Marriage

Dear Chinese guy

As a fellow Chinese male but living in Canada how do you get your parents off your back about getting married? Every conversation I have with them and each week I have dinner with them they seem to bring up this topic. Or they will ask me to play sports with them and bring along a single girl.

I'm not really interested in getting married yet.


Raymond.


Dear Raymond..

Quite simply you can't, they will consistently pester you about marriage until the day that you get married. My parents pretty much do the above tactics all the time ALL of the freakin' time.

Its not just men that have this problem my sister has a similar problem but it is more intense as she is older.

They try all sorts of things like reverse psychology, about how having children is going to be good for you about being in the in crowd. I don't care about being in the erm in crowd. Or they will have massive dinners and play with other peoples children and hint (untactful). Wouldn't it be nice to have my own grandchildren to play with....




The Chinese parent (doubly so for tiger parents)

"It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are married."

Apparently Indian people and people from Pakistan have it EVEN worse.



Yeesh.

Over time TCG has become fairly adept at avoiding the marriage question. Note that these tactics may or may NOT work.

Firstly get a beard. There are women who are Lesbians who get male friends to pretend to be their boy friends, thus deflecting suspicion away from their sexuality. There are still people who care about this apparently.... this will placate them a bit.......

Except you will need to keep this charade up, i.e. you will need to bring them to dinner and they will ask intrusive probing questions. This annoys me greatly and my beards seldom last long. You can go halves with a girlie who is also facing similar grillings from her parents too to keep up the charade. I've known Men in Hong Kong to do this with working girls and it costs them massive amounts of money to hire the girl who also tends to blackmail them too.

This also has the nasty side effect of the question of when are you going to get married persisting still. I mean you're together right why don't you seal the deal and get married. Though this is stunningly effective for a while....

Second - Pretend you are gay, Chinese society is more accepting of LBT types. Its the grandchildren they want... bring home the campest and I mean campest person or leather boy home with you.

This may have the side effect of being disowned and or stabbed in the face by your dad, or they may well be extremely naive and not pick up on the hints. I have a who is gay who is a bit camp. Actually calling him a little camp is like saying Hitler was a bit naughty in WWII.

Thirdly - Beard but break up, and have a nasty break up in front of parents, pretend you are heart broken and so devastated you are not ready for another relationship. Anecdotes of how marriages end horrifically badly (i.e. one person being cleaned out by the other) are extremely useful in this regard.

Again stunningly effective for a short amount of time, but after a while. Hey why don't you come out to play badminton with us... at which you go and there happens to be a single girl there who's parents have bought along to try hitch you up....


Fourthly Nuclear weapon time - So you still get pestered all the time right, and you've tried the above and it has ceased to be effective.... this is a red button moment. I.e. it is a highly risky dangerous strategy. I'm sorry if you find this offensive but there is always the X in the top right corner if you do.

As I have written on here before Chinese people can be incredibly racist fact of life. Since our parents were born around the 40s 50s and 60s and some late ones in the 70s. They all have non liberal attitudes, ok that is a generalisation but Chinese can be terrifically racist* (if you are a laowai go outside a major city in China and it can be very overt). Therefore you exploit this to your advantage. For example all of the places my dad worked were always racist. When black people came into eat they had to pay first. I've seen a few bars in Hong Kong of all places where darker skinned people are asked to pay first while everybody else can stick it on a tab. (though I prefer to pay as I drink as I have run up stunningly big bar tabs).

much like this:

White Women's Workout - watch more funny videos

Simply get a non Chinese non white boyfriend/girlfriend and introduce him or her to your parents at dinner. Unless your parents are extremely liberal and open minded their prejudices will often take over. It will be an awkward dinner. At which you announce that you are engaged. Which is like a nuclear strike hitting Beijing, it can go one of two ways. They grumble and disapprove but most definitely will not egg you on to get married. Or like the film Festen (good film) When she brings her Black boyfriend to the party she is taken to one side and they have a talk with her.



When my cousin did this, there was a very awkward silence for a very long time as she did it at a very big gathering. Nasty nasty whispers in Chinese of course (note we in China Chinese whispers are merely called Whispers). And the encouragement to get married all of a sudden completely vanished.

However the I know a nice man/woman you'd like to meet who is better than your current b/g will still occur. As my sister encountered when she was dating an English bloke from London.

Therefore you cannot win ever ever.....

Horror films

Dear Chinese guy

Why are there no good horror films from China or Hong Kong? I can only find zombie films or comedy horror films which aren't scary at all. How come Koreans can make scary films but Chinese people can't?


