My classes are killing me. Well, not really, but I'm definitely feeling the pressure from all the work. Every week I have to memorize and learn 150 to 200 characters, so by the end of the 15 week semester, I'll have added say one or two thousand new characters, assuming some overlap. But I still cannot read a newspaper without using my dictionary every other sentence.
Compounding this difficulty is the fact that there are many words which are for literary use only. In English we have modes of speaking that are better suited for writing, and you can choose to sound literary and erudite or earthy and colloqial, but it's not like there are words which are exclusive to either style.
Then there's ancient Chinese. I'm not studying this, but a thousand years ago, they used the same characters, but the grammar was completely different, and some characters had different meanings.
I've studied this language for 2 years already, and I'm beginning to think it's going to take another year before I can read a newspaper, and maybe another year till I'm anything approaching fluent.
Why didn't I pick Spanish?
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
A Flat Tire Repaird For 25 Cents
So we're setting out for Jiu Jitsu, and as I start riding, I discover that my front tire is totally flat. During the day, Beijing has bicycle repair stands on virtually every street corner, but at 7 PM, most of them are closed. Luckily, the stand near the Wu Mart across from our apartment was still open.
The guy popped my tire off in like two seconds, filled the tire up, found the leak, patched it up and had me on my way in ten minutes. The charge for this prompt and expert service? 2 Yuan. Roughtly 25 cents. I love this country.
If I got a flat tire on my bike in Chicago, or worse, in Wausau, I'd be walking home. But in Beijing, I was back on the road in no time.
The guy popped my tire off in like two seconds, filled the tire up, found the leak, patched it up and had me on my way in ten minutes. The charge for this prompt and expert service? 2 Yuan. Roughtly 25 cents. I love this country.
If I got a flat tire on my bike in Chicago, or worse, in Wausau, I'd be walking home. But in Beijing, I was back on the road in no time.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Why Don't We Have That Here?
On that same trip to Carrefour on which I got so frustrated with the fa piao system, on my way out I noticed another little thing that would be useful in America: coin operated cell-phone rechargers.
You put in a coin and there's like 50 different plugs for all different kinds of phones, and you charge yours up. Can you hear me now?
You put in a coin and there's like 50 different plugs for all different kinds of phones, and you charge yours up. Can you hear me now?
I Hate Fa Piaoing
As amazing as some aspects of China's development are, there are still sectors that are astoundingly ancient and inefficient. Do some shopping outside of the major tourist centers, and you will soon encounter the ordeal that is fa piao. Fa piao means to make or fill out a reciept, and it is one of the most inefficient and infuriating processes I have ever seen.
We were in Carrefour, the French supermarket chain, a week or so ago, and I thought I'd pick up some shaving cream. Turns out though, that if you want shaving cream, you can't take it to the check out counter like everything else, you have to go to the costmetics counter (which had a line), have them fill out a reciept (fa piao), go pay, come back with another reciept, and then you can take your shaving cream, which you won't have to pay for in the regular checkout line because you have your piao.
First of all, what concievable purpose does this serve? It's not like this process will allow them to track their sales more efficiently. And it's not like it deters theft. In fact, it probably makes theft easier, as you can just forge a reciept.
Don't they realize that today it's all about customer service? and if there's one thing we hate more than waiting in a line to check out, it's waiting in two lines?
And it's not like this is restricted to the most expensive items in the store, it was shaving cream. At our local Wu Mart (a Chinese big-box retailer), we had to fa paio for a power strip costing less than $2, while we could take five or ten dollar items straight to the register. Who comes up with this crazy system?
At Gome, an electronics store who's owner is China's richest man at the moment, you have to fa piao for EVERYTHING. I wonder if there's some sort of onerous government regulation that requires this madness - I cannot fathom why the French superstore would tolerate this nonsense otherwise.
Overall, paperwork in China is a serious impediment to progress. They're sticklers about filling out mountains of forms (all with 3 carbon copies) that they could never possibly have time to look at, even though they often have computers at the same desk.
