Chinese.

I'd note this will happen less in tourist heavy areas as they are used to what foreigners look like, though this is not always true. As said my motorbike trip 2009 I did look weird. I was heavily emaciated from Russian food and booze and yet I was walking through tourist places like the Forbidden City tourist trap Hutongs etc and would still get looked at.

Regarding the passport thing, they immigration officers simply don't care, and really in getting your visa the embassy should have done its job in checking who you were. Visas in China are a money making scam for the government anyway and 100% of people never dare press the button on many immigration desks asking how my service is today!

Regards


TCG

What is it with hairy moles people in China have?

Dear TCG

Visiting China recently I kept seeing old men with moles on their faces and invariably long thing wiriny hair growing out of them which was longer than the hair on their heads... what gives?

Daisy G

Dear Daisy

Moles in Chinese society are something to do with luck, it is much like the superstition of Cantonese people around Chinese New year, the lack of 4th floors or any other floor with a number 4 in it. Moles too can determine, luck and life. Thus if you have an unlucky mole on your face you get it removed. If you have a lucky one then you don't remove it simple as, and you especially leave it alone.

Have a look at the list above and compare it to this list

1. Cannot get along with parents, boss, or the elderly. Try to keep a respectful distance with them.

2. Same to 1. No respect to parents, boss, or the elderly. Try to keep a respectful distance with them.

3. Same to 1. Try to keep a respectful distance with them.

4. Lack of planning, and have unstable life.

5. (above the eyebrow) – May encounter misfortune brought on by family or friends, or may have bad luck with money.

6. (in the eyebrow) – Very smart, creative or artistic. Will have wealth and fame, and have good luck with money.

7. (on the eyelid) – Tend to have conflicts with family, and have problem keeping money.

8. Have financial hardship. Need to prevent unwanted sexual advances.

9. Need to prevent unwanted sexual advances, and prevent accidents.

10. Unlikely to have or to be with children or grandchildren.

11. Tend to be troubled by long term or severe illness.

12. Tend to have problems related to diet or food.

13. Always worry and work hard for children, but may not be able to enjoy a good relationship with them.

14. Have high risk of food poisoning or allergy.

15. Do not reside at one place for long, move around a lot or have unstable environment.

16. Need to prevent unwanted sexual advances, and prevent food poisoning or diet problems.

17. Be cautious with your actions to prevent loosing good reputation.

18. Be mindful of your well being when traveling abroad.

19. Need to prevent unwanted sexual advances.

20. Life may be short, so live it to the fullest. Avoid any criminal acts.

21. Tend to have foot problems. Need to prevent water-related accidents.

22. Need to prevent accidents while traveling.

23. Prominent and rich.

This does not apply only to the face as it also applies to the body too.

• A mole in red color on the chest is a good mole. It implies passion, generous, love and good relationship with children.

• A mole on the buttocks hints the person with enthusiasm, vitality, meeting people and money luck.

• A mole on the back indicates a person with outgoing personality with strong communication skill.

• A mole on the lower leg implies working hard, responsible personality for business and family.

• Moles on the palm are all good moles, which shouldn't be removed.

• Moles on the neck around Adam's apple implies the person has hard time to get along with family.

• A mole around navel with red color represents the person is a gourmet. It is also a good sign of fortune and wisdom.

• A mole on the shoulder hints the person needs to work hard for the family and have more argument than people.

Therefore the moles you see on the faces of people are most probably ones for fortune and or good luck. My mum had several removed from my face small ones 7, 17 and 21 ish type positions on my face. Probably like palmology sort of thing or cranialology etc. But old habits die hard in China.


-Patrick

When the Chinese discovered America

You may have learned in elementary school that Christopher Columbus discovered America.

LIES!!!

Four things:

1. He landed in Cuba or the Bahamas, not the modern day US
2. The Native Americans were already there
3. He didn’t discover America, he brought it to Europe’s attention. Historian’s agree that Leif Ericson and his viking pillagers landed in Newfoundland in 1000 AD. 500 years before Columbus.
4. All of that is irrelevant, as it may have been China to first see the shores of America

In 499 AD, a Buddhist missionary by the name of Hui Shen sought the land of Fusang. In Chinese mythology, Fusang is a divine tree on the eastern horizon where the sun rises. At this tree is supposedly the elixir of life.

