GM crops

Where are the gm crops being grown in the U.K ? and are they widespread?

Sue


Dear Sue.

This is a bit of a left field question, since it is about the UK, GM crops are NOT commercially grown in the UK, there are the odd experimental fields which are usually torched by anti GM food protesters when they discover them.

Currently there are no GM crops grown commercially because the UK government has not issued licenses for them to be grown anywhere in the UK and even though pro GM lobbyists keep bunging large amounts of money to the government to legalise them the UK and EU governments say no. Public support for GM crops is in the single figures and the government in attempting to reverse this made people EVEN more against GM crops.

Thus to answer your question no there are no GM crops in the UK, commercial ones anyway, though there is meat from animals fed GM crops and also ingredients which originated from GM crops.

Chinese cops mean business

Ok so they maybe corrupt to fuck but they certainly mean business!




For instance this woman cop, she negotiates for about a 5 minutes gets bored dealing with the shit she's being given. And rushes forward shooting the very guilty hostage taker in the head once before running forward and putting two more in his head to finish him off.

Similar events have occurred in the past this is how we negotiate with kidnappers mother fucker!

Compare to the Raoul Moat a recent nut who went on a killing spree, he was found and he HELD A GUN TO HIS OWN NECK, and threatened to kill himself. Rather than call his bluff and say go on then make my day.



UK cops decided to talk to him for 6+ hours. It was a stand off except he had the gun to his OWN head.

Kind of reminds me of the classic scene from Blazing saddles.



@ 2 minutes 48 seconds where the Sheriff holds himself hostage.

Questions will be answered at the weekend busy as buggery over here recently.

Suitcase

Heh... from my office window in past work offices I often see people (of all kinds) filch other peoples' left luggage and suitcases. They see it hang around it and walk off with it. I even watched a guy stack things into a taxi and a scrote peeled a suitcase off while it was stopped at lights.

Aside from this being dangerous and criminal, as bombs or drugs etc maybe found and Manchester has those dog drug squads all over. You may not want to do this in Hong Kong s not for the first time a body has been found in a suitcase by the side of the road. Murders etc are comparatively rare but this kind of thing happens now and again. As recently as described here.

This probably explains why my dad always buys a new suitcase for each and every trip and never allows people to borrow his....crap he's got my red ones.... bastard...

You can bet your top dollar it was gang related or somebody who owed a shit load of debt...what does this teach us? Loan sharks are to be avoided! (Loan sharks are those who charge more than 80% APR IIRC) as they will go after your family, friends and other completely unconnected people to pay your loans.

Visas

Dear TCG

I am an American citizen, do I need a visa to travel from Hong Kong to Macao?

Frank


Dear Frank

No you do not need a visa to travel from Hong Kong to Macau/o. As both are what I call civilised countries which stamp most people in on the borders, TCG had a shit load of trouble last year getting visas for each country and having 3 visas running at the same time. The only reason you'd need a visa is if you are travelling overland into Macau say via the cheapo buses which travel overland via Zhuhai. Note the Lo Wu visa $80 visas are no longer issued to Americans and it can take 4-5 days to get it processed in Wanchai doing it the proper way. Just take the turbo jet (hydrofoils) to Macau and no visa is needed. You will however be stamped in and out and back in again on your return to HK. However HK and Macau immigration officers are not arses they will pick a discreet corner to stamp you in and out. The Taiwanese immigration officers always stamp right in the middle of pages and get ink everywhere taking up a complete page.

This also serves as damning evidence though as Macau is.... how shall we say filled with adult entertainment (gambling, and overt WGs) therefore you may need a visa of a different kind.

Three Sovereigns

Dear TCG,

Who were the Three Sovereigns and the Five Emperors?

Kevin B

Dear Kevin

Short curt answer (ish) too busy to go into depth.

They were the first first leaders of Ancient say 2300BC China. They are similar to Jesus or Abraham for Jewdaism as founders of Chinese humans and culture. But rather than crediting it to one person they are spread to 3 people who 'amazing things happened to them'. I.e. much like Jesus they were born as mere mortals and a heavenly event occured which caused Chinese humans to evolve. It is sort of like the Chinese version of the creation stories, if you get what I mean. While Christianity says God created the world in 6 days and rest the 7th day... most people should be familiar with the drill. Let there be light etc.

