The yearly CCTV Spring Festival Gala is usually peppered with cheesy trends, but this particular video is a smash up of such disparate references that it turns into complete, druggie lunacy.  Wow.

杜拉拉升职记 Go Lala go!

(Where exactly is she going?)

(NOTE: This film is already months old, but I'd like to add an English review where none exists)

---

Lala, a recent graduate, sends out her resume sitting in her over-sized, over-decorated apartment and then timidly hunts down an office in Beijing's financial district for an interview with her somehow naive ponytail and white nurse shoes. She gets the job, and starts bottom rung in an indistinct foreign run company, scraping by using her charm, food rationing skills and perceived business savvy to slowly climb the ranks, eventually having a relationship with her higher up, procuring the requisite car and apartment and traveling to a cardboard version of Thailand for company vacations along with whatever else you're supposed to do with money in contemporary China, including becoming jaded with it.

Go Lala go! is directed by the very popular Xu Jinglei (徐静蕾), who also stars in the role at Lala. To say this is a vanity project would be to state the obvious, and critizing it as such is also meaningless. It features every possible A list celebrity from the Chinese speaking world as well as two zombified American bosses, played by Caucasian actors whose only purpose is to speak Mandarin. (something Chinese absolutely fetishize.) Characters operate in a sanitized, absolutely false version of Beijing, set entirely amongst plastic skyscrapers and shiny malls, offensive considering the real poverty and distinctive local culture so noticeable in this city. (Regardless, movies are about escapism and so it does this well.) It's safe to say the film has absolutely nothing new to say about anything, but the film itself isn't important; it's the tone and persevered message.

There is not a single film that more encapsulates the attitudes of Beijing's new middle class or anyone wishing to join their ranks more completely than this movie. "Rags to riches" this certainly is. It illustrates the drive and desire to "make it" in a way that we no longer portray with a straight face in Western movies, and equates material/financial stability with a strong desire to achieve, but also a kind of moral superiority. The fact that this film spawned counterfeit "Lala" movies is the proverbial cherry on top, making it a pitch perfect critique of China's mindless, "wild west," uncreative, unchecked growth.

Swirling martial arts epics have as much to do with China today as Merchant Ivory films have to do with contemporary England. Go Lala go! is about as ugly and accurate as possible.

减肥茶

Weight loss tea

Chinese, like Americans, love diet plans.  Average diets are much more oily and meaty than previous years, so Chinese are bulking up.  To combat this, there are many new products on the market, many ridiculous, designed to help you lose weight.  

Weight loss teas (减肥茶，or literally "lose/subtract weight tea") are a common, sane form of weight control and look much like Western bag teas, with a Western price to match. All of the ingredients in such tea are very Chinese, and are traditionally drank without any weight loss goals in mind.  (Strangely, all ingredients in these teas are easily bought for much cheaper at local markets or drugstores here.)

From experience, these tea ingredients are great for digestion, helping upset stomachs, relieving bloating and keeping regular.

• Pu'er tea （普洱茶）
• Cassia seed （决明子）
• Hawthorn berries （山楂）
• Lotus leaf （荷叶）
• Chrysanthemum（菊花）

Protesting, Chinese style

---

Walking home from work a couple of days ago I discovered these signs of political protest on a shop around Qianhai.  What I could make out is a familiar horror story in contemporary China; the forced reclaiming of old houses to make way for new construction.  Although the government gives residents cash for the demolished house, many times the house in question is so undervalued that residents cannot afford an apartment in Beijing's inflated real estate market.  

Among the cluster of signs above, the most notable are the characters below Mao's portrait that read "怀念毛主席," or "yearning for Chairman Mao."  Nearly all such silent, passive-aggressive protest evokes Mao's name, something that is nearly as unheard of in contemporary China as protesting in the first place.  To many Chinese, Mao is the symbol of an earlier, backward time, even if his face is emblazoned on all currency.

This is not the first time I've noticed this kind of protesting in Beijing; there is also a shop near Gulou located directly next to a large military headquarters with a sign that reads in English: "FOREIGN JOURNALISTS, PLEASE HELP."  They also prominently feature a portrait of Mao in the window.

How am I implicated by living and working in such a place?

犀利哥
"Brother Sharp"

One of the more interesting recent internet celebrities in China is "Brother Sharp," a possibly mentally ill, homeless man from Ningbo. He's been praised as a Bohemian style icon, wearing clothes reclaimed from the trash, having unkempt hair and a certain style, attempted by others using gobs more money.

