The Remodeled House o' Crad

Chinese Newspeak

This is a humorous article by a foreigner that used to work for China's news propaganda monopoly called Xinhua (New China):

Recycling is not always good

No matter what country I'm in I know that one can never be sure about the sanitary conditions in the kitchens of restaurants. I try not to think about it but occassionaly a nasty thought arises. These nasty thoughts are often based on experience. When I was working my way through college as a waiter in a seafood restaurant I noticed the cook spitting into the fry grease. When I asked him what he was doing he explained to me that that was the way he tested the temperature of the oil. One time, when I was writing an article on restaurants in Malaysia I was taken on a tour of the kitchen by a proud proprietor that thought nothing of the sight of bags of flour on the floor that were infested with cockroaches. I could go on...but I won't.

Today I had lunch at a South Asian restaurant in Shanghai with some of my friends. When it came time for the waiter to remove the many half-eaten dishes from our table we noticed that he very carefully placed the dishes on the tray in such a way as to make sure none of the contents mixed with any other dishes. Why was he being so careful we thought? Could they be re-using the leftovers?

Better walk fast in Shanghai on a sunny day

This past weekend was almost pleasant, weather-wise. The temperature almost hit 50F so Shanghai residents were out on the street in lounge chairs, playing card games and airing out their blankets. In fact, one neighborhood I was in was almost covered in blankets - they were stretched across overpass stairways, bushes in the parks, even on the sidewalks. I decided I had better walk a bit faster than usual least someone drape an old blanket over me.

Don't get too excited!

The Gov't has a monopoly on everything in China

In case you forgot something at Target

The Spring Festival Passes

The Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year or as it is also called in China, the Spring Festival is over today. While most Chinese return to work tomorrow, after a week off, my Western-run office went back to work on Monday. The last two days of commuting to work on the relatively calm streets of Shanghai have been a rare treat. The gridlock will be back in full force tomorrow.

The fireworks were as good or bad as ever this past week. This story by James Fallows nicely sums it up. This year, unlike last year, the community fireworks box did not fall over and blast the smitherines out of the house next door. All the fireworks went skyward and exploded over our heads. In the morning we found a wastebasket-full of spent fireworks on our balcony.

Chinese New Year Approaches

The Chinese New Year starts on February 7th but Shanghai is already beginning to empty a bit as workers from the provinces begin their journeys home to see family. Most people get a week off and spend it traveling to homes all over China. Single women that work in factories in the big cities go home to see their parents. Husbands (and wives) go home to be with their spouses and children. This great migration happens three times each year. During the week-long breaks for Chinese New Year, May Day and the National Day in October. It's not a very efficient system. Moving hundreds of millions of people around the country at the same time strains the transportation system (and the travelers' nerves) to the breaking point. Add a few inches of snow as the country received in the past week and you have the potential for widespread unrest as trains and buses stop moving.

I have one more day to work before my office takes a three-day holiday. The fireworks will start in earnest on Wednesday. The streets are less crowded and I expect the traffic to drop off even more after Wednesday. During the height of the holiday, when the most people are out of the city, the traffic in Shanghai is almost at the manageable levels experienced circa 1998.

One thing that surprises me about China is how many husbands and wives work in different cities. It is not uncommon to find the wife working in Shanghai and the husband working in Beijing or Guangzhou. If they have children, they are often off in the provinces being raised by the grandparents. Holidays like the Chinese New Year are the only time of year the children see their parents. I can't imagine growing up that way.