Post_Olympic resolution..

... is to re-activate this BLOG and share some thoughts and anecdotes about China and living in it.

A resolution currently, let's see.. :)

Discovering Beijing's Olympic Stadium - the "birds nest".

Today was a terrific day! Why? I'll let pictures speak for themselves:

How the Olympic Stadium in Beijing is going to look like once done (in March 2007):

How it currently, July 1st 2007, looks like and how we, Nina and I, experienced it:


Apparently some of the migrant workers also liked to have Nina around: ^^

I am impressed by HdM's "new baby" and enjoyed the interactions with some of the 15000 (migrant) workers currently working on it!

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PS: will put some more pictures on my flickr account once I'm back in town and in front of the computer, on July 15th.

olympic games, Beijing, stadium, birds nest, pictures, architecture, HdM, olympic sites, attraction

When will Bush finally be impeached?

Digg just surfaced a story that made me think of this again. The story announced "White House Changes History: Erases 'Mission Accomplished' Banner" and claimed that the Whitehouse had silently modified the video of the speech "Dubya's" had held on May 1st 2003 announcing that major combat operations in Iraq had ended. By cropping the video, so the claim, they removed the fat and proud "Mission Accomplished" banner hanging over Dubya's head and with it what, given the current, tragic mess in Iraq, is embarrassing for Bush.



However, the claim of this video is likely to be wrong since not only this video seems cut (due to the black bar covering the bottom of the image), but all the other ones on the respective site as well. I have a hard time to believe that they cut all videos just to cover up the manipulation of this one, especially since the speech itself is unmodified and its content embarassing and naive enough to haunt Bush still today.

While this claim is likely to be false and highlights the importance of double checking the validity of ones claim (or the claims of others for that matter) it does not mean that there is nothing to hold against Bush. Actually there is as much that I frequently ask myself: So when will this guy finally be impeached? Should the American congressmen/women really allow him to say in office, unimpeached, until January 20th 2009?

• Didn't his wiretapping program violate the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and isn't his assertion "that FISA hampered intelligence gathering in the war on terror, so as commander in chief he could ignore it" highly alerting from a civil liberties perspective? (also: Illegal wiretapping was one of the grounds for articles of impeachment against Nixon)
• Didn't he and his adminstration missinform (or deliberately deceive) the Congress about Saddam Hussein being linked to Al Quaida and the presence of Mass Destruction in Iraq; a claim partly supported by the allegation that Saddam was buying uranium in Africa, which has been prooven false in the meantime?
  
• Didn't he and his administration "facilitate mistreatment of detainees in violation of the Geneva Conventions and US statutes"?

There seems to be a strong legal case against G.W.Bush (excellent article in foreignpolicy*) and an impeachement could shed the necessary light and guarantee accountability where and to the degree deserved!

Eric Schwartz is slightly more creative at making his point. Hilarious (even though worth a PS)! Check it out:


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* In order to read this article you will need to subscribe to foreign policy. Subscription is for free and, IMHO, worth it.
PS: Clinton was not actually impeached for having received a blowjob but on grounds of "perjury to a grand jury" and "obstruction of justice". He was aquitted by the Senate.

Bush, impeachment, politics, international relations, media, pr, justice, civil society

10th anniversary of "2 systems, one country" - interesting present

A day of increased propaganda here in Beijing as Hong Kong marks its 10th year under a "two systems one country " arrangement.

While reading up on it the following line in an article written by my favorite British news service (ask Tas which one that would be) caught my eyes: It describes one of the presents, next to two baby pandas, offered to HK by Hu:

"[...] It is a waxworks statue of the late Deng Xiaoping, the leader who oversaw the transition of Hong Kong from British colony to Chinese territory.

His image now stands in a shopping mall. [...]"

Why did I have to, spontaneously, think of a raddish (red on the outside, white on the inside) in this context..? Interesting location, interesting symbolism! ^^

*****
PS: Nadja, Rohit, Joanna or anyone else currently in HK: if you happen to pass by that shopping mall and could snap a picture, that would be great!

China, pr, anecdote

Cosmic Dancer

"[...] we have all been summoned to become Cosmic Dancers who do not rest heavily on a single spot but lightly turn and leap from one position to another. As World Citizens, the Cosmic Dancer will be an authentic child of its parent culture, while closely related to all. The dancer's roots in family and community will be deep, but in those depths they will strike the water table of a common humanity. For is the dancer not also human? If only she might see what has interested others, might it not interest her as well? It is an exciting prospect. The softening of divisions will induce borrowings that sometimes produce hybrids, but for the most part simply enrich species and sustain their vigor"

Huston Smith's "The World's Religions", p.7

I love this passage (written in the context of a discussion on the consequences of an increasingly globalized world) not only because it is part of the introduction of a book on the world's religions but also because it expresses to a large extent what I feel and strive to be: A convinced "Bebbi" with roots he loves and the opportunity to dance and discover globally (here, I could write a eulogy on AIESEC that, I believe, made me appreciate "dancing" and provided me plenty of opportunities to do so, with inspiring people; but I do neither want to bore you with it nor add more to AIESEC's reputation as an AIESECT.. ;)). So let me end this simply with a quote taken from Michael Jackson's all time best: "I love you all!" ^^

aiesec, philosophy

Quoting a Chinese Governor

In the context of the slavery scandal of which the tip has emerged recently in Shanxi, where reportedly "more than 1,000 'slaves', including children and mentally retarded men were working for long hours with no pay in primitive brick-making kilns in hilly and remote counties [...]", let me quote part of the self-criticism (heard before..?) of Governor Yu:

Governor Yu admitted that the incident “has exposed the low political aptitude and awareness of cadres in the party, government and enterprises.” He added, “They have not established the concept of administration for the sake of the people.” (read more)

May sustained and sustainable deeds follow these words and may there be more actio and less, pompous, reactio so that a "harmonious society" can potentially come about.

development, China, media, pr

Beijing's Digital Scavenger Hunt.

Last Saturday, slightly more than one year after Exoweb's digital scavenger hunt, it was again "digital scavenger hunt" (click here for more info about what a digital scavenger hunt is all about) time in Beijing. This time Vinny, creative as hell and spicing up not only Beijing's impro theatre scene, and MCK called and a bunch of roughly 30 people responded. Among them:

"toodle pip"

.. meaning Tas, a BBC-phile Brits with a tendency to SPAM, even friends, who also talked us into our distinctly British name, Claire, a seemingly endlessly creative (aka nuts) Northern-Irish with a flair for, as I had to experience, (rhetorical) warfare, Chee Ming, a charming (he almost managed to convince an elderly Chinese lady in night dress to pose for our camera) refreshingly geeky Malaysian and a random Swiss.

Digital camera drewn we set out to hunt the following:

• Something from the country
• Something green
• Something brown
• Something scandalous
• Something unexpected

The result:

• Something from the country - actually the last pic we took: an Irish hick (of course with other qualities..) among watermelons from the country.. ok, passes. Done.
• Something green - Beijing is terribly urban and polluted. So how about assisting plants to claim what might be the symbol of urban development, a well frequented cross-roads? We kidnapped a plant, moved it (we could have watered this bloody plant with our sweat.. ;)) from the office to the intersection and started watering.. Some honking supported our cause: greenen Beijings crossroads! ^^ Done.
• Something brown - something brown (of course with other qualities as well) passed by a brown rubbish bin. Brown in brown? Great. Let's put Tas into one of Beijings public rubbish bins. Done.
• Something scandalous – Given this picture might cause some unwanted trouble for persons that do not deserve it, I won’t publish it here..
• Something unexpected – an ocean of mannequins in Beijing’s “Alien market”. Joining this somewhat unusual crowd, pretending to be one of them might have some customers passing by go “oh, this is unexpected” (or simply, aaaah get that… thing.. out of there.. ;)). Done.

After a jiving 4 hours of hunting and a quick shower we joined the whole hunter crowd in Dave’s factory, a breath taking private loft in Beijing’s bustling art district Dashanzi. We feasted on pizza and some good Italian wine and were excited to see what the other teams had hunted down. There were pictures from people in houhai (very “green” lake in Beijing), nipples pained in green, dog in left hand, beer in right and Chinese “cheerleader” in the back to Beijings police officers exhibiting “scandalous” behaviour.. A fun range of snaps!

Nice side effect: toodle pip won not only 2 “best of category picture”-, “best overall picture” - and “best group” awards but also 6 bottles of wine.. a nice end (well actually start, since the fullmoon party was to follow) of a, IMHO, rocking Saturday!

Toodle pip!* ^^

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* for all of you as ignorant as I was before Tas “enlightened” me: toodle pip means as much as “bye bye”, cheerio

beijing, fun, pictures, event

Wanna reserve tickets for Beijing Olympics 2008? 4 more days.

