2010 is a special year for the city of Shanghai as 2008 for Beijing. A world-wide event the World Expo will be held in the city. And differ from Beijing Olympic Games, Shanghai World Expo 2010 will last 6 months, from May 1 to late October. And the government estimates that over 70 million visitors will attend this event. It is a giant party for travel industry.

So, welcome to China, welcome to Shanghai.

Here is the public holiday schedule for 2010. For detail explanation of each holiday, check out our older post of public holiday of 2008 & 2009.

2010 public holiday China

In the past week, one of the headline stories on TV news has been the rehearsal of an extraordinary parade expected for this coming National Day holiday (国庆) on October 1st, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.

According to Xinhua news on People’s Daily Online,  it is shaping up to be a much bigger show than the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony in terms of the number of people involved. It will also be only the 14th military parade since 1949:

President Hu Jintao will give a keynote speech, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the new China.

A military parade and mass pageant would follow, said a spokesperson for the 60th National Day celebration preparation committee of the Beijing municipal government Monday. The timetable for the celebrations is not yet available.

The military parade will highlight the achievements China has made in its defense sector during the past six decades and showcase its resolution to safeguard world and regional peace and stability.

The mass pageant would involve about 200,000 citizens and 60 floats, with the theme of “Motherland and I Marching Together”.

Beijing Review reported that five types of missiles will debut during the parade:

…including nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles, conventional cruise missiles and medium-range and short-range conventional missiles, will be displayed for the first time at the highly anticipated military parade, said the expert, who asked to remain anonymous and has been closely following the preparations of the strategic force of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

I am not a fan of any kind of weapon, but I think this is going to be something fun to watch if you are not going out during the 8-day public holiday. Given that most of us are not in Beijing,  a member of the Tianya discussion forum posted a reminder and exhortation to the live broadcast director of CCTV:

The 60th anniversary military parade is very important to every one of us, so take good care of the live broadcast!  Don’t ruin it! ( 60年阅兵式对我们每一个人都非常重要，阅兵式的电视转播一定要注意呀! 千万别被搞砸了).

I guess most of us still remember that NBC made the Beijing Olypics Openning look better than CCTV.  No wonder!

Travel agents have gotten notice that Beijing is not open for tours during the first few days of the October 1-7 holiday. However, we’re not sure about tours from overseas.

If you are already curious (like me), we’ve included some additional images of the rehearsals below. A news report video, in Chinese, can also be viewed on Sina.

This is the second of three posts (first here) that Min and I have translated from the Wenxuecity.com discussion forums where overseas Chinese and Chinese returnees are discussing whether or not to return to China. Each post relates the experience and thoughts of a Chinese returnee, often comparing the differences between China and elsewhere. – Kai

Wall Street Chinese Returnee: If You Just Want To Get By*, America Is Still Better To Get By In

Author: wint

“Issuing visas until my hands were weak”, was how a visa officer at the Chinese Consulate General in New York described the current wave of Chinese returning from abroad.

Amongst these returnees, there are no shortage of high-level executives. They are the talent and minds that many Chinese enterprises dream of, and now [with the global financial crisis] both sides finally have a convenient opportunity. But are Chinese enterprises really their safe harbor?

Russell Reynolds Associates [an American executive search company] has, through years of observation, found that the survival rate for returnees does not exceed 50% , with a similar amount of managers choosing to leave six months after joining Chinese enterprises, and sometimes even sooner.

A returnee who returned to China from Wall Street three months ago said: “If you just want to get by, America is still better to get by in.” The reason is because he feels the teamwork in state-owned enterprises is really poor,  respecting but excluding “sea turtles” with good work experience. Department managers and colleagues are hostile to these “sea turtles”, sometimes even to the degree of hiding basic work/assignment details. The adjustment process is very painful. The so-called “adjusting” means to continuously lower one’s expectation: State-owned enterprise treat returnees as merely a consultant or technician, and it would be best for returnees to not take themselves too seriously and think they can accomplish anything upon returning to the country.