Hui wanted to bring new converts into Buddhism in this land, so he sailed off on a journey east to find it. He sailed over 20,000 li before reaching land. Li is an imperial Chinese form of measurement equal to about 415 metres. Therefore, 20,000 li is equal to approximately 8,316 km. The distance between China and America is more or less 8,600 km, depending where he left and how on course he was. This would plant Hui in the pacific northwest of the modern US. His descriptions of the land were recorded in the Book of Liang, and only provides more evidence that were he landed was indeed America:

"Fusang (land of Jade Mulberry trees) is 20,000 li to the East of the country of Dàhàn (lit. 'Great Han'), and located to the east of China."

"On that land, there are many Fusang plants (perhaps red mulberry, native to North America) that produce oval-shaped leaves similar to paulownia and edible purplish-red fruits like pears. The place was rich in copper and traces of gold and silver but no iron. The native tribes in Fusang were civilized, living in well-organized communities. They produced paper from the bark of the Fusang plants for writing and produced cloth from the fibers of the bark, which they used for robes or wadding. Their houses or cabins were constructed with red mulberry wood. The fruits and young shoots of the plants were one of their food sources. They raised deer for meat and milk, just as the Chinese raised cattle at home, and produced cheese with deer milk. They traveled on horseback and transported their goods with carts or sledges pulled by horses, buffalo, or deer."

He describes the government of the lands peoples:

"An emperor, or a main chief, with the help of several officials, governed the country. The majority of people were law-abiding citizens. The country had no army or military defense but two jails, one in north and the other in south of the country. Those who had committed serious crimes were sent to the north and they stayed there for their entire lives. These inmates, however, could get married. If they got married and produced children, their sons became slaves and daughters remained as maids"

Their society:

"The marriage arrangement was relatively simple. If a boy wanted to marry a girl, he had to build a cabin next to the home of the girl and stay there for a year. If the girl liked him they would get married; otherwise he would be asked to go away…when a person died in the community his body would be cremated. The mourning period varied from seven days for the death of a parent to five days for a grandparent and three days for a brother or sister. During their mourning period they were not supposed to consume food, only water. They had no religion."

These descriptions seem to accurately portray Native American’s and the geography of North America. The story does have flaws though. Hui describes them as traveling on horseback, despite the fact horses are not native to the America’s and were not brought over until the European’s arrived. Also, it seems far fetched that one man could survive a sea voyage that long and far. Still, this is far more believable than other Chinese exploration theories.

According to the book, 1421: The Year China Discovered the World by Gavin Menzies, Chinese explorer Zheng He discovered America on one of his famous voyages. He also claims Zheng He found Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica and the Northeast Passage, but most records of these voyages were lost. Menzies wrote a second book, 1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance claiming Chinese influences started the renaissance.

Menzies bases these theories mostly on an 18^th century map that is thought to be a copy of an earlier map from 1418. This map clearly shows the America’s and is labeled as such.

If the Chinese did discover America, weather it be Zheng He or Hui Shen, the world today may be a different place if they decided to stay.

Oil spill Dailan

Meh....

Is HK safe 2

E gads...

You know as time goes on by it feels more and more like HK is becoming like England.... this is bad...

In the UK when you say did you hear about that murder? People will ask which one? Change murder with rape/stabbing/mugging and you get the picture. (TCG has been mugged several times on public transport and therefore never uses it anymore)

The standard says:

A middle-aged mainland woman has been arrested after allegedly stabbing a young MTR woman passenger in the abdomen with a 15-centimeter knife.

The suspect, in her forties, was traveling in the same car as the 23-year-old woman on a train heading towards Lai King on the Tung Chung line at 3.30pm yesterday.

Witnesses said the young woman boarded the train at Nam Cheong, one stop before Lai King.

According to the witnesses, the suspect approached the woman, took out a knife and stabbed her in the stomach without any warning.

The victim screamed and tried to run away from the suspect, who chased her.