Just a reminder for all those of you that may potentially be interested in tickets for the Olympic Games, which are going to start here in Beijing on August 8th, 2008 at 8pm; 8 (bā 八) being an auspicious number according to Chinese culture because it sounds like the word 发/fā meaning "fortune", "prosper"..

Reserve before June 30th!
How to reserve? Turn here: http://www.tickets.beijing2008.cn/section

PS: Nasty: once can only reserve tickets if one has either a Visa card or a bank of China account (or then time and nerves to go queue up at a bank of China). As for me, Visa's straight forward behavious as a sponsor backfired: I'll stick to mastercard, now more than ever. grmpf.. ^^

beijing olympics, olympic games, tickets

If I had to sketch out my philosophy.. :

.. then the passage I just reread after coming home from another one of these legendary Poker evenings with the boys would definitely be part of it:

"When shall we come to recognize that health is as contagious as disease, virtue as contagious as vice, cheerfulness as contagious as moroseness" (in Huston Smith's "The World's Religions")

I guess Monty Python (and may be Aida) would simply crucify themselves, whistling along to the tune of "always look at the bright side of life" to drive the main part of this point home.. ^^

philosophy, quote, religion

Roaring Exoweb :

Exoweb, the dynamic and geeky company I have been working for during the last 1.5 years has been growing quite significantly - while I, fossil in the meantime, was still “ExoMate 25” when I joined, we will soon be welcoming our 54th colleague.

Rocking? Sure! One issue we had to tackle, however, was one that everyone shaping up faces: with increasing muscles even a shiny T-Shirt starts to tweak. Yep, our loft like office space needed some serious expansion, since, hey, reducing chillout space to cram in more people was simply no option.

What followed provided me with ample insight into what renovating in China can imply. Yes, speed is not a major problem (except if you wish to convince a neighbour that an office on the second floor instead of in our immediate zone of expansion is a great idea..^^) and yes, you can have and afford 30 workers to work in parallel on a space no larger than 400m2. But when it comes to orchestrating them, things can become very tricky and intensive, especially for relative rookies like myself. At the end, finding a toilet mounted, meaning cemented onto a pipe in a way that the toilet's opening does not 100% flush with the pipe below won't reeeally surprise you anymore.. We were immensely happy to have Holden and his great experience and insights aboard! ^^

Let there be no doubt about this: the office was a hostile zone for all living creatures during just about a month. Dust was thicker than Beijing smog, smells intoxicating and the noise at times louder than Mick Jagger and Angus Young could ever get, combined. While our branded headphones and masks reduced the suffering slightly, it was not quite enough. Yes, the few mates working at the office during this time suffered and Deyatech, our partners in crime, moved out for a bit. We are happy they are back and still consider us friends. ;)



But hey, IMHO, it was worth the suffering. The stinky toilet is history (eg. pic above), the relaxation area is extended, featuring Nintendo Wii, bigger library and (small) bar, whiteboards are everywhere (the ones in the toilets, meaning to brainstorm when you really have the time, are about to be put up), our new colour, “sweetpotato”, complements the others, Starbucks-like once nicely (IMHO.. I know some are not quite sure about it yet.. ^^) and we even got 3 BBQ equipments for our pimped up rooftop terrace.

Yes, some issues are still not quite in sync and need to be worked on to complete our journey from good to great, but what we have reached was definitely a valid pretext for a party..

Party! How? We thought: “hostilities” belong to history, armageddon-like dust has settled and we are in this strange mood to celebrate.. “Roaring” it had to be, Swingy.. A theme party, the "Roaring opening of the new ExoOffice”, the 1920s on May 25th 2007 in Beijing resulted.


Yep, I won’t lie: I love theme parties. I love to see people switching into roles they do not normally play. And this party was… well judge for yourself:




BBQ and swinging on our rooftop terrace profiting from a warm summer night, bluffing our way to the poker jackpot, sipping cocktails or whiskey, straight (I still have my doubts about that stuff.. ^^), enjoying homemade music by Tim and Greg – don’t shoot the pianist – Jakacki, singing (resp. trying to) playing the Wii or simply chatting the night away while looking gooood.. ;)



Mates, friends of mates and AIESEC gang: you rocked and were looking damn good! Let’s hope we Exoweb will continue growing, giving us more reasons to expand our office space and.. celebrate! ^^

****
PS: if you want to see more pics you can turn either here or here. If you are living in Mainland China, where Flickr services are currently "facing problems" you might want to use this.

roaring twenties, party, beijing, python, software, exoweb

How traditions can give "face" and goose bumps to a 老外 (lǎowài) :

Yu Bo aka Kelly, one of my colleagues, and her boyfriend Hong Yan got married!


Yep, another one of my teammates, most of them younger than me (Cindy, another workmate of mine put this on her BLOG in the following, lovely way: [...] 当时看到他的时候觉得想不到他只是比我大两岁[...] or as much as "When I saw him [me] he looked more than only two years [our actual age difference] older than me".. well, well, it must have been the jet lag.. ;)) got married, or as Yumna, an Indian friend of mine announcing her upcoming wedding (yes!) put it, "bit the dust" ^^
For me, Yu Bo and Hong Yan's wedding meant at least the following:

• People way younger than me can do it... I might wanna start thinking about it myself... start thinking, I said.. ;)
• I got to enjoy once more the opportunity to participate in a Chinese wedding and all the traditions that come along. I've written some more about these traditions and how I experienced them in previous post about the first Chinese wedding, Rena's, that I had the chance to attend.
  
• Gaining "face" at the cost of quite some goose bumps..

What do I mean with the latter? Well, in China there is this tradition saying that the father or mother as well as the manager of the bride, respectively the groom get to do a little speech. I also found out about this only a day before the wedding when Kelly called me up around 9pm to ask me if I, having been her direct manager, would do that on behalf of her. "Absolutely" I had already responded, when I thought: Wait, I guess that should be in Chinese then? "Yes", she responded, giggled and told me that "I would do great"..

A little nervous? Yep, my goose bumps bore a strange ressemblance with the Himalayas, but hey, this was a great complement to my usual, relatively very boring, Chinese studying, with books, flashcards and the like... Once back from a Friday night out I got my act together, gathered my thoughts and was super happy that Echo had the patience to have a serious go at them ^^

Well then, I stumbled, fumbled and had a little big helper (check out the size of my notes.. ;)). But hey, it was great to hear the happy cheering after the first 3 Chinese words the lǎowài (the semi endearing term often used by Chinese to refer to foreigners. The Chinese "gringo"..) had uttered and to be able to say right there, how much I appreciated to work with and be a friend of Kelly!


Disregarding the fact that I am not Chinese, Kelly made me gain quite a bit of "face" and I was happy and ready to down a glas of 'good' old Baijiu with Hong Yan ^^ Oh, one more thing: yes, the tradition of throwing the bouquet has become an integral part even of Chinese weddings. Kelly threw it and guess who caught it... Vivi, another work mate of mine... Do I hear another wedding coming up soon..? ;)

china, chinese wedding, culture, exoweb, beijing

Sexy Beijing

Sex and the city, now also in Beijing..

"Sexy Beijing" is a series of small clips (to be found on youtube) produced by the "local" Carrie Bradshaw, SunFei. It provides fun insights into some of the issues making our days here in Beijing.

Check out this one called "lost in translation". It's about how and what English names some Chinese choose for themselves.. Best one I've personally met so far, and have business card of, is called "Dying Duck", his first name.. ^^





sex and the city, video, beijing, china, fun

Today, June 4th, 18 years ago - Remember

And what if Cao's proposal to impeach Li on the basis of a violation of Art.29 of the Chinese Constitution would have trumped?

The conditional sucks.

Remember.

china, politics

Chinese stockmarket - currently "Chinese roulette"?

There seems to be only one thing crazier (and more "hyped"?) than the current reported GDP growth of China: China's, resp. Shanghai's stock market.

While reported GDP growth in 2006 was 10.7%, the Shanghai Composite has surged some 62% since the start of 2007 alone. Sustainable? Yeeeeah, sure... A sign supporting Alan Greenspans remarks from last week, that it might be about time to get out of the market now (to get in (since prospects in the long-term are still decent) at way lower price later on) is, IMHO, this piece of info that I just read in the Financial Times:

Share trading accounts in China hit 100m

By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai

Published: May 29 2007 21:56 | Last updated: May 29 2007 21:56

The number of share trading accounts established in China now exceeds 100m as the country’s retail investors continue to ignore warnings about the risks of a stock market bubble and continue to put new money into the market.

