Let`s Hear it for Macho Men & Cute Girls

A high school in Central China's Henan province recently set a code of behavior for students to become "macho boys" and "cute and clever girls".

Zhengzhou No 18 High School, which specializes in art education, granted the titles "macho boys" and "cute and clever girls" to 44 students (22 boys and 22 girls) at the beginning of the new semester, so other students would emulate their behavior.  Duan Yaping, 44, the school principal, said some students used to think that misbehavior like smoking would make them look cool, so the school has chosen role models for them, according to a report of Zhengzhou-based Henan Business News.

Twenty-eight behavioral characteristics are needed to become a "macho boy" including having neatly groomed short hair, not dressing strangely, respecting girls and admiring heroes according to a notice on the school website. The characteristics of "cute and clever girls" include no roughhousing with boys (we know what that means) and having self-respect and decency.  In its working plan for this semester, the school said that it will teach students to form good habits, such as "writing well, walking well and speaking well", as part of its social etiquette education.

A teacher from the school who asked to remain anonymous told China Daily that the art students are not so compliant as other students so the school had to form a code of conduct to keep them from being rebellious.

I reviewed the "macho boy"checklist and I just made it under the wire with a little cheating. Theresa on the other hand was a shoo in as a "cute & clever girl".

The More Things Change, The More They Are The Same

Two things in the paper today caught my eye - one is kind of amusing, the other quite the opposite.  First off it seems a new British pizza parlour chain opening in Shanghai has got themselves into hot water with the populace because they advertised their new location as being "in the French Concession". This use of the phrase "French Concession" has outraged local Chinese residents and law enforcement officers of the Municipal Market Watchdog (sounds like the language police in Quebec) have started an investigation.

 Talk about nationalism - the French Concession is a beautiful vibrant district in Shanghai that has existed since 1849 (albeit no longer a French territory since 1943). To take offense at the name seems petty to me, especially given the beautiful streets, trees and architecture that the French left behind. What I think is sad but it's business, the chain humbly apologized saying they were foreigners unfamiliar with Chinese culture and were truly sorry for offending anyone - talk about eating humble pizza pie.

The other story that caught my eye is about a jerk who ran a website spreading rumors of a SARS infection in Baoding, Hebei province. The courts found him guilty and he was ordered to spend two years in a labor education institution. According to local police, the person, surnamed Liu, spread rumors about SARS to boost his website's clicks.

The guy gets an "A" for creativity and an "F" for being an idiot but the use of the phrase "Labor Education Institution" ran a chill up my spin. It just rings too close to what was happening here during the Cultural Revolution. Frankly I'd be much more comfortable if they had just said they "threw the guy in jail".

The idea that McDonlads, KFC and Louis Vuitton can be found in a country that also has Labor Education Institutions makes you wonder..........

Women Flushed With Success

 Dissent is alive and well in China

Today the China Daily News reported that Wang Lailin, 20, a university student from Zhengzhou, in Central China's Henan province, felt her first flush of success after she used the men's toilet in Beijing.

"Women were waiting outside and some were using the men's toilet. So I followed them. It was quicker and I saved time as I had a train to catch," she said.

Wang is one of those who has benefited from the "Occupy Men's Toilet" group, which wants more public conveniences for women. Female students in Beijing on Sunday occupied cubicles in the men's toilet near Deshengmen. Their purpose was to make sure that women who were waiting outside could use the facilities first. Volunteers outside the toilet held banners demanding "More conveniences for women, more gender equality", and "If you love her, don't let her wait in line".

The first occupation on Feb 19 at a public toilet in Guangzhou, set off a fierce public debate. The occupation the women said is on a temporary basis out of understanding for men's needs. "We only occupy the men's restroom for 3 minutes, holding it for women who are in a hurry to go to the toilet. A new round of 'occupation' follows 10 minutes later.

An elderly man in his 70s, who declined to be named, was angry at the occupation. "How could you do this? Men's toilets are built for men, not for women. What if a man wants to go to the toilet? It's over the top," he said.  And then there is this comment from an urban planner "The number of women's cubicles should be increased in some places, such as shopping malls, because women go shopping more often than men". Hmmmm, might have to call this one a somewhat sexist observation.

My advice to all women visiting China, not that I have had any personal experience but I'd take a pass on using any public washroom, mens or womens.

I can't bear it anymore

Sorry for the puns in the last few posts but I couldn't resist this.

Faced with resistance from animal activists and the general public, a Chinese pharmaceutical company about to issue an IPO to raise funds for expansion allowed more than 100 reporters to visit a farm where it breeds bears for their bile. You got it right - their bile. Seems for nearly 3,000 years, bear bile has been used as an ingredient in traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) to cure eye and liver ailments which some TCM experts claim is of "irreplaceable" medical value.

At the bear farm of Guizhentang Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, based in the eastern province of Fujian, a Xinhua reporter saw about 60 bears roaming outdoors. A farm worker said more than 600 bears were kept in the farm, with some in the open and others in concrete bungalows covered with wire netting.

The reporter was also allowed to witness the bile extraction process. A bear was placed in a small cage about the size of the bear and then a practitioner disinfected the permanent shunt in the bear's abdomen. He then inserted an 8-centimeter-long fine tube into the shunt and extracted about 100 milliliters of bile. Finally, he removed the tube and disinfected the shunt again. The whole process lasted about 30 seconds, during which the bear was consuming liquid food and remained quiet. The reporter noticed that there were more than 100 cages used to conduct this procedure.

