About China blogosphere, travel, and entrepreneurship

Once you’ve been living in China for awhile, you begin filtering out all the background noise and taking many of the things you once marveled at for granted. This includes the bad stuff and often the good stuff too. I suppose that’s the natural thing to happen as you settle in, becoming wiser in the ways you navigate what was once your new surroundings, populated as it once were by all those foreign people. Live here long enough and you might even return home (wherever that may be) to suddenly and ironically find yourself unaccustomed to how you once lived pre-China.

It is, surely, a testament to one’s ability to adapt.

I usually ride the Shanghai metro to get wherever I need to be and, like most people, I tend to pass through People’s Square metro hub quite often. That is where the two oldest Shanghai metro lines intersect in the heart of downtown Shanghai and, as you can imagine, it gets a lot of people passing through representing a good cross-section of the population. It is, simply put, a great place to observe the forward marching progress of Chinese urban civilities.

Photo Credit: www.shanghaicalling.com

Now, it wasn’t long ago that the People’s Square station featured, frustratingly, teeming mobs of humanity that swelled forth towards the train doors blocking the very teeming mobs of humanity within that tried to swell out. Of course, jam-packed subway trains are nothing new, particularly within big metropolitan cities in Asia. Moreover, many of us have seen those cute pictures of little Japanese metro attendants wearing white gloves trying to shove yet another sardine into the can. Well, jam-packed subway trains in and subway stations in China, even oh-so-modern Shanghai, are a whole different, ludicrous beast. They rightfully confound many a jostled foreigner, who wonders: “why can’t they obey the damn signs?” Of course, these signs spell out what should be a common sense maxim: let those inside get off first, then board.

If the people in Hong Kong and Taipei can do it, why not the mainlanders?

Photo Credit: www.shanghaicalling.com

Well, the very logical answers to that age-old question are beyond the scope of this piece, and wholly irrelevant because, alas, times are changing. Since I first arrived in Shanghai, the People’s Square metro stop has been redesigned to solve the enigma of why it takes longer to go from Line 1 to Line 2 than going from Line 2 to Line 1. They’ve also, somehow, made great strides in civilizing the masses, as I recently actually bothered to look up from my cell phone Sudoku game (my commute pastime of choice) and beheld the most curious of sights: People waiting with a reasonable amount of patience by the sides of the train doors leaving an exit path open to let the passengers within get off before swelling forth into the train.

It was mind-blowing.

I admit, fully, that I’ve had my nose stuck in my Motorola on the subways for far too long now, paying little heed to anything else save the announcement of my destination stop and the woefully expensive Gucci wallet I received as a gift (arguably the most expensive and wholly unnecessary part of my low-maintenance existence). Have all those Shanghai municipal government and transit authority efforts to teach basic courtesy to the denizens of this great city so they won’t embarrass themselves in front of tourists been paying off?

Good god, they have!

For the briefest of moments, I had snapped out of my daily routine of being oblivious to what I had long ago accepted as commonplace and no longer worth noting.

This was a most reassuring development.

Now, I’m not quite sure if it was precisely at that exact moment that I swiveled my head to the flat-screen televisions installed in the subway trains here, or if it was during some other ride, but I was suddenly face to face with Jeremy Clarkson, on Top Gear, reviewing the Ariel Atom.

Surprise #2.

I love Clarkson in a most non-homoerotic way because I love Top Gear. I love Top Gear because I have loved cars like any red-blooded male who has hung a Lamborghini Countach poster in his room when he was a wee little boy and grew up to discover both the internet and how said internet could bring fantastic BBC programming and British humor to lands dry of, well, fantastic BBC programming and British humor. Here was a man paid handsomly to drive the world’s most exotic, testicle-tingling machines and, for the first time ever, I was able to watch it riding the metro (tube?), crammed with all the other car-less suckers of Shanghai.

Bloody fantastic.

Despite reminding me of my no-car-reduced-to-mass-transit lifestyle here in urban China, it surprised me because it represented an importation of not just British pop culture but also of the increasing Chinese culture of car-ownership. To be sure, China could do with less cars and the people driving them, but Top Gear running segments of its show as advertising half way around the world in Shanghai’s metro was fascinating. It was, for me, such a beautiful sign of culture-crossing, globalizing interests. What red-blooded mainland Chinese male wouldn’t love to watch an overweight Brit carting himself around with oodles of groin-quivering horsepower, looking forward to the day they too can partake in such delights?

This was a most aspirational development.

