Fish Heads and other Tales

Today I met up with a friend for lunch who used to live in my neighbourhood. She took me to a restaurant in the area.

It serves Shandong dishes, and we ordered braised eggplant and fish head served in a soupy sauce with fried pancakes.

The eggplants were cooked in a thick savory sauce with roasted peanuts hidden underneath for a contrast in texture.

But the highlight was definitely this big flattened fish head swimming in a slightly sour sauce. We ate the meat from the fish - cooked just right. And then took the slices of fried pancakes and dipped them in the sauce to soak up the flavour.

And along with the food we had an interesting conversation about our observations about young people today.

Being in her early 40s, she remarked how the next generation prefer reading ba shi hou (people born after the 1980's) novels, which are usually about sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll Chinese style. "These books are the best sellers!" she exclaimed with a sigh.

She added that she hardly ever sees people reading anymore, compared to places other than big cities, where she notices every other person armed with a book.

I remarked that young people today can't write Chinese characters anymore -- they depend on their cell phone to give them the character that they looking for. You type in the pinyin, or English spelling of the Chinese word, and then a selection of characters comes up for you to choose.

The same goes with QQ, the Chinese version of instant messenger.

I asked colleagues about Chinese calligraphy lessons, since I thought this would be a good way for me to learn Chinese characters. They were all shocked that I would be interested in doing this, as they admitted they were horrible in brush writing.

So in a way, China's culture is disappearing faster than most people think... or maybe today's world is too crammed with information to remember so many Chinese characters...

T-I-C Angst

This morning I didn't get to work until 10:15am.

That's because I spent over an hour trying to buy electricity. As I mentioned in an earlier posting, you don't get an electricity bill in the mail; you have to buy electricity before you use it. And you need to add money onto a card before sticking it in your power meter.

And because I only have 90 units of power left (in Chinese it's called "dou" or "degrees"), I thought I should add more money to my card, as I turn on the air conditioning every evening and it uses up some electricity.

But it was such a hassle.

The usual machine at the bank where I add money wouldn't work with my card so I asked the teller. The teller told me to go to the Chinese Industrial Commerce Bank nearby. Nearby turned out to be several blocks away.

Hot and sweaty when I got there, that teller told me I already had money on this electricity card and couldn't add anymore money on it until it was empty. Huh?

Frustrated and annoyed that I had wasted so much time to accomplish nothing, I went to work and demanded someone explain to me what was going on.

It turns out that for my building, I have to wait until my meter reads 50 units of power or less before I can stick my card in and use up the rest of the balance on it. Only then can I add money to the card.

Why do I have to wait until it gets to 50 units? Why can't I just add more money whenever I want so I don't have to worry about how much power I'm using?

Even my colleagues at work had to admit this was a strange policy, but that was also how they bought electricity. They saw I was so angry at this crazy problem and tried to cheer me up. But not many have lived overseas to know how it works in other countries (ie. more convenient) so how could they even begin to sympathize with my angst?

One American intern who's been here for six months just boils it down to things here being crazy. And all you can do is join the club.

So I guess now's a good a time as any to get sucked into the club where things don't make sense but that's the way it is.

I hope that doesn't mean I become complacent! But if I want to continue living happily here it's the first step I gotta take before reaching acceptance.

Maybe this was my initiation ritual into the T-I-C club?

Braising is the New Party Line

Today the Shanghai Composite Index fell more than four per cent today to 3,914.20, on fears that the Central Government will cancel a tax on interest accrued from bank deposits.

It's the latest bid by Beijing to ease the seemingly overheated stock market.

This is a stark contrast from two months ago, when every other university student to grandpa started throwing their money into stocks in the hopes of making a tidy bundle.

They put so much money in, that in May, the amount of bank deposits plunged by 278 billion yuan (US$36.2 billion), and 167 billion yuan in April. This was considered shocking as most Chinese are usually a conservative bunch and prefer to save as much money as they can.

And in the last week or so, the index hovered just past the 4,000 point mark.

But the trend of "stir-frying" stocks has come to an end, with the tripling of the stamp tax on stock transactions.

And now the government is hoping individual investors will instead let their stocks simmer for a while.

It'll be interesting to see if they heed this paternal advice or think they can continue to make a quick buck or two by watching the index board all day.

Setting an Example

The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council had its regular media briefing today.

And the spokesman, Yang Yi used the opportunity to urge Taiwan to follow Hong Kong's footsteps and return to the mainland.

"With the successful practice of 'One Country, Two Systems' in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, more and more Taiwanese compatriots will identify and understand 'One Country, Two Systems," he said. This concept will be conducive to a peaceful reunification of the country, the smartly-dressed Yang added.