Or some forms of Indian religion talk about a mountain and a snake (I forget which one) etc.

Kind of like the monolith in 2001 a Space Odyssey.







Fu Xi or 庖犧 was credited to inventor of writing, fishing and trapping. This represents culture and food. ~ hunting and gathering.

Nüwa 女媧; (wife of Fux Xi) is a different one as there are shed loads of myths spanning a very long time period she maintains the wall between heaven and earth. Sort of like the white bit in between oreo cookies. Without this everything would collapse. Depending on what you read her role varies as either creator of humans or just a repairer or a leader.

Shennong 神農; was a Korean who taught humans how to farm again if you read in any long human evolution history humans were first hunters and gatherers i.e. Fu Xi's role. They they settled down and moved into agriculture which was the first steps of humanity into civilisation.

The 5 emperors were um, off the top of my head (I have it in a book behind me but too busy to research it in depth)

Huang Di (黄帝) Zhuanxu(顓頊) . They were not real emperors as Qin Shihuang did not unify what is known as China for another 2000 years, but were famous tribal leaders. They were also Jesus type figures, normal humans capable of miracles (sometimes) though boasting and misquoting can often occur.

There is a bit in brave heart about this where William Wallace is rumoured to be inhuman and everybody is less than impressed when they see the real Wallace. However they were supposed to be perfect humans and models for all leaders to follow had perfect judgement and did everything correctly.

I reckon this is more propaganda than anything, much like Shingen Takeda who was a pretty brutal warlord, however he was smart enough to seal his legacy (not in conquering Japan) but by excellent branding.

Takeda Shingen was much more conventionally Japanese, he has a reputation as a law giver, and most of the charges against him are those of arrogance. His impact was perhaps more lasting than Oda Nobunga, and Tkeda left behind children who were quick to sing his praises, thus Takeda had a far better PR machine ti preserve his legacy. Takeda lived up to the image of the might Samurai Warrior and over all generates much better Buzz. Most accounts give him credit for brains as well as brawn.

Though killed by a sniper's bullet, Takeda was smart enough to pull an 'El Cid,' having his banner advanced as if he were still alive, thus squeezing out a final victory. Plus his death was seen as heroic unlike Oda's death which was seedy & 'disgusting.'
But what truly gives Takeda the edge was his Buddhism, his Civil Abilities and an over all savvy that Oda lacked; yes Takeda gave his family Hell, but those loyal to Takeda remained loyal after his death.

"In addition to his successful military endeavors, Shingen is well remembered for his sound civil administration and public works. His governance methods were so successful that they were later adopted by the Togugawa Shogunate. Some of the highlights of his rule included:



Gaining popular support and respect by applying criminal and civil law firmly and fairly; a novelty during an error when a provincial lord’s authority was absolute and potentially arbitrary.


Taxing his constituents based on innovative rate assessment and collection methods.


Completing one of the greatest civil engineering efforts of the 16th century by damming the Fuji River.


One characteristic that set Shingen Takeda apart from his rivals was that he was a master of branding. He chose Shingen, meaning compassionate eye, for his formal name in 1551 when he took Buddhist vows. His name choice, proclaimed Shingen’s ability to see all sides of an issue and to act fairly in the interest of all parties. While the formal name captured the domestic side of his persona, Shingen was also known by the unofficial nickname “The Tiger of Kai”. This branding was more appropriate for the image he wished to convey to his adversaries in neighboring provinces."

This is played out perfectly as in propaganda it is most important not to have anybody capable of contradicting your view of the world. Like Japan made a boob of recently. Same thing with Jesus in that there is nobody around to contradict what the bible says about him or his life. And things can be blown out of proportion or exaggerated to make it more impressive. An example of this is during the Chinese civil war about the 5 heroes. I forget the exact name of the battle but it is mentioned in Jung Chiang's Mao erm Ludong Bridge maybe, where 5 heroes captured the bridge. Without being hurt under machine gun fire.

