Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
They really need some environmental legislation here...
Sweet pics of pollution in China...
In Ma’anshan, Anhui province (安徽马鞍山), along the Yangtze River there are many small-scale iron selection factories and plastic processing plants. Large amounts of sewage discharged into the Yangtze River.
Guiyu, Guangdong province, (广东省贵屿镇) rivers and reservoirs have been contaminated--this woman is washing--yep, washing--in a seriously polluted pond.
Henan Anyang iron and steel plant’s (河南安阳钢铁厂) sewage flowed into Anyang River.
Chemical waste from Jiangsu Taixing Chemical Industrial District (江苏泰兴化工园区) dumped on top of the Yangtze River bank.
I think this one speaks for itself. Want to see more?? Go here.
In Ma’anshan, Anhui province (安徽马鞍山), along the Yangtze River there are many small-scale iron selection factories and plastic processing plants. Large amounts of sewage discharged into the Yangtze River.
Guiyu, Guangdong province, (广东省贵屿镇) rivers and reservoirs have been contaminated--this woman is washing--yep, washing--in a seriously polluted pond.
Henan Anyang iron and steel plant’s (河南安阳钢铁厂) sewage flowed into Anyang River.
Chemical waste from Jiangsu Taixing Chemical Industrial District (江苏泰兴化工园区) dumped on top of the Yangtze River bank.
I think this one speaks for itself. Want to see more?? Go here.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Chairman Mao was a crazy person
The more historical evidence that comes to light, the clearer it becomes that Mao was a pretty ignorant and unsophisticated person who was not qualified to lead a country. Lacking knowledge of governance, economics, sociology, etc, he appears to have been bumbling along on the steam of his own narrow-minded preconceptions of how the world works. For instance, when meeting with Kissinger in 1973, just after diplomatic relations with the US had been re-established, Mao proposed sending 10 million Chinese women to the US. He said that this would solve part of China's population problem, and since these women were apparently so good at reproducing, they would overwhelm the US with a population boom of Chinese, thus wreaking havoc on the US economy. What a brilliant, feasible, and convincing plan to strike back at the US, right? Makes SO MUCH SENSE.
flee the scene!
Jenny suggests that if microfinance doesn't work out, I quit and buy a pink yacht and sail around the world. Really, sounds better and better every day.
She also recommends that it be sponsored by Hello Kitty. I think this is reasonable and appealing.
She also recommends that it be sponsored by Hello Kitty. I think this is reasonable and appealing.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Breathe in!
Today there was a big wind blowing from the northwest...the air was grey with grit, and garbage swirled through the streets. It felt grimy and dusty and dirty to even be outside. But I bet we'll wake up tomorrow and the wind will be gone and the sky will be a clear, clear blue. In fact, we've had more blue sky days this fall since any fall in recent record. Statistics show that the air in Beijing is actually getting CLEANER--can you believe it? Maybe someday this won't be the worst place in the world to live, after all.
Friday, October 16, 2009
This Week's Alarming Statistic
14,000: Number of active Facebook users left in China, down from 1 million before the site was blocked in July.
Go Communist Party!
Go Communist Party!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
IKEA
The last time I went to IKEA, it was a crazy madhouse. Most things in China are a crazy madhouse, and you get used to it, but IKEA on a Saturday really tops it all. People are packed in, shunted along the zig-zagging track they lay out for you, smashing into each other with their carts and purchases. There's people crawling all over everything, sitting on the chairs and couches, and sleeping--I kid you not--in the beds. They hang out and play with their kids in the kids' section, and they relax and chat in the living rooms. They have their hands all over everything and yet nothing in their bags or carts.
The LA Times confirms today how ridiculous this is. IKEA barely turns a profit in Beijing because everybody comes to look and touch and play but not to buy. Even if you don't read the whole article, at least look at the picture. It's hilarious. And SO TYPICAL.
The LA Times confirms today how ridiculous this is. IKEA barely turns a profit in Beijing because everybody comes to look and touch and play but not to buy. Even if you don't read the whole article, at least look at the picture. It's hilarious. And SO TYPICAL.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
It's like this:
I like when Chinese people begin an explanation. You'll ask a question, and if the answer seems particularly complicated or may require several sentences to make clear, they'll start out with a little hand gesture: both hands extended sideways in front of them, palms open, fingers together, like they're framing two sides of a box.
"Shi zheyang," they'll say. "It's like this." And then they'll begin their explanation.
Careful, though--if your question is too direct, or too pointed, or if you accidentally asked about something they don't want to talk about, they'll get around it by saying, "Oh, that's 'bu hao shuo...' 'not good to talk about,' or sort of, 'it's hard to say'." They might say, "oh, everything's 'hai xing'...'it's fine, it's the same, it's still ok'." They'll wheeze and waffle a little, and assure you that everything is great while simultaneously managing to be a) completely vague and b) quite unenthusiastic and yet c) not awkward or particularly uncomfortable, or at least, not making you feel that way.