Far be it from me to question the value of TCM, in fact its popularity is growing in the western world an an alternate medicine but somehow farming bears for this purpose sounds barbaric - The Animal Free Asia Foundation (to be fair they do have their own agenda) has stated of 165 bears they examined 36 had gallstones as large as 7 cm. I don't think you want to try and understand how painful that might be! Of those 165 bears, 99% had cholecystitis and 66% had gallbladder polyps. Not a pretty picture.

It looks as though the IPO will be approved and the company will expand their operations so just remember this post the next time you take a hit of some TCM - it just might contain some bear bile.

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Wok softly and carry a big cleaver

Theresa and I participated in a Chinese cooking class this weekend that was not only fun but quite educational. Three caucasians and three chinese plus a Chinese chef and interpreter made up the class which started with each of us chopping off the head of a live fish (I think they called it a snakehead fish though it didn't look like a snake).

The menu for the day was watercress fish stew and Cantonese stuffed eggplant. The class was 2.5 hours and we got to eat our cooking at the end of the class. Needless to say the fish stew was a washout - no taste but smelly and filled with fish bones that could choke a horse - interestingly, our Chinese class mates had no problems with the soup or the bones - they ate their soup bowls dry.

The other dish we made, Cantonese stuffed eggplant was real yummy - pork & shrimp mushed up between two slices of eggplant all fast fried in a wok with garlic, ginger, red pepper, coriander, chili sauce and rice wine.

The class was educational as well. we learned how to wield a cleaver (though Theresa did cut her thumb) and how to correctly use a wok - did you know you are supposed to heat a wok with no oil in it till it smokes, then swirl some oil around the entire wok, then discard that oil and add more oil again before you throw in the food to be cooked. We bought a seasoned wok at the school plus a cleaver so now we are ready to take on any Chinese recipe - next class (we are on a waiting list though - this place is popular) is farmer's pork stir fry and deep fried stuffed crab claws - hmmm am getting hungry already.

Dog gone it!!

Seems on January 15, 2012 Chongquing police stopped a truck delivering more than 1,100 dogs to Zhanjiang in Guangdong Province where dog meat is a popular dish. The China Daily newspaper goes on to describe how the dogs were found in a pick up truck with 30 cm cages stacked eight high and with as many as eight dogs in each cage. Most of the dogs were injured or dead having died from suffocation, bone fractures and disease. Not a pretty picture.

The good news is once this horrible situation was made public, Chinese activists raised over $111,000 (US) in the form of cash donations, food and medicine to care for the surviving dogs. But there is a catch as with everything in China. Since the dogs were transported illegally, the animal quarantine station in the district insists the dogs must be removed from the temporary shelter and people's homes where they were placed because the area is a "livestock-breeding free district" and they must be gone by February 22 - tomorrow!!

So there you have it - Jumping from the proverbial pot into the frying pan. It doesn't get much worse than this. If the Chinese people do one thing in the next few years it should be to eliminate dog from their menus - its happening in the urban cities but head into the hinterland and watch out - that next stew you could be eating might just be good old fido!!

Not Again!

 

You would think after the international media coverage of the little girl who was run over by two trucks and left to die in the street that things might have changed.

I guess it takes longer than a few months to change a nation's attitude towards their fellow man. Yesterday a 70-year-old man fell down at a downtown intersection.  He called for help and struggled to get up but after 30 minutes of inaction by anyone, he died in front of the crowd of onlookers.

Why you might ask did no one do anything except call an ambulance that arrived after the man was dead. The answer is China's Ministry of Health published a guide last September telling people how to help elderly residents if they fall in the street. The 41-page guide, available to download from the ministry's website, advises people who see old people fall "not to help them up in a hurry, but to observe and inquire about their health conditions first and then act accordingly." The guide says that in many cases people's help could lead to more serious problems for elderly people suffering bone fractures, strokes or heart disease. It advises dialing 120 for medical help if people see someone on the ground unconscious.

So there you have it - call an ambulance and watch someone die - seems something got lost in translation.

Bouncing Yokes Mark My Return to Shanghai

I am back in Shanghai after a great visit with my family and friends and I thought as a welcome back post I would share something with you that could only ever be conceived of here in China - fake eggs.

Seems almost 3,000 eggs were removed from a supermarket shelf in the Panyu District of Guangzhou after a shopper complained the eggs he bought were fake. A local resident  surnamed Guo claims his daughter suffered an upset stomach after eating one of the eggs - Guo discovered the boiled yolk was hard and bounced three times on the floor like a rubber ball.

Zhao Qiangzhong, an associate professor from the school of light industry and food at South China University of Technology confirmed the eggs were probably fake and went on to say there are many ways to mix chemicals to make a bogus egg. Several other scientists have commented on the fake egg issue claiming among other things it's not very profitable to produce fake eggs.

Far be it from me to judge but  I just can't understand why anyone would entertain the idea of producing fake eggs or even wondering about the profitability of creating something like that.

That said, the next time I sit down for a breakfast of soft boiled eggs, I just might test one to see if it bounces - living in China is interesting to say the least. :)