The whole affair is pretty telling; the haves try to copy the "look" of the have-nots. In China specifically, there is no real history of thrift stores or punk music or any kind of fashion rebellion in this way. Any attempt is usually a kind of elaborate, expensive, safe, imported costuming, so "Brother Sharp" actually doing it is exciting, albeit he's unaware of the situation. The inevitable backlash, a "Brother Sharp" make-over and intervention, is already in the works.

Some pictures:

The Chinese reads "Everytime I see him, I give him 10RMB, which he uses on cigarettes. He also has women's clothing, all of which come from the trash."

The Chinese reads: "The first time I saw him, he was collecting cigarette butts to smoke. I asked him, 'Are you hungry?' He said, 'Yes.' Then I asked, 'If I give you 10RMB, can you go buy food yourself?' (I wanted to see if he could provide for himself.) He said, "Alright, but I'm actually going to use this money to buy cigarettes."


The Chinese reads "Perhaps his road is long, or perhaps it's short, but his future is uncertain."

An old, abandoned Lada.

(Xisi district)

西四区

The West and South of Beijing are nowhere near as wealthy as the east and parts of the suburban north. Somehow these portions, notably the center west part, have been left behind dramatically in economic development.

Xisi is a surprisingly depressed area not far from my home in distance, but much further away in other ways. Some streets and hutong look unchanged for many years, and there are several temples and markets overflowing onto the streets selling mostly construction equipment and lighting supplies. The beautiful, but unkempt, "white pagoda temple" is nearby, so you can see nuns occasionally walking the streets.

Some photos from rush hour on the train. It looks not too bad, but trust that it was, and is, crowded during early evening. I'm using more camera more frequently again.

我高峰时间在地铁上拍了这两张照片。我最近几乎每天带着我的照相机。在想一会要开中文的fotoblog. 幸运的是我有中国朋友会把我的博客校对一下。

知春里小学二年级

Last day at Zhichunli primary school with my third graders.
(I remember how happy I felt to start summer vacation when I was their age.)

Watching fireworks on Emilie's balcony.

炮

~~Spring Festival is over. It's warming up and everyone is starting or has started work and school. Until next year.~~

I've been in the ancient capital of Xi'an for a couple of days for Spring Festival, which was mostly a last minute trip. It's an interesting city, world's apart in many ways from Beijing, and has been a bit surprising. Terracotta warriors, the oldest mosque in China, ancient city walls... Pictures will follow.


Tomorrow we'll return to Beijing by bus, nearly two dozen hours of sitting...

周璇
Zhou Xuan

Zhou Xuan is the famous "songbird of Shanghai," a wonderful singer most active in the 30s. The following is from a movie I haven't yet seen, but it's her signature song. The song is a dramatic love song sung in a modern Chinese operatic style, so the tones may differ from the actual character. I'm working on memorizing and translating it, so below are characters and pinyin for anyone studying and wanting to sing along and study with me.

~{+}~

天涯呀海角觅呀觅知音
tiān yá ya hǎi jiǎo mì ya mì zhī yīn

小妹妹唱歌郎奏琴
xiǎo meì meì chàng gē láng zòu qín

郎呀咱们俩是一条心
láng ya zán men liǎ shì yī tiáo xīn

爱呀爱呀郎呀咱们俩是一条心
ài ya ài ya láng ya zán men liǎ shi yī tiáo xīn

家山呀北望泪呀泪沾襟
jiā shān ya běi wàng leì ya leì zhān jīn

小妹妹想郎直到今
xiǎo meì meì xiǎng láng zhí dào jīn

郎呀患难之交恩爱深
láng ya huàn nàn zhī jiāo ēn ài shēn

爱呀爱呀郎呀患难之交恩爱深
ài ya ài ya láng ya huàn nàn zhī jiāo ēn ài shēn

人生呀谁不惜呀惜青春
rén shēng ya shéi bù xī ya xī qīng chūn

小妹妹似线郎似针
xiǎo meì meì sì xiàn láng sì zhēn

郎呀穿在一起不离分
láng ya chuān zài yī qǐ bù lí fēn

爱呀爱呀郎呀穿在一起不离分
ài ya ài ya láng ya chuān zài yī qǐ bù lí fēn

～｛｀｝～

（My translation attempt. 如果有人会翻译的话请我帮忙吧。）

At the cape at the ends of the earth, I listen to the sea for answers.
A girl sings a song, A boy offers a qin.*
The boy and I are together as one.
Oh love, love, oh, the boy and I are together as one.
In the north mountain house I wait and weep onto my gown.**
The girl still longs for her boy today.
The boy experiences the tribulations of a deep love.
Life does not spare or pity youth.
The girl is like a thread, the boy a needle.
The boy sews us together so we cannot part.
Oh love, love, oh, the boy sews us together so we cannot part.