More than 10 other passengers managed to subdue the suspect while another passenger took the knife from her.

Passengers then used the train's emergency intercom to notify the driver, who called the MTR control center.

Station staff were on hand when the train arrived at the Lai King station platform.

Many passengers left the train in panic while an off-duty police officer boarded and took the suspect into custody.

MTR station staff called an ambulance, which took the victim, who remained conscious, to Princess Margaret Hospital. Her condition was unknown at press time.

The suspect, a two-way permit holder, sustained minor injuries to her left hand. She was treated by ambulance officers and taken to Princess Margaret Hospital for observation.

Officers said the suspect was arrested for being in possession of an offensive weapon.

MTR public relations manager Jason Chan Lap-yan said the police had sent officers to help with security at the station.

Investigators are still trying to establish a motive for the attack and said they have not been able to confirm any relationship between the women.

Ok so it's going to be easy to blame it on mainlanders etc, but I won't as I have maintained it before Hong Kong is a hot, humid stressful as fuck place to live and work, and people by and large come here to make some money and leave. But seriously if you can't take the heat then get out of the kitchen!

Chinese squatters

Dear TCG

On my travells through China I have noticed that Chinese people have a remarkable ability to squat. Why is this? I'm born Chinese yet can't squat like they do.

Joseph.

Dear Joseph

Squatting like any other activity is one that increases with practice, since they have been doing it for decades and use toilets in a similar manner they have become very adept at squatting. In fact if you watch the film Coliseum / Way of the Dragon by Bruce Lee (where Bruce kills Chuck Norris) near the start when he gets off the plane and into a cafe (where he orders 10 bowls of soup) even Bruce Lee squat on the sit down toilet. I can't squat flat footed and have to hold on to something.

But really as said it is to do with cleanliness I think anyway, as when you squat on a toilet or squat instead of sit on the ground nothing bar the bottom of your shoes touches the ground. Added to the fact that the CCP doesn't exactly build many benches people squat around places when waiting.


Patrick

Gems of Chinatown: Pearl River Market

Its not often I have the chance to go into Manhattan. But when I do I always make sure to stop by Chinatown. One of my favorite places to visit is the Pearl River Market.

Their story, from their website:

Everything from lanterns to clothing to furniture to lighting to musical instruments to wedding dresses, you can find all of it in this tiny, two story department store in the middle of the Big Apple. All of what they sell is handmade and authentic, the kind of goods China was known for prior to the Opium Wars, not the Chromium tainted plastic crap we know them for today.

Needless to say, I have bought many things there. Even if you don’t intend to buy anything, its a wonderful place to look around.

The Store is located at:

477 Broadway, New York, NY

If you don’t live in the New York metro area, you can shop online and they will ship anywhere in the world.

Website: pearlriver.com

Optimus Prime in Beijing

Beats the usual Mao statute doesn't it?

DEFCON!

Nice one KaiWen

As a follower, here is one of my favorite games (I always play as Europe though)

For balance here is China getting owned



Green represents deadly fallout

It has been... A Red Dawn

Many have heard of the infamous 1984 movie “Red Dawn”, were the Soviet Union and Allies in Latin America launch a full scale invasion of the United States and (presumably) start World War III. While a group of students from a small town in Washington form a guerilla army resistance group called the “Wolverines” and fight back. Well, Hollywood is at it again. And its not the Soviets this time.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, that symbol is made of the Chinese characters for 8 (八) and 1 (一). It is the seal of the People’s Liberation Army. The numbers 8 and 1 signify the month and day the Chinese communist militia was organized; August 1^st, 1927.

This remake of Red Dawn replaces the Soviets with Communist China. There is a huge amount of irony in this because in the original Red Dawn, the Chinese were on our side because the Soviets were invading them as well.

The Film is set to hit theaters November 24. There have been rumors that the film may be delayed due MGM’s short of funds, however it is still officially set for a November release.

There is no official trailer yet, but there is an unofficial news and information site for the movie here.

I do not know what to say about this film. On one hand I feel it will be downright epic, on the other hand I feel that this may just be capitalizing off of the average Westerners ignorance and uncertainty of China’s growing military and economic power.