The surge in the interest to buy shares among China’s population has accelerated over the past few days, with 385,000 new accounts being opened on Monday alone, taking the total to 100.27m, according to China Securities Depositary and Clearing Corporation. In the previous week, around 1.5m new accounts were opened. [...] Read on

385'000 new accounts!? Might that be close to Switzerlands total existing amount of trading accounts? Wicket! Greed is drawing lots of laymen into the market! Get out!!

China, finance, stock market, economy

Beijing Olympics: Rockets against the rain

During previous Olympic games rockets were installed to keep away airplanes navigated by potential terrorists. In Beijing rockets are not only going to target terrorists but also clouds that get to close to the Olympic sites. Well at least if they threaten to let it rain..

Parts of an article published in The Daily Telegraph:

[...] Wang said aircraft and rockets would be used to spread silver iodine and dry ice high into the air to control moisture.

He said the agents were expected to act like catalysts, targeting rain-heavy clouds and inducing rainfall before the clouds reached the Olympic venues. [...] Read whole article

This is hardly news for Beijing where artificial rain is relatively frequent, especially in summer. But it's yet another example illustrating China's extensive efforts to prepare for what can be called China's current holy grale.

Ready for global warming?

Random: while reading up on a story on "Schwarzenegger accuses Bush of 'inaction and denial' on global warming" spread via digg.com, I found the following:


Check out more of these Diesel ads here. Global warming going fashionable... Creative, even if I'd prefer energies to be spent on fighting global warming rather than on getting the right cloth to be served water the "Diesel" way.. ^^

advertisement, global warming, green, fun

The Olympic Stadium in Beijing - The 'Bird's nest' - and other architecture in China

Lots has been written and said about the monumental National Stadium that is currently being built here in Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games.

As a "Bebbi" myself I'm obviously kind of proud to say that it's HdM (Herzog and de Meuron), architects from Basel, that have won the competition and get to realize their project... ;)

Anyway, I just read an interesting article written by Guido Mingels and published in Das Magazin. While the article contains the usual, funny anecdotes about daily life in China and the understandable disbelief about and fascination with the Chinese way to build (The abundance of labour: at times 10'000 persons were working on this building simultaneously. The speed: partly due to the amount of relatively cheap manual labour available, partly, also judging from my own experience, because of a slightly different idea of what passes the required minimal quality threshold and what doesn't) it also contains some very interesting thoughts about the associations a piece of architecture can evoke, especially in China.

Mingels describes how some of the monumental buildings currently under constructions are perceived by the local population and how they were given nicknames that defy their original purpose : to build proud buildings symbolizing the 'rebirth' of China.

The National Opera being built according to Paul Andreu's design, even dwarfing the neighbouring, imposing Great Hall of the People is consequently referred to as "duck egg".

The CCTV tower designed by Rem Koolhaas and currently being built in Beijings CBD is risking to be referred to as the inclined gate of Beijing.


The article also mentions a project by a European architect who participated in the competition for the construction of the National Opera. His design consisted of 3 oval buildings whose roofs were composed of a variety of green, polygonal surfaces. Altogether the buildings looked like 3 green turtles. Lovely, right? Well, not quite. In China a green turtle stands for a married man that has also succumbed to the temptation of an other woma - an adulterer. Even though architectonically brilliant, the project was dead before it really started.

Projects that fare better are the appendix to the airport in Beijing designed by Norman Foster. Since it looks like the tail of a dragon, it is a "sure winner" in China, so Li Xingang.


So what about the Olympic stadium? It started off risking to be referred to as a big "potty", hence not exactly ideal to evoke national pride or the respect it, architechtonically, merited. Taking the concerns uttered by Li Xinggang into account, HdM changed the design slightly. Result: the public has adopted the nickname "bird's nest" for this colossos made of steel and concrete. Since the connotations of a birds nest in China are positive, ranging from birth, family, security to nature, the stadium is likely to become the magnet it is supposed to be.

The fact that this "magnet" is considered very important is implied by its location: It is built on one straight axis connecting the Forbidden City, Tian'anmen, Mao's Mausoleum and Bell- and Drum tower, all symbols of past rulers and pride. What will the prominently located Olympic Stadium stand for? Good architecture is not only a reflection of the people's mind and culture but influences their life and, potentially, their minds. In this sense I slightly disagree (idealist as I am) with the authors last sentence, but like his thoughts about the "evolution of the architecture of the state".

Evolution der Staatsarchitektur

Wer dereinst beim Besuch in Peking nacheinander die Verbotene Stadt, den Tiananmen-Platz und das Nationalstadion besichtigt, wird dabei vielleicht eine Evolution der chinesischen Staatsarchitektur erkennen. Eine Evolution, die den Traum von Herzog & de Meuron, symbolisch an einem neuen China mitzubauen, bestätigt. Die Kaiserachse, auf der alle drei Bauwerke stehen, ist gleichzeitig eine Zeitachse der politischen Kultur Chinas. Der quadratkilometergrosse Kaiserpalast, der im 15. Jahrhundert angelegt wurde und nacheinander vierzehn Kaisern der Ming- sowie zehn der Qing-Dynastie Heimat bot, war eine eigene Stadt in der Stadt, von hohen Mauern umgeben, welche die gottähnlichen Herrscher niemals verliessen, unerreichbar für das Volk. Der Tiananmen-Platz wiederum, von Mao umgestaltet, ist eine schier endlose offene Fläche, zu der zwar jeder Bürger Zutritt hat, auf der sich der Einzelne aber restlos verloren fühlt; es ist Monumentalarchitektur mit erdrückender Wirkung, und erst in der Ferne, am Rand des Platzes, bieten die Mao-Grabstätte und das Kongressgebäude als einzige Perspektive dem Auge einen Halt. Das Olympiastadion schliesslich, sieben Kilometer nördlich, drückt eine völlig andere Haltung aus. Es ist riesig, aber es hat keine Mauern und nichts zu verbergen. Die Stahlstruktur hat keine Türen, ist überall betretbar, jeder kann jederzeit hinein und hinaus. Das Vogelnest ist ein Geflecht ohne Hierarchie, in dem aber jeder Zweig eine statische Funktion hat; bricht man nur einen hinaus, leidet seine Stabilität. Wenn dies zum Sinnbild eines neuen China würde, dann hätte das Olympiastadion mehr getan, als nur seinen Zweck erfüllt.

Aber natürlich entscheidet am Ende nicht die Architektur darüber, wohin die Politik sich entwickelt. Sondern umgekehrt. Read more

I'll definitely going to include questions regarding the new "historical" buildings of Beijing and how they are perceived into my conversations with people that I tend to bug randomly in the streets of Beijing. ^^

architecture, design, culture, china, beijing, olympic games

An unexpected Chinese language partner :

I was sitting at the lakefront in Tuanjiehu park, one of the green oasis I frequently find refuge in. The weather was a treat, the weeping willow’s scent in the air and I in for a lengthy brainstorming. I was in the ‘flow’.

But then an elderly man passed by. I noticed him because the rhythm of his step changed, slowed down, broke. I looked up and saw that he was staring. Foreigner! Unusual, yes, but his reaction was unusual as well. Having seen that I saw that he was staring he did not turn around, pretend nothing had happened and walk on. Seemingly working up all his courage he said in Chinese: “Do you speak Chinese?”. Since I answered, he knew that I spoke it, some, and there it was: the smile. He relaxed, opened up and off we went to what turned out to be an almost 2 hour long conversation.

He started off telling me that he was taking English classes with an 88 year old Chinese woman who had emigrated to the US, just to immigrate back to the Middle Kingdom some 22 years later. Unfortunately, as my interlocutor said, she gave up the teaching this year. “Early retirement, you know” he remarked jokingly. But hey, he is still studying, while sitting in the park, mostly alone. His count stands at 1000 out of the 2000 English words considered worthwhile studying by his manual, an English manual for high school kids.

I was impressed. He has been studying English pronunciation with the same diligence as everyone willing to be understood in Chinese needs to study the pronunciation of the latter. He was hungry and foolish; a role model of the young! I asked questions, he answered and the inverse. Here some of the content.

He started studying the language of Shakespeare and Britney Spears 2 years ago because he is determined to be a good host. In 2008, time when China intends to return to the world stage with a big bang and the number of foreign visitors is likely to skyrocket, he wants to be of help for ‘foreign friends’ trying to find their way around the capital of the north, Beijing. His attitude and language skills will make him a wonderful host, I am sure.