*A qin is a Chinese stringed instrument
**"Jiashan" could be a town name rather than a "mountain house."

Beijing winter essentials
-^=^-

1 ~ long underwear
2 ~ gloves
3 ~ hat
4 ~ scarf
5 ~ sheepskin insoles
6 ~ humidifier
7 ~ slippers
8 ~ lint brush
9 ~ various lotions
10 ~ lip balm

Silvia, Anna and Ariel at Nanluoguxiang, a great walking street of cafes and shops near the Central Drama Academy.

The messy, not-moved-in-yet living room with kitchen, bath and two bedrooms nearby. (Every Chinese kitchen does not have a refrigerator inside and never has room for one, so it's always in the hall or living room near the kitchen.)

The currently very cluttered, but actually very spacious top floor with two great balconies, high ceilings and plenty of space to paint large.

Class notes.

--¬*¬--

A lot has happened.

We have a apartment now, actually the penthouse, in a massive, very Chinese apartment block in the old city center. Wooden floors, two stories tall, three bedrooms, two bath and lots and lots of studio space for painting. I'm actually going to finally paint bigger since I really have the space for it now. It's by far the nicest place we've rented in China and the three of us completely love it, although it's a bit more money. (2000RMB each for a much less sparse, cell block, cheaper, concrete and fluorescent overhead lighting deal like we had at Dongzhimen.) Tomorrow we move all our stuff, which is currently in storage in a hospitality management school's dormitory, although I don't know why. I'm so happy we made this decision for a nicer place and we've already paid three months up front, so no money worries.

For work, it's going to be simple. There is an even bigger lack of foreigners than before, it seems, and I've already gotten job offers even though I haven't started looking yet. I want to work less than before, and since my pay was too low for my last job, I think I can get more for my hours with tutoring or part time school teaching.

In more interesting news, I started Intermediate Chinese classes full time and absolutely love my teacher. She's funny and witty and constantly proposes marriage and dating advice to all the male students; anything to get the rest of the bookwormy, mostly South American and Kazakhstani class to talk. I never brag about my own abilities, but I have the best pronunciation in the class, by far. I am surprised as some of the students who are going to major Chinese language universities for over a year that know so many words and have great grammar, (which I don't) but sound terrible and mispronounce everything when they speak. However, I also get nervous too easily and speak far too slowly, but I've been way too hard on myself as far as pronunciation goes.

We don't have a working Internet connection yet, so until we do posting will be sparse.

**Plans**

As some of you may have read, China is experiencing a huge visa crackdown before the Olympics. It doesn't look like this will be changing anytime soon, which means we'll have to leave China for a short time.

This is more or less what's happening: Ariel, Silvia and I are going to travel to Southeast Asia, mostly focusing on Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand, for around two months. There are a lot of variables at the moment, but this seems certain.

Ariel is applying for a work visa which, as of now, means he has to go back home and apply there. (Even though I got my work visa in China, the rules have changed or at least temporarily changed.) He'll probably go back to Miami for a few weeks. Silvia and I, in the meanwhile, will be traveling and meet Ariel in Hanoi after he gets back from Miami.

Even though I have a work visa, I've resigned from my job. It's not much of a loss at all because I don't feel much attached to it. I'd like to return to China to concentrate on studying Chinese and earning enough money to live on by private tutoring. I need to improve my Chinese, for sure, and focus on learning rather than money.

Right now, money is not a big issue because we've saved a large amount in China. We have plenty of money to travel cheap for quite some time.

So this is what's happening. We're trying to figure out what to do with all of our things and how best to plan this. Absoluetely nothing is certain, including easily coming back into China, and we're all limbo. Anyway, it'll be great to get away from the coal-grey air and long workdays.

Chinese like editing things.

I was watching an episode of The Simpsons on a Chinese website when Krusty the Clown delivered a line to the effect of "I agreed with making Chinese toys that killed kids, so I'll agree to that!" The Chinese subtitles on the bottom of the screen didn't mention 中国，or China, at all and instead mentioned another country, 侵拉克, or Iraq. What Krusty was incorrectly made to say is something to the effect of "I agreed with invading Iraq, so I'll agree with that!" How terribly Chinese.