For those who have never been to China, I can attest that China is probably quite different from what you envision it to be. For those, like me, who have been here for awhile, it might be a good idea to wake up from our stupor every once in awhile and ask ourselves if we’ve noticed any positive non-political changes lately.

On CNReviews, we showcase the best, the most innovative, and the most interesting debate about the Chinese Web 2.0 as the week draws to a close…

This week has been the first “real” week after the October Break, which this year was moved ahead two days to start September 29, 2008. We’re starting out with some of the most known tech-related sites in China; we’ll expand our view a tad later on and help shine spotlights on some of the lesser known sites that have interesting views to share…

Kaiser Kuo’s Digital Watch

Probably one of the most notable and Must-Keep-Your-Eyes-On-This tech blogs in the PRC is that from Kaiser Kuo. The bilingual Digital Watch posted quite a number of interesting posts throughout the past week…

• The US markets have plummeted beyond recognition, and the very same can be said for much of the world’s economy, so there’s a post about how the downturn will impact China’s Internet sector. Kaiser spoke with David Wolf of Wolf Group Asia. Funding is expected to get tight, but at the same time, local VCs with RMB-denominated funds could really jump into the limelight.

The DF (David Feng) Take: I chatted with my best friend in Singapore just days ago, and the consensus is that the world economy has taken a hell of a beating. China is likely to face less impact, though, as its economy is not exactly USA II (either in terms of policy, or “opennness”, or the somewhat-convertible Renminbi Yuan). However, bits and pieces of the PRC economically connected with the US on a larger scale will likely get hit — quite a number of export factories around Guangzhou and Shenzhen have apparently felt the punch.

As an entrepreneur-to-be (I do, after all, want to start my own company), the thing that gets you out of the starting gate is MONEY. The CNY still buys less than the USD if you’re looking at the whole thing on a “How-Much-Is-This-Dollar-Worth-In-Terms-Of-Actual-Renminbi” basis (as in USD 1 = approx. CNY 6.8 or something like that), but the Renminbi is the currency of the future. It will appreciate. Money from any (legit!) source is what gets your company out of the starting gate. If I had to start a company the next second, I’ll look for both local and global players to get the money in — never discount the local VCs!

The Mobinode

• Gang Lu’s excellent (and equally bilingual) The Mobinode tells of the imminent inaugural Open Web Asia 08 Conference. There’s a 10% discount (if you act really quick — they could’ve already disappeared…)

The DF Take: If it wasn’t for the fact that I’ve commitments in Beijing that have more than implanted me here, I’d have flown over to South Korea in no time. I wish the inaugural Open Web Asia 08 Conference nothing but the best, and am confident that they’ll do more than well. I hear that @loiclemeur’s headed to Seoul.

China Web 2.0 Review

China Web 2.0 Review, written mainly by Tangos Chan, but also by others of note, has been tracking the next-generation Web in China for quite a while and is worth a read.

• BlogBus is about to launch an SNS service — this is of note as Blogbus is a relatively well-established blog provider based in Shanghai. 100 users have been invited to test the new SNS service. Also of interest: the new SNS will not have games such as “Friends for Sale”. The report rounds up saying:

2008 will be marked as a year of SNS in China, but most of those social networking sites look similar. Can Blogbus bring some surprises to us?

Well said, Tangos. The PRC web needs more innovation and less imitation.

The DF Take: First of, I’m really pleased that the new SNS will not have pointless (the way I see it). Second of all, this is going to be a brave new step for an established blog provider.

Just before this post went to press the Internet, I heard by way of a few tweets that China Unicom may also have did its own SNS thing. There’s nothing wrong with SNSs — and do note that the Chinese as a whole are more group-oriented than individualistic — but doing 1.3 billion SNS services pushes the whole thing to saturation point. Things will eventually happen — and for some, it won’t be all that good.

• Also of note: Don’t Just Talk At Me, Talk With Me — two video clips about how to be newly successful in China’s changing branding environment.

In a rare interview with foreign media, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (the popular “Grandpa Wen”) was interviewed by CNN journalist Fareed Zakaria. Although it’s annoying to listen to the translator’s voice dubbed over Wen’s–hasn’t CNN heard of subtitles?–Zakaria and Wen touch on a variety of issues, from the economy to the Dalai Lama.

At the beginning of the first clip, Zakaria explains that one of his conditions for the interview was that he was allowed to ask any question that he wished. While watching the video, there’s certainly a sense that in his carefully phrased answers, Wen is speaking both to the American and to the domestic audience.

