Salty silliness

While it has been heart breaking to read the news and see the clips and pictures of the devastation in Japan, the Chinese’s reaction to what’s been going on has been borderline laughable. Of all the times to get in a frenzy the Chinese chose now? Now, I’m not trying to play down the real and plausible threat of a nuclear meltdown, or make light of the fact that thousands of lives have been lost and there are some still risking their lives to prevent another catastrophe or negate the potential for radiation to make its way over to the big dragon. But latest of “dumb ideas” is sweeping China by storm and taking all the salt with it. That’s right. The country is buying up all the salt.

New sources are now reporting that the radioactivity from Japan could contaminate the food supply, and supposedly a SMS is being spread throughout the country (and possibly Asia) that is saying that people need to buy all the salt they can get their hands on. Other reasons for the stalk up on salt are that these people think that salt will prevent thyroid cancer. But this CNN article dispels that myth pretty assuredly. And here are some pictures to show the mayhem.

What is so ridiculous about all of this is that there have been countless food safety issues in China in the past year (past week even) and people have just gone about their marry way. God only knows what is in the food over here (literally, I think God is the only one who knows) and I just don’t get why now, of all times, there is this sudden need to take precautions – that are useless mind you.

I kind of wonder if the country would be in the same panic if the radiation was coming from somewhere else (like Indonesia). Part of me thinks that this whole uproar doesn’t partly stem from their attitudes toward the Japanese. Now I am not going to generalize and say “the average Chinese person hates the Japanese,” but there is still some clear hostility toward their island neighbor (which can be seen in the paper I work for). So I wonder if these people who are so panicked about salt aren’t subconsciously, or consciously, doing so because this radiation isn’t just any old regular radiation, it’s Japanese radiation; really bad radiation. There’s no report or analysis to back this up. It’s just by passive observation.

Despite the salty silliness, my heart aches for the Japanese, those who have lost loved ones, and those who are putting their health and lives on the line to prevent another disaster.

Eagles...and my 100th post! woot woot!

I’ve only been to a few concerts in China and most of them involved a lot of foreigners. I’ve never been to one of these outlandish concerts where male popstars walk a fine line between tacky and cross-dresser like. I wasn’t sure that Chinese people even liked music where the singer’s sex was virtually indistinguishable, let alone 70’s country-rock.

But then I got to go see the Eagles in Beijing and my perceptions of Chinese and their music tastes changed – for the better.

First of all, I was a little surprised that the Eagles, of all bands, were coming to China. They didn’t start advertising it until about January and I wasn’t sure if it was going to be another hoax (Bob Dylan was supposed to come to Shanghai last year, but someone up in Beijing put the stop to that). I knew I wanted to go see them and knew a few other lao wais who would want to go too. I didn’t really know any Chinese friends who would be interested because frankly, I didn’t know the Eagles were popular among the natives. Sure, I’ve heard cheesy renditions of Hotel California playing in the mall and Desperado is a go-to song for non-Chinese singing KTVers, but I didn’t realize how popular the Eagles were until I asked around about a week before the concert.

I told the mother of the little girl I tutor on the weekends that I wasn’t going to be in Shanghai the next weekend because I was going to Beijing to see my brother. She asked what I had planned to do and I told her we were going to the Eagles concert. “Oh we’re going here in Shanghai.” Oh really? I was surprised this conservative-looking family (who is definitely racking in the money) knew about and even liked the Eagles. She went on to explain that her husband was a big Eagles fan in college. “He used to want to be in a band like the Eagles. He used to play the drums.” Ok, I thought. So maybe this guy is like Chinese 30-year-something-old version of my dad.

Then I was talking about the concert with some coworkers. While the post 80s generation (those born after 1980, younger than 30 and are only children), might not be too keen on the Eagles, a lot of the 70s-born are it seems. My coworker was telling me that she and her classmates learned English in high school and college with help from the Eagles. “A lot of us grew up listening to the Eagles, and it brings back happy memories of younger years for me.” I told her that I also grew up listening to the Eagles – not to improve my English but from my dad playing on the stereo all the time.

After learning that the Eagles do actually have a significant fan base in China, it was time to go to Beijing. The concert got off to a slow start with the Eagle’s playing some stuff from their “new” album, which I equated to my mom was “Grandpa music.” But about three songs in they really got going. Now, I’ve been to about 5 Eagles concerts in my life and this was by far the most unique. The band is getting on up there in age, but it was neat to be sitting with a bunch of Chinese people who appreciate the same music I grew up listening to. They cheered, danced and were a pretty energetic crowd! And boy did they go crazy for Hotel California and Desperado.

My brother, who has been in China for going on 5 years, said it was the best concert he’d seen in China. I was glad to not only see a really good show, but also share in an important part of my culture and my home country’s culture half way around the world.