George K


Dear George.



A bit of background.... a big reason as to why China doesn't make horror as we see it is simply because the censors don't like it. You know the kind of thing. We don't want people to see things which may upset social harmony. Stabby stabby psycho films such as erm..... American Psycho (a master piece the book anyway).

Scream 1 and 2 (less so 3) Saw I,II,III etc or I know what you did last summer, hell even The Fog (the 1980s version not the crappy 2005 remake). People can be very impressionable for example A better tomorrow. When A better tomorrow came out (not a horror film) loads of people copied Chow Yun Fat's character dress minus the guns of course.

China being China didn't give much credit to the people. You know the kind whereby newspapers and headless Chicken types blame movies for making people violent. Thus China's censors tended to not allow such things and or films of the super natural. It was something like 1979 when Deng Xiao Ping talked about removing the shackles from writers and artists. It was just talk though for many years. With the law about if we make a film to be shown in China then you really shouldn't make a different version sort of rule, unless we want to censor it get around double standard.

Thus when the government in China tells you NO, you simply don't do it. Unless we say so..... such is the will of a one party state....

Today writers skirt the issue by going all Dallas.



Oh it was just the imagination or it was just a dream or he took drugs (remember Winners don't take drugs!)



Which again promotes the ideology of drugs are bad m'kay....

..... while a western film would have the psycho lunge from a hidden corner when waking from such a dream just to scare people a bit more, they go all Dallas.

19 Levels of Hell for instance did a Dallas, it was all just a dream. Those that died didn't really die. Thus you get comical films about Zombies, Like Mr Vampire and Spooky encounters. Or modern day ones like erm The Phantom Lover which is sort of tense sometimes Romeo and Juliette remake. But not in your face lunging killer arrrgh make you jump kind of fear. Anecdotal I remember some might have been hell raiser or something. Which wasn't scary at all the scariest bit was when something fell out of a cupboard. Or Painted Skin, which is a knock off of Silence of the lambs. Where the protagonist goes around wearing other peoples skin.

Secondly the horror that is out there IS scary to older Chinese people. Like the dead coming back to life. While western influenced people like me see Zombies as a great opportunity to grab thy shotgun pump it like this.


One Handed Shotgun Pump

Shawn | Myspace Video

And go a Zombie huntin' ker chak! (Shotguns of the pump type are legal in the UK 3 shots maximum though)

Chinese have a general dislike of death and the undead, you know no number 4. Which goes far beyond the western fear of death maybe its the way three or four generations living under one roof is still common and Chinese people get to see their elders deteriorate. Maybe its the way many Chinese still venerate their ancestors or the way the recent dead tended (in the near past) to be buried nearby. (My grandad is in my uncles house in a jar). Such stuff about walking dead and or corpses being reanimated or ghosts is scary to many older Chinese people I know. A ridiculous movie I almost demanded my money back and the seconds of life I wasted watching had three seconds of CGI where his wife who turned out to be a ghost morphed a CGI monster mouth.... now if it were a morphed CGI dentata that would scare the hell out of me.


While I'll scoff at such films because I am a jaded city slicker. Who has met far too many weirdos to be phased much by anything.

It's like this back in 1984 audiences were awed at what was going on. While people born today see a big latex looking head.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNpb8KQ-OQ0

But with the censorship and skirting around like Dallas the true horror genre probably won't take off in China for a while. Now Koreans and Japanese people on the other hand. They make pretty decent horror movies.

Long lists of Korean films and Japanese films

Decent enough for Hollywood to copy remake such films and quietly pretend they thought of the idea themselves. Ok so they aren't as gory as western horror films but pretty decent regardless.




Except this one



Where they appeared to steal the plot from the Simpsons

One of my faves happens to be Candyman 1 probably because I really like the score to the film

Playing the Game: Chinese Edition

This is interesting, there seems to be a growing industry in China in helping men pick up women. Its not really a mystery as to how this came about. China is a society who's generation-Y grew up in a much more liberal society than their parents. Marriage was often arranged and happened early. Dating was not a typical part of the process. Todays generation of Chinese men didn't learn how to socialize with women from their fathers or the media, and so were left sometimes clueless on how to meet women.

So to supplement for a lack of a role model, Chinese can now attend classes on how to socialize with the opposite sex for a nominal fee of a few hundred US dollars. Keep in mind there are more men than women in China, so pickings are limited.

I see a business opportunity for you TCG. 