That's China for you though, one minute you're impressed by how clever and innovative something is, and the next your cursing their crippling beauracracy.
We were in Carrefour, the French supermarket chain, a week or so ago, and I thought I'd pick up some shaving cream. Turns out though, that if you want shaving cream, you can't take it to the check out counter like everything else, you have to go to the costmetics counter (which had a line), have them fill out a reciept (fa piao), go pay, come back with another reciept, and then you can take your shaving cream, which you won't have to pay for in the regular checkout line because you have your piao.
First of all, what concievable purpose does this serve? It's not like this process will allow them to track their sales more efficiently. And it's not like it deters theft. In fact, it probably makes theft easier, as you can just forge a reciept.
Don't they realize that today it's all about customer service? and if there's one thing we hate more than waiting in a line to check out, it's waiting in two lines?
And it's not like this is restricted to the most expensive items in the store, it was shaving cream. At our local Wu Mart (a Chinese big-box retailer), we had to fa paio for a power strip costing less than $2, while we could take five or ten dollar items straight to the register. Who comes up with this crazy system?
At Gome, an electronics store who's owner is China's richest man at the moment, you have to fa piao for EVERYTHING. I wonder if there's some sort of onerous government regulation that requires this madness - I cannot fathom why the French superstore would tolerate this nonsense otherwise.
Overall, paperwork in China is a serious impediment to progress. They're sticklers about filling out mountains of forms (all with 3 carbon copies) that they could never possibly have time to look at, even though they often have computers at the same desk.
That's China for you though, one minute you're impressed by how clever and innovative something is, and the next your cursing their crippling beauracracy.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
China Creating Giant Investment Fund
China is looking to diversify it's foreign reserves, which is currently mostly in US treasury bonds, and will create one of the world's largest investment funds in order to diversify it's holdings with riskier assets.
Fundamentally, this seems like a good idea. There's no reason for a country, which theoretically should be a longer term investor than most individuals to only buy treasuries. As a gigantic investor with no short-term requirements, they should be able to achieve substantial returns, similar to what many Universities have done with their endowments, except an order of magnitude larger.
There may be a message in this for America as well: we won't finance you forever. China is not, of course, the only purchaser of US treasuries, but it is a large on. What would be more significant is if China were to dump the treasuries it currently holds, sending the price down and putting pressure on the US to raise interest rates. According to the article, China is more likely to shift its purchases rather than getting rid of the assets it already has.
This is actually what I thought the US should have done with Social Security. There's no reason diversifying the trust fund has to include private accounts; why not just create a giant social security endowment and invest in a range of assets. I guess this is another instance of an authoritarian government being able to push through policies that in a democratic one get bogged down with all sorts of interest groups trying to make the system more favorable to themselves.
Fundamentally, this seems like a good idea. There's no reason for a country, which theoretically should be a longer term investor than most individuals to only buy treasuries. As a gigantic investor with no short-term requirements, they should be able to achieve substantial returns, similar to what many Universities have done with their endowments, except an order of magnitude larger.
There may be a message in this for America as well: we won't finance you forever. China is not, of course, the only purchaser of US treasuries, but it is a large on. What would be more significant is if China were to dump the treasuries it currently holds, sending the price down and putting pressure on the US to raise interest rates. According to the article, China is more likely to shift its purchases rather than getting rid of the assets it already has.
This is actually what I thought the US should have done with Social Security. There's no reason diversifying the trust fund has to include private accounts; why not just create a giant social security endowment and invest in a range of assets. I guess this is another instance of an authoritarian government being able to push through policies that in a democratic one get bogged down with all sorts of interest groups trying to make the system more favorable to themselves.
Friday, March 9, 2007
Why Don't We Have That?
The Chinese are very keen on preventing shoplifting, so in many stores you can't take any sort of backpack or bag (even a plastic shopping bag from another store) in, and you have to leave it at the entrance. Fortunately, many of the larger stores have a very user-friendly and convenient method for doing this.