China is obviously butthurt over this movie. Many of its state run newspapers have bashed the movie saying it portrays China negatively. There is no doubt it will be banned there.

But this film raises a much larger question; Would the US and China ever go to war?

In the near future? Highly unlikely.

Way down the road? Unless the regime collapses some other way, I see it as inevitable.

China and the US have major unresolved disputes that are not frequently discussed. Such as the manipulation of currency, human rights, Taiwan, Tibet, secret military spending, exploitation of third world countries, cyber terrorism, North Korea, the list is huge. But as in any situation were those on top (The US) become threatened by a rising underdog (China), there is eventually going to be conflict.

Its just like Lieutenant Tanner said;

“The two toughest kids on the block, I guess...Sooner or later they gonna fight.”

Now before you go start investing in that bomb shelter, Id like to reiterate that a war of that scale is incredibly unlikely during our lifetime. If the war happened tomorrow, the US would certainly win, especially with back up from NATO and our 10,000 nuclear warheads FUCK YEAH!

Even if China wanted to invade, they wouldn’t even be able to get here, as they have no blue water navy. However, they do have over 300 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles and nuclear warheads capable of destroying any city in the western world, as per this map.

The relationship between the United States and China will decide the course of the 21^st century. Just as our relationship with the Soviet Union defined the 20^th century. There will be no war in the near future. But if China continues its aggressive expansion on the global stage and continues to build up its military, there is a chance that our grandchildren’s neighborhood may look something like this.

One of those weird days

(originally written on Tuesday 13/07/2010)

Oh man it's 11.15pm and I've just spent the last 16 hours working. I can't see straight until I saw this post, TCG's post has been getting weirder and weirder for a while. I read your questions but then tap a few sentences and put them aside for a few days until I get some more time. I promise to answer some of your questions when the busy period wears off significantly. Of course I'm not as discriminating as our Korean chum. I post most things on the blog because I can. He obviously doesn't.

But this one stood out a mile off, just to demonstrate the weirdness of my post:

Dear TCG

I really love your blog man [snip] I'm having trouble with my Chinese girlfriend. She's not acting like I was told she would when she arrived[Snip]

TCG's spider sense detects trouble....wait a sec as I''d been told? What the fuck do you think she is a fucking machine? Erm let me re-phrase that, as you'll probably take it the wrong way. What do you think she is a bloody machine? This girl friend if she is a real girl friend is a human you don't own her indenture ended when Abe Lincoln's side won a certain war.

Arrived? this sounds even dodger

I love Xiao alot [sic] and she loves me alot[sic] too, I'm quite happy with her but it's getting youknow boring? [snip]

Ok love is all fine and dancy, but happy with her? Sounds rather objectified, TCG is happy with his motorbike (though it does use a lot of fuel)

How can I get my girlfriend from to take it in the ass, I just don't know to get her to do it I asked her and she told me I was a freak. [snip]

Oh dear....
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Erm James? Do I look like a dating agony aunt?/ Uncle And seriously do you think I am an appropriate person to ask to get your girl friend to participate in your desires? No seriously does this thought process really go through your head?

"Ah yes I want to fuck my gf in the ass lets ask a random stranger who happens to be the same (questionable) race as my gf. A strange dude sat 1000 miles away in a rainy city ought to have the answers."

Seriously, well since you asked you must have seriously thought this then. Unfortunately it got weirder still

I've seen it in Jap porn all the time the girls seem to love it.[snip]

Ok this went from weird and nuts to downright creepy

Aside from the term Jap being somewhat offensive, are you serious? No really you're not just my mate fucking with me are you? Are you Stewie? The guy I met on the train from Beijing? No really in my tired state what the fuck? Do you seriously think porn is real? Have you considered the possibility that porn is not real and they are highly paid actors?

I was told Beijing girls love it [Snip]

Oh dear, so geographical location and place of birth defines a person's sexual preferences does it? Ok granted Essex girls are easy but...... no too weird

James C

Even though TCG is not an agony aunt, such things are inappropriate to ask perhaps you should talk to your girlfriend about it.... I mean come on you think TCG has some magic bullet which will resolve your problem?