Before watching this video, it’s well worth reading this insightful article by James Fallows on the delicate economic balance between China and the US.

Part One:

Part Two:

Some particular highlights:

• Wen refutes the idea that China is a superpower, because of the large gap between the rural and urban areas
• Wen turns the table on Zakaria and asks if he, Zakaria, agrees with him on China’s role in negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear threat
• Zakaria asks Wen about the famous photo of Wen during the Tian’anmen Square protests (Regarding that photo, Richard Spencer has an excellent analysis of Wen’s place as a “good official” in the Chinese political narrative), Wen diplomatically turns that into a question about democracy
• Citing Adam Smith, Wen reconciles the inherent contradiction in having a market economy within a socialist system
• Zakaria asks about the Great Firewall and if it is possible for an advanced society to develop under this kind of censorship

The transcript of the video is also available.

Fiona Lee is a freelance writer/marketer/blogger based in Beijing. She blogs at quirkyBeijing.com

The historical moment is 16:43 Sep. 27 2008.

Chinese Spaceman Zhai Zhigan: Walking out of Spaceship

Chinese spaceman Zhai zhigang is saying “Hello” to the World

Video from Youku.

Several days ago, ESWN posted a translation of a Tianya post titled “What is the reason China’s younger generation is losing confidence in the Western media?”

More than a decade ago, a Chinese diplomat gave a speech in which he narrated a story. At a certain UN meeting, the British representative condemned China for not being sufficiently democratic as usual. The Chinese representative retorted, “Your country has been promoting democracy in Africa for more than a century, but how is it doing now?” The British representative shut up …

This is one example of the western nations promoting their values. They have many methods, including hard and soft methods. The hard methods involve the United States and Great Britain pushing democracy in the Middle East, but all they got was a quagmire. The soft methods involve the western media using their international speech rights to say awful things about countries which do not have western-style democracy. China appears to be the constant target of the western media. This is understandable, because Chinese-style democracy is different from the western style and China has blazed its own trail. The easiest to say that your stuff is good by sayingthat the stuff from the other side is bad. The western media are very good at that and they can pull these types of reports out of thin air. If you want to go back further in time, there was the front page story in TIME magazine in 1997. If you want something closer in time, there are all those stories about the Olympic torch relays earlier this year.

If there are no western tourists coming to China and no Chinese studying overseas, the western media could say whatever they want and they own the international speech rights. If you cannot see for yourself, you have to trust them. But times are different, as more and more western visitors come to China and more and more Chinese tourists travel overseas.

According to the statistics, only 280,000 persons traveled from China to overseas between 1949 and 1978. That would be fewer than 10,000 persons per annum. In 2007 alone, 40 million Chinese citizens traveled overseas, while 56 million foreigners came to China.

The western tourists are perplexed because China is completely unlike what their own media are reporting. The overseas Chinese students are perplexed because very few western media reports have anything good to say about China. Why?

The western media which own the international speech rights think that this is the only way to show off the superiority of western values. But they are mistaken. Those who have seen the real China realized that they had been deceived by the western media. Meanwhile, the hypocrisy of the western media are made known to the Chinese people going abroad and they become ever more patriotic. Even if the majority of western media were to switch positions today, they are merely reflecting the true state of affairs because the western tourists have seen too much and the television broadcasts are live. However, the western media will inevitably revert to true form.

Some western media may be perplexed by the fact that they used to be able to report whatever they want without meeting any protests from China. How is it that any negative comment that they now make will draw a lot of protests?

This is because the customarily arrogant western media may not have realized that they had lost China! They are losing the admiration and trust of the Chinese youth. Over the past three decades, the Chinese government has led the country to an astonishing economic growth, and many citizens have benefited from it. The Chinese who travel overseas during this period are the rapidly rising middle class and the intelligentsia. When they see the good things in China being badmouthed in the western media, what else is this but hypocrisy?

Ultimately, the Chinese people want to achieve prosperity and national power through democratization. But the western media seem to only want democracy for the sake of democracy and they don’t care what happens to China afterwards.

The Chinese form of democracy guarantees first and foremost the right to survive and develop. But the western media wants to promote its own form of democracy according to its own ideas. They don’t care what happens to a country afterwards. For example, the United States went into Iraq to promote democracy. When things don’t work out, they bail out. What does democracy in Iraq matter to the United States? In the past, Great Britain and France have promoted democracy in Africa, until the continent became the Third World within the Third World? What does democracy in Africa matter to Great Britain and France?