He also talked about his youth. One month old he was, when his father saved him from the Japanese artillery that had targeted, among others, his home. 8 years later, meaning in 1945, he was selling tobacco to the same Japanese. He said that ‘Tobacco’ was one of the easiest English words for him to learn, since the Japanese word is, apparently, a transliteration of the English ‘tobacco’, a word he had heard all to frequent from Japanese soldiers on the lookout for a smoke. Does he have resentments about the cruelties committed by Japanese soldiers at that time, which are still largely unacknowledged by Japan? He doesn’t. He has not forgotten, but forgiven and rather than the past it was our talk about the future, including his English language skills, that made his eyes blink. I was impressed, again.

Work? Standards! He was working for the state, helping the latter to make sure that standards were kept. Day in and day out he checked whether the 1kg weights at local shops were indeed 1kg, whether the nailpolishlike Baijiu really contained 40% of alcohol (I picked a random number), and the bottle the 3dl, as stated on its etiquette.

If his attitude, at his age, after a life like his, was standard we would have even more reasons to be excited about the present and thrilled about the future. A great afternoon, and only one of the numerous stories out there. I’ll meet him again. Next week, same time, same place.

language, chinese, language partner, china

Souvenirs

One of these nostalgic moments.. My mum cleaned the house and dugg out fotos. Hopps, they are in my inbox and me way back, in my souvenirs.. Oh boy, having a great childhood is definitely super important, and if I could hand out an Oscar for being the parents of the century I wouldn't hestitate a second to hand it over to my parents. You would give your Oscar to your parents? Great!

I love the picture below. My sister Simone taking me for ride in her chic plane.. ^^


Many souvenirs on my mind today. Don't worry I won't bugg you with them. But I hope that Silas Eliah, the youngest member of the Lüdin family is, once he is as old as I am today, going to be looking back to many great souvenirs as well.



family, pictures

News is what "is supposed" to be news..?!

Reported by Reuters today:

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese President Hu Jintao on Monday launched a campaign to rid the country's sprawling Internet of "unhealthy" content and make it a springboard for Communist Party doctrine, state television reported.

With Hu presiding, the Communist Party Politburo -- its 24-member inner council -- discussed cleaning up the Internet, state television reported. The meeting promised to place the often unruly medium more firmly under propaganda controls.

"Development and administration of Internet culture must stick to the direction of socialist advanced culture, adhere to correct propaganda guidance," said a summary of the meeting read on the news broadcast.

"Internet cultural units must conscientiously take on the responsibility of encouraging development of a system of core socialist values." Read more

.. The power I believe in is the power of arguments. "Good night and good luck"

media, china, politics

The English corner at Ren Da (People's University) :

How many Chinese already speak English and, if so, on what level, is a tough question to answer (eg. discussion). However, I would say that it is relatively safe to say that the proportion is increasing rapidly. Chinglish is under constant attack, even though far from being doomed anytime soon (a) for the obvious difficulties of learning a language that is completely different from one's own and b) for the foreigner in China's implicit wish that Chinglish may persist, since it can spice up daily life quite a bit ;))

Yesterday I happened to walk into one of the manifestations of the, especially younger, Chinese's considerable drive to learn English: the 人大英语角, the "English Corner" of the People's University. Every Friday night starting at 6pm people interested in improving their English while speaking, meet up at the east gate of Ren Da and get going. Even blackboards are provided for. I was impressed not only by the event itself, but also it's popularity. The square was packed, conversations agitated and, as it turns out, also their BBS is rather bustling: 6635 registered users!

Curious as I was I started asking questions regarding the reasons for the corner's obvious popularity. While learning the language connecting you to the world and international business seems to be the number one driving force, a secondary function seems to be just as important: "6:00 every friday night.. if you wanna participate this action, why not together with me?" says duqiangatom on the RUCEC BBS. Hehe, yep, the English speaking corner is a bit like AIESEC in that it's "side effect", "getting to know" (special) people (...) is very attractive and efficient.. ;)

Well then, if more people try to find their partner in life like this then the number, and may be even proportion, of people speaking a foreign language in Mainland China is soon going to be higher than the one in countries such as the US, etc. ;)

Great institution (also for the deliberative and learning effect of it.. ;) !


fun, language, China, education

I love to get stuck in traffic :

Beijing traffic has incredible potential to wreck ones nerves. The number of cars increases dramatically while the infrastructure tries to keep track. However, the latter is not only loosing the race but also suffers the legacy of some insane errors of construction (little example: the offramps of the ringroads are just about 100meters AFTER the onramps..). Public transport (except the two existing subway lines I would say) exists and is relatively cheap but is chaotic and inefficient (since there is no such thing as separate lanes for public transport, etc..). Furthermore, the collective action problem also harms China: is there a small gap on the other lane potentially advancing you individually, there is no doubt everyone ceases it, disregarding the fact that the resulting chaos slows everyone down.. Well, well, this situation is likely to continue until the new subway lines are opened and public transport becomes a valid alternative to private transportation or then until the drastic policy measures for the Olympic games kick in (to help very temporarily)..

Don't get me wrong: I looove this situation for two reasons.

First, cruising through the city on my "dove" (Chinese bike brand (yep, I think it's one of these few homegrown brands.. ;)) is adventurous and opportunities to ring my bell (brandnew. At least 20 years newer than all the other parts of my bike) numerous. Secondly and more importantly, I have plenty of time to listen to podcasts. My may to work: just enough for an episode of "International" (Excellent program on international affairs done by DRS, Swiss radio station) or "From our own correspondents" (News from around the world presented with English wit and insight. BBC) or then half of an episode of my current favorite: the podcasts of the Carnegie Council, the "Voice for Ethics in International policy". My way to Chinese classes: just enough for another episode of Chinesepod, a morning show from Shanghai helping foreigners to get fit in Chinese, the fun way. These are only some of the great resources out there. Especially interesting also the course ware put online by institutions such as MIT.

This, and a bit of Britney Spears in between (sheit, Christine K. got me on this one ;) really helps not only to stay sane in Beijing traffic, but even do so with a smile ;)

transportation,
beijing, podcast, learning, media

Spring feeling

"Das Jahr wird älter und täglich jünger. O Widerspruch voll Harmonie!"

I like this citation and the poem ( Erich Kästner - der April) that comes along, since it expresses spring feelings very well and reminds me of a very special person - Pli - who is going to enjoy numerous autumns more feeling and enjoying most beautiful spring feelings, I am convinced!

Everyone, enjoy the energy of spring, the young and fresh green (that even conquers Beijing), these great feelings in the stomach region we all cherish ;) and claim the outdoor playground! Rodney Mullens does it. Check it out. Wicket!!

西安 Xī'ān - ancient warriors in the contemporary "mist"

Xi'an, in Shaanxi province is a city of great historical and cultural importance. It is situated in the South West of the "Northern Capital" (34°16′N 108°55′;)) and figures just below the latter on the check list of numerous China travellers. While it took me 9 months to finally see the Forbidden City from the inside (yep, I live in Beijing..), I, last week, and after 17 months in China, set out to tick yet another one of these reportedly "must do" destinations off my “to see” list. Well then, is Xi'an a "must do"?

CELEBRATE CHINESE TRAINS - Chinese trains may still be relatively slow (however, the average speed has just been raised, I forgot by how many km/h, by the central authorities) but they provide a great, insightful microcosm. The 11.5 resp. 15 hours (depending on which train one takes) it takes to Xi'an can provide you with plenty of interesting encounters (some interesting (eg. the seemingly average Chinese neighbour telling you about his missions in Europe and Africa) some challenging (eg. the human chainsaw sleeping just below you or the seemingly delicate lady whose morning hygiene almost causes the train to derail), some bewildering (eg. the charming guy met in the restaurant wagon who, after downing a couple of Baijiu (and still thinking I am German) would like to seal the new friendship by drinking on Hitler),..) while enjoying the comfort (I recommend you to choose “hard-“ or “soft sleeper” for trips above 8 hours) of Chinese trains. Hence, first reason to travel to Xi'an (even though this selling point applies to just about every destination in China with a train station and should probably be reformulated: don’t miss out on Chinese trains! ;)

CONDENSED CHINESE HISTORY - Xi'an was on the ancient Silk road, figured among the most wealthiest cities of the Middle Kingdom, was, on and off, the capital for 13 dynasties (including the Zhou, Qin, Han, and Tang) and is, therefore, home to some quite remarkable monuments. One among them is the city wall, which had been built between 194 and 190 BCE, was re-constructed in the Ming Dynasty and renovated just recently. Today the city wall, enclosing the ancient city (which was modernized and looks just about like any other Chinese city today (eg. below)) is a rather beautiful monument that is wide enough to ride a bike on.

Looking at the city from up there while cruising once around it (it took us (was great to catch up with Jessica and Winston) about an hour (some singing and Cannon moments included..)) is definitely worth it - especially during days when only the thick layer of smog separates you from the sun..