Happens all the time like Wong Fei Hung 黃飛鴻 has many myths attributed to him people cannot contradict or deny.

Also Huo Yuanjia 霍元甲 who also has a ton of myths put around his real life, since they are long dead it is impossible to ascertain reality vs propaganda.

Therefore people in China may learn about it but take it with a pinch of salt much like when we in UK schools were taught about religion and we generally thought yeah right in the backs of our minds

Americans vs Chinese?

Hi there!

So, I shall bombard you with a vague question. I'll try to make it specific, but I don't now much about the topic to zero in on a certain point or anything. I am aiming to work in the US's Chinese embassy one day!

So, what do citizens in China think of the US? I've heard the Chinese people are extremely nationalistic. Is this generally true?

And, just to make this even more vague, would you have any advice to give me?

-John Galt


Dear John

This answer is not particularly lucid as it has been typed in the dribs and drabs of time I have between busy things here and there. But you;ve been waiting a while so I'll try tie it up.

Quick answer - depends...

Long answer:

This is not an easy question to answer.

Curiously as a people I tend not to collectively judge.

This is in huge contrast to my communist goose stepping dad who still worships Mao, for some reason he regularly visits Mao's mausoleum conveniently forgetting that Mao killed loads of people. He has two factually incorrect anecdotes he constantly spouts he has been telling since 1984.

About how the US has collectively destroyed the rattlesnake population.

How Americans are shit drivers, he once read Joe Connelly's book bringing out the dead and assumed because petrol (gas) is so cheap in the US people drive like Tom Walls.

Tom Walls is Frank Pierce's co-driver in Bringing out the dead, where they drive an Ambulance in Hell's kitchen. The Tom Walls driving technique is where a brick is put on the gas pedal to red line the vehicle and to regulate speed you press the brake.

Though my dad is prejudiced...its funny though cus he won't buy made in China anymore after the tin opener incident where in one day he broke 4 made in China tin openers and phoned me to borrow my German one.

There certainly are probably some types like my dad in China.

While OTOH there are going to be those who are prejudiced, indifferent or pro USA.

I would say it simply depends where they come from. The problem is negative image, many Americans I met on my travels (who for some reason pretended to be Canadians) who travel overseas are douches and tend to reinforce the negative stereotypes that they are told. Therefore in touristy areas there may well be a negative outlook of Americans. This cuts both ways as there are specific tourist trap areas for you to go into and as a non douche tourist you may get tourist trapped.

But travel a bit further out and Americans? They're ok but their leaders are cunts though. Bush was a very good laugh in China when he was in power. But what you see of Anti American protests is not what meets the eye! Many of these are actually hired actors, quelle surprise!

But this is not universal! In China as in Korea there is a big unemployment problem. The Korean describes the status of ESL teachers in Korea. One of his points is of unemployment.

The local Chinese have been suckered into going to university en-masse and when they come out there are fuck all jobs for them to do. Many of them really do end up shovelling shit after going to university. They see predominantly American types stroll in on ESL tickets.

NOTE TCG is pretty indifferent about proper ESL teachers. Those who do really teach and have skills and or ability. However TCG has a severe dislike of holiday ESLers. Which make all teachers look terrible. You know the kind the ones who get a 3rd class degree even fake degrees and go out there to 'teach' and do a massive disservice to the students because they don't know how to teach properly. You know fill in blank spacers massive Teacher talking time vs interaction and thinking types. They go off to China on ESL meal tickets party and drink their asses off in China and Korea and act like douches which makes the locals think if Americans and British folks are like this here? They must be absolute fuckers back home, since this is all they see of Americans or UK folks ever and it leaves a bad impression.

Anyway Jokes on you guys! Because when you return (visa situations can change quickly) you are essentially 100% unemployable! Smart cookies who teach in Seoul or China go do their masters or PhD's so when they return they are employable.

Anyway what am I getting at? The point I am getting at is the point the Korean made is the same, that you get ESL types who stroll in and get paid way more than the natives who are often more qualified than said ESLers which to them seems terrifically unfair. This breeds resentment.