The promotion of these double standards has only exposed their hypocrisy in front of the Chinese and foreign people. This is something that the western media did not imagine. If they want to keep up with the times, they should correct their mistakes. Since they are the media, truth should come first. In reply to a question a few days ago about the suspension of a Chinese journalist in Germany, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said that the media ought to observe the basic rules — to report in an objective and fair manner. This is easier said than done for the western media.

Following that original post were dozens of comments in agreement:

作者：声声夺人 回复日期：2008-9-9　20:45:28

楼主说的很对
其实根源在他们自己
他们的新闻都是假的
自然失去我们中国人的信任！

What the original poster said is so true.
Actually, the root of the problem is themselves.
Their news is all fake [inaccurate],
naturally losing the confidence of the Chinese people.

作者：加密之心 回复日期：2008-9-9　20:46:51

我从来不相信西方媒体
所以自然没有西方媒体失去我这一说
那些垃圾新闻机构
都是反-=华势=-力的帮凶！

I never trust Western media
so I can say the Western media did not lose my trust.
Those garbage news agencies
are all accomplices of anti-China forces!

作者：人间美丽 回复日期：2008-9-9　20:48:42

我一般只看国内的新闻
因为外国人不了解
难免戴上有色眼镜
支持楼主！

I usually only watch domestic news
because foreigners do not understand
and inevitably wear colored glasses.
I support the OP!

Now, I know what you’re thinking…and it’s pretty much what I’m thinking.

But let’s take a look at what some other Chinese posters on Tianya were thinking:

作者：公子为 回复日期：2008-9-9　20:59:10

奇怪！
西方媒體怎會失去中國年輕一代的信任呢？
你能看到西方媒體嗎？
反正我是看不到。

Weird!
How can the Western news media lose the trust of China’s younger generation?
Can you see the Western news media?
I know I can’t.

作者：不知道风向 回复日期：2008-9-9　21:08:16

咱看过西方媒体吗？连凤凰台都看不全，总是莫名其妙出广告。

Have we watched Western news media before? We can’t even watch Phoenix TV in its entirety, always strangely cutting to commercials.

作者：做玻璃砸弹弓 回复日期：2008-9-9　21:15:36

楼主说的很对
其实根源在他们自己
他们的新闻都是假的
自然失去我们中国人的信任！
————————————————
是呀，哪有我们新闻联播真实啊，
我们新闻联播第一句都是：今天是某年某月某日农历某月某日，从不出错，太真实了。

What the original poster said is so true.
Actually, the root of the problem is themselves.
Their news is all fake [inaccurate],
naturally losing the confidence of the Chinese people.
————————————————
Yeah, no where as true [accurate] as our news networks,
Our news networks always begin with the sentence: Today is what year, what month, what day and what month, what day of the Lunar New Year. Never wrong, exceedingly [accurate].

作者：干死楼主全家 回复日期：2008-9-9　21:19:38

不好意思，作为中国年轻一代，还不知道信任为何物。
也不知道什么是媒体，只知道CCTV。。

Sorry, but as part of China’s younger generation, I still do know what trust/confidence is.
I also do not know what is news media, I only know CCTV…

作者：sccdzm1188cn2 回复日期：2008-9-9　21:20:56

声声夺人
注册日期： 2008-9-7 14:27:00
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加密之心
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人间美丽
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不是诺夫
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半条野狗
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有人有意
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撒旦协力
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==========================
快来看庞大的四字4+1毛队伍啊，靠，发了３次都发不出

[List of users, their registration dates/times, and their last activity on the website. It shows that many of the "replies" supporting the OP came from accounts that were recently registered in rapid succession]
==========================
Quick, come look at the enormous amount of Wu Mao Dang [50 Cent Party], shit, it took me 3 tries to post!

作者：几许悠 回复日期：2008-9-9　21:24:25

楼主能看到西方媒体吗?我咋看不到了.

The OP can see western news media? I can’t see anything.

作者：stackhouse1201 回复日期：2008-9-9　21:25:04

哇靠，恶心透顶的five 毛

Holy shit, the Wu Mao Dang [50 Cent Party] is too disgusting.

To be sure, many Chinese are still quite wary about the Western media, especially following the coverage of the T!betan riots earlier this year. Most educated people around the world definitely acknowledge that biases do exist in Western media, for many reasons and of which some of which are understandable while others are not. Moreover, we also know that bad news sells in the West and hearing the Chinese demand that Western media do more “balanced” reporting by including more positives about China just isn’t going to happen.

