February 2012
16 posts
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In-N-Out -- or rather, "In-N-Out" -- has come to... →
The burger battle is just the latest skirmish over intellectual property in China, where pirated movies and merchandise are giving way to knockoff services and retail businesses. Photos of a fake Apple store in southern Yunnan province went viral on the Internet last year. Global restaurant chains have become popular targets as well. Big Chinese cities are filled with knockoffs such as Dairy...
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My New Breast Friend in Shanghai
You might think, based on the name, that the International Professionals in Natural Breast Care would be health-care providers of some sort. Oncologists, maybe…
…but you’d be wrong.
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Chinese Labor, Cheap No More →
While China’s industrial subsidies, trade policies, undervalued currency and lack of enforcement for intellectual property rights all remain sticking points for the United States, there is at least one area in which the playing field seems to be slowly leveling: the cheap labor that has made China’s factories nearly unbeatable is not so cheap anymore.
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In the past, China’s migrant workers...
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Linsanity in China →
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“In China, the common situation is the man gives chocolate, flowers or both to...”
– From Wikipedia’s entry on Valentine’s Day
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"Lifted," Lifted
I’m using one of Pixar’s brilliant short films, “Lifted,” in my class next weekend. Since the computer I’ll be using to screen the video doesn’t have a VPN, and YouTube is blocked in China, I searched China’s version of YouTube, YouKu, for it. Turns out YouKu has it, too — sort of.
Compare the original “Lifted” to the Chinese version....
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China’s Heir Apparent →
Mr. Xi will take the helm amid increasing disillusionment with Mr. Hu, a cautious technocrat who lacked the talent and political will to steer the country in a new direction. Even though China has used market reforms to transform itself into an economic powerhouse, the government lives in constant fear of unrest.
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Until now, the Chinese government has successfully deflected ...
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“The nie nie zu (the “crush-crush tribe”) are so named because they go into...”
– Who knew China was tribal? The diversification of Chinese society has seen a flowering of a new vocabulary. Perhaps most fascinating has been the division of people into tribes (zu in Mandarin). (via theeconomist)
January 2012
34 posts
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Last Train Home →
One of the best documentaries I’ve seen in the past few years is about Chinese New Year, at least superficially. Last Train Home uses the holiday as temporal mooring to follow one family that typifies life in China in the 21st century in many ways. I highly, highly recommend it, even if you’re not particularly interested in this part of the world, and especially in light of The...
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In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad →
This one already has 319 comments online and has been reblogged 8 bajillion times (estimate), despite the fact that the print version is just now being tossed onto doorsteps on the East Coast. Nonetheless, a must-link-to. Three cheers for old-school investigative journalism (and for Page A1, to boot, not even the Magazine)!
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"Spring Festival" is Half-Right, Anyway
I don’t think I ever knew until I got here that Chinese New Year is also known as Spring Festival. Which is funny — funny Chinesely, not funny ha-ha — because it’s effing freezing outside right now. Even Punxsutawneyans would think it’s overly optimistic to call it that.
Other holidays aren’t much better. Last fall, the Mid-Autumn Festival took place on Sept....