OTOH Americans are seen as meal tickets by the local women, no seriously.

You think about it as a woman in China your options are shit.... as a man your options are even worse!

As a woman you have bog all options:

You can work on a farm and earn nothing.

You can be worked to death in a foxconn factory and earn nothing.

You can go and become a working girl.

The 4th option is to marry a westerner and go away to the land of seemingly unlimited opportunity.


Thus really it depends on where you go and who you meet as to how people think about others, much like if a Chinese person went to the USA there would be a wide range of oppinions as to what people thought about this person. Hell there is a huge wide range of oppinions about ME in the UK and it's a small country!

TCG is sort of away

This actually isn't a live post I pre-posted this sometime last week after vanishing off to a party for the weekend to celebrate various work things I have going on for the next month. After this month I have more work which goes on for a long time afterwards.

Therefore expect responses to take longer as obviously work which pays money is more important than this blog and running this blog the pay is obviously fairly shit.

I will answer your questions but probably only on Sundays and in one go therefore don't be impatient! I gotta make a living too you know!

Mean while I recommend you go bother the Korean guy instead for a while as my blogging will be significantly less prolific (May/June were very quiet months!) .

So really I'll check in from time to time..

Regards

Racist Chinese?

Dear TCG

I'm a British Born Chinese my parents are originally from Kowloon. I get the impression that my parents give to me that they are racists, not just against clearly different people but against other Chinese people too especially mainland Chinese people, Taiwanese and other Southern Asians whats the deal?

Is what I am experiencing normal?


Chan


Dear Chan

Chinese are prone to racism as much as any other ethnic group. I found that Chinese like to differentiate themselves as Hongkies vs Mainlanders growing up. And this view remains to this day as HK people consider themselves to be a tier above the mainland Chinese. And consider the mainlanders to be bumpkins or terrifically backwards. This infects the expats too as BWG makes un-flattering remarks about mainlanders sometimes. Those that venture out of the Gweilo ghetto of the mid-levels that is.

Though some of them are completely deserved of course, as stereotypes are often grounded in some form of reality. The way Mainland Chinese are incredibly wasteful. You hang around Beijing and you see cars with their air conditioners on yet the windows open. Or way back in Hangzhao when I managed to stay there for a week. The guy I lived next door to was nuts.

In winter he would turn the heating on, nothing abnormal about this right? But he'd just twist the thermostat to maximum. Still nothing wrong with that either. Yet when it got too hot he turned on the air conditioner again to maximum and again when the air conditioner lost the battle opened the windows. Some very strange behaviour is reported by others too when they open windows and turn on the air con unlike us westerners with high electricity bills that shut the windows and keep the cold air in. And yes this is Representative of what I've seen in China

Anyway as an anedote from one of my friends "As I began working overseas, I saw segregation between Malay, Singaporeans and Hongkies, while South and North China are prejudiced towards each other, and don't get me started vs Taiwanese!"

But all of Chinese (esp gals) tend to extend otherwise unjustified high-regard for Gwailo. White supremacy. Likewise, anybody darker-skinned (Indian, SE Asian, black) are lower-class. It's like their world is monochrome.

Answer then is: Yes they are racist, but this is simply human nature tbh.

However I don't think it's limited to a Chinese phenomenon. People of the same race but from different geographical locations always have hatred and rivalries.

In the UK for example:

• Mancunians (Manchester) and scousers (Liverpool) hate each other.
• Geordies (Tyne Side) and Scots hate each other.
• People from London seem to hate everyone north of the Watford gap, etc.
• Aussies always rip the British. British hate Americans etc.

Wider:

• Sunni Muslims hate Shiite Muslims
• North Koreans and South Koreans hate each other even though they are the same people.

Even in Hong Kong itself. The Cantonese hate the Hakka but hate the Mainland Chinese more.

The Mainland Chinese hate us S.A.R types as we come over as snooty cunts to them.

The Hakka pretend to be Cantonese but bitch about the Cantonese in private and hate some of the Mainland Chinese.

Curiously there are even more subdivisions.

