Easily Amused » China

Chinese Propaganda vs US Propaganda

David Xia — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 02:15:16 +0000

China's Xinhua News Agency started a 24-hour English-language news channel and is about to open a new office in New York City, according to the Times. The Times is once again critical of China. And they should be. China ranks 168th out of 175 countries in the 2009 Press Freedom Index, a survey compiled by Reporters Without Borders. What I don't like about the Times article is its prejudicial sense of nationalism and simplistic view of East vs West. The Times inflated the article by making it sound as if Xinhua Red Guards wielding hammers and sickles are about to kick down the sacred doors of Western media companies.

Now’s Not the Time to Stop Spending!

David Xia — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 14:03:03 +0000

Several days ago, I suggested that the current flurry of national and US state governments concerned about budget deficits and reining back spending was a good idea. Two big-shot economists, Princeton professor Paul Krugman and former IMF chief economist Simon Johnson, disagree.

Chinese Government Blocked Me, France Too

David Xia — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 12:27:36 +0000

A friend sent my ever-useful Cantonese pick-up lines post to his cousin in Beijing. Unfortunately, his cousin cannot view it. Damn firewall of China! To make sure it was blocked instead of an outdated browser problem I checked for myself. Sure enough, this blog's restricted in China.

My Uncle’s Sleeping With His Boss

David Xia — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 22:31:30 +0000

One of my uncles is a director for a Hong Kong-based fuse manufacturing firm. The CEO, a short, 66-year-old man from Hong Kong, is a demanding boss. Working for him is like being on-call as a military triage surgeon in Helmand, Afghanistan. He often sleeps in till noon, comes home at 9pm, and receives a call from the CEO shortly thereafter asking him to come play mahjong or drink tea. This means my uncle will be gone until 1 or 2am. Sometimes he doesn't come home for dinner at all. He'll go to sleep late and do it again the next day.

Joules of Wealth

David Xia — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:18:35 +0000

During the fall harvest in Fujianm, China, sweet potatoes slices, basking in the noonday sun, blanket entire hillsides.

Five Reasons Why You Should Visit Xiamen

David Xia — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:02:26 +0000

Located in China’s Fujian province across the strait from Taiwan, Xiamen is a bustling coastal city offering all the usual amenities for travelers with Western sensibilities as well as a rich plethora of traditional Chinese culture and customs.

Why I Wouldn’t Live in Hong Kong

David Xia — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 09:02:10 +0000

"For creature comforts, Hong Kong is unsurpassed, but Hong Kong is culturally barren. Living there is something like living inside a cash register."

Megamalls and Clumsy Change

David Xia — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:33:56 +0000

When I left NYC there was no evidence that the Sun exists. When I landed in HK, there was still none. The first ten days of my stay were filled with cumulonimbus clouds and grape-sized rain droplets. Stepping outside is like entering a sauna or breathing with a hot wet rag smothering your face. The CEOs here are taking three to four showers a day to gain short-lived relief from all the humidity-induced stickiness. Some brief musings about HK:

HK (and China for that matter) is not ethnically diverse compared to NYC. The city’s 95% Chinese.
There are so many mega-malls that look exactly alike. Armies of cleaning staff ensure they are all freakishly clean.

Jedi Druglords

David Xia — Thu, 28 May 2009 21:48:12 +0000

Everyone knows China is the treasure trove of bootlegged movies, but few people realize the hidden gems within these bootlegged DVDs.

Go Ahead, Feed the Fish

David Xia — Thu, 28 May 2009 19:41:35 +0000

According to the Chinese lunar calendar, today is Duanwujie (端午節), or the Dragon Boat Festival. Celebrating this holiday includes eating zongzi (粽子), glutinous rice wrapped and cooked in bamboo leaves, racing dragon boats, and drinking realgar wine. I've never drank this wine before. Realgar is an arsenic sulfide mineral, the wine has the mineral mixed into it, and I'm pretty sure it would taste nasty.