Zhou Lian claims to be a failed example of returning from abroad to work for a Chinese company. She is now the Senior Vice President of Human Resources for the ABB Group Asia-Pacific Region. In 1982, after graduating from university, she had gone over to the United States to study and work but, according to her: “At the end of 2006, filled with enthusiasm, I purchased a one-way ticket and choose to join a Chinese company.” Before returning to China, she successively was responsible for human resources in Cummins and was a senior Human Resource director for the Wal-Mart Asia Pacific region. She, possessing abundant human resources training and project management experience, started having regrets within a year of working at the Chinese company. Afterward, she chose to go to ABB.

She says: “To this day, I still think that Chinese company has prospects. This kind of “break-up” is not an issue of who is good or who is bad, who is better or who is worse. The most important thing is the match. Although we were both speaking Chinese, I actually did not understand what my boss was saying, and much of our logic is also not very Chinese. At the end of meetings, I often heard the conclusion: ‘Let me think about it.’ I would ask, ‘Okay, when you will be done thinking?’ Later, I realized: “Let me think about it” equals to “I disagree”. Back in the US, when we were brainstorming solutions, we would say look at how Microsoft, Dell, etc. did it. But the Chinese company I worked for would talk about how some general in the Qing Dynasty or some businessman in Tang Dynasty did it. At that time, I had no choice but to buy a lot of history books to read [in order to understand them].”

This kind of situation may be familiar with many returnees. Successfully transforming [a company] probably takes at least one year’s time, and requires going through 3 related yet different stages: First, enter [the company], then be accepted by the company, and then finally have the ability to bring change to the company. These three stages occur in the first 3 months, first 6 months, and first year, and the first 6 months are the most vital.

* 混 hùn is a difficult Chinese word to translate. As a verb, it mixes notions of drifting aimlessly and not living up to your potential. Think of it as wasting your time and life, being lazy and just “getting by.”

This is the first of three posts that Min and I have translated from a thread on the Wenxuecity.com discussion forums where overseas Chinese and Chinese returnees are discussing whether or not to return to China. Each post relates the experience and thoughts of a Chinese returnee, often comparing the differences between China and elsewhere. – Kai

Credit: David Yang

Shanghai Life: One Year After Returning

Author: specta

In summary, I feel the pros > cons in coming back, and I haven’t yet thought of going back yet.

Biggest impression: Living in China, in one word: “tiring/exhausting”.

Work: Tiring. Although my fellow Chinese have made great progress in working professionalism in recent years, they are still far behind the Americans. To accomplish something, it is more than likely you will have to watch them as if you were babysitting, and aside from this, you simultaneously need to use even more pressure from those above while “establishing good relations” with those below. Actually, in America doing similar is also necessary, but it is clearly more so in China.

Asians are afraid of changes, with the Chinese and Japanese being the most obvious (even with companies like Toyota). Many things, upon reaching the time for implementation/execution, an “n” amount of opposing reasons appear. It is rarer to encounter people who also offer alternatives while opposing. How many changes can please everyone? The vast majority of the time, if the pros> cons, it will be decided to implement/execute [changes]. However, even if it is decided, subordinates may not necessarily cooperate. Anyway, Chinese have also become famous for not liking to follow instructions. I think the so-called “lack of execution ability” is related to this.

Overall, for the vast majority of work, cost-effectiveness is still higher in America.

Life: Pollution is too serious: Noise, dirty air, unreliable food products, bad traffic…

Noise and traffic is what I still cannot get used to. In Shanghai right now, roads/buildings are being repaired everywhere, disturbing the residents every day and every night. Appealing to the “relevant work units” is generally useless. Beyond this there are also neighbors remodeling their homes. If they are considerate, they keep the remodeling work to weekdays between 8am-6am. However, I’m just unlucky, encountering inconsiderate people twice in one year. Appealing to the property management is useless. Eventually, I became too lazy to fight it and accepted my fate.

Speaking of traffic, as long as you’re on the road, every second requires high concentration. Even if it is walking on the sidewalk, one must be cautious like a mouse ducking in and out of bicycles, and when encountering construction, anything could be dropped or thrown down from above. Even when it is a green light, you still need to check all four directions, as something could rush out at any time. I feel like the traffic light in the country is only for reference.

Food: The variety is numerous. However, for those who already have sensitive digest, like myself, you have to be careful. Over the past year since I’ve been back, I have gone to the hospital four times because of digestive problems. My digestion never had this kind of problem in the United States.