Flowers

Flowers are a universally recognized way of expressing love around the world, but in China they can have a double meaning that is based on the number of flowers given. As I have posted before, numbers have great meaning in Chinese culture. Any amount sends a positive message, but a particular number of flowers can be used to send a hidden one.

1 Flower: "I love you and only you", "You are the only one for me"

2 Flowers: "I just think of you and me", "Its just you and me"

3 Flowers: A simple "I love you"

4 Flowers: "I promise you love" As I said before, 4 is an unlucky number for Chinese, so clarify in a card or avoid using this amount.

5 Flowers: "I have no regrets being with you"

6 Flowers: "I hope everything goes well for you"

7 Flowers: "I feel happy with you"

8 Flowers: "Im sorry, please forgive me" Used for saying you're sorry.

9 Flowers: "I will love you forever without regret"

10 Flowers: "You are the perfect lover"

11 Flowers: "I will love you for the rest of my life", "Your happiness is my only priority"

12 Flowers: "Our souls are forever connected"

13 Flowers: "You have a secret admirer"

15 Flowers: "Im sorry" Same as 8.

17 Flowers: "Lets leave each other on good terms" Used for breaking up.

18 Flowers: "I have a sincere heart"

19 Flowers: "Im looking forward to spending time with you"

20 Flowers: "Forever loving you with an unchanging heart"

21 Flowers: "You are my love"

22 Flowers: "Lets be in love to no end"

24 Flowers: "I miss you, I am always thinking about you"

25 Flowers: "Good Luck"

30 Flowers: "Our love goes beyond words"

33 Flowers: "I will love you for many years to come"

36 Flowers: "My heart belongs to you"

44 Flowers: "I promise you my steady love"

50 Flowers: Same as 5.

55 Flowers: Also the same as 5.

56 Flowers: "My love"

60 Flowers: "May our love be strong and stable"

66 Flowers: "Our love is true and steady"

77 Flowers: "Destiny brought us together"

88 Flowers: "I want to make it up to you" Used to say sorry.

99 Flowers: "I want to be with you forever"

100 Flowers: "Im in love with you 100%"

101 Flowers: "You are my only love"

108 Flowers: "Will you marry me?"

123 Flowers: "Let us enjoy freedom and love"

144 Flowers: "I love you every day, of every month, of every year, of every century"

365 Flowers: " I think of you every day", "I love you everyday of the year"

999 Flowers: "Our love is infinite"

1001 Flowers: "Faithful love forever"

10,000 Flowers: "May our love last for 10,000 years" 10,000 essentially means forever in East Asian cultures. Giving 10,000 flowers is the ultimate expression of compassionate love in Chinese culture. If you can afford it, no Chinese girl will turn you down. (Except for this guy)


Color is also has double meaning in flowers. Red is your best bet, so is pink, yellow is also good, avoid white as it symbolizes death.

Happy Valentines Day

Gambling

Nah thats gambolling Source

CG,

I have a question why is it that Chinese people love to gamble?

Ken

Dear Ken

I wouldn't say all Chinese people like to gamble, though I actually gamble but not with money more with my existence due to a like of dangerous hobbies.

However there is a general stereotype about Chinese people who like to gamble. For instance play just the sound track to the film God of Gamblers (which spawned many many sequels) and many people will instantly recognise the tune.



Also up and down the land (UK) in casinos you will see disproportionately a large number of Chinese people there. Hell on the Russian Chinese border I saw lots of Casinos (Casinos in Mainland China are illegal) which I guess were to cater for the Chinese people to come over the border. Generally as there was nothing for miles and miles to either side of the casino.

North Korea even has a couple of special zones which cater exclusively for the Chinese on the other side of the border.

Also through my growing up birthdays of myself, my cousins etc were mere pretexts, extremely thin pretexts just to start playing Mahjong. In doing so gamble money lots of it (seriously never play Mahjong too many cheating cnuts and the friendly games of the past playing for peanuts literal peanuts no longer happen. People WANT to take your shirt). They'd bring out the cake sing happy birthday for a minute cut it then the convenient table in the backs of their cars would come into the house and the constant clack clack of the tiles would be heard.

However its a generalisation and stereotype, but you know the old saying always a grain of truth in stereotypes. The love to gamble I've seen is restricted to the migrants of the 60s and 70s. A big reason for this is that gambling is sociable, much like drinking in the UK, people go to the pub not just to drnk but to socialise. Back in the day the Chinese community was (and is) very small, with very limited language skills making friends with the natives was hard. Relating to them and joining in their activities (especially when they had a tendency to attempt to kick the shit out of you on a regular basis). So many out of boredom decided to gamble. I mean it is something which is easy to do requires little skill. It can also provide a thrill if you win.