This is a piecemeal account of something a student told me today. Apparently it's from a Chinese movie.

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A handsome (but not too bright) Chinese fighter and an English woman fall for one another. They have an affair in China. The English woman tells the fighter "I love you," which he cannot understand, and returns to England. Immediately after this, the Chinese fighter asks a friend who studies English: "What does 'I love you' mean?" Because she is jealous of this admission, she tells him "It means 'hello.'" The fighter isn't satisfied with this answer and he asks another friend. The friend tells him: "Maybe she was speaking Chinese?" Left with no other option the fighter translates the English woman's phrase into the only possible meaning he can think of:

爱老虎油 (ai4 lao3 hu2 you2)

The meaning: I love tiger oil. The fighter wonders aloud, "why does she love tiger oil and why did she tell me this?"

Things are happening.

Chinese are talking about Ti bet, but not in any major way. Most of my students think what's happening is wrong, but believe they don't have the resources or ability to do anything about it. Ti bet, even after it was no longer an independent kingdom has always been considered far and remote for most Chinese. People who live in nearby Sichuan province have far more experiences with Ti bet ans, and maybe I'd feel more angry reactions if I were there. To the average Beijinger, news on the conflict came very late and was heavily opinionated. On CCTV9 they called it the "La ma clique separatist movement" and voiced that the Ti bet an people were being misled. I think most people believe this to a degree, but also view the Ti bet an plight sympathetically.

Due to all this and more, the Olympic torch was extinguished many times on route through Europe with thousands of protesters. Now that the torch is coming to San Francisco, there will be many more. Mainland Chinese are mostly unaware of this, and the reporting on the torch relay is totally positive with smiling faces and interviews with happy athletes. Even Hilary is calling for a presidential boycott of the opening ceremony, but I'm sure Chinese don't know this.

Like anything, this is complicated. I understand the anger, but I also see how excited and prepared Beijing and the Chinese are. Most mainlanders are totally unaware of what really happens in China, and they may not understand anti-China protests. Many cannot separate people that are anti-Chinese government vs. anti-Chinese. I've had Chinese ask me, "why do Westerners fear China?" or "we are a poor country, so why are we a threat?," etc.

Truth be told, the 百姓 (common people) ARE poor and have almost zero control over anything in government, so using the Olympics as protest is a way to give voices to the voiceless. However, a total boycott (not just the boycotting of the opening ceremony) will harm the potentially vital relationship between China and the Western world. It's true that China has a million problems, but the progress that's been made is astounding. Millions of Chinese died from the worst famine in history, horrific cultural cleansing and terrible misguided policy in this century. To see a China where things are beginning to drastically change is beyond impressive and important to note. You cannot compare China's human rights, politics, etc. on equal footing with Germany or America or France; it's unfair and impossible. The West is 40+ years ahead in development and China just recently showed up at at the race. More time is needed to see a fairer, more democratic China.

(To avoid my blog getting shut down, if you post about Ti bet, leave a space between or use a different spelling, like Teebet.)

鬼街

Lamb meat sold in a Ugyur shop

The new subway line 5

～＊～

My neighborhood.

I live in an old Beijing district know as Dongzhimen（东直门）which is actually the historic Eastern gate to the city. Much of the old history is lost, but the area beyond the gate entrance is still known for hot pot restaurants. This street, now called Dongzhimen nei, is where I live. Beijing residents know this same street as gui jie (鬼街，or "ghost street") and it's filled with places to eat, neon signs and red lanterns. The Russian embassy is very close, so the area has a small Russian feel with a few restaurants and shops catering to these diplomats or expats.

What's the history of your neighborhood?

MERRY CHrISTMAS

Christmas in China is, as you can imagine, strange and maybe pointless. It's a foreign holiday so no one understands what it's about, but young people have seen it in movies or whatever so they don Santa hats and buy each other Tupperware and scarves. (Chinese love Tupperware.)

Ariel and I are going to Shanghai for Christmas. We leave Sunday... I'm ridiculously excited!

Silvy leaves for Miami today, Saul is already there. I'm still in Beijing, happy, although I miss my family. I've given Silvia a package of Christmas gifts for you all, so lets arrange a pick up.

Old German castle, "Paris Patisserie," sad tree, parking lot at 好运街 (Lucky Street)

It snowed one day. Very pretty.

下雪了

小白木

\'~^*^~'/

Chinese McDonald's don't feature apple pies, but instead have peach, pineapple and taro root pies. (Yummy purple!)