Westerners often scoff at the Chinese for having the audacity to criticize Western media. Just look at how blatantly propagandist and biased the Chinese media can be. But, to their credit, many Chinese are fully aware that their own domestic media is far from objective even as they chastise Western media. To them, it isn’t about Chinese media being better or Western media being better, it is simply about pointing out the fact that when one side is wrong, they’re wrong.

For those of us observing the often heated dialogue between the critics and defenders of China, we sometimes forget that the Chinese are not a homogeneous band of stark raving protesters, internet vigilantes, and comment trolls. True, the Chinese often don’t help themselves by reverting to defensiveness whenever a foreigner is part of any discussion on China’s problems, but we do have to admit that them doing so isn’t wholly incomprehensible.

There is ample diversity of opinion and thought amongst the Chinese even if that expression is sometimes controlled and threatened by the central government. Unfortunately, most Western observers are incapable of reading the Chinese required to venture onto the major Chinese-language internet forums like Tianya. If they could, they would certainly see much that would upset them, even disturb them, but they would also hopefully see much to reassure and encourage them from comments like those above, made by Chinese who are not only rational and reasonable but also blessed with well-tuned propaganda bullshit meters and incisive wit.

The Chinese are not idiots. If nothing else, they’re survivors. Unlike many of us who have somewhere to escape to, they often have little choice but to deal with the world they live in, state-sponsored mouthpieces and all.

By the way, Roland Soong @ ESWN is one of my favorite blogs covering China, always providing tons of translated material (along with Jack Kennedy @ GVO and Fauna @ chinaSMACK). I simply wish Roland would set up an RSS feed for his Brief Comments Section, as he posts a ton of good stuff there that I often miss. His RSS feed only seems to contain his less frequently updated material from his Blog Posts section, and I don’t always get a chance to visit his website. If anyone knows something I don’t about that, please let me know.

From The Independent’s slideshow of Olympic photographs.

Now that the Olympics are over, the foreign media and China observers are all quick to speculate about what will happen in the post-Olympic era.

Here’s a brief sampling of what’s being addressed:

- The economy: While many foreign companies are concerned about a possible downturn, Chinese officials point out that Beijing’s economy only accounts for a very small part of the overall boom. However, maintaining the epic pace that marked the Olympics will be a harder job for the Chinese government. Check out this video from Reuters for an analysis from a Beijing-based economist.

- The environment: Although Beijing won high marks for its pollution controls and clear blue skies during the Games, the environment is likely to take second place behind economic growth…again. Beijingers, at least, support continuing the restrictions on motorists and making a more environmentally-friendly city, but the government will be slowly beginning lifting the regulations starting on Thursday.

- Human rights: Despite the high-profile sentences of two elderly women to labor re-education after they applied for protest permits, one Italian expatriate living in Beijing wanted to show the world that it was possible to protest. It wasn’t. The United States sent in a strongly-worded statement to the Chinese goverment about human rights; China’s response from a Foreign Ministry spokesman creatively invokes Abraham Lincoln. The ongoing discussion and debate on China’s human rights record is sure to continue.

In the immediate future, one beneficiary of the Olympics is the Paralympics–with the passion for spectator sports fairly undiminished, tickets for events have been going quickly. One loser? Olympic souvenir collectors, the value of official souvenirs is falling rapidly.

Fiona Lee is a freelance writer/marketer/blogger based in Beijing. She blogs at quirkyBeijing.

photo credit Gerald Herbert / AP via MSNBC

I was inspired by a post by James Fallows, a post by Sky Canaves of the great WSJ China Journal blog, and also on China Law Blog, to mention my belief that Bush has handled US-China relations with uncharacteristic subtlety and nuance.

The White House has published a full transcript of his August 7th speech and that of the former President George H. W. Bush, dedicating the new embassy compound in Beijing.

President George W. Bush went out of his way to communicate respect for and awareness of Chinese culture/history:

Tonight the Olympic torch will light the home of an ancient civilization with a grand history. Thousands of years ago, the Chinese people developed a common language and unified a great nation. China became the center for art and literature, commerce and philosophy. China advanced the frontiers of knowledge in medicine, astronomy, navigation, engineering, and many other fields.

Bush also highlighted the progress that China has made to date, and the significant shared interests between the two countries:

Today the United States and China have built a strong relationship, rooted in common interests. China has opened its economy and begun to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit of its people. America will continue to support China on the path toward a free economy.We’re also cooperating to fight pandemic diseases and respond to natural disasters. And through the six-party talks, we’re working together to ensure that the Korean Peninsula is free of nuclear weapons.