While the city wall was renovated in style (I won't discuss the chrismaslike lights decorating the wall at night), Hua Qing Chi (home and bathing place of Yáng Guìfēi, the Xuanzong emperor's most beloved consort) can only be recommended to fans of the Chinese approach to mass tourism: the place has been, I adventure to say, totally rebuilt, including discolights in "antique" roofs", big posters announcing the evening show of "The Chinese Romeo and Juliet", tons of tour groups including customized caps so as not to loose anyone. Furthermore one of the farmers who discovered the Terracotta warriors nearby sits in a room and gives you an autograph, for 10RMB and, if you insist, a picture with him; for an additional 10RMB. Thus: save the 70RMB entrance for a good dinner..

TERRACOTTA ARMY- Had the ego, ideas and projects of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of a unified China (from 221 to 210BC) been less colossal, the famous Terracotta Army would have never been built, let alone discovered by local farmers and unearthed in 1974. 8099 life size horses and warriors, originally buried with Qin Shi Huang so as to help the latter rule another empire in the afterlife, have been surfaced. They are not only imposing in number but also rich in detail and beautiful in features. I could have stayed there a whole lot longer and enjoy the memories of the past they evoke.

They are definitely worth seeing, even though the museum built next to them disqualifies itself claiming to be one of the best museums in the world; not only not exactly modest but, in my humble opinion, not true (even though the exhibited picture of the visiting former Chinese capo de tutti capi evoked my interest (eg. position of his trouser.. ;)).
I would recommend skipping the museum and spending more time at the warriors.

MOSQUE AND MUSLIM QUATER - One more site worth a detour are the manifestations of muslim influence in Xi'an, dating back to at least the Tang dynasty. The Great Mosque's architecture is completely Chinese in style, and, except for some Arabic script, also in decoration. Minarets are missing. However, the place is a well frequented place of worship, especially by the Hui people and going there during a prayer is worth it; not only for situations such as captured below. "Small brothers are watching you".. ;)

Other than that Xi'an seems to be somewhat the victim of Chinese modernisation which is characterized by a relative lack of architectural creativity and enormous pollution. The latter is rather impressive and flat out nasty since it even and easily tops the already considerable pollution in Beijing. We have made out some solar panels and take it as an indicator for the will to improve the situation. I hope that these efforts will not only be kept up but seriously increased so that my overall recommendation can be kept up: for a weekend trip, Xi'an is definitely worth it, even though not only its ancient warriors are suffering from the contemporary "mist".. ;)

Touristily yours.. Dom ^^

xian, china, travelling, mainland tourism, terracotta warriors

Tickets for the Olympic Games in Beijing :

500 days to go until Beijing will host the world.

500 days of activisim englobing just about everything from finishing up all construction sites (including some mind blowing Olympic facilities and the CCTV tower) to the perceived need of educating the population on how to best host the international guests. Fascinating, funny and at times disturbing to observe.

thanks TobyBarnes

Beijing seems to be on track. Are you?

Tickets are now available for pre-registration. If interested go to http://www.tickets.beijing2008.cn/.

The Swiss and Europe..

SWISS, airline owned by Germans, just sent me a newsletter stating the following:

Ab CHF 149.- nach Europa

[...] Entdecken Sie z.B. Hamburg, London, Prag oder Madrid sowie viele andere aufregende Destinationen doch mal im Frühling. [...]

To Europe starting from as little as 149 Swiss Franks.

[...] Why not discover exciting destinations such as Hamburg, London, Prague or Madrid and many others in spring? [...]

.. well then dear Swiss fellows, why not discover Europe, since you are, apparently, not living in it yourself..? Switzerland indeed entertains a strange relationship with Europe.. Long live the self proclaimed island in Western Europe! ^^

switzerland, international relations, culture, fun

Thailand - a country that makes one smile

Every year Chinese New Year causes what is referred to as the "world’s largest human migration" of our times.
This year I was one of theses millions of migrants. Destination? The Kingdom of Thailand.

I left China during Chinese New Year, forgoing all of Spring Festival’s celebrations and traditions (more here or here)?! Well not quite, since one of the reasons I went to Thailand was to "meet the parents" of my girlfriend, who are Taiwanese, living in Thailand..

Well then, off I was, for two weeks, one week in Bangkok and surroundings, one week in Krabi, Southern Thailand.

Some of my impressions:

• PINK TAXIS - Thailand is about color. People wear bright colors, flowers decorate houses and temples and even the taxis are purple, blue and orange or bright red.
• UNINTENDED MONUMENTS - Bangkok was about to double in housing volume when the before hyped Westerners smelled the dead rat. A boom went bust and loads of half finished and in the meantime rusty buildings are testifying of what the result was - the 1997 Financial crisis.


• BOAT TO AVOID TRAFFIC - Yep, traffic jams are your daily bread. Yep, taxi drivers are trying to rip you off.. but hey, why don't you simply profit from what I enjoyed most about Bangkok's public transport - the wooden boats on the Chao Phraya River?!
• FOOD AND RETIRED CHEFS - Pad Thai, loads of curry, fresh and splendid sea food, divine fruits,.. Thai kitchen is rich and tasty. Interesting enough: I had some of my best Italian food in Bangkok. Reason: the considerable migration of "retired" European chefs..
• THE POWER OF TOURISTS - The "product" Thailand currently sells best, it's hospitality, implies a massive influx of tourists and with it hard currencies. This in turn can change social patterns and modify what is perceived and sold as part of a tradition and culture. Let me avoid elaborating more on why I am not too keen on ever experiencing - sitting in a plane from Bangkok, or even Phuket, to Switzerland or Germany - and mention another example instead: The Damnoen Saduak floating market: Locals switched from (also) buyers to sellers and products sold from vegetables to miniature Buddhas and "I've been to Damnoen Saduak" T-Shirts.
• STANDING FOR THE KING - Babel (IMHO a good idea but not really compelling realization) we saw, but this isn't really relevant since we would have been expected to get up for the anthem of the king before any other movie as well. The Thai love their King Bhumibol Adulyadej, or simply Rama IX, who has celebrated his 60th year in power last year and consequently is the world's longest serving monarch. To show their adoration for the king, Thai wear a yellow shirt every Monday and, new, also Friday.
  
• BEING BBQ-ED - Flying in from wintry Beijing 35 degrees can feel quite hot. I was melting away at the Grand Palace and while marveling at Ayutthaya, the former capital of the Thai Kingdom.
• MEET THE PARENTS - De Niro and Stiller have got nothing to do with it - it was a pleasure to get to know my girlfriends entrepreneurial and interesting parents. I especially remember the bike trip we undertook.. 35 degrees, though tropical plantations and the buffet dinner that included chocolate fondue.. *^^*

• MEET BIBI - Well, I prefer not to talk about this.. ;)
• EAT THE FISH AND PROFIT - After the fish was only on the table on the first night of Spring Festival to symbolize profit, we ate it on the second day to profit in the future. The year of the golden pig (only every 60 years) has started well. Echo and I won 300 Baht in dicing.. ;)
• MASSAGE, THAI STYLE - 'No, no she is not going to do it.. no! no? AAAAAHHH --- KRIIICKS --- Outch? AHHH ^^ Thai massage is about as sensitive as a bear caressing a mouse. But the experience and result were TOP.
  
• RUNNING FOR A SEAT ON THE PLANE - Air Asia is the "easyjet" of Asia. Interesting new feature: they do not allocate seat numbers anymore. The early bird catches the good seat...

• SOME GET TANNED OTHERS - YOU LIKE SHRIMP? - .. if so then I would have been happy.. ;)




• THE HIPPIE COMMUNITY AT 'THE BEACH' - "Tong Sai", a beach on Railey in Krabi province, is where we met our dear 'hobby' Singaporean mates Mel, Parkie, CK and Aditi (nomadlife's most lazy Blogger). Together we enjoyed the laid-back atmosphere of this somewhat isolated beach (one can reach it only via boat) that attracts quite a bunch of climbers due to its outer worldly carst cliffs. STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL and very easy-chill. Hot recommendation.
• HANG LOOSE - .. and finally this trip was a great opportunity to hanging loose, relaxing, reading books, enjoying the hammocks on the beach so as to get ready to getting into the fast track in Beijing again.
  

You're thinking of going to Thailand? Sam would say: "a very good choice"! ^^


travel, thailand, pictures, friends, culture

Rajiv came, saw and inspired again.. ;)

Rajiv - guess I don't have to introduce him to the nomad community.. - was one of those persons that inspired me the most during my time at and for AIESEC. His speeches were mesmerising and rich in content at the same time; his optimism and attitude seemingly contagious..