Housing: I don’t want to buy a house because I feel renting is less hassle, and more freedom. My biggest problem is that it is difficult to find an apartment with a drying machine (I can buy the machine, but when it comes to making a hole for the exhaust, many landlords are unwilling). I never used to think doing laundry was  troublesome, but now I really dislike hanging up clothes to dry and then taking them down. When summer comes to Shanghai, some cotton clothes will also often become smelly. What a hassle!

Travel: Almost every place with a hill/mountain or water has been fenced off to charge admission fees. The main thing however is that there are too many people, too much pollution, and not many places that are truly worth seeing, especially near Shanghai. Even when you leave the city for leisure, it is often too crowded–last weekend I was thinking of going to Chongming Island, but after being told I had to wait 3-5 hours just to buy a ferry ticket? Forget it.

Shopping: The stuff in department stores or specialty retail stores make me think: “that much money for this sh*t? f**k it!”  The only thing I have worn for a long time that was purchased from a department store was a pair of Erdos wool pants – can’t help it, Shanghai winters are cold. I usually have the clothes I wear to work tailored made at Dong Jia Du, or I will go to small stores near my places to find quality imported clothes. Overall, if you search more, you can find some good stuff at cheap prices.

Opportunity: I truly think one the opportunities for making money in China are more than the United States (regardless of whether it is white, yellow, or grey income). I myself have started trying a few based upon my interests — after all,  if I am only working for foreign companies, the whole point of coming back would have been lost.

As an expecting first-time mother living in Shanghai, I found this topic from a local Shanghai “mommy” online community last week to be really interesting. A pregnant woman asked whether she should listen to her husband’s suggestion that she go give birth in the United States instead of China. Unfortunately, the original post has been deleted, but you can still see the cached page here.

This Chinese woman also wrote an email to a Lian Yue（连岳), a well-known, award winning blogger, asking for advice. Lian Yue responded to her on his blog. Here is a translation of the original email and Yue’s reply:

Lian Yue,

I’ve been a reader of your blog for a few years, and I never thought I would write to ask for your help one day.

I’ve been pregnant for 4 months and at the same time, I have been in a fight because of it for 4 months. My husband has been insisting that I have this baby in the United States, in order to give him/her a US citizenship. We already got our travel visas to the US this past September so the visa won’t be a problem. Plus, one of my colleagues did the same thing earlier this year in Los Angeles, thus giving my husband more confidence that we can do it as well.

However, I don’t see the necessity. Besides the expense of hundreds of thousands of RMB, is US citizenship really so important? My husband is very disappointed with the current situation in China. He always says China is going downwards and is hopeless. Although I disagree with him, I never care to argue with him. But, all of these negative opinions have became his reasons for me to go to the US to give birth.

After returning from a trip to the US this past October, my husband was more affirmed with his idea. In the beginning, I said “No” so he started a cold war* with me. Later, I had to say “yes” because I was too tired to argue with him further. However, I never thought it through: even if our child is a US citizen, he/she will still grow up and be educated in China anyway. The only convenience will be that he/she might have an easier time applying for a US university or job in 20 years. But, how do I know if he/she wants to be a US citizen or wants to go to the US in 20 years ?

I’ve asked a lot of friends for opinions. Some are in support, some have concerns, and some are opposed to it. Lian Yue, could you help me out, even with a short reply: Do you think I should give my baby a US nationality?

- A mom-to-be expecting answers

* cold war: Where two people generally ignore and do not talk to each other, aka “the silent treatment” or “cold shoulder.”

————————————————————————————-

A mom-to-be expecting answers:

1. If your plan is feasible and you can afford the expense, I AGREE that you should go to the US to give birth.

2. Marcel Duchamp became a US citizen in his late years, reason: more freedom with a US passport. He was a Frenchman originally. Freedom is always good to have.

3. If your husband truly believes that China is hopeless and will be  “finished” sooner or later, he has a very strong reason on this matter. If he is right, it won’t be easy for your kid to go to US when it happens. According to my optimistic outlook, China is not hopeless and won’t be finished.

4. Even if he/she chooses to stay in China in the future, it will probably still be safer [to be an American] anyway. You won’t need to worry about being sent to lunatic asylum without cause. Freedom from fear is a beautiful thing.

5. He/she could become the President of United States.

6. Although we have an old saying that “Offspring have their own fortune,” the next half of this saying is: “American offspring have more fortune.”

