> August 2006. Hutong alley, Beijing.
To view blogspot sites in China, try www.anonymouse.org.
acknowledgments
Thanks to Elizabeth Safford for the tip.
related posts
Ready Steady Go
Internet News Alert
commonly known fact
KFC is more popular among Chinese locals than McDonald's.
general consensus
Fast food in China tastes fresher than in the US. Presumably, real poultry is used.
> March 2007. Subway poster, Shanghai.
Anyone care to take a guess?
> March 2007. Gulangyu Islet, Fujian.
Xiamen at night reminds me of a little girl playing with her mother's make up and trying on high heel shoes.
> March 2007. Xiamen, Fujian.
Winning over the Chinese market is serious business and suitors hate taking no for an answer. Will the Empress bat her lashes at the foreigner's romantic overture below? Or is he coming on too strong?
> March 2007. CCTV 3, China.
related links
> http://www.liebherr.com/lh/en/
>June 2006. Taipei, Taiwan.
Blogspot is again fully operational in China.
> Poster in home of Hakka Earthen Building. Fujian Province, China.
No internet access to blogspot.com. This means I can edit, but not view my blog. You can read it, but I can't.
Hopefully this is temporary.
> April 2006. Washington, DC. Photo Courtesy of Michael Li of the Maryland Energy Administration.
Dear Non-US Expats,
The following questions are neither funny nor newsworthy. Please stop asking them.
1. Why do you call yourselves Americans? What about Central or South America?
2. Why is it called the World Series when no one else in the world is allowed to compete?
3. How come Americans only know how to speak English?
Thanks in advance.
The first time a Shanghai cab driver told me I looked like someone famous, I was thrilled. I always wanted to "look like somebody". The problem is I'm familiar with so few mainland stars. So one time I wrote down the name and of course Google'd her later. The thing I have to wonder is, "Did he mean Liu Xiaoqing on a good day or a bad one?"
GOOD
BAD
> June 2006. Stinky Tofu, Taiwan.
Boy: You hold your chopsticks the wrong way.
Girl: The girl at that table holds them the same way I do.
Boy: Yeah, I know. I hate how she eats. I can't even bring myself to look at her.
Getting what you want out of a trade show in China is much like trying to win the game show Supermarket Sweeps. It's all about Pregame Strategy:
1. Know what you need to shop for
2. Plan for the time allotted
3. Be prepared for the physical aspect of moving quickly
Once the buzzer sounds, it's all about FOCUSFOCUSFOCUS.
Attending tradeshows is an intense activity for me. But every once in awhile I have an amusing experience. Last Friday I found a vendor for Ecko Red, where my sister worked last year. It's fun to run into reminders of people in unexpected places. Pretty sure this is Grade A product.
>East China Fair,
Shanghai LGBT held their first trivia competition Sunday night at Kevin's Bar & Restaurant. The Refugees, herein referred to as The Winners, were awarded with free drinks and dinner vouchers. After The Winners were announced, The Winners remained to contemplate their Sweet Victory in quiet repose. And humble gratitude.
> The Winners. Photo courtesy of Shanghai LGBT.
acknowledgement
The Winners would like to thank Shanghai LGBT for putting together a great event and being straight-friendly.
note
Reports of ostentatious high-five activity are false. The Winners do not condone public displays of Rubbing It In.
> March 2003. Changle Lu, Shanghai.
Bound Journalism would like to thank Elizabeth Safford for our first photo submission!
> June 2006. Lotus farm, Taiwan.
French Gentleman to Woman: Ladies first....so I can check out your ass.
> March 2007. Senses Wine Bar, Shanghai.
Guy 1: People in China just don't understand about personal space.
Girl, in quiet agreement: Personal space is very small here.
Guy 2: Uhh, personal space is like, negative here.
acknowledgements
Overheard in Shanghai entries based wholly on the website Overheard in New York, one of the best damn things that has ever happened to me.
Warehouses. Textile factories. Food processing plants. Flour paper cotton and steel mills. Firm, reliable structures steeped in sweat and tears. They have a sense of purpose and an air of efficiency. I love them.
> February 2007. Corner of Wukang and Huaihai Lu, Shanghai.
Many old-style neighborhoods are being torn down to make way for lucrative office space, wider roads, new subway lines, General Modernisation. People living in these neighborhoods are told that their country needs them to relocate. That's not to say the policy doesn't meet with some disgruntled expressions for displacing families from homes that had been in their hands for generations, for forcing people into new apartment buildings on the outskirts of the city, for separating neighbors that had been a part of each others' family histories and daily lives. For those displaced, being relocated can be a horribly emotional time.
In the past, the government assigned new housing and often neighbors would find themselves in the same apartment complex. Though it wasn't communal living as they were accustomed to (sharing sinks, toilets, outdoor space, etc), at least they had indoor plumbing and sturdy walls. Today's policy is to trade cash for old housing instead of a new apartment. This presents another set of complications; while on the surface people have the freedom to choose where they will live (if not whether they relocate), isn't it still up to the government to provide housing affordable to these people? Thereby still in the hands of the government to decide where this affordable housing will be built? Maybe private developers will build "low-income housing" (as they say in New York), but still...how will people organise to relocate to the same apartment complex and preserve their personal relationships?
Last month I wandered into one of these neighborhoods in the process of being demolished. Bared and raw, the structures were quiet but still beautiful in a vulnerable way. The saddest image was seeing the very few families still occupying the area, abandoned rubble greeting them each morning.
> February 2007. East end of Fuxing Lu, Shanghai.
acknowledgements
> Thank you Libby from M97 Gallery, one of Shanghai's first dedicated international contemporary photography galleries, for sharing a sense of curiosity and exploring the site together.
cited sources
> Though the practice of displacing people is common knowledge, some details come from a conversation with my ayi's brother-in-law, who was unhappily moved from his childhood home centrally located on Nanjingxi Road. My ayi Jane's husband was also displaced, but his home was in the shadows of a municipal prison and barely livable. Being relocated greatly improved his quality of life.
They have bedding. They have underwear. The occasional towel. It's boring. Say your good byes, I'm moving on.
> 26 February 2007. Location Undisclosed, Shanghai.
My apartment was renovated no more than 3 years ago. Already I am battling patches of mold on the walls. Modern buildings in China typically age at lightning speed; apartment buildings erected in 1998 are already considered old and paint seemingly chips off walls as you sleep.
Below is rot on one of the major supporting beams of the Shanghai Botanical Gardens greenhouse. I know it's festering and probably not very healthy, but I can't help being strangely attracted to it. Is that wrong?
> February 2007. Botanical Gardens, Shanghai.
I love the Heritage Architecture found around the city. But the other day, I met a rare building I didn't much like.
The erratic behavior of the windows really irked me. Maybe from the inside the method of the madness would be apparent, but from the outside the size and placement were conflicting and difficult to reason. That's just self-centered architecture to me.
And the lemon merengue walls? I understand decorative detailing, but combined with the faux brick, this building's makeup was too insincerely natural for me to fall for it.
> February 2007. Spanish-style home built 1932-33, Shanghai.