From NYAFC to CD

There are many, many times when I look at my life and think “Wow, how did this happen?” – both good and bad. And luckily this post is all about the good. I’ve been holding out with telling you few readers about my life plans, but I’ve got a column being published on Sunday that I’m kind of proud of and think it’s time to let the cat out of the bag.

Well, dear readers, yours truly will (eventually) be co hosting a TV show here in China… and for now, I'll have a weekly column pertaining to the show’s topic. I secretly have always wanted to do broadcast journalism, but just thought that my passion and interest in writing would be better fulfilled in print media – although I also never saw myself working at a newspaper! But when my psuedo boss told me about this new opportunity I was all over it. It's not exactly "journalism" (but what in China is?) but it is TV experience and something that is one step in the right direction for me to achieve my goals.

Not only am I excited about a potential break in to TV, I’m also really excited to have what will soon be a weekly column. I’ve enjoyed posting on NYAFC because I feel like it’s kind of column like and I can make it my own. When I got started writing this new column, I had a little trouble with the first few though. I mean, I'm young and what could I possibly have to say that is that original and interesting? But after some advice from the editors up in Beijing, I think I’ve found what can be my “voice” for this CD column.

The TV appearances have yet to start, but you can be sure I’ll let y’all know when I make my TV debut in China. Actually, it will be my second debut as (I’m told) my appearance on Wheel of Fortune also aired in China.

By the way, if any of you are interested in seeing past articles I’ve written go here and you can see what yours truly has been up to. I realize that this kind of gives up my attempt to be “anonymous” but whatever. This blog really isn’t that popular anyway. The list is a little slim, but keep in mind, most of my job is rewriting what the Chinese staff have (usually poorly) written.

Lamien Love: Dating plunders

I realized that I haven’t posted a Lamein Love in a while and now that I’m a single gal again I should probably reinstate the series. People who date in China always seem to have funny stories, and while I’m not too sure I’m ready to go and get myself attached again, I hope to at least get some entertaining stories from it.

China’s most recent census (completed in November) revealed that there are in upwards of 23 million people living in Shanghai. That’s a lot of people. And while the foreign population probably accounts for a small, small percentage of that (less than 1 percent), you would still think that in a city of 23 million people there would be plenty of people to court/date/meet/etc. Well I thought that at least until a most unfortunate blunder.

On a lark, I made a profile on a dating site that is part of Shanghai’s best online entertainment guide. I mostly did it to see what desperate guys had written and how foreign-seeking Chinese women were trying to win over a potential green card holder. But then I came across this rather witty profile. From their book, music and reading tastes I thought “Hmmm… this person is interesting. I will send them a message.”

I did, and we exchanged some funny messages back and forth about our experiences in China and aboard, what we do here, future plans in China and the other “get to know you stuff”. By about the third or fourth message, I realized that this person sounded eerily similar to my former boss from when I was in intern in Shanghai back in the day. After a little “investigating,” I was 99.9 percent sure it was him so I signed the next message with “-MK”.

Sure enough about 12 hours later I got the awkward response of “Is this (insert my name)?” and luckily he was “quite amused” while I was, in a word, mortified. The worst part is he is a reference on my resume! What’s going to happen when someone calls him up and asks about me as a potential job candidate? “Yes, she’s a hard worker and may even approach you on a dating site”? Oh no.

Needless to say, I deleted the profile, apologized profusely and am resigning myself to meet guys the old fashioned way, in person, where I know they’re not someone I shouldn’t be approaching.

The world's market place

A girl unpacking goods at Yiwu... I love all the pink in this picture!

Have you ever wondered where those trinkets from the dollar store come from? Have you ever wanted to see every possible good you could ever want to buy all in one place? Have you ever wondered what 15 million square feet of shopping looked likes like (that’s 6 times the size of the Mall of America)? I think I sufficiently say that I’ve seen it all.

Late Friday afternoon I was assigned to go to Yiwu, home to the world’s largest small commodities market. If you’re asking yourself “what is a small commodity?” it’s basically anything and everything you could ever imagine buying. They’ve got fake flowers, arts and crafts, hair accessories, make up, jewelry, toys, stationary, pins, pens, clocks, watches, flashlights, MP3 players, kites, kitchen appliances, cooking supplies, hardware supplies, furniture, art, bikes and a whole lot of other things that I’m leaving out but am too lazy to type.

I’ve heard and read about this place and have actually been secretly hoping to get to go. While the circumstances weren’t ideal – I was assigned TWO 1,000 word articles on Friday to be due on Wednesday –  I was excited to go and see this place for myself. It was only about a 2-hour train ride away from Shanghai in neighboring Zhejiang province and definitely felt like I was in hundreds of miles away from Shanghai in Podunk China.