Well, he came to Beijing last weekend and inspired again. Result:

"thanks" for snapping the pictures Cliff! *^^*

Together with Jean we also hiked parts of the Great Wall and with other AIESEC dudes checked out Beijing's nightlife, brunched until the late afternoon, stood in front of the already closed door of the Forbidden City,.. A great weekend that should be repeated.

Rajiv and all you nomads out there: feel free to pass by in Beijing! ;)

aiesec, friends, beijing, chinese culture, pictures, fun

Switzerland, an expansionist (future) superpower? :

Friends sent me the link to an article that made my day today:

Swiss accidentally invade Liechtenstein

The Associated Press
Friday, March 2, 2007; 10:01 PM

ZURICH, Switzerland -- What began as a routine training exercise almost ended in an embarrassing diplomatic incident after a company of Swiss soldiers got lost at night and marched into neighboring Liechtenstein.

According to Swiss daily Blick, the 170 infantry soldiers wandered just over a mile across an unmarked border into the tiny principality early Thursday before realizing their mistake and turning back.

A spokesman for the Swiss army confirmed the story but said that there were unlikely to be any serious repercussions for the mistaken invasion.

"We've spoken to the authorities in Liechtenstein and it's not a problem," Daniel Reist told The Associated Press.

Officials in Liechtenstein also played down the incident.

Interior ministry spokesman Markus Amman said nobody in Liechtenstein had even noticed the soldiers, who were carrying assault rifles but no ammunition. "It's not like they stormed over here with attack helicopters or something," he said.

Liechtenstein, which has about 34,000 inhabitants and is slightly smaller than Washington DC, doesn't have an army.

.. found in Washington Post.

Ah, my dear peaceful home country... *^^*

Xinhua, Chinese news source, brought the exact same story however, with a slightly different title..:

Sweden sort of invades Liechtenstein

... all non Swiss out there, please don't make us feel even more insignificant. Mind:

There is Swiss people living in Switzerland
There is Swedish people living in Sweden
Swiss eat cheese and chocolate, Swedish eat liquorice and drink absolute vodka
Swiss ski on slopes, Swedish "ski" on planes/lowlands (no kidding.. ;)
Swiss speak French, Schwiiizerdütsch, Italian and Romantsch (well, at least some of them), Swedish speak Swedish
Swiss have Heidi and Peter, Swedish have Pippi Langstrumpf aka Pippi Långstrump
Switzerland is small, Sweden is bigger
Switzerland has UBS and Nestle, Sweden has IKEA
Switzerland is cold, Sweden is colder
.
.
.
... hence Switzerland NOT = Sweden

*^^*

switzerland, fun, international relations,anecdote

Dom? :

Dom, who is that? I'm sure you have another answer to this question than I have. Well, actually, do I have a conclusive answer to this question myself? Isn't this one of these eternal questions that makes our lives spicy until they end?

Recently, when I was looking into peer review methods, I was asking myself this question again. To what extent are we actually what others perceive us to be? To what extend can we influence who we are in the eyes of others? And, how relevant is what others perceive us to be?

A potential answer to the first question is: to the extent we choose to. But then, the second question kicks in, isn't there limits to our personal influence on how we are perceived by others? Would I be perceived as the same person, independent, for example, of my physical appearance?

Guess we don’t have to elaborate on the advantage of being colourblind at times.. (Morph)

But then, how relevant is this sometimes suprising, somewhat "external I”– how important is the “Fremdbild”? While it can have detrimental effects – eg. people trying hard to produce the “right” Fremdbild, loosing their actual identity while trying to do so; they end up being a façade – it can be of great help. To be aware of ones Fremdbild can make sure one is actually aware of ones weaknesses and strengths. Therefore, it can provide helpful to work on your weaknesses, or, alternatively, to focus your efforts and energy on tasks that do not expose / involve these weaknesses. In the same way it can help crystallizing one’s strength, which one can then actively exploit, develop and further. Hence, to do a reality check from time to time, to, in my case, compare the “Dom” as he is perceived by others to the “Dom” as I perceive him myself (getting tricky here.. ;)), can be helpful and healthy..

An interesting tool to use in this respect is the Johari window. It is a basic but rather effective tool to compare your "self-image" with your "image of other people" (what are the proper English terms for "Eigenbild" and "Fremdbild"? The two I just used, found on the Leo Forum seem a bit unconvincing). Fancy contributing to my reality check? Great! Please turn here. (no need to cootchie-coo ;))

^^

Check out www.bloglines.com :

This tool constitutes a little revolution in my life: www.bloglines.com. It's service:

"We track your favorite news, blogs, weather, and classifieds so that you don't have to."

Well, thanks a lot. It's most definitely helpful! Check it out (if you do not already know and use it). Thanks for sharing roomie!

Switzerland is voting for a new capital!

Today's highlight on answers.com struck me. Switzerland, that is S W I T Z E R L A N D (not Sweden.. We are S W I S S, not Swedish (this just as a random note.. ;)) is "voting" for a new capital city*.

What is Switzerland's capital anyway, some of you are wondering? See, that's the vivid proof that Switzerland really needs a new one since who - outside Switzerland that is - really knows our beautiful, but somewhat museum-esque capital, Bern?

So what are the options? BASEL! .... well there may be other options. :)

Geneva is stunningly beautiful and, because of the presence of a considerable number of MNCs and even bigger number of international organisations, an exciting melting pot. Personnally I love this city and consider it my second home, not at least because I spent 4 years of my life studying (among other..) in this city. However, it may be a bit too "international" of an entity to be a good, representative captial of Switzerland.

Well then, that is saying that the choice of potential new capitals boils down (at least in my eyes) to two: BASEL and Zürich (you see already, I'm veeery objective..).

So which one to choose?

Basel OR Zürich

• Quality OR Quantity (well, put into an international context, 450'000 inhabitants may not actually be considered real quantity yet.. ;)
• Cultivated "Fasnacht"/Carnaval OR "Böög verbräännä" (Litteral translation: burning a booger..)
• Zybele OR Bölle
• Tinguely fountain and Fondation Beyeler OR Bahnhof Letten (ok, this one may be border case.. ;))
• Roger Federer OR hmm, who is there..?
• THE (unpretentious...) town in Switzerland OR "Downtown Switzerland"
  
• Open minded and in direct contact / interaction with 2 neighbouring countries OR SVP

Ok, I won't waste too much of your time that you could spend voting (how to? eg. below) with further elaborations. You wonder why I did not mention the beautiful lake of Zürich; Zürich's proximity with the Alps (and their fantastic ski ressorts); the not so cultivated consumption of alcohol during the "Fasnacht"; Freitag; etc.. ? Details... ;))

So, for everyone among you with a Swiss cellphone: VOTE (until today, Jan 14th midnight (GMT +1h) by sending a text message saying "BASEL" to 977. Everyone else: support us by keeping your fingers crossed, or however you wish others luck! ;)

Currently (07/01/14 5.40pm (GMT +8)) Zürich takes the lead with 41.7%. Basel is only lacking 0.4% (absolute numbers not indicated..)! Hence, Bebbi's, it's time for a final spurt!!

Check the results of this pretty cool campaign here. I'll keep you posted. ^^

___
* This vote is not one of the numerous official votes we Swiss have. It's a pretty efficient (and cool) campaign by a (still) unknown campaigner.

Engaged

Two more "down"! On December 9th, Jessica and Winston got engaged!

We spent a great night together with them, their families (eg. the ladies of the evening below) and friends at Jessica's house in Shanghai. The evening was, unsurprisingly, very romantic and charming to the last detail - some of the music we listened to: the soundtrack to "Amélie". I love this soundtrack, and apparently so do Jessica and Winston.

May the two of you go on shining!

Fancy a Chinese name? :

I just discovered this online tool. Rather fun but not all that serious, since it comes up with names that are composed of the characters that are closest to the pronounciation of one's English name and, I cannot really tell to which extent, the desired essence of your name. In real life, however, names are choosen by someone who knows the nuances (and there is plenty of them..) of Chinese language and culture.