Other reasons off my head are:

Firstly our old friend face..... face is uber important, when you don't turn up to gamble in Mahjong's people will take the piss and say nasty things. Like, "oh she poor, she will lose face,so she will turn up even though she didn't have money." bastards.....

Secondly it is a social thing, as above. You can have a read of the book Joy Luck club, the women in this book gamble with each other. The primary motivation isn't to gamble but to get together to gossip and talk about their lives.

Thus it is a combination of having money burning a hole in your pocket, it being a social activity whereby other Chinese people will congregate and that there was little to do. So they spent their money doing this instead.

Son of a......!

Just while making some headway about wedding extortion in planting seeds of doubt into the minds of the givers I get hammered by something else. Damn it it seems I simply cannot win!

I received a basket of red eggs which made me break out in a cold sweat, this is for two reasons:

SOME Chinese families continue the tradition whereby until you are 18 you are give a number of dyed red eggs to eat in ONE sitting. The problem is my family were often NOT coordinated. Therefore through my teens I would be presented with baskets of eggs. To be eaten in one sitting. My dad would prep a basket of eggs dyed red. He would then stand over me and watch me eat them and refuse to leave until I had done so. Then my mum would come along later on in the day and also have a basket of eggs. Then my grand parents on both sides would come along and bring a basket of eggs. (My family have poor communication btw). End of a birthday I'd be egged out to hell. My 17th which was the last time this occured was horrible simply horrible the number of eggs. They would also withhold their Lai See unless I ate them all too. I don't really like hard boiled eggs any more these days because of this. My cousins and their friends were all put through such trials, though they families obviously had better coordination than mine.

Sort of like the cool hand Luke scene



But I received a basket of red eggs, which signifies that a child has been born, which signifies hey CG you've been invited to a party! But because you're only supposed to get the basket of eggs (dyed red) there is nowhere to put bring all yer money type invitation/extortion scheme. Also having a baby is somewhat more involving that a sham wedding. But again acquaintances are calling me already asking how much we should bring in money terms. Luckily everybody else is as piss poor as me and looks like it's not going to be more than £20.


Anyway tradition dictates it's held a lunar month after the birth, due to two things. Extremely high infant mortality. One month after the birth equates to a good chance of survival. Also same thing for the mother, in that birthing is undoubtedly painful. Thus the month is to allow for recuperation. Then again my parent's generation were made of sterner stuff they were mostly nuts. TGC's mum was having contractions and she had to finish off the shift before going to the hospital. My dad is equally nuts when his apendix ruptured or something and he finished his shift before going to get himself seen to.

Though admittedly this is not just restricted to Chinese people. My mate Tariq from Kashmir was stabbed in a shop robbery, he too had to finish his shift close up and clean up before getting himself sewn back up. Silly sod was really pale and ill looking the next day.

Chinese burial.

Chinese guy

How do Chinese people bury their dead? From movies I see of China it id always different.

Mark

Dear Mark


Films you say?
Films like this?



Standing coffin? Fiction that is...

But really it varies depending on the locale of being buried. In China since the CCP gained power since the 1960s EVERYBODY is cremated these days. Its the law, but much like the one child policy unless you are uber rich or live in uber rural territories it simply isn't enforced. You all get put into the furnace...Bit like SC2. IIRC I remember articles from decades ago where many older Chinese traditionalists outraged at the cremation policies to be enacted started to kill themselves to get a burial plot. I think this was fiction btw. Incidentally Mao wanted to be cremated, but you know the fashion with these pseudo commie states they tend to pickle their leaders corpses. Lennin



In HK people are buried in the same way as in the western world. Though western world burials even in the UK are running out of space and thus cremation is seen as a viable alternative. Such a land shortage problem is exacerbated in HK because of the ultra scarcity of land burial is not permanent. You can be buried in a private cemetery (you can see these on the A21 bus) which require a boat to take you to the little steep islands. Or you can be buried in a public cemetery.

The difference is that private ones the ground you get buried in, is yours for as long as you have money in an account or your relatives pay the fees to keep you buried there. While public cemeteries the fees are considerably lower yet you can only be buried there for a few years. My dad for instance had to go and dig up his dad me Grandpa a few years back. At this point you can cremate the body and scatter the ashes off Lamma Island Channel and Lantau island. Or you can do what my dad did. If you've ever been to a village in HK and some in Guanzhao you'll see small concrete pint sized bus stops often in the tree line slightly away from the road. Inside are corpses which were once buried.