I was awestruck walking around the labyrinth of corridors and hallways of different vendors. I have never in my life seen so many products in one place. And I only went to the International Trade City – the place that’s 6 times the size of the Mall of America. There are countless other markets that specialize in other products. After the awe wore off I began feeling a bit uneasy; the kind of uneasiness I get when I go to a suspect restaurant and wonder about the quality of the food. It not only seemed to me incredibly wasteful, but also troubling about what was in some of these products - especially the makeup and the jewelry.

My suspicions were confirmed after chatting with a senior executive of a global supply chain company. “Our clients (multinationals) would never come to Yiwu to buy their products,” he said, later suggesting one could get an unpleasant disease from wearing the jewelry sold at the trade market. It was kind of a miracle that I had met this guy, because I think his insight really made the story.

But one thing he said really stuck with me. As he was going on about how these products don’t pass social (like worker’s rights) standards (or safety or sustainability standards for that matter) the workers don’t care. In fact, he said, they want to work overtime. So while I (or some of you more China-adverse readers) could get on my high horse, all these useless trinkets do provide jobs, food, a living for other people.

I kind of left feeling disheartened. I just felt like the market, the city even, epitomized so many things I find wrong with China - wastefulness, greed, unsustainability, workers abuse. I had heard such rave reviews about Yiwu and the market. And while it was something unlike anything I had ever seen, I have the same sentiments about Yiwu as I do about some “reconstructed temple” or “scenic spot.”

Fireworks, oh fireworks

Fireworks are everywhere at CNY!

By now the country - for the most part - is back to work on a regular schedule and, more importantly, the fireworks around the city have subsided. It’s about time after 14 days of around the clock blasts. It wasn’t necessarily 24/7 - but it was off and on 24 hours a day. It’s not the best way to be woken up in the middle of the night (or 5 in the morning).

Although it was neat to look out the window from my apartment on the 12th floor to see fireworks exploding right outside the window and to see the skyline exploding with the kind of show you only see from professionals - you know, like you’d see at a theme park or on the 4th of July. But as I was watching them out my window, thankful I hadn’t accidently left a window or something open as ash and debris would have without a doubt come in, I really wondered how safe all the hyper-pyromaniacs were.

I was enjoying setting off the fireworks with Ellen and her dad on Chinese New Year eve In Changzhou until it started getting a little irresponsible. Even though we were in a safe place, I was really nervous when they started setting off the fireworks not even a foot away from the box of 10 other fireworks - including what looked like M80s.

And then the family started setting off fireworks 5 feet away from a busy intersection. We’re not talking about the lame Roman Candles we were holding, I’m talking about the big boys; the box of fireworks that’s like three feet long and two feet high.

But the worst offender was the genius that lit fireworks in the middle of the street when cars were passing by and even driving over them! Luckily we did not see an accident, but that was a close call... Maybe too close!

Happy New Year in Changzhou

Happy New Rabbit Year! All you kiddies born in 1987 better get ready… this is NOT your year!

So I just up a 7-day holiday from work, which has gone by oh-too-quickly. I decided that between all my trips in 2010 and some more upcoming trips and weddings I would save some cash and stick around China. Besides, I’ve heard all kinds of crazy things about Chinese New Year in China. I debated sticking around Shanghai, but knowing I would probably just be lying around on the couch for 7 straight days I decided to put in a phone call to an old friend.

After Ellen was so disappointed that I was going to Thailand last year for CNY, I thought I would see if she and her family would be around Nanjing for the holiday. She was really excited when I told her that I was going to be in China and invited me to spend the holidays with her and her family in Changzhou, where I went to the dinosaur amusement park. So I told her I would come over for a few days, because, selfishly, I wanted to experience a real, traditional Spring Festival.

So I got in last Wednesday afternoon, greeted by an excited Ellen and happy Chinese family. I wasn’t expecting much, as its Changzhou and there is not much to do there, but I had an interesting (?) time full of eating some new oddities – like pig’s ear and beef tendons, lighting off fireworks and watching CCTV. I also got to accompany the family as they paid their respects to ancestors and burn incense and candles said to bring good health and wealth. I’ll let you know later about the wealth part!

Truthfully, though, it was kind of overrated. It wasn’t just the language barrier, although when the family wasn’t speaking in the local dialect, I could understand a lot of what was being said – I just couldn’t say it back. As mentioned in my earlier forced fun post, I just felt like it was somewhat uninspired and lacked the excitement and mystery (you know, like Christmas usually has.

 A friend posted this card to my facebook and I thought it pretty accurate of my experience. While I enjoyed my time with Ellen and think my Chinese may have improved the most it ever has in a two-day span, I wasn’t convinced I need to stick around China for every New Years.