You press a button, a locker opens, and a reciept with a barcode prints out from the panel in the middle. You put your stuff in, close the door, which locks, and you leave. When you come back, you hold the barcode up to the scanner right below the printer, and the locker opens! This is easy and so simple, I cannot imagine why these things aren't all over America.
Why don't they have this at the gym so you don't have to carry your own lock or a gym locker key? What about stores in America? or bus stations and airports (there it may be the terrorist paranoia that prevents leaving anything for any amount of time)?
Basically, why should there be any situation in which a nation that is much poorer and somewhat less technologically advanced have nify gizmos that we don't?
You press a button, a locker opens, and a reciept with a barcode prints out from the panel in the middle. You put your stuff in, close the door, which locks, and you leave. When you come back, you hold the barcode up to the scanner right below the printer, and the locker opens! This is easy and so simple, I cannot imagine why these things aren't all over America.
Why don't they have this at the gym so you don't have to carry your own lock or a gym locker key? What about stores in America? or bus stations and airports (there it may be the terrorist paranoia that prevents leaving anything for any amount of time)?
Basically, why should there be any situation in which a nation that is much poorer and somewhat less technologically advanced have nify gizmos that we don't?
Coolest Thing Ever
It has nothing to do with China, but this is freakin' sweet. I hope to see one next time I'm in the US.
Thursday, March 8, 2007
The Upward Trajectory
Whenever I get dejected about the political situation in China (it is, after all, an authoritarian country with rule BY law rather than rule OF law), I'm comforted by the continuous improvement virtually all aspects of life (with the exception of pollution) over the last 30 years.
Granted, coming out of the Cultural Revolution, China was not in a very good spot. Not only were people dirt poor after 20 years of failed economic policies, which in turn came after a gigantic world/civil war in which million were slaughtered, but there was a climate of fear that remained after what is perhaps the largest outbreak of totalitarian madness in history, and one most people still don't know much about.
Yes, the country is Authoritarian, but it used to be Totalitarian, and that's a big difference. Mess with the government, and you're going down, but these days if you don't rock the boat (and even if you stop once you've gotten the message they don't like it) you can pretty much live as you like. You can't move anywhere you want, and money is a severe limitation on much of the peasantry, but no one in China is enforcing rigid controls on thinking, private speech, or personal activities.
The story everyone is so interested in is the economic rise of China, and this goes hand in hand with the expansion of personal freedom here. China has awakened from its communist slumbers by allowing entrepreneurship, ownership, and choice in economic affairs. It's impossible to separate this from a basic shift in thinking, from a view in which the party and the greater good of society should dictate everything about your life, to one in which the government can manage a society in which people make their own choices.
There is still a long way to go here. Many people live on less than $2 a day, and people are still getting in trouble for advocating for the powerless, and agitating for greater freedom. But looking at the past 30 years, I can't help but be optimistic. The cultural and economic forces that have created the current prosperity cannot be easily bottled up, and will probably continue to create more opportunity and more freedom. There will be attempts to curtail this or that expansion of freedom, but in the long run, the government cannot turn back from this course (did I just say 'stay the course?) without the risk of losing everything they've gained, or even plunging the country into chaos - something that would be a disaster not only for the Communist party, but everyone in China, and indeed, everyone in the world.
Given these choices, I think the government will continue on its present path - slowly loosening its grip, carefully watching the expansion of the country. There's always a place for worry and preparing for disasters, but the recent past gives me great confidence that China will continue to become a better and better place to live, for Chinese and Lao Wai.
Granted, coming out of the Cultural Revolution, China was not in a very good spot. Not only were people dirt poor after 20 years of failed economic policies, which in turn came after a gigantic world/civil war in which million were slaughtered, but there was a climate of fear that remained after what is perhaps the largest outbreak of totalitarian madness in history, and one most people still don't know much about.