As this year marks the 10th anniversary of the former British enclave's return to the mainland, the Chinese official was keen to show the Taiwanese that the HKSAR has a "high degree of autonomy".

With more direct chartered flights between Taiwan and China, and closer economic links, it'll be interesting to see who wins when it comes to political rhetoric. And with the upcoming Taiwanese elections, it's anybody's guess how the next leader will shape the island's next chess move.

Three Sisters

At the turn of the century, three sisters influenced the events of China's modern history.

The Soong sisters were famously described as "one loved money, one loved power, and one loved China."

Soong Ai-ling married H.H. Kung, the richest man in the country who was also the Finance Minister of China, while Soong Mei-ling got together with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.

But it was Soong Ching-ling who married Dr. Sun Yat-sen, 27 years her senior and aided the Communists in their bid to help found the People's Republic of China. In turn, Chairman Mao named her vice-president and gave her a former palace from the Qing Dynasty in Hou Hai.

It takes a long stroll to get to this elegant compound, past the bars and boutiques, on the other side of the lake. But it's well worth visiting.

The focal point of the Chinese garden is a small man-made pond with carp in it, surrounded by wisteria, shrubs and rocks. Nearby is a bust of Madame Sun and her living quarters turned into a museum.

There's lots of historical information enamoured of Charlie Soong's second daughter. And there are lots of her and Dr. Sun's personal effects on display, from their clothing to wedding quilt, bottles of wine and maple syrup, and even a pistol he gave her as a wedding present. Perhaps he was worried about her safety.

And on the main floor you can see her dining room, a Western-style antique dining table and cabinet, and a sitting room next door that has a portrait of her husband on one side of the room, and Chairman Mao on the opposite side.

Upstairs there are many rooms labelled, but visitors can't enter, except see her bedroom/office behind glass. The antique clock outside her room is stopped at the time she died, and her furniture and items left as they were. It's a simple, large room, with a plain bed, a dressing table with makeup and creams, and then a desk with piles of papers, magazines, and books.

But back downstairs there are several pictures of the three sisters who visited an orphanage, Soong Ching-ling personally inspecting aid given to those less fortunate, and her giving a speech rallying others at the funeral of writer Lu Xun.

These three sisters witnessed momentous change in China, and helped it move forward into the 20th century.

And today the country is in the midst of another transformation, from a rural-based economy to an industrial and hi-tech one.

But there aren't any influential women or families to selflessly guide China forward.

We need another Soong Ching-ling. Any volunteers?

Samaranch's Farewell Tour

Former International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch is in Beijing these few days. The 87 year-old looks like he's on his farewell tour and the Chinese are giving him the VIP treatment all the way.

Today he was at Renmin University receiving an honorary professorship, as the post secondary institution has established an Olympic studies program researching the social and economic benefits of hosting the Games. Experts from the United States, the UK, Canada and Australia are part of this think tank.

Samaranch said his love for China started when he first visited in 1978 and after he was elected president of the IOC he encouraged the Chinese to bid for the Olympics. He himself felt China was robbed of the 2000 Games when they went to Sydney. But he's now pleased that Beijing is hosting the Olympics next year. He declared, "I am sure these Olympics will be the best Olympics in history," to which the crowd of mostly university students clapped loudly.

The university then showered him with a number of gifts, including a massive monochromatic oil portrait of him. I wonder where he's going to hang that.

He said the current president, Jacques Rogge will open the Games in Beijing next year. But I don't think that's going to stop Samaranch from coming back for an encore visit.

Hanging Out with the Pretty Boys

Last night I had a taste of the Beijing gay scene.

A tongxin (gay) friend of one of the American interns took us to Destination, the most well-known gay club in the Chinese capital. It's located in the Sanlitun area.

We got there around 10pm and the place was quite empty. But an hour later it was definitely rocking with cool dance tunes and a wooden dance floor that bounced with the people dancing on it.

And there were many guys to look at -- some were pretty boys, some more beautiful than women, and some you never would think they were tongxin. There were also some foreigners who were surveying the scene too.

Some were showing off their cool dance moves, while others hung out in one of the many lounges in the club. When we left, the crowd of men had spilled out into the street for everyone to see.

Apparently the gay population in Beijing is around 47,000 with over 100 bars and clubs for them dotted around the city. Many have trouble coming out of the closet to their families as the Chinese perception of gays are that they are practically an alien race.

Some well-educated and well-travelled straight people have trouble accepting gays, so you can imagine it's going to take a long time before they are more generally accepted in society. But in the meantime this community is going to make sure they have as much fun as possible.