Some (random) facts and anecdotes:

• The surname, which is usually 1 character, comes first - Hence, avoid calling Hu Jintao "Good morning Mr. Jintao".. Apparently, there are over 700 different Chinese family names, but as few as twenty (Li, Wang,..) cover a majority of the Han people. List of most common Chinese surnames here.
• The given name follows the surname. It is normally composed of one or two which are chosen by the parents (or the grandparents in traditional Chinese culture). It's the given name that causes the variety of Chinese names, since one can potentially choose from the whole range of Chinese characters. Names can be choosen according to birthdate, the perceived (and expected) characteristics of the person, the family's background, gender traits, the fortune tellers recommendation, etc. More here. They can even be influenced by the period of time they are born in - during the cultural revolution names such as "eastern wind"(東風, 东风) were reportedly rather frequent. Some of the limitations: it is considered inappropriate to name ones child after a famous figure and offensive to name it after an oldermember among the family or even distant relatives.
• What do Chinese people do that emigrate or frequently deal with foreigners?- They either reverse the order, hence Yao Ming becomes Ming Yao (surname - given name) or find themselves an English given name, followed by the Chinese surname (eg. Peter Yao). While the first one can be confusing (since if both sides try to adapt and the Western side has difficult to distinguish given from surnames, then one (as a Western) can still end up dropping a clanger. The second option can be funny since some people probably simply use google language tools to translate their name, others use a (sometimes "the"?) English word they think to know - I got introduced to "Rock", "Potato", Watermelon and even a "Dying Duck". I'm still figuring where the last one got his inspiration from..
• 大 明 meaning as much as da ming or "big bright" is the name that was choosen for me. Let me highlight that it's "bright" in the sense of “radiant”, shining, not in the sense of “intelligent”.. I was baptised at the very start of my China adventure but still suffer from it since there is a story/ deeper meaning to it (which I still not quite understand) that causes everyone reading it on my business card either to smirk or to laugh out loud.. ;).. I might have found an indicator, while googeling for the deeper meaning of da ming, on (yes, seriously..) Greg Mankiv’s Blog, In the comment of anonymous regarding the name of her dog (...) Anonymous said:
  

  I named my jokey dog "Da Ming".Because in China there are two comedic actors respectively named Guo Da and Cai Ming. And my dog often does some antics just like a comic.He always walks leisurely around the living room lowering his head,sometimes knocked by the wooden chairs,and snarling "them" as if "they" want to provoke a fight,and he is read to. After smelling "them",he realizes that "they" are not creature.Then he walks away shaking his head.

  I promise I didn't "snarl" any wodden chair... so what? I walk away, shaking my head.. :) Sometimes I simply refer to myself as 多米尼克 - meaning as much as Duō mǐ ní kè which is the phonetically closest translation of my French/English name. Wanna find out how yours would be translated phonetically? here
• Within families given names are rarely used to address adults. Instead one uses the relationship, hence ayi (for auntie) and other titles. Hence, I can forget Sheila's name and simply call her mei(4) mei.. ;) Read more about the incredible maze of titles here.

So, what is your Chinese name? ^^

chinese, chinese name, language, fun

Using the Taiwanese earthquake as an excuse, or simply (a delayed) 新年快乐 !?:

Scandal, the Taiwanese internet broke "my" internet!! Should I sue it for the serious damage to my reputation and honour as committed e-mail writer and fervent and frequent Blogger (well, that might be overdoing it.. ;)) But well, a potential excuse why some of you may not have received an e-mail from me yet to wish you a happy new year be constructed about as follows:

When the earthquake struck Taiwan on December 26th, rock slides took out submarine cables near Taiwan. Internet and telephone networks toppled like dominoes. Consequently, access to numerous webpages hosted outside the Mainland was pretty much impossible or, where already rerouted, as slow as back then, during the good 'ol days of internet (when I was still young, etc.. I'm not sure if we were more patient at that time or if our excitement about that thing called internet and e-mail was simply strong enough to make a minute appear like a second..).

My initial reactions was threefold

1. boy, this feels like I imagined information access to be in China before I actually came here
2. man, just imagine I lived in a world without gtalk, Skype, all these other web 2.0 thingys, only usual mail, fax and telegraph, only 70% of the Spam (apparently worldwide Spam dropped by 30% when China got "disconnected"..), if I had to go to the bank to transfer my money (well, this is still the case here since ICBC e-banking software does not run on Linux (hint ICBC... ;)) and go to the supermarket to buy my groceries myself (well, also this doesn't really apply to China. But hey, would I know the elderly lady cooking in one of the corners of the supermarket downstairs if it existed..?).. I couldn't even bother you via BLOG and Flickr?! Seriously, it felt a bit like back in the days.. Quite intriguing as an experience.
   
3. hey, hey, isn't this THE excuse for my delayed e-mailing in 2007..?

Well, well, I know that, given my past record this excuse would not only be lame and lacking the required credibility, but also simply not true (since gmail was actually working pretty decently (linked to Google's distributed server strategy?)).. Let me, therefore, grab this opportunity to wish all of you...

新年快乐 - Xin nian kuai le or simply a happy new year, bonne année, feliz año, ein Gutes Neues Jahr, e schööns Nois (ok, ok, I'll stop showing off with my google translation skills.. ;))..!! I hope you had a smooth start and will be enjoying an exciting, inspiring and rewarding 2007 full of little BIG moments!!

How I started my year? Ask Andrew (if he remembers..) ;) Thanks for the pic Claire and starting the year off with me all of you guys!


Hugs, Dom *^^*

Swearing - or how to get the grip of a language :

Can one ever really get the grip of a language without being able to swear in the respective language? Would one ever understand the French or be considered French without knowing "putain" (well, that's a harmless one..)? One's life would definitely be less fun and one's chances to be employed as a waiter somewhere in a Parisian cafe roughly zero.. ;)

Swearing can not only be very helpful (at times) in daily life, increase the fun while- and the speed of learning (I still remember my first night in Colombia when Maria Isabel taught me just about every four letter word there is in Spanish and, therefore, helped me build the perfect foundation to quickly learn this language. Gracias hermanita!! ;)) but is also a good indicator for what exactly people consider naughty, bad or appalling.

Well, I cannot deny that my Chinese is still far from the level I would actually like it to be. I was therefore thinking: how come? why? If I was a bit more honest I would simply admit that I was a lazy ass and did not put enough effort into it, or then that my brain capacity was already at 100% like this.. But hey that sucks..;) I, therefore, decided to blame it on the fact that I haven't actually learned how to properly swear yet.. Why? Chinese are relatively polite in public (or may be I simply did not get it yet if someone was actually swearing at me.. may be even smiled as a reaction..) and very hesistant to teach me how to properly swear. They seem to fear making me socially untenable and spoiling me (once and for all). hmm..

Hence, resolution of the day: let's get the swearing in! I didn't have to digg for long until I found "Beijinger blindly adore reproductive organs" on Danwei. It elaborates on the importance of "bi" [slang for vagina] in the local forms of swearing (and others: 牛逼 Niu bi (cow's vagina) can actually mean "cool" and swaggering... hm, etymologically very "interesting"..;) Now if this is not a good start!! :) Check out the full article here!

Wanna help me learn Chinese quicker: What's the most interesting swearword you know? :)

Beijing's pollution turns office buildings into lighthouses :

Carbon monoxides, ground-level ozone, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, sulphur dioxide and alike substances - to put it short: pollution – are in rich supply here in Beijing and a big, burning topic.

Yesterday this was not only obvious to my lungs but also to my eyes. I was standing at the bus station, waiting, when I saw this:

Probably the one and only nice thing there is about pollution..! Hence, at days when the above mentioned factors are abundant and fellow sun strong enough to be visible, I recommend you going for a walk (It’s totally worth the health risk.. ;) ) in Jianguomen wai or anywhere else where there is facades that are round in shape. Great!

Well, this scene also made me feel like brainstorming about Beijing’s big, massive problem with pollution. So here we go: please feel inspired and free to contribute your thoughts, comments and don't hesitate to counter argue some of the below:

Within China, which has a problem with pollution in general (the WHO reported that 7 out of the 10 most polluted cities in the world can be found in China) – interesting to see how the presence of heavy pollution illustrated on the NCAR MOPITT satellite pollution chart follows roughly China’s national boundaries),
Beijing sticks out as one of the worst among all cities (comparison). From above smog looks a bit like a fluffy cushion and gives a good impression of how "clear" Beijing sky can get:

A random number (still very unscientific this post..) to put this roughly into relation, internationally: According to a Chart in the Economist the annual fine particle pollution (PM10) in Beijing still averages above 150 µg/m3. This is rather skyrocketing compared to cities such as Madrid (37 µg/m3), Paris (22 µg/m3) or London (22 µg/m3). China itself tracks pollution at the help of the API (Air Pollution index). Only in November Beijing hit zone 5 (out of 5) several times, where, according to official recommendation, “The aged and patients should stay indoors and avoid strength draining; the ordinary should avoid outdoor activities” (basically: stay indoors..!). Check out my colleague’s, the madphilosopher’s, site who tracks also the daily API.

So what are some of the reasons why Beijing’s sky is hardly ever clear and romantic evenings marvelling at the stars fairly rare?