Yes, the country is Authoritarian, but it used to be Totalitarian, and that's a big difference. Mess with the government, and you're going down, but these days if you don't rock the boat (and even if you stop once you've gotten the message they don't like it) you can pretty much live as you like. You can't move anywhere you want, and money is a severe limitation on much of the peasantry, but no one in China is enforcing rigid controls on thinking, private speech, or personal activities.
The story everyone is so interested in is the economic rise of China, and this goes hand in hand with the expansion of personal freedom here. China has awakened from its communist slumbers by allowing entrepreneurship, ownership, and choice in economic affairs. It's impossible to separate this from a basic shift in thinking, from a view in which the party and the greater good of society should dictate everything about your life, to one in which the government can manage a society in which people make their own choices.
There is still a long way to go here. Many people live on less than $2 a day, and people are still getting in trouble for advocating for the powerless, and agitating for greater freedom. But looking at the past 30 years, I can't help but be optimistic. The cultural and economic forces that have created the current prosperity cannot be easily bottled up, and will probably continue to create more opportunity and more freedom. There will be attempts to curtail this or that expansion of freedom, but in the long run, the government cannot turn back from this course (did I just say 'stay the course?) without the risk of losing everything they've gained, or even plunging the country into chaos - something that would be a disaster not only for the Communist party, but everyone in China, and indeed, everyone in the world.
Given these choices, I think the government will continue on its present path - slowly loosening its grip, carefully watching the expansion of the country. There's always a place for worry and preparing for disasters, but the recent past gives me great confidence that China will continue to become a better and better place to live, for Chinese and Lao Wai.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Chinese Military Spending
Is increasing, and America is worried about it. Worry is certainly justified; China is the biggest emerging power and also the most militaristic. In addition, China is an authoritarian country that may not be restrained by popular anti-war sentiments.
Still, on some level the American response is just comical. Here we are, the biggest, baddest country in the world (our military budget of 481 BILLION is almost ten times China's official military budget, though their actual spending may be twice that), waging an unpopular war against nearly unanimous opposition in the rest of the world, and we have the gall to tell them to be more transparent and peaceful.
It's amazing that we sometimes don't get that not everyone is on board with the "America as global policeman" thing.
Still, on some level the American response is just comical. Here we are, the biggest, baddest country in the world (our military budget of 481 BILLION is almost ten times China's official military budget, though their actual spending may be twice that), waging an unpopular war against nearly unanimous opposition in the rest of the world, and we have the gall to tell them to be more transparent and peaceful.
It's amazing that we sometimes don't get that not everyone is on board with the "America as global policeman" thing.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Why The @#%& Don't They Get This?
While we were travelling throughout China last fall, we encountered a large number of hotel bathrooms that just flat out stank. Not post-crap stink, but straight-up sewer stink. We soon discovered the problem: they don't have the S pipe here. You know the S-pipe, right? The little bend in the pipe underneath your sink which ensures that there will always be a little water in the pipe preventing sewer gasses from coming up. Despite the ubiquitous presence of high-tech cellular phones, flat-screen televisions, and now fleets of luxury cars, this staple of western plumbing has yet to catch on here.
Thankfully, the shower and kitchen drains of our new apartment seem to be thusly equipped (a non-smelling bathroom was one of our key requirements). Here is the interesting variation beneath our kitchen sink:
After a few days, however, we noticed a nasty rotten vegetable smell coming from somewhere in the vicinity of the bathroom. Soon after, we made a shocking discovery: our bathroom sink has no S curve. Fortunately, we can close the drain in the sink, but it just amazes me that such a basic (and oh so necessary) plumbing fixture continues to be left out of even fairly new constructions.
There is hope though - in Chengdu we noticed a public bathroom in which an enterprising plumber had seen the problem and devised a solution. He bent a loop into the pipe running down from each urinal.