It's quite a talent. Pretty soon, you'll take the hint and drop the matter or change the subject.
"Shi zheyang," they'll say. "It's like this." And then they'll begin their explanation.
Careful, though--if your question is too direct, or too pointed, or if you accidentally asked about something they don't want to talk about, they'll get around it by saying, "Oh, that's 'bu hao shuo...' 'not good to talk about,' or sort of, 'it's hard to say'." They might say, "oh, everything's 'hai xing'...'it's fine, it's the same, it's still ok'." They'll wheeze and waffle a little, and assure you that everything is great while simultaneously managing to be a) completely vague and b) quite unenthusiastic and yet c) not awkward or particularly uncomfortable, or at least, not making you feel that way.
It's quite a talent. Pretty soon, you'll take the hint and drop the matter or change the subject.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
So! Finally back in Beijing
Back in Beijing as of last week. I started work last week, too, and will be moving in to a new apartment today!
Work: at 51give and its non-profit arm, 51Sim (Sim= Sustainable Innovation Movement). Both are involved in microfinance and rural development work in China, particularly focusing on renewable energy and sustainable projects.
Right now, as my first project, I'm taking over a business plan competition for university students with business plans in green energy. It should be pretty neat to see what they come up with, but I'm walking in in the middle of the whole thing, and the final event is in 2 weeks, so I guess that's a little crazed. Wait, crazed? Me? Never.
Most people in my office are Chinese--I'm the only American--but there's a French girl, a Mexican girl, and a bunch of Brits. It's hard to break the ice when everyone is afraid to speak to me because they don't know if my Chinese is passable or not.
Commuting in the mornings here is the most ridiculous thing ever. I'm not sure there's any other place on the planet more crowded than Beijing subways at rush hour. In the trains, it is 80,000 degrees, approximately, and you are pressed in among strangers with barely room to breathe. To get off at your stop, you have to elbow and shove people out of the way, while saying roughly, or possibly yelling, "I'm getting off! Let me off! I have to get off!!" If you don't push and shove and kick, you will miss your stop. Once off the train, you are shunted along in a veritable crush of people. This morning I am pretty sure I bruised a rib on a railing when shoved from behind going down a staircase.
What else? Apartment: more on that soon. It's a decent place but needs some work to make in habitable. My bedroom, in particular, resembles a Neanderthal cave more than a modern living space. It's decorated with absolutely HEINOUS reproductions of European masterpieces. For instance, you know the painting of Napoleon on the rearing steed, brandishing a sword? There's a 7-foot high print of that in the master bedroom. All the pictures are in incredibly tacky golden gilt frames....really, it's a gem in interior decorating. I'll put up some pictures for everybody's amusement in the next few days. We're living in Dongsishitiao, on the East side, if that means anything to anybody. No?
OK: back to my boring and awkward life at work, pretending I am useful. ha.
Work: at 51give and its non-profit arm, 51Sim (Sim= Sustainable Innovation Movement). Both are involved in microfinance and rural development work in China, particularly focusing on renewable energy and sustainable projects.
Right now, as my first project, I'm taking over a business plan competition for university students with business plans in green energy. It should be pretty neat to see what they come up with, but I'm walking in in the middle of the whole thing, and the final event is in 2 weeks, so I guess that's a little crazed. Wait, crazed? Me? Never.
Most people in my office are Chinese--I'm the only American--but there's a French girl, a Mexican girl, and a bunch of Brits. It's hard to break the ice when everyone is afraid to speak to me because they don't know if my Chinese is passable or not.
Commuting in the mornings here is the most ridiculous thing ever. I'm not sure there's any other place on the planet more crowded than Beijing subways at rush hour. In the trains, it is 80,000 degrees, approximately, and you are pressed in among strangers with barely room to breathe. To get off at your stop, you have to elbow and shove people out of the way, while saying roughly, or possibly yelling, "I'm getting off! Let me off! I have to get off!!" If you don't push and shove and kick, you will miss your stop. Once off the train, you are shunted along in a veritable crush of people. This morning I am pretty sure I bruised a rib on a railing when shoved from behind going down a staircase.
What else? Apartment: more on that soon. It's a decent place but needs some work to make in habitable. My bedroom, in particular, resembles a Neanderthal cave more than a modern living space. It's decorated with absolutely HEINOUS reproductions of European masterpieces. For instance, you know the painting of Napoleon on the rearing steed, brandishing a sword? There's a 7-foot high print of that in the master bedroom. All the pictures are in incredibly tacky golden gilt frames....really, it's a gem in interior decorating. I'll put up some pictures for everybody's amusement in the next few days. We're living in Dongsishitiao, on the East side, if that means anything to anybody. No?
OK: back to my boring and awkward life at work, pretending I am useful. ha.
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