Bush speaks in terms that emphasize equality. But he does not shy away from speaking out on the ideals and beliefs that are part of American political ideology:

The relationship between our nations is constructive and cooperative and candid. We’ll continue to be candid about our mutual global responsibilities. We must work together to protect the environment and help people in the developing world; continue to be candid about our belief that all people should have the freedom to say what they think and worship as they choose. We strongly believe societies which allow the free expression of ideas tend to be the most prosperous and the most peaceful.

In an earlier speech in Thailand on August 7, 2008 (transcript on WhiteHouse.gov, covered by IHT, AFP, Guardian, others), Bush sounded similar themes but according to AFP:

The comments were noticeably more restrained than the speech he made in Thailand on Thursday just before flying into Beijing, in which he made wide-ranging criticism of China’s attitude towards human rights.

The transcript of the speech on WhiteHouse.gov shows how Bush navigated between criticism and respect.

Bush opens with recognition of the significant progress achieved by the Chinese government and the Chinese people since the 1970s:

I’ve been fascinated by China since my first trip there in 1975, when my dad was the head of the United States Liaison Office in Beijing. At the time, the country was just emerging from the Cultural Revolution. Poverty was rampant. Bicycles were everywhere, and people were wearing almost identical clothes. It seemed unimaginable that three decades later Beijing would be sprinting into the modern era — covered in skyscrapers, filled with cars, and home to international businesses, as well as hosting the Olympic Games.

Bush highlights shared economic interest and political cooperation in the international arena:

China and the United States share important economic interests. The growth sparked by China’s free market reforms is good for the Chinese people, who are building a confident middle class with a stake in a peaceful future. China’s new purchasing power is good for the world, because it provides an enormous market for exports from across the globe.

Bush does his best to frame his argument for human rights in the context of these rights allowing China as a country to reach its full potential:

Our constructive relationship in these areas has placed America in a better position to be honest and direct on other issues. I have spoken clearly and candidly and consistently with China’s leaders about our deep concerns over religious freedom and human rights. I have met repeatedly with Chinese dissidents and religious believers. The United States believes the people of China deserve the fundamental liberty that is the natural right of all human beings. So America stands in firm opposition to China’s detention of political dissidents and human rights advocates and religious activists. We speak out for a free press, freedom of assembly, and labor rights not to antagonize China’s leaders, but because trusting its people with greater freedom is the only way for China to develop its full potential. We press for openness and justice not to impose our beliefs, but to allow the Chinese people to express theirs.

Finally, Bush emphasizes China’s independence, its unique characteristics, and its cultural and historical background:

Ultimately, only China can decide what course it will follow. America and our partners are realistic, and we’re prepared for any possibility. I’m optimistic about China’s future. Young people who grow up with the freedom to trade goods will ultimately demand the freedom to trade ideas, especially on an unrestricted Internet. Change in China will arrive on its own terms and in keeping with its own history and its own traditions. Yet change will arrive. And it will be clear for all to see that those who aspire to speak their conscience and worship their God are no threat to the future of China. They’re the people who will make China a great nation in the 21st century. (emphasis mine)

I hope that the next US President will take a similarly nuanced approach to China which I’ll summarize as:

1. Recognizing and honoring the progress that China’s government and people have made,
2. Focusing on significant areas of shared interest,
3. Not shying away from advocating for the human rights that are at the foundation of the US political beliefs,
4. Framing the issues of human rights and freedom of religion as ways to enable China’s people and China’s government to achieve their greatest potential, and
5. Recognizing that China with carve a uniquely Chinese path, that is best determined by the Chinese government and the Chinese people.

In what will probably be considered a generally disasterous Presidency, George W. Bush may very well have set a good direction on the most important bilateral relations for the next 100 years.

Note: Xinhuanet also covers his speech. You can compare what was reported vs. the entire transcript to see the long version vs. the harmonious one!

UPDATE 8/9:  Henry Paulson published an article in Foreign Affairs entitled The Right Way to Engage China:Strengthening U.S.-China Ties that looks like a promising read.

I love the new public holiday calendar started in 2008 which we have a few more 3-day long weekends. June 8 2008 is the first time we will celebrate Duanwu Festival (端午节) as public holiday (maybe since I was born) in mainland China, although it has been a public holiday in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan for some years. We will be off on June 9 Monday this year.