The Hakka are split between the fishermen and the farmers, they used to hate each other and celebrate completely different festivals. While my dad's village the village next door hated them and vice versa.

But that's just human nature.

Happy HK SAR founding day

Happy HK SAR founding day 13 years of independence from Britain

You can read about it here.

Bog all has changed really other than the government office buildings are a bit tidier and quieter, heh anybody who has been to Wanchai immigration tower pre 1997 and visited the toilets which evidently had not been flushed since 1962. Oh and all HK TV channels showing the Chinese national Anthem at opening and closing everyday.

Oh and the tax rate has gone down a touch too, but besides that it's pretty much business as usual.

Confucious school

Dear TCG,

Im going to be a High School Senior next year and I want to leave a lasting impact on my school. There is so much Confucianism, Taoism, and Chinese culture has taught me, and I want others to experience it as well. I want to know how I can find out more about the Confucius classroom program. Were various organizations along with the Chinese government, fund a Chinese language and culture elective at foreign schools. I want to know if and how I can get my school involved in this.

Kevin

PS: I dont know if this is viewable in the UK, but heres a link to a story about it on the Daily Show. Please note this does not accurately represent the American people, only the ignorant ones.


http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-june-7-2010/socialism-studies



Dear Kevin

I have no idea how you would get your school to join up to this scheme. Or how to set up such a scheme, I was briefly asked if I would participate in one nearby here but I declined.

Monday afternoon comedy

So England were absolutely humiliated last night...

Not as bad as these folks though



Meh even parking spaces are made in china




Also a Korean advert Safe for work!

Mao!

Dear TCG

Why is Mao so respected in China? I recently went to Beijing and almost everyday there are long queues to see his preserved corpse.

B

Dear B


Hey what man wouldn't envy Mao? He was in essence a champagne socialist. I.e. while the people were starving and sent to die in Korea Mao lived like the old emperors did. He would spend all day having sex with as many women as possible. He had so many notches on his bedpost when his bed was like a tooth pick. The rest of the time he would spend drinking and smoking and living the high life.

As he got older he put Hugh Hefner to shame and would shag 4-6 women AT THE SAME TIME. (cite here).

Anyway the reasons are he managed to steal the glory for doing a Lawrence of Arabia

"Arabia for the Arabs," said TE Lawrence in the film Lawrence of Arabia.

Mao did the same thing and said China for the Chinese, which at the time was something which was exploited and used ruthlessly. Though he did have a point because China was humiliated by the three unequal treaties which carved China up into fiefdoms. He exploited the anti Japanese and foriegn sentiment and claimed much of the credit himself. As well as the force of arms.

And the rest is history, granted I could tell you in uber depth as to many of the reasons but it would take me a life time to tell you. You may find this book interesting however this book is unfortunately biased as much of Jung Chiang's virtrol and bile for Mao (who directly suffered as a result of his policies and actions) has made the book a rather long rant.

Though she is right he was a monster.





The bizarre thing is he was a monster yes, but much like the Italians said with Mussolini about at least he got the trains running on time. Really he did start the Catalyst for Change in China the process of which was changed by his buddy Deng Xiao Ping. Much like Stalin, he killed 10000000s of people but changed Russia (for a while anyway) from a nation without a pot to piss in to a massively industrialised society in a couple of decades.

Without him not forgetting all the people who died, China might still be a piss poor nation without a pot to piss in and carved up by imperialists. As a few people believe Hong Kong would never have been given back had China not risen in the past 20 years to its current status. In this world MIGHT appears to be RIGHT.

The way the US and UK stole Diego Garcia is a prime example.

bicycle!

Dear TCG

I am about to relocate to Hong Kong from the UK for a year or two and I am an enthusiastic cyclist. I own a very expensive bike in the UK and I am thinking of shipping them over for my stay there. I have a place to store them so that's no problem. However loads of people say to me that I won't have a chance to use them what are the cycling opportunities in HK? I would be grateful for advice.

Tolsky

Dear Tolsky

You're kidding right? You want to ride a bicycle in Hong Kong? There are two maybe three things against this:

#1 It's frigging hot in Hong Kong, even in Winter it doesn't drop below 14C and it is humid. I'm supposed to be from round there but merely WALKING makes people ask me if I've been swimming. The need to shower at both ends will probably destroy your skin.