Evil people in Chinese dramas

I get asked this question now and again.... (note not to be taken too seriously)

And i'm going to kill the question by answering you all...

Has anybody read the book 1984 by Orwell? It's a good book. Julia works in the stories department where they use wheels which are turned round to make plots and characters for stories which are fed to the masses.... bit like Eastenders and Coronation street to be honest

Or those funky star trek plot generators here here and here

Chinese TV stations are the same, especially TVB, who are fucking cunts who I have beef with because they called me a fucking cunt...though it came out wrong and instead was you farking coont!

The premise of most Chinese dramas revolves around these central themes:


Revenge / Jealousy

Yup that's it.... revenge is easy to spot from badly dubbed 1970s Kung fu (wushu) movies



Blah blah you killed my [insert family member here] [friend] You must will now die!

I mean pretty much all of Chow Yun Fat's movies are modern variations of revenge but with guns.



7 Swords for instance

Is also about revenge



Crouching tiger hidden dragon



Same same about revenge, note mainland Chinese people think Zhiyang Zhi is ugly. But hey I'd tap dat!

Let me think of some big films off my head...

Jet Li's Hero- revenge
Fearless - revenge

So you got that back there?


Ok then you get Jealousy which covers everything else in the Chinese media universe.

You get period costume dramas from TVB all the time too, where people dress up and pretend to be in the royal court. Everything here is about jealousy..... usually the evil witch queen who is new or was previously of a high position wants her son to become emperor which is why she is so evil and nasty. This encompasses nearly the entire genre.



無頭東宮 is one of my favorites, or used to be namely because I watched it as a young man and wanted to tap Anne Heung badly...TCG has something about Miss Hong Kong winners and would tap a good 80% of them. Or bang them like a barn door in a gale.

(theme music only)


Now you get complicated ones, a really complicated script will combine BOTH jealousy AND revenge. A more complicated film may have revenge and jealousy which was what 無頭東宮 (Love is beautiful) is all about.

Therefore if you watch a Chinese film and don't quite understand, if you narrow the concepts down to either Jealousy or revenge you'll see how thin the plot is.

For instance 少年天子, somebody asked me the other day why is the ex-empresses such a fucking psycho bitch? Jealousy..... and it all makes sense...

Kind of....

Shit tourism (HK)

Looks bad, but it isn't...

So ok this tour guide is pretty shit, but this experience is hardly new.....she must owe money or something. And thus the anger and aggression directed at the tourists.... bet she's out of a job already because of this and wasn't too savvy about it.

Threats of being locked out etc are being made on the video.

However this is hardly a new thing, TCG has been on tours in China a few times and the guides will regularly take you shopping. I buy nothing and often get an ear full or used to before I went indie travelling (and WITHOUT a lonely planet guide book I might add). I remember specifically a tea place outside Hangzhao where the woman threatened violence against us if we did not buy more tea. A fellow tourist told her to go fuck herself... she was very angry but couldn't do anything.

If you ever go to Beijing or China you can buy a tour and partake in it.....

Shady places will just sell one suspiciously cheap tour... Better places like the 365Inn in Qianmen will advertise 2 kinds of tour. A cheap one with 'shopping time' and a shitty one where 1/3 of your time is spent being taken to specialist build out of town shopping centres where the tour guides earn a commission. They will also sell a more expensive non shopping tour too where you really do go on a proper tour...

Such things exist everywhere, Mongolia for instance last year I kept riding even when riding on motorbike cross country rather large shopping complexes selling tourist tat (for Mongolia I mean). The tour guides always get commission. Not kickbacks commission...

And it has been like this since forever since tour guides make bog all.

So why all the fuss?

Brian Thacker wrote a book about it called Rule number 5 no sex on the bus! Where he describes in depth about how he and other tour guides would receive commission for whatever tourist bought at specially selected stores.

So this is not really the issue, nor are such commissions illegal either?

The kicker here is that to get a tourist visa in to Hong Kong, you gotta be pretty wealthy Chinese person, and thus the tourists who visited HK here are probably a hell of a lot wealthier than a lot of people in HK (25% of people live just above the poverty line in HK according to SOCO of Hong Kong).