My dad did this to my grandad and his body in a crouching position is in the corner of my uncle's living room. Probably why I don't particularly like going there. Not because I'm afraid of dead bodies. I slept in a cemetery outside Ankara last year when I couldn't find anywhere to sleep. Heh but because my uncle is a cunt of the highest order and has attempted to defraud my family more than once.

The jars are parodied in Spooky encounters Starring Samo Hung.



In ancestor worship you're supposed to bring the ancestors close to where they were born and also to be close so they can keep a watchful eye on you. Thus influence your life with a benevolent touch..... this is supposed to be the crick of it anyway....If you believe in this, then this is bad as you'll get wank seances


If you don't then it merely takes up space.

Face

Face is an important part of Chinese society. The concept of Face is much simpler than it is described. Face is your reputation, how others see you as a person. Westerners tend to care little about Face in the Chinese sense. We blab about everything we do on facebook, blogs, the twitters etc and never give a damn even if its something mildly inappropriate or embarrassing. We admit our wrong doings and mistakes. For example George “Dubya” Bush publicly admitted the he had trouble with alcohol. No Chinese person would ever dare do this, as it would bring shame upon him and cause him lose face. To the Chinese, Face is like blood, it is precious and very bad to lose. Chinese people will go to great lengths to preserve face and keep the skeletons in their closet in their closet. People will go to great lengths to cover up their flaws and mistakes from the public. This may be part of the reason Asians always aim to be the best and to outperform their peers, they want to look as flawless as possible. Having a big flaw (like being terrible at math) shows that you lack face. Saying that someone has no face is a great insult. For example, you should never openly blame a Chinese person for a mistake. By attributing blame to that person, they lose face because you are saying that the mistake was made due to a flaw that person has, and losing face is a great disgrace. Face can also be treated as a commodity that can be given and earned. For example, say a father works at the post office, and his son wants a job there, the father will put in a good word for his son the office. By doing this, the father has given the son face by giving him a good reputation there even before he starts working. Face can also be salvaged before it is lost. For example, a president can make a remark that would cause him to lose face, but his spokesperson steps in and tries to justify the presidents statement. The spokesperson just salvaged the presidents face.

All in all, you just have to remember that Face = Reputation. You should also be cautious as you may cause a Chinese person to lose face without even knowing it. In 2006 when Hu Jintao visited the White House, Dubya tugged on Hu’s suit because he walked off the wrong side of the podium after a press conference. This was a source of great humiliation and loss of face for Hu, as it appeared as if Hu was a child that needed to be pulled to go to the right place. As a result, the Chinese media covered it up in order to preserve the presidents face.

Colors in Chinese Culture

Colors also carry much superstition in China. The meaning of certain colors is completely different from their western interpretations.

 

Red (紅 hóng)

Red is the cultural color of the Chinese people. It symbolises fire, vitality, happiness and celebration. It can be seen everywhere during Chinese New Year and other important holidays

 

Yellow (黃 huáng)

Yellow is the color of beauty and nobility. I suppose this another instance of Sino-ethnocentrism, calling themselves a “yellow people” is like calling themselves beautiful. Yellow is a color of power and wealth because it is the color of gold, the Emperors throne was often decorated with yellow.

 

Green (綠 lǜ)

Green is the color of health, well being, springtime and harmony. Not too different from the west.

 

Blue (藍 lán)

Blue is a symbol of immortality or long life.

Black (黑 hēi)

Black in Chinese culture is very odd. In the west, black is associated with evil, darkness, and depression. But in China it is actually associated with water and heaven. In the I Ching, water corresponds with the color black.

Pink (粉紅 Fěnhóng) or just (粉 Fěn)

The characters literally mean “powder red”. Pink is not a gendered color in China. Pink is seen as a shade of red, which as stated above, is a good color.

White (白 Bái)
White is the color of death and mourning. Referring the paleness of a dead body. In contrast to the west were it is seen as a color of purity and innocence. Never I repeat NEVER wear white in China. White is only to be exhibited during a funeral and when mourning the dead.


In general, brighter colors are usually good (except for white). Darker colors tend to be neutral to negative in meaning.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Medicine update

This is no longer relevant as the HK government has had a bit of a crack down on self medication, therefore many pharmacies do not accept a $100 note as a script.

All this means is go into a doctor's surgery type place for an appointment ask for something hand over a $100 to the doctor and then take it to the pharmacy. Some dodgier pharmacies will of course still sell you direct though.