7. Of course, there will be people who will ask, “So Lian Yue, why do you maintain Chinese nationality? Why not go become an American?”

8. It is because I grumble too much, often making criticisms. As a Chinese citizen, it is more fun to do these things.

9. The most important thing is, I am old, so it doesn’t matter any more.

Lian Yue (连岳)

Dec 10 2008

What’s your opinion, CN Reviews readers?
Spread the word:

]]> http://cnreviews.com/china/should_i_give_my_baby_a_united_states_nationality_20081222.html/feed 32 http://cnreviews.com/life/living-in-china/china_public_holiday_2009_20081210.html http://cnreviews.com/life/living-in-china/china_public_holiday_2009_20081210.html#comments Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:23:17 +0000 Min Guo http://cnreviews.com/?p=1201 Update: 2010′s Chinese public holiday schedule has been announced.

CCTV 1 News Broadcast announced public holiday schedule (Chinese version here) for 2009 today. Many CNReviews visitors find the 2008 version very helpful. Here is the 2009 version.

2009-china-public-holidays

<South China People Weekly> (南方人物周刊) by South China Weekend (南方周末) has a serial reports called <Reform 30 Years: Everything is from 1978 > (《改革30年：一切从1978开始》) which are very interesting to follow. The recent report  <历数三十年阶层跃动：改变命运的九次机遇> (Counting the changes of classes in 30 years: 9 Opportunities to Change Fates) uses 9 “keywords” to summarize the must significant changes in the past 30 years.  I think these 9 terms are must-known for people want to learn and understand China and Chinese people.

1. 高考 (Gāo Kǎo) : literally means “high exam”. A contraction for “advanced education entrance examination”. The university admission had been suspended for 10 years during the Cultural Revolution from 1967-1976. 1977 was the year for Chinese talents to change their fates when  Gāo Kǎo restarted.   In 2008, the colleges admission rate has reached a record high: ranging from 33%  to 76.8% for different provinces.

2. 倒爷 (Dǎo Yé): were referred speculators who took advantage of a price policy reform in 1979.  There was a “double-prices” system: planned price and market price during the reform. People always found the price difference between the two systems and thus they can perform “倒” (Dǎo) -  buy low and sell high. There was a saying ” 0.9 billion out of 1 billion people is ‘daoing’, the left 0.1 billion are looking for something to ‘dao’. “倒爷” was not a famed class back then, but they helped to break the ice of planned economy.

3. 打工潮 (Dǎ Gōng Cháo):  The government allowed farmers to “reside” in cities and towns in 1984. Since then, thousands of millions farmers have migrated from remote farms/villages in inner China to the coastal cities from late 1980s to early 1990.  I believe the term “打工” (Dǎ Gōng) is from Cantonese which means “to work for an employer instead of being a boss”.  打工潮 means a wave that farmers (most are young people) left hometown to work in the cities. The people are called “打工仔“ (Dǎ Gōng Zǎi, young male) or ”打工妹” (Dǎ Gōng Mèi, young female).  They are the most importance source of labor in China’s economy.

4. 裁军 (Cái Jūn): means disarment. There have been 10 disarments since the country was foundǎě. The largest scale one – a million disarment – was in 1985.

5. 炒股 (Cháo Gǔ): “炒 (Cháo)” means “stir fry” and “股 (Gǔ)” means “stocks”. “炒股“ together means “to keep buying and selling stocks, like stir-frying the stocks”. 1990 was the year that Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange were founded. The first generation of “股民” (Gǔ Mín, stock holder) were less educated in value investment or long term investment. They are an emerging group who would learn a painful lesson in the stock market or made their fortune overnight.

6. 下海 (Xià Hǎi): literally means “walking down to the ocean”. It was a phenomena that government officers quit their “iron-bowl” jobs and started to do business, encouraging by Xiaoping Deng’s South Talks in 1992. The term is a metaphor that  to leave a government job is like to risk walking into an ocean where danger and fortune were unknown.  It was estimated that 100,000 officers have Xià Hǎi.

7. 留学 (Liú Xúe): means “studying abroad”. More and more people who studied abroad have become returnees (海归，Hai Gui) and make great contribution to the technology innovation since 1990s.

8. 新经济 (Xīn Jīng Jì): means “new economy”. The representative of “new economy“ was the class of young entrepreneurs emerging with Internet and dot com booms.