• CONSTRUCTION – Beijing is currently one of the biggest construction sites in the world. Since the city wants to be ready to host the world in August 2008, every construction site needs to be finished by early 2008 so that the huge amount of particulate matter and other substances has time enough to settle a bit..
• TRAFFIC - This is a big topic providing enough info and anecdotes for a post of it's own. For the moment as much: have you spent a day without being stuck in a traffic jam? Yes?! You're definitely not one of our fellow Beijing citizens.. Bicycles are being exchanged for cars at a speed that the infrastructure (sometimes flawed in very interesting ways) can not catch up with.
• INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION – Due to the rapid growth of the city factories that were originally built in the "industrial zones" on the edge of the city have all of a sudden found themselves in the middle of urban development. In addition to this the pollution generated by the factories located outside the current city boundaries is carried in by the wind.
• DESERTIFICATION OF BEIJING - The desertification of Beijing and the corresponding sandstorms that sweep over the city more and more frequently cary considerable amounts of dust into the city.
• HEATING – Once the heating is turned on (November 15th for area’s north of the heating belt (topic full of anecdotes to be written about in one of the next posts)), it produces heat mainly at the help of charcoal, a big contributor to overall pollution in Beijing.
• JIANG ROU CHUAN - This mutton shish kebab is about as popular in Beijing as in Xinjiang - Mainland China’s western most, breathtakingly beautiful and diverse region - where they originate from. They are BBQ-ed, hence consitute another (yummie..) source of pollution using coal and covering whole hutongs in smoke (I actually kind of like (aesthetically) this athmosphere)…
• TOBACCO CONSUMPTION - ask Exoweb’s candidate’s to find out more about this.. ;)
• FARTS - nice, since there is this natural touch to them.. ;)

What to do (..take it with a grain of salt..;))?

• RAIN – Since it washes pollution (very temporarily) out of the air. July and August are in that sense the "cleanest" months of the year. However, they are also the nastiest ones, since who likes to like in a steam bath, even though it’s relatively clean..? ;)
• SNOW – Another temporary remedy.. Have you ever seen snow that is brownish to blackish in colour? Welcome to join in a nasty snow ball fight here in Beijing! ;)
• CURB PRIVATE - BOOST PUBLIC TRANSPORT - big issue, interesting enough for another posting. So far no “Transmillenio system” here in Beijing.
• AWARENESS RAISING – The officials seem to be aware of the problem. Next steps seem to prioritize environmental protection over economic growth and raise awareness among citizens. I would like to see a better implementation of the “polluter pays” principle.
• USE EVALUATION SYSTEM OF PART Y OFFICIALS - The evaluation system for assessing the performance of part y officials and civil servants should be adapted so as to boost “green GDP” – here.
• ANTI-POLLUTION CREAM – Invest 80USD in 30ml of hope and radiant appareance even at times of heavy pollution..
  
• PAINT - If you your house looks grey instead of white or is dirty, simply paint it over or clean it.. I still wonder how much money Jianwai Soho – an office and residential building complex next to Guo Mao sometimes referred to as “the mental clinic” for the fact that it’s kept in white, totally, radically.. – spends on keeping itself white.. Great encounter in this respect: when I opened my window (on 11th floor) yesterday morning I saw this:
  The new apartment building I’m currently living in is white again…
• SUSTAINABLE ENERGY SOURCES – Economic development, (still) population growth and higher living standards will, without any doubt, further raise China’s need for energy. Therefore it’s essential to switch to energy sources that are technically more advanced and less energy intensive than the still overly prominent charcoal
• GREENEN LIQUID – If gras looks a bit brownish and withers: why not paint it green? Last used when the Olympic Committee came to town. Article here.

Well, a bit too long this brainstorming. Wonder what you think about this topic!

Caugh, caugh.. Dom J

Technology you need :

Sometimes people ask me how they could improve their work, create more value- in short how to make most of the lousy 24 hours they have per day.

Some of my favorite recommendations are:

Make sure to maximise your "productive" time from the very moment you get up each day. Some people say one should eat like a king in the morning. I say that's rubbish! Seriously, do you really want to wake up, waist some time kissing your partner good morning, go into the kitchen to put some croissants into the oven, cut fresh fruits into a Muesli, squeeze some oranges and go out into the cold to get the newspaper so as to read across it while talking to your partner? If you still do that, or parts of this ridiculous programm, then you have some great potential, at least 20 mins, right here! If you still insist on having some form of breakfast at home then make at least sure to use efficiency enhancing tools. Butter, Stick type, is a hot tip!


Alright, I do agree that one needs to sleep 4-5 hours per day. But hey, face it, do you really need to do this at home and in a bed? Are you that inflexible? What a waste of time! The average person spends quite an important proportion of his/her time on the way to work, respectively on the way back home. Do you really wants to sacrifice this time talking to random people about irrelevant things, observing the latest fashion trends showcased by the beauty standing next to you, listening to the revealing cellphone conversations of the person waiting for the same bus or snapping a scene with your camera that made you smile and might make others smile as well?! Forget about all this and use the time you spent in the subway/bus well. Sleep, and reduce the hours you spend at home sleeping accordingly. The technology has anticipated it, so what are you waiting for?


Another time serious killer is lunch. Seriously, isn't eating a big, fat, time consuming Sysiphus anyway? So why spend more time on it than striclty required? First rule: eat something cold because a) you don't have to wait for someone to heat up your food for you that you b) need to let cool down anyway before you can actually eat it (tell me, how silly can it actually get?). Should you be invited by someone that insists on ordering something hot for you: Don't forget to take along your chopstick fan. You'll gain some valuable minutes!


One of the most persistent ideas out there: one needs a partner! Get a grip, a partner can cost you about the same amount of time as having a TV. A partner wants to be cherished, listened to, complimented and taken out (hence, next to the hudge time investment you also loose money; not only the money you spend on food, drinks, flowers,.. but also the one you could have earned working instead of going out!) Hence, if you want to make a difference, be a really good worker, a really committed one, one that stands out and shines, then make sure to invest a couple of bucks into the right cusion and i promise you will gain, yet again, a lot of precious time...

Hm, guess I would be fired as an HR bum If I really believed in the above. Thanks Sanaty for sharing these pics of great innovations with me! :)

Taking flowers for a walk :

Lately, I've been profiting quite a bit from the beautiful weather (finally, after a somewhat "challenging" (humid, hot and smoggy..) summer). I took my camera, my lovely (that is, if she is not hungry..) roomie nina and hit the road. Destination: the hutong of Beijing. Hutongs or 胡同 (just to show how well I can copy paste Chinese characters in the meantime..) are narrow streets or allies formed by lines of siheyuan, which are traditional courtyard residences (still) frequently found in Beijing.


For me the hutong areas of Beijing are like a big treasure box. Take a couple of hours (bike or go on foot) and you will see all these little details that not only make your day but also bring you closer to Beijing life (well, or at least one, traditional, aspect of it). The lady taking her flowers for a walk, the somewhat shy first encounter of a unusual couple, curious kids, the local "Meister Proper", shitty news, etc (I've uploaded some more pics onto my flickr account) are only some of the details that made my day on Sunday 2 weeks ago.


Another experience I associate with hutong is the evening I spent together with Echo at a local taxi drivers' home. He, in the meantime an obliging and nice friend of ours, invited us over for dinner at his house somewhere in a hutong of Beijing. His house was one of several in "taxi driver lane" (a little alley of just about 20 meters in which roughly 20 people live; all of them taxi drivers). Even though it was very small and, seen with the eyes of an average Swiss, rather dirty, his home had this great, homey touch to it. Plus, it was filled with the incredible hospitality and warmth of our host, his wife and two of his friends who decided to join in. What I learnt during this evening are not only some additional Chinese words, but also that friendships are knitted at the help of Baijiu, the infamous Chinese liquor.. One good thing: The more I drank the more my Chinese seemed to work (or the drunker the others were the less they cared about my stumbling.. ;)). I enjoyed this evening a lot and "gan bei"-ed ("bottom up") quite a few shots.


What I'm going to do next week? Take my camera and ... ;)



pictures, chinese culture, daily life, beijing, hutong

Good morning, good night

So many things make my days here in Beijing, and I hardly ever take the time to share them / write about them. While I've taken the resolution to do so more frequently (have I heard anyone say: "yeah yeah, my eye!"?!) let me post this one picture of a stunning sunset we enjoyed while standing on the rooftop terrace (well inofficial one, but very convenient.. :)) of my "new" (in the meantime not all that new anymore (not only because of the "waterfall" we had in our apartment (one more story about Chinese heating system to tell..)) apartment. That's Beijing! ;)