Duanwu (端午) as a name is less well-known than Dragon Boat Festival (龙舟节). It is also known as “五月初五” - the fifth day of May in Chinese Luna calendar. Qu Yuan (屈原) and Wu Zixu (伍子胥) are two figures that are highly related to this holiday. Qu Yuan was committed a suicide by jumping to a river called Miluo River (汨罗江) in BC 278, and Wu zixu was ordered to suicide by his respectful King in BC 478. These two great men from 2,000+ years ago died on May 5th, both for patriotic reason: They saw their own countries were in danger but the Kings wouldn’t take their proposals to protect their lands. Duanwu is the day to memorize them - Chinese have the long history to memorize patriots died for the reasons don’t really make sense today.

But the traditional celebrating activities: dragon boat racing and Zongzi eating are for Qu Yuan. Zongzi (粽子) is a kind of bamboo leaf wrapped dumpling made from sticky rice. It was said that people throw this kind of food into Miluo River (汨罗江) where Quyuan died to feed fishes thus to protect Qu Yuan’s body being eaten. They also raced dragon boat on the river to scare away the fishes. I am not a dragon boat fan, but a Zongzi lover.

I still remembered a “joke” circling on emails last year about Zongzi (粽子) :

It is said that a senior manager was relocated to China one month before Duanwu festival. And the company gave Zongzi to all employees as a way to celebrate this traditional holiday. The next day, this senior manager was asked how did he like the Zongzi. And he said:” It is very delicious, but the skin of the dumpling is a little too hard.”

I know sometime it is difficult to figure out how to eat a Chinese dish. It is always a challenge to figure out weather the skin is eatable. [for Zongzi, the answer is no.] And there are always different flavors of Zongzi in South China and North China like dumpling. I grow up in a small city in West Guangdong (广东) and we ate a kind of plate flavor Zongzi that is served with suger powder at side. But in Shanghai, the most popular Zongzi is “Meat Zong“ (肉棕) which has a piece of pork in the middle of sticky rice. A bit north in Henan (河南), people usually eat sweet flavor Zongzi stuffed with green bean or red bean.

The best Zongzi in Shanghai area is the Zongzi from Jiaxin (嘉兴), a small city between Shanghai and Hanzhou (杭州) in Zhejiang province. And the best brand is Wu Fang Zhai (五芳斋), a Zongzi maker since late 19 century. You can buy them from supermakets or visit the stores. Must try it out if you are in China. A twit has anounced that he plans to eat Zongzi for 3 days in the coming long weekend.

Address of all stores in Shanghai:

地址: 上海黄浦区四川中路136号(近广东路)
Add: 136 Sichuan Zhong Rd. (closed to Guangdong Rd.) (tel: 021-63210018)

地址: 上海黄浦区南京东路720号第一食品商店内
Add: 720 Nanjing Dong Rd, inside the First Food Department Store

地址: 上海徐汇区浦北路938号(近虹漕南路)
Add: 938 Pubei Rd (closed to Hongcao Nan Rd)

地址: 上海徐汇区天钥桥路40-90号汇联商厦1楼(近肇嘉浜路)
Add: 40-90 Tianyaoqiao Rd, in Huilian Plaza

地址: 上海静安区大沽路254号(近重庆北路)
Add: 254 Dagu Rd. (closed to Chongqing Bei Rd) (tel: 021-63753085)

Imagine a conversation like this:

Lee (Chinese): Eric, which university did you go to?
Eric (American): I went to UC Berkeley.
Lee: oh, I didn’t know it. Where is it?
Eric: ….

Elliott brought up an idea called”Cultural literacy” the other day as our colleagues in Uptake were very surprised at he telling everybody that he didn’t know about “Liu Xiang” (刘翔), “Lu Xun” (鲁迅) or “Zhe Jiang University” (浙江大学) which is a a top university constantly ranked at top 10 in China. It is the same scenario that a Chinese is asking an American what is “UC Berkeley” while maybe all well-educated American assume people have some knowledge about US will also know about “UC Berkeley”.

Definition of “cultural literacy” from wikipedia:

Cultural literacy is the ability to converse fluently in the idioms, allusions and informal content which creates and constitutes a dominant culture. From being familiar with street signs to knowing historical reference to understanding the most recent slang, literacy demands interaction with the culture and reflection of it. A knowledge of a canonical set of literature is not valuable when engaging with others in a society if the knowledge stops at the end of the text - as life is interwoven with art, expression, history and experience, cultural literacy requires the broad range of trivia and the use of that trivia in the creation of a communal language and a collective knowledge. Cultural literacy stresses the knowledge of those pieces of information which content creators will assume the audience already possesses.