#2 The pollution seriously, when I ride a tough section on my bicycle I take in huge deep gulping breaths though granted my speed up hill and on the flat is barely any different much to the annoyance of other cyclists as I use the cogs pretty effectively. The pollution in HK is horrible some of the scenic routes are hilly and you will be gulping in incredible amounts of crap into your lungs. Granted you can of course use one of those anti pollution masks but you can never get enough air into your lungs. In Beijing which is pancake flat I rented a bicycle and returned it about 5 minutes later due to the incredible pollution there.

#3 Cars, ok so in HK there are many separated cycle lanes which are built into the pavement, but these do not go everywhere. In HK the driving is aggressive not quite as bad as driving in Seoul but when you see minibuses go down roads which are 30mph going down them at 75mph you think hmm. Or the way people do not pay attention to the road is worrying. A taxi driver I always have the misfortune to encounter uses not one but 5 mobile phones and 2 net books in his taxi while driving. No doubt he'll be using an Ipad too.

As a side 4th the public transport in HK is cheap anyway so this is hardly a need to cycle to cheap out on transport is there? I mean a fare in the UK which'd cost you £4 costs £1.20.

As a 5th you don't tell me where exactly you live, as it is troublesome to get a bicycle across the Harbor and or Lion Rock. Yes I know there is a guy who cycles from Fanling to Mongkok daily (he spends 4 hours a day doing it). But better him than me.

Crap forgot to answer the question at hand. Yes in the New Territories and Lantau Bicycles will be useful due to the cycle lanes everywhere. But the closer you get to Kowloon and HK Island the less useful they will become as there is nowhere to store them. Parking on the street bicycles have a tendancy to be removed especially during festivals etc. Not to mention the above hazards.

Material girls?

There has been debate online recently about the rise of materialism in girls these days in China people blame this on the imbalance between men and women in China while others blame it on insane high house prices (a nod to me HPC home boys) heh High house prices infect everything!

However this is hardly a new phenomenon though if anybody has read previously about Chinese weddings where there is a pretty overt negotiation then this is nothing really new.

My own thoughts are a bit mixed on this in that TCG has often been a target for mainland Chinese girls who make offers of marriage to me (if only they knew I was absolutely broke heh). I think it'll end in tears really. Love? Financial security? I'm not even sure those things can really last forever.



The bit near the end describes it quite well about expiry dates.


However why is everybody acting all surprised about it then if it has been normal and perfectly natural thing for centuries?

Learn me Chinese.

Dear TCG,

Whats the best way to learn Mandarin Chinese?

Kevin


Dear Kevin.

Sorry I'm not particularly lucid today I just had a massive 3 hour argument over the phone with TCG's dad about the fact I'm unwilling to settle down and I am a bit of a 花花王子 (a playboy type) TGC's dad is upset that I'm, late 20s and have nowt much like my peer group to show for it. Though I do have some exotic highly modified motorcycles and a enough memories to last a life time.

Anyway enough of my uninteresting life and my woes.

Speaking? Reading? Listening? Writing?

There is no best way to learn languages, you merely have to find a method which works and stick to it.

Jackie Chan for instance is famous for being self taught English. Granted when he became famous he invariably had a private tutor to help him learn more. But he used to watch English films with subtitles (in Chinese) and hold his hands in a way to cover the subtitles and attempt to figure out what they were saying. He still has an accent which is noticeable. Though Jacky Chan is somebody I look up to not a hero per se but somebody who started from humble beginnings. His mate Sammo Hung sounds similar too.

I speak some limited Japanese due to a similar technique watching Japanese films without subs and therefore can say some limited things (though Japanese people think I talk like a girl though).


While some people prefer one to ones and some people like audio CDs and YouTube videos.

This is spoken Chinese and listening I suppose.

Reading and Chinese written work is a little more difficult, there is this book on amazon I can't remember the name of currently. But it uses a perfect flaw learning system in that look up most Chinese learning books and you invariably will find Pinyin underneath the Chinese character in question. The book played it differently as it would concentrate on the meaning and how to write it only and the meaning of the word. I think this does a nice job of splitting up the spoken and
the meaning elements of things.

