Archive for May, 2010

Taiwan at the WTTC’s annual conference

May 26th, 2010 by Johanna | Leave comments | Filed in China, Media, Stories, Work

Summits are not my thing. Even as much as I love travelling, the World Travel and Tourism Council’s annual get-together in Beijing these few days is just a bit dry and (save for a few interesting reports) unenlightening. Where’s anything about eco-tourism? Voluntourism? They did talk a lot about sustainability and doing environmentally-friendly things (especially questioning the airline industry), but what about non-traditional travel that really tries to reinvent the meaning of tourism?

Anyway, two things that did amuse me to no end:

  • Newsweek, one of the summit’s sponsors, had a booth with issues of its May 24 and 31 double issue on global travel. In it is an article about Taiwan that described it as an “island nation.” Some poor worker had gone through literally hundreds, if not thousands, of copies with a Sharpie and blotted out “nation” in all of them.
  • During one panel discussion, moderator Erin Burnett of CNBC introduced herself as a big fan of travel, saying she has a goal of visiting 100 countries before proudly stating that she had visited her 65th one earlier in the week (or last week). Then she said that country was Taiwan. A very brief pause followed as the audience silently and collectively gasped, while Burnett immediately realized her faux pas: “…which sort of counts on my list,” she tried to clarify.

Spring springs in ‘jing, brings spring to my step

May 7th, 2010 by Johanna | Leave comments | Filed in China, Life, Reflections

A friend of mine recently noted that I’ve been in a much happier mood lately. This is true. Here are possible reasons why:

  • The weather. It’s warm and (at times) sunny again!
  • Things to look forward to:
    • Family visit. I started getting excited around the one-month mark.
    • Upcoming trips. Bye-bye China, hello summer vacation.
  • PMS. Instead of making me cranky, my hormones are making me silly.
  • Sex. ‘Nuff said.

Beijing’s bipolarity is swinging to the other pole now. Beijing summers are completely different than Beijing winters. The city is in bloom right now. I’m spending a lot of time outdoors, in the sun and under a blue sky, at parks, reading Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain, which so far is good in a bad sort of way. Whatever faults Beijing (and Beijingers) have, they got one thing right with their many parks. They’re all fantastic, beautifully landscaped and a great place to pass the time. Unfortunately, too many people seem to agree with me — but that does mean that it’s great for people-watching, and the Chinese do many interesting things.

The great weather also means another favorite past time of mine: beer and barbecue at my favorite beer garden.

Random thoughts, Part 2

May 6th, 2010 by Johanna | Leave comments | Filed in China, Reflections
  • Are Chinese people selfish? On the one hand, they’re labeled as “community-oriented,” placing the interests of their family, community, country above their own needs — at least, they face huge pressure to do so. On the other hand, they will do anything to get ahead: They don’t believe in lines, and they push and shove their way onto or off of buses and subways just to grab the best seats.  Maybe “impatient” is a better description.
  • In discussing China’s rise and potential as a future superpower, and the U.S.’s concurrent decline, optimists always point out that the U.S. has the creative edge by far. It’s not even an edge, it’s a gulf. And based on what my personal experiences, it’s not going to close anytime soon. But will innovation remain as important as it is now, given China’s ability to imitate?
  • Why do the Chinese imitate? No one tries to sell anything different because it might mean a loss of revenue. It’s a nation of people so averse to risk.
  • Laowai, Chinese slang for “foreigner” that literally translates as “old outsider,” is increasingly sounding like an equivalent of nigger in the U.S. At face value, laowai is an affectionate nickname for foreigners, with lao added in front of people’s names or titles to indicate intimacy or informality. But often, when I hear laowai used, it’s because a Chinese person is pointing out and gawking at some laowaior going on a rant about them. Still, many laowai still refer to themselves as laowai – just like black people refer to themselves asniggas. (That metaphor ran deeper than I thought!)