9. 海选 (Hǎi Xuǎn): literally means “select from the sea”. The term became popular along with a Chinese version of “American Idol” reality competition show. The idol in China is called Super Girl (超女, Chāo Nǚ) and the show is a girl’s only singing competition. Li Yuchun (李宇春) was the first Super Girl whose fate was changed by all people voting for the first time in China.

Stories behind each of these terms can be a book, and I am not going to expand them here. Try to learn these words if you will, and brag about them with your Chinese friends. I guarantee great discussions will be followed if you bring up any of them. (Tip: Generation 90s might have very limited knowledge of above topics.)

I read the following conversation on a forum two days’ ago:

A: Hi, I just “smashed” a world record in a semi-final contest.
B: Oh, that’s great! Congratulations! Wish you a gold medal in the final.
A: Well, thank you. but I didn’t make into the final.
B: ….

It was a joke about how many swimming world records (WR)/Olympics records (OR) have been smashed in the Water Cube （水立方) – National Aquatic Center（国家游泳中心) since the first day of 29th Beijing Olympic Games. Even you broke a world record, you might not even qualify for the final contest. lol

Until today Aug 13 2008, there are 24 new swimming world records reset, and 28 Olympics records reset according the data from Beijing Olympics official website. Michael Phelps himself contributed 6 world records and won 5 gold medal until Aug. 13.

So, different theories about the world record making secrets have “revealed” on the web. Here are the top 3 most popular ones:

1. Speedo LZR RACER Swimming Suits

SULLIVAN Eamon from Australia said “it was very comfortable when wearing the Speedo LZR Racer.” Chinese Jiaying Pang said “it was like floating on the water after wearing it.” Speedo has done enough PR to show its high tech behind the “shark-skin”, but number is more convincing: 52 out of 56 swimming world records were set when athletes were wearing Speedo LZR Racer.

2. Water Cube

Gao Min (高敏), 1988 & 1992 Olympics 3m Springboard Woman Diving Gold Medal Winner, wrote in her blog:” When I visited the Water Cube a month’s ago for an interview, I was told that Water Cube would be a birthplace of many swimming world records. I didn’t pay attention at that time. Now I realized how important the technologies in building this water center are.”

Gao Min mentioned four key elements:

1. The error tolerance for the 50m swimming lane is only 2mm, far more less than international standard of 1cm.
2. Water quality is better.
3. The floor around the swimming pool is heated to keep the athletes warm before the game.
4. Water recirculating process technologies on the walls of the pool. They were designed  and built to absorbed more currents/waves to reduce the resistance.

Another theory is that the pool is 1m deeper than general pools, which is also helpful in reducing the water resistance.

3. Drugs?

- No comment at this moment.

Any more?

Xinhua News just announced the flagman (旗手) of China team in Beijing Olympic Games: Yao Ming (姚明). It will be the second time Yaoming leads China team enter the stadium in Olympic opening ceremony. Above image was took in 2004 in Athens.

The only mystery left will be who is the last person in the torch relay with the honor of lighting the Olympic Flame. I guest the answer won’t be announced until Aug 8, 2008.

The theme song names <Dream> <You and Me>, presenting at the scene called <Dream>, and will be sung in English by above two artists. Rumors have said <Beijing Welcomes You> will be the theme song, and a few other singers have been projected to be the candidates. But now it is clear.

The next biggest mysteries for the opening ceremony are: who is the flagman for China team? and who will light the Olympic fire? Liu Xiang (刘翔) was one of the hottest candidate, but he has announced that he won’t participate the opening ceremony few days’ ago. Yao Ming (姚明) and Xu Haifeng (许海峰) who won the first gold medal for China in 1984 are in the top of the list.

Who is your candidate?

Music video of the theme song. 

Lyrics of the Olympics Theme Song <You and Me>

Composed and Lyrics by 陈其钢 (Chen Qigang)

我和你，心连心，同住地球村

为梦想

千里行，相会在北京

来吧！

朋友，伸出你的手

我和你，心连心，永远一家人

You and Me　From one world We are family

Travel dream

A thousand miles Meeting in Beijing

Come together

Put your hand in mine

You and Me　From one world We are family

This post was last updated on Aug. 11 2008 by Min Guo.