I hope the following list of Chinese University Ranking can help you out of embarrassment from the conversation at the beginning, when your Chinese friends expect you to know they are from big names but all you have to say is “I don’t know about it.” This list is from a <2008中国大学评价> (2008 China University Review) by Wu Shulian (武书连).Wu is leading a group to evaluate universities in China Academy of Management Science (中国管理科学研究院). This review and ranking has been running for 12 years in 2008. The completed list is published as a guidebook for high school students to choose colleges every year.

As in the West, there are many different ranking every year, each ranking has different approach or measurement. Knowing university in No. 10 or No. 15 is less important than having the idea that it is a pretty well-known top 20 U.

Top 30 China Universities in 2008

1. Tsinghua University (清华大学): Beijing
2. Beijing University (北京大学): Beijing
3. Zhejiang University (浙江大学): Hanzhou, Zhejiang
4. Shanghai Jiaotong University (上海交通大学): Shanghai
5. Nanjing Univerity (南京大学): Nanjing, Jiangsu
6. Fudan University (复旦大学): Shanghai
7. University of Science and Technology of China (中国科学技术大学): Hefei, Anhui
8. Huazhong University of Science and Technology (华中科技大学):Wuhan, Hubei
9. Wuhan University (武汉大学):Wuhan, Hubei
10. Xi’an Jiaotong University (西安交通大学): Xi’an, Shanxi
11. Jilin University (吉林大学): Changchun, Jilin
12. Zhongshan University (中山大学)：Guangzhou, Guangdong
13. Sichuan University (四川大学): Chengdu, Sichuan
14. Harbin Institute of Technology (哈尔滨工业大学): Harbin, Heilongjiang
15. Shandong University (山东大学):Jinan, Shandong
16. Nankai University (南开大学): Tianjin
17. Tianjin University (天津大学): Tianjin
18. Beijing Normal University (北京师范大学): Beijing
19. Central South University (中南大学): Changsha, Hunan
20. Southeast Unversity (东南大学) : Nanjing, Jiangsu
21. Xiamen University (厦门大学): Xiamen, Fujian
22. Renmin University (中国人民大学): Beijing
23. Beijing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics (北京航空航天大学): Beijing
24. Dalian University of Technology (大连理工大学): Dalian, Liaoning
25. Northwest Polytechnical University (西北工业大学): Xi’an, Shanxi
26. Tongji University (同济大学): Shanghai
27. South China University of Technology (华南理工大学): Guangzhou, Guangdong
28. Chongqing University (重庆大学): Chongqing
29. East China Normal University (华东师范大学): Shanghai
30. Lanzhou University (兰州大学): Lanzhou, Gansu

There is almost at least one top university in the provinces along our coast line, from Liaoning to Guangdong, except of Guangxi and Hainan (which was part of Guangdong). Xian and Nanjing were the capital cities for many dynasties in China history. The advantages in politics and economy attracts more talents for these areas.

One defect of this ranking is that it didn’t include the specialized universities for language, medical and law, etc. And the private colleges are not included either. It’s more focus on the “research capability” of a university.　But all the above 30 universities with other 20 universities are “the universities that Education Dept. invests directly to build and development” (教育部重点建设高校) which I understand as “these 50 universities get more funding from the government”. And a freshgraduate from the top 50 universities will have a greater chance to get a Shanghai Hukou (户口) according the Hukou application score system.

Check out here to visit the websites of these universities.

复旦光华, from West Lake in Hangzhou.

A groundswell of information is being shared and produced about the devastating Sichuan earthquake yesterday that hit south-west China near Chengdu, Sichuan. Coverage all over the place but check IfGogo.com, Shanghaiist, Danwei, GlobalVoices. If you are on Twitter, you can follow the people that account ChinaList follows and that’s a start at tapping into some of the people in China. Or you can use Summize to search Twitter for the term: 地震 or earthquake. People’s Daily coverage here and reports Premier Wen heading out to the affected region. CNN reports 3,000 dead, 900 buried in quake, according to Xinhua.

Other CNReviews coverage: China earthquake donation guide

Photo on Sina (h/t fuzheado)

IfGoGo also provided many photos on the Sichuan earthquake.

IfGoGo.com provided many images about the 7.8 Sichuan earthquake. Above image of “people in Sichuan (maybe) from Hainei.com. (more…)