Personifications of China

OK, China Hush stole this from Lengxiaohua, and Lengxiaohua stole this from Douban, so I should have the right steal it from China Hush.

This is artwork made by Douban user "Pharaoh". It is the personification of all most of China's provinces. I have no idea how accurate these personifications are, but its neat nonetheless.  

Chongqing: Sichuan’s younger brother, naturally keeps his words, very hospitable, loves to do house chores, loves to dress up and loves to eat hotpot. Often goes his brother’s house to eat and talk.

Fujian: a Very strong queen, because she was often in war, she has an aggressive personality, but she is very loyal to her boss. Used to love to fish, now very modernized; still holds grudges about Taiwan’s leaving.

Gansu: Warm young man, looks very normal therefore often is scared by Ningxia. Likes to nag, other than that has no other bad habits (but also has nothing else special) Likes to make noodles, because he stayed with Ningxia for long time started to like pigs for no reason.

Guangdong: A girl that eats anything… often has strangers at home but she never cares. Likes make things herself and then paste on the brand name logo. Loves comics (2d stuff) and often shows off her collections.

Guangxi: Gentle and beautiful girl, but is surprisingly strong and brave. Likes to stay at home, and every year there are many people swarming into her home to travel.

Guizhou: Good gentle young man, his actions are courteous, and slow. He is kind of lazy, likes to play jokes on people. He has multiple national origins.

Hainan: enthusiastic and honest young man, because of his special dark skin, he is often recognized therefore he feels a sense of pride. Loves his ocean and the coconut trees, very proud of his fishing skill and loves to invite others to his home.

Heilongjiang: A youth who is icy old, does not like to reveal his feelings, although sometimes has a headache because of Jilin he displays tenderness towards two of his brothers. Had a tragic past, likes cloves and has high alcohol tolerance.

Hubei: She is Hunan’s older sister, short tempered and easily gets angry. Although she is older, she can easily get into fights with others. The word she likes is “revolution”.

Hunan: warm blooded young girl, likes to try new things, acts all on her own, impulsive and hot tempered. Sensitive about her reputation, has leadership skills. Often are laughed at because of her flat chest by her sisters.

Jiangsu: Looks like a gentle and quiet youth, with a weak health and often coughs, but in fact deep down he loves to make others suffer!! He loves to use tough problems to create difficulties for others.

Jiangxi: Girl who does not talk much, and not good at communicating with others. Therefore often does things she does not want to do, and in a state of self-blame. Loves to keep fishes, has many china at home.

Jilin: Optimistic youth, bold personality but especially effective when dealing with women; likes to lend his helping hand when he sees injustice, but often gets into trouble; very loyal to his brothers, but slow to feel Heilongjiang’s tenderness.

Liaoning: General offensive of the Dongbie 3P party. Has firm and persistent personality like the steels. Loves erguotou (strong liquor), and has high alcohol tolerance. Sometimes thinks about the sad past. Takes care of two younger brothers; he is a tender and strong big uncle.

Macao: Girl with high vitality, very good at gambling. When loses she swears not to gamble again, but very easily set off fighting spirit, and forgets everything she said before.

Ningxia: a quiet man, don’t know what he is thinking about most of the time, his action is also unpredictable. Has specially feeling for pigs. Often carries different kinds of kitchen knives. Used to hang white fabrics at home and scared off Gansu.

Qinghai: Lazy young man looks lethargic and does not talk much all day long, therefore feels almost non- existence. Likes to stay home and likes to eat salty food, even the lake at home are salted. And another lake at home disappeared for no reason, everyone was puzzled.

Shanghai: Very bright and capable young man, fast paced, typical impatient hothead and absolute perfectionist. Does not allow himself or others to make mistakes (often troubled because of this) Seems to be surprisingly weak when taking off his glasses. Annoyed when called a “sissy”, loves to be elite and modern.

Shanxi: Loves money as much as she loves her life, often with a smiley face, but that is the weapon she lures the customers to buy her stuff. Carrying an abacus at all times, very business minded.

Sichuan: Arrogant young man with a rich family, has very bitter tongue and very competitive, somewhat narcissistic. Surprisingly tender to small animals. Recently he is healing wounds at home. His interest is cooking. Often plays MJ with little brother Chongqing, Hunan and Hubei.

Tianjin: Cute and confused little girl, originally already grew to be a maiden but because her brother Beijing was not happy about her height, she voluntarily shrank herself. Likes older brother very much; likes gentiana, and likes to give strange names to her home made buns. Sometimes her thoughts will automatically switch to high dimensional spaces.

