Comments for ChinaB

Comment on Graffiti in China by » Mid-Week Links: Rumors people actually believed, Pathlight’s second issue, and a documentary about citizen journalists Beijing Cream

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:01:22 +0000

[...] Mid-Week Links: Rumors people actually believed, Pathlight’s second issue, and a documentary about citizen journalists Via H. Lincoln, ChinaB [...]

Comment on Camping in China by Casey

Casey — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 09:16:51 +0000

I’ve camped once in China and it was done illegally. We were in a crowded tourist spot and had no desire to be jammed in on the concrete slabs outside of the hotels on top of the mountain. It was also terribly noisy with all of the domestic tourists yelling and playing music, so my friends and I decided to jump the barbwire fence (which was already taken down in a section by someone with the same thought) and head into the woods. We were run off the next morning by a police officer, but he didn’t try to cite us or anything. I don’t approve of camping illegally when there are appropriate places and reasons for a camp ground (ie: conservation and protection of environments, group gettaways, entertainment), but it seemed unwholesome to set up a tent in what was essentially a walkway or parking lot. China has a long way to go before I will fully respect efforts like these, but that won’t stop me from heading to someplace like Mr. Ding’s.

Comment on 7.23 Wenzhou Train Crash: A Generation-Defining Event by On the Hubei Collapse | Roger Presents:

On the Hubei Collapse | Roger Presents: — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 06:49:56 +0000

[...] who brought their outrage down upon the corrupt officials involved like the hammer of some Chinese, smartphone-wielding Thor. It’s almost unfathomable that after such an incident and the ensuing PR-fallout that there [...]

Comment on “You all like to eat this”: Responding to Chinese people saying you can’t eat Chinese food by H. Lincoln

H. Lincoln — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 01:04:16 +0000

Yes, conforming is generally valued more in China than in America. It’s not so bad that you’d have no friends for being a little eccentric, though. In some ways Chinese people have a higher tolerance for different behaviors than Americans do, but that’s such a long and nuanced story that I won’t get into it here.

I think that the ‘you all like to eat this’ statement is more like trying to be welcoming to a guest. People in mainland are generally not used to associating with foreigners so it does not occur to them that profiling can be received negatively; they think it is actually rather accommodating. And I suppose, depending on how you take it, you as a foreigner could also feel accommodated, offended, or some mixture of the two.

Comment on “You all like to eat this”: Responding to Chinese people saying you can’t eat Chinese food by Rachel

Rachel — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 20:14:14 +0000

I am interested in your opinion on this: What is viewed as rude in the US (sterotyping everyone of the same race/gender/ethnicity etc.), is perhaps indeed the opposite in China. In the US, people like to be positively highlighted for being different than others- unique- special. In China, I have heard that you do not want to be picked out as different than the others- and thus if you characterize someone as a member of a group, saying ‘you all like to eat this’, that is a positive statement.

Comment on McWang by Rachel

Rachel — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 20:02:32 +0000

Interesting piece, Hannah. In my mind, it seems that China and the Chinese people are part of ‘McWorld’, but utilize aspects of ‘Jihad’ as a defense mechanism. I am sure this is not isolated to just China, but since that is the subject here, let’s focus on China. As you pointed out, the government can use nationalism to control the masses, and defend their position in power. Also, the individual can utilize nationalism as a defesnse against criticisms from individuals such as visiting tourists or foreigners living their abroad, let alone internal conflicts that they perhaps face as they are exposed to more scruntiny and comparison versus the rest of the world.

Comment on “You all like to eat this”: Responding to Chinese people saying you can’t eat Chinese food by michaelcaster

michaelcaster — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 05:51:04 +0000

I like the menu. I think one of the best bad translations on a menu I ever saw was in some little sushi place around Houhai. The Chinese said something like 沙漠寿司 but they had translated the sushi as ‘Operation Desert Storm Sushi Roll.’ It isn’t quite as off putting as the included menu translations you have offered above but I always like to mention that sushi place when a conversation steers toward strange translated menus. Nice blog by the way.

Comment on “You all like to eat this”: Responding to Chinese people saying you can’t eat Chinese food by Craig Hill

Craig Hill — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 03:41:39 +0000

I have spent half the last 10 years in China, and even when I am using chop sticks, I still often get people telling me how to use them.

I think of the west spending centuries designing and refining the craftsmanship to create specialist implements for eating, including knives, forks and spoons of various shapes and sizes. The training that we take as children to learn to use these implements politely and properly, to assist with ensuring the correct sized portions are placed in the mouth. Eating in the west is an art form, and a reflection of our culture’s evolution.

China, with it’s 5,000 year history, produced two sticks, and want to teach us the right way to eat?

Comment on A Disheartening Statement Regarding the Yueyue Incident by My Picture of the Day: 老头被车撞倒了 | ChinaB

My Picture of the Day: 老头被车撞倒了 | ChinaB — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:33:00 +0000

[...] Last fall (2011), two-year-old Yue Yue made international headlines after being hit by a van twice. Eighteen people walked past her without doing anything, afraid of the consequences. See earlier post. [...]

Comment on My Picture of the Day: 老头被车撞倒了 by Hannah

Hannah — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:27:05 +0000

One of my law teachers was a lawyer in the Nanjing courts and said that, about 8 months after the case closed, they found his 110 call in which he asked for help for having knocked over an old lady (but this was apparently not made public because they wanted to case buried).

I’m surprised this info came out, but it doesn’t make one lick of difference. The legal system still has the same flaw, and people are still afraid the same thing will happen to them. If anything, the fact that he DID push her over makes the whole situation seem like even more of a circus of moral dearth.