In essence there is no best way just find a way that works for you. As an anecdote my Russian was terrible, spending 2 months traversing Russia and talking to locals on me motorbike, well not at the same time. I found I picked up on words I had to use all the time like Kafe or Khlep for bread. It was a matter of survival though which is different. You know perhaps you should go to Tonghua or Zhejiang University and study there. The prices are fairly reasonable I cannot find the direct link but they put you in a class for for 4 weeks for $250US and intensively teach you Mandarin reading, written and speaking. It went up to 3 months for $700US. It's not bad besides the airfare costs of $1K you'll have to stump up as the digs there are reputed to be cheap. My acquaintance Ollie went there and did a 3 month intensive course and puts me to shame sometimes, (he is originally from Wales).

Maybe going on gumtree (does it exist in the USA) or Craig's list community chest type pages and finding your Chinese for my English type adverts maybe useful as native speakers can correct where you go wrong and you both get something out of it and usually have to pay nothing more than a cup of coffee or a slice of pizza. In Korea TCG was accosted by many Koreans wanting impromptu conversational practice lessons. Though TCG was often mistaken for a kyopo type and they would usually buy me a beer afterwards.

Whats new?

Blah blah, Chinese people overseas protesting against violence...

Um this is hardly a new phenomenon, you live in a country as a minority you can expect to be treated negatively. I am not saying it is right but it is just something which is normal and has been going on for decades. So why the outcry now?

One child policy

Dear TCG

What happens with the Chinese one child policy when twins are born? Do they still get fined or what?

Ramen.

Dear Ramen

The one child policy only really applies to cities outside the big cities nobody really cares, and tbh the one child policy is being relaxed as an experiment in a suburb of Shanghai somewhere. Due to the babyboomer demographic effect that almost all western nations are suffering right now. Anyway back on topic. If you are non Han Chinese nothing happens to you.

If you are Han Chinese and you have twins, nothing happens to you as it is one pregnancy and one birth and it is a circumstance which is beyond your control anyway. And tbh with the ever increasing cost of raising children in China two children is a big enough fine anyway so you won't get fined.

The Korean Disease!

Yes you read what I wrote the Korean disease! The Korean might be pissed off at this but I think he may share some of my sentiment regarding this.

Myself and Simon in Seoul in 2009 used to sit on the green line of Seoul metro and be saucer eyed at the incredible amount of plastic surgery which has gone on in Seoul. This disease it appears um appears to be spreading into China. What the hell is wrong with normality? I mean hell much to their chagrin their children will have the same 'defects' too, not that they are defects

Carol Cheng

For instance has had more surgery than Michael Jackson

Link

Infact she had so much surgery she was once refused entry into Hong Kong because they took off her face and ground down her jaw. Eww.

Now Angela baby is going through the same process

Link



Granted TCG has had unplanned plastic surgery by totally unlicenced surgeons..... but in an unorthodox manner. I.e. TCG used to get into a lot of fights and the bastards would always aim for my nose. Cue me getting familiar with a doctor who would knock it back into place every few months. It's been broken so many times I can't breathe out of it as they couldn't repair the damage.

But for China to go all Korea is a bit hmm...


I think really this just shows an under belly of the total lack of confidence in Chinese women these days perhaps from advertising and photoshopping. TCG very nearly sold his soul to an advertising company.

On one hand this allows TCG to clean up and pick up easily in China, OTOH it is terrifically dissappointing to see all the low selfesteem issues in China. You should have seen it growing up in the UK, regular hand to hand combat and the fact that parents use the totally discredited constantly undermine the confidence of your children raising technique.





Most of all TCG doesn't want to be walking around China in 2020 with all the women looking like Ms Wilderstein here... Older Chinese women though do have a tendancy to tattoo their eyebrows once they get to a certain age though. But this had been going on for centuries.

Bettle nut

Dear TCG

What is a bettle [sic] nut culture?

I've never seen it in China so what is it all about?