Xinjiang: Young man with mood swings, very enthusiastic, but don’t know why recently likes to fight and separate the family… loves to dance and make wine and goes to everyone’s home to sell noodles and roasted lamb skewers.

Xizang (Tibet): Naturally gentle and lively girl, very tall and has an unhealthy obsession with cleanliness (mysophobia) therefore her home is always clean. Has a long dark history, so sometimes turns evil. Likes to sing and drink barley wine.

Yunnan: Natural young girl, very friendly to people, optimistic personality and has wide range of interests. Good at singing, dancing and art needlework, likes small animals. Her blood line is complicated and her pet phrase is “may become good friends”.

Zhejiang: a very weak girl, looks like an honor student, good at poetry and math (business), timid and cries a lot, loves to wear silk (chi-pao) mandarin gown and hold a small fan.

Beijing: Once had world’s great prestige of the imperial style but because of narcissism and not working hard he became weak and went back to his infant stage… Now grew to be a very arrogant child, working hard planning on “how to go back to being an adult”. Likes barbeque duck, recently troubled by a pile of old stuff at home.

In this next one, you can easily tell the artist is a Mainlander.

Taiwan: flirty girl (has a sex appeal), couple years ago had a fight with older brother then swam to the other side of the shore and went to Laomei (USA) family. Recently Laomei’s finical situation is not good so she starts to want to go back to big brother’s room…

Being gay in China

Source

Dear TCG

Is China friendly to gay couples? We've always wanted to travel to China with my partner but I'm not sure if we will be welcomed there or not.

Mark & M


Dear Mark & M

Erm firstly getting in isn't going to be a problem, the boarder guards aren't exactly going to ask. And tbh probably won't be able to tell. In fact in the UK few people can tell, other than maybe they are somewhat better dressed than straight men. My line manager 2 work places ago was gay but nobody realised. We thought he was from Bolton, Bolton btw is where Astley Bridge happens to be, some residents of this area have an incredibly camp accent, they sound like Paul O'Grady but camper like Dale Winton (though Dale's accent is an act). Anyways...

Secondly being LGBT isn't really a biggie in China. I'd note several things have happened in the past 20 years... IIRC 1997 saw the decriminalisation of being gay and 2001 had it taken off the statute books for being a mental illness. Which is kinda strange as China is more liberal than some of its Asian neighbors. Malaysia, India etc are kind of harsh on it. IIRC there was also a Korean TV presenter who was forced out of his job because he was gay. You'll have to ask the Korean guy about this because TCG hears and read things and does not take notes everywhere he goes. Singapore being gay is also illegal for MM type relationships.. But then Singapore is Disney land with the death penalty TCG considers Singapore to be a creepy fascist totalitarian state. I wouldn't go there...

Chna OTOH for a change as said is funny in being liberal about it.

Gay pride marches are happening in China now and again therefore it is acknowledged.

However there is no real special treatment law to protect gay couples in China. Unlike in the UK. Although TCG would never do this. If I kicked the shit out of somebody in the UK because he was being a douche. I would get sent down for GBH maybe assault.

However if I attacked a person who happened to be gay and it was determined that this was the rationale for the attack then the prison sentence (which would be a joke anyway) would be longer. As it would constitute some sort of hate crime. It's strange though in the UK where I do get attacked and the police actually attempt to make me report it as a hate crime.

"Are you sure it isn't a hate crime Sir?" (yup many British cops have to call us Sir, unlike HK where citizens call them sir. I don't and cops in HK don't like this a bit)
"Erm I was wearing full biking gear and a bike helmet with a dark visor there is no way he could tell I was non native."

Aside....

The issue is more of face and family values more than anything else. I have said many times the pressure to conform is enormous. Societal brain washing starts from an early age in Asian countries (Korea and Japan this is the norm to turn people into corporate slaves).

In that it is imperative to get married and sire sons to continue the family name yadda yadda yadda. Gay couples obviously don't do this. Add in the mixture of one child policy for the Han and the single son of a family who doesn't want to go the traditional route is slammed in the family.

But with emergence of gay night clubs, which TCG wandered into without realising they were gay night clubs until I noticed it was a sausage fest in Beijing. Such clubs are kind of less in your face unlike Manchester with places like Paradise factory, Vanilla (home of Dyke u like night). Or bear and leatherman type clubs.

I don't really think it is that much of a biggie. Heh and regardless people may stand and stare regardless of your orientation! Curiously now and again I have seen men holding hands in Wangfujin street in Beijing and nobody seems to bat an eye lid. Same in downtown Seoul.