And fuck man she's bollocked the whole place up as Hong Kong really has little going for it other than tourism these days (which is why tourists can be so evil in HK and have the cops turn a blind eye against it). I mean HK's factories and status as gateway to China is gone, finance is fried too!

So what do we have? Tourists, what do we have without tourists? Not much, I mean the place can't even supply itself with water and food anymore.....

I hope this woman learns a lesson in humility.


Oh and note the irony too! Most of the shit the Chinese tourists refused to buy are probably made in China anyway... why pay more when you can get it for less back home... well ok sometimes I do.... I mean I was about to travel Siberia and paid through the nose for a petrol stove. But that was life vs death.


Finally, stop going by price alone! UK visitors included! If something looks suspiciously cheap there is often a reason for it....

I'm pretty sure those Korean noodles that cost 200Krw took years off my life! Though then again I've had to live off 6p Asda Ramen, though I found I can no longer eat that shit anymore as my body immediately throws it back up.

Two new authors

I finally got round to granting author access to Patrick Woo, one of my friends who flits between Beijing and Macau and always owes me beer.

Also Kevin B who is a long time reader and Sinophile who generally provides me with interesting links now and again I'm usually far too busy to actually post or too apathetic to do stuff with.


Hopefully this may alter the Marie Celeste type month July has been....

Or perhaps it might be a jumping the shark moment



But who knows?


Mwahhahhahahaaaa, fresh victims for my ever growing army of the undead

That's all folks

No the blog isn't going away as said I'm busy and set to get busier over the next few days so questions will be answered when I can have a moment and not catching up with my Zzzz's. Though I have had some really weird post lately which may be an exception to this busy state. As quite simply it was comedy gold and is TCG after too much drink stimulant vs a weirdo.

Urhu

Dear TCG,

Im considering learning how to play the Erhu (Chinese Violin). Do you know any way I could learn some simple songs?


Kevin B


Dear Kevin

Do you want a job as an editorial here, the pay is shit however, but you're more Sinophile than I am...

Anyway an Erhu is:




Again it's one of those things, you need to practice lots probably and therefore as a cheapish intruduction you might want to buy yourself a DVD. Maybe even have a play with one before you part with serious money to buy one. I'm sure Yesasia.com has some here and there. But it is like with everybody learning to play is a very personal thing. My mates all picked up guitar via being self taught. I had to have somebody teach me to play guitar. While I self taught to ride a bike fast by following faster riders and pushing myself (and putting the bike in a hedge now and again) While others need serious tuition to be able to learn to do this.

3rd Generation

Dear TCG

I'm curious, do overseas Chinese (I'm 3rd generation Chinese American) get the same preferential treatments like other foreigners (caucasion) do? For example, Chinese women going for foreigners because money and leaving China for a better pasture etc.

Frog Splash.


Dear Frog.

What do you mean by preferential treatment? I'm uncertain. Are you saying because you have an American passport you are more desirable to women in China?

I would say possibly however because you look the same. TCG curiously if stood in a line of Chinese people even though I look similar everybody can see that I don't really belong curious eh? The women won't go looking for you as the lets say more motivated women will when looking for Caucasians who are obviously not Chinese. Therefore even though you may be more desirable it doesn't mean you will be spotted. What is hidden cannot be seen.

I would note the architype of submissive femenine women is about as accurate as your piss after 10 pints of Carlsberg special brew. I won't name names though!

Enough fucking around though!

My own personal experience has been effectively YES as long as they know you are not a local... as said in my recent past I have been treated like a piece of meat even by HK women from not fantastically wealthy backgrounds as a good catch or somebody to bring them better opportunities than they would have in HK/China.

OTOH As I said in another post earlier on, you may well suffer racism comments such as banana I'm sure you've heard before. But the racist abuse from Chinese everywhere against other Chinese is.....shall we say several magnitudes harsher.

However this desirability comes with a terrible price.... I ranted a lot and got bored but suffice to say: Deng Xiao Ping's famous quote

"no matter if a cat is black or white as long as it catches mice. "

Is a complete and utter lie.