Andre

Dear Andre

I am not surprised you have never heard of or seen Betel nuts, as it is a Taiwanese thing and this blog isn't really ask the Taiwanese guy and I dunno. However since my on off gf is from Taipei I might as well have a crack at this.



Essentially a Betel nut is a carcinogenic chewy nut thing which is like wired chewing gum sort of thing a mild stimulant Back in the 1970s or 1980s somebody selling them decided to put the girls selling them into skimpy costumes. A car stops beside the road a guy leans out and a Betel nut beauty steps out in skimpy clothing (in all weathers) and hands them a nut wrapped in its leaves sort of like a small 粽 a few NT$. She bows (TCG is non Han Chinese btw and just to give you a clue can never bow or get on my knees EVER) and the guy usually attempts to cop a feel.

Today they are smarter and give them to you at arms length so you have to reach out at arms length to be able to get them.

This has consequently spread through all tiers of society so you get cigarette sellers, newspaper sellers all sold by skimpily dressed women. Which I reckon is more sucessful than old ladies who used to sell them. Way back when I had to visit a place called Hualien they had old women selling stuff.... but like Seoul really as you get old ladies walking around pushing a cart of Yogurt you don't tend to get that anywhere else.

Consequently it feels strange like you are driving through de wallen in Amsterdam or something but EVERYWHERE. But its not actually sexual at all, they are just costumes and they are just trying to make a living. Compared to farming etc it is high paid and thus you get swathes of pretty girlies doing this by the roadside. Sure sure real working girls exist in Taipei but this is several notches up in terms of face/respectability than being a WG.

The Longer march?

Dear TCG

I have seen your motorbike trip and I want to do something similar. I want to walk the great wall of China.

[cut out lots of plans and stuff which is/was irrelevant)

Bryan.

Dear Bryan.

Erm How long have you got? The damned thing is 5000km long this does not include trenches the rivers and lakes as well not to mention it is built along the spine of mountains though the length is not the problem (more later).

Actually let me tell you about the cyclists I met in Russia. Cyclists are a crazy bunch I met loads of them (and towed loads of them) across Russia as their bicycles are slow. So while I could cruise at 40-50mph effortlessly and manage a respectable 300-600 miles a day bicycles had to ride for 16-20 hours a day at 10-18kmh and even then they would almost all overstay their tourist visas as they would crack 160-200km a day and be exhausted.

Around Chelyabinsk most of them were utterly fucked due to the steep 1st gear (on a motorbike ) hills.

On foot you'll manage what 30km a day and it'll take you 170+ days. And that is being HIGHLY optimistic as the Great wall is not what you see in pictures. on a million postcards and Internet pictures. The pictures you see on postcards and online are the bits you see near Beijing. These are not authentic they are rebuilt sections much like everything else in China (in China if you go to a temple there is a very high chance it is not authentic as most temples were rebuilt in the 1980s after being ransacked in 1970s Cultural revolution)

You go a 100km west and the walls are crumbling and falling apart. Much like the Roman Coliseum people over time saw it as a source of building materials and took bricks away from it because they could.



I'm not saying don't do it or it'll be dangerous. Simply that it isn't as simple as I can walk X miles a day the wall is Y miles long therefore I can walk it all in Z number of days. Hell if you do that all you'll be doing is walking all day anyway and what's the point of doing that? Added to the fact that once you get past Hohot it becomes really dry and civilisation begins to fizzle out markedly. Which means you have to travel away from it and back for food and supplies which will increase the amount of time needed to travel.

Have you considered this alternative?

Cycling alongside the wall? You can cycle in its shadow for much of its length passing through fairly decent roads and villages where you can get food and help daily. You will be able to keep up a higher speed and if you are reasonably fit manage it in about 75-90 days (the longest visa you can easily get for China). Maybe as well as the bicycle carrying stuff you'll need like food water etc.

I'm not saying don't do it. By all means go and have a try at it. I'm not saying it'll be dangerous as simply I doesn't know TCG ain't like the Korean the Korean knows all about Korea as Korea is a tiny country. China is massive.

However something to inspire you or scare you off even.