Thankfully, the shower and kitchen drains of our new apartment seem to be thusly equipped (a non-smelling bathroom was one of our key requirements). Here is the interesting variation beneath our kitchen sink:
After a few days, however, we noticed a nasty rotten vegetable smell coming from somewhere in the vicinity of the bathroom. Soon after, we made a shocking discovery: our bathroom sink has no S curve. Fortunately, we can close the drain in the sink, but it just amazes me that such a basic (and oh so necessary) plumbing fixture continues to be left out of even fairly new constructions.
There is hope though - in Chengdu we noticed a public bathroom in which an enterprising plumber had seen the problem and devised a solution. He bent a loop into the pipe running down from each urinal.
Why Don't We Have That?
Nothing irritates a person more than someone stealing your parking space (except maybe keying your car), but back in the US we don't have anything to prevent it. Even the CEO of a company usually only has a sign, which can be ignored. In Chicago during the winter, people on our block would resort to putting chairs out in the street to reserve their spot. Here in China, they believe in the direct approach: a lockable stand that prevents any car from moving into your space until you unlock it with a key. It could even be improved, I suppose by activating the lock mechanism by a proximity sensor you put on your car.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
The World Is Flat(ter)
When Chinese stocks drop 10%, the Dow responds by falling 3.3%.
I guess Tom Friedman is right. I think the lesson here is to invest widely, diversely, and globally, because keeping your money at home won't save you from trouble overseas.
I guess Tom Friedman is right. I think the lesson here is to invest widely, diversely, and globally, because keeping your money at home won't save you from trouble overseas.
A Bad Day In Shanghai
The Chinese stock market in Shanghai fell nearly 9% today, the worst single day in it's history. Of course, the market more than doubled last year, so you're still up 80% if you're a stock holder. It's a very exciting time to be in China; everything's going gangbusters now but their could always be trouble around the corner.
I don't really have money to invest right now, but I'm hoping when the crash does come (as recessions always do) I'll be sitting on some change waiting to pounce. Here's hoping.
I don't really have money to invest right now, but I'm hoping when the crash does come (as recessions always do) I'll be sitting on some change waiting to pounce. Here's hoping.
Beijing? Or Baghdad?
Well, the Chinese New Year is over and I'm happy to announce we survived it. Seriously.
I knew there were fireworks involved (legend has it to frighten off a monster and ensure a bounteous harvest for the year), but "involved" doesn't quite do it justice. It's EVERYWHERE. On the eve of the lunar new year, we were cycling back from a failed expedition to acquire a wireless router when explosions started assaulting our ears from every direction. Everyone and their brother is setting off those strings of little firecrackers that sound like machine guns, particularly when echoing off buildings.
People set them off in the middle of the street, in alleways, and on overpasses. Between buildings, off the roofs, EVERYWHERE. I'm definitely prepared to report from a warzone now.
Now, I love a good fireworks show, but this was kind of insane, because these are your puny American fireworks. No, they ship us the wussy stuff that meets our silly little safety regulations. Here in China, they play with serious explosives. And not just the adults - I saw toddlers setting firecrackers off. In fact, I was amazed to read the next day that "only" 125 people had been injured. I would have guessed thousands.
I knew there were fireworks involved (legend has it to frighten off a monster and ensure a bounteous harvest for the year), but "involved" doesn't quite do it justice. It's EVERYWHERE. On the eve of the lunar new year, we were cycling back from a failed expedition to acquire a wireless router when explosions started assaulting our ears from every direction. Everyone and their brother is setting off those strings of little firecrackers that sound like machine guns, particularly when echoing off buildings.
People set them off in the middle of the street, in alleways, and on overpasses. Between buildings, off the roofs, EVERYWHERE. I'm definitely prepared to report from a warzone now.
Now, I love a good fireworks show, but this was kind of insane, because these are your puny American fireworks. No, they ship us the wussy stuff that meets our silly little safety regulations. Here in China, they play with serious explosives. And not just the adults - I saw toddlers setting firecrackers off. In fact, I was amazed to read the next day that "only" 125 people had been injured. I would have guessed thousands.
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