You won't exactly be able to get married there though as same sex couples.

Taiwan and HK are pretty much the same as above, though I reckon though there are an enormous number of Lipstick types though. Johnathan and me standing for a bit in HK kept seeing super femmes attached to beefy looking men on the streets everywhere. TCG didn't even notice until Johnathan pointed it out that these beefy looking men were not men at all. It could just be fashion or the fact that there is a gender imbalance such that they turn to the next best thing.


That said TCG fails spectacularly at some things:

China is becoming more like Hong Kong everyday!

This is for some of the HPC homies, you know who you are...

I've spoken about cage homes in Hong Kong a few times where people rent 16sq foot beds as flats for about $1000HK a month. It appears yet again as if China is taking up this too (there is an article somewhere where I can't remember where I stored it on one of my drives which has even smaller. You can read about HK cage homes here. Anyway Beijing has caught up with the modern shithole metropolis of HK! Read all about it here

IIRC these um apartments cost about 1/24th -1/12th of a typical person's income. Heh if this was in the UK or Europe or maybe New York/LA they'd want an arm and a leg for it!


Source

scientific fraud

just read a great article about China and its problems with epidemic fraud in its academic and scientific fields.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/world/asia/07fraud.html?ref=world

This is not just limited to China, Korea have the same issue.

Why is this the case? Is it just greed (eg, money, fame) or something deeper rooted in the culture?

Thanks
Marcus from USA

Danger this post is not very lucid due to many things on my mind, so apologies first!

Usual stuff, money and power. Kind of like the Global warming debate...oh wait they call it climate change... oops they now call it global climate disruption these days. TCG does not deny the climate is changing. TCG in HK does not give a damn, why because HK is now mostly Nuclear powered and the last coal power plants are to die in 2020. However TCG questions as to the reasons as to why the climate is changing. For instance the past 5-9 years its been getting colder. Oh and not to mention the fact that the University of East Anglia was found to be falsifying its data. Oh and also the fact that all these climate change things always seem to make certain people rich and or cost me more in taxes.

If you get published in an international journal = your CV gets a considerable boost since few people are going to see the retraction. Kind of like the Jean Charles De Menzies the British state controlled media (the BBC and Guardian) publicised that he was a rapist. This was completely false but they put retractions which were completely buried. Which means today people still think he was a rapist when it was typical British police smear tactics.

Anyway I digress.

There is enormous social pressure not to out these people because of the strict social hierarchy whereby if somebody is seen to be more successful than you it is really really bad to be questioning them and their integrity. Those of a higher social position will hold more ears merely because they are seen as successful than the person who is actually correct. Even though TCG is correct in criticising many people like Li Kar Shing who is merely a rentier capitalist my dad will say shut your mouth! He is more successful than you. This success is seen to be more important than actual ability and merit.

For example when talking to Chinese people (ones not raised as a Nihilistic, nietzschist cynic) they go all ad hominem instead of debating the issues at hand. I've been in social situations where I was thinking what the fuck! They say things like.

"You have no right to criticise hem unless you are as successful as them!"


You have researchers who do dodgy stuff climb the ladders then get into a position where they control the research nobody dares to question them. As such fraud of this kind continues. Again the UK Climate change debate is not really a debate in that if you even dare question the 'truth' you are labelled as some kind of fascist.

I woudn't say it is limited to Asian societies only as it happens in Europe too, personally I have a story about this (skip the next paragraph if you don't care)

Heh a side story to this I love this story, way back I remember vehemently saying a mile was 1609 metres. Everybody laughed at me even the teacher did too (TCG went to an inner city school where Uzis were popular jewellery). I said NO its not, but the pressure to conform to the incorrect answer was enormous and this was in the UK. Same with the EU scandals where EU crooks keep putting their hands in the till and getting caught. The woman who found out the EU fraud Marta Andreasen for example. She was sacked even though in the end she was vindicated for her beliefs that the EU accounts were complete and total fraud.


But I reckon it is deeper because of all of the above and the lack of oversight and a pubishment regime....whats the word Moral hazard thats it! For example the bankers, they buggered things up badly and what the hell does the US government do? It gives them more money. Where it the moral hazard of that? Famously Hwang Woo-suk faked human cloning thing way back in 2006 he claimed his innocence for a very long time blaming others. He was found guilty but given a suspended two year sentence. Which to me pretty much means he got away with it instead of being involved in a situation like this



Which meant he got his 15 minutes of fame and nothing really happened to him after that... though of course he may find getting a new job rather difficult.